LEGO News Roundup

There's been a deluge of interesting LEGO-related news lately. Here's a round-up of what's going on out there in the past week or so: The LEGO Universe massive multiplayer online role-playing game has opened for beta signups. A third LEGO Star Wars video game title has been announced. LEGO Star Wars III will follow the Clone Wars saga. LEGOLAND California Master Model Designer Gary McIntire was recently featured in a two part interview on the Brothers Brick. While some of the information about LEGO parts being used as raw material at the park may be a bit difficult to handle, the interview provides some insight into the process used at the theme parks. The BBC recently featured an article and video on the adult LEGO hobby, the Brickish Association, and the use of CAD software within the hobby. It should all sound familiar to my regular readers, but it's a welcome bit of mainstream recognition for the hobby. Tragedy has hit BAYLUG recently - a priceless collection of landmark models has been taken from BAYLUG President Mark Benz in an enormous burglary. The Brothers Brick has the story, and The Oakland Tribune is reporting that broken pieces were found in the street. There is no place for this sort of thievery - if you have any tips that could lead to the criminals behind the heist being put behind bars, please contact Detective Bill Veteran of the Fremont Police Department at 1-510-790-6800. Wired.com has a rundown of new Star Wars toys which includes information about (and decent photos of) two new LEGO sets. CTV tech reporter Kris Abel has posted photos from the Canadian Toy and Hobby Fair. This is apparently the first camera-friendly venue that most of the late 2010 sets have been shown in. Additional goodies that were shown at other events, such as the collectible minifigure line and the new Harry Potter sets and video game, were not displayed by the company at this event. A popular New York Times blog post from last year is being turned into a book. Entitled I LEGO N.Y., the book by Christoph Niemann will be available starting March 1st, 2010. While we passed over these photos when they first became an online hit (it's a series of sketches and not a real model, so it's not eligible to be the "model of the day"), I think it's clear that the concept has potential in book form and I know that many of our readers enjoyed the original post. Word is that I may receive a review copy - I'll let you know how that goes. ...and as always, don't forget to check the BrickJournal Shared Calendars to see if any new events are coming to your area.