Brickset news archive: January 2011
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February deals at LEGOshop.com
Posted by Huw, 31 Jan 2011 17:35. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (General).
There's a couple of deals running on both sides of the Atlantic during February. In the UK receive a free Creator shark (7805) when you spend over £25 and in the USA receive a Police Boat (30002) when you spend over $35. Click on the appropriate banner below for more information and to get shopping!
22 comments, latest one posted 28 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)930 views
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Spider-Man minifig gallery finished already
Posted by Huw, 30 Jan 2011 04:39. Filed under Brickset.
Thanks to my wife having the hairdresser round yesterday morning (if you have a wife or girlfriend you'll know how long that takes!) and then a football (soccer) match on the TV featuring one of our local teams (Southampton) on Sky Sports yesterday which she was glued to, I had some time to photograph the Spider-Man figs which you can now see in all their glory in the Spider-Man minifig gallery.in 2002 when he first made an appearance, Spider-Man sets were a sub-theme of Studios, along with dinosaurs, werewolves, vampires and various other movie characters. Spider-Man became a theme in its own right in 2003, and continued in 2004. It was therefore right across the old grey/yellow head / new grey/flesh head boundary.
The Studios sets contained minifigs which BrickLink considers to belong to other themes, so these are not included in the gallery, and neither are figures from the 4Juniors sets.
46 comments, latest one posted 28 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)956 views
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This Week's Sales
Posted by yellowcastle, 30 Jan 2011 01:44. Filed under Shopping (USA).
Valid through Saturday 2/5/11, All LEGO City and Pharaoh's Quest sets are 20% Off at Toys R Us. Additionally, receive a free Ninjago battle card and card collector's album with any Ninjago purchase of $20 or more.
Surprisingly, we also found the Winter Village Bakery on sale for about 30% off at our local LEGO Store. This may vary per store though, so you might want to call first. And while most of the January Sale items have since sold out, there are still great deals to be had on a couple of magnet sets and key chains.
22 comments, latest one posted 28 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1273 views
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Toy Story minifigs gallery now up...
Posted by Huw, 29 Jan 2011 05:49. Filed under Brickset.
I've added pictures of all Toy Story minifigs and related characters to the minifig galleries.Bluemoose came round in the week and showed me how to use PhotoShop Elements properly so this set is the best yet: when I started doing these galleries I suspected they'd improve the more I did, which should mean that by the time it comes to do Star Wars they should be just about perfect :-)
Next up will be Spider-Man. I have all the figs to hand: I had mislaid a few of the earlier ones, but a couple of BrickLink orders has filled the gaps. Luckily it wasn't any of the ultra-expensive ones!
20 comments, latest one posted 28 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)892 views
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Are you a LEGO Architect ?
Posted by bluemoose, 28 Jan 2011 17:57. Filed under Miscellaneous.
The Ambassadors have been asked to share this with our communities, so ...
Are you a passionate architect who loves to express your craft in LEGO® bricks? We’d like you to join forces with the LEGO Architecture team and Adam Reed-Tucker to develop and endorse new LEGO Architecture products in Europe.
Show us your building and architectural skills by building an existing architectural masterpiece as a small-scale LEGO model. Then we’d like you to present your model (or several of them) to the LEGO Architecture design and marketing team. We expect you to have a background in architecture and the necessary presenting skills to make your subject come alive in English and another European language.
The right candidate will be asked to work on commissioned tasks, so you can work from home, with some travel in Europe.
Email your application to Jan Beyer email: jan@LEGO.com - telephone: +4579504285.
You are welcome to contact Jan if you have any further questions. The deadline for applications is February 15th.
If you think you've got what it takes & have the professional experience to back it up, Jan will be very happy to hear from you!
19 comments, latest one posted 28 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)826 views
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So Much For the Series 3 Cheat Sheet...
Posted by yellowcastle, 27 Jan 2011 13:21. Filed under Brickset.
At this point, I'm not sure if the dimple patterns have just changed once or if they're not nearly as static as we first thought. But I just picked up a couple of extra figures from Target and can confirm that the old Hula Dancer pattern is now a Rapper and the old Alien is now a Hula Dancer. The Fisherman, however, was unchanged. I'll see if I can't visit Target later in order to reconfirm more (if not all) of the remaining new dimple patterns. My initial thought is that the patterns changed when the box assortment was revised for more Fishermen. But for all I know, the patterns change for each production run, etc. Let me know what you're seeing out there and perhaps we can revise the cheat sheet in such a way that it will still be helpful. I'll be honest, though, that I'm starting to rely on the old "feel the bag" method.
142 comments, latest one posted 28 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1265 views
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London Toy Fair report: Start saving!
Posted by Huw, 27 Jan 2011 11:42. Filed under New sets.
Once again I've braved the near-freezing temperatures and a 2.5hr train journey to bring you LEGO news from the London Toy Fair. Today was the last day of the three day event, which was held at London Olympia. The LEGO stand was just about the biggest in the show and unlike neary all others there it was shrouded in secrecy, completely closed in, entry was by invitation only, and photography prohibited. I'm not really sure why because at the Nuremberg Speilwarenmesse in a couple of weeks it'll be more open and I suspect some photos will emerge.
So, in the meantime, you'll have to make do with my descriptions. I'll go through each theme that's being released in the second half of the year that's of interest to us here.
- Harbour will be the City theme. There will be something like 5 sets including a harbour featuring a grain loading terminal and cargo ship, a marina, a fishing boat, a speedboat and powerboat on a truck. All are said to float.
- The Creator sets are excellent: there's another house with white walls and red roof, a yellow sports car much like previous Creator cars and best of all a Lighthouse which really was excellent, and very different from anything made before.
- Technic was slightly disappointing with only two new sets on show: a flatbed car recovery truck (think car clamping and subsequent removal) which had a very neat Power Functions mechanism and a 'bucket truck': a small American-style vehicle with a raising platform on the back. There are two others slated for release but they were not in evidence at the show.
- There's more Ninjago to come including some very cool looking dragons and other monsters for the Ninja to ride on.
- Alien Conquest looked aboslutely superb. It features aliens and humans and abduction/autopsy seems to be the main theme. The aliens, of which I counted something like 4 variants, have lime green heads and look great. The humans have legs/torsoes made with a new shade of blue. One set featured an archetypal circular UFO with light underneath and a very clever mechanism to abduct any humans it swoops down on. I could tell Mark Stafford had designed some of these: his trademark style was evident all over :-)
- There are four new Kingdoms sets on the way of which two feature 'ordinary medieval village life', albeit with some marauding knights pillaging the place. The big news is that they feature new minifig-scale animals: chickens (in white and brown) and goats.
- The Disney licenced room was shrounded in more secrecy than the rest of the stand and I will respect LEGO's request for confidentiality. Suffice to say that the Cars sets looked great. I was surprised as to how many are being released: something like 15 different sets. They won't appeal to everyone given there are no minifigs in them but they did look quite cute and they feature some neat parts in new colours.
- Pirates of the Caribbean sets were also in there, of course, and the lady on the stand was somewhat surprised to hear that pictures had already been leaked online. The minifigs looked excellent and the 7 or so sets will feature something like 30 different figs. Jack Sparrow appears in them all and in every one he is different meaning that if you're a minifig collector you will need to buy every set...
- There will be three new Harry Potter sets which will include something like 12-15 minifigs of which I estimate half of them to be new.
- Two new SpongeBob sets (yawn...)
- No less that nine Star Wars sets featuring a whole raft of new minfigs 'to die for' including a new Darth Maul, Savage Opress (wasn't he great in the latest episode of Clone Wars!) and Sebulba and Watto which are much improved on their previous incarnation. The Millennium Falcon looked pretty much like the older minifig versions: it still looked a bit rubbish, IMO. However the pod racers (Sebulba and Anakin's) were much improved on the old set. As you may have noticed in the databse there's going to be a Star Wars advent calendar. I'm not going to spoil any surprises and tell you what's in it, but needless to say it was excellent.
- No new Atlantis or Pharaoh's Quest, and loads of more of the same HERO Factory. They'll be up to version 3.0 in the summer...
So that's about it. There's plenty to look forward to and save up for...
195 comments, latest one posted 28 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1704 views
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Brickvention 2011 Roundup
Posted by jpmanalo, 26 Jan 2011 05:52. Filed under Events (Australia).
Those of you watching the Australian Event news here at Brickset may know that I have recently had the pleasure of attending Australia's premier AFOL event, Brickvention. This year, Brickvention was held at a much larger venue compared to previous years, but incredibly, there were still waiting times of up to two-and-a-half hours to enter on Public Exhibition day! Even then, many people still had to be turned away at the door towards the end of the exhibition.The AFOL group that I am part of, SydLUG, won the People's Choice Award for our Wild West display, 'El Bricko'. Congratulations also go out to the other winners at the event, including David Scalone for his rendition of Hogwarts Castle (pictured).
Tim Gould (gambort), over at The Brother's Brick has written an excellent round-up regarding the event, complete with links to images of many of the major displays at Brickvention 2011.
I hope to be in attendance again next year, and strongly encourage Australian AFOLs to consider registering and planning for next year's event.
19 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)708 views
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Database reorganisation
Posted by Huw, 25 Jan 2011 17:07. Filed under Brickset.
Myself and the other database admins (Grahame and Bluemoose) have decided to make some changes to the categorisation of some items in the database. The main change is that we have put all 'extended product lines' (as LEGO calls them) into a single theme called 'Gear', which is what BrickLink calls them. Gear includes magnets, key chains, books, clothing and so on: basically everything that isn't a proper construction set. Future updates of the site may differentiate 'gear' from proper sets in search result listings etc.
It's worth mentioning now what criteria we use to decide what 'gear' goes in the database. The general rule is this:
- If it's sold by LEGO at LEGOshop.com, it goes in. This includes products made by LEGO (e.g. key chains and magnets) and those made by other companies but sold by LEGO as their own product (e.g. bedding and clothing)
- If it's a product that contains LEGO bricks but is not itself a LEGO product it goes in (e.g. Dorling Kindersley Brickmaster books)
- If it's a product of great interest to the AFOL community, is licenced by LEGO, and likely to warrant having reviews written here, it goes in (e.g. other DK books)
- If it's a product carrying a LEGO logo but not made by LEGO and not sold by them it does not go in (e.g. the minifig torches, brick-shaped storage boxes etc.)
We have to draw the line somewhere, and outbound licenced products is where we draw it. We aim to have a 100% accurate and complete database of proper sets but we don't aim to do the same for gear.
The other change was to move Bonus/Value packs into the appropriate theme. So Star Wars B/V packs will now appear in the Star Wars theme listings, for example.
We hope that makes it easier for you to find your way around the database.
15 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1144 views
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Wallpaper repository update
Posted by Huw, 25 Jan 2011 17:03. Filed under Brickset.
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If you're new around here you may not know that we provide an archive of official LEGO desktop wallpapers because, once the product line has finished, LEGO remove them from their website.Today I've updated it with new Atlantis, HERO Factory and a few others but if you know of some we don't yet have, let me know.
4 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)928 views
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The next minifig gallery is...
Posted by Huw, 25 Jan 2011 13:46. Filed under Brickset.
When I first added the Harry Potter minifig gallery a couple of weeks, Brickset member nori commented that he'd taken some photos of the Pharaoh's Quest minifigs, and has graciously allowed us to display them here.So, check out the Pharaoh's Quest minifig gallery and show nori your appreciation.
If the flying mummy looks a bit squashed, press ctrl-F5 to fetch the latest version of the stylesheet.
32 comments, latest one posted 28 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)858 views
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New improved Indiana Jones minifig images
Posted by Huw, 24 Jan 2011 14:43. Filed under Brickset.
Bluemoose has worked his magic on the IJ minifig images and they are now stunning: no more problems with white figs or overexposed heads!Now all that's left is for him to explain to me how to do it...
16 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)816 views
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'Confidential' Images
Posted by bluemoose, 23 Jan 2011 17:49. Filed under Brickset.
We know this is a controversial issue, one that people have very strong views on, but it is a long-standing policy here at Brickset that we won't use, post or link to 'leaked' images - principally those stamped as 'confidential', which have usually been copied from trade catalogues. This is our choice here at Brickset, and not something that has been forced on us by LEGO.
From time to time we received images of new sets that are not marked as 'confidential', which we post. Sometimes we are subsequently asked to remove them by LEGO. This has happened several times recently, most recently today, where images have been accidently released and should not, from LEGO's perspective, be in public view just yet.
LEGO have recently published an open letter from Jorgen Vig Knudstorp (CEO & President of LEGO) to the LEGO Fan community to express the company's views on the issue of leaked images, and to ask the Fan community to work with them to reduce the impact of these leaks - click this link to read the full letter (in Adobe Acrobat format). Have a read and let us know what you think ...
73 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1873 views
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The next LEGO Exclusive set is...
Posted by Huw, 23 Jan 2011 09:35. Filed under New sets.
...absolutely fantastic!
Thanks to Bert who found this image of a forthcoming Maersk train set, consisting of a Maersk liveried locomotive, container flats and container handling vehicle, at LEGO.com. It looks great and it's a set that people will be certain to want to buy multiples of, so that trains can be double- or triple- headed and to get more wagons. Personally I can't wait...
Update: I've been asked to remove the image, despite the fact it was found on LEGO's own server. I will leave the link to it intact, if they want it removed, they can do it themselves.
109 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)2648 views
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New sets!
Posted by Huw, 22 Jan 2011 07:01. Filed under New sets.
LEGO Customer Services has added more instructions to their portal recently, including 2011 Star Wars sets and five hitherto unknown impulse sets: a bee 30022, a lighthouse 30023, a reindeer 30027, a wreath 30028 and a boring racing car 30036. You can see all updates in the usual place: http://www.brickset.com/instructions/
11 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)686 views
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Indiana Jones minifig gallery now up
Posted by Huw, 22 Jan 2011 05:12. Filed under Brickset.
I've completed the Indiana Jones minifig gallery which features all 44 figures released in 2008 and 2009.Photographing and post-processing them was tricker than other series due to the number of them with white clothes. I'm not entirely happy with all of them and if I get time I may try and improve on some. But having said that, what's there now is much better than we've had before.
30 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)965 views
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New Argos catalogue out today
Posted by Huw, 22 Jan 2011 04:22. Filed under Shopping (UK).
Apart from NinjaGo and the collectable figs there's been a bit of a dearth of 2011 sets on the UK high street. That's all changed today with the release of the new Argos catalogue.
They are stocking all new Atlantis sets, Pharaoh's Quest, the City Space sets and the Technic supercar, 8070, and probably a whole host more. However as I write the LEGO section of their website is a bit broken and many of the links aren't working so it's difficult to tell without going through the whole list.
Update: I've just been down to my branch and secured a super car which is an Argos exclusive, so will be available in it and the brand stores only in the UK.
19 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1681 views
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Brickset members: We own half a billion pieces between us!
Posted by Huw, 20 Jan 2011 11:24. Filed under Brickset.
On Christmas Eve I made a note of how many sets we own between us. The figure was 1,898,700. Now, today, it's 1,992,700 which means collectively we've bought or received nearly 100,000 in the last month, and is an average of 74 sets each (based on the 26,636 people that use the 'My Sets' facility).
What's more, the total pieces count shown in the menu has rolled over the 500 million mark, and having just done a quick sum in the database, that includes 2,725,000 minifigs which if we were to stand them on top of each other they'd stand 109 Km high, which isn't quite to the moon but is still a long way!
It will be interesting to look back at this article in a year's time and compare the figures again.
80 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1080 views
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DK Star Wars sticker books now shipping
Posted by Huw, 18 Jan 2011 14:03. Filed under Book review.
The first of Dorling Kindersley's LEGO books for 2011 are now available from Amazon. 'Ultimate Sticker Book Star Wars Heroes' and ''Ultimate Sticker Book Star Wars Villains' have been published a few weeks early and I received my copies yesterday. They are similar in format to last year's Minifigure Ultimate Sticker Collection in that they consist of pages to stick the stickers on, in this case 16 pages, and 8 pages of stickers.
I might as well copy verbatim what I said when I reviewed the minifigure book, as it's true for these, too:
These are definitely books aimed at children and not 'must-haves' like the other DK books, however if you're a LEGO book collector like me, it is worth adding them to your bookshelf. In fact it may be worth buying two copies of each: one to keep as new and another to use the stickers from.
Here are a few pictures so you can see what they are like:
They are available from Amazon.co.uk for £3.50 and at Amazon.com they are listed but it says 'Sign up to be notified when this item becomes available.' which I think means they won't be available for some time...
6 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1166 views
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UK Westfield & Cardiff stores - Grand Opening Event details
Posted by bluemoose, 17 Jan 2011 15:47. Filed under Events (UK).
LEGO have finally released details of the Grand Opening Events for the two new UK stores, and as promised, here they are ...
Sat 19th Feb - Mon 21st Feb ::: 3 day Grand Opening event for the Cardiff store; " ... help to build the biggest LEGO dragon display inspired by the Welsh Dragon ... the first 300 customers on each of the 3 days will receive an exclusive LEGO gift with purchase & have a chance to win great prizes."
Fri 25th Feb - Sun 27th Feb ::: 3 day Grand Opening event for the London Westfield store; " ... the first 300 customers on each of the 3 days will receive an exclusive LEGO gift with purchase and all visitors can put their imagination to work by helping to build a giant LEGO landscape inspired by The Sights Of London. Plus you have the chance to win great prizes."
They are sure to be very popular events, and the "exclusive LEGO gift" for each store will be very sought-after collectables, so be sure to get there early!
14 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)821 views
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Prince of Persia minifigs
Posted by Huw, 16 Jan 2011 05:34. Filed under Brickset.
Continuing on with licensed themes, I've now added Prince Of Persia minifigs to the new gallery.What next, Spider-Man or Indiana Jones?
52 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)886 views
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Pirates of the Caribbean pictures
Posted by Huw, 15 Jan 2011 16:24. Filed under New sets.
A Dutch toy shop has pictures of the first batch of PotC sets. They are tiny, but you can just about make out a few details, and I have to say, they look pretty good.LEGO's lawyers may pounce and ask for them to be removed (like they did this time last year with the PoP pictures) but they aren't watermarked and they are on a toy shop website so we're on pretty safe ground...
Update: LEGO's lawyers did pounce: they've been removed...
(via A Modular Life)
70 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1121 views
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Three new promotional sets
Posted by Huw, 15 Jan 2011 13:49. Filed under Brickset.
Brickset member kram has uncovered three new promotional sets: this Creator truck, a City police helicopter (30014) and a Ninjago miniifig (30084). No word yet on how and when they'll be available, so keep your eyes peeled...
11 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)837 views
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Batman minifig gallery
Posted by Huw, 14 Jan 2011 15:29. Filed under Brickset.
Spurred on by your kind comments and suggestions, I've now added a Batman minifig gallery, featuring every Batman figure ever made, some of which are changing hands for ridiculous sums of money now on BrickLink.I've tweaked my lighting setup and I think the images are better than the Harry Potter ones, although it's still difficult photographing figures with white parts against a white background (like Two-Face).
I've taken a photo of the setup I used for these images showing the flash positions etc.
Once again, let me know what you think...
42 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)891 views
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4 Day Super Sale at Toys R Us (1/14 - 1/17)
Posted by yellowcastle, 13 Jan 2011 21:26. Filed under Shopping (USA).
Per the Toys R Us email, 30% Off The X-Wing (6212), Slave 1 (8097), Wampa Cave (8089), At-At (8129), Garbage Truck Getaway (7599), Desert Attack (7569), and Ostrich Race (7570). Additionally, it indicates that all other Star Wars, Toy Story, and Prince of Persia sets are also on sale.
39 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)853 views
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Have a LEGO question?
Posted by Huw, 13 Jan 2011 15:22. Filed under Brickset.
A new website has been brought to my attention today: BrickQ.com. The idea is that you ask a LEGO related question and get answers back from other members. Sounds like a good idea, but any such site is only as good as the people answering the questions and unfortunately it looks as if, at the moment, they are all on the young side and therefore there's a lot of opinionated responses of little value.Still, it's early days: head on over and see what you think...
27 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1031 views
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New Harry Potter minifig gallery
Posted by Huw, 13 Jan 2011 03:20. Filed under Brickset.
Minifigs are arguably the best part of LEGO sets and it's great that websites like BrickLink catalogue them and provide details about which figs are in which sets, and allow us to use that information here to track our collections.However, one shortcoming with the BrickLink catalogue images is that they are not always very good and are not consistent: they are taken by many different people of varying competencies over a long period of time, which means that when you view them all in a gallery (like you can here) it doesn't look as good as it could.
So, I've decided to do something about it. I will be photographing my own minifig collection to a higher, more consistent, standard and will present them in a new minifig gallery to showcase figures from specific themes. The first theme I've done is Harry Potter, because (a) it's my favourite licenced theme and (b) I have all the figs.
If it's well received I will add more themes in the coming weeks, so let me know what you think!
I'd appreciate your feedback on the photography, too. It has been quite interesting finding the best way to photograph the figs. They are actually quite hard to photograph because of their shiny plastic nature: it's easy to get light reflections all over them. I'm reasonably happy with the results, but I'm sure there's room for improvement and I suspect as I do more themes I'll get better at doing it. For those that are interested, I used a Nikon D7000 with AF-S 105mm f2.8 Micro lens (at f11), with three remote flashguns (SB600 at the top, a SB-R200 at each side, through diffusers) plus the on-camera flash. The images were then cropped and levels adjusted to whiten the background and give the colours some punch.
83 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1282 views
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Brickvention 2011 - Reminder
Posted by jpmanalo, 12 Jan 2011 09:14. Filed under Events (Australia).
Brickvention 2011 is on this weekend! For registered attendees, events kick off at 8:30am on Saturday 15 January. Event organisers have emailed all attendees with a final list of reminders (see comments for full details of reminders)
The public expo is on Sunday 16 January from 10am till 5pm, and as implied, this day is for open to all to attend. Details are as follows:
- Where? Melbourne Town Hall (Corner Swanston Street and Collins Street, Melbourne)
- Cost? Adults - $6, Children - $3, Family - $15 (2 adults and 2 children). Tickets available at the door.
- Full details on the Brickvention website
I'll be in attendance at Brickvention this year, so be sure to say "G'day!" if you happen to bump into me.
8 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)660 views
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AFOLCON update
Posted by Huw, 11 Jan 2011 13:35. Filed under Events (UK).
The organisers of AFOLCON have made two big announcements today:"First up is the full announcement of the public show over the long weekend. After the two private days of AFOLCON, we'll be opening up the display area to the public under the name of 'The LEGO SHOW'. As an AFOLCON attendee, you will of course have access to everything over all five days of both shows!
"The public show will be open to anyone to attend to view the MOCs created by the AFOLs at AFOLCON as well as some special LEGO models and an extra-special huge MOC being created just for the show! Tickets for the public show are available now from the website at www.thelegoshow.com so tell all your friends!
"The second announcement is confirmation of the first big thing in your AFOLCON goodie bag. The LEGO group have been very generous and are donating 1000g of mixed, loose bricks for every AFOLCON attendee. That's worth over £40 at LEGOLand Pick-a-Brick prices alone! But, it gets better. This is loose mixed brick from 2011 sets of ALL themes. We'll be honest - we don't know exactly what's in there. But we do know there are brick, plate, minifigs, technic parts, train parts, and even licensed parts (and some cool ones too!). We'll announce more details of what else is in the goodie bag soon, but for all the details - head on over to www.afolcon.com!"
This event is going to be massive, probably the biggest LEGO event that the UK has seen, so if you haven't done so already, get your tickets ordered now. As added incentives, myself and most of the UK-based Brickset team will be there and you'll be able to avoid all the nauseous royal wedding coverage in the media :-)
13 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)776 views
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LEGO want to hear your comments - Jan 2011
Posted by bluemoose, 10 Jan 2011 17:29. Filed under Miscellaneous.
LEGO regularly run surveys with the Fan community, and the latest one has been launched today; please check out the post below from the Community Engagement & Communications Team, visit the link & let them know what you think ...
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Please take a moment to fill out the latest survey from LEGO community team.
In the last survey, the results from the question “How likely would you recommend LEGO to a friend or relative” saw a positive jump of 5% from the last survey meaning that more people are more likely to recommend LEGO products to a friend or relative.The question “How can the LEGO group best improve your needs?” saw some interesting results. The seeded answers quickly got displaced by write-ins. AFOL are looking for quality first and foremost. In addition, they want old sets rereleased, greater selection in Pick-A-Brick, and exclusive AFOL sets. Among the LEGO-seeded ideas, 32% want greater presence in their geographic area, and 30% want dedicated services for fans.We also asked about your use of the LEGO ID on the LEGO website. 2/3 of AFOLs use LEGO ID. They primarily use it to make purchases or to join VIP, whereas TFOLs use LEGO ID to play games, then to make purchases and to contribute to message boards, reviews, and builder galleries. Though usage is high and 91% report that creating and signing in to LEGO ID was a smooth and easy process, AFOL experience with LEGO ID is poor.Thank you,The LEGO community Team
37 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1063 views
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Include images in your set reviews
Posted by Huw, 10 Jan 2011 11:47. Filed under Brickset.
The site update I made just after Christmas added the ability to include images in your reviews. Now, at last, the first one (that I've noticed) to use them to good effect has been posted. So, thanks to go LegoDad42 for posting this excellent review of the midi Star Destroyer. Please, let's have more like this (so we can give EuroBricks a run for its money... :-) )
57 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)928 views
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New images for Harry Potter sets
Posted by Huw, 09 Jan 2011 12:07. Filed under Brickset.
As part of my ongoing commitment to improve the quality of the resources here, I've uploaded high quality scans of every Harry Potter set [1] instruction cover, which are available at the usual width to fit on the page and also at 1200px wide in the additional images section of the set details pages.
In doing so I replaced the official LEGO images, those on the white background, of last year's sets. What is your view on this? Which do you prefer as the main image on the set details pages? The official images or the instruction covers? Personally I prefer the latter as long as the former is available as well, but I'd like to hear your views.
This is the first of this week's Harry Potter related enhancements I'll be making, so stay tuned...
[1] Update: Thanks to Will for providing the last missing image, of 4758, and also to Jon and James of the Brickish Association for providing a couple of others that I was missing. We now have a complete set!
16 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)864 views
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"LEGO is coming to Indianapolis!"
Posted by bluemoose, 07 Jan 2011 18:56. Filed under Shopping (USA).
We reported last month that the LEGO Brand Retail division were advertising for store managers for new stores in Cleveland & Denver (and see below); now they are advertising for a store manager for another new store, this time in Indianapolis.
You can read the details of the job here, and apply on-line if you meet the requirements. No time wasters please ;-)
It's likely the opening date for the new Indianapolis store will be
March or Aprilin the spring; we'll let you know when we find out.They are also adverising for a part-time supervisor for the Miami store at Adventura Mall.
As reported by brickset member cmrt1014, the February in-store calendar lists three new Brand Stores opening in the US
in Februarysoon -- South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, CA
- Park Meadows Mall, Lone Tree, Denver, CO
- Beachwood Place Mall, Cleveland, OH
With the Grand Opening events for the two new UK stores & the Copenhagen store still pending, it's a busy time for Brand Retail.
25 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1100 views
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Series 3 minifigs now in Argos
Posted by Huw, 06 Jan 2011 16:54. Filed under Shopping (UK).
The series 3 figs are now in Argos, along with the Ninjago spinners. Reserve online, then pick up in store!
Thanks to Avacadoturban for the news. He believes that high-street branches will get 2 boxes each, so they may not last long.
80 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1495 views
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Muji LEGO sets to be available outside of Japan soon!
Posted by Huw, 06 Jan 2011 11:45. Filed under Miscellaneous.
It's been a bit of a slow week for news after the New Year. I guess that's understandable: the new sets are out in most places and we're not expecting any product announcements or any more new sets for some months. Thank you, however, to everyone who's been emailing us with sightings: we do appreciate it, but we don't always post them here.
Things will pick up once the toy fair season begins at the end of January. London Toy Fair will be the first. News will no doubt emerge from that, although they have a strict no photography rule so we'll have to make do with descriptions until the New York and Nuremberg fairs in February where they are more relaxed.
One thing that did catch my eye, however, on Toys N Bricks is that the Muji-LEGO sets (Muji is a trendy Japanese housewares brand) are going to be available outside of Japan soon, which is excellent news. They consist of bits of paper and LEGO bricks which you can combine using a hole punch to make animals and things. Find out more at http://www.muji.com/lego/.
22 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1475 views
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Another Date for the Diary ... Brick Fiesta, Austin, Texas, 30th June - 3rd July
Posted by bluemoose, 06 Jan 2011 01:47. Filed under Events (USA).
It's not for a few months yet, but a brand new event called Brick Fiesta has just been announced - this combo-style event will be running 30th June until 3rd July 2011, with the first two days (Thursday 30th & Friday 1st) being an AFOL convention & the last two days (Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd) being a public exhibition. It will be taking place at the Omni Hotel Austin at Southpark, in Austin, Texas, USA.You can find out more details at the link here, where you can also book tickets for the convention and reserve hotel rooms. Full event tickets cost $50US each and will need to be booked in advance; tickets for the public days will be sold on the day at the door and will cost $10US each (or $20US for a family pass - 2 adults & 2 children).
This is a new event for the LEGO fan's calendar, and the first major fan event in Texas, & we wish the team behind it the best of luck!
7 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)538 views
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Event Update - Bricks Adventure 2011 & Brickvention 2011
Posted by bluemoose, 05 Jan 2011 08:41. Filed under Events (Australia).
With the start of the New Year, it's time to start thinking about the upcoming events season. This year things are off to a flying start with two major events in the next couple of weeks.
First up, we have the 'Bricks Adventure 2011' exhibition, running 12th-21st January at the City University of Hong Kong. Details can be found here.
Secondly, we have 'Brickvention 2011', running over the weekend of 15th & 16th January at Melbourne Town Hall in Victoria, Australia. The first day, Saturday 15th, is an AFOL fan convention day and the Sunday is a public exhibition. Details can be found here.
If you've never been to a fan-run LEGO event, we'd highly recommend you give one a go. There are plenty throughout the year, spread around the world, so look out for more event announcements as we go through the year!
6 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)644 views
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DK books for 2011
Posted by Huw, 04 Jan 2011 15:32. Filed under Brickset.
DK are going to be busy publishing LEGO books this year by the looks of things. There's a list of Star Wars related books at StarWars.com, including 4 LEGO ones, one of which will be of interest to everyone here: "Star Wars Character Encylopedia" which will feature profiles of 200 minifigures!There's also LEGO Harry Potter Building the Magical World
, and Brickmaster City and Ninjago in the works, too. Clearly their previous collaborations with LEGO have been a success...
(via the Ugly Duckling)
35 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1081 views
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Huge update of instructions today at LEGO.com
Posted by Huw, 01 Jan 2011 11:02. Filed under LEGO.com.
Around 150 new instruction manuals have been added to LEGO's customer service site today including three from hitherto unknown sets: 30025 Clown Fish, 30052 AAT, and 30053 Star Destoyer. Hopefully these will be future Daily Mirror sets!
Oh, and 20019, Slave I, which we added yesterday, is the latest Brickmaster set.
29 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)789 views
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Buy Two, Get Third Free at Toys R Us Today
Posted by yellowcastle, 01 Jan 2011 10:58. Filed under Shopping (USA).
The good news is that TRU is offering a Buy Two, Get 3rd Free deal today for LEGO sets. The deal is valid online and also likely in-store. As for the bad news, not only are Pharaoh's Quest and Star Wars excluded but nearly every large set is already sold out online. But there are some nice, eligible sets in stock including but not limited to NinjaGo as well as the Creator Jet, and TRU Truck. This may also be your last chance to pick up the now discontinued City Corner, City Dump Truck, or any Space Police set. To maximize the discount, be sure to buy 3 similarly priced sets.
Click here to buy now.
24 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1044 views
