When I present a review, the sets are typically photographed in a cold, sterile lightbox, with perhaps a cardboard cutout for good measure. I have been writing up my review of 10316 Rivendell. But it is not quite finished. In short, it is an epic build, full of techniques I had not thought about and tricks that might be applicable at some point. To say nothing of a gorgeous interpretation of the subject matter. It does not pretend to be all of Rivendell but rather incorporates some key scenes from the Peter Jackson Movies.
I took a break from writing up my Rambling Review, so I could enjoy the warm diffuse light of a summer evening, set and camera in hand. Read on to see what happened…
I might be finding aspects of my LEGO® life a little chaotic at present. Some of this is of recent doing. Some of it relates to things I did over a decade ago.
I am quite excited by the new LEGO of The Rings: Rivendell set. I can’t wait to share my review with you. It will probably be the highest part count set I have ever put together. Before I do that, however, of course, I will have to build it. and I thought I might like to compare the minifigures with those from the initial release, a decade or so ago. And then one thing drove out another, as it were.
As I mentioned in the announcement of the set, Middle Earth has a special place in my LEGO MOC history. I came out of my Dark Ages and started exhibiting at back in 2010, but that was just a simple, somewhat quaint and primitive modular terrace house, built without enough time to get all the right Bricklink orders in before the due date. As such, it is decorated in the style of a student share house, somewhere in the 1970s or early ‘80s, complete with a poor choice in decor.
On this day in 2016 (well… the 30th of January, anyway), I sat down and decided to start writing a LEGO Blog. I am still here. And the end of January feels more like the end of the year to me than December 31, for various reasons.
In 2022, we posted 136 new articles/ news/product announcements and reviews. We have almost reached 1000 posts on the blog, and will cross this landmark next week, I expect. Jay’s Brick Blog and. I have released 18 episodes of our Extra Pieces podcast. If you haven’t heard it, feel free to give it a try.
Brickvention 2023 is only 2 weeks away. Australia’s Premier LEGO Fan Event has been at the mercy of public health orders over the last couple of years, with an online event and another at an alternative venue: This year they are back at the heritage listed Royal Exhibition Buildings on the norther fringe of the Melbourne CBD.
Tickets are now on sale for the Public Expo of 21-22 January 2023. The opening session on Saturday Morning has sold out, with the other Saturday and Sunday Morning sessions filling up fast.
Sunday Morning opens with a Special Needs session – The session environment includes low volume and less frequent announcements and fewer people. The session is also longer, with 40 minutes before the next session is admitted.
A little over 24 hours ago, the Knoller-in-Chief and I left Melbourne airport, bound for Oslo. We are spending a little over a week wandering around Norway, before heading to Denmark for the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend at the end of September.
As I write this, we are experiencing a 4 hour stopover at Copenhagen airport before embarking on our final flight, for the time being
Take part in our building challenge, using Classic Themes, for a chance to win 11021: 90 Years of Play!
We are counting down to the the 90th Anniversary of the LEGO Group, founded in a Danish Carpenter’s workshop in 1932, and I thought it would be appropriate to run a little building challenge. Over the years I have run a few building challenges based on Minifigure Habitats – the last in early 2020, at the start of the pandemic. At that time, the format was picked up with by a number of communities online, not the least of which would be the regular habitat challenges being run by Jen, known as @Brickfambuilds over on Instagram.
When Star Wars was released back in 1977, I did not get to see it straight away. “Wait for your birthday,” I was told in July 1977. My birthday is in March.
And so I read the paperback (ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster), I bought a couple of action figures (Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. My brother got Princess Leia and R2-D2. Eventually, we worked together to buy the Landspeeder, with its authentic floating motion), and started to collect the Scanlen Trading Cards (On license in Australia from Topp’s).
In the absence of a colour picture book, streaming services, Blu-Rays, DVDs or a VHS copy of the film, the next best way to visually experience the movie was to collect these screen shots. As far as I can tell there were at least 4 series releated to the film subsequently known as a New Hope. I only ever found the first in our local shops. Back in the day, I am pretty sure that I collected all of these blue bordered cards, as well as the series of 144 Battlestar Galactica cards, and subsequently the Return of the Jedi Cards. As a kid, It made no sense to try and purchase an entire box. Why would I do that? I only wanted one piece of bubble gum. Unfortunately, I do not know what happened to my series of Star Wars or BSG cards. I still have those from ROTJ, and secretly hope that there will be a diorama related to that in the future, so I can wax nostalgic about them…
Do you link to order brand new bricks, Minifigure parts and animals directly from the LEGO website, using either BricknPieces or Pick a Brick? You may have noticed some inconsistencies over the years, including pricing, as well as the range. Pick-a-Brick has been selected by machine, while Bricks N Pieces has been picked by hand – explaining its ongoing wait time, especially at peak periods.
Today, the LEGO Group has announced a change in the way that these programs will be accessed, by providing them with a merged shopping interface. Best Selling elements will be tagged and set directly from the nearest hub, while the more ‘regular elements’ will continue to be supplied from Billund.
I’ve been a little bit distracted over the last few weeks: a large number of new sets, which don’t seem to have been reviewed yet, arrived; Throwback Thursdays have been missed and I have been physically drained. I could blame COVID, or Christmas, but in reality, it has been Christmas Trees – and the selling thereof – as a fundraiser for our local Scout Groups. For the last few weeks, I have been part of a team procuring trees, selling them to our local community, all while fundraising for our youth facilities and programs. Aspects of the exercise have been a little harder this year: one of our team for the last 5 years passed away unexpectedly during the year, and his absence was sorely felt over the last few weeks.
Welcome back to Builder’s Journeys, our throwback Thursday feature where we talk to AFOLs and find out about the LEGO Set that put them on the path to make them the AFOL they are today.
Today we hear from Holly from Sydney, Australia. Holly is on Youtube, talking about LEGO Harry Potter, Super Heroes and More at HollyOnFilm
Besides the CLASSIC boxes, my first LEGO set was Hogwarts Castle (5378). I remember opening it on Christmas Day in 2007 and the box was completely crushed as my Grandparents had shipped it from the UK after buying it from LEGOLAND Windsor. I built it instantly and played with it all day. It was my first and only LEGO Harry Potter set for years and those minifigures and pieces went on several adventures being rebuilt into so many different things. Somehow it’s still 98% complete despite all the play, a house move and being thrown into random bins, and now sits on my shelf with my Harry Potter books. I don’t know where I’d be today without it.”
The Harry Potter Castle 5378 was released in 2007, in conjunction with the film ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.’ It has 9 minifigures and 942 pieces. I love the way the Holly has set it up with her books, soft Harry Doll, as well as one of the 2021 sets.
Thanks for sharing this story Holly. And be sure to check out her channel on youtube and instagram.
I’ll be sharing more stories of different Builders’ Journeys over the next few months – Hopefully every week. Recently, life has been interfering a bit too much!.
If you have a story that you would like to submit, based on the LEGO set that set you on your path to AFOLdom, why not drop me a note.
The Rambling Brick 
You must be logged in to post a comment.