Lego

Expanding LEGO® Super Mario: Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle

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This is the big one. The showdown. The final conflict.

The Boss Battle: After covering the rest of the LEGO Super Mario Expansion packs, we come to the final Boss Battle, with Bowser.

Mario has gone through a lot to get here: After getting Started, we passed the Piranha Plant Bower Slide, and crossed the river past the Boomer Bill Barrage. We visited Toad’s Village, and then had a little lie down in the hammock at Mario’s House. We have visited the Dungeons with Whomp’s Lava Trouble, as well as Thwomp’s Drop, We got to the Guarded Fortress, and visited the Haunted Yard. Finally the time has come to take on Bowser in the Bowser Boss Castle Battle!

This is the largest set in the range: while 71360: Adventures with Mario is the set that everyone will get, 71369: Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle is the set that many will want. Bowser is Mario’s nemesis, and leader of the turtle like Koopa race. And so it makes sense that the flagship set in the theme will involve LEGO Super Mario taking him down.

Even with all the wits and power ups at his disposal to, Mario will still need a little bit of luck to defeat Bowser.

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Expanding LEGO Super Mario: 71368 Toad’s Treasure Hunt

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Today, I want to take a look at one of my favourite Expansion packs. With 464 elements, this set has a number of elements that makes this a great set to display ( at least, as far as LEGO Super Mario is concerned), has a number of great play features, a range of enemies, and even some friends for Mario to engage with.

Compared with the other expansions we have looked at so far, this one is a relatively large box. I’ll follow the same general format for this expansion as I have for the others I have looked at: The elements, and Build, the features of the landscape, Power up/scoring opportunities, Other Characters and action bricks.

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Meeting Jonathan Bennink… Design Lead on LEGO® Super Mario

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A few weeks ago, I took part in a Media Event with several other Recognised LEGO Fan Media: Brickset, Blocks Magazine, Brick Fanatics, Zusammengebaut, Hispabrick Magazine, HothBricks, twitch streamer Between the Bricks. Other similar events took place around the same time, with other LEGO Fan Media, as well as mainstream media.

We met Jonathan Bennink – the LEGO Digital design LEAD on the Super Mario series, and he took us through a couple of the sets that were unveiled the next week. He followed up by showing us some additional aspects of the new theme, gave us some gameplay hints and set us some challenges… At the end of the presentation, we were able to ask some questions. Some were answered on the day. Some were followed up subsequently… Read on for More.

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Ikea x LEGO® 2020: Bygglek spotted in the wild

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June has been and gone, and for the first time in several years, we have had no news of Bygglek. The collaboration between the LEGO Group and IKEA was first announced at the IKEA Democratic Design Days in 2018, we received more idea of what to expect, last year. Essentially billed as a storage system, allowing children to put a pause on play, while getting their bricks tidied up quickly – which is sure to help please their parents. The trick is then to make it as easy to ‘press go,’ and start playing again, faster than switching on the iPad, and getting it connected to the WiFi. (Read on for more)

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Full Range of LEGO Super Mario Sets Revealed

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Today, the LEGO Group and Nintendo have finally revealed the full product range for LEGO Super Mario. With Game Play based around a real world brick built world, along with familiar friends, enemies, power ups and hazards, LEGO Super Mario is set to change the way players interact with Mario, based on the interactive Mario Brick.

I have had the opportunity to try out some of the new range, as well as take part in a Q&A with Jonathan Bennink – the Digital Design Lead. I will be presenting the results of these over the next few posts. BUT if you want to see the full range of sets, read on. We have pictures of them all, as well as US/ Euro AND Australia and New Zealand Pricing!

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43179: Mickey and Minnie Buildable Figures Announced

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Continuing with the ongoing strategy of marketing direct to AFOLs with the 18+ packaging, the LEGO Group and Disney today announce the forthcoming release on July 1 of their latest Direct to Consumer set: 41379 Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse Buildable Characters. This set has over 1700 elements, building two figures, and accessories. Each figure is over 30cm tall.

43179 LEGO® ǀ Disney Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse Buildable Characters Ages 18+. 1739pieces US $179.99 –CA $229.99 –DE €179.99 –UK £169.99 – FR €179.99 – DK 1399DKK- AUD $279.99 – NZD $319.99

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Q&A with the LEGO Covid Face Shield Team

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Back in April, we reported on the LEGO Group producing eye shields for health care workers, looking after patients with COVID-19 in Southern Denmark. In my ‘day job,’ I work as an anaesthesiologist. The availability of Personal Protective Equipment for health workers has been a topic of conversation amongst my colleagues for a few months, and I was excited to hear of the development. While we have had little to worry about in Australia, I realise that PPE remains an important issue in many parts of the world, as supply chains get re-established.

A group of Recognised LEGO Fan Media – including Brickset, New Elementary, Hispabrick Magazine, Brickfinder, as well as myself – had the opportunity to put some additional questions to the team responsible for the production of these face shields….

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Hero Habitat Contest: Winners Announced

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Back in March, following on from the release of the DC Superheroes Collectable Minifigures, the Rambling Brick called on readers to build a minifigure habitat for a hero. Based on an 8x8x8 standard, the brief was to build a habitat for a hero, recognising that not all heroes have capes.

The contest also coincided with parts of the world going into relative lockdown, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, we had a fantastic response, receiving over 50 entries from around the world.

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Building the Theatre of Dreams. Are My Dreams the Same as Yours? [Review Old Trafford 10272; LEGO House 21037]

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Earlier this year, the AFOL Engagement team ysent me a copy of Old Trafford for review purposes. This felt pretty great. But I have a problem. I don’t really engage with soccer, or football…or any other team based sporting codes, for that matter. So, when confronted by a set that would have the potential to give a Manchester United Fan goosebumps, I was worried that I might be left cold. How could I possibly hope to recreate the passion of a die hard fan with an epic Creator Expert Set?

Apparently people like football. Or soccer, depending on where you are. Some of these people are LEGO Fans as well. LEGO have taken a punt on the fact that, probably, there are some Football fans out there who would not mind building an iconic stadium out of the plastic bricks they loved as children.

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LEGO Starts Rolling Out Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers.

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You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting much lately. As an anaesthesiologist/anaesthetist (depending on where in the world you are), I have been spending time, along with my colleagues, preparing our hospitals and ourselves for a threatened surge in COVID 19 patients.

We are fortunate at this stage, to have not had the same devastating number of cases that has been seen in Europe, UK, China or the USA, although I would be naive to believe that we have avoided any significant problem at this time.

There is no doubt that we are anxious about it here, and we have all heard stories from around the world with regard to the importance of Personal Protective Equipment in minimising the impact the disease has on healthcare workers. We have also heard about industry stepping up to the plate around the world, repurposing tools and machinery towards both PPE and Ventilator production.

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