Stranger Things Have Happened: [Review: 75810 The Upside Down]

With the third series of Stranger Things ready to drop on July 4th 2019, there is still time to get hold of this set and put it together while catching up on previous episodes… here are my scattered thoughts and photographs.

Back in 1983, I was fourteen years old. Going to school, riding my bike around to catch up with friends, playing the occasional game of Dungeons and Dragons. But nothing happened to me in a way that would be as weird as the goings on in Hawkins, Indiana, at that time, during which the first series of Stranger Things was set.

Stranger Things…Really?

When I first heard rumours about this set, I was sceptical. Why would a LEGO set based on program with supernatural content be reaching the market months before the arrival of an in house range, also featuring a supernatural theme – Hidden Side. It felt a little like LEGO was trying to compete with its own market, until I realised that the two lines are aimed at very different demographics: Hidden Side is aimed at younger, digitally focussed children, and focusses on game play. The Upside Down, on the other hand, brings highlights from an adult focussed series: that exploiting the nostalgic feelings we have for a not so bygone era, a metaphorical and literal shadows and soundtrack heavy on analog synthesiser. For many of us, that might have merely been our own childhood.

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Building LEGO Tower for Real at the LEGO House: On NOW

LEGO Tower floors take shape at the LEGO House on Friday June 21st. Image: Don Meadows.
Floors lined up for furnishing at the LEGO Tower Build Event at the LEGO House this weekend.
Image: Don Meadows

Have you heard about LEGO Tower? The mobile game, due for release in July, from LEGO Games, and Nimblebit, the developers of Tiny Tower? This weekend, visitors to the LEGO House have the opportunity to build their own floors for a LEGO Tower, and contribute to a world record attempt for the World’s Largest Diorama made from LEGO® Bricks.

The event runs during Saturday and Sunday, having started on Friday, 21st June. The final measurement will occur on Sunday Afternoon (CEST).

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Welcome…to Jurassic Park! [Announcement 75936 T. rex Rampage]

When the original Jurassic park film was released, a little over 25 years ago, it was one of the most impressive films I had ever seen, for the sheer scale of spectacle. Dinosaurs have always been impressive creatures, whatever your age, but the LEGO dinosaurs seen in the sets of recent years, while fun, have lacked a certain spectacle of scale. More a case of click in the legs, head and tail:”Rrrrrooooooaaarrrr, curse your inevitable betrayal.”

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‘Bygglek’ is the name of the Ikea-LEGO collaboration, and its coming in 2020…

Twelve Months ago this week, while I sat in a hotel room in Japan preparing to go to Japan BrickFest, IKEA and the LEGO Group announced a forthcoming collaboration. Today, as part of the IKEA Democratic Design Days 2019 Event, we heard just a little bit more:

[EDIT: July 2020: the first results of this collaboration have been spotted in Mannheim, Germany: follow this link for more]

It’s all about the compromise between the sorted pack up and stepping o a brick in the dark… BYGGLEK research at home in action. (source: IKEA)
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Back to basics with Stuck in Plastic

Sometimes life just gets in the way. Over the last year, I think I can count the number of times I have headed out to take photographs on one hand. I could make any number of excuses, but in real life I just hadn’t felt like it. Work has been busy. Writing and reviewing has been taken a little more energy than I expected. And I just haven’t felt in the mood.

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