On a personal note…

Some local fans ask if I’m still collecting.  The answer is yes, but I’ve slowed down. I suppose that having a room full of LEGO sets does give a different perspective than when the sets were scattered in different rooms.

Do I open the sets I have to play? Yeah I do. But the usual considerations apply – do I have time, do I have space, should I be hunting down my dream sofa instead, or how about just chillaxing and doing nothing (always tempting after a tough week at work)?

I’ve recently had a block of time for some ‘play’ tho, and thought to share the WIP with you regular readers.  Been meaning to modify the Friends sets into modular buildings for my modular street/shelves for a while. These 4 Friends sets (3061 City Park Cafe, 3187 Butterfly Beauty Shop, 3188 Heartlake Vet and 3315 Olivia’s House) were modified in less than a day, all in all.  Not yet done as you can see from the missing tiles. And I really need more white and beige bricks. Otherwise it has been quite fun to play with LEGO and I can confirm that I am still an AFOL at heart. (Plus I think City Park Cafe is such a great set…)

As for blogging, I honestly don’t think I will go back to actively posting about LEGO news, new sets and interesting MOCs daily.  I actually still Google pretty regularly for updates/LEGO-related news, but instead spending the next 30 min to 1 hour blogging about it, I then move on to other activities.  Partly it’s cos with my current job, I have less free time to blog, partly it’s cos I have a new blog about home decor and mostly it’s just pure fatigue from having to keep up with the latest LEGO news. Plus there are tonnes (ok, I exaggerate, a handful, just refer to their RSS on the right bar) of websites that gives the latest news about sets and sales anyway.  I realize that it’s starting to sound like a farewell note… but it’s not. I’ll still post stuff that I find interesting and that I think few other sites would post.

And… Umm… I struggle to come up with a punchy conclusion to my rambling post. But there is nothing really. I just felt like posting my WIP. =P

 

LEGOLAND Malaysia Opening on 15 Sep 2012, Hotel in 2014

Stumbled upon the roadshow at Vivocity (a shopping centre in Singapore) and found out that LEGOLAND Malaysia is having its’ grand opening on 15 September 2012. And, there’ll be a LEGOLAND Hotel too. You’ll have to wait longer to stay in the hotel tho, cos work has only just started and the hotel is slated for opening in 2014.

Roadshow Information

LEGOLAND Malaysia has just announced the official park single-day tickets which are priced at a special introductory offer of RM96 (S$40) for adults and RM70(S$29) for kids.  These single-day tickets are available from the LEGOLAND Malaysia Road Show (25th – 29th April 2012) which starts today at Vivocity in Singapore.

You can also pop by to have a look at what I presume to be the model of the LEGOLAND Hotel.

If you can’t make it for this roadshow, don’t worry there are a few others planned.  You can check the schedule here: http://www.legoland.com.my/Plan/Roadshows/ 

News of the theme park

According to news reports, LEGOLAND Malaysia General Manager Siegfried Boerst said the RM700 million theme park on a 76-acre land in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor, was 75 per cent complete. He said that last month, the contractors began work on theming the park, and next month they would begin installing the 50 million Lego bricks and models.

Boerst said over 35,000 annual passes had been sold and 60 per cent of the buyers were Malaysians, and about 30% from Singapore. The annual passes, priced at RM195 per adult and RM150 per child, are valid until end of 2013. ”The official park single-day tickets will go on sale online later this month and these tickets will be priced at a special introductory offer of RM96 for adults and RM70 for kids,” he said.

It is the second after Legoland Billund park, Denmark, to house the Observation Tower, where visitors are lifted up 41 metres for an excellent view of the Legoland theme park as the tower revolves to make a complete circle in 50 seconds. It’ll also have LEGOLAND Water Park suitable for kids from 2 to 12.

News of the hotel

Merlin Entertainments Groups has signed a management agreement with LL Themed Hotel Sdn Bhd to develop and build the LEGOLAND Hotel in Nusajaya, Johor, the first in Southeast Asia and the fourth in the world.  LL Themed is a 51-49 joint venture company between Destination Resorts and Hotels Sdn Bhd (DRH) with Iskandar Harta Holdings Sdn Bhd.

DRH Managing Director Nadziruddin Basri said: “We at DRH are focused in bringing new, innovative attractions to Malaysia’s leisure and tourism offerings and to make Malaysia a destination of choice for both local and international travellers.”

LEGOLAND Malaysia General Manager Siegfried Boerst said the hotel was the first to be designed from a child’s eye view and was scheduled to open for operations in the first half of 2014.
Read more: Legoland Hotel to be built in Nusajaya http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120424132955/Article/index_html#ixzz1t3lHTPoB

Read more: Legoland Malaysia to open on Sept 15 http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120425155004/Article/index_html#ixzz1t3kdU800

In the mood for… LEGO lamps

Came across the Lygolamp by Mango Studio and thought to have a look at the choices out there for LEGO fans.  You could DIY of course, but for lazy AFOLs (like me), it’s always good to have ready made options available.

• Mango Studio’s Lygo Lamp -  supposed to hit stores this August and will available in 5 colours, including white, black, transparent, red transparent and purple transparent.  Strips appears to be a choice too.  The lamp is delivered flat packed and assembly is required to turn the 144 LYGO blocks into the completed lamp that measures 50 centimeters in diameter, with a 1.6m cord and that will take a standard E27 bulb (max 60 watt). Read more from Lygolamp.

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• 25togo’s LED illuminated acrylic brick - looks just like a giant sized LEGO brick on your study desk or bedside table, and doubles up as a pen holder via the removable top piece.  Available via 25togo’s online shop, for NT1600 (approximately USD54 USD). 3 levels of brightness. Dimensions: L 15cm W 10cm D 6cm x 2 piece (top and bottom)

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• Luxit’s Top Four and Ten range of lights - Less brick-like but obviously LEGO inspired.  The LED lights designed by Alberto Basaglia and Natalia Roat Nodari are available in all sorts of wall/floor/ceiling/table sizes, colors and configuration.

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• John Harrington‘s LEGO chandelier - Ok, so this one isn’t really available for sale, but I couldn’t resist a chandelier… The one room hotel, The Harrington is located in a Victorian-era building in Brighton. The LEGO chandelier is supposed to suit the setting, yet give the “youth and vigor” of a contemporary clientele.

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As for me, I’m a lazy AFOL, so it’s just this Darth Vader LED desk lamp at home…

Barrel Organ Made of 20,000 Lego Bricks Plays Star Wars Theme

Ok, I’ll admit that I didn’t even know what a barrel organ is until I watched the video below.

Via wired.com

In one of the better promotional stunts in recent memory, a German company has built a barrel organ out of 20,000 Lego bricks that plays theStar Warstheme song.

The surface of the giant, spinning musical contraption is divided into several sections depicting scenes from the sci-fi saga, including the Death Star,Tatooine, the snowy surface ofHothand anEndor forest.

The hand-cranked organ, created by Serviceplan with the help of Lego professional Rene Hoffmeister, works by having Lego figures on the barrel’s surface hit levers as the device spins around. The levers press keys on an attached keyboard, playing John Williams’ classic composition.

Minimalist LEGO ads

Can you spot your favorite characters?  I like these ads that are a throwback to past campaigns.

 

LEGO movie plot revealed

MTV News interviews the directors/writers behind the upcoming LEGO movie and reveals the movie plot.  Phil Lord and Chris Miller notes that: ”We’re in the middle of heavy pre-production on the film,” Lord said. “We’re doing character design, we’re writing and boarding and coming up with animatics. There’ll be some casting stuff hopefully soon. The movie is really weird in a great way. It’s crazy.” According to MTV News, Lord said that some of the film will take place in a live action landscape, but the majority of the movie takes place in a “one-inch high universe” with “a cast of thousands and thousands and thousands.“

“It is the story of basically a young man who doesn’t have a creative bone in his body and has to always build things from the instructions. He’s an ‘instructions worker.’ In the Lego city, they build buildings, and it turns out in this universe it’s illegal to build apart from the instructions,” Lord said. “So what he finds out is that he’s actually descendant from these like super creative Jedi-type people who are called ‘Master Builders’ and he has been charged with saving the universe from being frozen together by an evil bad guy, so over the course of the movie he has to unlearn all of that lame-o, uncreative stuff and learn how to build without all of the instructions in order to save the universe.”

Hmm… does sound suspiciously like thousand of fantasy books and the archetypal hero story.  But if that would inspire kids to build without instructions, then it sounds good to me.  You can watch the actual interview clip HERE.

UCS 10225 R2-D2 Designer Video

Altho TLG tried to pull it back, they should realize by now that it’s not easy to ‘unrelease’ stuff on the internet.  This video is a bit different from the usual ones. Watch to understand…

“Come with us as we take an exclusive look at the never before seen 10225 R2-D2™, the latest exclusive LEGO® Star Wars™ set! We’ll talk with Mike and Kurt, the talented LEGO® designers who brought this awesome model to life in LEGO® bricks. The R2-D2 set will be available directly through LEGO® beginning in May 2012 via shop.LEGO.com and at LEGO® Stores. Visit shop.LEGO.com for more details on this amazing model!

Presenting the Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2™ — the best-loved droid in the Star Wars galaxy!

Presenting the iconic R2-D2 as you’ve never seen him before! Everyone’s favorite droid from the Star Wars galaxy is now part of the Ultimate Collector Series and features fantastic detailing, such as retractable third leg, front panels that open to reveal a universal computer interface arm and a circular saw, rotating head and 2 fold-out front spacecraft linkage control arms. With the included fact plaque and R2-D2 minifigure, this diminutive model is the perfect addition to your LEGO® Star Wars™ collection!

• Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2™!
• Features retractable third leg!
• Front panels open to reveal a universal computer interface arm and circular saw!
• Features realistic rotating head!
• R2-D2 features 2 fold-out front spacecraft linkage control arms!
• Includes fact plaque and R2-D2 minifigure!
• Measures over 12″ (31 cm) high and 7″ (18 cm) wide!”

Alrighty, now awaiting the haunted house that was leaked earlier.