Brickset news archive: November 2011
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Costco Canada: Battle of Naboo
Posted by fuelbreak, 30 Nov 2011 17:18. Filed under Shopping (Canada).
Thanks to Brickset user KillDeer it appears Costco has just recently stocked up on LEGO Battle Of Naboo 7929.
Priced at $25.99 CAN, this set is almost at par with USA prices of $24.99 US.
Great set for some more droids. Lets hope Canadian prices continue to mirror the US a bit more.
7 comments, latest one posted 17 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1197 views
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It's a slow news week...
Posted by Huw, 30 Nov 2011 13:46. Filed under Miscellaneous.
The Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone, 2012 sets are already on the shelves in the USA, there are unlikely to be any new product announcements until the New Year, so we could be in for a few slow news weeks.
The only thing I can find of interest, if you're in North America, is that the 2012 Ninjago sets are now available at shop.LEGO.com. These look to be very interesting indeed, but unfortunately we'll have to wait a few more weeks for them to appear here in Europe and the rest of the world...
21 comments, latest one posted 17 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)970 views
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Collectable Minifigs series 6 - coming early in the new year
Posted by bluemoose, 28 Nov 2011 17:22. Filed under New sets.
European community coordinator Jan Beyer has posted on Facebook that the Series 6 Minifigs will start hitting store shelves on or around 9th Jan 2012.
Not long now :-)
52 comments, latest one posted 17 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1078 views
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LEGO has run out of the second Holiday set
Posted by Huw, 27 Nov 2011 16:12. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (General).
A quick heads-up from LEGO: "Due to the overwhelming success of the Limited Edition Gift with purchase promotion in Europe, we have reached the end of our available inventory. This means we will have to end the promotion tonight at 11pm GMT. However, both the 10% off 100 and Free Delivery off 25 will continue through tomorrow."
Update from LEGO, 28 Nov 10:00 EST: "We have now also run out of the Limited Edition Set in both the US and Canada. However, the 10% off $149 and Free Shipping off $49 offers will continue all day. Additionally, we have marked three new items down 25%:
- 2520 Ninjago Battle Arena
- 7189 Mill Village Raid
- 8863 Blizzards Peak
Check them out on the Sales and Deals page.
27 comments, latest one posted 17 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)929 views
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Use the Force this holiday season!
Posted by Huw, 26 Nov 2011 13:53. Filed under Miscellaneous.
We mentioned this a few weeks ago, but it's worth mentioning again, now that the website is live.LEGO is donating up to 1 million LEGO toys to the charity Toys For Tots, and will donate one every time someone sends a holiday greeting from LEGOSantaYoda.com.
What's more, they are also running a competition, LEGO Star Wars "Spread Holiday Cheer" Challenge, with a grand prize of a 2'-high model of Santa Yoda. Find out more at the website.
Given this is for a good cause, I'm going to hold my own little competition. To enter, simply send a holiday greeting from LEGOSantaYoda.com to me at huw@brickset.com, and the the person who sends the most humorous seasonal message by next weekend will win an exclusive Brickset minifig -- one of only three I have left.
14 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)984 views
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Free LEGO in the Sun on Saturday
Posted by Huw, 26 Nov 2011 12:43. Filed under Shopping (UK).
In case you haven't already read about this in the forum, there will be a free polybag with The Sun next Saturday. The main advert doesn't give any clues as to what it is although Eurobricks is citing another one, on page 7 of today's paper, that shows 30055 Vulture droid. It looks to be just a single giveaway this time, part of a larger Christmas promotion. (thanks Broxi)
Update: there'll be a free set on Saturday 3rd December (Vulture droid) and another on the 10th. More info in the forum.
3 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1445 views
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New US Store in Nashville - Coming Spring 2012
Posted by bluemoose, 26 Nov 2011 10:04. Filed under Shopping (USA).
It's still a little while away, but when the Opry Mills Mall (Nashville, TN) reopens next spring, LEGO will be joining the retailers on the site. This will be the first Lego Brand Store in Tennessee.
The Opry Mills Mall closed as a result of damage caused by the May 2010 Tennessee Floods; there has been extensive rebuilding work, and the mall is due to officially reopen on 29th March 2012, with a Grand Reopening celebration planned for May 2012.
LEGO should start looking for staff for the new store in the next few months; if you're interested in applying, keep an eye on the 'LEGO Jobs' website, in the 'Retail Jobs' area, as that seems to be where they are first advertised.
Thanks to 'Gandalf1' for reminding us about this news; we were aware of it months ago, but it seemed like a very long way off at the time :-)
10 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1148 views
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New German LEGO Brand Store - Saarbrücken
Posted by bluemoose, 26 Nov 2011 06:45. Filed under Shopping (Europe).
There's a new LEGO Brand Store coming to Germany, in the south-western city of Saarbrücken, very close to the border with France.
No news yet on the opening date, but you can check the advertised staff vacancy notices here (text in German) -
If anyone has any details about exactly where the store will be, and when it might open, please let us know :-)
1 comment, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1176 views
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50% off for all toys at Tesco in Poland
Posted by Huw, 26 Nov 2011 03:36. Filed under Shopping (Europe).
Stelek writes "This night and the night tomorrow you get Tesco coupons with 50% of value of the toys you bought. So basically you can get any toy for half the price (assuming that you shop at Tesco and can spend the coupons later).
"I just bought myself Lego Creator Hillside House 5771 for 135 PLN (which is around 30 Eur). Quite a deal I would say...
"Official announcement (in Polish): http://www.tesco.pl/produkty/zabawki/ "
1 comment, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1097 views
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Free £20 gift coupon at TRU
Posted by Huw, 25 Nov 2011 10:11. Filed under Shopping (UK).
Spend £75 at TRU and get a £20 gift coupon which can be redeemed after 27th December. A good buy would be two of the Anakin/Sebulba podracer set which is currently half price. (thanks mat666).
4 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1001 views
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'Brick Friday' offers at shop.LEGO.com
Posted by Huw, 25 Nov 2011 03:47. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (UK).
Although we don't have Black Friday here in the UK, LEGO has joined a growing number of online retaliers that is nevertheless offering us promotions over this weekend. Unfortunately it's nothing to get too excited about, and is the same as the VIP offer last weekend. This might be your last chance to get the second holiday set (330002).So the offers are...
- 10% off all orders of £100 or more.
- Free Limited Edition Holiday set featuring Santa Minifigure with orders of £50 or more.
- Free delivery on all orders of £25 or more.
- All offers valid 25th – 28th November 2011.
There are some new items reduced but unfortunately they are all extended product lines, and no proper sets. Still, you might find something of interest so check out the Sales and Deals page. However the Maersk Container Ship 10155 IS still available at 30% off so combine it with something for £30 to hit the 10% off barrier and get it even cheaper, shipped free and with the holiday set too!
12 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)936 views
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Black Friday offers at shop.LEGO.com
Posted by Huw, 25 Nov 2011 03:37. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (US/Canada).
Here it is then, the busiest shopping day of the year in the USA, apparently. In the UK it's just a normal working day...Anyway, not be outdone by every other retailer having sales today, LEGO has a few special offers on over this weekend, for everyone this time, not just VIP members:
- 10% off all orders of $149 or more.
- Free Limited Edition Holiday set featuring Santa Minifigure with orders of $99 or more.
- Free shipping on all orders of $49 or more.
- All offers valid Nov 25th – 28th, 2011.
In addition there is 25% off the following sets:
- 8091 Republic Swamp Speeder
- 10199 Winter Toy Shop
- 8128 Cad Bane's Speeder
- 2519 Skeleton Bowling
- 8041 Race Truck
- 8404 Public Transport
- 7585 Horse Stable
- 10210 Imperial Flagship
- 3180 Tank Truck V39
- 10198 Tantive IV™
- 5659 The Great Train Chase
- 7583 Playful Puppy
- 7587 Horse Jumping
- 3850 Meteor Strike
- 3179 Repair Truck
- 10195 Republic Dropship
- 10215 Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter
- 3852 Sunblock
- 5839 World Grand Prix
- 8228 Sting Striker
- 3851 Atlantis Treasure
- 8221 Storming Enforcer
- 8227 Dragon Dueler
- 8423 World Grand Prix Racing Rivalry
- 10194 Emerald Night
They are now all listed on the Sales and Deals page. Happy shopping!
27 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1050 views
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Toy R Us 1/2 Price Sale
Posted by fuelbreak, 25 Nov 2011 01:44. Filed under Shopping (Canada).
Toys R Us, Canada, is having a 1/2 price sale starting Friday November 25 through Thursday December 1st on the Snow Trooper Battle Pack (8083) and the Rebel Trooper Battle Pack (8084). At $7.47 each, it's an easy buy for anyone building a hoth MOC.
My flyer says the sale can be store specific, so please check your own local flyer.
http://www.toysrus.ca/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=12027082&locale=en_CA&camp=CME:Flyer_11.16.11
3 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)918 views
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Advance warning of price reduction
Posted by Huw, 23 Nov 2011 18:10. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (General).
It's not often that we're able to tell you in advance of price reductions at shop.LEGO.com, particularly for something that's actually worth buying rather than the usual tat that's been found languishing at the back of the warehouse :-)
Anyway, from tomorrow, the 24th, the latest incarnation of the Maersk container ship will be approx. 30% off in all countries that LEGO ship to from Europe (i.e. all of Europe and AU/NZ). In the UK, it'll be reduced from £102 to a far more realistic £72.09.
If you don't already have this set, I highly recommend it. It's one of my favourites and one that I have had on permanent display since it was released in 2004. Not only does it look very cool once built, it also has a great selection of pieces in Maersk blue and dark red.
30 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)835 views
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2 Day Sale at Toys R Us
Posted by yellowcastle, 21 Nov 2011 09:30. Filed under Shopping (USA).
Valid Tuesday 11/22 thru Wednesday 11/23, Toys R Us is running yet another Buy One, Get One 50% Off promotion. This sale, however, excludes Star Wars and apparently only applies to "Regular-Priced LEGO construction sets." I'm sure we could argue with TRU what constitutes a "regular" price, but I digress.
Update: As expected, "Discounted" sets were indeed included in the sale when it launched though TRU will likely fix that.
Update 2: Brickset Forum member sidersdd has provided coupon code "TONSOFFUN" to get $15 off $100+ orders.
27 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1071 views
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Survey response, part 3
Posted by Huw, 21 Nov 2011 08:58. Filed under Brickset.
Following on from part one and part two of my responses to your comments, here is the third, and final installment:
BrickLists
These didn’t get many mentions, surprisingly, but one thing that was said is that it’s difficult to find the good lists among all the bad ones. I have a few ideas about how to surface the useful and interesting ones and I plan to make improvements in the New Year.
Parts lists
I'd really like to add set inventories to Brickset and I have attempted to negotiate the use of data from other sites but so far have not been able to reach agreement. So, I have plans to implement them myself. More details to follow...
Minifig galleries need updating
I haven’t updated the galleries with photos of second-half of 2011 minifigs yet, but I will do, when I find the time.
Prices of sets in other currencies
Brickset shows official prices from LEGO.com for sets released after 2007 in US$, CA$ and GBP. It also has UK prices of most sets released since 2000, and US prices for some sets prior to 2007. The database can now hold prices in other currencies and a while ago someone sent me data in Euros that I will get imported soon. I’m happy to load data for other currencies, so get in touch if you can provide it.
Set relationships
Often other sets are mentioned in set notes ‘Same as set xxxx’ or ‘Contains sets xxx, yyy, zzz’ but they are not linked in any way. It would be much better if there was a means of linking related sets together, of specifying relationships between them.
This is something that should have been implemented ages ago, so I will look to do it soon.
Mobile site
It was noted that the mobile site lacks some of the features of the main site. The aim of the mobile site was to provide basic functions that loaded quickly for use on the move, but it appears that many people use it as their primary means of accessing Brickset, which surprised me slightly, so maybe there is a case for adding more features to it.
Set descriptions
A couple of you noticed that the shop.LEGO.com set descriptions have disappeared from the set details pages. This is actually due to a bug at LEGO.com introduced when the shop changed recently. I have reported it and it’ll be fixed, eventually…
Various ideas for enhancements:
Multiple ‘Own’ lists – this might be possible, I’ll give it some thought.
Link to rebrickable.com – I’m already working with the site owner on this and will most likely get something launched in the New Year.
Link to mobile site on main site home page is annoying – this has now been removed.
Rate sets but not review them – I attempted to code this a while ago but had problems. Maybe I’ll revisit it.
Enable country selection, so you can see links and prices for other countries – done already!
Download entire database – this can be done already; it’s just not linked to from anywhere. I will make it available soon.
Member-member messaging – Personally I don’t see the need for this since we already have a means of contacting members if they want to be contacted, using email. I know several youngsters here can't use email for reasons I haven't fathomed out yet (don't you all have BlackBerrys these days?) but they are in a very small minority and coding something just to get round this issue probably isn't worth it.
My Friends – The site’s experiment in social networking has not been enhanced since it was originally implemented but there is a lot more that could be done with it and several good suggestions were made. If time permits I will work on some of them next year.
Comments on reviews/ask a question – I liked this idea, the ability to ask the reviewer a question about their review or the set so I will give it some thought.
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So, that just about summarises the main themes in the survey responses. If you think I've missed something, let me know in the comments. You'll notice that after most of the suggestions I say 'I'll do it in the New Year' and that's because it doesn't make sense to make major changes during the site's busiest period (see how traffic is ramping up in the stats) but between now and then I'll be thinking about the suggestions in more detail.
So that just leaves me to thank everyone who completed the survey for doing so. As you can see it's given me a lot to think about!
38 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1237 views
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Creations For Charity
Posted by Huw, 20 Nov 2011 17:50. Filed under Miscellaneous.
Creations for Charity is a fundraiser organised by Nannan (of The Brothers Brick) where LEGO fans sell their original creations to help a charity organisation. It's an opportunity for builders to donate custom creations to raise money to buy LEGO for underprivileged children during the holidays. This is the third year it's been running and there are now just ten days left to secure one of the excellent MOCs and custom minifigs that have been donated this year.
If you're looking for something unique for yourself or as gift this holiday season, take a look in the charity's BrickLink store where you'll be able to buy models made by some of the biggest names around and help make a difference for those less fortunate than yourself at Christmas.
4 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)984 views
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Better pictures of the the Star Wars Planets sets
Posted by Huw, 20 Nov 2011 14:15. Filed under New sets.
If the Super Heroes images haven't got you salivating enough, how about these, official images from Amazon.fr of three Star Wars Planets sets!
As you'll be able to see clearly in the alternative images there, they consist of a micro-scale model, a minifig and a 'planet', which appears to be around 10 studs in diamater and presumably splits in half to enable the parts to be stored in it.
There's no word on price or availability, but I imagine they'll be available early in the New Year in Europe and possibly before in the USA. It looks like we could be in for a lot of these in years to come judging by the 'Series 1' on the boxes.
Check them out for yourself:
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LEGO Star Wars - 9674 - Jeu de Construction - Naboo Starfighter et Naboo
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LEGO Star Wars - 9675 - Jeu de Construction - Sebulba's Podracer et Tatooine
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LEGO Star Wars - 9676 - Jeu de Construction - Tie Interceptor et Death Star
(via Toys N Bricks and Hoth Bricks)
36 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1409 views
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LEGO Star Wars - 9674 - Jeu de Construction - Naboo Starfighter et Naboo
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Brick Heroes and Brickipedia reveal DC Super Heroes sets
Posted by Huw, 20 Nov 2011 13:50. Filed under New sets.
Brickipedia and Brick Heroes (a French language site) have revealed hi-res photos of five of the DC Super Heroes sets today, and I have to say, they look better than I had anticpated from the grainy watermarked pictures we had seen previously.
I particularly like 6862 Superman vs. Lex Luthor, what with its cool mecha and Wonder Woman minifig.
Like other licensed sets, I suspect they'll command a premium price but it looks as if they'll be worth forking out for!
54 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1739 views
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50% off in Continente hypermarkets, Portugal
Posted by Huw, 20 Nov 2011 05:36. Filed under Shopping (Europe).
Joao writes: "19th and 20th of November you can buy LEGO for 50% off in card rewards at Continente hypermarkets. Those 50% can later be applied towards anything in the store, such as drinks, yogurts, fruit, fish or meat that you were going to have to buy anyway or... more LEGO. "
Which I think means if a set costs €10 you get card rewards worth €5 in return that you can then spend on more LEGO. Sounds like a good deal to me!
5 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1278 views
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VIP member offers today only
Posted by Huw, 19 Nov 2011 03:40. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (General).
At the moment every LEGO retailer out there seems to be offering some sort of offer in an attempt to get us to part with our money. Unfortunately LEGO themselves can't offer 3-for-2 or deep discounts because they can't undercut their retail channel so their offers have to be a bit more creative. Today's offer, for VIP members, is pretty good:
- Spend over £25 / US$49 / CA$49 -- free delivery (I thought everyone had that anyway...)
- Spend over £50 / US$99 / CA$99 -- Get the second Christmas set free as well
- Spend over £100 / US$149 / CA$149 -- 10% off your order as well!Plus, VIP points too!
Now I just need to find something to buy. Luckily for you in the US and Canada you can get the 2012 sets already so there's probably something you need. But for me here in the UK, I have nearly everything I want...
31 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1224 views
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Winners Retail Store Worth Checking Out
Posted by fuelbreak, 18 Nov 2011 18:00. Filed under Shopping (Canada).
I just visited my local Winners store yesterday and found they actually had some decent LEGO sets for their usual 30-50% off. It's worth checking out if you have a Winners store nearby.
My local store (Kelowna, BC, Canada) had The Prison Tower Rescue set for $39.99 (7947), compared to its original $69.99 value on LEGO.CA.
If you're a Castle builder in Canada, this may a great way to stock up on some of the great elements in this particular set.
I did see some Games, Heros and world racer sets as well.
6 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1029 views
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Building the ultimate LEGO car
Posted by Huw, 18 Nov 2011 14:47. Filed under Miscellaneous.
LEGO seems to be getting a lot of coverage of in the mainstream media these days. Two articles at newspaper websites were brought to my attention this week:
MrFootball found a piece in the Wall Street Journal titled For Some Grown-Ups, Playing With Legos (SIC) Is a Serious Business which is an article about LEGO Certified Professionals making money from the hobby.
lbh1876 pointed me at an excellent write-up and video about building the ultimate LEGO car (the Mercedes Unimog) at The Telegraph's website today, which you can watch below:
(I've embedded the script but it's not showing for me, if it isn't for you either, click here to view it).
It makes quite interesting viewing seeing how a non-AFOL tackles the build. Tipping all the parts on the table like that for starters is a sure-fire way of increasing the build-time considerably. I can't remember how long it took me to build but it certainly wasn't 9-and-a-half hours!
I suspect if you've been wondering whether to buy it or not, after watching the video you may well be going out to get it tomorrow!
22 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1438 views
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2 Day Sale at Toys R Us
Posted by yellowcastle, 18 Nov 2011 09:18. Filed under Shopping (USA).
In addition to the ongoing sale at Toys R Us this week, there are some new discounts beginning today Friday 11/18 and ending tomorrow, Saturday 11/19. As a "Doorbuster" promotion (i.e. only valid from 3 PM Friday through 1PM Saturday), all Star Wars LEGO sets priced at $14.99 or lower are 25% Off the normal (inflated) TRU price. This discount really only applies to the Vulture Droid polybag (30055) and the four recent battle packs (7913, 7914, 8084, 8083). While the Vulture Droid polybag does drop to $3.74, the battlepacks basically only return to MSRP. With the "Extra Super Wow" coupon, however, you get an additional 20% Off which would bring the battle packs down to more comfortable $8.99 and the Vulture Droid polybag to $2.99. While all are currently in stock (and already on sale) online, it's currently unclear to me if there's a corresponding "Extra Super Wow" code for online purchases.
Also part of this 2 Day Sale but not a doorbuster, you will save $10 on ANY LEGO Pharaoh's Quest, Atlantis, Creator or Technic purchase of $50 or more. This "so-so" discount does indeed stack with the current Hillside House (5771) discount, bringing it down to a whopping 40% Off MSRP!
18 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)922 views
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Survey response, part 2
Posted by Huw, 18 Nov 2011 04:27. Filed under Brickset.
Continuing on from part one, here are my responses to several more themes raised in the survey comments:
Missing sets/data and set images
There were quite a few comments about missing sets and the quality of set images, and requesting higher-resolution images. Some people asked if we are going to add sets prior to 1966 to the database.
We are always happy to be told about missing sets or be provided with missing data or better pictures. In future it's likely that I'll make it possible for you to upload your own pictures of sets, but until then, please use the contact form to get in touch.
At the moment, we have no plans to go further back in time than 1966 or include every set (service packs/brick boxes etc.) from 1966-70, mainly because the period is too complex and doing so would require plagiarising existing sources such as the Collector book, which I don’t want to do.
In the New Year I am going to make a concerted effort to scan the instructions cover of every set I own (some 2000 or so) to improve some of the older images and once that is done I will ask for community help to fill the gaps where needed.
Since 2007 I have been collecting the hi-res set images from LEGO.com but haven’t made them available yet, primarily to conserve bandwidth, but maybe now is the right time to add them.
Advanced search/results sorting/improved data mining
This is definitely an area that could be improved so I will give it some thought.
Site design
There were a few negative comments about the site’s design, but there was probably more positive ones. I did, you’ll recall, tweak the design a while ago (removed the blue background) and it was disliked so much I reverted back to the old one. While I agree it does need to be freshened up a bit, my view at the moment is ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it'. Nevertheless I will continue to tweak it from time to time and have plans to freshen it up in the New Year.
iPad App
Several people say they don’t like the iPad/iPhone apps or that they don't work properly. Unfortunately there isn’t much I can do about them as they are written by 3rd parties, so I encourage you to contact the authors directly via the appStore.
News
You want more news, more frequently posted and from more countries. If you would like to report on news from your country and you are over 18, get in touch. If we have more contributors we'll have more articles.
An interesting comment from someone was that the news always revolves around the ‘cult of the new’. Well I guess fundamentally that’s what ‘news’ is, but it made me think that maybe we could also have articles about historical topics, not necessarily always written by staff members but potentially by anyone. So, if you have an idea for an article, ‘The history of LEGO police stations’ or something like that, then get in touch.
Part 3 to follow...
17 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1119 views
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Free delivery still on at shop.LEGO.com until Dec. 18th
Posted by Huw, 16 Nov 2011 15:19. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (UK).
The offer is still on in the UK, and will be until what is presumably the last order date for normal Christmas delivery, December 18th.
10 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)919 views
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An extra 15% off when you spend £40 on toys
Posted by Huw, 16 Nov 2011 04:20. Filed under Shopping (UK).
Here's a pretty good deal if you still have money to spend after the recent Amazon and TRU sales: Get an additional 15% off when you spend over £40 on toys from now until the 22nd November. There are already some pretty good discounts at Argos so if you combine them with this you'll be quids in...Update: It seems they've put the prices up of most of the previously discounted sets, but our data feed is a few days out of date so the price increases are not showing up here yet.
12 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1060 views
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Survey response, part 1
Posted by Huw, 16 Nov 2011 03:38. Filed under Brickset.
I’ve now had a chance to read all your comments, both positive and negative. It is the negative ones that are of most interest because the feedback and suggestions can and will be used to improve the site to ensure it continues to meet your needs and expectations and that it remains the top LEGO reference site on the Internet.
However, if the negative comments are read in isolation, I could get the impression that you hate the site and everything about it, but for every negative comment there is usually a positive one so there must be some things you like!
Rather than respond individually to every comment, I’ve been through them all and picked out common themes. Each theme is addressed below:
eBay banner
What a surprise! This was the subject of about half of the negative comments and it appears that you all hate it! However I can tell you not everyone does because people are clicking on it and then taking some action once they get to eBay, so it’s not a total waste of space. I did however say that it was only there temporarily as an experiment and I will tell you now that on 1st January 2012 the eBay banner will be removed.
Amazon alerts
Another divisive subject: many of you love them and have used them to save money but others, I guess those who can’t/won’t spend money online or don’t have a local Amazon, hate them. Since the survey started I have changed their behaviour so they are now much less intrusive and most people will only ever see one in the list at a time, or can remove them completely so I hope now that everyone is happy. Nevertheless I will review them again in the New Year and see if further improvements can be made.
Search box
I was slightly surprised that the innocuous little search box in the top right corner received so many negative comments. These ranged from people disliking the fact that you have to press the Go button once you’ve selected something to search for, to it not being ‘fuzzy’ and returning only exact matches.
I have already changed its behaviour (see below) so you no longer have to press on Go which will hopefully improve its usability. As for fuzzy searching, that is a lot more difficult and will require more thought and effort to implement. Maybe one solution will be set tagging, so that if you’re looking for a tractor that doesn’t have the word tractor in its title, it will still match if it is tagged as a tractor.
Quality of reviews
The score for this jumped by 5% so there has clearly been some improvement over the year, but there is still room for more, it seems. Most complaints appear to be from adults who do not want to read kids’ reviews. I don’t want to discourage youngsters from posting them, because they may well be of interest to others of the same age, and today’s TFOL is tomorrow’s AFOL, so I don’t want to alienate them.
So what I plan to do, is to provide an option in your profile to enable you to select which reviews you want to see: those written by KFOLS, by TFOLS, or by AFOLS. That way I hope that all audiences will be happy.
Incentivising reviews
Several people made the observation that it’s often a while after release before sets are reviewed and someone made some excellent suggestions as to how to encourage people to write reviews that I definitely plan to follow up on that will hopefully resolve this.
To be continued...
30 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1155 views
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London Drugs 20% off all LEGO until 31 January 2012.
Posted by fuelbreak, 16 Nov 2011 01:12. Filed under Shopping (Canada).
Since Christmas is nearing, a few sales to note:
London Drugs has a 20% off sale on all LEGO running until January 31st 2012. Toys R Us does have comparable sales on with their popular buy one get one 1/2 off sales on selected themes (25% off). Until Nov. 17, those themes will be Alien Conquest and Pharaoh's Quest.
I am sure Toys R US will have similar sales in the weeks to follow but with different themes. The disadvantage of these sales compared to London Drugs is the fact that you must buy two identically priced sets to get the full 25% off value, and they both must fall in the selected theme.
London Drugs vs. Toys R Us: the choice is yours...
2 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1310 views
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Free shipping still at shop.LEGO.com
Posted by Huw, 15 Nov 2011 17:01. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (US/Canada).
Just a gentle reminder that the free shipping offer for orders over $99 is still on at shop.LEGO.com, as is the free ARF Trooper minifig offer, simply quote BS11 (USA) or BS12 (Canada) at checkout!
12 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1638 views
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Help build a 12-foot tall Santa Yoda in San Francisco
Posted by Huw, 15 Nov 2011 13:51. Filed under Events (USA).
The LEGO CEC team has asked me to tell you about an event in San Francisco this coming weekend to benefit the Toys For Tots charity:"San Francisco Bay Area Families are invited to Help LEGO® Master Builders Construct a 12-foot tall by 10-foot wide LEGO® Star Wars™ Santa Yoda out of LEGO bricks.
"It's a three-day community build where families will help LEGO Master Builders to create a 12-foot tall by 10-foot wide LEGO Star War Santa Yoda made entirely of LEGO bricks to kick-off a countdown to the holidays found at www.legosantayoda.com. Children and parents will be invited to build a portion of Santa Yoda which LEGO Master Builders will then add to the larger than life model"
It's taking place on Friday, November 18th to Sunday, November 20th, 10am-6pm daily (or until completed) at Union Square (next to the seasonal ice skating rink), San Francisco.
If you're in the area head on down and let us know how you get on!
7 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)580 views
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Minor changes in response to survey
Posted by Huw, 15 Nov 2011 13:37. Filed under Brickset.
I'm working my way through your comments and I'll post a long response in the next few days. However I've made a few tweaks as a result of feedback already:- The big ugly banner that appears when you view the site on a mobile device has been removed.
- There were a lot of comments about the search auto-complete and having to press 'Go' once you'd selected something from the list. I've changed the behaviour so you now don't need to. However I'm sure I disabled that feature a while ago due to some unwanted side-effect but it appears to work OK so I'll leave it on for now. Let me know if it works for you.
- Some of you have already noticed the little flag in the top corner that lets you 'pretend' to be in a different country so you can see prices and shopping links for countries other than your own. This was a previously hidden feature but as it was requested in the survey, I thought I'd make it available to everyone.
- Finally, another change you'll notice that has tidied up the home page a bit is the replacement of the ads at the side with text links. I read this article at the weekend that says "Web users tend to ignore everything that looks like advertisement and what is interesting, they’re pretty good at it. Although advertisement is noticed, it is almost always ignored". So given that nobody looks at them, and they were cluttering up the page a bit, they are now gone.
More changes to come, so stay tuned...
17 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1004 views
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More Sales From Costco: Alien Conquest (Jet-Copter Encounter) $35.99 CAN
Posted by fuelbreak, 14 Nov 2011 18:52. Filed under Shopping (Canada).
Costco has added Alien Conquest set Jet-Copter Encounter to its stock for Christmas.
Priced at $35.99 compared to $49.99 at shop.LEGO.com, it might be a set to pick up if you're a fan of the Space theme.
Many thanks to Brickset user CeroKnight for the news.
8 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1242 views
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Pick of the week: Pudsey Bear
Posted by Huw, 13 Nov 2011 10:00. Filed under Pick of the week.
It's been a while since I wrote a Pick of the week, so this one is long overdue. Unfortunately my pick this week is one that very few people here can actually go into a shop and buy because it's only available in the UK. However, given that this week is Children In Need week, I feel compelled to extol the set's virtues and encourage you to buy one or more if you can, or, if not, hook up with someone in the UK and get them to send you some. (The Brickset forum is an ideal place to do that!)
This 95-piece set costs £4, of which £1 goes to the CiN charity, and builds a pretty good represenation of the charity's mascot, Pudsey. For such a small set it packs in some interesting building techniques using a lot of pieces, including plenty of SNOT, the likes of which you don't normally see in similar sized sets. Although you may have most of the parts in your collection, you won't have his unique spotty bandage, which finishes off the model perfectly.
Still not convinced? DrDave has reviewed the set this week as well over at his GimmeLEGO blog where you can see more pictures, including sans bandage.
Find out more about Children In Need, order the set from shop.LEGO.com, or go and buy one from Asda. Actually, this is surely going to be a collectors' item in years to come and handy to have a stock of for trading internationally, so don't just buy one, grab a handful and help underpriveleged children while you do so.
13 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)770 views
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The 2011 Brickset user survey results
Posted by Huw, 13 Nov 2011 05:13. Filed under Brickset.
The survey has now ended. There were 836 responses, which really is excellent so I thank you all for doing so.
You can view the results and read the comments on the 2011 survey results page. This is the second year that the survey has been in its current form so it's possible to directly compare this year's results to last year's and see what's improved and what you don't think has.
So, here are the comparative scores for the quantitive questions, taking everyone's (under and over 18s) scores into account:
Question 2011 2010 Change The home page 81.10% 85.90% -4.80% Searching 79.20% 77.50% 1.70% Quality and relevance of the news 78.90% 81.90% -3.00% Accuracy and content of the database 92.70% 89% 3.70% Quality of images 90% 83% 7.00% Ease of use 89.10% 89.10% 0.00% The site's design 78.40% 79.60% -1.20% Speed of response 80.80% 79.30% 1.50% Quality of set reviews 61.70% 56.50% 5.20% The forum 52.60% As you can see, five of the scores have improved and three have not. I think it's obvious why the 'home page' and 'news' scores have gone down: some of you don't like the eBay bar and the Amazon alerts. I guess the 'site design' score has gone down because, although it has not changed significantly since last year, you think it's looking a little dated now.
So, without even reading through all your comments -- of which there are some excellent ones -- there are clearly some points to address, and I plan to do so in the new year. However, there has to be a balance between your needs (uncluttered and ad-free) and mine (discreet value-added advertising to fund the site) so some further experimentation is needed to find that balance. I would however like to put it into some sort of perspective and remind you what happens when a LEGO site totally sells-out to advertising and becomes unpleasant to use. I don't think Brickset is anywhere near that state yet!
It's interesting that the 'the forum' question has such a low score. Although it appears to be very popular and the Vanilla Forums system is liked by those that have taken the time to get used to it, I guess it's so different to normal, old-fashioned phpBB-style forums used by other LEGO sites, that some of you have been put off by that. I have no plans to change it, so like it or lump it :-)
Over the next week I will read all the comments, pick out the themes and post something here when I've done so.
So, once again, thank you all for participating -- with your input the site can continue to meet your needs and improve.
41 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1194 views
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This Week's Sales
Posted by yellowcastle, 13 Nov 2011 00:33. Filed under Shopping (USA).
Valid Sunday 11/13 thru Saturday 11/19 at Toys R Us:
- The following sets are 25% Off the normal TRU price: The Knight Bus (4866), The Millennium Falcon (7965), The Sith Infiltrator (7961), The Republic Frigate (7964), Battle of Geonosis (7869), The Battle of Endor (8038), Fire Temple (2507), Skull Truck (2506), Alien Mothership (7065), UFO Abduction (7052), City Advent Calendar, Space Center (3368), Space Shuttle (3367), Powerboat Transporter (4643), Red Cargo Train (3677), Police Helicopter (3658) and Hillside House (5771).
- Skeleton Bowling (2519) and the Toys R Us Truck (7848) are 30% and 50% Off MSRP respectively.
- CMF Series 5 figures are 2 for $5
- Free LEGO Minifigure Display Case (small) with any total LEGO construction purchase of $60 or more
- Coupon (flyer only) for $10 Giftcard with qualifying purchase of $75 or more (coupon valid only until 11/17/11; giftcard valid through 1/28/12)
- Rewards members continue to earn 10% Back on purchases through 12/24/11 (be sure to read the small print)
Valid Sunday 11/13 thru Saturday 11/19 at Target:
- All LEGO Hero Factory, Kingdoms and Pharaoh's Quest sets are 25% Off the normal Target price
11 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1045 views
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Series 6 spotted in WalMart
Posted by Huw, 11 Nov 2011 17:11. Filed under Shopping (USA).
Here we go again... Member Ghost Target reports that "LEGO Minifigures Series 6 are shipping to Walmarts in the US. So far the Saratoga Springs and Queensbury, NY Walmarts have received in 16 cases. The Walmart stock number is 708218".
Update! This is a false alarm, looks like we have a few more weeks to wait yet!
42 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1151 views
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Last chance to participate in the Brickset user survey
Posted by Huw, 11 Nov 2011 13:57. Filed under Brickset.
The survey has been running for 10 days or so and there have been 650 responses, which is absolutely excellent!I'll be ending it tomorrow evening, so if you haven't yet had your say, please do so now.
Next week I'll be reviewing all the comments and publishing an action plan.
8 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1109 views
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Huge sale at Amazon.co.uk
Posted by Huw, 11 Nov 2011 05:58. Filed under Shopping (UK).
Almost certainly prompted by the Toys R Us 3-for-2 offer on LEGO this weekend, Amazon has reduced the price of loads of LEGO sets by 33%, as you can see from the alert below (if you're in the UK), including my previous Set of the Week, the Ninjago Earth Dragon. I suspect more may be picked up when the data is gathered again at midday, so keep an eye out here and on the Bargain Watch page.
This seems to be a growing trend, doesn't it: Amazon reducing their prices in response to a competitor's promotion. We saw it in France a couple of weeks ago. It's good for us as consumers now, I guess, but one day all the competitors will be out of business and we'll only have Amazon. Then it might not be so good...
20 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1063 views
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New discounts at Amazon.co.uk
Posted by Huwbot, 11 Nov 2011 05:49. Filed under Shopping (UK).
Items from the midday (GMT) update combined into this list, and category changed so it stays around a bit longer.
0 comments (Commenting has ended on this article)1024 views
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The Cult of LEGO
Posted by Huw, 10 Nov 2011 14:41. Filed under Book review.
I'm actually going to keep my review brief because Mariann Asanuma has done such a good job of reviewing it at her Model Building Secrets blog that I recommend you read that then continue reading here for my opinion on it.So, what did I think...
Well, overall I liked it and I think any AFOL will enjoy reading it. I'm not sure that AFOLs are the target audience though since we already know most of what's written and will probably also know many of the people and models that are featured. However, I think it will serve to bring closet/borderline AFOLs into the hobby because one thing it does make clear is that, if you love the brick, it's OK to, and you are not alone!
It will also be useful for educating NLSOs and proving to them that you are not as weird as you may seem, playing with LEGO as an adult :-)
There are some observations that I'll make which I hope will be read constructively:
- I didn't like the page design. It's very inconsistent. Some spreads are clean and well laid out but most have distracting backgrounds with the text inset in white boxes.
- The quality of the photography is variable. This is a bugbear of mine with Brick Journal as well. I know why it is -- because the photos are contributed by many people who've used differering equipment under less than ideal lighting conditions -- but I'm not sure how it could be solved other than have one person take all the pictures in a controlled environment, which I admit is not practical given the subject matter.
- The online LEGO community doesn't get much of a mention, just a couple of pages, which given the importance it plays in holding the community together, is disappointing, and brushing off Brickset as 'Peeron's European counterpart' does it no justice at all!
- It's very US-centric. Most of the models, events and people are from/in the USA. If you're in the USA you probably won't be bothered by this, of course.
Anyway, despite these niggles it's still an excellent work and worth adding to your book collection.
It's available from Amazon, about $25 in the USA
, and £18 in the UK
.
19 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)904 views
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2012 sets at shop.LEGO.com already!
Posted by Huw, 09 Nov 2011 14:39. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (US/Canada).
We've just had word that some 2012 sets can now be ordered from shop.LEGO.com in the USA and Canada. However we are also told that 'because they just literally went live' you may have to search by theme in order to find them. So head on over (or use this link if you're in Canada) and get searching, and don't forget to use the Brickset special code of BS11 (USA) BS12 (Canada) when you check out to get a free ARF Trooper!
See, it's not all bad news today :)
City
- 4431 Ambulance
- 4432 Garbage Truck
- 4435 Car and Camper
- 4436 Patrol Car
- 4437 Police Pursuit
- 4439 Heavy-Lift Helicopter
- 4440 Forest Police Station
- 4441 Police Dog Van
Dino
Creator
- 6910 Mini Sports Car
- 6911 Mini Fire Truck
- 6912 Super Soarer
- 6913 Blue Roadster
- 6914 T-Rex
- 7291 Street Rebel
- 7292 Propeller Adventures
Racers
33 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1583 views
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Design byME to close in January
Posted by Huw, 09 Nov 2011 12:54. Filed under Miscellaneous.
More bad news from LEGO, I'm afraid:
The LEGO Group is closing that part of the Design byMe customization service that allows consumers to order digital models in real bricks. We will be accepting orders until January 16, 2012.
Consumers will still be able to design what they want with LEGO Digital Designer and upload models into a public gallery as before. All existing models will be transferred to a new gallery on the LDD website. Consumers will also be able to download the instructions generated from LEGO Digital Designer.
The HERO Recon Team Hero Creator will be unchanged and consumers will still be able to build and buy their own customized Hero. Bricks can be bought separately, using the Pick a Brick service http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme .
This is not the end of customization for the LEGO Group, but a revision. We believe in the future of customization, but the service we offer has to be right for our consumers and Design byME has proven to be too complex for children.
The original Design byMe vision was for a unique customization service, where consumers could design whatever they imagined, display it and get the model sent to them in their own LEGO box. Design byMe as a concept attracts several million people each year to build a huge range of amazing creations using the LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) software. Despite this success, the overall Design byMe experience has struggled to live up to the quality standards for a LEGO service.
Over the years, we have also added other simpler customized building experiences like Hero Recon Team. The feedback from Design byMe users has taught us that we would need to rebuild the entire setup of Design byMe to fix this. This would only make the service too expensive.
---
First Universe closing and now this. I never used the service -- I felt it was prohibitively expensive -- but I know a lot of people that have and I'm sure a lot of you will miss it.
44 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)3449 views
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Improvements to the site to help you spend less
Posted by Huw, 09 Nov 2011 11:11. Filed under Brickset.
I've made a few minor changes to various areas of the site to enable you to make better purchasing decisions:
On the 'Buy' tabs on the set details pages:
- In the Buy from shop.LEGO.com section, the table now shows the price in each country in your local currency. I haven't finished populating the data that tallies countries to currencies but most major ones have been done.
- The Buy from Amazon section also shows the approximate price in your local currency. This is particularly important if you're in the EU because you can buy from any EU Amazon and it can be cheaper to buy from, say, Amazon.es and have it shipped to the UK than it is to buy from Amazon.co.uk.
If you're in the UK you'll notice the data from Argos has been properly integrated into the database, so the Argos discounted set list is now more functional in line with the Amazon ones, and also on the 'Buy' tab you'll see Argos shown if they stock the set you're looking at.
I hope you find these tweaks useful.
11 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1043 views
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BrickMania, Antwerp
Posted by Huw, 08 Nov 2011 16:36. Filed under Events (Europe).
My good friend Serge from BeLUG, the Belgian LEGO user group, has asked me to tell you about their forthcoming LEGO Expo being held in the Apollo Hall, Antwerp on the 26th and 27th of November.It's billed as 'An expo with LEGO bricks with MOCs, LEGO Truck Trial demos and selling of loose parts and sets', so it sounds as if it will be a good day out.
There's more information on the BeLUG website.
3 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1023 views
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Star Wars: The Padawan Menace DVD/Blu-Ray
Posted by Huw, 07 Nov 2011 07:47. Filed under New sets.
This 21 minute cartoon has been released in Europe today. I can't comment on the cartoon yet, although I am looking forward to watching it, but I can tell you that the Blu-Ray version includes an exclusive Young Han Solo minifig.
In the UK this is exclusively available from Tesco, priced at £8. You can order it from Tesco Entertainment, although I suspect it'll also be available in larger stores.
I know this is old news if you're in the USA, where it's been out a while and is a Wal-Mart exclusive. (thanks for the correction)
30 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1227 views
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The Shadow ARF Trooper has returned to strike for the Republic!
Posted by Huw, 07 Nov 2011 07:33. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (General).
If you're in the USA or Canada you can take advantage of this special shop.LEGO.com offer for Brickset visitors:
"We have discovered a limited quantity of LEGO Star Wars™ Shadow ARF Trooper minifigures in our warehouse! Due to the very limited quantity we would like to give the fan community the first chance to receive these as bonus gift on any LEGO Star Wars holiday purchases that meet the Free Shipping threshold of $99.
"The offer will be available Nov 7th - 21st or while supplies last. To add the LEGO Star Wars™ Shadow ARF Trooper to your eligible order simply enter code BS11 (US) / BS12 (CA) at checkout."
This minifig fetches ridiculous sums on eBay so be sure to take advantage of this by placing an order today. Unfortunately there hasn't been a similar discovery in the European warehouse :-(
23 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1215 views
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More 2012 images added
Posted by Huw, 06 Nov 2011 14:59. Filed under New sets.
Brickset member L-Di-LEGO has tracked down better pictures of many of the 2012 sets and also filled a few gaps, such as Hero Factory and Creator, so it looks as if we pretty much have images of all the first wave of next year's sets, bar the Super Heroes minifig-scale ones.
As feared, it's going to be another expensive year...
40 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1094 views
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The 2011 Brickset user survey
Posted by Huw, 05 Nov 2011 05:05. Filed under Brickset.
Reposted: You still have an opportunity to participate!As has become customary at this time of year, I'm running another user survey to find out what YOU think of the site: what you like and what you don't. It doesn't matter if you're a KFOL, TFOL, AFOL, member or non-member, I'm really interested to hear your opinion.
This year has seen some major improvements and additions to the site, many in response to your comments last year (which you can read here). Here's a reminder of the main ones:
- Minifig galleries: I started creating these back in January and since then have added hundreds of high-quality photos of minifigs. There's some work to do to update them, and I'll be doing so over the winter.
- Links to Eurobricks reviews, maintained by the Eurobricks Reviewers' Academy teachers.
- Advanced Collection Manager: A much requested feature finally saw the light of day in the spring
- Amazon Bargain Watch pages and alerts, love 'em or hate 'em!
- Last but certainly not least, the Brickset Forum was launched.
- Plus, many minor improvements and tweaks under the bonnet to keep the site working at its best.
So, here's your chance to influence the future of Brickset. The site thrives on user feedback so, please, complete the 2011 survey and have your say.
6 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1084 views
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Please welcome Fuelbreak, our new Canadian correspondent.
Posted by Huw, 05 Nov 2011 05:02. Filed under Brickset.
A couple of weeks ago Daniel, aka fuelbreak, emailed to to ask why we didn't have more Canadian news. I explained that we're reliant on local news contributors to post it for us, so he kindly offered to become one. Here's what he says about himself:
"My name is Daniel and I am a 29 year old graduate student from University of British Columbia Canada in the field of Biochemistry and Management. I have collected LEGO since I was introduced to it at three years old. The themes I collect are Star Wars, Castle, Pirates, Western, Viking, Indiana Jones, Batman, Creator (modular builds), Harry Potter and the Minifigure Series.
"My LEGO pet peeves are stickers and reduced lego quality especially noticed on the minifigure series lines. Ole Kirk's (LEGO founder) motto was "DET-BEDSTE-ER IKKE-FOR-GODT", which meant "only the best was good enough" and was a reminder never to skimp on quality. If I could change anything in the LEGO world it would be to make sure that this motto was upheld through and through.
"I am currently pursuing a career in dentistry but have always wished there were jobs with LEGO available in western Canada. My dream is that one day I would be able to work for LEGO in some fashion. I currently reside in Kelowna, BC, Canada.
"I am very happy to join the Brickset team."So, please join me in welcoming Daniel to the team, and if you want more news from your country, well, you now know what to do!
25 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1046 views
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LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia now available at Costco Canada
Posted by fuelbreak, 04 Nov 2011 21:14. Filed under Shopping (Canada).
The LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia (b11sw02-1) is now available in Costco for a very reasonable price.
Priced at a regular $20.99 Canadian in other locations like London Drugs, the Character Encyclopedia is only $11.39 Can at Costco.
At this price it is well worth buying the book for the exclusive Han Solo minifigure alone.
8 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1300 views
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Ninjago spinner and booster packs revealed
Posted by Huw, 04 Nov 2011 16:16. Filed under New sets.
TheBrickBlogger has revealed more images of next year's Ninjago sets, so we now have a complete set. There appears to be two types: spinners, which are like those released this year, and booster packs, which are packaged similarly to collectable minifigures and seem to consist of a minifig and a selection of weapons. There's also a new starter pack and a training set, pictured.
Edit: I'm very happy to be corrected and tell you that, unlike this year's spinners, the 2012 ones won't be made in China, and will feature normal high-quality parts and minifigs. (Thanks Nabii)
44 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1980 views
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LEGO Universe to close in 2012
Posted by Huw, 04 Nov 2011 12:56. Filed under Software/Games.
I'm quite shocked by this news, hot off the LEGO press:
Online game will close on January 31, 2012. The LEGO Group’s digital offerings will continue to develop over the coming years.
November 4, 2011 – The LEGO Group today announced that it will close LEGO® Universe, an MMOG (massively-multiplayer online game) that has been in operation since the autumn of 2010 In spite of very positive player feedback and a large number of players in the free play zone, it has not been possible to convert a satisfactory number of players to paying subscribers. It has therefore been decided to close the game as of January 31, 2012.
“The LEGO Universe team can take pride in having developed and launched a great LEGO experience that many players will miss,” said Jesper Vilstrup, Vice President, LEGO Universe. “Right now, we have almost 2 million players in LEGO Universe, and we get extremely positive feedback from players. Unfortunately, we have not been able to build a satisfactory revenue model in our target group, and therefore, have decided to close the game.”
Despite the change, the ambition to develop and run a digital business remains. In future, it is the intention to further pursue cooperation with partners. The LEGO Group has a strong and continuing partnership with TT Games & Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to create digital LEGO experiences within video games. A further expansion in the digital area will mainly be based on similar partnerships
“The development of our digital offerings continues to be a very important element in our strategy,” said Mads Nipper, Executive Vice President, LEGO Group. “We have more than 20 million visitors on www.LEGO.com every month, and LEGO video games are among the bestselling children’s video games with sales of more than 60 million units in the last five years. Through our experience developing and running LEGO Universe, we have gained a lot of valuable insights, and we have a very strong foundation for future development in the digital area."
As a consequence of the closure, the LEGO Universe staff has today been informed that the ‘Play Well Studios’ in Louisville, Colorado and the game’s marketing function in Billund, Denmark will be closed. This will affect 115 employees. All affected employees will be offered assistance in finding new jobs inside or outside the LEGO Group
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This is of course terrible news for the staff involved and I hope everything works out for them. It's not very good news for LEGO either given the amount of money that they've pumped into it. It's tempting to say 'I told you so', but I'll resist...
72 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1866 views
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2 Day Sale at Toys R Us
Posted by yellowcastle, 04 Nov 2011 10:29. Filed under Shopping (USA).
Valid Friday 11/4 thru Saturday 11/5, the Queen Anne's Revenge (4195), Police Station (7498) and Garmadon's Dark Fortress (2505) are 25% Off the normal TRU price. Even better, Toys R Us is running a "Doorbusters" additional discount between 3pm Friday and 1pm Saturday. During this time period, you can save an additional 20% on these 3 sets if purchased with the following coupon. These stacked discounts will result in savings of 30%, 34%, and 44% Off MSRP respectively for the QAR, Police Station and Fortress.
Additionally for Friday and Saturday, Toys R Us will be selling the City Fire Truck (7239), PotC Fountain of Youth (4192), Hero Factory Rocka XL (2282), and Duplo Pet Shop (5656) for $19.99 each. The savings off of MSRP for these sets would be 13%, 0%, 20% and 20% Off MSRP respectively. Please note that the "Doorbusters" coupon will not apply to these sets.
Update: It turns out that the coupon is also valid online by entering promotional code 948437 at checkout. Thanks Sharky!
18 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1017 views
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LEGO+Paper = Muji
Posted by Huw, 03 Nov 2011 17:39. Filed under Shopping (USA).
At last, it seems that the Muji LEGO sets are readily available outside Japan. If you haven't heard of them before, they consist of LEGO bricks and sheets of paper which, when used with the separately available hole punch, can be used to make paper models held together with LEGO bricks.You can see the selection available and order them from the Muji US website
I actually have three of the sets thanks to a friend who has a relative in Japan, but I haven't done much with them, or added them to the database yet, one reason being they don't have set numbers or any kind of unique identifier except for their barcode. So I guess I'll have to make them up...
However, they do look like fun, that is if you can bring yourself to cut and punch the supplied paper and not keep it MISB!
(thanks to Jeffrey S for the news)
8 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1618 views
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LEGO gift card available again in Target
Posted by Huw, 03 Nov 2011 15:15. Filed under Shopping (USA).
Following what must have been a successful promotion last year, Target stores in the USA are again offering a free LEGO set with gift cards. This year, as well as making their company mascot Bullseye, you can also make a snowman and polar bear from the parts. This is effectively free LEGO so get on in store and buy some. Then spend the gift card on LEGO for yourself :-)
(via Toys N Bricks and FBTB)
18 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1884 views
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Start of the month, so it's Monthly Mini Model Build time ...
Posted by bluemoose, 02 Nov 2011 09:49. Filed under New sets.
This month there is a split between the European and North American Monthly Mini Model Build (MMMB) models - here in Europe we're getting a rather disappointing Acorn model, while 'across the pond' you get yet another Turkey model, for the 3rd year in a row. It looks like a nice model though, and the PDF instructions are available already ...
The in-store build sessions run on the 1st Tuesday of the month in North America (i.e. yesterday) and the 1st Thursday of the month in Europe (i.e. tomorrow).
The December model has also been announced - it's a little odd looking, but is meant to be the toy soldier character from The Nutcracker ballet.
In other news, the November and December in-store calendars for the European stores are now available on-line:
It doesn't look like the US or Canadian store pages have been updated yet; I'm sure it will happen in a day or two.
12 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1002 views
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The 2011 Brickset user survey
Posted by Huw, 01 Nov 2011 16:13. Filed under Brickset.
As has become customary at this time of year, I'm running another user survey to find out what YOU think of the site: what you like and what you don't. It doesn't matter if you're a KFOL, TFOL, AFOL, member or non-member, I'm really interested to hear your opinion.This year has seen some major improvements and additions to the site, many in response to your comments last year (which you can read here). Here's a reminder of the main ones:
- Minifig galleries: I started creating these back in January and since then have added hundreds of high-quality photos of minifigs. There's some work to do to update them, and I'll be doing so over the winter.
- Links to Eurobricks reviews, maintained by the Eurobricks Reviewers' Academy teachers.
- Advanced Collection Manager: A much requested feature finally saw the light of day in the spring
- Amazon Bargain Watch pages and alerts, love 'em or hate 'em!
- Last but certainly not least, the Brickset Forum was launched.
- Plus, many minor improvements and tweaks under the bonnet to keep the site working at its best.
So, here's your chance to influence the future of Brickset. The site thrives on user feedback so, please, complete the 2011 survey and have your say.
Update: about 24 hours later and 328 of you have left feedback, which is excellent, thank you. If you haven't already provided yours then please do so now! I'll leave the survey running until next weekend.
47 comments, latest one posted 18 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1162 views
