In June of last year, LEGO introduced to their consumers a new line of accessories for their existing product lineup. This was called LEGO xtra, and featured a wide variety of play enhancements for sets particularly of more “urban” lines like LEGO City.
The xtra polybags ranged from additional street signs and ornaments, to props for minifigure hands like mugs or pizza slices and fresh veggies, to play-mats with streets and roadside studs to anchor LEGO buildings on. While not entirely vital to having a great experience playing with LEGO, having “xtra” accessories just make things all the more better.
And now, just before last weekend, LEGO has added something new on their lineup of xtra polybags, as noted by German LEGO news source Promo Bricks. This pack of xtra extras (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun anymore) features one non-brick element that’s also part of the LEGO experience: decal stickers.
Now granted, many LEGO players don’t like having stickers on their bricks and pieces, preferring painted-on decals if it can’t be avoided. But if the LEGO piece in question can be designated for only one purpose in any instance of play, like a store signboard, then stickers are worth it.
The upcoming LEGO xtra Brick Stickers polybag (853921) has what its name says and more. The pack has five sheets’ worth of signage stickers for brick-building businesses, be it a pizza parlor, market, bakery or toy store to begin with. But like most of its other xtra sets, 853921 also has a selection of plastic bricks and LEGO elements, all of which have the general shape of signage that one can place decal stickers on.
Since the images of this new LEGO xtra pack have just been recently added to online servers, it probably won’t be long before Brick Stickers (853921) becomes available on Shop@Home and maybe even LEGO stores and retailers. No price has been given, though it can go from $3.99 to $7.99 following previous xtra polybag pricing.
While The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part finds itself in a sudden struggle to win viewers at the box office following a slump of an opening weekend this February, its various tie-in sets have already entered the market and are waiting to find their way into LEGO fans’ hands.
These sets of course range from full play sets to BrickHeadz figures to the small polybags, of which several have also been released for The LEGO Movie 2. Several of them have been described by name as “Mini Master-Building” sets, including one for the film series’ lovable main hero Emmet. The last word we had on the LEGO Movie 2 Mini Master-Building Emmet (30529) last December was that it had been popping up here and there on both Walmart and Target stores. Now however, LEGO branded stores in the UK have put this polybag front and center of a new free with minimum purchase promo.
As can already be surmised, LEGO Movie 2 fans can get their own Mini Master-Building Emmet (30529) polybag with a minimum total LEGO purchase of £35. The catch is that this one applies only to shopping visits at all physical LEGO Stores in the UK.
Now, this free with purchase promo is also happening on Shop@Home UK, only this time with a different polybag up for grabs: the Rex Dangervest Plantimal Ambush (30460). That’s some nice incentive to use both ways of shopping for LEGO in order to get “LEGO Movie 2” polybags for free.
Thankfully, a lot of the other “LEGO Movie 2” tie-ins are priced well-enough individually to reach the £35 minimum for one of those sets. That includes the Shop@Home exclusive Welcome to Apocalypseburg (70840) which should cover what’s needed for the Plantimal Ambush (30460) polybag when bought online in the UK.
“LEGO Movie 2” is now showing in cinemas, but is in need of more viewers.
It’s the year 2019 now, but it’s only at this point in time that the winners from the First 2018 Review Stage of LEGO Ideas will finally see the light of day as official products. Recall that the results of that review stage were announced only in early October of the year before.
The two product ideas that made the final cut from that 10-set review batch had been a Treehouse and a licensed franchise, Hanna-Barbera’s classic “Flintstones” animated series. Then, following over three months of silence, LEGO Ideas broke the lack of new updates with a cheeky nostalgic teaser.
On Monday, February 11, LEGO Ideas posted a short video clip on their official Twitter page. It should be familiar to longtime “Flintstones” fans, a shortened version of the last few seconds of the familiar colored second intro, with the Flintstones and Rubbles barreling into the prehistoric drive-in theater in the former’s boulder-mobile.
The differences are quickly spotted: the featured movie is titled “LEGO Ideas: The Flintstones.” Also, the Flintstones’ “car” is quite obviously a LEGO-brick stop-motion rendition, likely the official LEGO Ideas conversion of the original submission by Andrew Clark. Finally, the theater screen shows that Ideas will be showing the whole final LEGO Flintstones set soon, punctuated with the iconic series catchphrase “Yabba-dabba-doo!”
Seeing as this LEGO Ideas set is from a recognizable franchise, it makes sense that it gets a teaser ahead of the original-idea Treehouse. Then again the preview neglects to put an actual date on when the LEGO Flintstones set will actually be shown in full, so fans are left with the usual game of guessing “How soon is ‘Coming Soon.’”
Then again, as some comments on our fellow LEGO news site and helpful set guide Brickset indicate, not many fans approve the accompanying minifigures’ faces which have apparently been leaked earlier. Perhaps the promised upcoming official LEGO Ideas reveal might change some minds.
It bears no repeating that the first “LEGO Movie” from the toy company giant and the Warner Animation Group was one of the biggest surprise cinematic hits from 2014, with rave reviews from critics that normally would not take a toy merchandising film seriously.
Its success has inspired a series of spinoffs featuring different characters and LEGO product lines, plus plans for a direct sequel, revealed as “LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part”. This sequel finally arrived in theaters over the weekend and, while it was still incredibly good and visually awesome, the lower review average comes across as implying that the sequel is failing.
That bit of news might be somewhat hard to swallow for fans of all things LEGO, but The Hollywood Reporter has it that the opening weekend for “LEGO Movie 2” went significantly under producer expectations, $35 million at most compared to the hoped-for $50 million.
To compare, the opening weekend of the original “LEGO Movie” was $69 million or about twice what it sequel brought in over the same period. And while that’s only for North America, overseas stats reveal that the film is not having a strong start either, with a global earning of $18 million in 63 territories.
We can note that “LEGO Movie 2” was released about five years after its direct predecessor; but box office analysts have the same diagnosis for the subpar performance: franchise fatigue. Perhaps the early signs that such a thing might happen came with the release of the second spinoff “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” in September 2017.
That was only several months after “The LEGO Batman Movie” which came out earlier that year in February; it had opened with a still-respectable $53 million compared to the $20.3 million of “Ninjago.” Going back to the $35 million first weekend of “LEGO Movie 2,” there are signs that, as the sequel’s downer reprise of the original film’s theme song goes, “Everything is Not Awesome.”
At present, “LEGO Movie 2” stands at 85% approval on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, while its 2014 original peaked at 96% (and as of this writing, holds steady at 95%). Despite the returning tandem of cast and creators, the end product looks to be a not-exact copy of its predecessor’s success story, despite the fun gags and adventure stuff and the new ear-worm theme song.
The break-even point for “LEGO Movie 2” is a worldwide box-office take of $200-225 million. Let’s hope that it gets there eventually, for more LEGO films in future. Meanwhile, its LEGO set tie-ins have long been available, and building events at variousretailers are still coming up soon.
After the release of the LEGO Harry Potter Collection last October, Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and TT Games have just announced that it will also offer three of its awesome Marvel-inspired video game titles into one convenient bundle. Dubbed as TheLEGO Marvel Collection, brings together LEGO Marvel Superheroes 1, LEGO Marvel Avengers, and LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 into a single game compilation. The best part of this is that all of each game’s Season Passes or DLCs are likewise included. It’s a huge treasure trove of LEGO Marvel video game goodness that’s hard to resist.
The LEGO Marvel Collection will be available beginning March 12 for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. It looks like Nintendo Switch and PC users must wait a bit if ever this bundle will arrive in their choice of platform. Here’s the full press release from Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games, The LEGO Group and Marvel Entertainment today announced the LEGO® Marvel Collection, bringing the top-selling videogames LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes, LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes 2 and LEGO® Marvel’s Avengers together in one package. The three-game compilation will be available March 12, 2019 for PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and the Xbox One family of devices.
This colossal Marvel adventure also includes previously released DLC packs for the games, including Black Panther and Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War character and level packs for LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 inspired by Marvel Studios’ hit films.
In LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, players take on the role of their favorite Marvel characters Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk, as they assemble in a completely original story. Players will battle against some of the most menacing Marvel Super Villains, including dastardly Doctor Octopus, the ghastly Green Goblin, the ruthless Red Skull, the vicious Venom, Thor’s vexing brother, Loki, as well as the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 picks up directly where LEGO Marvel Super Heroes left off featuring a completely original branching storyline co-written by award-winning comic writer Kurt Busiek. This story brings together a diverse roster of iconic Marvel Super Heroes and Super Villains from different time periods and realities including Ant-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Cosmo the Spacedog, Cowboy Captain America, Doctor Octopus, Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Green Goblin, Groot, Gwenpool, Hawkeye, Howard the Duck, Hulk, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel, Rocket Raccoon, She-Hulk, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Thor, and many more. Players can roam and explore 18 different Marvel locations within the incredible Open Hub World of Chronopolis, from the vibrant jungle of Wakanda to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, along with Asgard, Attilan, Knowhere, the Coliseum, Hala, Hydra Empire, Kang’s Citadel, K’un-Lun, Lemuria, Manhattan, Medieval England, Noir New York, 2099 Nueva York, Old West, The Swamp, and Xandar.
LEGO Marvel’s Avengers features storylines from the critically-acclaimed film Marvel’s The Avengers and its sequel Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron and players can unlock more than 200 characters, including Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk, Thor and Iron Man. The game features a unique take on open world gameplay, with eight different environments to explore within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the expansive streets of Marvel’s New York, as well as Asgard, Barton’s Farm, Malibu, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Base Exterior, Sokovia, South Africa and Washington, D.C. Players can freely roam around these open world locations in any way they’d like, such as super jumping off skyscrapers with Hulk, speed running over water with Quicksilver or even play as giant characters, like the menacing Fing Fang Foom, who can grow to the size of tall buildings.
Barnes & Noble is giving its share of LEGO fun with a LEGO Movie 2: Make and Take Event happening on February 23, 2PM in all of its stores nationwide. This Make and Take Event is open to kids 12 and below, together with their parents or guardians. Participants will get to build a miniature version of Emmet’s Dream House/Rescue Rocket which they can bring home afterwards together with a free LEGO Movie 2 poster. Attendees are then encouraged to share images of their creations via social media using the hashtags #BNLEGObuild and #AwesomerAtBN. To participate, attendees may register and sign-up online through this link.
While you’re at it, be sure to check out the next wave of LEGO Movie 2 tie-in sets such as the Walmart exclusive LEGO Movie 2 BrickHeadz Emmet and Wyldstyle sets, and the Rexcelsior! (70839). The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part will arrive in theaters this Friday, February 8, 2019.
Read on for the full press release of this Barnes & Noble LEGO Movie 2: Make and Take Event.
Barnes & Noble Celebrates The LEGO® Movie 2 With Build Event at Stores Nationwide, February 23
Fans can Build Their Own LEGO Set Inspired by the Feature Film and Get Exclusive Giveaways, While Supplies Last.
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest retail bookseller, today announced a LEGO® build event at stores nationwide on Saturday, February 23, at 2 PM, to celebrate the new movie, The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part. Customers will have the opportunity to build and take home Emmet’s Dream House/Rescue Rocket, play activities, and get free giveaways, while supplies last. Customers can sign up for the event on BN.com.
“We are thrilled to welcome LEGO fans to our stores to celebrate the highly-anticipated film,” said Kathleen Campisano, Vice President, Toys & Games at Barnes & Noble. “This event will bring the movie to life by offering fans the chance to have a special, exclusive experience, as well as take home a 2-in-1 build of their very own, Emmett’s Dream House/Rescue Rocket.”
During the event, fans will be able to celebrate The LEGO® Movie 2, which premieres February 8, with a photo opportunity with Emmet’s Dream House/Rescue Rocket backdrop and a fun build event, and Barnes & Noble Cafés will offer a special $1 M&M® Blondie Blast for attendees.
Barnes & Noble is also carrying the new line of LEGO products based on The LEGO® Movie 2, including building sets and Young Reader books, on sale in stores and on BN.com.
Select stores may require customers to sign up for the event in advance. Customers should visit the Barnes & Noble Store Locator or speak with one of the knowledgeable booksellers for more information.
Attendees of the LEGO build are encouraged to share pictures of the event on their social media channels using the hashtags, #BNLEGOBuild and #BNAwesomerTogether.
About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is the world’s largest retail bookseller, and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The Company operates 630 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s premier e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). The Nook Digital business offers a lineup of popular NOOK® tablets and eReaders and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store®. The NOOK Store (www.nook.com) features digital books, periodicals and comics, and offers the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through Free NOOK Reading Apps™ available for Android™, iOS® and Windows®.
General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained by visiting the Company’s corporate website at www.barnesandnobleinc.com.
It looks like the LEGO Movie 2 hype lingers on even after the film’s debut in theaters this Friday. Select Target stores will be having their LEGO Movie 2 building events next week, February 16 from 11AM to 2PM CST. This Target in-store event is intended for kids where they will build a ship using LEGO pieces, participate in some in-store games, and as a reward for participating they get to bring home an exclusive vest similar to that of Emmet.
There’s no mention of what kind of ship will the children actually build, so it’s kind of interesting to see how it will look like. I’m not really sure if you need to pre-register for this, so if anyone has additional information regarding this, please do share in the comments below.
But before attending this event, be sure to catch the LEGO Movie 2 in cinemas on February 8, Friday and to check out the rest of the LEGO Movie 2 sets either in Target or at LEGO Shop@Home. Lastly for LEGO BrickHeadz fans out there, Walmart is exclusively offering the LEGO Movie 2 BrickHeadz Emmet (41634) and WyldStyle (41635) sets, and are now available for pre-order at their online store.
In case you missed it, this year marks the 50th anniversary of LEGO Duplo – those oversized large bricks designed specifically for younger, smaller hands. And to celebrate 50 creative years of nurturing future builders, LEGO offers a new promotional to accompany those big, building blocks that you plan to purchase for your tiny tot. The LEGO Duplo Farm (30326) polybag is yours free, for every single receipt purchase of LEGO Duplo sets worth $20 and above. This latest LEGO Duplo promotional began last January 29 and will end this Thursday February 7, so you still have a couple of days to avail of this promo.
Each LEGO Duplo Farm random blind bag contains 4 LEGO Duplo pieces: two 2×2 Duplo brick, one Duplo flower and a random farm figure which could be a farm boy, farm girl, goat, hen and calf. It’s a great way to build your farm inspired Duplo set, especially if you plan to get the LEGO Duplo Farm Adventures (10869), Farm Pony Stable (10868) or the LEGO Duplo Farm Animals (10870).
This promotion is currently available in all US LEGO brand stores and at the US portal of shop.LEGO.com until this Thursday only. LEGO Stores in the UK and the rest of Europe all offers a similar promotional with the LEGO Duplo Numbers (40304) polybag.
This piece of news is rather odd, but in a relatively good way. If you recall back in 2017, one of the better sets that LEGO has released under the LEGO Star Wars The Last Jedi subtheme is the new Resistance Bomber (75188) set consisting of 778 pieces and 5 minifigures. One of these minifigures was simply referred to as Resistance Bomber Pilot, in honor supposedly of the pilot that coursed the bomber that destroyed the Dreadnaught at the opening sequence of The Last Jedi. It was a cliff hanger of a scene, with the entire crew of the lone Resistance Bomber eventually sacrificing their selves in order to carry out their critical mission. It is a great scene that eventually found its way as an official LEGO set. However, devout LEGO Star Wars fans quickly noticed the small, but very unpleasant inconsistency that this particular LEGO set has, and LEGO was quick to respond.
The LEGO Star Wars Resistance Bomber (75188) released in 2017.
According to an excellent summary written by The Brothers Brick, this nagging inconsistency was eventually addressed by LEGO. So what was it exactly? With the release of The Last Jedi: Cobalt Squadron novel, which is considered as part of Star Wars canon, the generic Resistance Bomber Pilot now has a name, and LEGO eventually re-issued a new minifigure to accurately represent his character. Named as Finch Dallow, LEGO has now confirmed that they will be re-issuing, or has issued an update already, to correct this matter. Though Finch was only given 5-seconds of screen time on the big screen, it was enough to give us a close look at the character.
British actor Kevin Layne who played the role of Finch Dallow in The Last Jedi.
As you may have noticed already, Finch’s character is very much different from his generic minifigure rendition that was released with the Resistance Bomber (75188) set. Thankfully, the matter was addressed by LEGO when it gave its official response to an inquiring fan:
“When we develop LEGO sets based on movies, we aspire to make minifigures and models that reflect the iconic characters and scenes in the film. For this reason our products are most often developed by LEGO designers using reference material from specific movies – still images, sketches, as well as in the actual movies as inspiration. We developed The Lego Star Wars Resistance Bomber set (75188), based on “The Last Jedi” movie and discovered after the film was released that one of The Lego minifigures in the set doesn’t reflect the movie scene properly. As a result, we decided to adjust the set accordingly, true to our motto: “Only the best is good enough”. We hope Star Wars fans across the world appreciate this attention to details”
It is a known fact that LEGO designers do not really receive the entire set of details about a film or a particular scene in which a LEGO set will eventually be based. This holds true in the case of the LEGO Star Wars Resistance Bomber. This adjustment resulted in the roll-out of a new and updated LEGO Star Wars Resistance Bomber (75188) that perfectly captures in minifigure form the character of Finch Dallow, including his Resistance helmet as well. Check out these side by side images, comparing the old and new minifigs, as shared by The Brothers Brick.
Image composite courtesy of The Brothers Brick.Image composite courtesy of The Brothers Brick.Image composite courtesy of The Brothers Brick.
Now I’m not really sure if this re-issued LEGO Star Wars Resistance Bomber set has already been released to the market, but an Instagram post from actor Kevin Layne who played the role of Finch Dallow, may hint that this re-issued set may already be out there.
A post shared by Kevin Layne (@kevinlayneofficial) on
The only question is where and how will you be able to get this set later on, considering that it is reasonable to expect that previously released Resistance Bomber sets with the generic Resistance Bomber Pilot minifigure, is still distributed in the market. Though as TBB observes, this kind of scarcity has led to some ‘overblown’ hype towards the Finch minifigure, as evidenced by its risen value of as much as $100 in some secondary market platforms. This is not something that LEGO intends though, and I’m personally glad that LEGO has corrected this matter, though a little bit too late in my opinion.
Frankly, it’s now seems to a kind of hit and miss if you wish to get your hands on an updated set that contains the new Finch Dallow minifigure. Even if the Resistance Bomber is still up and selling at shop.LEGO.com, buying it from LEGO’s online store still doesn’t guarantee if ever you will receive the new minifig. In fact, the LEGO Shop@Home page for this particular set is still not updated with the new Finch minifig as of this posting.
Anyways, what are your thoughts about this change? Do you think it’s worthwhile to haunt down this set with the hope of landing on this new and accurate minifigure rendition? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
I reported yesterday that LEGO has just released the building instructions for its series of the LEGO Movie 2 BrickHeadz, particularly those of Emmet (41634), Wyldstyle (41635), Benny (41636), and Sweet Mayhem (41637). It gave me the impression that these new series of LEGO BrickHeadz will be soon available at shop.LEGO.com. However, as this new info suggests, it looks like two of these will be exclusive to Walmart instead. The following LEGO Movie 2 BrickHeadz Walmart exclusives are now available for pre-order and you may check on them by clicking the following links. Each set retails for $14.99, with the LEGO Movie 2 BrickHeadz Wyldstyle coming in at limited quantities only. Both sets will arrive this Saturday, February 9.
Build LEGO® BrickHeadz™ 41634 Emmet with colorful LEGO bricks that recreate the iconic details of THE LEGO MOVIE 2™ hero, including his construction worker’s outfit. This fun creative toy stands on a buildable baseplate ready to display in your home, office or wherever you like.
Buildable LEGO® BrickHeadz™ model of Emmet from THE LEGO MOVIE 2™, featuring decorated eyes and authentic details including his construction worker’s outfit
Each LEGO® BrickHeadz™ construction character comes with its own buildable baseplate
Have fun growing your LEGO® BrickHeadz™ collection with THE LEGO MOVIE 2™ characters 41635 Wyldstyle, 41636 Benny and 41637 Sweet Mayhem
Emmet buildable figure stands over 3” (8cm) tall without baseplate
Build and display LEGO® BrickHeadz™ 41635 Wyldstyle, featuring characteristic details of THE LEGO MOVIE 2™ hero including turquoise and violet hair streaks. This awesome construction toy includes a buildable baseplate for you to display your master-building creation in your home, office or anywhere you like.
Buildable LEGO® BrickHeadz™ model of Wyldstyle from THE LEGO MOVIE 2™, featuring decorated eyes and authentic details including turquoise and violet hair streaks
Each LEGO® BrickHeadz™ construction character comes with its own buildable baseplate
Wyldstyle buildable figure stands over 3” (8cm) tall without baseplate
Baseplate measures over 1” (4cm) square
Limited quantities available – each set individually numbered 1 out of 5000 units
