Hi-res pics of 2012 sets

Ok, admittedly I’ve been lazy. I actually saw them yesterday.  But since they are all over the web by now I’ve a feeling most people have seen them?  Some thoughts on the sets (and links to sources):

• Collectible Minifig series 7 looks good! Even tho I’m kinda over the novelty, I’ll still get at least a set for collection.
• Batcave looks… colourful. I prefer the darker looking 1st batcave. Plus I hate stickers.
• Ninjago sets are still too targetted to boys for me. I may get a few sets selectively, but no more than that.
• Star Wars is a mixed bag.  Looking forward to getting a Jabba for sure.
• Dino I will skip. Not sure how dinos will fit with my generally city themed sets and I didn’t miss the 1st incarnation anyway.
• City sets are kinda bleh. Great for saving some $ in 2012 unless H2 gives us some new themes (hospital?). If not I’ll skip the City sets and save my money for…
• Spongebob. I know… but the sets look good. Such a cute little pirate ship.
• And Friends! I know… I’m wimpy and a sucker for the accessories.
• I might skip Cars… tho they continue to look enticingly cute.  There are just too many sets and I’m not sure if I wanna start another series.
• Am not a Technic person but the 2012 sets seem to be getting some good vibes.

Do click on the links above for the pics. I’ll just share the MF7 cos that thrilled me the most from all the pics I saw. Think cos I saw the earlier leaked catalogue so most of the other hi-res pics were not a surprise. 😛

Toy Fair 2011 Updates by FBTB

Quick one:  Ryan & Ace from FBTB have done a marvellous job at the Toy Fair with the best quality pics for the LEGO exhibits that I’ve seen so far, including close-ups of minifigs, set play features, close-ups of sets/interiors. 

Do visit FBTB’s Flickr photostream to see the pics.

And Happy Valentines Day everyone. 🙂

Summer 2011 Spongebob Sets

Hmm… don’t think there are many Spongebob fans among AFOLs (judging by the length of the EB 2011 sets thread vs the Star Wars one)… but for those who were curious ever since hearing about 3816 Glove World and 3815 Heroic Heroes of the Deep… 🙂

3816: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_SvZKGtymdxw/TUw-G5gh67I/AAAAAAAAC98/917G3nk_H3k/foto20.png

3815: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_SvZKGtymdxw/TUw-IAAmYNI/AAAAAAAAC-I/cam5K71uHw4/foto22.png

Source: Shared by EB’s Lordofdragonss

Some News Round-Up

If you have been making use of the RSS feeds on the right, you would have read these but just in case, here are a few notable ones:

• Brickset’s Huw reports from the 2011 London Toy Fair – See my summary of the various Q&A and comments below.
• Brickset’s yellowcastle reports that the Collectible Minifig Series 3 codes are either being mixed up or disappearing altogether – actually I’ve been relying on the ‘molest’ method so no diff. My finger/thumb is feeling bruised tho!
• Brickvention 2011 reports in Brickset & The Brothers Brick 
• Brickset has re-org their ‘Gear’ section – “Gear includes magnets, key chains, books, clothing and so on: basically everything that isn’t a proper construction set”.  I was actually struggling to categorise LEGO books for the Singapore S0937 forum (umm… I’m a ‘librarian’) and am really glad Brickset has managed to tackle the categories to come up with a good list of books. Yay.  
• FBTB reports new LEGO Toy Story alarm clocks that feature Buzz n Woody.

The comments QnA in the London Toy Fair report is really long, so I did a summary of what caught my eye:

• The new City marina sets float;
• Jack Sparrow minifig is different in each POTC set;
• 2 new Spongebob sets – “some sort of fairground rise and the other a vehicle” – EDIT: It’s 3816-Glove World and 3815-Heroic Heroes as listed on Brickset;
• SW calendar features “mini models from the entire galaxy and 8 minifigs” – one minifig is a new one described as “one of the figs has not appeared in any of the films, books, cartoons and is unlikely ever to” and “all the figs have appeared before, but one of them is in new clothes, and it’s not a queen Amidala“;
• 7879 Hoth Echo Base may be a TRU exclusive “no Hoth sets on display, and there isn’t one in the retailers’ catalogue either. Maybe it’ll be a TRU exclusive or something“;
• The Darth Maul and Savage minifigs have new horn pieces on their heads – “a new soft plastic horn piece, a bit like a washer that goes over the stud, and ends up flush with it. It looked very effective“;
• HP sets – some speculated minifigs based on Huw’s descriptions:
  • Battle for Hogwarts: “consists of a couple of towers and an entranceway” – Prof Sprouts in tan, HP, Snape, student (in new uniform, so can’t be Neville who is a Gryffindor – he is able to use the Gryffindor sword in the battle remember?)
  • Forbidden Forest: Hagrid, Narcissa (“two-colour hair: mostly brown with lighter brown or blonde highlights round the front edges, which I think is a first for a minifig“), HP, Voldemort (no centaurs!);
  • Knightbus: Purple, and with HP, Ernie & Stan.
  • http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/eskallon1/Eurobricks-Stuff/Harry-Potter/picture_2.png
• UPDATE on 30 Jan: And no stickers on the new Cars sets. Yippee!

Source: Brickset, FBTB, The Brothers Brick and also the many commentors in Brickset.

Reference Books for Licensed Themes – Part 1

Not being a big movie/cartoon buff, I substitute my knowledge gap in licensed themes by referring to reference books.  Sure, you don’t need to read those books to play with bricks, but sometimes I just like to check how accurately the set/location has been reproduced in LEGO form.  😛

Here’s a list of books I know.  If there are other great reference books for licensed themes do drop me a note ya?   By the way this is Part 1 cos I’m expecting a Part 2 for Star Wars reference books (and it’s a really long list!).

Links to Amazon.com for convenience. 

Link to List of Lego books I like.

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SpongeBob SquarePants: The Essential Guide (Dk Essential Guides) by David Lewman (Hardcover – Nov 21, 2005)

Hardcover: 48 pages

ISBN-10: 0756616409

ISBN-13: 978-0756616403

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Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide by James Luceno (Hardcover – May 5, 2008)

Hardcover: 144 pages

ISBN-10: 0756635004

ISBN-13: 978-0756635008

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Harry Potter Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley (Hardcover – Oct 19, 2010)

Hardcover: 160 pages

ISBN-10: 0061997811

ISBN-13: 978-0061997815

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Toy Story 3 The Essential Guide (Dk Essential Guides) by DEK Publishing (Hardcover – May 1, 2010)

Hardcover: 48 pages

ISBN-10: 0756663164

ISBN-13: 978-0756663162

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Spider-Man: The Visual Guide to the Complete Movie Trilogy by Alastair Dougall (Hardcover – Apr 2, 2007)

Hardcover: 96 pages

ISBN-10: 0756627052

ISBN-13: 978-0756627058