2018 LEGO Seasonal Christmas Ornaments Revealed

Hot on the heels of the LEGO Seasonal Christmas Carousel (40293) reveal, we now have our first official images of the this year’s series of LEGO Seasonal Christmas Ornaments as shared once again by the LEGO Certified Store Network in Russia. This collection of Christmas Tree ornaments follow the tradition of previously released buildable holiday decors consisting of microbuilds inside a clear, transparent sphere. As of this posting, there are three 2018 Christmas Ornaments that are currently known: A Christmas Ornament Penguin (853796), Christmas Ornament Presents (853815), and Christmas Ornament Train (853810). As you can see, these are now listed for sale in Russian LEGO certified stores, and we can expect these to be available in US LEGO Stores starting October 1, retailing for $7.99 like those from previous years.

LEGO Christmas Ornament Penguin (853796)

37 pieces; $7.99

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LEGO Christmas Ornament Presents (853815)

50 pieces; $7.99

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LEGO Christmas Ornament Train (853810)

50 pieces; $7.99

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These latest LEGO seasonal Christmas ornaments follow the likes of the Christmas Ornament Snowman (853670), Christmas Ornament Reindeer (853574), Christmas Ornament Holiday Bauble (851358), and Christmas Ornament Winter Hut (850949) from previous years.

 

Image credits: Mir-Kubikov and Brickset

LEGO Ideas Announces 10 Project Qualifiers for its Second 2018 LEGO Ideas Review Stage

The Second 2018 LEGO Ideas Review Stage has finally drawn to a close, and with it are 10 qualifying projects that will pass through the intense scrutiny of the LEGO Ideas Design Team to become the next official LEGO Ideas Set. The deadline for reaching the 10K fan votes ended at 12AM of September 3 (CET) with the last finalist, the custom Mexico City Architecture set, being the last qualifier to join. These are the projects that were able to gather the support of 10,000 fans from May 2018 to September 2018. So let’s look back once again and see what sets the LEGO Ideas Review Team will deliberate about. From us here in the Brick Show Team, congratulations to all the finalists!

  1. SpaceX Falcon Heavy by khehmeyer

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  1. International Space Station by XCLD

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  1. SpaceX – The Ultimate Collection by Matthew Nolan& Whatsuptoday

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  1. Steamboat Willie by szabomate90

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  1. M&M’s Chocolate Candy Dispenser by EDxAS

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  1. Rolls-Royce UltraFan® – The Ultimate Jet Engine by DanCodd

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  1. Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Lego Speed Champions by AbFab1974

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  1. Fiat 500 Fby saabfan & zannotti

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  1. The Central Perk Coffee of Friends by Mric76

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10. Mexico City & LEGO = ♥ by LegoFan_506

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While this new batch of LEGO Ideas review stage qualifiers are now awaiting their turn to be reviewed by the LEGO Ideas Design Team, the result of their First 2018 LEGO Ideas Review Stage is about to be announced anytime soon. We are proud to have Tyler’s LEGO Ideas Stitch project to be considered as one of the finalists in this group, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed to see if we will see an actual brick-built Stitch anytime soon.

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LEGO Shop@Home Offering a Free Minifigure Display Frame this October

For LEGO fans that focus their collecting efforts on minifigures, they might be wondering how best to showcase their fave minifig characters on display. LEGO has answered that in the form of the minifigure display frame, a framed sturdy LEGO mat with brick-built perches for minifigures to stand on, for hanging on walls, or a portrait stand, or on flat surfaces. The LEGO Group has already offered a similar minifigure display frame for both the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and LEGO Batman Movie themes. If these are too “branded” for your taste, however, then this new promotional item on shop.LEGO.com this October is for you.

From the 15th to 31st of next month, LEGO will be offering a free minifigure display frame for shoppers with a minimum LEGO purchase of $75. This promotional gift features a gray display mat with a black border frame, white minifigure perches and 2×2 LEGO tile-logo in the corner.

This LEGO Minifigure Display Frame also seem to come with a summery minifigure with shades, white tank top, shorts and duck-head life-preserver. There are 16 minifigure perches in the set and the mat pegs can also support LEGO brick builds. Supply is also limited, so get ready to pounce this coming October.

Custom Mexico City Architecture Set Joins the LEGO Ideas Second 2018 Review Stage

A new product idea on the LEGO Ideas platform has received the coveted 10,000 supporters needed to be eligible for Review, and with its addition to the Second LEGO Ideas 2018 Review Stage, that batch of 10K-ers has become well and truly varied distinction. Much like the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 submission by AbFab1974, intended to join the established Speed Champions line, this product idea by Francisco Escobar (aka LegoFan_506) was designed in the convention of another LEGO product lineup. This custom Mexico City Architecture set now joins the rank of other projects that are eligible for the LEGO Ideas Second 2018 Review Stage.

LegoFan_506 replicated four (technically five) important landmarks in his custom Mexico City Architecture. These includes: the Angel of Independence statue on pillar, National Palace plus Constitution Plaza, Fine Arts Palace, and Latin-American Tower. Here’s what Francisco has to say about his product submission.

Each building I chose not only represents the most iconic structures at Mexico City but also different periods of time, culture and historic moments. They involve from the pre Conquest Period to modern times:

  • Constitution Plaza or “Zócalo” (since the time of the Aztecs). The People and Tradition. The heart and symbol of Mexico and its people. It´s Main Square is where countless persons join to celebrate events or festivities around Mexico flag.
  • National Palace (1522-1526). Union, Leadership. Headquarters of the federal executive in Mexico. It represents importance of the meeting of cultures, the blending of Spanish and Aztec.
  • Angel of Independence (1900-1910). Independence and love for their country. An iconic monument that represents the heroic struggle of Mexican people to decide and make their own path in the world.
  • Latin-American Tower (1948 – 1956). Leadership, hard work, and innovation. The once tallest building in Iberoamerica, it points out the achievements of Mexico hard work and role in the world.Palacio de Bellas Artes or “Fine Arts Palace” (1904-1934). The best expression of culture and arts in Mexico. It is a symbol of the incredibly rich Mexican culture and its arts contribution.

Francisco Escobar’s custom Mexico City Architecture set product idea is the last 10K passer to get into the LEGO Ideas Second 2018 Review Stage. It’s in strong competition from other 10K entries that include various space sets, to car models, and more.

LEGO Aims for Wide Adoption of Sustainable Plastic Materials by 2030

One of the principles and guiding words for The LEGO Group’s future direction with regards to its business is “sustainability”. From the energy used to run their infrastructure, to the very material they use in their LEGO bricks and other related products, the company’s working to make using sustainable sources their watchword. With regards to sustainable materials, LEGO has made a significant inroad with their special set Plants from Plants (40320), using plant-derived plastics rather than petroleum-based. The LEGO Group has deemed it successful enough to announce steps towards a full implementation of eco-friendly, sustainable plastic materials, across their products by the year 2030.

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The LEGO Group is well aware that their factories around the world have an annual carbon dioxide emission of a million ton, coming from raw materials used in production like petroleum plastics. Seeing how sustainable plastic materials worked for a single set, the company has begun hiring more people to do further research on plastic-alternatives, with investments worth 1 billion kroner (over $100 million).

“We need to learn again how to do this,” remarked LEGO production supervisor Henrik Ostergaard Nielson, from the company’s main product factory in Billund, Denmark. As long as the new sustainable materials result in LEGO pieces that connect snugly yet separate easily, it’s all good.

Already, the LEGO Group has been pleased at meeting some of its sustainability targets, such as the pledge to utilize renewable energy in their factories, reached last year while the goal was for 2020. Let’s see how they go about a wider use of sustainable plastic materials in the future.

 

Source: Evening Standard UK

Here’s What To Watch Out For In LEGO DC Super-Villains Season Pass

It looks Warner Bros Interactive and TT Games are expanding the LEGO DC gaming universe with their latest offering, LEGO DC Super-Villains just in time with the release of Warner Bros’ next superhero films slated for December (Aquaman) and April next year (Shazam!). We know that like previously released LEGO video games, this latest video game offering will also come with a Season Pass which promises a ton of superhero material that DC and LEGO fans will look forward to. Thankfully, WB and TT Games will not keep us guessing on what will be included in the LEGO DC Super-Villains Season Pass since they have fully revealed what to expect from this downloadable content.

LEGO DC Super Villains Season Pass 2

The LEGO DC Super-Villains Season Pass will include a good number of 6 Level Packs and 4 Character Packs, offering a vast array of minifigure superhero and villain characters that can be unlocked and played in the game. They also come with their own levels and story-building missions.  The Character Packs for example, will feature playable minifigure characters based on DC’s TV series such as Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Black Lightning. This is one super powered character pack that is hard to resist.

Level Packs

  • Aquaman Movie Pack 1
  • Aquaman Movie Pack 2
  • Shazam! Movie Pack 1
  • Shazam! Movie Pack 2
  • Batman: The Animated Series
  • Young Justice

Character Packs

  • DC Super-Villains: TV Series
  • DC Super Heroes: TV Series
  • Justice League Dark
  • DC Films

 

The LEGO DC Super-Villains Season Pass is immediately available for those who will opt to pre-order the game’s Deluxe Edition (available across major gaming platforms) before its scheduled release date on October 16. The Deluxe Edition also comes with an exclusive, Lex Luthor physical minifigure for those extra bragging rights.

Thanks to Brick Fanatics for the heads-up.

LEGO Ludo Game (40198) Now Up At LEGO Shop@Home

Last month, we reported on a new LEGO board game that was spotted in a LEGO Store in Berlin. Similar to 2015’s LEGO Pirate Chess (40158) set, the LEGO Ludo Game (40198) comes with a handful of minifigures (16 in all) that can be quite useful for building city-type MOCs and  other similar projects. If you’re looking forward on having this set, then you might be glad to know that LEGO has just listed the LEGO Ludo Game (40198) at shop.LEGO.com. The set comes in at 389 pieces and retails for $39.99. The board itself is pretty nice, with each of the four bases designed to represent a particular season. The set also comes with a rule book and a brick-built spinner, and a base that measure at 9 inches.

LEGO Ludo Game (40198)

40198

Challenge your friends and family to a game of LEGO® Ludo!

Create a classic board game from LEGO® bricks, then bring on the minifigure teams and let the game begin! This fun LEGO Iconic 40198 Ludo Game comes with 16 minifigure players divided into 4 teams and a colorful play area with 4 team bases, each depicting a different season, plus a buildable number spinner. This set also includes easy-to-follow game rules in written and picture form.

  • Includes 16 player minifigures, 4 on each team.
  • Features a buildable Ludo board divided into 4 areas, each depicting a different season, plus a buildable number spinner.
  • Comes with easy-to-follow game rules in written and picture form.
  • Board measures over 9” (25cm) square.

40198 alt1 40198 alt2

 

2018 LEGO Seasonal Christmas Carousel (40293) Revealed

Christmas seems to be around the corner as early as September, specially that LEGO has now started rolling out this year’s wave of holiday-inspired sets. After the reveal of 2018’s LEGO Advent Calendars which are now all available at shop.LEGO.com, we now have a glimpse and confirmation of another seasonal set that will soon be available in our local LEGO Stores. The 2018 LEGO Seasonal Christmas Carousel (40293) has just been revealed by a Russian LEGO certified store. Check out the images below.

40293 1 40293 4 40293 5 40293 3 40293 7 40293 6 40293 2

As we can see from the set’s box art, the Christmas Carousel (40293) is expected to be a limited edition set, following the likes of 2017’s Nutcracker (40254) and 2016’s Snowglobe (40223). Though the Russian LEGO certified store lists the Christmas Carousel for sale, it is most likely to be a gift-with-purchase set once it arrives in the US similar to its predecessors. It also seems to have certain play features that includes a simple rotating mechanism to make the carousel turn. It also has movable gates and removable seats in the form of microbuilds.

We do not have information as of now with regards to its availability, but most probably it will be available sometime in November as part of Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals similar during the previous years.

Create Your Armada of Custom LEGO Pirate Ships With These Building Instructions Now On Sale at Build Better Bricks

What do you get when you bring all the masters of the high seas together aboard a micro-fighter version of their iconic ships? You’ll get no less than a whirlpool of brick-building fun, and now on a much lower cost. Yep you heard it right – Build Better Bricks is currently running a sale where you can get all the building instructions to recreate these chibi-styled custom LEGO pirate ships inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean films, all for a lower price. You can get all four high quality building instructions of these micro-fighter styled ships for a discounted price of up to 20% off. To learn more about this offer, click here.

BUNDLE: CUSTOM LEGO PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN PIRATE SHIPS INSTRUCTIONS – ALL 4 FOR LOWER PRICE

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Get all four of our custom designed LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean ships instructions and parts lists at a lower cost them buying them all individually.

Ships include:

  • The Queen Anne’s Revenge
  • The Black Pearl
  • The Flying Dutchman
  • The Silent Mary

Other than the building instructions to recreate these custom LEGO pirate ships, this bundle also includes a parts list and a Stud.io file for easy uploading and ordering of parts via Bricklink. On the other hand, if you wish to have one of the custom ships delivered at your home without going out of your way of ordering them, then you may want to check out B3’s custom LEGO The Flying Dutchman set complete with the necessary LEGO parts to build it. Happy building!

Even After Losing in Court, Lepin Has Just Released Its Fake LEGO Star Wars Betrayal At Cloud City (75222)

I guess shame and repentance are not in the list of words that Lepin learned in the process of doing business. Because in just less than two weeks after the release of the first Master Builders set, the LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222), Lepin has just released its own counterfeit version of this set and has made it available for sale via online selling platform AliExpress. This is in spite of the fact that the original set is slated to be released on September 13. This shameless act of copying and selling a fake LEGO Star Wars Betrayal At Cloud City (75222) is further magnified by the fact that Chinese courts has already declared Lepin guilty of violating copyright infringement against The LEGO Group.

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LEGO has been actively fighting for its intellectual property rights for the past few years, with one fake LEGO dealer in South Korea receiving a court sentence for selling counterfeit LEGO products. And with its recent win over its legal battle against Lepin, I hope that the full extent of the law will be consistently applied against the copycat company. It hurts LEGO set designers who poured out their ingenuity and creative work in coming up with such excellent sets, and perhaps even more the LEGO fan community who are patiently waiting for the release of these upcoming sets.

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Lepin’s fake LEGO Star Wars Betrayal At Cloud City (75222) now made available online.

So if you’re a true-blue LEGO fan, do not support this kind of blatant copyright violation and be sure to only purchase original LEGO sets from legitimate sources such as your local LEGO Store and at shop.LEGO.com, Thanks to Brick Fanatics for the heads up.