Lego

Horizon: Forbidden West ‘Tallneck’ Set Announced. Explanation For Non-Gamers Follows…

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The latest set announcement from the LEGO Group caught me a little by surprise. What on earth is Horizon Forbidden West, and what does a Tall Neck do? It turns out, I might have been living under some sort of a rock, as the game player in the house looked over my shoulder and muttered something along the lines of “Ok… now you have my attention.”

I managed to work out for myself that Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, released in 2017, initially on PlayStation, then in 2020 on PC. The scenery and cinematics associated with the game are truly awe-inspiring. But I’m a bit out of the loop with the story, so I invited my son, Harry, to explain why this matters…

(Spoiler warning: if you are likely to play Horizon zero dawn, a game released in 2017, best go and take a look at another site. But if like me, this is unlikely, you have been warned.)

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Alquemie Group in partnership with the LEGO® Group to unveil the Southern Hemisphere’s largest LEGO® Certified Store at Melbourne Central

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Great news for Victorian based LEGO fans, young and old alike. A few weeks ago we revealed plans for a new LEGO Certified Store to open near Melbourne’s Central Business District- information obtained by scouring LEGO related job ads. Today we can confirm that the store will be located jn the Melbourne Central shopping centre, and is due to open in April. The centre is located centrally, and has easy public transport access.

The store will also feature the LEGO MOSAIC MAKER- the first in the Southern Hemisphere. At this time the store is expected to be the Largest Certified Store in the Southern Hemisphere.

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80032 Chang’e Moon Cake Factory [Hands-On Review]

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The 2022 Monkie Kid sets continue to delight and surprise me with the diversity of their content. Having looked already at the the Staff Creations, City of Lanterns, and Mei’s Dragon racer, this set takes us off world, and brings us a different type of playset.

In Chinese legend, Chang’e is the goddess of the moon, accompanied in some versions of the story by a Jade Rabbit or hare – based on the shape of the shadows cast on the moon. The rabbit is said to be pounding herbs, or making mooncakes. And so in this set, we see s mashup, with Chang’e and her rabbits overseeing a Moon Cake Factory.

Moon Cakes are traditionaly part of the mid autumn festival, and wonder if we will see aspects of this festival appearing in another set later in the year, or next year.

In this version, imagine Chang’e as a streamer, livestreaming the goings on at her mooncake factory, while playing games in her spare time. Living on the moon, she is accompanied by her rabbits, who pilot a rabbit shaped mech, while she has a rabbit shaped robot taking care of security. In the mean time, she sends boxes of Moon cakes back to earth… in a carrot shaped rocket. I have not had the chance to see how the story plays out in the Monkie Kid series yet, but I am looking forward to seeing how it pans out.

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LEGO® TECHNIC McLaren Revealed

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With the 2022 Formula 1 season barely a month away, the wraps have come off the changes to the formula for 2022, but the actual cars are probably a few days away from being unveiled. With the announcement of the new 42141 LEGO ® Technic McLaren Formula 1 today, we have a better idea of how the new car will look for the British based team. The set was revealed on the McLaren.com website this evening, Australian time.

Hitting shelves just one month out from the eagerly awaited return of the Australian Grand Prix (7 – 10 April), Technic fans will now be able to celebrate the return of our very own Daniel Ricciardo – and enjoy the suspense, emotion and excitement of his first race on home soil in three years – all while taking part in the ultimate Formula 1 building experience.

The set has 1432 Pieces, and has an RRP of 179,99€/179,99$/£159.99 GBP/239.99 CAD/ 279.99 AUS. It is due for release on the 1st of March.

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4 Juniors Figures: A Reappraisal

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Jack Stone cops a lot of flak. At the forefront of the juniorized playsets from the early days of the 21st century, he was all that kids had to turn to when there were no new sets to be seen in LEGO Town. And I will be the first to say that the Jack Stone and 4 Juniors sets were symptomatic of greater problems at the time, as playsets become increasingly simple, with large, single-purpose elements, often at the expense of resemblance to any real-world vehicle that they were purportedly based on. It also coincided with the greatest financial crisis that the company had ever faced.

But it wasn’t all Jack’s fault. The company was overreaching in many different directions, far beyond its core expertise >cough< clothing >cough< TV Production and Action figures >cough< Theme parks.

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Whatever Happened to Classic Town Part III: Into The Dark Ages

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Welcome back to our exploration of classic themes. When we last visited LEGO Town, it was in the process of becoming juniorized. The Classic Town that many had grown up with was becoming an almost cartoonlike parody of itself. From 1978 through to the early ’90s, Town had a certain degree of simplicity, but with style. It was always striving to be its best, held back by the limits of the system, rather than the ability of the builder.

During the ’90s we saw the diversification of design: elements were used across many themes, we saw a broadened colour palette, and as time went by, we saw more themes/subthemes depicting aspects of contemporary life: Paradisa, Divers, Race, Outback, Arctic, Spaceport, Extreme Team and Res-Q. Towards the end of this era, the traditional town sets – fire, police, construction – were labelled ‘city’ and we saw a juniorization of some of the sets; a reduction in complexity, and perhaps a slight step away from attempting a realistic appearance.

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New Star Wars Helmets Officially Revealed

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The arrival of the first Star Wars Helmets a couple of years ago brought a new way for fans to build ‘serious grown up’ models to display. After an initial run embracing Stormtroopers, Boba Fett and TIE Pilots in 2020, followed by the Scout Trooper and Darth Vader in 2021, it’s about time we had some good to see, rather than just the forces of the Dark Side.

As such, I am delighted that we have Luke Skywalker’s helmet available for the first time, as well as Din Djarin, from the Mandolorian. And just to make sure the Empire is remembered, we have the Dark Trooper Helmet, also from The Mandalorian. These new helmets will go on sale on March 1 2022, and have a RRP of 59.99 EUR/ 59.99 USD / 54.99 GBP / 79.99 CAD / 89.99 AUD. read on for more details

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From the Ambassador’s Network: Do You Like Playing LEGO® Detective?

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If you have spent any time engaging with online LEGO discussions, you will have undoubtedly come across a post asking “What piece is this?” “What set is this from?” or “Is this even LEGO?”

The AFOL Engagement Team at the LEGO Group is trying to understand a little more about why AFOLs might help others out with such queries, which tools they use to solve the problem, and why they do. Whether you have ever answered such a question, you race to be first to answer it, or you don’t really care, why not take 5 minutes to fill in this survey.

Do you enjoy helping people in their quest to identify elements and sets? What’s your tool of choice?

Why not leave your thoughts below, and until next time,

Play Well!

A Brief, Self-indulgent, Sentimental Moment.

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Just a quick note to acknowledge that 6 years, 857 blog posts, 1242 Instagram posts, 15 podcast episodes, four convention presentations, and a disturbing number of spelling mistakes ago, the Rambling Brick was born. That first post has not aged well. The second, however, rings just as true today.

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In Local News: Melbourne To Get a New LEGO® Certified Store

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Thanks to an Sue Ann Barber for the heads up: there is a job ad online for a Store Manager, at a NEW LEGO® Certified store, in ‘the CBD or Inner Suburbs’

“A new LEGO® Certified Store in the inner suburbs of Melbourne is in the advanced stages of planning and expressions of interest are being sought for the position of Store Manager. The Store will feature life-sized LEGO® models, a Pick-a-Brick wall, hard to find product releases and amazing bricks in hands engagement opportunities.  Designed in partnership with LEGO® Australia to a new format, this store will be an integral part of our LEGO® Certified Store network.

The store manager is responsible for leading and driving an engaging, customer driven culture within their team. You will be self-motivated and driven by success in a retail environment. You will understand and be inspired by the importance of engagement and role play has in a child’s development. “

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