I feel that Creator 3in1 sets bring us some of the best of LEGO play: from the quality of models, through to introduction to advanced building techniques and more. By encouraging the dismantling and rebuilding of different models, the builder is given insights into how the LEGO system works. Each wave brings us something new to see. Whether it is a disturbingly anatomically accurate Tiger, a variety of Viking locations, or a building in the city, the theme constantly brings its A-Game when it comes to demonstrating nifty building techniques, readily adapted for your own MOCS.
How does 31139 Cozy house, due for release in March 2023, go as far as reaching expectations? Read on to find out?
When JBBrickFanatic’s LEGO® IDEAS submission BTS Dynamite was announced, a lot of AFOLs said. ‘Huh? What?’ I’ll admit I was unfamiliar with the source material. Just like I’ve struggled with Adventure time, Minecraft, the Caterham seven and Tron Legacy. But just because I am unfamiliar with the source material does not invalidate it.
Today, the LEGO Group have revealed 21339 LEGO Ideas Dynamite – recreating scenes from the K-Pop boy band’s 2020 music video, along with bringing us
The LEGO® Town, and later LEGO City themes have been charged with presenting kids with the things they see in real life, in an easy-to-build format, to trigger role-play moments. It is now apparent to me that I don’t get out enough, and that my kids have now grown up, as I had not realised that a Gaming Truck is a real thing. They attend major events, run tournaments at expos and, on a smaller scale, even make appearances at kids’ birthdays, when in the past we might have had a fairy, magician or gymnastics coach. How things have changed!
Part of the early 2023 LEGO City wave includes the first example of such a truck in LEGO Form. The set comes with 4 minifigures, 344 pieces and has a retail price of $AUD69.99/£39.99 / $USD39.99 / 44.99€. So, how does the experience shape up? The LEGO Group sent a copy of the set over for me to review – let’s take a look: as always, all opinions are my own. Read on for more details.
It was 1982, and the final episode of NPR adaptation of Star Wars (A New Hope – not that the label was familiar to us yet) had just been broadcast on ABC FM on Sunday morning. “Next Week – The Lord of the Rings episode 1″…of 26. This BBC production was my introduction to Lord of the Rings. Over the next 6 months, 12-year-old me followed the adventures of Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, as they covered the diverse geography of Middle earth. I opened the books and began to explore the extended world.
With time, Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations became a regular Wedding Anniversary date for Ann and myself. Then, in 2010, I finally came out of my Dark Ages and accepted that I was allowed to buy LEGO® sets for myself. Fast forward to 2011 and after presenting Bag End, assailed by dwarfs at Brickvention 2011, I put together a model, loosely based on Rivendell, at the time of the Council of Elrond.
Rivendell: A MOC by the author – on display at Brickvention, Melbourne Australia 2012.
Using non-licensed minifigures, and drilling a hole through the middle of a pearl gold 1×1 round brick/stud to use as a ring, many kids who saw the layout identified most of the figures in the fellowship correctly. Except for 2. But they were so consistent that I suspect I must have been wrong in identifying Merry and Pippin.
And then, in 2012, we saw our first wave of Lord of the Rings sets – with the Fellowship of the Ring carefully spread across no fewer than four sets! A second wave followed in 2013, before leading into the sets licenced from the Hobbit. In this second wave was the set ‘Council of Elrond.’ With 4 Minifigures and 243 elements this was a somewhat lacklustre representation of the iconic scene from the story (be it book, radio drama or movie).
And now, after 10 years Lord of the Rings is back.
With 6167 Pieces and 15 minifigures (plus some statues of Elven Heroes from days gone by.) this is a beautiful set, providing exquisite architectural details, as well as rolling landscape and new minifigures throughout.
Continuing our coverage of the 2022 LEGO City Lineup, today, I wanted to take a look at the 60389 Custom Car Garage. This is a great variation on the ‘Multiple Cars and Garage’ sets seen in LEGO Town and City lines over the years.
The first Garage and Tow-truck in the Minifigure era was 6363 Auto Repair Shop in1980: however, there were no cars requiring repair. In 1985, the scene took off, when a small garage and three go-kart-like vehicles (along with a tow/transport truck) came packaged on 32x32stud baseplate. The office off to the side of the garage allowed kids to get right into role-playing the shadier side of the auto crash repair business than might be considered normal. The cars seeking repair were go-karts, and could be customised in a variety of permutations very readily.
The 6561 Hot Rod Club of 1994 brought us a collection of car enthusiasts, as well as some fancy-looking wheels, including a rather spiffing chromed-up vehicle. I would consider this set to be the prototype for the set we are looking at today. While the bodies of the cars were 4 studs wide, the rear wheels extended their width to around 7-8 studs.
A custom garage for 6stud wide cars didn’t eventuate until the LEGO Factory 10200 Custom Car Garage in 2008. This set gave us three cars, with exchangeable engines, to say plenty of inspiration for your own vehicles.
Up to this time, these car workshops have been somewhat sheltered, with a roof to prevent all but the smallest of hands from getting in to arrange the garage exactly as you might like, and so we see a different format with 60389 Custom Car garage: with a workshop focussing on performance vehicles, this set is a little more open plan: imagine the walls and roof yourself, but the set provides the furnishing along with 4 minifigures and 2 cars, with a selection of interchangeable front and back ends, as well as a variety of engines that can be substituted in and out. All this in 509 pieces.
The set is priced at $79.99AUD, €49.99 £44.99 USD59.99 CAD79.99. So, what does it offer? Is it a poor man’s Fast and the Furious? Or does it offer something more?
It’s been a couple of years since we have seen a food van in LEGO city: we had -Pizza in 2017; Ice cream in 2020 and now, in 2023 we are getting a Slushy Van. (There was also the highly disguised ice-cream van in 2022, but it was really a criminal front)
The set is aimed at builders aged 5 and up, has 193 and is priced at 32.99AUD/19.99USD/£17.99 and 24.99CAD. How does it shape up? (Special thanks to the LEGO Group for sending this set over for review. All opinions are my own.)
Last week, it was announced that LEGO® DOTS is going to be discontinued, with no new releases after the March Harry Potter wave. But will other themes be stepping up to keep up our supply of customisable posters, storage boxes and pencil pots?
The adult-focused Helmet series keeps on coming, with another in the Marvel series revealed today. 76251 Star Lord’s Helmet has been unveilled ahead of the Nuremberg Toy Fair this week. With 602 pieces, it has an interesting form compared with previous marvel helmets, as this helmet is not designed to cover the entire head.
It has been a couple of years since we have had a Marvel helmet in this scale (not counting 2022’s much larger Black Panther), but I cannot help but think something must be being hidden away, given LEGO Spider-Man’s 20th anniversary this year.
I guess I can only hope.
This model has 602 pieces, and will be released on April 1st, 2023. Expected pricing is 79,99 USD / 79,99 EUR / 69,99 GBP / 129.99 AUD / 799.0 CNY / 99.99 CAD.
January 28, 1958, 1:58 pm CET, a Patent was filed: That day, an express courier walked into the office of patent agency Hofman-Bang & Boutard in Copenhagen, with a piece of paper, on which was drawn the specifications for the LEGO brick – all studs and tubes, and a hand glued mock up of the 2×4 brick.
As I write this, I am almost a week down the track from Brickvention, our local AFOL Networking event. As such, I am still in recovery mode. It remains High summer here: hot days, short nights, with grass drying out and the fire season approaching. But in the northern hemisphere, the days are slowly lengthening, the snow starting to melt, and thoughts are turning to the approaching spring, with new life: plants growing back, and migratory birds returning and setting up home in new nests, with eggs getting laid. And easter is coming, with its festival of coloured eggs, too. As such, I was delighted to see the first images of 40639 Birds’ Nest. I was delighted when I received a preview copy to review.
At 19.99AUD, it is a fairly inexpensive set, but is it the thing to put on display in your living room? Read on to find out.
When the prequel trilogy was first released, I didn’t really get it. Whether this was just me, or intrinsic issues with the storytelling, I was not too sure. I didn’t really understand them the way I understood the original trilogy. And surely the fact that I watched individual films in the original trilogy approximately 200 times between 1977 and 1999 is probably irrelevant. Probably….
And then, during the pandemic lockdowns, my now adult son took me by the hand and said ‘Dad, I think you need to watch this. I have found a guide to take you through the essential episodes, but I think it will help everything make sense.’ And so we watched a sizable part of the clone wars: Campaign after campaign, Politics, Intrigue, Grumpy Padawans. And then I rewatched Revenge of the Sith. And on the whole, for the first time ever, it made sense to me. I became invested in Rex and Cody, as well as the rest of the 501st. enough to move on to Rebels. And now it looks like Asokha will make sense to me when it debuts. Woo Hoo.
And Not that I get it, I can understand why these helmets will spark a generational shift in the Star Wars Helmets: no longer limited to the Original Trilogy, fans of the Clone Wars can also feel specifically loved by this range, with the arrival of 75349 Captain Rex and 75350 Commander Cody.
The Rambling Brick 
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