Details: Here's another clever alternate build, this one using set 31021: Furry Creatures. Normally, you'd expect such an alternate model to have more in common with the main model from the set - in particular, I think most of us would be tempted to use the large eyes (printed on 2x2 round tiles) as the eyes for the doll. This time, though, we see a few 1x1 plates for the eyes and the bright pink 2-wide cheese slope used for the mouth - a simpler but adorable solution for building a character's face. I'm also loving the uses of a wedge slope for her dress and the tail element for a bit of hair out of place.
Her pet is also a fun little build - a rare example of the bar-and-clip technique being used simply to reverse studs.
As an added bonus, the builder posted building instructions for the girl and her dog in this model's Flickr set.
Details:
We've fallen somewhat behind in covering headline-grabbing new kits recently, but LEGO is still churning them out. One of the ones we missed was the latest Ultimate Collector Series Star Wars kit - the B-Wing Starfighter. From the October 1st release date to December 31st (or while supplies last), LEGO is including an exclusive TC-14 minifigure with the purchase of the 10227 B-Wing Starfighter. Like the last few UCS kits, this one is nicely in minifig scale (as compared to the regular kits, which usually have strange proportions in order to fit minifigures). Both Jedi News and FBTB have reviewed the kit, which looks like an interesting build.
US $199.99 CA $249.99 DE 199.99€ UK 169.99£ DK 1699 DKK
Take on the Empire in the Ultimate Collector Series B-wing Starfighter!
Now you can experience the ultimate B-wing Starfighter from the Star Wars galaxy like never before. This fantastic model features everything you would expect from our premium collector range, including rotating, self-levelling cockpit and realistic wing configurations for landing and flight. And when you’re finished battling in the skies above Endor or helping to restore freedom in the galaxy, place this highly detailed B-wing Starfighter on its own dedicated display stand and fact plaque. Measures 26” (66 cm) wide and 15” (38 cm) high in flight configuration, and 17” (43 cm) high on display stand.
• A highly detailed Ultimate Collector Series B-wing Starfighter model
• Features rotating, self-levelling cockpit
• Features realistic wing configurations for landing and flight
• Includes display stand and fact plaque
• Model can be detached from display stand
• Measures 26” (66cm) wide and 15” (38cm) high in flight configuration, and 17” (43cm) high when mounted on display stand
Available for sale directly through LEGO® beginning October 2012 via shop.LEGO.com, LEGO® Stores or via phone.
Details: The new Winter Village Post Office was unveiled at BrickFair:
10222 Winter Village Post Office
Ages 12+. 820 pieces.
US $59.99 CA $79.99 DE 59.99 € UK 49.99 £
Continuing the winter scene series, the Winter Village Post Office is the perfect snow-covered setting. In the cozy post office, the worker is hard at work sorting all the mail into containers and sacks, while upstairs, there’s just time for the postman to take a break before setting off in the traditional post car with all the letters and gifts. From the pavilion outside, musicians fill the air with music, while children take in the wintry atmosphere by the park bench before throwing snowballs at each other – the musicians had better get ready to duck!
• Includes 7 minifigures: female post office worker, male postman, female, 2 kids and 2 musicians and a dog!
• Post office features dark-green split roof with snow, fireplace, light brick, table, coffee mug, and lamppost and mailboxes outside!
• Also features evergreen tree and assorted minifigure accessories
Available for sale directly through LEGO® beginning
October 2011 via shop.LEGO.com, LEGO® Stores or via phone:
Details: Here's an interesting inside-look at the design process for new LEGO sets and pieces. Over the years, Erling T. Dideriksen designed many classic elements for the LEGO company. There are many parts, kits, and portions of kits that have been patented over the years for LEGO, but not all of them came to fruition, and of those not all have lasted for years. The patent for the 2x2 turntable was filed in 1977 (the same year that two-part element was released) and remains with us to this day (although LEGO started packaging it as two separate elements instead of one pre-assembled part years ago), but the motorcycle (filed for in 1982, released in a different form in 1983) hasn't been seen in a kit since the early 1990's.
Details: LEGO set designer Mark Stafford was kind enough to create a public portfolio of some of his work. The links above are for his contributions to the 2010 line, although he's also created similar pages for his contributions to the 2009 and 2008 lines. Although LEGO occasionally selects new designers from the LEGO fan community, they generally focus primarily on people with professional design or engineering backgrounds. Mark Stafford is one set designer who did come from the community. He has helped push LEGO towards ideas that are more attractive to adult fans as well as the kids who end up with most of the new sets. Many of his designs feature unusual parts and techniques that can expand the possibilities of what we can build. In a few cases, you can actually see trends from the fan community sneak into some of the kits he has designed.
Details: Remember the alternate models for set 4100? How about the 4939 Cool Cars alternate Oldsmobile? That same builder (and former LEGO kit designer) has struck again lately, creating alternate models for set 5867 Super Speedster - 11 of them by my count. One thing I particularly like is that there is a variety of sizes here - 8-wide and 10-wide are well represented, and each race car chassis comes in around 6-wide, and the truck comes in at 14-wide counting the side-view mirrors. Even though these are all cars, they show a good deal of variety.
A brief note about the current state of LMOTD: posts will be intermittent for the rest of the month, and we'll be getting back up-to-speed come July
Details: You may have noticed the odd pacing of posts these past few days. We are at BrickMagic, and earlier today (erm, yesterday now) were present during the official unveiling of 10218 Pet Shop. I've been slowly uploading my photos of the event (including 10218 and a few great town and train layouts) to BrickMagic 2011 flickr set, and we'll probably put more of a round-up together sometime in the next few days. The high-res press photo pack has also been put on flickr. Here's the official info from LEGO:
10218 Pet Shop
Ages 16+. 2,032 pieces.
US $149.99 CA $199.99 DE 149.99 € UK 119.99 £
Available: Beginning of May
Continuing the LEGO® Modular Buildings series, this highly detailed, 3-story Pet Shop building and townhouse with full internal and external detailing is the perfect addition to your LEGO town. Greet customers with a menagerie of pets and let them treat them with a selection of toys and supplies. The pet shop building features a hinged staircase for easy access, upper apartment with kitchenette and upper loft overlooking the open plan interior below. To the side, the tastefully appointed townhouse features a detailed ground floor with accessories and spiral staircase leading to the upper floor. The attic space features storage boxes and French doors leading out to an elegant front balcony, while the rooftop garden, complete with fresh vegetables, brightens up the rear of the building.
• Includes 4 minifigures with accessories: pet shop owner, girl on bicycle, painter with paint roller and woman!
• Pet shop includes dog, cat, 2 parrots and fish tank with goldfish!
• Also includes 3 dog bones, ball, frog toy, birdhouse, bucket and brush!
• Kitchenette features stone fireplace, stove, sink, coffee maker and small table and chair!
• Upper loft features skylight, bed and lamp!
• Townhouse features ground floor with mailbox and mail, hat rack, couch, telephone, toilet and access to basement crawl space!
• Measures 11″ (25.5cm) wide and 10.5″ (26.5cm) high!
• Combine with other modular buildings, like 10197 Fire Brigade and 10211 Grand Emporium!
Details: Here's another set of winners for our alternate models category - which recognizes great original creations based on parts from only one kit. In this case, there are actually 8 new models shown (all of which can be built with the 314 parts in set 8048 Buggy)- a motorbike, a plane, two trike designs, a helicopter, a wasp, a rabbit, and a dinosaur. As you would expect with alternate models from a Technic kit, some of these have working features - a knob in the back make the rabbit's arms move, for example, and the motorbike features working suspension and an engine with pistons that pump as you roll it along.
Details: So a few weeks ago, we were hamming it up by featuring a model of a Maersk train while other LEGO blogs were leaking images of what appeared to be some sort of official set with a similar theme. That set became official back on February 19th and looks really neat - here are the details from LEGO (they also have more photos at the link above):
10219 Maersk Train
Ages 14+. 1,234 pieces.
US $119.99 CA $159.99 DE 119.99 € UK 91.99 £
The highly-realistic Maersk diesel-electric freight train has arrived! A replica of the real engine that operated on the railroads of America, this Maersk train features exceptional detailing and functions, such as opening driver’s cab, removable side panel revealing a detailed, 16-cylinder engine, and authentic Maersk branding. The model also includes 2 wagons and 3 containers with opening doors (1 with refrigeration detailing). The set also includes a shunter truck and detachable trailer for loading and offloading the containers. Add LEGO® Power Functions accessories to motorize!
• Includes 3 workman minifigures!
• Train measures 36″ (92cm) long!
• Building instructions include a historical description of the LEGO Group/A.P. Moller Maersk Group cooperation and a timeline of the products launched!
• Containers can be loaded side-by-side or stacked!
• Motorize your Maersk train by adding LEGO Power Functions 8878 Power Functions Rechargeable Battery Box, #8887 Transformer 10V DC, #8884 Power Functions IR Receiver, 8879 Power Functions IR Speed Remote Control and 88002 Power Functions Train Motor!
Details: Although LEGO has made some efforts recently to show us a little more of the design process through theirwebsite, promotional bits, and kit designer presence at LEGO fan events (BrickJournal has opened things up a bit as well), we still don't get too many windows into the design process. Naturally, when we do get a look at the process, it tends to be on lines that encourage us to try creating our own designs in turn - Creator, Technic, or one of the broader playthemes. One reason for that is that the company doesn't want competitors to find out about directions that LEGO could still take at some point in the future. By emphasizing the more creative lines, LEGO can show us some of the design process without leaking unreleased elements and concepts. Today's spotlight is a behind-the-scenes look at set 8694 Krika, a "bad guy" from the Bionicle series. The process is incredibly different, with a focus on intentionally designing new parts, a much greater emphasis on how the result can be posed and played with, and a wildly different price/piece ratio. Even the build is different - simple instructions and a contrasting color scheme were a given for the character. Some things remain the same, though, like how using multiples of the same element can keep production costs down (this also has the happy side effect of making it easier for hobbyists to buy parts in quantity when they were only sold in a few kits).
Another interesting sidenote (considering Bionicle's evolution from a Technic-based line to a more independent action-figure-based line) is that this same designer was also behind some great Technic sets from 2004-2006.
I feel a need to bleg: to the LEGO designers reading this (and I know we have a few) - can you give us a look behind more of what goes on? Obviously, there are reasons why LEGO wants to hold some ideas back, but there's something inspiring about seeing different parts and techniques applied before a set gets scaled back (or otherwise modified) through the process of checking on costs/focus groups/how easy it is to build/marketing concerns/etc.
Found at: various places, click the above links for photos
Details: In late 2008, many LEGO fans were disappointed that they wouldn't be able to order the Vestas-employee exclusive Vestas wind turbine set that LEGO made. More recently, a LEGO/Vestas display surfaced in an airport in Sweden, which might not be the only such display. The display makes an interesting use of mixed scales, featuring a miniland-scale dollhouse, a minifig-scale layout, and larger sculptures.
Details: Following up on the success of last year's Winter Toy Shop, LEGO is now releasing a Winter Village Bakery.
10216 – Winter Village Bakery
Ages 12+. 687 pieces.
US $ 54.99 UK £ 49.99 DE 54.99 € CA $74.99
Return to yesteryear with this festive holiday scene!
It’s a winter wonderland in this snow-covered little town! A special-delivery evergreen, all ready for decorating, arrives at the tree-seller’s stand by horse-drawn cart, while ice skaters frolic on the frozen pond with colorful lights and a curious owl perched overhead. Just look out for the freshly-shoveled snow piles – one skater has already tumbled in head-first! At the bakery nearby, the friendly baker prepares delicious holiday treats in his oven and rings up sales at the cash register. Push the glowing LEGO Power Functions brick to fill the building with warm interior light! Includes 7 ½ minifigures, snow owl, horse and lots of winter accessories.
Includes 7 ½ minifigures as well as a snow owl and horse!
Features LEGO Power Functions light-up brick which lights the interior of the bakery when you push it!
Includes lots of fun winter accessories like a dark blue minifigure hood with new fur print!
Prepare holiday treats and ring up sales at the cash register!
Skate on the frozen pond made of 8x8 transparent blue plates!
Interesting elements include a camera, tan baguettes, croissants, green apple, 8x8 transparent blue plates, medium blue tiles and even a new ‘caramel’ color for several brick and arch elements outside the bakery!
Features an evergreen tree for decorating, tree seller’s stand and even a horse-drawn cart!
Bakery measures 7" (18 cm) wide!
Completed model (depending on space allocated between the individual parts) measures 16" (40 cm) wide, 12" (30 cm) deep and 7" (18 cm) high!
Details: The big news in the LEGO world today is that a new Star Wars set is being unveiled for Comic Con. Follow the links above to see the press release for the new set, photos of the assembled kit, and even a brief video with the kit's designer. A brief review that sums up my feelings of this kit is also included there.
Elsewhere on that same LEGO Star Wars fansite (yes, there are separate fansites for seemingly every major theme - the authority for Star Wars fans is FBTB.net), you can see more news on what's going on so far at Comic Con (our round-up post for the event may be a bit late - there have been more than enough great events to go around lately). Highlights so far include news of exclusive Star Wars CubeDudes and a list of the LEGO-related panels at the event.
Details: Recently, LEGO released a new kit - 21006 White House. Coming in at $49.99 for 560 pieces, this is the best value yet in the LEGO Architecture series (and since this is the first one under the almighty 10-cents-per-piece line, it's also the first one I've actually bought). A decent model of the life-size White House in Washington DC, this captures the general look in microscale on a snazzy base featuring dark green shrubbery, black tiles on the edges, and even a printed tile with "The White House" on it. The build was relatively challenging, with most of the pieces being very small and needing to be lined up just right. There was only one technique that I think an experienced builder (which I'm assuming anyone building this kit - recommended for people age 12 and up - would be) would find surprising, but there were some great offset effects achieved using jumper plates (which this has 64 of) as well. If you're interested in some "spoilers", have a look at my photos of the set, which include build photos, unboxing, and the set inventory. I've also added comments to each photo on that photo's flickr page.
One way I like to judge LEGO kits of landmarks is to compare the official version to hobbyist-designed versions. I'm having trouble finding a fair comparison to this one, though, in terms of scale. Neither of the two I've previouslyfeatured are at a similar scale, and Arthur Gugick's other model of the White House is much larger. While the columns here look a bit spindly (they're the lightsaber blade element in white), it's hard to critique fairly without knowing if something better can be achieved at a similar scale.
Since we usually try to share a little bit of interesting background information here when covering landmarks, here's the official background on the kit:
There are few structures in the United States with the history and reverence of The White House, designed by James Hoban. On July 16, 1792, President George Washington chose this James Hoban design from six competing designs from renowned architects. This six-story Sandstone structure was meant to command respect for the nation from citizens and foreign visitors. Construction took place from 1792 - 1800 and it was rebuilt by Hoban following the fire of 1814. The assembled White House model stands 9" (22 cm) wide on a base with printed name label and includes a booklet with facts about the building, its construction and its history.
Disclosure: I received a free awesome little Spaceman magnet when I bought this, and you can too buy spending $75 at LEGO Brand Retail this July, while supplies last.
Details: Last weekend at Brickworld, a new Star Wars set was announced. A sort of revival of the UCS (Ultimate Collector's Series) line of scale models of large vehicles, this is, well, a large, exceptionally detailed version of a Star Wars ship. Most surprising, however, is the unusual construction - it appears that a several new sizes of Technic beam are included in this set in large quantities for the wings. The full announcement is at the link above, and you can also check Shop at Home to see if it's in yet (currently expected to come out on September 1st 2010).
Details: The LEGO Prince of Persia Battle of Alamut (7573) kit includes lots of fun and exciting new parts, including some in the fairly rare color of pearl gold. Of course, when you only own a handful of pearl gold (which, let's face it, is most of us - it's not an easy color to stock up on), it's hard to build much of anything. Here, though, we have one example of something you can build in that rare pearl gold color - Pac-Man! It only takes a few pieces, too, so you can build your own without using up the whole kit.
Details: In 2008, Duncan Titmarsh decided to build a sculpture of the classic 1978 LEGO set Castle. To LEGO fans, this iconic early design (the first set in the decades-long Castle theme) is simply known as "the yellow castle". This version, which debuted at the 6th Brickish AGM 2008, in Sheffield, 4-6 April 2008, is built to a scale of 6:1. Although enlarged versions of models from kits have been made by the company for promotional purposes before, this was apparently the first time that someone outside the company decided to recreate a vintage set on a larger scale. Not surprisingly, this has become an instant favorite in the AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) community, appeared at several other Brickish Association events, been featured on a variety of blogs and news outlets, and even made the cover of BrickJournal magazine (there's more coverage of both this castle and the set it was based on in that issue as well). The minifigs for this model were built by fellow Brickish Association member James Sutton (anyone have a link to his other work?).
Details: Set 4100 Maximum Wheels came out in 2003 as part of the Designer line. The Designer line was the predecessor to today's Creator line - you get a decent amount of parts for a below-average price, and instructions for a few models. This particular kit was, as I'm sure you've guessed, focused on wheels and vehicles. The models that the instructions recommend aren't bad, but there are a few more exciting models that can be made out of the same parts. I'm told that Nathanael Kuipers (AKA industrialdesigner on Brickshelf) has been brought on by the LEGO company to design sets.
In lieu of a proper model for the day, here's are the seasonal models that LEGO is trying to sell this Valentine's season. A straightforward heart is available (and probably easy to build with parts you have on hand). The rose, in particular, is a fairly nice design using fairly normal part (the company sells it pre-glued), but we've covered nicer before. Finally, there's the LEGO Shop-at-Home Valentine's Day Gift Shop - which looks like it just features ordinary sets. I'm guessing it's a bit late for the Valentine's items to keep selling, but if you're interested, it's not too late, and there's always gift cards. If the heart and rose are still in stock a bit after the holiday tomorrow, they will likely show up in Sales and Deals.
Too bad that rose isn't available unglued - it's a really nice design and I think most of us could use more 1x2x2 slopes in red.
Official information about the new Grand Emporium kit (which had briefly appeared on the Shop at Home website without any real announcement last week) has been scarce. International prices are still hard to pin down, and we still have no idea when the official release dates are. Strangely, though, in spite of the lack of information or fanfare (don't they know how excited we are about this kit?) the kit has surfaced for sale at LEGO Brand Retail locations in the UK. Brick Street over at Brick Town Talk was able to buy the kit at the Milton Keynes location for £139.99. He's been building the kit and reviewing it online as he builds it. There are tons of interesting details just in the box art he posted, and the pictures of the set's insides are even better! My search for 10211 (the Grand Emporium's set number) seems to be the best way to pull up all of the review posts at once.
Here's another clever alternate build, this one using set 31021: Furry Creatures. Normally, you'd expect such an alternate model to have more in common with the main model from the set - in particular, I think most of us would be tempted to use the large eyes (printed on 2x2 round tiles) as the eyes for the doll. This time, though, we see a few 1x1 plates for the eyes and the bright pink 2-wide cheese slope used for the mouth - a simpler but adorable solution for building a character's face. I'm also loving the uses of a wedge slope for her dress and the tail element for a bit of hair out of place.
Like the last few UCS kits, this one is nicely in minifig scale (as compared to the regular kits, which usually have strange proportions in order to fit minifigures). Both 
kit includes lots of fun and exciting new parts, including some in the fairly rare color of pearl gold. Of course, when you only own a handful of pearl gold (which, let's face it, is most of us - it's not an easy color to stock up on), it's hard to build much of anything. Here, though, we have one example of something you can build in that rare pearl gold color - 
! It only takes a few pieces, too, so you can build your own without using up the whole kit.
is available (and probably easy to build with parts you have on hand). The 
