The Brick Show tries to cover news of LEGO in all of its possible components – the toys, the TV shows and movies, and even printed media. Several times before, we’ve covered releases of official LEGO magazines from various publishers, like Egmont which rolls out the official LEGO Star Wars mag.
Lately however, a pilot by Egmont to increase the circulation of LEGO Star Wars Magazine is drawing the ire of newsagents in the UK, particularly Federation of Independent Retailers. This is in response to Egmont starting to stock its mag not just with the newsagent outlets but on chain supermarkets.
The sticking point to the Egmont circulation move according to the NFRN is that not only will the supermarkets receive the latest issues of LEGO Star Wars Magazine ahead of the newsagents (four weeks ahead even), but the issues then given to the NFRN retailers will only be return issues unsold from the market chains.
NFRN national president Mike Mitchelson remarked that Egmont is treating their member newsagents as second-class retailers with the preferential treatment to chain supermarkets for magazine stock. A reply from Egmont in turn explains that their pilot project is committed to “testing a sustainable distribution model in the UK independents channel.”
In this matter, LEGO is taking the side of their publishing partner, as the ompany’s senior director of licensing and publishing Andrea Ryder tells NFRN, “We have been assured the practice in handling the distribution of LEGO Star Wars Magazine will be changed to allow all retailers to have the ability to order and also to receive the magazine without a differentiation in delivery timing.”
LEGO and video games have been hand in hand for so long as for the latter to be an integral component of the former as a whole brand. Titles have been developed across the prominent range of gaming platforms: consoles, PC, portable systems and the ubiquitous mobiles, like this upcoming one. The LEGO Group has inked a partnership with French mobile game developer Gameloft that will see a new LEGO game app to be released sometime in 2019 that celebrates 40 years of minifigures. While the work has hardly began, with not even a title, what their joint press release reveals is that it’ll be set on a new LEGO world-setting, and will focus primarily on minifigures.
Gearing this app towards LEGO’s celebration of 40 years of minifigures only means that four decades’ worth of minifigure designs and their variants will be made available in Gameloft’s mobile gaming app. The statement promises to offer players enjoyable fun exploring the world while controlling any of LEGO’s countless minifigure characters: Red Classic Spaceman (1978), Captain Red Beard from Set 6270 (1989) or the Hot Dog Man from the LEGO Minifigures Series 13 (2015) are possible choices.
Gameloft chairman/CEO Stéphane Roussel described their in-progress new app to be the LEGO game that mobile players have been waiting for. Work has actually been on for several years prior, and Roussel adds that Gameloft was privileged to pay homage to LEGO’s 40-year minifigure heritage.
“The LEGO Group has more than 20 years of experience in creating fun and creative games that extend and amplify LEGO play,” notes LEGO Games VP Sean McEvoy. “We are excited to bring the LEGO universe into the hands of LEGO fans and mobile players alike in partnership with Gameloft.”
The Gameloft LEGO mobile game app will come out in 2019.
UPDATE: For some reason (perhaps it was posted a bit too soon), TRU Singapore has taken down its pre-order link pointing to the 2019 LEGO Chinese New Year sets. For those who missed that window of opportunity, then you may want to keep an eye on this website or any other Asia Pacific online retailers.
By now, we’ve all gotten a good look at the official images for the latest major regional exclusive sets that LEGO has conceptualized for the Asian market. In their smart red boxes, Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner (80101) and Dragon Dance (80102) would make must-haves for the discerning LEGO collector. While the prospects of having these seasonal sets become readily available outside of China and its neighbors are still somewhat nebulous, Asian retailers are now gearing up for the rush. Case in point, the exclusive 2019 LEGO Chinese New Year sets are now listed for pre-order at Toys R Us Singapore to the delight of LEGO fans and brick collectors.
With the celebration of the Chinese New Year being more “global” in observation than ever, it’d be nice if these 2019 LEGO Chinese New Year sets are more international in availability. The listing on Toys R Us Singapore might hopefully mean other TRU markets and other retailers in the Asia Pacific region may follow soon.
In the same manner, perhaps, as the exponential increase of branded LEGO Stores, so too has been the pace of opening new LEGOLAND Discovery Centers – small indoor attractions that offer guests an experience of what can be had in the larger LEGOLAND Resort theme parks. One such LEGOLAND Discovery Center is expected to open in San Antonio, Texas by next year. But just because it’s not yet now it doesn’t mean they can’t show off a few things to drum up interest in future visitors. The Miniland area, while not a huge as can be in a LEGOLAND theme park, is sure to draw the city’s attention thanks to its predominant theme.
That’s because the LEGOLAND Discovery Center Miniland will include choice buildings from the San Antonio skyline. These include the Alamo, Alamodome and the Tower Life Building. That last one is scaled at 6 feet 6 inches, or as tall as Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs.
LDC San Antonio general manager Jeremy Aguillen even shared some statistics on the Miniland model buildings’ construction: 24,000 LEGO bricks for the Tower Life Building, assembled in over 300 hours; 180 hours for the LEGO Alamo; and 2,000 minifigures put inside the Alamodome, for starters.
While LEGOLAND Discovery Center San Antonio won’t be welcoming guests until 2019, these Miniland models will be displayed on Wednesday, December 12, in front of The Shops at Rivercenter where the LDC will be located.
They also plan to hold a building competition from January 12-13 next year to select their resident LEGO Master Builder.
When Guinness Book of World Records featured LEGO sets in its 2019 edition, nobody might have expected them to offer a giveaway of one of those sets to those who answered a trivia question on their website. Then, it just ballooned as one by one the eight prominent “record-holding” LEGO sets from the 2019 book were promoted in the contest. Now, the Guinness World Records official website is holding one more trivia contest. On the line is the seventh – and probably the penultimate – LEGO set to be given away, not a record-holder itself but based on one iconic recorded event: the LEGO Creator Expert Wright Flyer (10124).
The rather uncommon LEGO Creator Expert Wright Flyer (10124) set is a model build of the historic Guinness record-holder of the first successful flight of a heavier-than-air powered aircraft. As anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of history knows, the Wright Flyer was built by the Wright Brothers Orville and Wilbur, who flew the pioneering airplane near Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903.
Once again, the contest is valid only for Guinness website visitors from Canada, Ireland, and the UK. They just need to answer the trivia question on the LEGO Wright Flyer info page and add their contact information. The submission deadline will be on Friday, December 14 at around midnight GMT.
Our regular readers here on The Brick Show who have been following the release of LEGO City sets throughout the year would remember the wave of sets that showed a rather un-city-like setting: the LEGO City Arctic subtheme. The awesome sets that showed high-tech vehicles traversing ice shelves and even digging up a frozen mammoth would fire up the imaginations of LEGO explorers. These LEGO City sets together would make for a sprawling brick-built base where one can imagine exploring the subzero cold regions of the uttermost north. And LEGO knows this too if their latest promotional package for Shop@Home UK with the LEGO City Adventures in the Arctic Bundle (5005749).
Included in this bundle are five out of the seven Arctic explorer-themed LEGO City sets that were introduced this year. Furthermore, being sold as a bundle means it’s priced less than all five individual sets in total. The LEGO City sets in this bundle include the following:
What should’ve been £175.95 is now at a more manageable £130.95 for the LEGO City Adventures in the Arctic Bundle (5005749). And it also heralds a holiday wave of more multi-set LEGO bundles coming out this month. From what we can tell though, they’re only available only in Europe so far, and are also limited in stock so it will be wise to purchase this now, especially if these sets are included in your wishlist this holidays.
For as long as can be remembered perhaps, LEGO and books have been comfortably complementary partners in the total experience of the toy brand. While independent publishers bring out books having ideas for DIY MOCs, quite the number of printed material comes from publishers partnered with LEGO itself, such as Scholastic and definitely Dorling-Kindersley (DK). Now, another publishing company will be joining hands with The LEGO Group to bring out a new series of books that will focus on a recently emerging and newly prominent sector of the fandom. While most official LEGO books are geared somewhat towards children, the proposed material from Chronicle Books will be for the AFOLs.
“We are delighted to welcome Chronicle Books into a select group of publishing partners who work closely with the LEGO Group to create books that delight and inspire fans around the world,” noted LEGO publishing director Robin Pearson, elaborating that Chronicle’s past books, filled with unique humor and style, are perfect for an innovative publishing effort leaning towards the older side of the LEGO fandom.
This new LEGO-Chronicle Books partnership will start with seven books scheduled for release in 2020. While initially following other LEGO books such as DK’s and Scholastic’s with puzzle books and such, more upcoming works will comprise art volumes and even non-fiction titles for AFOL consumption.
Even as LEGO continued to bring out one new set after another on its Ninjago line the story of the relevant characters and their adventures have been told in the 3D-animated series Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (and retold in The LEGO Ninjago Movie). The popularity of the show and its big screen counterpart was thanks to the efforts of the writing team, including brothers Dan and Kevin Hageman. But that status quo is about to change. The Hageman Brothers have shocked the LEGO-media-watching audience that they will be bowing out of the Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu writing team. This was elaborated on in a series of Twitter posts all throughout Tuesday, December 11.
Goodbyes are fraught with so many emotions. Though it saddens us to tell our Ninjago fans we've written our last episode, we are encouraged to know it won't be the last Ninjago adventure. We've known for a while that after 8 great years, S9 would be our final curtain call… 1/7
Dan and Kevin have been part of the LEGO Ninjago animated adaptation since its beginning in 2011, and while they’re officially leaving the team after the recently-concluded Season 9, their writing contributions are said to be included in the continuing Spinjitzu storyline all the way to its milestone 100th episode.
With the Hagemans going, only David Shayne and Bragi Schut remain on writer credits for Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. Schut will be stepping up as head writer for the future.
Sad as it may seem, the only possible consolation that we have is the assurance that LEGO’s longest running TV show will still continue to run its course even after the Hageman Brothers are no longer at the helm of its story development. Simply said, LEGO Ninjago will not really be the same without the original, creative minds behind the series.
For the meantime, we can revisit some of the greatest LEGO Ninjago moments with 2019’s LEGO Ninjago Legacy sets slated to be released next year. There’s also a feature-length animated film to be released later next year as announced during the San Diego ComicCon 2018 last July.
The Food Stand Diners features a nice collection of brick-built food stalls at minifigure scale. FrostBricks’ excellent choice of colors surely stands out and makes you want to have a quick bite of your favorite burger and fries. It’s a great addition to any LEGO theme park sets such as the LEGO Creator Expert Roller Coaster (10261) and Fairground Mixer (10244). I like the play features of this project, with lots of potentials for further modifications and inclusion of other food stalls such as a bakery, popcorn stand, hot dog stand and many more. Here’s what FrostBricks has to say about his LEGO Ideas Product Idea.
Food Stand Diners
The fabulous Fernando Brothers are known for their fine cuisine; and their fun food shacks are the perfect place for a family party.
Model info
Each food stand is modeled to resemble a life-size food counterpart, whilst also being a minifig-scale food stand. Perfect for either play or display, with fully detailed interiors so the brothers can prepare their specialty burgers, milkshakes and fries.
It’s also proposed there’d be a range of food accessories included, burgers, drinks and more (a birthday cake perhaps?) Along with a table and additional minifigures included, so that you could create your own family enjoying a lovely day in the park.
Which Figures? What food?
Currently, the three proposed food stands included would be a Burger stand, a Fries stand, and a Milkshake stand. But perhaps you’d like to see another of your favorite foods made into a food stand and included? Well, let us know in the comments.
Likewise the minifigures currently shown here are placeholders, and ideally, the set would include enough minifig parts to mix and match your own family having a fun day out.
FrostBricks was even kind enough to upload an instructional video on how to build the actual Burger and Fries Stands. We’re still waiting for the video on how to build the Milk Shake Stand so we’ll keep a close eye on that as well.
I somehow feel that the Third 2018 LEGO Ideas Review Stage will be kind of tough for our LEGO Ideas Design Review Team since there seems to be a lot of potential sets in this batch. I personally vouch for the Food Stand Diners and I hope to see this released as a LEGO Ideas set in the future.
Every year during the holiday season, LEGO employees around the world can always expect a treat or two from their company’s headquarters in Billund. And one of the perks of being a LEGO employee is that you don’t just to get to promote the LEGO brand itself, but you’re also rewarded for your love of the brick during the holidays in the form of a uniquely crafted, one of a kind LEGO Employee Christmas Gift. If you recall back in 2016, the 50 Years on Track (4002016) LEGO Employee Christmas Gift set is a shout out to LEGO’s half a century worth of trains and tracks. 2017, on the other hand, is a celebration of everything LEGO Technic with the gift of the Nutcracker (4002017) in line with the theme’s 40th anniversary. This time around, LEGO employees across the globe will be receiving their 2018 LEGO Employee Christmas Gift, and it definitely celebrates another milestone in the life of the LEGO Group.
Now out of consideration for those who are still to receive their share of this year’s LEGO Employee Gift, be aware that a majority of this sets were already rolled out to some parts of the globe. And as expected, there are some who are so happy with their gifts that they simply want to let the whole world know about the one of a kind gift that they received. Furthermore, images of this set are now starting to proliferate across secondary markets, particularly over at eBay. So if you’re the type that wouldn’t like to spoil the surprise of receiving such a nice gift, then you might want to hit that back button and browse the rest of our news articles here. But if you’re cool with this reveal, then you’re welcome to read on.
Much of what we have here is based on experiences shared by those who got their 2018 LEGO Employee Christmas Gift early on, and as I said earlier, this particular gift celebrates another achievement in the life of the LEGO Group. As you know, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the LEGO minifigure, and it’s not only through LEGO’s Collectible Minifigure Series 18 (71021) and the Minifigure Factory (5005358) promotional set that the company gets to commemorate it, but also through the Santa’s Sleigh and Reindeer (4002018) LEGO Employee Christmas Gift.
Shared by LEGO fan Dylan Chow over on Instagram, the 2018 LEGO employee gift comes in at 1,099 pieces and features a brick-built St. Nick, a reindeer, sled, and some wonderfully concealed gifts. I love how the reindeer turned out, but it was the brick-built gifts and what’s inside them that truly caught my attention.
Distinctively colored in white, blue, and green, these little boxes are not so plain looking once you see what’s inside of them: the blue gift contains a minifig that is a shout out to the classic Doctor minifigure that first appeared in 1986’s Town Minifigures (6301). The green gift comes with a classic Pirate minifigure that appeared in 1993’s Skull’s Eye Schooner (6286). The white gift box still remains a mystery and we have no idea yet on what could be inside this piece of gem.
The LEGO Classic Doctor minifigure from Town Minifigures (6301); 1986
The LEGO Classic Pirate minifigure from Skull’s Eye Schooner (6286); 1993
The 2018 LEGO Employee Christmas Gift Santa’s Sleigh and Reindeer (4002018) is such a beautiful set that brings with it plenty of surprises. It may not be available to all fans of the brick, but it’s nice to know the kind, and thoughtful gestures that LEGO gives to its employees through this nicely designed set. Thanks again to Dylan Chow for sharing these images and for Candid Bricks for the heads-up.
So what do you think about this year’s LEGO Employee Christmas gift? To you think it sports a stellar design? What could be inside the white box? Share us what you think in the comments below and please do visit our Facebook page for more updates and interaction with fellow bricksters and fans.
