Series five of the Monkie Kid animated series is about to air somewhere. I haven’t even been able to find evidence of series four going to air in Australia yet. But still, Life will find a way. In this wave, the sets continue to draw inspiration from both the original story ‘The Journey to the West‘ and the animated series, which sets out to tell an ongoing sequel to the original classical novel.
Today, I’d like to take a look at the 80058 Celestial Pagoda – the largest set in the June 2024 Monkie Kid releases
In which the latest LEGO® Lord of the Rings set is revealed, some minifigures are updated (while others are not) and I try not to feel too bad about the cost.
JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is a timeless classic of epic fantasy and world building. I was introduced to the work back in 1981, when the BBC’s radio drama was broadcast over 26 half hour episodes on a Sunday Morning. I probably only ever discovered it because the NPR dramatisation of Star Wars finished the previous week. That version of the story missed some of the same bits as Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaptation from the early days of the century. While the action of the narrative swirled across middle earth, there is one location that might be considered core to the drama, but never visited by the story tellers Point of View: The Darks Lord’s Tower, Barad-dûr.
And while MOCs have been produced over the years in a variety of scales, from the tabletop to the major installation, the LEGO Group have never produced a model kit of the Dark Tower of Mordor. Until now.
This 5471 piece set will be available from June 1st 2024, priced at €459.99 / £399.99/ $USD459.99/$AUD699.99 /$CAD599.99 /10999 MXN. On release it will be a LEGO exclusive – only through LEGO and LEGO Certified stores. I will come and revisit that price later in this post, and explain why I don’t think it is totally outrageous.
A few years ago, if you were visiting Paris for the first time, there were two things many tourists would try to fit in: one would be a trip to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, which never fails to astound first time views by just how small it is; and as visit to Notre Dame Cathedral. Or at least it was before the fire in 2019. With the cathedral’s restoration on track to be completed at the end of 2024, tourists will again be able to visit the medieval church.
With this in mind, the LEGO Group today revealed two new products to help bring the magic of Paris closer to home for builders. Fans can start building their very own art collection with the LEGO® Art Mona Lisa or choose to be captivated by the majestic LEGO® Architecture Notre-Dame de Paris set.
These two global icons of Paris have been unveiled to celebrate the rich heritage and history of the French capital, which has an exciting and packed year ahead and will be available for pre-order on 7th May.
We have seen the latest sets for LEGO® DREAMZZz revealed over the last few weeks, and as the release date for season 2 (May 17) approaches, NEW Concept art, as well as stills from the new series have been revealed. Here is the trailer…
Happy Star Wars Day! I’d like to start by thanking some of our readers for sending in fresh scans and new photos of Catalogs and Magazines from the early days of LEGO Star Wars. In Particular Sue Ann B and Trevor C, David L, and El Davo. You guys rock. Now…read on
It was 1999, and I was still in my LEGO Dark Ages, but something was afoot. The LEGO Catalogue for the year opened with some themes, tried and true on the cover: Top left led off with a rocket blasting off from the LEGO Town – Spaceport; on the lower left we see the Adventurers theme, this year exploring the South American Jungle. The bottom right image brought us a new, original theme: Rock Raiders; And finally on the top right was an image that would change the way LEGO was looked at for ever. Star Wars. At this time, roughly 22 years had passed since the first film was released, and nearly 2 years had passed since the Special Editions had debuted, introducing a new generation to the joy of Cinema.
Australian Catalog cover 1999. New Scan courtesy of Sue Ann B and Trevor C.
This year, 2024, we celebrate 25 years since the release of those first Star Wars LEGO Sets, and on May the 4th, and here at the Rambling Brick we are going to revisit that first look we had at LEGO Star Wars back in 1999, by revisiting some of the publications that came out around the time: first the 1999 Catalogue entries, and then the LEGO World Magazine. Now… I thought I had some of these catalogues in the archives at home, and while I might, I was unable to locate them in a timely fashion, so I am grateful to the readers who responded to a distress flare the other night. [read on for new scans and long-forgotten mangazines]
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…
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.
