My jaw literally dropped when I saw this and all I could say was “WOW!”
It took a team of 12 model shop employees 3,000 hours to build this life size model of the LEGO Bag End set. In addition to containing over 2 million 1×1 bricks this model has working lights in the fireplace and over the bookstand as well as a chimney that really smokes!
The people in the picture give you a hint on the shear scale of this model.
Words fail me with this model, its simply awesome! You can find more pictures of this model at LEGO Shop’s Facebook page
On LEGO’s Facebook page they have release sneak preview pictures of all 16 Minifigs of Series 9. The catch? They are shown from the back. Even so, it confirms the rumored list that has been going around.
You can click on any of the images to go to the full set on Facebook. On December 3rd they will be showing the front images of them. I have a feeling that even though the release date is in January, they will start showing up in stores some time in December, just in time for Christmas. Its not a guarantee that it will happen, just a guess.
Although some people are into April Fool’s jokes, I’m not one of them. So I avoid the silliness all together. I did however post this on my Facebook page yesterday. I would have posted it here too, but Iain Heath hadn’t posted it on Flickr yet.
While I was hanging out with the guys of FBTB, SandLUG, and LUGOLA at LEGOLAND California Star Wars Days, Iain and the rest of SeaLUG was at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle.
I will be posting a follow up to Star Wars Days, but until then check this out.
Since Iain is Iain (you have to know him, or at least his models, to understand that one ) he created a LEGO model of Wil Weaton signing a LEGO model of himself and then he had the actual Wil Weaton sign it. Its so meta, it almost blows my mind!
Here’s a close up of the model
Of course there were other, much larger, models on display. I know Scott Fowler’s MOC certainly deserves its own post. But I’ll be visiting those another day. For now, live long and prosper! — Hey, I had to get a Star Trek reference in there somewhere!
In an almost unprecedented product development and turnaround the LEGO Minecraft model is now available for preorder on the LEGO Minecraft Facebook page for $35 USD.
I have it on good authority that the two iconic characters Steve and the Creeper have printed on faces, which just might be a first — side printed LEGO plates for Steve’s face.
As I don’t know anything at all about Minecraft, other than what it looks like, I’m not exactly excited for these sets. To me I’d call it a 1×1 tile parts pack for the greens, brown and tan.
But with the price point, its not exactly a deal. The 480 parts average out to $0.14 $0.07 a piece with only the decorated elements unique to the set (I did my math wrong sorry). I guess for Minecraft fans, which there are obviously more than 10,000 that wanted it turned into a set through Cuusso, this is exciting news. For me however, not so much.
The Christmas wish of many AFOLs (Adult Fans of LEGO) are coming true, well at least they will next year.
That’s right folks, LEGO Lord of the Rings is finally becoming a reality. The LUG (LEGO Users Group) forums are burning with all the back and forth chatter, Facebook is buzzing with the news, and as my friend Wes coined “It is as if a million wallets suddenly cried out, and were suddenly
silenced.”
Building Sets Based on Epic Film Trilogy and Forthcoming Theatrical Release Slated for 2012
Warner Bros. Consumer Products and The LEGO Group announced today a partnership that awards the world’s leading construction toy brand exclusive rights to develop build-and-play construction sets based on THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT™. The multi-year licensing agreement grants access to the library of characters, settings, and stories for THE LORD OF THE RINGS property, as well as films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
LEGO® THE LORD OF THE RINGS construction sets are slated for a rolling global launch beginning in June 2012 in the United States, with LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY scheduled for later in the year.
“Only LEGO, with their expertise in the construction category, is capable of doing justice to the incredibly imaginative environments depicted in the world of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and the two films based on THE HOBBIT,” said Karen McTier, executive vice president, domestic licensing and worldwide marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “These films give life to amazing worlds and characters and we are thrilled to bring fans these products that deliver an imaginative play experience befitting of these beloved properties.”
The LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS collection will translate into LEGO form the epic locations, scenes and characters of Middle-earth as depicted in all three films, including The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
In late 2012, LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY will give fans of all ages a chance to build and play out the fantastical story and new characters of the legendary Middle-earth adventures depicted in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, slated to premiere December 14, 2012.
“Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products has delivered numerous worldwide successes in the construction toy aisle with lines like LEGO HARRY POTTER and LEGO BATMAN, introducing us to loyal audiences who love great stories, strong characters and the toys that they inspire,” said Jill Wilfert, vice president, licensing and entertainment for The LEGO Group. “It’s particularly exciting to now be able to create sets based on the fantasy worlds and characters from THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT, not only because we know they will foster collectability and creative play, but also because these are two properties that our fans have been asking us to create for years.”
Information about the sets and collectible minifigures from both collections will be unveiled at a later date at TheLordoftheRings.LEGO.com.
So the rumors that have been floating around about a TT Hobbit game are probably true. I really can’t see LEGO not putting out a video game to tie-in with the movie and sets.
The really interesting thing — and you have to take it with a grain of salt — but many years ago a friend of mine (who now works for Weta but didn’t at the time) told me that a friend of his said (that’s right, this is third hand) LEGO was offered the license for the LOTR movies the first time but they turned them down because LOTR was too violent. Perhaps because Hobbit is a friendlier, less violent story (I’ve always liked it) LEGO thought it was appropriate. More likely, its because LEGO sees that they really missed the boat last time.
As he was supposed to, at first it was hard to tell if he was even officially affiliated with LEGO. But also as he was supposed to, George is starting to go viral. And now LEGO has offically annouced their new interactive game.
This is a combination of a smart phone app and a LEGO set that will be available through LEGO stores and lego.com.
LEGO Group Unveils First Fully Integrated Digital-to-Physical
Gaming Experience
- Combining physical building with a digital gaming application, LEGO® Life of George invites builders to test building skills in a race against time-
BILLUND, Denmark, September 29, 2011 – The LEGO Group today announced LEGO® Life of George, its first product to combine digital and physical play for a hands-on LEGO gaming experience. Featuring patent-pending brick recognition software, powered by EyeCue, the game challenges players to build models, and place them on a play mat that acts as a “green screen” to capture the image and receive a score based on accuracy and speed. Beginning October 1, 2011, players can purchase the LEGO Life of George set for $29.99 from LEGO Stores and shop.lego.com and download the free Apple iOS compatible gaming application.
LEGO Life of George is a 12-level game that can be played in novice or expert mode. Each level showcases an adventure from George, around whom the game revolves, and is comprised of models of varying difficulty based on the number of bricks needed and the building techniques required to replicate them. Builders are challenged to physically recreate the virtual models from George’s photo album using the LEGO bricks included with the game; once they have successfully completed all 10 models the next level will be unlocked.
In addition to Game Mode which can be played alone or against one competitor in a pass-and-play format, a Creation Mode called “My Life” enables users to design and capture their own models in the app’s virtual scrapbook.
“We understand consumers’ powerful connection to casual gaming, and we have seen how successfully the LEGO brand can translate to a virtual experience, so we pursued development of a fun way to combine both physical and virtual play into one product,” says Paal Smith-Meyer, head of new business at LEGO Group. “Life of George is a result of our desire to provide an innovative way for existing and new fans to play with LEGO bricks and interact with the brand.”
Who is George?
George is a software engineer by day and adventurer by night. His main hobbies are travel, photography and numbers, and has a fun storyline for players to follow and engage with via his Facebook page, I Am George. Fans can expect to see updates and photography from George on his travels as well as hints to new game levels and app updates through his posts.
Unfortunately it is only available for iphone, something that is seriously lacking in my opinion and hopefully will be available for other phones like android soon. But even so it is launching LEGO into a new era of the smart phone.
LEGO Cons seem to be cropping up every where! The newest will be in Texas!
Mark your calendars and get ready to attend the most unique LEGO fan event in the central United States. The first Brick Fiesta is being held in Austin, Texas from June 30th to July 3rd, 2011. So save the date and come back to visit real soon, ya’ll. We’ll be looking forward to your attendance.
I’m certainly excited about this one, of course who knows if I’ll be going yet. There’s quite a few LEGO Conventions this year — at least 7 in the US alone! It certainly a sign that LEGO as a hobby is growing by leaps and bounds! Registration is now open so sign up now!
On a related note, there are two LEGO conventions happening on the other side of the world from me:
Which is being held in Melbourne, Australia this weekend Jan 15th -16th.
Bricks Adventure 2011
Date: 12th – 22nd January 2011
Time: 10:30 am – 8:30 pm
Location: Multi-Purpose-Room A&B, 4/f, Amenities Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Although the opening ceremony doesn’t start until today, set up of BrickCon started yesterday. We also picked up our goody bags and as you can see, its pretty cool. The cup cooler, although you can’t see it, has the BrickCon logo on it. We also got a really nice figure and prototype pack from BrickArms and we all got a collectible minifig (I got a series 1, Joe got a series 2).
Unfortunately I haven’t snapped any pictures of my own, which is why I am borrowing some from Joe Meno. The main reason I didn’t do any picture taking was that my Golden Gate Bridge did not make the trip too well. I think they must have tossed my rather heavy, LEGO filled bag around like crazy to get it so beat up. What should have taken half an hour took at least four if not five hours to put together.
I did meet in person finally some very nice people that I’ve only known online. That is always the benefit of a LEGO Con. The models I’ve seen so far are pretty cool! I will be posting pics of my own hopefully tonight, although that might not happen as we are going to the Scratch and Dent sale at the LEGO store.
Photo credit: Joe Meno
Well, BrickCon officially is about to start, so I’ll get back to you with details and pics.
I know we still have a few months of 2010 left on the calendar, but at the same time rumors of next year’s line have now turned into images.
If you want to be surprised, don’t read any further. And, as these are preliminary images, the quality isn’t all that great.
Series 3
NinjaGo
New Atlantis!!!!!!
I can certainly see wanting all of these! Especially the new 2×2 rounds! I’m surprised they had to make two waves of Atlantis before they made a set like what we were all hoping for. And new Series 3? What can I say, I’ll definitely want a box.
The rumor of yesterday’s post is in fact now a fact: Five of Angus Maclane’s fun and funky Star Wars CubeDudes will be this year’s LEGO Comic Con Exclusive.
Not only is there an image of them in the latest issue of Toyfair Magazine, but none other than Angus himself confirmed it on his Facebook page.
This will be the first time LEGO has ever offered a built and guled model, much less a CubeDude model, at Comic Con. Up until now they have all been either set or minifigure exclusives. You can read the entire press release at FBTB.
The CubeDudes will most likely be offered through a raffle ticket process where only those with the “winning” tickets get the chance to purchase the exclusive. This is a pretty standard way of offering low-quantity exclusives at Comic Con. As there are five, it will probably be one per day like last year. The 2009 exclusives were $50 each, pretty steep for three minifigs in a box, but there you are. There were 300 of the daily exclusives last year, no word on the amount made or the price point for this year’s. Also, Angus will be on hand both Friday and Saturday for an hour signing his models.
I'm Mariann Asanuma, a former LEGO Master Model Designer and now a Freelance LEGO Artist and Author. Thanks for checking out my blog dedicated to all things LEGO. ;)
Feel free to contact me if you are interested in a custom LEGO model.
