“LEGO Masters Australia” to Have LCP Ryan “Brickman” McNaught as Judge

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LEGO Masters has been quite the popular and successful reality competition on UK television with support enough from a LEGO fandom audience to earn a second season, and a trip overseas for localization in mainland Europe and Australia courtesy of Endemol. The latter version’s already revealed its host. Now it’s introducing one of its judges.

It being aired on the Land Down Under, it’s only natural perhaps that the new LEGO Masters will find a judge for the contest from the best of the best of its already-established giants of LEGO building. Thus there can be no real surprise that Ryan “Brickman” McNaught was chosen.

McNaught is a LEGO Certified Professional (LCP), a trusted business partner of The LEGO Group that has turned their lifelong hobby into a well-paying career. He is one of only 14 LCPs and the only one based south of the equator. Samples of his work include brick exhibits at Dreamland theme park and a display model of Australia’s Parliament House.

Like its original British version, LEGO Masters Australia will have eight building duos being given 2.5 million LEGO bricks and time to make the sweetest construct they could, according to a different theme every week. Ultimately one winning pair will win the AU$100,000 grand prize.

LEGO Masters Australia, with Brickman as judge and Hamish Blake as host, will premiere on Chanel Nine network in 2019 with its German counterpart. The UK original is due to start a new season itself.

New Amazon Discount Sales for LEGO Ninjago and Wizarding World: Fantastic Beasts

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There’s that favorite stock character versus topic online, called “pirates versus ninjas”. The argument for that match-up can be summed up in the trope named “cool versus awesome”; anime fans might recall One Piece and Naruto. But there’s an alternate opponent for ninjas: wizards. That’s how Amazon’s LEGO sales seem to be shaping up lately.

What I mean is that Amazon presently has discount sales for 2018 sets, two each from LEGO Ninjago and the Wizarding World. It’s your choice between the most awesome brick ninjas against the coolest (and most powerful) wizards in pop fiction (in brick form, naturally).

  • LEGO Ninjago Firstbourne (70653) – gets 20% off its regular $69.99 price for a sweeter bargain of $56. Worth it for 6 minifigures and two main builds (dragon and helicopter)

  • LEGO Ninjago Oni Titan (70658) – $49.99 on Shop@Home? Amazon’s taking 19% from that and offering just $40.47 for a giant robot build plus 4 minifigures
  • LEGO Wizarding World Grindelwald’s Escape (75951) – two minifigs, a vehicle and creature build for $16.82, a 16% discount from Amazon

  • LEGO Wizarding World Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures (75952) – four minifigures and a score of magical creatures big (buildable) and small (one-piece Niffler) gets 20% discount and priced now at $39.99

So what’ll it be? Wizarding World versus Ninjago? Amazon’s making the choice easier (and more affordable too) for you all. But seeing as Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is premiering early next month, it’s like Wizards have the advantage for just a brief moment.

LEGO Marvel Spider-Man 2019 Box Art Images Revealed

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Spoiler Alert: Our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man may not be feeling so good over in the MCU, but he’s alive and kicking in his other iterations: the Disney XD animated series, the spectacular PS4 video game from Sony Interactive and Insomniac Games, and last but not least, in LEGO. It’s been long known since this year’s SDCC that LEGO was going to do a Spider-Man product blitz on their Marvel Super Heroes line, and even gave us a teaser of what to expect, in the form of the Spider-Man Mech vs. Venom (76115) set. Earlier this month we learned what some of the other LEGO MSH Spider-Man sets will be revealed soon, and thanks to Dutch LEGO online store Brickshop, we now know what they look like. For the record, some of these images of the new LEGO Marvel Spider-Man 2019 box art images have been circulating over the Internet for quite some time already, but now thanks Brickshop, we now have a better idea of what to expect from these upcoming sets slated to be released in December.

Spider-Man Bike Rescue (76113 )

Includes Spider-Man, Miles Morales Spider-Man and Carnage minifigures (Carnage minifig has symbiote tentacle accessories which is pretty cool).

Spider-Man’s Spider-Crawler (76114 )

Includes Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Vulture and Sandman minifigures

 

Spider-Man Mech vs Venom (76115)

Includes Venom, Ghost Spider, Aunt May and Spider-Man minifigures

 

Spider-Man Car Chase (76133 )

Includes Spider-Man and Green Goblin minifigures

 

Doc Ock Diamond Heist (76134 )

Includes Spider-Man, Doc Ock and civilian Dock Worker minifigures

We’re still waiting for the other LEGO Marvel Super-Heroes tie-in sets for the 2019 MCU film Spider-Man: Far from Home, and those from the Avengers 4 tie-ins too, as it’s implied Spidey might be in some of them. Things are-heating up on that end, though seeing as Far from Home happens after Avengers 4, we know the MCU Peter Parker’s going to get better soon enough.

Thanks to Promobricks for the heads up.

LEGO Christmas Ornament Reindeer Head (5005253) Polybag Revealed

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UPDATE: Official images of the LEGO Christmas Ornament Reindeer Head (5005253) has now been uploaded via LEGO’s servers so we can be sure that this will be listed at shop.LEGO.com any time soon.

Tis the season of the year to be seeing the emergence of Holiday-themed LEGO sets indeed. We’ve seen the Advent Calendars and new Winter Village buildings. And thanks to an early Store Calendar release in China we learned of the LEGO Christmas Box (40292) gift set. But wait; there’s more! Corny infomercial line aside, if you took a closer look at the Chinese LEGO Store November Calendar we shared with you previously, you’ll notice a special polybag right next to the image of the micro-scaled LEGO Harry Potter Diagon Alley (40289) set. That’s a new LEGO Christmas Ornament Reindeer Head (5005253) polybag for 2018.

Yep, for this year LEGO’s offering a hanging ornament for your Christmas tree in the shape of a reindeer’s head (5005253). It’s pretty much a collection of LEGO pieces that would look like a flat deer’s head when put together, along with a printed 1×2 tile that says 2018.

This is likely another promotional item that’ll be given away for every minimum purchase at LEGO Stores or Shop@Home. For now, only China has been known to announce it, but all other major LEGO markets ought to be following suit. Getting this out before Halloween is always a great idea to avoid the Holiday rush.

LEGO Jurassic Park/World and Other Features Inside “Blocks” Magazine Issue 49

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Only one more issue and Blocks, the fan community LEGO magazine for building, collecting and customizing your LEGO will be celebrating its golden issue. But that one actually isn’t until next month. This October however will see the release of Blocks’ penultimate issue 49, the main focus of which is an extensive review of LEGO Jurassic Park/World sets as the year of the franchise’s 25th anniversary comes to a close.

Aside from that review and retrospective on the most popular dinosaur-themed media property around (which includes an interview with one of the set designers in Billund), here are other features and articles one might find in Blocks Magazine Issue 49:

  • LEGO Masters series 2 on UK’s Channel 4 – features interview with new contestants and contest judge Fran Scott
  • Spotlight on LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222) – includes designer interview
  • LEGO Creator Expert Aston Martin DB5 (10262) – tips on assembling brick-built James Bond figure (similar to people figures in LEGOLAND Miniland areas) to drive inside the vehicle
  • Month in MOCs – interpreting tabletop RPG classic Dungeons & Dragons in LEGO

Blocks Magazine is available in print or digital format via online subscription. You can check out their official website to see about getting their 49th issue (newly released) or any other back issues that you might be interested in reading.

Guinness Book of World Records 2019 Lists Eight Cool LEGO Sets and Here’s How to Win One of Them

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Back in August, Guinness World Records released their 2019 edition for the Book of World Records. One of the record sections they’ve hyped for the new volume is one pertaining to LEGO sets, eight of them which the Guinness Book of World Records 2019 recognizes as recreating several wonders of the world in plastic brick form.

For the curious, the LEGO sets featured in the 2019 Guinness Book of World Records are:

LEGO Technic Bucket Wheel Excavator (42055) – Largest commercially available LEGO Technic Set (3,929 pieces); based on real Bucket Wheel Excavator (record-holder for Largest land vehicle and Heaviest land vehicle).

 

LEGO Creator Maersk Line Triple-E (10241) – non-record-holding set, but based on former record-holder for Largest Container Ship Maersk Line Triple-E.

 

LEGO Disney Castle (71040) – non-record-holding set, but based on record-holder for Tallest Theme Park Castle Cinderella Castle in The Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World.

 

LEGO Eiffel Tower (10181) – non-record-holding set, but based on record-holder for Tallest Iron Structure real Eiffel Tower in Paris, France (the exclusive LEGO set is 1:300 scale).

 

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collectors’ Series Millennium Falcon (75192) – Largest commercially available LEGO Set overall (7,541 pieces); based on the iconic starship from the Star Wars franchise.

 

LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309) – non-record-holding set, but based on record-holder for Largest rocket and Most powerful rocket by lift capacity (ever) the Saturn V rocket, which also contains the Most powerful single-chamber liquid-fuelled rocket engine

 

LEGO Statue of Liberty (3450) – non-record-holding set, but based on record-holder for Heaviest statue (27,156 tons) the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, New York City.

 

LEGO Wright Flyer (10124)– non-record-holding set, but based on historical record-holder for First Power-Driven Flight by Wright Brothers on their Flyer at Kitty Hawk, 1903.

 

With that out of the way, Guinness Book of World Records 2019 is now offering their readers a chance to win an actual LEGO Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon set (75192), known for its incredible difficulty of acquisition during its heyday. Interested participants can visit the GWR page for the LEGO UCS Falcon contest, answer the trivia question, over there, and enter the required information.

Only site visitors from the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland can participate in this promo, and it lasts only until Friday, October 19 at 11:59:59 PM BST. Better hurry!

First Look at Rex Dangervest from The LEGO Movie 2

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More details are coming in about The LEGO Movie 2 as we enter the last quarter of the year. Thanks to Amazon UK, we are now introduced to one of the new minifigure characters of the franchise. A new LEGO Movie 2 tie-in book entitled Little Library has just been listed via Amazon’s UK portal, and we have a first look at our new LEGO character, Rex Dangervest.

Rex joins Lucy, Emmet, Unikitty and the rest of the gang as a cool archaeologist off in a mission to save the world. Based on his rugged look, I say that he might be the film’s smart, cool guy – a sort of an alter ego for the always optimistic, but hopelessly naive Emmet Brickowski.

It will be interesting to hear a conversation between Rex and Emmet considering that both of them are voiced by none other than Chris Pratt. It’s also reasonable to assume that we will see Rex Dangervest included in one of the fifteen (15) or so LEGO Movie 2 sets said to be revealed by next year. For the record, we already have our first wave of set reveals from The LEGO Movie  2 theme which were announced just in time for the San Diego Comic Con. There’s also a LEGO Movie 2 Collectible Minifigure Series rumored to be released by February next year in line with the film, so that’s something to watch out for as well.

Here’s a quick rundown of the book’s description courtesy of Amazon UK.

The LEGO Movie 2 Little Library

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT COULDN’T GET AWESOMER… Get to know Emmet, Lucy, Rex and Unikitty!

Remember when everything was awesome? Now get ready for even bigger, awesomer and more action-packed adventures with Emmet and all his very best brick friends from THE LEGO MOVIE!

This super awesome mini library has four stories of the main characters from the film: Emmet, Lucy, Rex and Unikitty.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part will hit US theaters on February 8, 2019.

Thanks to the Brick Fanz for the heads up.

New LEGO Christmas Box (40292) Gift With Purchase Set Announced

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The LEGO Store November Calendar in China has made its way online, and it gives us a glimpse of our next limited edition, seasonal gift with purchase (GWP) set just in time for the holidays. Bouwsteentjes has shared an image of the said calendar, and with it comes the reveal of the LEGO Christmas Box (40292).

As you can see, there are also other familiar promotions such as the rumored microscaled LEGO Harry Potter Diagon Alley (40289) which we will talk later on, and the LEGO Minifigure Collector Frame (5005359). However, the most noticeable and appealing of all is the new LEGO Christmas Box (40292). Similar to the concept and design of Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures (75952), the LEGO Christmas Box features a holiday-themed vignette cleverly hidden inside a gift box. The build itself has a removable lid and opens at the middle to reveal a cozy, indoor holiday winter scene.

Being a limited edition promotional gift with purchase set, it should be expected that limited quantities will be available once this is offered at the end of the month. I’m not quite sure if it will also follow the same time frame in the US and the rest of the world, but you can bet that it will come in limited quantities.

If we read it right, the LEGO Store November Calendar from China also mentions a specific number of the LEGO Christmas Box sets that will be given away. If that is the case, then better expect that this set will surely go out fast.

I love the idea behind a surprise build, similar to the recently announced LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book (21315). It’s those little surprises that make a LEGO set extra special, even more as it comes as a limited edition, seasonal set.  I just hope that LEGO will upload its official images soon so we can have a better look.

So what do you think about the LEGO Christmas Box (40292)? Do you think it’s worth the trip to your LEGO Store or that additional purchase online? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book (21315) Officially Revealed

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After releasing a video teaser a few of days ago, LEGO has officially revealed the LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book (21315) now listed at LEGO Shop@Home. Based from the original product idea of Jason Allemann and Grant Davis, the Pop-Up Book is the very first of its kind where it features a pop-up build that tells two classic fairy tales in one set, nicely rendered in LEGO bricks. Gorgeous both inside and out, the LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book comes in dark green and red colors and unique, printed parts. I wasn’t sure before if those were actual printed parts and I was even inclined to think that they were stickers instead. As it is, LEGO went the extra mile of coming up with a new Once Upon a Brick printed tile and even had the names of Allemann and Davis printed on brown 1×8 tiles. I feel this is a good start for future LEGO Ideas sets where fan designers get recognized through the actual set by having a special, commemorative LEGO piece dedicated to them and included in each set.

Read on for the official product description for the LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book (21315) which will be available to starting November 1 at all LEGO brand stores and at shop.LEGO.com.

LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book (21315)

859 pieces; $69.99

Enjoy 2 classic fairy tales with this brick-mazing pop-up LEGO® book!

Build, play and display the classic fairy tales Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk with LEGO® Ideas 21315 Pop-up Book! This first-ever buildable pop-up book made from LEGO bricks opens to reveal the famous scene of grandmother’s forest cottage featuring opening door, bed and kitchen area. Recreate the scene when Little Red Riding Hood meets the wolf or swap out grandmother’s cottage for the scene of the giant’s castle in the clouds. This collectible toy features enough bricks to build both scenes or you can even build a scene of your own and makes a perfect creative gift. This LEGO set includes a booklet with a short history of pop-up books, a condensed history of each fairy tale in the set, as well as information about its fan designers and LEGO designers.

  • Includes 4 new-for-November-2018 LEGO® minifigures: Little Red Riding Hood, Grandmother, the Wolf, and the Giant. Also includes 1 new-for-November-2018 microfigure: Jack.
  • First pop-up book in LEGO history features 2 different LEGO fairy tale stories: Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk.
  • Build and display or recreate your own stories from 2 classic fairy tales with this imagination toy.
  • This LEGO® Ideas set features enough bricks to build both fairy tales in the set or you can even build your own scene.
  • Includes a booklet featuring building instructions, a brief history of pop-up books, a short history of the 2 fairy tales in the set, plus information about this amazing classic fairy tale’s fan designers and LEGO® designers.
  • Pop-up book measures over 7” (20cm) long and 5” (13cm) wide when closed, and over 11” (28cm) wide when open.

 

London LEGO-Themed “Brick Bar” for AFOLs Accepting Bookings for 2019 Pop-Up Opening

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Way back at the start of this year, a pop-up establishment momentarily operated in Australia that drew the interest of AFOLs looking for a place to have a cold drink while indulging in their brick-building hobby. While it has no official connections to The LEGO Group, the titular Brick Bar was a hit due to being built out of millions of bricks, with loose pieces available for their customers’ perusal.

Several months later, news has come that the Brick Bar pop-up concept is ready to rock a new country, this time the UK in London. It’ll run for just three days with only ticket access allowed for any interested guests.

From April 26 to 28 next year, the Brick Bar will be serving drinks and offering LEGO pieces for play fun at its proposed pop-up location in Shoreditch, London. Patrons will get to appreciate the various brick-built sculpture designs inside the venue (the LEGO name isn’t mentioned in the premises for legal purposes).

Guests are freed to build and customize the bricks in the bar, while listening to local DJs doing their sets and tucking in for food and drinks. Creative builders may also get to win prizes from staff.

The Brick Bar in London will likely follow its Australian incarnation by being open morning to evening. Under-18s are allowed in only until 6 PM to leave the place for grownups and AFOLs as it gets dark. The first batch of 500 tickets (£20-£25 per head) for access to the bar are available for advance booking now, with each ticket allowing 90 minutes in the establishment to dine and play. Food items include Brick Burgers, and beverage selections will have cocktails and alcohol coming out at 6 in the evening.

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