Brickset news archive: September 2011
-
New LEGO books
Posted by Huw, 29 Sep 2011 14:28. Filed under Miscellaneous.
The Dorling Kindersley books The LEGO Ideas Book and the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia are now shipping from Amazon.co.uk. I don't have either yet but when I do I'll review them here. In addition, Brendan Powell Smith's new LEGO bible book is out as well, a couple of months early.
9 comments, latest one posted 19 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)965 views
-
LEGO Group unveils first fully integrated digital-to-physical gaming experience
Posted by Huw, 29 Sep 2011 11:03. Filed under Software/Games.
A LEGO press release published today reveals an interesting hybrid game that combines physical bricks with a digital game played on iOS devices:
---
LEGO Group unveils first fully integrated digital-to-physical gaming experience
Combining physical building with a digital gaming application, LEGO® Life of George invites builders to test building skills in a race against timeThe LEGO Group has announced LEGO® Life of George, its first product to combine digital and physical play for a hands-on LEGO gaming experience. Featuring patent-pending brick recognition software, powered by EyeCue, the game challenges players to build models, and place them on a play mat that acts as a “green screen” to capture the image and receive a score based on accuracy and speed.
Beginning October 1, 2011, players can purchase the LEGO Life of George set for $29.99 from LEGO Stores and shop.lego.com and download the free Apple iOS compatible gaming application.
LEGO Life of George is a 12-level game that can be played in novice or expert mode. Each level showcases an adventure from George, around whom the game revolves, and is comprised of models of varying difficulty based on the number of bricks needed and the building techniques required to replicate them. Builders are challenged to physically recreate the virtual models from George’s photo album using the LEGO bricks included with the game; once they have successfully completed all 10 models the next level will be unlocked.
In addition to Game Mode which can be played alone or against one competitor in a pass-and-play format, a Creation Mode called “My Life” enables users to design and capture their own models in the app’s virtual scrapbook.
“We understand consumers’ powerful connection to casual gaming, and we have seen how successfully the LEGO brand can translate to a virtual experience, so we pursued development of a fun way to combine both physical and virtual play into one product,” says Paal Smith-Meyer, head of new business at LEGO Group.
“Life of George is a result of our desire to provide an innovative way for existing and new fans to play with LEGO bricks and interact with the brand.”
---
Apart from the rather lame title, it certainly sounds intriguing. The video below shows how it's played. It looks as if you're challenged to build a 2D model, then take a photo of it with your iPhone/pad/pod. The game then determines how closely you've built it and, presumably, lets you progress.
See what you think:
(Thanks to toomuchdew for the news)
Update: here's more information from another press release, about George:
George is a software engineer by day and adventurer by night. His main hobbies are travel, photography and numbers, and has a fun storyline for players to follow and engage with via his Facebook page, I Am George. Fans can expect to see updates and photography from George on his travels as well as hints to new game levels and app updates through his posts.
30 comments, latest one posted 19 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1093 views
-
Massive LEGO weekend ahead...
Posted by Huw, 29 Sep 2011 08:03. Filed under Brickset.
This weekend is one of the biggest in the LEGO calendar. Not only are the two of the most important LEGO events happening in the USA and the UK (BrickCon and the Great Western LEGO Show, respectively) but it's also a weekend when LEGO usually take the opportunity to unveil an exclusive set due for release the next year simultaneously at the events.
Last year it was Diagon Alley, the year before, the Imperial Flagship and in 2008 it was Medieval Market Village. However, given that LEGO has only just revealed the mini-modulars last weekend (at Skaerberk), will they have another one up their sleeve? We'll have to wait and see!
If so, we'll certainly try and bring you news of it here, but myself, bluemoose, Martin and DrDaveWatford will all be at STEAM so we might be late with it. So keep an eye out at Brothers-Brick and FBTB, although with some of their staff at BrickCon, they may be late with it too :-)
If you're going to either event, have a great time and if you're at GWLS, do come and say hello. Bluemoose will be manning the show's admin area and I'll probably be behind the main train layout in the large hall.
If you're not, you could be in for a quiet weekend online...
23 comments, latest one posted 19 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1107 views
-
The bus arrives in Europe
Posted by Huw, 27 Sep 2011 14:17. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (UK).
I think it arrived at shop.LEGO.com yesterday while I was away on business. If you haven't ordered it yet, please go ahead and do so now :-)
4 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)833 views
-
Super Heroes minifig competiton
Posted by Huw, 25 Sep 2011 13:10. Filed under Brickset.
The competition is still open, and will be until Monday 3rd October.
Here's the original announcement:
---
We've teamed up with the Community, Engagement and Communication team at LEGO to give you the chance to win these two ComicCon exclusive preview edition Super Heroes minifigs!
These Green Lantern and Batman figures won't be available anywhere else until 2012, so this is your chance to get hold of them before then!
The competition's aim is to raise awareness of the LEGO Super Heroes Challenge building contest, which offers a grand prize of a trip for 4 to Warner Bros. Studios, WB Animation, and LEGOLAND California Resort and the complete 2012 LEGO Super Heroes: DC Universe collection.
All you have to do is answer the question on the competition page. You can find the answer on the contest's website at LEGOSuperHeroes.com. Once you've done so, get building and enter the Challenge!
---
There's been a few entries and some of you have got it right, so if you haven't entered yet, you're still in with a chance. Note: duplicate entries will be deleted so don't bother to post them (Michael Harvey...) :-)
37 comments, latest one posted 19 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1228 views
-
A blast from the past, set #4032, Holiday Jet
Posted by bluemoose, 25 Sep 2011 10:37. Filed under Miscellaneous.
You'll notice from the 'new additions to the database' ribbon above, that I have just added the same set, #4032 Holiday Jet, quite a few times; I thought I'd make a little post here to explain why ...
This set was originally released back in 2003 as an airline promotional set - these are sets that are usually only available to buy on-board aircraft during a flight. LEGO has a long history of producing these types of sets; they are usually, if not exclusively, models of aircraft and sometimes feature sticker sets exclusive to the particular airline that they are being sold on.
This particular set was unusual in that it was available on a large range of different airlines, and was available in 13 (known) variants; the boxes are identical in all cases (featuring "Specially made for Airline Companies" text on the front), but a sealed clear plastic pouch on the back of each box held a different set of stickers depending on which airline it was bought from.
Previously, we only had a single generic entry for all the different versions of this set; I've broken that out into the 13 different variants known. The original entry (4032-1) has now become the 'LEGO Air' version, which is the most common version in circulation; if you are amongst the 169 people who have previously marked this set as 'got', you might want to check which version you have and adjust as appropriate.
You can check the full set of airlines in the database; the rarest version seems to be the 'ANA' (All Nippon Airways) version, although the JAL (Japan Airlines), Aeroflot and several others seem to be quite in demand by collectors too. The most unusual version is probably the 'Snowflake' version; Snowflake was a SAS-owned low-cost airline spin-off that folded in 2004.
Anyone know of any other variants of this set?
14 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1275 views
-
Argos - Sale now on!
Posted by Huw, 25 Sep 2011 04:18. Filed under Shopping (UK).
The Argos product feed picked up a few discounts overnight, including 10% off the Unimog, which is an Argos exclusive, and 20% off the Sith Nightspeeder.
View all discounted sets by clicking on the image.
5 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1162 views
-
10230 Mini Modulars: The first 2012 Exclusive
Posted by Huw, 24 Sep 2011 14:15. Filed under New sets.
We didn't see this coming -- LEGO managed to keep word of this set under wraps until the official announcement, which makes a change!
The set features mini models of the first five modular buildings and looks very cute indeed. Apparently it's going to be sold to VIP members only so is presumably being used to encourage people go join. Here's the press release:
10230 Mini Modulars, 1,356 pieces, US $79.99, CA $99.99, DE €69.99, UK £59.99, DK DKK 649.00, AU $119.99. Available from January 2012.
Available only to our LEGO® VIP Program Members, this exclusive mini modulars set is an authentic miniature representation of the first 5 buildings in the Modular Building series: Café Corner, Market Street, Green Grocer, Fire Brigade and Grand Emporium. Featuring highly detailed design, each building can be displayed as a stand alone piece or connected to the others buildings in the set. The mini Café Corner includes details like a fan above the doorway and printed hotel signage, while the mini Market Street includes transparent bricks and a unique brick construction. The quaint mini Green Grocer also features transparent bricks and a fire escape at the rear, while the mini Fire Brigade includes a brick bell and white arch wall elements. Finally, the mini Grand Emporium has a rooftop sign, skylight and window washing platform. With fantastic detailing and a huge variety of elements in a range of rich colors, this exclusive mini modulars set is the perfect addition to every VIP Member's collection.
- Exclusively available to LEGO® VIP Members!
- Authentic miniature representation of first 5 Modular Buildings: Café Corner, Market Street, Green Grocer, Fire Brigade and Grand Emporium!
- Each building can be displayed individually or connected to the other buildings in the set!
- All buildings feature fantastic detailing and a wide variety of elements and colors!
- Completed model measures over 5" (14.5 cm) tall, 12" (32 cm) long and 2.5" (6.5 cm) wide!
- Each individual building measures 2.5" (6.5 cm) long and 2.5" (6.5 cm) wide!
The video interview with set designer Jamie Berard will be available on YouTube shortly.
78 comments, latest one posted 19 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)3731 views
-
Here comes the bus!
Posted by bluemoose, 23 Sep 2011 12:53. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (General).
The new Volkswagen T1 Camper Van has just become available to order from the US & Canadian Shop Online stores, with immediate availability. Brickset member 'GreenHare' reports that the Newark, DE, USA, store has them on the shelf in-store already, so other US stores probably do too (ring ahead to check before making a special journey).
As for the rest of the world, the Shop Online store is reporting '27th Sept' for availability pretty much everywhere else. That's only next Tuesday, so not long to wait now.
Thanks to 'GreenHare' & 'datkidde' (on the brickset forum) for the news.
8 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)889 views
-
Amazon price trends
Posted by Huw, 22 Sep 2011 17:40. Filed under Brickset.
As you will have noticed over the last few weeks that we have been providing Amazon alerts, their prices go up and down like a yo-yo, and it can be difficult to know if the price has dropped to a new low, or whether it's just dropping to what it was before following a period of being out of stock by Amazon and thus fulfilled by 3rd party sellers.
To help make this clearer, the Amazon bargain watch pages (UK | US) now provide links to graphs showing the price over time for each set. They make interesting viewing, particularly when there has been a lot of fluctuation. Take the UK price of the Toy Story train for example, its price seems to change every day, and is definitely heading down, but there are times when it goes back up for a few days.
It's all very strange how Amazon prices things; we'll probably never know the hows and whys, but at least we have better visibility now and thus can make more informed buying decisions.
20 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1227 views
-
LEGO Fan Weekend - Skærbæk, Denmark, 24th-25th September
Posted by bluemoose, 22 Sep 2011 08:31. Filed under Events (Europe).
Just to wrap up the event news, this weekend (24th-25th September) sees the annual 'LEGO Fan Weekend' held at Skærbæk, a small town about 1.5hrs drive south of Billund, near the west coast of Denmark. It's too late to sign up as a 'fan' to display and take part in the events, but you can attend as a visitor over the weekend. If you are in the area, it will be worth making the effort to visit. As always, you can find details here.
3 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)893 views
-
Great Western LEGO Show - Swindon, UK, 1st & 2nd October
Posted by bluemoose, 22 Sep 2011 08:04. Filed under Events (UK).
It's a busy time for LEGO fans over the next week or so; as well as BrickCon in the US, it's also time for this year's 'Great Western LEGO Show' at the STEAM railway museum in Swindon, UK. It runs over the weekend of the 1st & 2nd of October, and details of the venue and pricing are available here.
This is one of the premier events of the UK LEGO fan's calendar, and there will be many amazing models on show, along with by their equally amazing builders. Many of the UK members of staff here at Brickset will be in attendance, either exhibiting or helping out with running the event. If you do attend, make sure you swing by and say hello.
20 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)678 views
-
BrickCon 2011 - Fan display in Seattle, Washington State, USA
Posted by bluemoose, 22 Sep 2011 07:54. Filed under Events (USA).
Talking about public events, it's a little over a week now until BrickCon 2011. The public facing side of the event is a 2 day public exhibition (Saturday October 1st & Sunday October 2nd) at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Details on pricing, travel, etc., available here.This event has a reputation of being one of the premier exhibition events in the LEGO fan calendar, with many amazing models on display. It's also a great opportunity to meet many of the US & Canada-based builders those work you see featured on the MOC-oriented sites like Brothers Brick.
If you're lucky enough to have registered for it, there is a private 'convention'-style event proceeding the public show - details here.
5 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)783 views
-
2012 set names and prices
Posted by Huw, 21 Sep 2011 07:49. Filed under Brickset.
If you've searched the database recently for 2012 sets you will have noticed I've put in placeholders (just numbers and themes) for the sets revealed in the Polish retailers' catalogue that's splashed about everywhere except here.
Now, we can legitimately reveal the set names and prices of the first wave of next year's sets because Barnes and Noble has listed them all. It's not immediately obvious how you get the list from there but thankfully the team over at Toys and Bricks has done a great job collating it all. Feel free to share your thoughts about the 2012 lineup here, or indeed over at TnB. I'll get the database updated here as soon as...
50 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1241 views
-
Win these rare minifigs in our exclusive competition!
Posted by Huw, 20 Sep 2011 17:19. Filed under Brickset.
Here's the competition you've been waiting for, with the prize so cool I don't want to give it away!
We've teamed up with the Community, Engagement and Communication team at LEGO to give you the chance to win these two ComicCon exclusive preview edition Super Heroes minifigs!
These Green Lantern and Batman figures won't be available anywhere else until 2012, so this is your chance to get hold of them before then!
The competition's aim is to raise awareness of the LEGO Super Heroes Challenge building contest, which offers a grand prize of a trip for 4 to Warner Bros. Studios, WB Animation, and LEGOLAND California Resort and the complete 2012 LEGO Super Heroes: DC Universe collection.
All you have to do is answer the question on the competition page. You can find the answer on the contest's website at LEGOSuperHeroes.com. Once you've done so, get building and enter the Challenge!
50 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1177 views
-
AFOLCON and The LEGO Show are back in 2012
Posted by Huw, 20 Sep 2011 11:33. Filed under Events (UK).
We’ve just had confirmation that AFOLCON and The LEGO Show are back for 2012. Once again they'll be held in Manchester, in the north of England, but this time at a different venue. The dates for your diary are 3rd - 7th May 2012.For those of you that haven’t heard about the show before, AFOLCON is a special adult only fan convention for AFOLs from all over the world. After private convention days on the 3rd and 4th, the show is opened to the public as The LEGO Show over the bank holiday weekend.
In 2011, AFOLCON had around 80 attendees from all over the UK, Europe and even as far away as Zimbabwe. There was a full day of conference sessions giving the inside track about the LEGO community.
The keynote session saw the launch of the LEGO Master Builder Academy, followed by sessions from LEGO and TT Games designers as well as a LEGO certified professional and LEGO Serious Play consultant.
Not only that, but every AFOLCON attendee also received a goodie bag worth over £50 each and were invited to visit the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre for a special after hours visit.
The LEGO Show attracted over 5250 members of the public and included both Bricklink stores and a LEGO Brand store, as well as a LEGO museum and theatre.
For 2012, the team have raised the bar...
- New Location: It's moving to a huge new location at the Trafford Center with over 6000 sq metres of exhibition space (and it’s right opposite the Discovery Centre!)
- Free Parking: Not only for AFOLS, but also the public. There are over 3000 free spaces.
- More sessions: AFOLCON will be split over two days this year, giving more time for talks, workshops and of course socialising.
- Open to everyone: The extra space available also means that now anyone can display at The LEGO Show - you don’t have to register for the full convention to join in the weekend fun (though of course you’ll miss out on all the sessions and other goodies!)
For more details on AFOLCON and how to get involved, check out http://www.afolcon.com now. Registration is open to attend the full conference or just display a MOC. Public ticket sales and information are also open right now at http://www.thelegoshow.com.
Once again, the organisers have offered Brickset visitors a 20% discount on the normal AFOLCON ticket price of £60. All you have to do is quote the code BRICKSET20 when you check out. This is a limited offer so order now to guarantee your discount!
Brickset is a Silver Sponsor of AFOLCON again and we'll be helping to promote and publicise it. Also, Warren, one of the organisers, will be keeping an eye out in the forum to answer any questions you may have about the events, so ask away in this Q&A discussion.
26 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)872 views
-
This year's Halloween sets
Posted by Huw, 20 Sep 2011 03:44. Filed under Brickset.
LEGO has a long history of making Halloween-themed sets. The first, a pumpkin, was released in 2000 (3731) and caused a lot of excitement because it was one of the first sets to feature orange bricks and slopes.
This year, two sets are being released: 40020 (pictured left) featuring a bat, ghost and a pumpkin, and 40021, which contains two spiders. The models in 40020 are an improvement on last year's separate bat, ghost and pumpkin sets (40012, 40013, 40014) which contained only bricks. This year we have slopes, cheese wedges and other more useful parts.
Forum member LostInTranslation found the two sets at LEGOLAND Billund, so I'm sure they'll be hitting the shelves of the brand stores and shop.LEGO.com soon; after all it's only 5 weeks until the event itself.
15 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1380 views
-
Wedding table decoration set
Posted by Huw, 19 Sep 2011 10:21. Filed under New sets.
This neat little set was found by Mariann over at Model Building Secrets at LEGOLAND (California, I presume) recently. Apparently it's to be used for 'table decoration' only but I'm sure it would look very cool on top of a wedding cake.
While in the Milton Keynes shop at the weekend I noticed that they sell bagged-up bride and groom sets, presumably in response to in-store requests for them, so I'm sure this neatly packaged official set is going to be very popular. It would make sense for it to be available 'for ever more' because demand for it will surely be continuous.
32 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1215 views
-
Amazon bargain watch changes
Posted by Huw, 18 Sep 2011 14:54. Filed under Brickset.
Thank you for all of your (mostly) positive and useful feedback about this new feature.
The feature is here to stay -- I know a lot of you have found it really useful -- but I don't want to alienate those of you that don't. So...
- The existing news feed contains all articles published, however you can now subscribe to one without the Amazon updates, and also new feeds containing just the Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com updates. There are links to these in the menu.
- For Amazon.co.uk, discounts will now only be posted if a price change takes it over 30% and it's more than £1. This should stop the recent ones we've seen where a 15p discount changes the saving from 29% to 30%, only for it to reverse the next day.
- For Amazon.com, discounts will now only be posted if a price change takes it over 25% and it's more than $1. I've reduced the threshold to 25% because Amazon.com's discounts aren't usually so large.
I hope these changes meet with your approval.
24 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1232 views
-
DK LEGO Star Wars Character Encylopedia now shipping in the US
Posted by Huw, 18 Sep 2011 12:03. Filed under Shopping (USA).
This DK book is now shipping from Amazon.com. If you haven't already pre-ordered it, what are you waiting for! It has some of my photography in it, but I can't tell you which photos are mine because I don't have a copy yet.
It's not out for a few weeks in the UK so I suspect you'll be able to read a review at FBTB before I receive my copy. Ace over at FBTB was also also involved in the book: he checked the text, so we can be assured it'll be accurate.
17 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)871 views
-
3 for 2 on all toys at Argos
Posted by Huw, 15 Sep 2011 06:45. Filed under Shopping (UK).
Team up with 2 pals, buy three of the same set and thus get them at 33% off. Don't delay though, the chances of finding stores with three of a set will of course reduce over time, particularly after the weekend.
Click through on the image to see all LEGO that Argos stocks, and if you buy or reserve an item, Brickset gets a (very) small kick-back. Thank you for your support.
12 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1184 views
-
LEGO to support BBC Children in Need - confirmed
Posted by Huw, 14 Sep 2011 12:32. Filed under New sets.
When I published the original article about this on 1st September, I contacted LEGO to find out more. I was told that the instructions, and thus the news that LEGO were supporting BBC CiN, was not supposed to be public until an official announcement at the beginning of October.
Shortly afterwards however, the brand store calender for October was published on the LEGO website which confirmed the news, but as I was asked not to provide more information, I didn't.
Now the BBC has published a brochure for Children in Need that shows LEGO Pudsey, there really isn't any point keeping quiet any more!
You can read more at Bricks and Books and see a scan of the brochure page here. It seems he's going to be available 'exclusively' in Asda for £4. Exclusive that is, apart from in LEGO brand stores and shop.LEGO.com :-)
11 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1059 views
-
Amazon.com bargain watch is live
Posted by Huw, 14 Sep 2011 11:05. Filed under Shopping (USA).
The feed from Amazon.com is now up and running, thanks in part to DrDave, and the discounted sets page is live. There may be a few teething troubles during the first few days but I'll fix them if they happen: it's difficult to test the code other than on the live website (since I don't have an online test and development environment), so bear with me...We are not anticipating a huge number of alerts because of the relatively static nature of the prices at Amazon.com, and the 30% threshold which we've set it at currently, but I guess we'll see...
14 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)962 views
-
And the winner is...
Posted by Huw, 11 Sep 2011 15:00. Filed under Brickset.
The winner of the Firestar Toys £25 voucher competition is...
Motxam!
There were 190 correct entries (once I'd removed all duplicates!). I asked my daughter to pick a number between 1 and 190, and she said 142. The 142nd entry was Motxam, so congratulations, get in touch by email (huw@brickset.com) and I'll arrange for your voucher to be sent to you.
The correct answer was the SI-DAN - M08 Tactical Vest - Iron Black, at http://www.firestartoys.com/Shop/Minifigure-Parts/SI~DAN-Body-Wear/8255-SI~DAN-~-M08-Tactical-Vest-~-Iron-Black.html
We'll be holding another competition in a week or so, this time sponsored by LEGO, the prize for which is so cool I don't want to give it away!
33 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1092 views
-
LEGO Star Wars Sale at Toys R Us
Posted by yellowcastle, 10 Sep 2011 17:24. Filed under Shopping (USA).
Valid Sunday 9/11/11 thru Saturday 9/17/11 both in-store and online, all LEGO Star Wars sets will be on sale at Toys R Us. Most sets are only 10% off although the Clone Trooper Battlepack (7913), Mandalorian Battlepack (7914), Slave 1 (8097), exclusive AT-AT (8129), and exclusive Battle for Geonosis (7869) will be 30% off the normal TRU price. Unless you've been putting off buying the AT-AT or Battle for Geonosis, I would probably recommend you wait for a much better sale or buy your sets tonight before the ongoing BOGO 50% off + free Harry Potter polybag (30110) promotions end.
There is one interesting addition though, where you receive a free R2-D2 USB flash drive with any Star Wars purchase of $30 or more. The flash drive, oddly enough, might actually get me to pick up the Battle for Geonosis which I had previously been putting off.
UPDATE: The BOGO50% is apparently still running but excludes Star Wars sets so stacking isn't an option.
9 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1675 views
-
Amazon bargain watch: Never pay full price again!
Posted by Huw, 10 Sep 2011 14:13. Filed under Shopping (UK).
Amazon.co.uk has some great reductions on LEGO but they are often hard to find and short lived. So, to take the guesswork and frustration out of finding and taking advantage of them, we've teamed up with DrDave at GimmeLEGO to bring you a new feature here at Brickset.
Our new Amazon Bargain Watch page lists EVERY set that's reduced at Amazon.co.uk and is updated four times a day. What's more, when sets are reduced by more than 30% a news article will be posted automatically, giving details of the savings.
At the moment this only provides information for Amazon.co.uk. In a few days we'll have it up and running for Amazon.com and eventually hope to include Amazon.fr, Amazon.de and Amazon.it.
Nobody likes paying full price for their LEGO, and now if you stay tuned to Brickset, you won't have to.
We hope you find this useful: let us know what you think...
46 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1818 views
-
London Stratford 'soft' opening - 13th September?
Posted by bluemoose, 09 Sep 2011 10:03. Filed under Shopping (UK).
The new LEGO Brand Store at Stratford, adjacent to the 2012 Olympics site, is due to open its doors to the public for the first time next Tuesday, September 13th. It's a 'soft' opening, so the date could slip a day or so; the Grand Opening Event, with the give-aways, will be in a month or two.
The 'landing page' exists on the LEGO website, but there isn't much info there yet ...
If you manage to make it to the new store, post here and let us know what you think - how does it compare to the other UK stores? What's the pick-a-brick wall like? Are the staff helpful and enthusiastic? Is the new shopping centre easy to get to, and is the store easy to find?
10 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1225 views
-
Liverpool Grand Opening Event - 9th/10th/11th September
Posted by bluemoose, 09 Sep 2011 09:37. Filed under Shopping (UK).
The new Liverpool LEGO Brand Store had its 'soft' opening a month-or-so ago; this weekend sees the 'Grand Opening Event'.
You can read all the details of the in-store events and promotions here.
If you manage to make it to the event, post here and let us know how it went. If you get one of the minifure sets on Sunday, and can take a good quality photo of it, we'd appreciate a copy to add to the database!
17 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1104 views
-
Mini Black Pearl promotion at Target
Posted by Huw, 06 Sep 2011 16:24. Filed under Shopping (USA).
If you're in the USA and hankered after this set when it was available in the UK with The Sun newspaper promotion recently, you will soon be able to get hold of it, but at a price!
Target is running an exclusive promotion: buy PotC OST on 3D Blu-Ray for $50 and get the mini Black Pearl free! It'll be available from October 18th.
Thanks to syahcire for the news.
28 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1148 views
-
4 days left to enter the FireStar Toys competition
Posted by Huw, 06 Sep 2011 10:14. Filed under Brickset.
The FireStar Toys competition ends on Saturday. If you haven't entered yet, be sure to do so soon! All you have to do is look at the mystery picture on the competition page and try to work out what it is.
Good luck!
23 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1045 views
-
Pick of the week: Flo's V8 Cafe
Posted by Huw, 04 Sep 2011 16:24. Filed under Pick of the week.
This week I've chosen to write about a set I never intended to buy. When I first saw the Cars sets, I decided to give them a miss, partly because they didn't have minifigs in them, but also because, well, I have to draw the line somewhere, I can't buy everything! However I had the opportunity to buy the set for 33% off when some friends bought three of them in the Argos 3-for-2 sale a few weeks ago, so I thought what the heck, why not...
The set's main appeal is definitely the cars themselves, of which there are six included. Lightning McQueen and Mater are among them and I'd tell you the names of the other four had I not just put the box away in the garage; their names aren't mentioned on the instructions anywhere. EDIT: I've since verified the rest are Flo, Fillmore, Sarge and Sally.
There are several great things about the cars from a LEGO perspective. First, many of the parts are printed so there's no fiddling about with stickers that you can never apply straight and which peel off in a couple of years anyway. Next, there are some really nice new pieces in them, which give the cars a smooth, curved, streamlined look. Finally, two of them are a 'light aqua' colour which until now has been quite rare.
The V8 garage itself is there to provide some play value and it does a pretty good job at it, featuring as it does a car wash, petrol (gas) pumps, and a 'car cafe' area.
If you have no other Cars sets this is a good one to start with because of the number of vehicles in it, including the movie's main protagonists.
Now having become besotted with the cars themselves, I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and buy the rest of the theme...
The set is currently 20% off at Amazon.co.uk and 14% off at Amazon.com:
21 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)719 views
-
LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
Posted by Huw, 02 Sep 2011 15:24. Filed under Miscellaneous.
It's not long now until this highly anticipated Dorling Kindersley book is published (mid September in the USA, early October in the UK) so now's the time for me to start promoting it and build up the excitement even more :-)
If you're not familiar with the book already, these sample pages will give you an idea of what an excellent book this is going to be:
As some of you will know if you've been reading the forums, I took around 100 of the photos that are featured in the book, which I was very pleased to be asked to do given the high regard in which DK books are held. Most of them were secondary small images, such as that of Yoda's back in the third example above, athough I think I contributed a few of the larger ones too. I won't know for sure until I've seen the book...
It's available for pre-order from Amazon for very a reasonable price. I can't wait to get my hands on it!
35 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1250 views
-
25% off Imperial Shuttle (not any more!)
Posted by Huw, 01 Sep 2011 09:32. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (UK).
There's no doubting that the Imperial Shuttle is a nice model, but at £245, it's a bit on the expensive side, particularly when compared with the price in the USA.
Well it seems LEGO has recognised this too because it's now reduced the price to £183.99, which is a reduction of 25%. Still expensive, but a bit more palatable. It's not appearing as a sale price on the site so it does seem as if it's a 'readjustment'.
I might even be tempted to buy it myself at that price. If you are too, here's a direct link to it at shop.LEGO.com.
Thanks to OllieL for the news, who also states that 'there is free shipping September 1st-18th and orders over £50 get an extra 50 VIP points so if you buy the Imperial Shuttle you get £10 worth of VIP points off your next purchase.'
The US price appears to have remained the same, at $259.
Update: Did the 'Brickset effect' strike again? Within hours of this article being published the price jumped back up to £245. I hope some of you were lucky enough to get your order in beforehand. I wasn't!
45 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)939 views
-
LEGO Press release: 2011 Design Challenge
Posted by Huw, 01 Sep 2011 06:19. Filed under Miscellaneous.
LEGO is asking consumers ages 6+ to design a LEGO themed postage stamp to be featured on the Late Holiday Catalogue.
For each country there will be 50 finalists selected to receive a copy of 10222. 25 will be for ages 6-14 and 25 will be from ages 15 & up. From the 50 finalists, 1 grand prize winner will be selected per country. In addition to a copy of 10222 – Winter Village Post Office, grand prize winners will have their stamp design featured on the late holiday catalog for their country along with a professionally designed and framed LEGO mosaic of their design.
- Where: The US/UK/Germany. These are the only countries that mail a late holiday catalogue.
- When: We will be accepting entries for the contest September 1-30 and selecting the finalists & winners for each country the first week of October.
- How: Consumers must simply visit http://shop.LEGO.com/Design-Challenge in the US and UK, or http://shop.LEGO.com/Designwettbewerb in Germany to download the official entry form. They or their parent/guardian must complete the form and email it along with their stamp design to the email address designated for their country. No purchase is required and there will be no physical entries collected.
12 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1164 views
-
LEGO to support BBC Children in Need?
Posted by Huw, 01 Sep 2011 02:56. Filed under Brickset.
This morning's trawl for new instructions at LEGO Customer Services revealed this cute teddy bear Creator set which, if I am not mistaken, is Pudsey from the BBC Children in Need appeal, which this year is on November 18th.
If so, then I think it's safe to assume it'll be available in the UK sometime soon. However, a quick Google hasn't revealed anything to suggest that LEGO is involved in the appeal in any way. Hopefully more news will be forthcoming soon...
Incidentally, the trawl for instructions is now automated and runs every night, so keep an eye out on the new instructions list to find out what's been added recently.
19 comments, latest one posted 20 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)1621 views
