Category: Miscellaneous

Minifigure Price Guide recently pointed us to a very interesting oddity in this side of LEGO collectors’ world. Belgian auction site 2ememain posted what could probably turn out to be the largest, and most expensive LEGO sets and items ever auctioned. Similar to eBay, 2ememain is Belgium’s biggest and most popular online market with more than 6.4 million monthly unique visitors and more than 4 million listings.

Listed by a certain Karto believed to be based in Hannut, Belgium his post has been viewed more than 18,000 times in just less than 24 hours. What makes Karto’s offer mind-blowing is the fact that his reported collection consists of more than 2,000 sets which he claims to have acquired from 1978 until 2014.

For some reason, he decided it’s time to kick the bucket on his collecting activities. Weighing almost a ton, he now puts his rare LEGO sets for auction at an unbelievable price of 80,000 Euros or almost $90,000 USD. As of this writing, four bids have already been placed, with the highest offer at 82,500 Euros. Karto didn’t hold back in cataloguing his prized collection, saying that he managed to snap 12,000 pictures worth of documentation which has a combined file size of more than 16GB.  All in all, it took him 120 large boxes just to pack-up his LEGO sets and he even rented a truck just to haul all of them when he transferred his place of residency.

Based on a rough Google translation, the following are the highlights of his collection.

• 208 train models (122 in original box) 
• 1063 models of the city (800 in original box) 
• 310 sets figurines (263 in packages) 
• 47 models of pirates (26 in the original box) 
• 7 sets Classic Castle (all in original box) 
• 30 sets Classic Space (all in original box) 
• 29 Star Wars sets (24 box original) 
• More or less 1,400 original boxes / packaging – 827 new boxes – 126 new boxes from before 2000 Others
• More or less 3,250 figurines – the first 10 sets of miniatures, complete with bags, flyers and box original 60 sachets (polybags)
• More or less 550 bases plates, half street 
• 161 wagons and locomotives – All 9V trains, all trains RC (radio controlled), all trains PF (Power Functions) and some 12V / 4.5V . Many duplicate models. – 1367 rails (± 170m) of which 400 9V, 250 12V, 600 RC and 54 monorails. 
• All official sets of the City products between 1978 and 2014 – Legoland, System, World City and City – are present (except models ‘junior’ end of ’90). – the majority of promotional models of the city between 1978 and 2014 
• Many old and new boxes sealed LEGOLAND / SYSTEM such as 4561 (9V), 7823 (12V), 7824 (12V), 7835 (12V), 7839 (12V), 7866 (12V), 730, 6349, 6543, 6378, 6385, 6386, etc. 
• Several models LEGO Dacta – All models 171 official City (2005-2014) are new except for small boxes 5 – 9 the first houses of style ‘CC’, including 10182 Café Corner and 10190 Market Street. They have been mounted once and have their boxes and manuals. All other boxes are still closed. 
• Many new sets and set the value 10000, such as: 10041, 10152, 10155, 10173, 10177, 10183, 10184, 10185, 10194, 10197, 10199, 10200, 10210, 10211 , 10213, 10216, 10218, 10219, 10220, 10221, 10222, 10224, 10229, 10230, 10231, 10232, 10233, 10235, 10243, 10244, 10245 
• Over 400 special sets’: promotional, limited editions and exclusives – weight sets: 800kg, Unit weight: beyond 1 ton 
• Many advertising, brochures, catalogs, flags, displays and promotional materials (including a giant figure.) 
• Several original LEGO furniture 
• Many sets are present several times (eg 63x car of 6506 police)
• Full sorted individual pieces, additional figures, reserve building plans as well as original boxes and much more.

Here are some photos that Karto posted on 2ememain.be.

 

So what do you think about this find? Can this be the largest LEGO collection ever to be auctioned? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

 

A few months back, we had a glimpse of what LEGO has in the works regarding their latest summer offerings under the LEGO Technic line. First spotted at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany last January, these latest sets focused on the impressive intricacies of heavy machines such as the LEGO Technic Volvo EW 160E (42053), LEGO Technic CLAAS XERION 5000 TRAC VC (42054) and the LEGO Technic Bucket Wheel Excavator (42055). It was finally capped off by LEGO’s latest Technic flagship model that celebrates the automotive genius of the iconic Porsche with the LEGO Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS (42056).

Now, thanks to Bricker, we now have our official images for these latest LEGO Technic offerings, particularly for the first three in the series, with 42056 revealed earlier last April.

 

LEGO Technic Volvo EW160E (42053) No. of pieces: 1,166; SRP: $119.99

 

LEGO Technic CLAAS XERION 5000 TRAC VC (42054) No. of pieces: 1,977; SRP: $179.99

 

LEGO Technic Bucket Wheel Excavator (42055) No. of pieces: 3,925; SRP: $279.99

 

 

Source: Bricker via The Brick Fan

If you recall, the LEGO Store’s monthly promotional for May is good ol’ Captain America together with his motorcycle and sidecar. In case you missed out on TRU’s earlier promotional, you still have the chance to own this rare Cap minifigure without breaking the bank in purchasing larger and more expensive sets with LEGO’s Memorial Day  celebration.

From Friday until Monday next week, LEGO will give away this polybag for free with purchases of $35 and above as long as supplies last. Available only at LEGO Stores and at shop.LEGO.com, you better act quick if you’re raring to have this one since the offer will end exactly 11:59 EST of May 30. It will not come as a surprise as well if stocks run out for this polybag promotional considering how much of a great find this is.

Here’s Stephen’s review of the LEGO Marvel Superheroes Captain America Motorcycle (30447) if you want to take a look before heading to your nearest LEGO Store.

 

Thanks Brickset for the info.

After the official announcement and images released for the new LEGO Ghostbusters Ecto-1 and Ecto-2 (75828) last February, things were a little quiet on this side of the LEGO ghost-hunting scene. Those who are patiently waiting for these highly anticipated sets are slowly being rewarded as LEGO reveals more and more details on these based on the modern, all-female cast rendition of the 80s classic, Ghostbusters.

Since it was announced having a release date of July 1, it was expected to show up at LEGO’s monthly Store Calendar anytime soon – and it did. Making its re-appearance in the LEGO Store July Calendar, we can see the crew in action together with their iconic vehicles.

This time, Bothan brick spy just2good over at Eurobricks gives us another morsel of information on what to expect from these latest LEGO Ghostbusters sets. He managed to get his hands on the very first image of the official box art for 75828. With images that are quite familiar to us already, we now know that the Ecto-1 and Ecto-2 LEGO Ghostbusters sets contain 556 pieces retailing at $59.99.

It’s nice of LEGO to add ‘2016 Movie’ on 75828’s box art to somewhat make it distinct from other Ghostbusters sets, though I feel it does not sit well with the rest of the box art’s details. In any case, I think we’ll all agree that what’s inside the box is more exciting. I’m sure that we’ll have more news on this, especially that the all-new Ghostbusters reboot movie will be showing in theaters on July 15. Who knows, there might be other 2016 Ghostbusters sets lurking around, just waiting to be revealed. If you want to see more close-up photos of the LEGO Ghostbusters Ecto-1 and Ecto-2, click here.

Be sure to stay tuned here at the Brick Show for more LEGO news update. Thanks Promo Bricks for the tip.

Way back in April, we reported that Dorling Kindersley has launched another character and guidebook focusing on the valiant defenders Knighton in its LEGO Nexo Knights: The Book of Knights by Julia March. This latest LEGO-themed offering from DK chronicles the training and quests of the Nexo Knights, including a fold-out poster, new scannable Nexo power, and a section about upgrades and enhancements that the Knights receive from the virtual wizard, Merlok 2.0.

Similar to previous LEGO and DK collaborations, the said book comes with an exclusive minifigure that most collectors are keen to have, and just recently, DK’s website has been updated to officially reveal its first minifigure offering under the LEGO Nexo Knights theme. It’s Merlok the Magician in his physical form prior to his transformation to a virtual holographic wizard, as seen in the first episode “The Book of Monsters – Part 1”. Here’s DK’s official statement on this exclusive:

Prepare to enter a futuristic knights’ realm, with epic quests, scary monsters and true technical wizardry in LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™ The Book of Knights. 

Young knights battle monstrous foes in the exciting land of Knighton, The Book of Knights chronicles these heroes and their adventures, complete with exciting powers and upgrades from a virtual world!

Full of brand new LEGO sets and characters such as Lance, Macy and Jestro, The Book of Knights comes with a new and exclusive LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS Merlok minifigure, from before he becomes Merlok 2.0!

Reminiscent of LEGO’s Castle theme, the Merlok the Magician minifigure comes with a down-to-earth detailing with less the high-tech dazzle, and more of a classic fantasy look and feel. According to Brickset, this is the first exclusive minifigure under the Nexo Knights theme to be released for this year, with a second one slated to be released in a polybag (5004390) anytime between July to September in LEGO brand stores.

DK’s LEGO Nexo Knights: The Book of Knights, together with its exclusive Merlok the Magician minifigure, is now listed on Amazon for $15.75 and is scheduled to be released on August 30. But before we get our hands over this DK exclusive, we’ll be getting another book that serves as an early complimentary for the DK release. Published by Ameet Studio, the LEGO Nexo Knights: The Book of Monsters features the entire range of monsters and villains of Knighton. Now available for pre-order at Amazon, this hardcover collectible is due for release on June 28.

It’s a week of surprises from Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and TT Games with its surprisingly delightful Spider-Man Character Pack for LEGO Marvel Avengers. This time, we’re in for another treat from the galaxy far, far away. Warner Bros recently announced its exclusive Season Pass for LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with tons of exciting new content. It features three brand new Level Packs that extend the main game’s adventure not seen in the movie, and five character packs featuring well-known Star Wars™ heroes, villains and Droids.

The Season Pass is available for free if you pre-order the LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Deluxe Edition on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One via Amazon. Pre-ordering the Deluxe Edition allows you early access to the Empire Strikes Back Character Pack, and exclusive for PlayStation 4 owners the Phantom Limb Level Pack and the Droid Character Pack. The Deluxe Edition also comes with the exclusive LEGO Finn (FN-2187) minifigure and a collectible 3D graphic art all for a retail price of $69.88.

Here’s  a breakdown of what to expect with the Season Pass courtesy of Brick Fanatics.

LEVEL PACKS

Poe’s Quest for Survival Level Pack

A whole new adventure following Poe Dameron’s journey back to the Resistance base. After his daring escape from the First Order that left him stranded on Jakku, Poe must search for BB-8 and locate a ship to escape the desert planet in an effort to find his way home. Playable characters and vehicles include: Naka Lit, Ohn Gos, Poe Dameron (Jakku), Strus Clan Leader, Strus Clan Raider, Strus Clan Speeder (Full-size Vehicle), Strus Clan Speeder (Microfighter Vehicle).

First Order Siege of Takodana Level Pack

Experience the thrilling assault on Maz Kanata’s castle in a new way. Storm the shores of Takodana with Kylo Ren and the First Order in a quest to capture Rey and BB-8 to crush the Resistance forever. Playable characters and vehicles include: Jashco Phurus, Rosser Weno, Strono “Cookie” Tuggs, Thromba, Laparo, Jakku Freighter (Full-size Vehicle), Jakku Freighter (Microfighter Vehicle).

Escape from Starkiller Base Level Pack

After crash landing on the surface of Starkiller Base, join the battle from the perspective of two Resistance pilots. With the help of a loyal astromech droid, outmaneuver the First Order to escape the planet before it explodes. Playable characters and vehicles include: C’ai Threnalli, Colonel Datoo, Lieutenant Rodinon, Lt Wright, R3-Z3, Assault Walker (Full-size Vehicle), Assault Walker (Microfighter Vehicle).

 
CHARACTER PACKS

The Jedi Character Pack – Season Pass Exclusive / Available June 28, 2016

Features powerful members of the Jedi Order. Available exclusively to Season Pass owners. Playable characters and vehicles include: Aayla Secura, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Kit Fisto, Luminara Unduli, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Saesee Tiin, Shaak Ti, Jedi Interceptor (Full-size Vehicle), Jedi Interceptor (Microfighter Vehicle).

The Prequel Trilogy Character Pack

Play as select characters from Star Wars™: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,Star Wars™: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars™: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Playable characters and vehicles include: Anakin Skywalker (Damaged),Captain Panaka, Darth Maul, Jango Fett, Jar Jar Binks, Padm é Naberrie, Watto, Zam Wesell, Naboo Starfighter (Full-size Vehicle), Naboo Starfighter (Microfighter Vehicle).

The Freemaker Adventures Character Pack

Showcases the galaxy’s bravest family of scavengers from the upcoming LEGO® animated series. Playable characters and vehicles include: Baash (Iktotchi), Graballa the Hutt, Kordi Freemaker, Naare, Raam (Iktotchi), Roger (Battle Droid), Rowan Freemaker, Zander Freemaker, Star Scavenger (Full-size Vehicle), Star Scavenger (Microfighter Vehicle).

Star Wars: Rebels Character Pack

Play as the crew of the Ghost from the popular animated series. Playable characters and vehicles include: Ahsoka Tano, Chopper, Ezra Bridger, Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, Sabine Wren,Seventh Sister Inquisitor, Zeb Orrelios, Ghost (Full-size Vehicle), Ghost (Microfighter Vehicle).

The Clone Wars Character Pack

Exciting characters from the acclaimed animated series. Playable characters and vehicles include: Asajj Ventress, Aurra Sing, Barriss Offee, Cad Bane, Captain Rex, Commander Cody,Hondo Ohnaka, Savage Opress, Republic Gunship (Full-size Vehicle), Republic Gunship (Microfighter Vehicle).

 

The LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Season Pass will be available for $9.99 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Steam (Windows PC). Players can also purchase each DLC Pack individually for $2.99 each. As an added bonus, Season Pass holders will gain exclusive access to The Jedi Character Pack, which will be available on June 28, 2016. For the timing and release of all other DLC content, keep an eye on the LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Twitter,  Facebook,  Instagram and YouTube channels, and official website for details.

Last week, Traveller’s Tales Game Director Arthur Parsons gave us a playful hint on what to expect after the last instalment of downloadable content for the hit video game LEGO Marvel Avengers rolled out with the Agents of SHIELD DLC.

If the previous five character packs are not enough to satisfy our taste for adventure our LEGO Marvel superheroes, than Parson and TT Games has another wildcard under their sleeves – and it didn’t disappoint. Released earlier this Tuesday, the LEGO Marvel Avengers Spider-Man Character Pack features the web crawler’s most recent rendition as he is seen in Captain America: Civil War.

This free and exciting complimentary download includes six fan-favorite, web-slinging characters in their full LEGO form: Spider-Man (as seen in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Spider-Girl, Iron Spider, and Scarlet Spider. Take a look at these screen grabs courtesy of Bricks Fans.

 

 

 

LEGO Marvel also uploaded a promotional video. Watch this.

If you missed out on the previous DLCs, you can still have access to all of them by purchasing the LEGO Marvel Avengers Season Pass. The Spider-Man Character Pack is available for download on all major gaming consoles (PlayStation®4, PlayStation®3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U™), and for Windows PC via Steam®

Keep on the lookout as we review this pleasant surprise of a DLC anytime soon, but before that be sure to check out our most recent LEGO Marvel Avengers walkthrough of the Masters of Evil DLC courtesy of our in-house game specialist Brian.

Stay tuned only here at the Brick Show!

 

 

Source: The Brick Fan

 

Toys R Us resident ‘spokesanimal’ has just received the LEGO treatment.

Minifigure Price Guide reports that an exclusive, online offering of LEGO Geoffrey the Giraffe 40228 is now listed on TRU’s German and Austrian sites. Retailing at 9.99 Euros (or roughly around $11.15 USD), 40228 comes in 133 pieces with two minifigures of a boy and girl. Currently, this set is being offered as a TRU online exclusive, limited to a maximum of 2 purchases per customer. We’re not quite sure if the prints on the minifigures, and those stars on Geoffrey are printed or just stickers. Here’s a rough Google translation for 40228 as mentioned in TRU’s website.

LEGO 40228 Geoffrey & Friends is now part of the LEGO games world. Hurrah, hurray, Geoffrey is finally here! All fans of ToysRUs have waited a long time and now the time has come at last to be played with the cute mascot. The two minifigures are good friends of the Giraffe and experience best shared with her the most fantastic adventures. This special edition of LEGO is only available at ToysRUs and holds many fun hours of play ready. Combine Geoffrey with other LEGO playsets (sold separately) and expand your game worlds.

We expect to see Geoffrey in his LEGO brick form anytime soon in TRU’s stores in the US. We’ll keep you posted as soon as more news comes in.

A few days ago, Brickset reported about a new LEGO Ninjago minifigure pack has been making its rounds across forums with the reveal of the LEGO Ninjago Skybound Battle Pack 853544. First seen in Europe, the 36-piece set contains four exclusive minifigures: a battle-damaged Zane in a Tournament of Elements costume, Nya in a Samurai X costume, and two Sky Pirate Foot Soldiers from Nadakhan’s sky pirate crew. Comments for set 853544 are somehow positive, considering that LEGO rarely offers a pack of exclusive minifigures outside their typical, larger sets. The appeal for the Ninjago Skybound Battle Pack also lies with its price range which is expected to be $14.99, similar to that of last year’s LEGO Ninjago Army Building set 851342 featuring sleeveless minifigures of Jay  and Kai, together with Ghost Warriors Woo and Howla with the latter being an exclusive in this set.

More recently, Hoth Bricks mentions that we might see the Ninjago Skybound Battle Pack anytime soon over at shop.LEGO.com, especially that the above image is now stored in LEGO’s online cache. So let’s cross our fingers and hope to see this offer up and running. In the meantime, Eurobricks forum member onikari shows his Ninjago Skybound Battle Pack via his Flickr page. He mentioned that he purchased this set at a local toy store (Village Joué Club) in Paris. Here are some photos of his find.

We’ll continue to be on the lookout for this minifigure pack from Ninjago. Are you excited about this? What do you think about the minifigs that goes along with this set? Let’s talk about it in the comments below and be sure to stay tuned here at the Brick Show for more updates.

I came across this piece of article from The Guardian citing a research conducted by the University of Canterbury that analyzes the supposed increase in violence with LEGO’s themed sets and pieces over the years. I have to admit, the research title itself is quite provocative and triggers a wide spectrum of responses, both in and out of the LEGO community.

Entitled as Have LEGO Products Become More Violent?, the study aimed to determine how violent LEGO sets and pieces have become by gathering a pool of observers to ‘rate’ an image or still photo of a particular LEGO set as seen from their catalogs beginning 1950.  According to the researchers, they found out that the perceived violence (or the way other people saw those catalogs) in LEGO products has increased significantly. Secondly, the research aimed to determine the number of ‘weapon’ elements that LEGO has come up with since the sword, halberd, and lance element were released in 1978. For AFOLs or parents who might be interested in reading the entire research, you may find it here.

Though the research has an air of authority in it, the inquisitive student in me couldn’t help but feel that there seems to be something missing in this study. I’ll try to be concise as much as I can with my observations, without sacrificing the gist of what I would like to come across. Allow me to note three things that I noticed about this research:

• Though they mentioned a ‘disclaimer’ saying that “our study does not aim to investigate the effects the depiction (direct, implied, or potential) of violence in LEGO products has on children”, proving that the depiction of violence has increased among LEGO themed sets over the years, creates the false impression to the general public that LEGO’s plastic bricks contributes to violent behavior among children. The way I see it, it would be helpful if the researchers were able to prove first that using toys such as LEGO may actually result in violence (direct, implied, or potential as they have said it) among children, before claiming that LEGO’s toys are violent. You don’t get readily excited for the prospect of having a barn filled with chickens, if you only have a dozen or more eggs in your basket.

• Rating violence depicted in television and other mainstream media using an established checklist may not necessarily be applicable in rating ‘perceived’ violence in still images as allegedly found in LEGO brochures. As the research team pointed out, “We were unable to identify a suitable measurement for assessing the violence in still images. We therefore adapted the violence coding scheme from the study conducted by [Turner and Goldsmith]. As the coding scheme was originally designed to rate television violence, we simplified it to fit our study by removing aspects of the coding scheme that were irrelevant to the rating of still images”. The researchers removed ‘mode of verbal aggression’ and ‘duration of the act’ as criteria in determining violence in still images since it is impossible to use them in such a way – and that is where the problem lies. When we start to use a criteria that has been considered valid for one research, and began to change or tweak it to measure another and claim that we have similar results, then we might not end up on the same page. Similarly, witnessing or watching violence in movies and television is more potent in terms of causing harm to children than by simply looking at still images of a LEGO catalog. That being the case, I might as well lock away all those catalogs, and out of my child’s reach. Below are some of the images of LEGO sets that were deemed ‘violent’ by the researchers.

• An increase in the number of ‘weapon’ pieces in a LEGO set doesn’t prove an increase in the frequency of violent behavior among children, as much as an increase in the number of LEGO brick-built guns that fans have made will result in aggressive and abusive actions later on. It makes me scratch my head in wondering if I can really blame the problem on this one…

To be fair, I believe that LEGO can pick up a thing or two about this study. Perhaps they might come up with more sets later in the future that foster cooperation to reach a certain goal. Or perhaps one that allows kids to work with one another to overcome a particular obstacle. LEGO must be more creative in coming up with such possibilities.

So going back to the question: are LEGO sets really violent? I might say yes, if someone can actually demonstrate to me that looking at the picture below will make me feel and act ferociously.

But for now, I guess I will not put away those catalogs yet.

 

 

Source: The Guardian