The Road Goes Ever On: In Search Of Hobbits…

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.

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10307Eiffel Tower Revealed: The Tallest LEGO Model Yet

The latest in the World Landmarks collectionhas been officially unveilled today. for release on Novemeber 25,2022, 10307 Eiffel Tower continues with the recently established Black Friday Tradition of ‘Biggest set, in some way’ – started with the 10276 Colosseum (9036 pieces) and continued with 10294 Titanic (9090 pieces – longest ever) .

We can argue about the semantics if you wish. With 10001 pieces this might be the set with the second highest part count ever but I think we can argue that it is the biggest model released as a set using a number of metrics: I dont know that I would call the 31203 World Map a model… wall display/art sure, but not a model.

At a almost1.5m tall, there is no doubt that this is an impressive model. This is the third dedicated build (after 10181 – 2007; and 21019 in 2014) for the Eiffel Tower, but it has appeared as part of a magnet, as well as an Architecture Skyline, and Creator Postcard.

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We Are Getting Some New Friends In 2023

We have now had LEGO®Friends Sets on the shelves for over a decade, and during this time we have seen the girls grow, get rebooted and learn, while seeing each other through good times and bad. The girls who played with those first sets have grown up, and during the second half of the 2022, we have seen our core cast grow up and head off to pursue their dreams: Olivia at Space Camp, Emma at Art School, Stephanie sailing around the world, Mia rescuing animals and Andrea heading out to perform. All of this while welcoming new characters to Heartlake City.

During this time, we have been able to see our own kids grow up, and perhaps there is just a little too much backstory to catch up with, for newcomers to the brand. And so in 2023, we are going to see a new core group of friends, a new logo, and new stories to take place in Heartlake City. This change in direction was teased at LEGO CON 2022, but no further details were forthcoming.

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Hispabrick Magazine #37 Now Available For Free Download!

It has been 11 months since the last edition, but today we see a new edition of Hispabrick Magazine. It is now available to download for free, in English or Spanish, from their website (links below)

We set out to make an issue with the overall theme “on the road” and ended up with more than half the magazine dedicated to MILS (Modular Integrated Landscaping System). As this issue runs p102 pages, that’s a sizable chunk. There are detailed descriptions and instructions for different  MILS road modules as well as some other models, in the context of converting a city layout to the MILS standard. 
Of course that leaves a little less than half of 102 pages for other content and we hope there is something for all kinds of LEGO fans. It is our present to the worldwide community of LEGO fans.
I would also like to remind you that all our back issues are freely available at  https://www.hispabrickmagazine.com/

The new issue can be found at:
HBM037 English: https://www.hispabrickmagazine.com/magazines/articles.php?edicion=HBM037  

HBM037 Spanish: https://www.hispabrickmagazine.com/revistas/articulos.php?edicion=HBM037 

I have been meaning to find out a little more about using MILS elements as part of a community building standard, and so this looks like my Christmas reading sorted! The magazine has several reviews, as well as community profiles from around the world.

Please feel free to share the magazine links with your friends and communities.

Until next time, Play Well

Marvel Collectable Minfigures Revealed.

Today, the LEGO Group have revealed the forthcoming Marvel Collectable Minifigures range. Featuring figures from Marvel TV Series on Disney Plus – Wandavision, the Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki and What If…. There are some characters here that might not feature in sets of their own, but which will certainly inspire creativity amongst builders. There will be 12 figures in the series, which will be released on 1st October 2021. Read on for full-size images and my thoughts.

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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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This Is The Way: New LEGO® Sets based on Disney’s ‘The Mandalorian’ Unveiled at the New York Toy Fair

The New York Toy Fair is now underway, and we have seen a couple of new sets officially unveiled. 75317 Brickheadz: The Mandalorian™ & The Child was prematurely revealed to the world by Amazon in Canada last week, but today we got our first look at 75292: The Razor Crest, the Mandalorian’s ship. We don’t know too many additional details – release is merely slated for ‘Second Half 2020’, and global pricing is not available at this stage. Release is slated for 1st September 2020, and will cost $AUD199.99.

Read on for a closer look…

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LEGO® DOTS Officially Revealed. [ANZ Pricing available]

In recent years, there have been rumours of a new jewellery/craft centred theme: DOTS. This range has been officially unveiled at the Nuremberg Toy Fair today, as we as a site in London, where Artist Camille Walala has just unveiled a house tiled with LEGO® Dots.

Looking like a fusion between household accessories and jewellery, the new DOTS sets allow you to decorate with a collection of plain and decorated tiles. We will see a range of bracelets as well as jewellery boxes, pencil holders and more, when the line is released in early March 2020. Read on for further images…

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New Spring Festival Sets for 2020 Announced: APAC Release: December 26 – Rest of the World: January 10!

After last year’salmost unanticipated success of the 80102 Dragon Dance, and the 80101 Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner, the LEGO Group have just announced the two sets to be released for next year’s celebrations, as we welcome in the Year of the Rat: 80104 Lion dance and the 80105 Chinese New Year Traditional Temple Fair.

These sets build on the foundation set by last year’s sets, and carry the story telling to the next level. For MOC builders, the sets offer an array of new decorated elements, as well as some neat parts usage demonstrated throughout both sets…

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This Set Gives Us an Idea of When Dinosaurs Ruled the World [Announcement 21320 LEGO® Ideas Dinosaur Fossils]

Dinosaurs have always held a degree of fascination for me: as a child, I would spend hours looking at pictures, and wondering why I couldn’t find any realistic toys or models of these giant, extinct reptiles.

Since the advent of Jurassic Park, over 25 years ago, there has been no shortage of dinosaur toys on the shelves, and making their way in to LEGO sets over recent years.

This year we have already seen the Jurassic World T. Rex Rampage set released, at the cost of storage space. Today, we see the latest LEGO Ideas set: 21321 dinosaur Fossils. With 910 Pieces, Skeletons for: T. Rex, Stegasaurus and a Pteranadon, 2 minifigures and museum style plinths, the set goes on sale on November 1st 2019.

Recommended for ages 16+, the set will be priced around $AUD100. (read on for International Pricing and more images)

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