It began with a team of cyclists last week who set out to do something, not because it was easy but because it would be hard. Technically the real origin was with a fundraising drive initiated by the UK’s Fairy Bricks charity, though the real meat was the bike race spectacle and ordeal, from London to LEGO House in Billund, Denmark. The Bikes to Billund charity ride spearheaded by Brickset and Fairy Bricks started last Friday, braving the windstorm season to cross the sea and continue the trip along the European mainland towards Billund, Denmark. They finally arrived at their destination on Thursday, September 27.
Following a journey of 975 kilometers, the six-man charity bike team would be pleased enough to arrive at their destination without incident and on time. But more than that, they were welcomed at LEGO House by the big boss of LEGO, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen himself, who graciously posed with the team for a commemorative photo marking the occasion.
With their task completed, the Bikes to Billund cyclists will be staying awhile to participate in the slate of various LEGO fan activities in the country, such as Skærbæk Fan Weekend on Saturday and Sunday.
In the meantime, the Fairy Bricks fundraising page for Bikes to Billund remains active, clocking now at about 33% of the charity’s goal. It won’t close until December, so generous LEGO fans who enjoyed following the whole Bikes to Billund experience can still donate now. Those who did donate during the duration of the ride now stand a chance to win several copies of Daenerys, the Fairy Bricks charity van.
As this last week of September draws to a close, The LEGO Group has sprung a surprise from out of nowhere with the announcement of LEGO Forma, a new line of hybrid material construction sets featuring slim Technic-like internal framework with foil outer “skins”, a pilot project on crowd-sourcing service Indiegogo.
While the LEGO fandom is oohing over the initial batch of aquatic-themed LEGO Forma sets, our fellow news source Brick Fanatics has hit upon a discovery from the past, a short-lived and long-discontinued LEGO product line that seems to be an earlier take on the combined-material gimmick of Forma.
Its name was LEGO MUJI, a regional product line that was primarily introduced by LEGO Japan into its local market back in 2009. The premise is somewhat the same – LEGO constructs “dressed up” in sheet coverings – but the inner workings are regular LEGO pieces and the coverings are made of paper.
A LEGO MUJI set typically comprises bricks, tiles and regular elements to build into various shapes, and a booklet of paper patterns and decals to cut out and punch holes into, to then put on the brick builds. Blank construction papers are also included to encourage builders to make paper coverings of their own design.
By comparison, LEGO Forma looks to be geared towards much older builders by virtue of its more complex and intricate brick pieces, and the use of foil rather than paper. Even the product reactions diverge, with a lukewarm reception for MUJI compared to the hot attention being given to Forma.
Perhaps LEGO Forma, if the positive reception can translate into sales, can revive the general concept of adding other construction material to LEGO components to create a remarkable work of art unlike what can be usually seen in other sets. It may have been developed completely independently from Japan’s LEGO MUJI, but common design elements seem to recur in new LEGO themes from the past.
In the meantime, the first four LEGO Forma sets will soon be available from Indiegogo.
LEGO clearly knows how to make our mornings a bit more surprising. Early today, LEGO has announced a new line of building sets that specifically targets adult fans of LEGO. Dubbed as LEGO FORMA, this is the first ever LEGO set that is promoted and launched on the Indiegogo crowdsourcing platform. The idea behind the project is supposedly to see if such an open approach to innovation will be an effective means of gauging AFOLs’ interest for future sets. But perhaps beyond being an experimental marketing tool, the selling point of the LEGO FORMAis its potential of being a means for adult fans of LEGO to express their creative side in a more unstructured way.
As a first in the series, this planned LEGO FORMA sets are composed of the following aquatic animals:
LEGO FORMA Koi (81000)
LEGO FORMA Shark Skin (81001)
LEGO FORMA Splash Koi Skin (81002)
LEGO FORMA Ink Koi Skin (81003)
The notable features of these builds are their interchangeable skins, particularly among the three Koi Fish variants. The Ink Koi Skin on the other hand allows you to color your own unique Koi, very similar to how you do it on a coloring page for adults. The pieces that come with the LEGO FORMA are derived from Technic parts composed of gears and axles that give the set a fluid, swimming motion when you turn the lever at the base of the build.
The LEGO FORMA Koi base set (81000) will be available through Indiegogo for a selling price of $45, while the Shark and other Koi variants will be offered for $15 each. There’s also a LEGO FORMA Super Box where you can get all the aquatic models for a retail price of $85.
Here’s a video demonstrating this newest LEGO theme, followed by the LEGO Group’s official press release. So what do you think of the LEGO FORMA? Do you think it will be a hit among LEGO fans? We have until January next year to find out.
LEGO® CREATIVE PLAY LAB TAKES PILOT PROJECT TO INDIEGOGO FOR OPEN INNOVATION
The LEGO Group embraces open innovation as it looks to test the new LEGO® FORMA product and build other play experiences via pilots.
September 27, Billund – Rather than concealing its new innovations inside its Creative Play Lab, the LEGO Group today announced a new strategic approach that will help foster open innovation and test ideas and concept experiences through pilot projects, the first being LEGO® FORMA on Indiegogo.
A series of pilots are being planned to run in various locations and formats over the coming year to float new ideas, crowdsource others, and receive real-time feedback from consumers to evaluate whether concepts should be developed and scaled.
Over time, this more transparent approach to product development is hoped to de-risk and accelerate innovation by validating and iterating new ideas, helping to fast-track the time that new products go to market and not least to pave way for unique product launches that sit outside normal procedures and reach new audiences.
Tom Donaldson, Vice President of LEGO Creative Play Lab, says: “Continuing to push our innovation approach means nurturing ideas that we don’t always know the outcome of, encouraging risk-taking and finding new exiting ways to launch products that are a bit different compared to what you would normally see from the LEGO Group. Pilots such as LEGO FORMA with Indiegogo open up an engaged and creative community that we can take inspiration from, and vice versa.”
The first of these pilots is a collaboration with Indiegogo Enterprise, where an entirely new product, LEGO FORMA, will be tested among a 10 million strong community of early adopters, entrepreneurs, makers and creatives on Indiegogo’s online platform.
The fertile ground of Indiegogo Enterprise will be used to provide real-time insights and real-world validation of LEGO FORMA, which is a model based on the LEGO® Technic building system designed for adults looking for creative activities. Inspired by nature, LEGO FORMA aspires to be a new theme where you can customise with different ‘skins’ – foil sheets – to create artistic interpretations of plants and animals.
Kari Vinther, Senior Marketing Manager and Head of Creative Play Lab Pilots Says: “LEGO FORMA is more of a creative project than a toy, and more about display than play. The young adults we speak to tell us they still feel the urge to be creative and enjoy the physical experience of making stuff – but life seems to get in the way. We want to help them rediscover the joy of building that children possess and unleash their imaginations for a couple of hours. We can’t wait to hear what people think and look forward to sharing some of the decisions that will be made along the journey based on consumer input.”
The product launches with one model of a fish with a variety of skins available, so it can change colour, species and even take on entirely new forms, unleashing the creativity of the maker. The model takes a couple of hours to complete and helps adults reconnect with their innate urge to be creative and encourages us all to prioritise recreational time.
Created as a limited short-run batch only, the pilot is primarily designed to learn whether there is an appetite and market for the product, more so than driving revenue.
Natasha Raja, VP of Marketing at Indiegogo adds: “Our platform brings some of the most efficient techniques used for startup research and open innovation to companies like the LEGO Group, who through our collaboration will be able to iterate and validate product offerings in real-time, with real users and real transactions.
16 concept skins were explored before selecting the four final skins
The model and different skins have been tested among adult consumer focus groups, fans from the LEGO Ambassador Network and LEGO employees outside the project team
The LEGO FORMA project team consists of four people. Kari, Anne, Harald & Mikkel
The extended project team consists of 25+ people
Harald, the designer of the model, is left handed which is reflected in the way you turn the handle
This is the first time the LEGO Group works with a crowdfunding platform
Creative Play Lab works from four different locations: Billund, Singapore, London and Los Angeles
91% of adults say play is good for their own wellbeing*
86% of adults say play helps them de-stress and unwind*
87% of adults say construction toys such as the LEGO bricks help them be creative*
76% of adults say construction toys such as the LEGO bricks appeal more to them than other forms of play*
The US is LEGO’s biggest market, bar none. That’s what many would say accounting for the massive number of branded LEGO Stores in the country now – more than any other individual nation. And they just keep on increasing, as will be seen soon enough just over a month from now. Greenville, South Carolina; Metairie, Louisiana and Albany, New York have LEGO branded stores set to open sometime this November, adding to the near-hundred number already open in North America. And they’re not the only ones. Louisville, Kentucky has one too, and it’s first LEGO brand store is opening at the same time as the others.
Oxmoor Mall in Louisville will soon have the honor of being home to the first LEGO Brand Store in the State of Kentucky. It will open at the mall space formerly occupied by the local Coach store, according to Oxmoor spokesperson Lindsay Kahn.
“We are very excited to introduce Kentucky’s first LEGO to the market,” says Kahn. “They are an iconic brand and will be a great addition to our mix of tenants.” It’s a boon to Louisville LEGO fans too; before that, the nearest LEGO brand stores to the city were in neighboring states.
With this, the month of November really is shaping up to be “New LEGO Store Month” in the US, further cementing the toy brand’s prominence in the country while picking up the slack from the loss of longtime retail partner Toys ‘R’ Us. They also make for a great prelude to the future opening of LEGOLAND New York in 2020.
There have been lots of injured animal recovery stories that involved creating artificial wheeled supports for them so they can have a certain degree of mobility. Usually these are four-legged critters that lost a hind limb but could now walk and run, thanks to a custom LEGO wheelchair.
Staff at the Maryland Zoo have hit upon a LEGO solution to help in the therapy of a wild Eastern Box Turtle that was found in Druid Hill Park, Maryland, and taken to the zoo hospital. The said turtle had several breaks on his plastron – the bottom part of his shell – and following surgery he need a way to get around while keeping his healing plastron suspended. And a custom LEGO wheelchair specifically designed for the turtle is the best solution for that.
Maryland Zoo veterinary extern Garrett Fraess drew sketches of an animal wheelchair just the right size for the turtle, then sent them to a LEGO builder acquaintance for assembly. Weeks after the turtle’s operation, the brick-built wheelchair was fitted to him – plumber’s putty being used to secure the frame to his upper shell – and finally the box turtle has an upper harness elevating his recovering plastron, while keeping his legs free to move himself about.
Dr. Ellen Bronson, Marylan Zoo’s senior director of animal health, conservation, and research, explains the complexities of helping the wounded Eastern box turtle, a common species in the Maryland wilderness. “Turtles heal much slower than mammals and birds, since their metabolism is slower,” she said “So, this turtle will likely use his custom LEGO wheelchair through the winter and into the spring until all of the fragments have fused together and the shell has completely healed.”
Earlier this month we were treated to a showcase demonstration of the most absolute potential in LEGO brick building. That was realized in the life-sized accurate and functional brick-built replica of the celebrated Bugatti Chiron. It doesn’t run as fast as the real one, but it runs nonetheless using a staggering array of Power Functions motors. We’ve seen how LEGO Technic elements went into reproducing a Bugatti Chiron, but an uber LEGO fan from Queensland, Australia is challenging that achievement. With the help of volunteers, he constructed his own LEGO brick-built camper trailer based on a 1973 Viscount Royal caravan, and he got a Guinness World Record title for it.
Using a wide variety of LEGO pieces and elements amounting to almost 300,000 individual components, avid mobile camper and LEGO builder Ben Craig (plus assistants) took some 530 hours total over a five-month period to assemble his custom LEGO brick-built camper trailer. Glue (70 liters of it) was needed to strengthen the structure.
Amazingly, almost everything in the camper trailer is made of LEGO bricks, from the double bed to the side seats and square table to the cabinets and stove-oven. It has real electric lights and actual running water comes out of the LEGO faucet into the sink; now that’s attention to replicating details.
For their work, Ben Craig’s team got the official Guinness World Record the “largest LEGO caravan”. They beat the previous record holder by about 73,472 bricks.
Currently, Craig’s custom LEGO brick-built camper trailer is parked for display at the Brisbane Holiday Village at Eight Mile Plains for tourists there to snap pictures of. But soon it’ll be going on a grand Australia tour courtesy of Top Parks so more people can see it. Watch this video from Inside Edition to see how this world breaking feat was created.
Though considered a rumor which circulated last month across the LEGO fan community, we can finally rest our horses and be assured that theLEGO Creator Expert Vestas Wind Turbine (10268) will be available to all starting Black Friday on November 23. This latest LEGO Creator Expert re-release is based from the original 4999 set that had a very limited run when it was launched ten years ago. Similar to another re-release such as the LEGO Creator Expert Taj Mahal (10256), this newer iteration of the Vestas Wind Turbine (10268) is a direct copy of its predecessor, save for a few additional pieces.
LEGO is staying true to its advocacy of promoting sustainability not only through promoting renewable clean energy, but also raising awareness in using plant-based materials in its next generation of LEGO bricks. The LEGO Creator Expert Vestas Wind Turbine (10268) is the first LEGO set to be offered to the public that uses its new plants-based, Plants for Plants tree elements, practically replacing those from its older counterpart.
Read on for LEGO’s official press release, followed by an image gallery of the new Vestas Wind Turbine (10268). For a full product description, please visit shop.LEGO.com and be sure to check on the website again on November 23 when the set goes live for online purchase.
OUT OF THE VAULT & available soon to fans – The NEW LEGO Creator Expert VestasWind Turbine (10268)
The first-time consumers can purchase a LEGO set featuring new ‘Plants from Plants’ elements – made from plant-based plastic sourced from sugarcane
A key collaboration between the LEGO Group and Vestas®, the world leader in sustainable energy solutions
Through investments in wind power the LEGO Group balances 100% of the energy used to make LEGO bricks with energy from renewable sources.
Available from Black Friday (November 23rd)
[26th September 2018] While the world-renowned New York Climate Week (24 – 30 September) is live, the LEGO Group has today unveiled the latest LEGO Creator Expert set to come ‘Out of the Vault’ – Vestas® Wind Turbine following popular demand of the original and to celebrate play, creativity and imagination whilst also raising awareness about sustainability and renewable energy in partnership with Vestas®. This is the very first set available to purchase that features one of the all-new sustainably sourced plant-based plastic LEGO elements, Plants from Plants. This renewable energy focused set will be available directly in LEGO Stores and shop.LEGO.com this Black Friday (23rd November 2018).
The LEGO Creator Expert Vestas® Wind Turbine has been designed in partnership with the sets’ namesake and world’s leading provider of sustainable energy solutions, Vestas®, who have installed 65,000 wind turbines in around 80 countries.
The 826-piece model stands nearly a meter-high towering over a wooded hill, featuring the new ‘Plants from Plants’ spruce tree. Made from plant-based plastic sourced from sugarcane, the inclusion of these elements is part of the first steps in the LEGO Group’s ambition to use sustainable materials in products by 2030 and packaging by 2025.
This latest instalment in the LEGO Creator Expert Series has been designed to provide a challenging and rewarding building experience with a touch of nostalgia, with builders discovering a house complete with a furnished patio and a working porch light and powered wind turbine, as well as three LEGO Vestas® servicemen Minifigures and a LEGO dog.
The set measures 100cm high, 72cm wide and 31cm deep and features adjustable wind blades (not as big as the real thing of course, which measures more than 2m longer than a London double-decker bus, but impressive none the least), detailed tower, movable nacelle with aircraft warning lights and power functions to automate the set.
The LEGO Vestas® Wind Turbine celebrates creativity in addition to the LEGO Group’s commitment to making a positive impact on the environment. Through investment in wind power the LEGO Group balances 100% of the energy used to make LEGO bricks with energy from renewable sources.
Tim Brooks, Vice President, Environmental Responsibility at LEGO Group commented: “We strive to make a positive impact on the environment and are committed to climate action and to use sustainable materials in products and packaging. This wind turbine celebrates our first steps in bringing these ambitions to life and we hope it will inspire builders to learn about renewable energy. In August we released the first
LEGO elements made from plants and now our fans around the world can buy a LEGO set containing these unique elements.”
Morten Dyrholm, Group Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs at Vestas® said: “Today, wind energy is the cheapest source of energy in many markets, which have made wind turbines a sustainability icon across the globe and we are proud to partner with the LEGO Group on this relaunch. The original Vestas® wind turbine LEGO model was specially created for Vestas® to promote wind energy to a small audience within energy and as such, today’s relaunch to the global LEGO community tells the story of how wind energy have gone from niche to mainstream, not just within energy but the entire world.”
The LEGO Creator Expert Vestas® Wind Turbine is the latest in the Creator Expert line of products and will be available to buy on Black Friday (23rd Nov) directly from LEGO Stores and shop.LEGO.com.
Available directly from LEGO Stores & shop.LEGO.com from 23rd November
This past Monday began the last stretch of the CBS sitcom that, from 2007, has managed to endear itself to television audiences: The Big Bang Theory. September 24 was the premiere of the show’s twelfth and final season, and promises to (figuratively) go out like the explosion in its title. Why are we talking about this? That’s because part of the plot for S12 – Episode 1 of The Big Bang Theory offers a big shout-out to LEGO. The reference can’t get any louder when the episode starts with Sheldon (Jim Parsons) greeting Amy (Mayim Bialik) in the morning with a custom LEGO brickfast in bed.
Oh yes – the plate on Sheldon’s hand contained the usual custom LEGO brickfast of AFOL Champions: with bacon, eggs and pancakes made entirely of LEGO bricks, as confirmed by Bialik in her blog, mentioning that it was probably put together by an anonymous production staff builder.
That’s not the end of it though. Recall that Sheldon and Amy are on honeymoon at this point, and they’re going to have it at…wait for it…LEGOLAND Resort New York! Funny thing is that the theme park on Goshen, NY shouldn’t be open until 2020. And the visit’s off-screen, too.
LEGO and The Big Bang Theory have been in a real awesome partnership ever since LEGO Ideas churned out a (now-retired) set based on the sitcom (21302). Then in 2017 the show along with some of its fellow Warner Bros. TV productions received brick-built billboards courtesy of LEGO. That’s cool.
Here’s hoping we get more TBBT-LEGO shenanigans before the sitcom’s grand finale sometime next year.
Every two years the greatest professional golfers from the United States and Europe band together to compete for the Ryder Cup, a prestigious competition that pits American and European teams for golfing glory on either side of the Atlantic. The latest Cup will take place at Guyancourt, Île-de-France over the weekend, and Denmark is celebrating. The reason for that is Thomas Bjørn, the first Danish golfer elected to be captain of Team Europe for the Ryder Cup. The country is jubilant enough, but the LEGO Group has plans to do more than cheer. They’re paying tribute to Bjørn with an appropriate a giant, brick-built Ryder Cup Trophy.
Let’s look at the statistics. This giant, brick-built Ryder Cup trophy was built by LEGO master builders out of 169,397 bricks over a period of 264 hours. The finished construct is an impressive 2.38 meters tall. Captain Bjørn of Team Europe also got to see it.
“As a Dane, I am proud of one of my country’s most famous exports – the LEGO brick,” said Thomas Bjørn during the unveiling. He is confident that LEGO’s tribute to him and the golf competition he will be leading Europe’s finest to will inspire both golfers and sports-minded LEGO fans.
The Ryder Cup trophy built by LEGO is on display at West Championship Village for the whole Ryder Cup week, and visitors who want to snap a selfie with the brick monolith can do so after donating to the European Tour Foundation charity.
LEGO Retail Model Production VP Rasmus Dunn also remarked on The LEGO Group’s pride for Bjørn’s honor and duty, as well as their token of commemoration for his accomplishment. “This represents a huge effort from the team and we hope it will add to the Ryder Cup spectacle this week,” he said.
LEGO holds such a universal appeal to so many people around the world that fan events are almost guaranteed every month somewhere. Of course, some of these occasions are more prominent than others, such as Skærbæk Fan Weekend on LEGO’s own home country of Denmark this weekend.
Skærbæk is a truly international event that’s frequented annually by hundreds of AFOLs from over 25 countries that have taken LEGO into their hearts. Held in the small town from which the event itself takes its name (80 miles south of LEGO-town Billund), its two days of official events that will be preceded by other events as early as Thursday.
One such advance event prior to the main Skærbæk Fan Weekend is a big AFOL party back in Billund, at LEGO House. That’s the very same place that serves as the goal for the almost-concluded Bikes to Billund charity race by Brickset and Fairy Bricks.
The bike team is on scheduled to arrive at LEGO House on Thursday, September 27. Not only will they be in time for the party but that they might also be greeted there by a special guest invited by LEGO.
But the real meat of the festivities will be at Skærbæk Fan Weekend on September 29 and 30. Registrations for the event have long closed but it’s already guaranteed to be a blast for the entirety of the LEGO fan community there.
