LEGO Attempts To Set A New World Record For The Tallest LEGO Brick Tower in the World

Last January, the local residents of Tel-Aviv, Israel have embarked on a grand project of constructing the world’s tallest brick-built LEGO tower. Still awaiting the final confirmation from Guinness World Records, this tower has been reported to stand stall at a staggering 118 feet. The story behind the construction of this tower is as moving as seeing the actual build itself.

However, it looks like this LEGO-inspired structure will be seeing a contender anytime soon. In celebration of its 50th year of inception, LEGOLAND Billund will be hosting a series of commemorative events to mark the occasion, and one of which is to attempt to break the current world record of creating the tallest LEGO-brick structure there is. From June 26 to 30, visitors of LEGOLAND Billund will have the opportunity of joining in this momentous project by helping in building some parts of the tower. This is a fitting conclusion for this year’s month –long celebration  of the theme park’s golden anniversary. Here’s what LEGOLAND Billund has to say.

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LEGO World Record Tower

26-30 June, 2018

Do you also love building with LEGO® bricks? Then come to LEGOLAND® and help us build the world’s tallest tower. We will need the entire country’s LEGO® builders, if we are to beat the current record, which is of more than 36 meters. We will close the birthday month with this amazing LEGO® event, and we hope that you will come and help us. We believe that we will break the record – but not without you!

If you wish to be a part of this historic event, and to enjoy the many LEGO treats awaiting visitors at LEGOLAND Billund, you may now book your tickets online. You also get to choose among various options of staying for a day or two, or even have it coupled with a visit to the LEGO House for a more one of a kind LEGO experience.

 

WATCH: New LEGO Incredibles Video Game Launch Trailer

The LEGO Incredibles video game is already out, and to celebrate its release in the US (with a UK and Europe release date of July 13), WB Games has uploaded a new, live-action launch trailer that shows video game fun is best experienced together with the rest of the family. Watch this.

As far as the new video game trailer is concerned, this is the first time that we get a glimpse of Jack-Jack’s vast array of powers, and how awesome he can be both offensively and defensively. True to its cinematic roots, Jack-Jack’s video game character has the ability to shape-shift, turning himself to a flame-engulfed super, to an immensely dense, solid steel, walking paper weight. How I wish we can have that chrome plated version of him in minifigure form.

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Disney and Pixar’s Incredibles 2 is now showing in cinemas, and in case you haven’t tried your gaming hands on this latest LEGO video game offering, you can now order your copy of the LEGO Incredibles via Amazon, retailing for $60.

Happy gaming!

2018’s Exclusive LEGO Inside Tour Ferguson Tractor (4000025) Revealed

This year’s LEGO Inside Tour has already concluded its first three runs, with two more slated on September 12 to 14, and 19 to 21. The LEGO Inside Tour is an annual event that provides participating fans with a unique look at the inner workings of the LEGO group, and how a LEGO set is made – from its design, production and distribution, until it reaches store shelves.

To make each LEGO Inside Tour truly memorable, it has been customary for LEGO to giveaway an exclusive LEGO Inside Tour set for every registered participant. These sets are considered ultra rare in a sense that each one of them is specifically numbered – there are only around 80 to 100 box sets released in circulation every year for each particular set. Now that the embargo has been lifted on the reveal of these sets (for the benefit of those registered participants who are still slated to join), we can now take a look at this year’s exclusive LEGO Inside Tour The Ferguson Tractor (4000025) set. Check out the images below, courtesy of Zusammengebaut.

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The Ferguson Tractor (4000025) set is based on one of the iconic wooden toys that LEGO made during its early years as a toy company, alongside its wooden duck, boat, vehicles and other artifacts. It even earned a spot on the Tree of Creativity inside the LEGO House, forever setting it as one of toys that the LEGO Group is built upon.

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In terms of its role and legacy in the life of LEGO as a company, I say that having a brick-built version of the Ferguson Tractor is a pretty good choice of a set. However, in terms of build and design, and coming in at 450 elements, mostly made up of gray colors, I somehow feel that the set’s design could have been better. Last year’s Tree of Creativity (4000024) were packaged in at 1,008 pieces, while 2016’s LEGO Inside Tour set, the LEGO Truck Show (4000022), were offered at 816 pieces.  In my opinion, 2017’s and 2016’s LIT exclusive sets are perhaps the best sets that the LEGO Inside Tour offered as of to date. I love the choice of colors for these sets, and the thoughtful design process that went through them.

If you wish to know more about the LEGO Inside Tour Ferguson Tractor (4000025), Zusammengebaut has an excellent review of this set together with more images of its construction.  So what do you think of this year’s LIT exclusive set? Are you impressed? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Netflix Features the LEGO House Home of the Brick Documentary

Here’s another Netflix-LEGO video to watch together with the family this weekend. The latest Netflix documentary, the LEGO House – Home of the Brick, is now streaming over at the world’s most popular subscription-based video streaming service.  This latest documentary centers on how the famed LEGO House in the heart of Billund was created from the ground up.

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It follows the development of the LEGO House from its concept, groundbreaking, planning, and to its first day of opening. It also featured how this vision of the Home of the Brick was born from Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen’s passion of encapsulating the family legacy, while at the same time, offering a one of a kind LEGO experience to children and adults alike.

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I have seen the documentary already (and I promise, no spoilers ahead) and it is interesting to note the absolute care, and attention to detail and quality that the LEGO Group has poured in making the LEGO House. From hurdling structural challenges to designing the various learning zones, and even planning the meals that will go along inside its robotics-inspired restaurant, the 45-minute documentary traces LEGO’s commitment in providing a truly unique LEGO experience. Seeing how the LEGO House is built to become a testament to the world’s most valuable toy company in its decades of existence, leaves you with a sense of awe and unparalleled admiration towards the LEGO brand. It shows how an almost-bankrupt toy company can rise from a financial quagmire by going back to their roots – the myriad of possibilities contained in a single LEGO brick, and the LEGO House is a spectacular visual reminder of this potential.

If you haven’t seen this documentary, head over to Netflix and subscribe now. And while you’re at it, be sure to check out another Netflix documentary – The Toys That Made Us – that chronicles the humble beginnings of the LEGO Company, and all the highs and lows that they went through to become today’s most valuable toy brand.

 

Will The Rumored LEGO James Bond Set Finally Become Real?

LEGO caused quite a stir in the LEGO community recently with its cryptic post (which is more like a question) about their plans of coming up with a ‘special’ Secret Service model befitting of a top-notch agent. In fact, even British luxury car manufacturer car Aston Martin, and James Bond ‘himself’ joined in the discussions with their respective tweets hinting on the shape of things to come.

From the look of things, LEGO is definitely hinting on a new set that will feature a brick-built model of the classic James Bond vehicle, the Aston Martin DB5. After the teaser announcement, the LEGO fan community were more than thrilled to see the possibility of seeing a next LEGO Creator Expert set focused on this iconic vehicle. Furthermore, this theory is further strengthened by the fact that a particular LEGO Ideas project review stage qualifier did not make it to the cut because of the fact that LEGO has been working on a ‘similar project’. Brickfinder tells us that during the recent LEGO Fan Media Days, LEGO Ideas lead designer Samuel Johnson was kind enough to explain why the third 2017 LEGO Ideas Review qualifier Jaguar E-Type Roadster by Ozzyeatingbats was not considered. It is not because the set is less appealing over the next LEGO Ideas set which is JKBrickworks’ Pop-Up Book, but because as it turned out, LEGO was also developing a set which is much like that of the Jaguar. “It clashed with another product that is coming up”, Johnson disclosed.

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A proposed LEGO Ideas Project 1963 Aston Martin DB5 by fearthepeanut.

Now I’m not quite sure if this is a single, one time D2C set under the LEGO Creator Expert theme (though most signs point towards that possibility), or maybe it could be a start of a new line of LEGO James Bond sets which if you remember, was rumored to be a part of the now discontinued LEGO Dimensions theme. Now that LEGO’s toys-to-life arm is essentially dead, and that LEGO has teased on this Aston Martin set, the obvious question in every LEGO fan’s mind is, are we going to see a LEGO James Bond minifigure that will go along with this iconic vehicle? In retrospect, could there be some weight in those rumors that we heard last year about a LEGO James Bond set, or something close to that? Though the rumor was dismissed as a hoax by some of the most prominent names in the LEGO community who claims to have insider info, I couldn’t help but think that this recent development may actually give some credence to what we heard last year.

In any case, regardless if LEGO did or did not actually came up with James Bond-inspired set, it will be absolutely cool to see this legendary spy rendered in actual minifigure form. And what better way to complement this with an equally sleek and handsome Aston Martin.

So what do you guys think? Do you believe that we will be seeing a James Bond minifig along with his brick-built Aston Martin? Share your comments below.

LEGO BrickHeadz Jack Skellington and Sally (41630) Is Finally Arriving!

Perhaps one of the most unusual – and on that grounds, most successful – team-up projects in Disney’s history is the clay-animation masterpiece The Nightmare Before Christmas, conceived and produced by the wonderfully gothic fantasy mind of Tim Burton for the Touchstone Pictures label (with a later reissue under the Disney name).

On that note, it makes the lead characters of Pumpkin King Jack Skellington and his rag-doll secret admirer Sally, one of the most famous couples in the Disney umbrella. Last month, Wal-Mart spoiled that LEGO will give them the BrickHeadz treatment. Finally we get to see what they look like.

The two LEGO BrickHeadz sets of LEGO Jack and Sally are exactly as one would expect of figures interpreted in the signature BrickHeadz format. It’s interesting to note though that the colorings scheme actually seems to make Sally more vibrant that how she appeared in Nightmare, making it an improvement.

This latest LEGO BrickHeadz dual-pack offering celebrates the film’s 25th year anniversary and features Jack in his trademark monochromatic color scheme, with plenty of black and white printed parts. In contrast, Sally comes in a colorful ragdoll patchwork which makes this dual-set more adorable. The LEGO BrickHeadz Jack Skellington and Sally (41630) will retail for $19.99 and is expected to arrive in stores in October

First Entry on LEGO Ideas 2018 Second Review Stage: “SpaceX Falcon Heavy” Gets 10-K Support

Late last month, we shone a spotlight on a promising submission to LEGO Ideas, based on the rockets used by the SpaceX private enterprise. On this second week of June, we got word that a SpaceX-themed Ideas entry got the needed 10K support for review. This…is not that previously-featured submission.

It’s no surprise that other members on LEGO Ideas have the same, well, ideas on what they want to submit to the platform. Aside from the Matthew Nolan/Valerie Roche tandem that conceived the rockets of “SpaceX – The Ultimate Collection”, there’s khehmeyer who focused only on one: the SpaceX Falcon Heavy.

This particular MOC was submitted to LEGO Ideas only this early February, roughly the same time as when a real Falcon Heavy rocket took off on its maiden launch. The details are exquisite, with the removable rocket stages and boosters with the trademark SpaceX re-entry features like the landing struts.

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In terms of what’s on top, khehmeyer gives the option of having a Dragon astronaut crew capsule or the cargo delivery capsule. Unfortunately the included payload is only a satellite and not Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster like in Nolan’s entry. Still, the whole package is meticulously yet easily put together.

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With the LEGO Ideas 2018 First Review Stage already underway, khehmeyer’s SpaceX Falcon Heavy becomes the first 10K submission to be listed for the Second Review Stage. We’re looking forward to what else will make the cut. One must wonder when the SpaceX Ultimate Collection submission might have its day.

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New LEGO BrickHeadz Minecraft Steve and Creeper (41612) Set Officially Announced

LEGO unveiled another BrickHeadz set today following its reveal of additional LEGO BrickHeadz Star Wars sets yesterday. Announced via its social media channels, we now have Steve and Creeper (41612) in LEGO BrickHeadz format.

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The LEGO BrickHeadz Minecraft Steve and Creeper (41612) is a dual-pack set expected to retail for $19.99 and is expected to be released in August together with LEGO BrickHeadz sets 41621, 41622, 41623, 41624, and 41625. True to form, this BrickHeadz version of Steve and Creeper, like its predecessors, also comes with unique printed parts that perfectly replicate its pixelated look. I’m quite sure that Steve’s sword is a single-piece accessory so I’m a bit curious to see how it will turn out.

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Let me know in the comments below if you’re planning to get this one.

LEGO Artist Makes Sweet LEGO Architecture Mockup of Seattle Skyline, with Some Social Commentary

Between the reissue of their exclusive Billund Airport set (40199) and the impending release of the delayed Vegas skyline set (21047), LEGO’s Architecture line is bursting with new things. But there are ideas out there that, while not official, feel like they should be. One example is this convincing LEGO Architecture set mockup by Seattle-based British LEGO artist Iain Heath.

Iain Heath has already become something of a media sensation due to his abstract artworks interpreted in LEGO. One of his pieces, a brick rendition of Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar “groufie”, was actually featured by the host herself in her show.

For his most recent effort, Heath decided to create a LEGO Architecture idea of the skyline of Seattle, the city that he, 51 years old and Britain-born, had lived in for 21 years with the family he started. While LEGO Architecture has a (retired) Space Needle set (21003), this one has its smaller rendition be accompanied by Pike Place Market, Smith Tower and Columbia Tower.

This one looks like a shoo-in for LEGO Ideas. However Iain Heath also uses his artwork for social commentary, and here he scattered bricks at the feet of the Seattle skyline representing tents of the city’s bulging homeless population; hence his name for the mockup piece: “Homeless in Seattle” (98101).

On his Flickr page, Heath described “Homeless in Seattle” as his observation of his residence over recent years: how giant companies like Amazon caused the city economy to boom, enticing people to move in for work, spurring housing prices to rise, and ultimately leaving many people living in tents like his LEGO Architecture set shows.

What was Revealed for “LEGO DC Super-Villains” During E3 Live Stream

By now, the promised live stream of Warner Bros. Interactive and Traveller’s Tales Games’ latest LEGO videogame title, DC Super-Villains, has wrapped up. One can find snippets of the preview online, but now the time has come to digest what has been revealed. There are some interesting new reveals seen.

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Snippets of story cut-scenes indicate that the disappearance of the Justice League was due to the machinations of the alternate-dimension Crime Syndicate, evil counterparts of DC’s superheroes who fake being a heroic League to trick the real ones. The Syndicate’s usurpation of the LEGO-verse JL spurs super-villains to fight back.

As stated before, while the game offers players control over a staggering amount of DC baddies (150!)from colorful criminals to sinister super-humans, the viewpoint is still focused on an original created character, one other inmate of Arkham Asylum. Completing quests and such however, unlocks customization options that could turn the player-crook avatar into an expy of one of his fellow Villains, or an entirely new-look Villain of the game.

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Locations in LEGO DC Super-Villains range from the usual DC cities of Gotham and Metropolis, to Apokolips itself. In addition, TT Games spokesperson Arthur Parsons hinted at some voice cast names with how he said “Batman is Batman and Joker is Joker”. A possible Conroy-Hamill return? We already know that Luthor and Harley are Clancy Brown and Tara Strong again.

That was about it for the E3 preview on LDCSV. The best bet for more reveals on this game would be SDCC on the following month.