VIDIYO Wave 2 Introduces Buildable Stages and More

Earlier this year, we saw the premiere of LEGO’s new Fluid play theme, VIDIYO. Developed in conjuntion with Universal Music Group, VIDIYO enables children to create music videos using augmented reality, in conjunction with themed minifigures, and tiles – which allow you to enhance the activity of your animated Minifigure pop stars with signature moves, sounds and video effects.

One of the criticisms of the first wave of sets was the relative absence of anything significant to build. Beat Boxes, which contained a small selfcontained stage for a single minifigure were rather light on, with only a small 8×8 mosaic area to build on. That said, the figures involved were absolutely crazy and imaginative in their designs. And it would appear that this is unlikely to change at any time in the near future. The new stage models look like something straight out of Cloud Cuckoo Land, mashing up characters with the different themes of the music. The imaginative designs are certainly intriguing. I will be interested to see whether you need to have the stage models build up as they are, or if you can incorporate your own models in the app.

The newly introduced BeatBoxes, and Stage Models will be available from June 1st globally except the United States, where they will be available from August 1st. The new Bandmates will be available from October 1st globally.

The press release, and new set designs (including Australian pricing) can be found below…

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76187: Venom Head Sculpt: Hands On Review

When we saw the Carnage head sculpt unveiled a few weeks ago, the first thing I heard asked was, ‘Where’s venom?’ The next thing we knew, we had Venom appearing in the catalogue, and we were asking, ‘Where’s Spiderman?’ Now, we still don’t have the answer to that one.


I have had the opportunity to build the Venom head sculpt (Helmet is just wrong, and it is not, technically, a bust) thanks to the AFOL Engagement team of the LEGO Group. The set is now available, has 565 elements and costs $AUD89.99;$USD59.99 €59.99; £54.99

Venom is an alien symbiote, who first appeared in Amazing Spiderman #282 in 1984. It integrates with a host, drawing on aspects of their memories and personality, but also granting them great strength.


My first impression was, ‘Hmmm….just like Carnage, except it’s black, there are no stickers, and we have a tongue’ So why did I enjoy building it so much more?


The set comes in the same black box, with a picture of the model on the front. It has some images from the comic on the back, and there are 3 numbered bags on the inside, just like Carnage. And then, almost as soon as Ann started laying elements out on the tray, I could see that there were a couple of things serving to differentiate the sets. Not many, but enough for me to find that my head was flooding over with new ideas.

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52 LEGO® Space Projects From @jeff_works – Book Review

I love a good LEGO® Spaceship. I love looking at them. I love the stories behind them. I would love to enjoy building them, but my spaceship design skills appear to be trapped somewhere in the late 1970’s. As such, I was quite excited when No Starch Press told me that Jeff Friesen’s (aka jeff_works on Instagram) new book was going to offer 52 such models, with extra inspiration and parts lists, in his latest book, LEGO® Space projects. Due for release in June, to coincide with world Astronomy month, it is currently available for pre-order, with a 25% discount on the list price of $USD24.99 (print and ebook). The eBook’s list price is $USD19.99.

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Episode 2 of Extra Pieces is now live

The next episode of Extra Pieces, a podcast collaboration between Jay’s Brick Blog and The Rambling Brick is now live and available through the regular channels:

In this episode, Jay and Richard discuss the fallout From the Ulysses – VIP Centre hiccup; Look at the Looney Tunes Minifigures; Build some Super Heroes sets and hope for a future where Classic Castle sets return.

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify

Or simple RSS feed

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75308 R2-D2: Hands On Review

The astromech droid R2-D2 was one of the first characters that we met at the beginning of Star Wars (Episode IV a New Hope to the Younglings). Along with C-3PO, he (why is it virtually always he?) is one of the few characters to be involved in each of the films of the Skywalker Saga. As such, he was felt to be a suitable subject for the set celebrating 50 years of Lucasfilm, as well as appearing in time for May the 4th celebrations this year.

The set will go on sale May 1, exclusively at LEGO Branded Stores, including the online store, priced at 199 EUR/USD – 179,99 GBP – 329.99 AUD – 269.99 CAD.

The AFOL Engagement Team of the LEGO Group sent me a pre-release copy of the new 75308. Join me as we wander through the build, and see if this set has sufficient material to justify an outlay of your money.

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75308 R2-D2 Officially Revealed.

He may not be the first character to speak in Star Wars: A New Hope, but he is the second. The feisty droid R2-D2 is the subject of the major release in time for May the 4th.

With 2314 pieces, a minifigure version of R2D2 and a special Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary LEGO Brick, you can expect 75308 R2-D2 to be on sale from May 1st 2021. It will initially be a LEGO.com/LEGO Brand Retail/ Certified Store exclusive, and is priced at €199.99 EUR – $USD199.99 – £179,99- $AUD329.99 – $CAD269.99 .

This new model is similar in size to the 10225 from 2012, but has undergone a dramatic redesign compared to that model, taking advantage of new elements that have become available in the last 9 years, including various curved slopes; there is also a new mechanisism to release R2D2’s central leg.

This is the only set that the 50th anniversary brick, as far as the team have revealed to date. It is a 4x1x3 Brick. Unfortunately, R2-D2 is still devoid of any printing on the back.

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The LEGO Super Mario Adventures Continue with Luigi’s Starter Course

If you have followed the Rambling Brick over the last 12 months, you would have seen that we are keen enthusiasts of LEGO Super Mario. Today, the LEGO Group have officially announced the forthcoming Adventures with Luigi Starter Set – the perfect set for fans of Mario’s slightly taller sibling. And it’s available for preorder today!

Due for release on the 1st August 2021, it will cost $AUD89.99/USD$59.99/$CAD69.99/£49.99/€59.99. The set has 280 pieces, and comes with new characters: Pink Yoshi, Bone Goomba and Koopling Boom-Boom. The set features desert (yellow), soda jungle(purple) and tower (nougat) biomes, each of which brings different reactions from Mario and Luigi.

We have a spinning see-saw, as well as flying challenges, and a ‘?’ block for power ups.

At this point, we have no specific indications of other sets coming up, but it would be reasonable to presume we will have some new obstacles to overcome, as well as new suits and collectable/buildable figures.

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Representation In Licenced LEGO® Themes with a Contemporary Cinematic Narrative II: LEGO® Harry Potter™

This is not a post specifically about LEGO® Harry Potter™. This is a post regarding the way in which the LEGO Group have chosen to represent female characters over time. I have chosen to use this theme, as it has had 2 distinct phases of release: first in 2001-2012, a period that ran in parallel with the release of the Harry Potter movies, while the second began in 2018, and continues to this day.

This my the second article is a series, looking at gender distribution of minifigures in licensed themes – themes where the LEGO Group has little say over the content of the source material. The first, relating to such trends in LEGO Star Wars sets can be found here

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LEGO® Harry Potter And The Twentieth Anniversary Sets

I thought it would be so simple to predict where this year’s run of Harry Potter sets was going: 2018 – Films 1&2; 2019: 2&4; 2020 5&6. I had been feeling pretty confident believing that this year we would be seeing sets relating the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1&2. It turns out I was wrong. Life’s like that sometimes!

The LEGO Group have just officially announced the sets for the northern Summer 2021

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of LEGO Harry Potter, we see some settings not visited in the current series of sets, as well as a couple of conceptually new sets:

In the collection of sets announced today, we have scenarios from the Philosopher’s Stone; Chamber of Secrets and The Prisoner of Azkaban. We also meet some characters, not previously seen in minifigure form. We also have some ‘off minifigure theme’ sets in the form of Wizards Chess, Giant buildable Harry and Hermione and, embracing the spirit of last year’s kinetic Hedwig: a sculpture of Fawkes, Dumbledore’s pet phoenix.

We also see that the six golden minifigures which were revealed on the LEGO Groups social media feeds last weekend in included in some of these sets.

Let’s take a browse through them, and see what we know…

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Virtual LEGO History Tours Return in 2021

Last year at the height of the pandemic the Lego house is closed to the general public. However the Lego house still managed to keep people engaged during the lockdowns associated with virtual tours of the history collection.

The Virtual History Tours will be returning in 2021, offering 5 presentations between May and November 2021. They will cover everything from the early beginnings in 1932 up until 2020. Each presentation is based on one of 5 important chapters of the LEGO Group’s history.  Each tour will be are offered in two sessions per day, with the same content, to facilitate different time zones. 

The virtual tour will yet again be hosted by LEGO Corporate Historian Kristian Reimer Hauge, who will take you on a detailed journey of the history of the LEGO Group and who will showcase highlights from the archive in the basement of LEGO House that have not been touched upon in last year’s live tours.

The price for each 60 minutes long virtual tour is 50 DKK, which translates to around $10-11AUD/8USD per session.   

You can participate in any of the live tours by buying a ticket via this link.  Read on for greater detail about the content:

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