Month: January 2019

News from Nuremberg: Technic Control + (Rampant Speculation follows, again)

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About a year ago we heard our first information about the new Powered Up wireless control system, incorporated in the latest generation of LEGO City Trains, as well as the App Controlled Batmobile. The Bluetooth controller/phone app interacting with the wireless hub has met with a mixed response, especially in the LEGO railroad modeller community, with concerns about the number of outputs, range and interference from other Bluetooth devices. One thing that was conspicuous in its absence last year was a hub solution that was compatible with LEGO Technic.

Today, we have received news from Spielwarenmesse – the German Toy Fair – of a new control hub to be incorporated in two new Technic sets this year LEGO Technic Control +. One, 42100 – the second half year Flagship model based on the Liebherr R9100 Excavator, the other: 42099, based on a 4×4.

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Anniversary Alert: 50 Years of LEGO® DUPLO® Bricks

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We love a good anniversary celebration here at the Rambling Brick, and recently, we have had plenty! Last year we saw 60 years of the Brick, 40 years of the Minifigure, 30 years of the Helicopter Transporter and 20 years of Mindstorms. This year we celebrate 40 years of Fabuland, 30 years of LEGO® Pirates and 20 years of LEGO Star Wars. And one more thing.

Today we celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the first announcement of LEGO DUPLO®. The year of the Moon Landing, Woodstock and the airing of the first episode of Scooby Doo was also the the year that the LEGO Group first released the DUPLO Brick.

Aimed primarily at Toddlers, DUPLO Bricks have been the introduction to the LEGO system of play for millions of families over the last 50 years.

Not the first Big Brick, but possibly the most interesting

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Countdown to the Lunar New Year [Year of the Pig 40186 – Review]

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We are now counting down to the start of the Year of the Pig. This year, we have seen a number of sets released to commemorate this event, as the LEGO Group seeks to increase its market share in Asia. We have previously mentioned 80101 New Year’s Eve Family Dinner and 80102 Dragon Dance – these APAC exclusive sets have been in high demand: literally flying off the shelves as soon as they arrive. We have also seen the release of the Brickheadz Dragon Dance Guy, and the Year of the Pig 40186.

This last set is one I would like to look at today. The fifth in the series – following on from previous sets Year of the Dog, Year of the Rooster, Year of the Monkey and Year of the Sheep – 40186 The Year of the Pig is available as a Gift With Purchase at selected locations now. In Australia, it is available through the LEGO Certified Store (GoldCoast), LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Store (Melbourne) and selected Myer Stores (including their online store). Before you get to take it home, however, you have to spend $88 in store. I found mine at Myer Doncater, during the closing days of their stocktake sale ( which meant that most LEGO® sets were selling for 20% off).

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An AFOLs Guide to Overwatch #5: Bastion [Review 75974]

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In which I seek further advice from the game playing teenager around the house for a backstory, try my hand at knolling- only to fail, and then take every Overwatch player’s favorite Omnic out into the garden…

Over the last few weeks, we have been looking over the new line LEGO® sets based on the video game Overwatch. I have not spent a lot of time engaging with the franchise previously, so I have had my son Harry providing some commentary on the back story behind the characters. Hopefully, this will help AFOLs who are unfamiliar with the back story to feel more aware of the underlying backstory, and nature of the characters depicted in the sets.

Today, I am going to look at set 75974 Bastion. This is not the first time that we have encountered this robot, searching for meaning: we previously saw a smaller version, with a different skin late last year – that set – Omnic Crisis Bastion is exclusively available through the Blizzard online store, and can be found here.

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What’s the Story in 2019?

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I like to imagine that, in part, the Rambling Brick celebrates the joy that the LEGO Brick brings to our lives. In 2018, we celebrated a number of significant anniversaries, for significant aspects of our hobby – all of which have had a notable impact on the way we build and play with our LEGO elements.

Last year, we celebrated:

  • 60 years of the LEGO Brick
  • 40 years of the minifigure
  • 40 years of the first evergreen themes: Town, Castle and Space
  • 20 years of Mindstorms
  • 10 years of LEGO Ideas and Architecture.

All of these have influenced us, and the way we interact with our LEGO Elements over the years. We also saw some less significant anniversaries in 2018, such as:

In 2019, what will we celebrate?

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New Instructions Plus Adding a new lease of Life to LEGO Life.

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Have you had the chance to put together any of the new LEGO® sets for 2019 yet? Had you noticed the appearance of the QR Code on the front page of the instructions? This 2D Barcode is designed to be scanned by your mobile phone. If you scan it with your phone (current iOS software automatically detects the code and asks if you would like to open the web at lego.com. This invites you to download the app, and then recapture the image from within within the LEGO Life app – and then magic happens.

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The World’s Biggest Minifigure Swap at Brickvention 2019

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This crossed my desk today, from the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Melbourne. They are organising some great opportunities in conjunction with Brickvention, coming up at the end of next week:

WORLD’S BIGGEST MINIFIGURE SWAP

LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre at Brickvention 2019

LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre is hosting the World’s Biggest Minifigure Swap at Brickvention 2019, Australia’s premier LEGO® fan convention taking place from 19-20 January at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne.

Trade your superhero for a villain or your pirate for a police officer at LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre’s Brickvention booth, whereyou’ll have over 3,000 LEGO® Minifigures to choose from!You might even get lucky and find that one Minifigure you’ve been searching for, such as the rare C-3P0 or the popular Harry Potter!

“Last year we hosted a swap meet with over 1,500 Minifigures – this year we’ve got double the fun making it the World’s BiggestMinifigure Swap. LEGO® fans of all ages can recycle their pre-loved or duplicate Minifigures to refresh or complete their collection,” said Dave Holder, LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre Master Builder.

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Welcome to Apocalypseburg – Population…12 [Annoucement 70840]

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When the first teaser trailer was released for the LEGO Movie 2 a few months ago, it depicted a post apocalyptic wasteland: Bricksburg was in ruins following the invasion of the DUPLO creatures at the end of the first movie. These creatures may have moved on, but the effect that they had on the landscape was remarkable. If not a little disturbing. All was bleak, dark, dirty and dusty.

Except for Emmett’s ongoing endless optimism.

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An AFOL’s Guide to Overwatch #4 Reinhardt and D.Va [75973]

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So far we have looked at the three smallest Overwatch sets- Tracer vs Widowmaker; Hanzo vs Genji and Dorado Showdown. Today’s set does not appear to be loaded with the intrinsic antagonism that the three previously reviewed playsets were. From what I can gather from Harry, the Gamer in our house, these two characters do not have an intrinsic rivalry, but rather exist independently of each other in Overwatch Lore. There is a linking thread however: Both characters are Mech Pilots.

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Brickvention 2019: Coming Soon-Win Tickets!

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Are you likely to be in Melbourne during the weekend of January 19-20? Why not come along to Brickvention, Australia’s Premier Convention for LEGO® Fans. As well as amazing trains, towns, roller coasters Great Ball Contraptions and other models made by LEGO builders from all over Australia, there will be a huge minifigure swap, in conjunction with the LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre in Melbourne, as well as the build zone to play in.

International visitors this year will include You Tube Fan Favourites, John and Josh Hanlon from Beyond the Brick.

The event will again take place in the beautiful Royal Exhibition Buildings, in Carlton, from 9am-5pm (Saturday) and 9-4 pm (Sunday). If you are planning to attend, you can book timed session tickets now, by following this link.  Tickets start at $9 for children, and $18 for adults.

The Organising committee have given the The Rambling Brick a few passes to give away over the next couple of weeks. There are several ways to win. You can comment below, or on the Rambling Brick Facebook Page – tell me what you are most looking forward to seeing at Brickvention. Facebook not your preferred social media? Thats okay: You can message me on Twitter or Instagram, using the handle @ramblingbrick or the hashtag #ramblingbrickvention or using the good old fashioned email. 

Tickets are valid for either day of the public exhibition. I will be drawing prizes this Sunday (6/1/2019, Midnight AEST) and the following week (Sunday 20/1/2019, entries close midnight AEST). Winners will be drawn at random.

So… What are you looking forward to seeing at Brickvention 2019?

Leave your comment below (or via any other means listed above). And until next time,

Play Well…