One of the cornerstones of the LEGO® Star Wars 25th Anniversary celebration is the release of the art book ‘The Force of Creativity.’ Written by editor of Blocks Magazine, Graham E. Hancock, the book promises to be “The ultimate treat for yourself or a Star Wars gift for a fellow fan,” but priced at $AUD239.99/USD149.99/£129.99, a lot of people have expressed reservations at making the investment, particularly for a book that is essentially unseen at the time it goes for sale on LEGO.com.
I got to know Graham when attending the LEGO Fan Media Days in Billund a few years ago, so I thought I’d give him a call in order to find out a bit more about what might find inside…
Last weekend, Branko headed off to the Illawarra Brick Show. Along the way, he got caught up in a celebrity brick battle…
On the weekend of 20-21 April 2024, the Illawarra Annual Brick Show took place in Berkeley NSW. Organised by Gonglug, the event was raising funds for Kidswish, a charity in the Illawarra region which is committed to fulfilling the lives of children with disability or illness and their families through supportive programs, special events and community-impact projects, with a goal of building an inclusive community that can be enjoyed by all.
The show has a great vibe, more akin to a LEGO theme park than a LEGO display show, which I really enjoyed. Aside from many LEGO displays there were a lot of activities related to LEGO to keep kids entertained.
This year’s City Space subtheme brings us a huge variety of sets, from the small one man flyer, to small to medium space ships, to a fully fledged base and a space station. These sets are united through a common colour scheme and the use of modules used in various sets, incorporating the docking linkage element and appear throughout the City, Friends and Technic space themed sets.
When we compare the variety of sets in the LEGO City Space (2024) range, it compares pretty favourably with Vintage space ranges as Classic Space, Ice Planet and Exploriens: We have a small flyer, space ships of various sizes, as well as both small and large rovers, and a large, planet-bound base. The Modular Space Station could be considered to be the equivalent of a base or a larger spaceship.
It is one thing, however, to have an equivalent product range, but how do they compare with sets from the olden days? Today I thought we might take a look at a couple of ‘Large Rover’ sets with a few decades between them: The City Space range is blessed with the 60432 Command Rover and Crane Loader and I thought it might be interesting to compare it with one of the largest rovers ever: 9689 M-Tron Mega Core Magnetizer. If nothing else, it gave me an excuse to unpack this 503 piece bohemoth from 1990. It was the largest set in the M-Tron range. Unlike virtually every other Space range released over the years, M-Tron lacked a fixed base. To make up for this intrinsic defect, the Mega Core Magnetizer travelled the planet’s surface, carrying cargo, dispatching buggies and flyers, and embarking on a world of exploration and logistical management.
As we have previously discussed, 2023 has been the most wonderful year for LEGO® Space fans – from City and Friends sets that are out of this world, Technic sets adding a bit of realism and a set of Collectable Minifigures just around the corner (if you are in the rest of the world – May 1) or a little further away if you are in Australia (1 June). While some might be anxiously awaiting some classic spaceships reimagined with parts and techniques of the 2020s (at this point, I only have hopes and dreams and not even a reliable rumour to hang my hat on). But, once the dust settles on Star Wars, we will be seeing two new sets with an adult focus launch on the scene: one for fans of Space Travel and one for fans of art and astronomy: 10341 LEGO ICONS NASA Artemis Launch System [3601 Pieces; AUD449.9/ €259.99 / £219.99/USD259.99] and 31212 LEGO® Art The Milky Way Galaxy [3091 Pieces; AUD299.99/ €199.99/ £169.99/ USD199.99]
A few weeks ago, we got our first look at three of the sets in August’s Dreamzzz sets via the Mexican Certified Store. Today, the remainder of the August Dreamzzz range has been revealed on LEGO.com. We gain a little bit of an insight into some of the issues facing our heroes in season 2: Night of the Never Witch (due for release on May 17, follow the link to see the trailer) – including increased involvement from the Never Witch, dark doppelgangers of our heroes, Ravens, Puffer Jackets, red pandas and legally-not-Groot.
These sets are due for release on August 1, and I expect you will be able to find them wherever you buy your LEGO sets.
New space-themed Minifigures in the BUILD A MINIFIGURE Station were revealed at an AFOL event put on by Australian LEGO Certified Stores tonight. The three figures are part of a wider assortment, but I was possibly a bit distracted to notice what else was becoming available…(skip to the end to see that pack)
These figures draw heavily on this year’s LEGO City space sets for inspiration. Read on to see them in greater detail.
Regular readers would be aware that I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at the LEGO City Space sets this year – and they have brought just about everything you could ask for from a LEGO Space theme, with the possible exception of a revival of vintage colour schemes and monochromatic spacemen. I recently discovered some more LEGO CITY sets in the bottom of that shipping box – those from the Fire Brigade. It has been a few years since I looked at this CITY Subtheme. However, since LEGO City has undergone a design renaissance over the last couple of years, I was keen to see how things might have changed and approached it with an open mind. However, at the end of the day, my inner space fan has found myself wondering if it is hinting at something else…
It’s the middle of April and this means that its time to get the Heads Up for what might be coming for May the Fourth, the commercial Celebration of all things Star Wars This year.
The marquee set this year is the UCS TIE Interceptor. The first UCS set released, back in July 2000 was a 703 piece piece version of this sleek fighter from Return Of the Jedi.
7181 from 2000. The First Ultimate Collector Series set.75382: Yjr new
You can read More about all of the new releases, including the GWPs below
If you have been watching the series that goes along with LEGO DREAMZZz, you might recognised that all of the sets that have been revealed to date (June last year; January this year), tie- in with the first season. This week, we have had some sets from the June wave revealed by the Mexican Certified Store. I presume these will tie-in to the next series, due to appear online in mid May. read on to see what is coming. There might be some spoilers coming for series one.
Branko’s been away for a couple of weeks too. He took the 42170 to the Netherlands, while visiting his family… Reasons follow!
When receiving the LEGO® 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R motorcycle I considered how qualified I was to review a motorcycle. While my sons, wife and me all ride (or have ridden) motorbikes, it seemed appropriate to bring this set with me when visiting my dad, who has ridden motorcycles for more than half a century and is more knowledgeable and passionate about these two wheelers than anyone I know. Apologies upfront for the quality of photos; I was not able to bring a photo setup; my dad lives on the other side of the planet.
First thing my dad noted when seeing the set was “Yep, that’s Kawasaki green, strange they are usually more green, but I guess they make black ones too.” As it turns out this particular model is indeed sold as largely black with some Kawasaki green accents which are captured nicely in the LEGO model. How does the rest of the model stack up compared to the real thing? Read on to see if this set is worth adding to your collection. This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes, all opinions are our own.
