Posted by
Dan
at
12:35 AM
| Name of Model: Unholy Trio of Christmas Presents |
| Created by: Peter Aoun |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graznador2/5200195519/in/pool-44124304756@N01/ |
Details:  Today's model of the day is an example of what happens when you don't pick presents carefully. We've all been there, poor minifig kid.
This is something of a lean Black Friday - in previous years, we've recommended running off to various stores for discounts of as much as 50% off of LEGO kits, but this year there are no deals that good to be had.
The best deals seem to be from our friends at LEGO Shop at Home. They've added a variety of newly discounted sets to their Sales and Deals page, and will be adding a fresh selection of newly discounted sets on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday as well. Also for these four days, they are offering free shipping on all orders over $49 and 10% off on all orders over $149. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:35 PM
| Name of Model: Creations for Charity |
| Created by various builders |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1541893@N21/pool/with/5149859218/ |
Details:  Creations for Charity is an annual tradition where a variety of hobbyists in the online LEGO community donate models they have built to raise money for charity. The money raised is used to buy LEGO sets for Toys for Tots. You can buy the models from Nannan's BrickLink store. There are some great models here, but they're selling quickly - fortunately, you can still see at least one photo of each on in the flickr pool linked above. | | This is Sunday's model of the day |
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Posted by
Dan
at
7:40 PM
 
In spite of my best attempts to add this advertisement unobtrusively to the site's layout, I was not able to accomplish that task (what's considered "good enough" for the layout parser on Blogger is not the same as what's considered "good enough" for a regular blog post). So here's the ad as a post (scheduled to stay on the front page until they end this offer). Go ahead! Take advantage of it! There are exciting new 2010 kits there!
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Posted by
Dan
at
5:22 PM
LEGO Shop At Home will be announcing their final round of black Friday deals shortly. In the interest of being out at midnight to fight for some deals from competing toy stores that shall not be named, I'm going to go ahead and post what I know for you now:
First, there's this special offer:
 
The deal here is a crude 10% off discount for large orders: $10 off orders $100 or more, $20 off of orders $200 or more, and $30 off of orders $300 or more. This deal is technically a Black Friday offer, but will be available through November 30th.
Another pretty great deal is free shipping for orders over $99 placed before December 6th (this can be combined with the above deals):
 
For those of you not finishing off your shopping this weekend, the final shipping days for ordering from Shop at Home in the United States (with guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery):
Ground – 12/14/2009 by 12am EST
2nd Day – 12/21/2009 by 2pm EST
Overnight – 12/22/2009 by 2pm EST
Finally, we have been informed that LEGO Shop at Home will be announcing 33 new additions to the Sales and Deals section of their website for Black Friday. These items will be available while supplies last. If this is anything like last year, the sets may appear before the stroke of midnight Eastern Standard Time, and they may be available at the low prices for quite some time after Black Friday. The exact sets and prices have not been announced this year, but that may be due to that info being leaked to the public early by bloggers last year.
 
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Posted by
Brickapolis
at
4:07 PM
 
Here's a treat (pun intended) for any Lego fan, young or old. Target has begun to carry the Power Miners impulse sets (there are two of them currently) in their (seasonal) Halloween section. At $3 a piece, it would be quite expensive to fill every kids candy bag in your neighborhood with one of these sets. However, the price is very reasonable once you consider what you are getting with these sets.
Target has been known to do this before, that is carry small impulse sets around holidays. For example, during Easter this year they carried the V-19 Torrent among other small Lego sets as basket stufers.
So, head out to you're local Target (if you have one nearby, and if you're in the US) and check out the seasonal section to see if they are carrying any of the Power Miners impulse sets.
Happy Halloween to all of you! (It is a bit early for that though.)
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Posted by
Brickapolis
at
11:17 PM
Back issues of Brickjournal have all been marked down 50%. This is truly a golden opportunity to fill any gaps in your collection. If I were you, I'd start placing your order now.
Hurry though, offer ends soon.
(Brickjournal is, of course, the AFOL community's only to-print magazine with Joe Meno functioning as the creator/editor in chief/promoter/writer/coordinator/etc.)
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Posted by
Dan
at
2:27 PM
I might put together a proper "model of the day" post today yet, but for now, I'd like to point out a few of the new-for-2009 items just released by LEGO and now available from the official LEGO Shop-at-Home site
I've previous blogged about the new Medieval Market Village - this beauty is out now:
 
The newly revived Pirates line has some great kits. They look a little pricey in terms of average price per part, but trust me - the new parts are fairly high-quality with lots of new elements, improved versions of printed parts,, and even extremely detailed new minifigs with printed hats. These cost a bit more because these parts are actually more expensive for LEGO to manufacture - the new parts are so well-made to justify the "high" price.
I've taken a liking to this particular set, which cleverly uses click hinges to hold up the parts of the shipwreck - so you can actually pose the wreckage to make it look like it's in varying states of decay without actually taking it apart:
 
Also of note is the new Construction theme for town. Some great parts are being revived for this line. Have a look at this set, which features the treads from the all-too-short lived 8275 Bulldozer kit AND the older style of Technic turntable:
 
Those sets also include windows and other useful elements for rounding out a construction scene.
There are also more licensed lines - small new sets for Star Wars and a few updated versions of Spongebob Squarepants scenes. The new Indiana Jones Shanghai Chase set has some neat cars, though:
 
Also new is a brightly-colored line similar to the Rock Raiders line from 1999. The rock monsters this time are pretty exciting, with marbled translucent sections on the part. I'm also a big fan of the new wheel element in a few sets like this one:
 
There's much more to see, of course - these are just a few highlights I liked. What are you looking forward to this year?
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
7:23 PM
It's become something of a tradition for the LEGO company to let toy megastore Toys 'R' Us sell a variety of items from the next year's line immediately after Thanksgiving (no one seems to know quite when this started, but my records prove it goes back as far as 1991). This year, new sets have leaked out at TRU even sooner than usual - exciting new kits that revive the Pirates theme are already available. I don't have time to review the whole line, so I'll let my friend Brickapolis at the LEGO Set News Worldwide flickr Group pick up the slack.
Of course, you're frugal like me, so you don't want to pay the 10%-20% markup that Toys 'R' Us often charges on LEGO sets. TRU is one of the most expensive retailers in the USA (and I'm told that their prices are worse in most other countries). Fortunately, there is a a new printable "15% off any one toy item" coupon good through November 20th. Sorry for the short notice, but I hope that some of you can enjoy the savings while checking out the new sets. | | No, you're not imagining things - posts are a bit lean this week. Sorry for the inconvenience. |
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
4:01 PM
Hoth Rebel Base
 (7666) is currently available on Shop at Home in the US. A quick look at BrickLink reveals that the minifigs in this set are so expensive and popular with collectors that the other 500+ parts are pretty much free once you factor in the people.
This was supposedly a limited-edition - no word on whether or not this is a re-release or if it's still a rare item. If it really is limited, expect it to sell out quickly.
Additionally, Toys-R-Us locations that participated in the Clone Wars event this past weekend may have a few of these in stock as well - but be careful, some of them are charging $10 more for it (bringing the price up to $60 from $50). |
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Posted by
Dan
at
2:08 PM
 
This link's good for the USA only, but I think they're running the promo in a few other places too. |
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
4:59 PM
I hope nobody minds if this blog looks a little astro-turfy this week, but between summer clearance sales in various places and the exciting new sets coming out, I really want to write about stuff you can buy more than about models right now.
For example, The Official LEGO Shop at Home website just posted an enourmous sale. Act now, all these things will sell out very soon. The 9V train parts are the show-stopper for me, but there are also some great TECHNIC, DUPLO, Mars Mission, Aquaraiders II, Castle, Belville, Bionicle, Star Wars, Factory Space, books, keychains, and gear sales.
I want to post this as soon as possible so everyone can take advantage of this, but I'll be editing this post with specific highlights shortly.
...and I know a few of the new sets will be featured as model-of-the-day items during this week too.
EDIT:
The links below are highlights that are still available as of this writing. The links only work in the US, but I believe the prices are similarly discounted in other countries.
9V parts to stock up on:
 
Speed Regulator for 9v Trains
 
9V Train Motor
 
Curved Rails for 9v Trains
Boeing 787 Dreamliner (MORE than half off):
 
Star Wars deals:
 
Imperial Star Destroyer�
 
Death Star II�
 
Train Connection Wire for 9v Trains
 
Straight Rails for 9v Trains
 
Cross Track for 9v Trains
RC track bargain:
 
Train Rail Crossing for RC Trains
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We've touched on this design before, back when instructions were made available for it. Originally, it only existed in that digital form, but now one has been made of real bricks. A few minor modifications had been made (forcing a few parts into a dark green color, making some structural improvements), but otherwise the design is still the same. What makes it so special is that this model is being auctioned off on eBay as part of Creations for Charity, which is currently raising money for relief efforts in Japan. 
round out the face nicely, while elements in gold colors (or is that custom chroming on those round 1x1 plates?) make the buttons and buckle stand out. A few large barrels make surprisingly convincing paws. The little guy even has properly cupped ears! 
