In which we briefly reflect on the LEGO® Super Mario Sets, consider what’s missing, and announce the next Rambling Brick Competition, with great LEGO Super Mario Prizes, thanks to the LEGO Group.
Have you been enjoying the LEGO Super Mario sets? Or have you had a bit of a play with them and thought “What Next?”
Over the last few weeks, I have spent “a little” time doing “some research” into the world of Super Mario games. By “a little”, I probably mean “quite a lot.” And by “some research” I probably mean “spending a bit too much time playing through a couple of the games, as well as working my way through the 30th Anniversary Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia.”
This has left me wondering about where LEGO Super Mario could go from here: I think the theme is great, but it is predominantly aimed at younger builders, to play with their families. That said, Super Mario now has a 35 year pedigree – hundreds of worlds, enemies, friends, traps and treasures to choose from. While the expansion sets as we have them at the moment are terrific, they are designed for kids. Easy to lay out, easy to pull apart. Fairly sparse in their density, with only a 2 stud wide plate holding things together. What if we set out to build on that 35 year legacy, with builders of greater experience?
The last week has seen the COVID-19 pandemic declared. Public events around the world have been cancelled, including many LEGO® Fan shows. Even the LEGO House has shut its doors for the time being. Europe has just declared the new epicentre of the pandemic, with borders closing, and quarantine being enforced in many countries. The USA has been declared to be in the grip of a national emergency, and the Australian Grand Prix has been cancelled. Our hearts go out to families around the world that have been affected by COVID-19 – those affected directly the illness, and those whose livelihoods are affected by the economic consequences of the pandemic.
In these troubled, uncertain times, we need someone to turn to. We need a symbol of hope, and reassurance that that although we have a struggle ahead of us, we will get through as best we can as a society.
We Need A HERO!
And so I thought I would take this as a prompt for my next Rambling Brick Habitat Competition.
The time has come to announce the winners in the Rambling Brick’s Disney Minfigure Habitat Challenge. Overall, there were 33 entries from 22 people, sent in from all over the world. With a set of Series 2 Collectable Minifigures to be won, as well as Prizes from the LEGO Store, courtesy of the LEGO Group’s AFOL Engagement Team, I had a panel of judges, consisting of several winners of previous ‘Rambling Brick’ Competitions, help me out. I’m glad I did, because there were some amazing entries!
Last week, I published my survey of the new 70124 Disney Minifigures (series 2), and after reviewing the series, I still have a complete set…as well as another without Donalds nephews, as each box only contains 2 sets of Huey, Dewey and Louis. It must be time to give these away, and free up some space at home. Read on to find out what you need to do…
Recently, the Rambling Brick held a contest to win The Ant-Man and the Wasp set, Quantum Realm Explorers.
The Brief was to build a MOC that would exploit AntMan’s ability to shrink or grow – so either build a microscale model, where a Minifigure could look like a giant, or one where the minifigure represented a shrunken AntMan. There is a prize of 76109 Quantum Realm Explorers for the winners in each category. Entrants were required to use a minifigure, but it was not necessary to use an actual AntMan Minifigure in entries.
Entries were open for roughly six weeks, and were accepted from around the world. A panel of judges was assembled from my network – a mixture of builders and community supporters. They were asked to nominate their three favourite MOCs in each category. (Three points for 1st; One point for 3rd). The builders of the MOCs were not identified to the judges at the time of judging.
In which I look at 76109 Quantum Realm Explorers and realise that not only does it have some great minifigures, but it also gives a masterclass in greebles! And there isn’t long to enter our Ant-Man Contest.
When the original Ant-Man film was released a few years ago, I missed seeing it at the cinema, and I missed getting hold of the single LEGO® Set related to the movie. And as such, I missed out getting hold of an Ant-Man Minifigure. A favourite figure amongst toy photographers, there are so many images of this figure exploring the world. A month or so ago I went to see Ant-Man and the Wasp. It was an enjoyable film, full of humour, action and special effects. I have finally got around to building the set, Quantum Realm Explorers. You might have seen posts over the last few weeks, providing an opportunity to win this set in a building competition: I will come back to that later.
Quantum Realm Explorers was released in June 2018, and has 200 pieces, including 3 minifigures. It costs $39.99AUD; or $19.99USD, 24.99€ or £19.99. 10c/part in the US, 10p/part in the UK, 12.5 eurocents/part in Germany and 20¢/part in Australia…
The Figures
Many people may be looking at this set as an opportunity to pickup the minifigures, and each of the figures included in this set are terrific. We have: Ant-Man, Wasp and Ghost.
They are all pretty close to their movie counterparts. They all have detailed torso printing, front and back, to match their characters, as well as double sided faces. Continue reading →
In which I go to the movies, and open up for entries for a new building challenge.
I recently caught up with the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) offering, Ant-Man and The Wasp at the cinema. I really enjoyed the way that this film was far more human and lighthearted than some of the recent MCU offerings. Not the least of the reasons being the setting ( contemporary earth, immediately prior/in parallel with the events of Infinity War) and the fact that the eponymous heroes of this story are normal human beings, with powers given to them through their suits. It was also an easy film to get into if you missed the previous Ant-Man film, and had a only passing knowledge of the MCU.
Quantum Realm Explorers 76109
Unfortunately, I have missed the last few sets featuring Ant-Man (Ant-Man Final Battle 76039 and Super Hero Airport Battle 76051, featuring both the Micro scale and Gi-Ant Man Figures.) and am unlikely to get my hands on the SDCC 2018 Exclusive 75997 Ant Man and the Wasp. Fortunately, where there is a new MCU film, a LEGO set is sure to follow, and this one is no exception. Quantum Realm Explorers 76109 features figures for Ant-Man, The Wasp and Ghost. The vehicle build looks fun, and I am looking forward to being able to build it at some stage in the next few weeks. (There has been something BIG providing a sizeable distraction, but you will hear about that soon enough.)
Time for a challenge:
In the mean time, one of the things that I enjoyed about the film was the way that our heroes were able to change their size, from normal size, to microscopic and indeed to be just a little bigger than you might consider to be healthy.
Have a minifigure depict a tiny character, with a huge world around them…
So… here is that challenge: build a model that exploits one of the varied scales that an Ant-Man minifigure may be confronted with: it might be a giant coffee cup, or a microscale truck or… anything. Just build it to scale with a minifgure representing either a shrunken or enlarged Ant Man.
Or build to depict a world where a standard minifigure represents a giant…
Builds must be able to fit on a 32 stud square baseplate, but they can be smaller, and some overhang is allowed. Both Physical and digital entries are allowed, but you should include a minifigure to help give a sense of the scale involved. Builds do NOT need to depict a scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp. You may use any minifigure: we don’t expect you to already own an Ant-Man minifigure.
To enter:
submit a single photo to ramblingbrick@gmail.com, post it by direct message on our Facebook page ( don’t forget to like and follow it while you are there) or use the hashtag #ramblingantman on flickr or instagram.
There will be two prizes of a copy of 76109 up for grabs, courtesy of the LEGO AFOL Engagement Team. One for a minifigure portraying a giant character, and one for a minifigure portraying a tiny figure.
Entries will be judged according to:
Adherence to the theme
Humor
Technical quality of the build.
Judging will be by previous winners of contests and raffles here at the Rambling Brick. They know who they are. Entries will close on 15th August(Extended to) 31st August 2018 at midnight, Australian Eastern Standard Time. The standard rules and conditions apply. There are two prizes on offer. If you enter both arms of the competition, and win one of them, you will be ineligible for a second prize in this contest.
Do you have any questions? Why not ask below. In the meantime, look out for our review of this set in a few weeks.
The race is on to create your own LEGO® Friends GO-KART racing scene! What sort of GO-KART can you create for Olivia, Mia, Andrea, Emma, Stephanie, and their other friends in Heartlake City? Create the ultimate scene for a chance to win!
After visiting the Melbourne Toy Hobby and Licensing Fair last week, I was really excited to see the new Friends GO-KART sets due to be released in the second half of the year. Now LEGO Rebrick has announced a competition to win all of the second half year’s Friends sets (with just the Go-Kart sets for the runners up…), as well as a LEGO Shopping Spree.
Ready… Set… Go…
To enter, build a vignette depicting a racing scene – no more than 8×12 studs, and include a GO-KART. Your entry should fit into the Heartlake City universe, and not include any mini figures, or cross over into any other IP licenses from 3rd parties or LEGO (so… no Superheroes, Disney Princess, Star Wars, HJarry Potter, NEXO Knights, LEGO Elves, Ninjago etc.
You have until May 5th to take photos of your model, and submit up to 5 of the best to the Rebrick Website.
Create a model to be featured in the LEGO® House in Billund, Denmark, in this latest competition from LEGORebrick
HELP DECORATE THE LEGO® HOUSE!
Here’s a chance to showcase your LEGO building expertise for all the visitors of the LEGO House! Show your best nature or Minifigure interior. For full details, visit the LEGO Rebrick Site.
CONTEST DESCRIPTION
The LEGO House is the home of the brick, which wouldn’t be complete without some amazing models created by fans. We want to give you the opportunity to show off your creations for an entire year to all who visit the LEGO House in Billund, Denmark!
Have you visited the LEGO Rebrick recently? Previously designed as a MOC sharing site, the website was relaunched a few months ago primarily as a competition platform for TFOLS and AFOLs alike.
There have been contests for NXT, Bionicle, Porsche and Creator building. Current contests include Classic (Microscale Building – closes November 4, 2016) and LEGO Friends (closes November 21,2016). Have a closer look at these contest pages to check out the prizes on offer. The standard of competition is reflected by the value of the prizes.
This week, one of the most exiting competitions to date was announced: To celebrate the release of the new 10255 Assembly Square, build a room for one of the existing Modular Buildings. The full details can be found here. Click on the link to read all about it. Make sure you read the rules properly!
The Grand Prize for this competition consists of:
10218 Pet Shop
10243 Parisian Restaurant
10246 Detective’s Office
10232 Palace Cinema
10251 Brick Bank
10255 10th Anniversary Modular Building: the Assembly Square.
If you were to purchase these separately from shopLEGO.com, they would cost over $AU1300 (Prize value varies according to your geographic region).
The competition closes on 30th November 2016 at 02:00 am AEST. Visit the competition page through the link above to confirm the closing date and time for YOUR PART OF THE WORLD.
This competition is not visible through the LEGO Rebrick home page, but through emails sent out from LEGOShop.com, as well as links shared on LEGO Fan Media websites. Enjoy.