At the LEGO House Fan Day on Thursday 23rd September 2013, a number of new exhibits in the Masterpiece Gallery were unveiled. These exhibits are traditionally sourced from members of the fan community around the world. The pandemic has made it challenging to continue this tradition this year, and as such, the team have had to think outside the box for some exciting new displays.
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Welcome to another of our Builder’s Journeys, where members of the AFOL community present a set that has been influencial in them becoming the LEGO fan they are today. Today, Jay from Jay’s Brick Blog brings us the story of a special present from his childhood. Jay is also my co-host on the Extra Pieces podcast – He is a little younger than I am, growing up with a different era of sets to myself. As such, I love to hear his perspective on this sort of material.
Don’t forget, If you would like to share a story of a set that is special to you, drop me a line, or reach out on Facebook or Instagram.
But now, over to Jay…
Continue readingOne of the most influential LEGO sets I’ve owned as a child was 6559 Deep Sea Bounty – a classic Town set from 1997 that was part of the Divers sub-theme.
Unlike some of the more classic and Vintage-era LEGO sets featured in previous Builder’s Journey entries, mine is particularly “young” but still very special for a boy that was 8 or 9 years old.
After the pandemic put a hole in everyone’s plans last year, the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend is back in 2021. The Thursday before the weekend has, for 3 of the last 4 years anyway, been associated with a trip to the LEGO House for an AFOL Day. Last year, in the absence of the true physical event, an online event took place.
This weekend, LEGO Fans from around the world – well, the parts that can travel to Denmark, anyway, are heading back to Skaerbaek. And once again, there will be an AFOL Day at the LEGO House. As well as unveilling new exhibits in the Masterpiece gallery, there will also be a number of presentations from Vice President for Design, Matthew Ashton, the Ninjago Team, as well as an update on the LEGO Groups Sustainability developments. Perhaps this is more like what AFOLs were expecting from LEGO Con, held earlier this year.
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Cast your mind back to 2019, and you might remember the launch of the LEGO Group’s first ‘Rebuild the World’ advertisement: a somewhat surreal epic in which a hunter seeks out a rabbit, in a world surrounded by references to LEGO themes, past and present. While the actual premise of Rebuild the World may sometimes feel vague, this year the campaign focuses on children being the masters of creative problem solving.
Scroll down to see the new campaign movie, where a knight is trying to cross the river, to catch up with his friend, the bear. As the ad progresses, the townsfolk set out to help our knight to cross the river, as we see many representatives from different LEGO themes, including collectable minifigures, space ( a green spaceman? Where is the rest of the LEGO Ideas Exosuit?) and more. Ultimately the problem is solved, but not before the children building the bridge and playing with their LEGO Bricks are revealed. While the target audience is going to be parents, and their children, there are plenty of references that an AFOL will appreciate.
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Welcome back to Throwback Thursday and another of our Builders’ Journeys, where AFOLs recall a set that is special to them in some way, and explain why. Today we hear from Ryan E, from Melbourne. I met Ryan a few years back, where he was bringing Thomas the Tank engine and the Isle of Sodor, to life at Brickvention. Some of you might know from the third series of LEGO Masters Australia. I’d always thought of him as a train guy… it turns out I might not have been alone…
Today, Ryan is going to tell us about the set that brought him along this path.
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Over the years, we have seen many festive LEGO sets released for the holiday season featuring different versions of Santa and his Sleigh. In the past, we have typically had brick-built reindeer. However, after the appearance of a dedicated reindeer in 2020’s Elf’s Clubhouse, the element (6310336) has been almost continuously out of stock on the LEGO Replacement elements website, despite the $AUD8.72 pricetag. So plainly, it made sense to release a set with multiple reindeer. And here it is: 40499 Santa’s Sleigh.
With 343 pieces, the set is already from some LEGO Certified Stores worldwide, with the Australian price of $59.99. €36.99 /$AUD59.99 AUD/£34.99 /$USD36.99 /$CAD49.99. It might feel expensive for just 343 parts, but it feels like great value once you remove the $AUD35 worth of reindeer. It will be released through LEGO.com on October 1st. I was excited for the LEGO group to send this set along for an early review:
So, how does it come together, and how might you display it this year?
This year, I am looking at how LEGO Themes developed from those early days in 1978. Castle, Town and Space all developed in their own way, and they certainly don’t look the same today as they did back then! So as we take a ramble down Memory Lane, let’s look at how things were and how they have changed: scale, elements, colours and more.
For our first theme to track through time, I am looking at the theme that set out to represent the world around us: Classic Town. Over the years, this theme has evolved, with the LEGO City theme of today looking very different, yet incorporating similar subject matter. This investigation covers material released over more than 40 years. So it might take a little while. In this post, I shall cover LEGO Town from its origins in 1978 to 1990. Next time, we shall look at the System era (1992-1999). Finally, in the future, we will examine LEGO City and see how that theme compares with those in the early days.
Along the way, we will examine the scale, building techniques, elements and more. There will be lots of pictures, sure to provoke a degree of nostalgia. I’d love to know which sets you feel fondly about and what you enjoyed about these themes.
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For me, a highlight of every holiday season is the arrival of the LEGO® Winter Village set. Over the years, we have seen a delightful village and its shops, a market, train and gone off site to the North Pole, to visit Santa’s Work Shop, and the Elves Club House. And a gingerbread house.
This year’s set, Santa’s Visit, has been officially announced and returns to the village, where we have a new home being visited by Santa. The set has 1445 pices and will cost €89.99 / $USD99.99 / £79.99 /$AUD159.99 / $CAD139.99. It will be released through LEGO retail channels on October 1st 2021.
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We knew something was coming when the LEGO Group teased a large cube like model last night, but I dont think anyone expected anything quite like this.
Its a ‘?’ cube, as featured in Super Mario 64 (celebrating 25 years this year), and from different panels, we have different microscale versions of lands from that classic game! With 2064 pieces, and priced at $289AUD/ $USD169.99/ £159.99 the set will be released through LEGO Branded stores on October 1, and in other retailers in 2022.
Welcome to Builders’ Journeys – our Throwback Thursday inspired, nostalgia-driven look back on sets that have helped to define AFOLS around the world become the builders and LEGO Fans they are today. Today, we hear from Simon (@simonspace70s on Instagram). Simon lives in Mebourne, and recently discovered the joy of exhibiting his own MOCs, during a small lull between lockdowns. Simon has a tale that began back in the 1970s, and was changed for ever when he was given Set 924: Space Cruiser (released in the USA as 487) for his 6th birthday. The Awkward Middle Child of Classic Space sets, this ship seems to be relatively rare compared to 918 (one man Space Ship) and 927 (Galaxy Explorer). And there is just something about the shape of the nose. Perhaps that’s just me. Anyway, read on for Simon’s story.
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