Lego Minifigure Series 8

These 16 new minifigures just came into stores a few days ago, and these look like the most widespread group of characters Lego has released yet! From left to right (back row first) they are:

Business man: hat and the suitcase, the newspaper is exactly like the DJ's, if you do feel the tile feel the suitcase to confirm.

Football player: HIKE! This football player has a nice big trophy for our convenience of feeling him.

Cheerleader: Give me a L E G O yay!the pom-poms should make this an easy find!

Alien Queen (from Alien Conquest): The only minifigure in the bunch with a dress, and cape, and a brilliant mind planning to destroy the universe! Like Pinky and the Brain, but on a universal scale!

Conquistador: The Conquistador carries the Musketeer's sword, make sure it's thinner than the Evil Robot's laser!

Evil Robot: I don't understand why they are always evil! The laser gun should help here, make sure to feel the tube to confirm it's not the Alien Queen!

Lederhosen Guy: A giant pretzel? well now we know what minifigure this is!

Fairy: The magic wand, wings and interesting hairdo should make this one rather easy to find. Make sure the wings aren't those of the Vampire Bat, feel wand or hair piece to confirm.

Cowgirl: The lasso and the hat make this find a quickie!

DJ: Find the smooth plates of the record and the other smooth plate, make sure you feel the record to confirm it's not the business man's newspaper!

Vampire Bat (from Monster fighters): His arms are sort of an odd shape, and in the package aren't attached to the torso, so if you find a body with no arms it's most likely the Vampire Bat!

Diver: He carries a spear gun and wears a bulky piece of headgear which should help in the search for him.

Pirate Captain: Every swashbuckling scoundrel has a sword and a fancy hat to boot, making this a rather easy find.

Downhill skier: The skis or the poles would make this a dead giveaway!

Santa Claus: His bag full of goodies, beard, and hat should help.

Actor: The second head should make finding him easier. Try to be sure there not pom-poms!

Review on Pirates of the Caribbean Isla De Muerta 4181

This is a pretty nice set that I purchased at the grand opening of the new Lego Store in Alderwood Mall. The chest full of coins is quite well done, with the cover of the chest pivoting off the 1x1x1, which looks fantastic. In some sets there are a couple of gold pieces for detailing, in this set they are used almost everywhere showing the pirates wealth. The crooked mast is a great detail, but having it pivot on the pin isn't the greatest.
The turn-table with captain Barbosa (human form) and captain Barbosa (skeleton form) is a nice touch to the set. The set comes with four minifigures, and 152 pieces. 

New Lego Store at Alderwood Mall Seattle, WA!

A Lego store in Alderwood Mall had a grand opening on Friday, June 22, and I was able to go and check it out. The main event for the grand opening was building Lego bricks to help Master builders construct a 8-foot tall Lego Yoda. The Master builders had a smaller version of a Lego Yoda that they were using as a template to help build the bigger version. Here are some pictures of the event.

Review of Lord of the Rings 9469 and 9472

I usually don't buy many big Lego sets, but the Attack on Weathertop just somehow grabbed me. Attack on Weathertop is a great set using many hinged pieces to bring it a more rounded look which looks rather nice. It's Ringwraiths could put even those Harry Potter dementors you own to shame. Both the torsos and the heads are all double sided, (except for the Ringwraiths heads which are all black). The mini statues look like the minifigures used in most Lego games, like Heroica, Pirates Plank, Ramese's Pyramid, Magma Monster, and many others. The spiral staircase is great and rather interestingly built, but it's really the Hobbits that make this set a set with their short legs, flowing capes, and with their intricately designed torsos the Hobbits are ready to face the Ringwraiths.    

Gandalf Arrives is like many other carriage type sets like the Kingdoms Prison Carriage Rescue, but with some noticeable changes. The wheels are a little bigger than the Prison Carriage, and the color, of course, which is the same as the closer resembling farm cart from Mill Village Raid. But the change most anticipated is the new Lego horse which is quite nice all by itself, but along with the 111 year old wizard, and the much younger hobbit it brings together to make a great set. 

The new Lord of the Rings horses found in both of these sets are, in my opinion much better than the older Kingdoms horses. They are more poseable, more decorated, and in every possible way better than the Kingdoms horses.

In the new Lord of the Rings sets, Lego has made some new swords, as well as reusing some of the swords from minfigure series 7 (Viking Lady and Dark Knight). 

I purchased these sets from Whistle Stop Toys in Port Townsend, WA. They have a good selection and fair prices on all Legos, along with other toys. 

New Monster Fighter Sets Are Out!

These seven new sets look very good. I'm particuly interested in the unique pieces to monsters like:

the werewolf's head, swamp creatures head piece, and the ghosts in the Ghost Train. I see that Lego is reusing different minifigures, like the evil scientist series 4 is used in the The Crazy Scientist & His Monster, and the old castle ghost is much used in the Ghost Train, the mummy from series 3 is used in The Mummy. Well that's enough about the minifigures, most of the buildings look great, but I'm not sure if the small set Swamp Creature 9461 counts as a building. 

Lego Lord of the Rings Is Almost Out!

Lego Lord of the Rings has brought a new item into our already overflowing Lego bins, a pose able horse! This new piece will help us do so much more in mocs like have the horse rear up in front of a person, and makes the set seem more life-like. This set is 83 pieces, is built much like the carriage from Kingdoms Set 7189 Mill Village Raid. I'm going to be getting some of the Lord of the Rings small sets, to get some pieces, but nothing big bucks (I might be tempted), but they sure look great!


On the left is the new Lord of the Rings Gandalf Arrives set with the new pose able horse, and on the right we have the regular horse from Kingdoms Prison Carriage.

Lego Marvel Bionicle Superheroes are Released!

In addition to the new Marvel Superheroes that Lego has created, they have created some bionicle versions of the characters, inculding the figures: Iron Man, The Hulk, and Captain America.  These bionicles are about 40 pieces each, they look pretty good, but Lego should still complete the set by adding: Hawk Eye, Black Widow,  Looki, and Thor. 

New Architecture Set 21013 Big Ben is Announced!

Lego seems to be sending out Architecture sets very frequently, the one before was the Sydney Opera House released just last March.  This is a great mirco-scale version of the famous landmark in United Kingdom. There hasn't been much of the Clock Tower in Lego sets, the only set that has had Big Ben in it was the set 8639 Big Bentley Bust Out, from the Lego set series Cars 2. This set will definitely be a great hit with many Architecture fans.

New Lego Marvel Is Released!

New Marvel Superheros in Lego! These five new sets came out today! sets 6865, 6866, 6867, 6868, and 6869 were released to stores today. These sets look pretty nice, i'm not sure how good the resemblance is to that of the comics, but the sets look like they have some great npu's (nice piece usages), and quite a bit of golden pieces, and lots of custom. Well that's about that for this post, until Lego comes out with some more Lego's. Here are the pictures of the other sets.
  
 

Mindstorms

There's a really great Lego Mindstorm Class I have been going to. So far I'm learning how to use the older version of Mindstorms, like programming and learning how the older Mindstorms are different from the Mindstorms I'm use to. While I've been at the Mindstorm Class I have learned about a different type of Mindstorm, it's a lot like Mindstorm but you can't program it, and it only has one motor. What really gets me about the Droid Developer is that with only one motor you have to learn how to make a number of things move, using gears, pulleys, and cams. It's been four sessions with JCS teacher Mr. Miller helping kids find pieces, sort out building instructions, and of course have fun. I have enjoyed my time there building and I look forward to the coming sessions. The robot I have built/building is made from the Dark Side Developer Kit. This is a video of what I've built/building:  

The YMCA in Port Townsend, Washington is hosting a Mindstorm Camp over Spring break that is April 2-6, 9:00-12:00 to find more about this camp contact the Y Blue Heron Office: 360-379-4268 Jefferson County YMCA P.O. Box 1637 Port Townsend, WA 98368

Lego Labyrinth Game WIP (Work in progress)

Almost all my Lego time has been devoted to a WIP (work in progress) that I have called the Lego Labyrinth Game. So far, I think it has turned out well. I've even got player cards showing the health, special attacks, and power. I started with some small squares I halfheartedly built by placing pieces on pieces, but now I think I have created a nice game. It's really quite a bit different from Lego.com's Lego Labyrinth. I'm beginning to place traps in the second floor like the snake pit.
 

New Set 10224 Town Hall is Realesed!

This is another one of Lego's town pieces along with the Pet Shop, Grand Emporuim, Fire Brigade, Green Grocer, Cafe Corner, and all those other town sets. This set comes with  2766  pieces, and eight minifigures. Interesting features on this set include: the lettering (a form of S.N.O.T.), also, the flower pots are a great addition to the heathy atmosphere, and same with the balcony, and the flower boxes, everything adds up to a great set. This is quite a well built set, but as Lego's are it's pricy, this set is $199.99, but all in all it looks very good!

Series 7 Minifigures Are Almost Here!

Series seven comes into stores around May 1st. These new minifigures look like some of the best yet, with some unique elements like the bagpipes, or the bunny hat, or even the Aztec Warrior's headgear. From what I can see the minifigures are (from left to right starting back):
Computer Geek: doesn't have a bulky accessory, so feel for either nothing or the small tablet.

Bride: dress is a dead giveaway (only one in the group).

Daredevil: I think the helmet would help you to find this minifigure.

Viking Lady: the shield, sword, and  helmet, should make this an easy find. Do NOT confuse with the Aztec
Warrior, (shield) or Dark Knight (sword) feel for the helmet to confirm.

Tarazan: feel the monkey!

Easter Bunny: feel the ears or the carrot to confirm.

Olympic Gold-medalist Swimmer: not much to feel on this, feel the swim cap, make sure that it's not the
Computer Geek.

Tennis Ace: feel the racket it's the racket in Series 3 Tennis Player, but a dark blue instead of white.

Rockstar: the electric guitar should be easy, same as Series 4 Punk Rocker, but white.

Aztec Warrior: the headpiece should be easy to find, or the spear, or shield, make sure the shield isn't the Viking Lady's!

Bagpiper: the bagpipes here seem the obviously the correct choice, but I think the hat because I'm not sure about the cloth bag or the bagpipe drone, so I would feel for the hat.

Cyborg: the armor on this Cyborg is quite a bulky Lego piece, so feeling this guy's equipment should make it an easy find.

Hippie: hair and flowers are the pieces here to find, if you feel the flowers, check for a dress, because you could be holding a Bride. Peace out dude!

Dark Knight: the headpiece is quite a diverse piece from the rest, save maybe for the Cyborg, the shield should help you here to find this guy, make sure it's not Viking Lady's shield, or the Aztec for that matter. Feel sword to confirm.

Red Riding Hood: our little red shouldn't give you much trouble, the basket and hood are really the ones to thank.

Poseidon/Neptune: well, the god of the sea not in either Greek or Roman but in Lego has a reused mermaid's tale from the Jack Sparrow movie Pirates of the Caribbean, with an unique print, also has a trident, and a great crown.

These all look great! I will most likely buy Poseidon, Red Riding Hood, Dark Knight, Aztec Warrior, Bride, Hippie, Viking Lady, and maybe the Easter Bunny. To use in Mocs. Well happy hunting!

New X-wing Starfighter Set 9493 is Released!

This set includes 4 minifigures, Luke Skywalker, Jek Porkins, R2-D2, and R5-D8. this set is made of 560 pieces. In the back of the ship, if you turn the dial, you can set the wings into attack position, another cool thing about this set is that the ship is 12" long. This set looks pretty good, a must have for all Star Wars collectors. 

Lego Minifigure Display Case

I've been working on a better way to display my minifigures than just the regular plate they give you in the packets. I built little cubbie holes in a building to fit minifigures, it works great! Also, a reason that it looks really cool is that you can customize the building to match the minifigures! I made a display case for my Ninjago minifigures and my Castle minifigures.