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Does Your Community Have a LEGO Brick Builders Group?

I recently found an article online about an AFOL who set up a building club for his son and other kids to participate in. Mr. Keith Harmon used some of his own collection as well as donations from others to put the event on. I’ve seen building clubs before and they are often at local libraries or elementary schools. What struck me about this article was some of the pictures. If you look closely, there are a few pictures where adults are building/helping the kids out. That’s awesome to see. What a great opportunity to hang out with your kids and do something fun. I also like the concept of building to a theme. It looks like Mr. Harmon laid down some base plates and the kids were given the task to build up a city around it. My local library just gives kids time to build and then they display the creations around the library afterwards for the month.

Photo from TribLive.com

So I’m turning to you…

Does your town, school, church, community center have a LEGO Builder’s Club?

Is it just for kids? For kids and adults? Just for adults?

Do you have any tips for making it successful?

What keeps people coming back?

Please share your insights in the comments. I’d love to hear what works and what doesn’t work.

Thanks and happy building!

How Much Would You Pay for a Golden Bionicle Mask

A copy of the rare Bionicle Golden Kanohi Hau Mask was found at a Goodwill in Pennsylvania recently. You can see an article from a local news station on it here or just search for it on your favorite search engine. The Goodwill store posted it on an online auction and made $23,301 for the mask. Apparently there was a bid for $33,000, but the person failed to pay.

I’m not a big Bionicle fan nor do I know all of the background, but why would you pay so much for this? Is it the uniqueness? Do they hope to be able to re-sell it for a higher amount someday? That’s a lot of cash to dump on an item you wanted “just because.”

With that being said, I guess it doesn’t hurt to stop in at your local Goodwill shop to see if they have any random LEGO items in stock.

Happy buidling!

Bricklink is Back Up and Running! Thank you Bricklink Team!

After a brief hiatus, Bricklink is back up and running. If you missed it, a brief synopsis of the situation is that the Bricklink became aware of some fraudulent activity going on in October. Apparently people were listing sets at very cheap prices, accepting payment, and then not delivering. These payments were not through PayPal or Stripe, but instead through direct fund transfers (having lived in Europe, I’m familiar with this process). This activity culminated in a ransom letter being delivered to Bricklink threatening to start taking out the larger stores until the funds were paid.

Out of precaution, the Bricklink team put the site in maintenance mode to update their security protocols. The site went back online on 8 November 2023 with a requirement to update your password before moving forward. I updated my information and logged in with no issue. The Bricks for Bricks store is still there with the full inventory listed. It is back open so check it out! The forums have more details on what happened and the response if you want more information.

A big shout out to the Bricklink team for working through the issue. Thanks to them for fixing the situation, protecting the site, and keeping it all operational.

Happy building!

Rumored Space Collectible Minifigure Series

Okay so everything you read on the internet isn’t 100% true, but recently the rumor going around is that LEGO will release a space themed collectible minifigure series soon. After the Disney 100 series retires, we’ll have Marvel Studios series 2, then Series 25, and then a supposed space series in 2024. No one knows that that means yet. Will it be a CITY space themed series? Or Classic Space? Or a mixture of multiple space themes? Or a bunch of alien minifigures?

If I had to guess, based on the recent success of the Classic Space minifigures showing up in #10497-1: Galaxy Explorer, #40580-1: Blacktron Cruiser, and the brown Classic Space minifigure with space baby showing up in #71037: Series 24, I would think LEGO will cater to the fans with more of the same.

So what does that mean? Let’s take a trip down LEGO Space memory lane to discuss what we might see in this release…

Classic Space

We have seen a lot of Classic Space minifigures return in different colors and sizes. I suspect that we would see at least one new Classic Space minifigure and hopefully it will be in a color that we don’t have. What’s left anyways?

Side note… I forgot I even had this one. Other than the dust, it looks pretty good. The helmet doesn’t have a crack and the logo is still there. Nice!

Space Police

The first version of space police looks similar to Futuron, but has a red face shield on the helmet. The re-boot a few years later added some different colors and printing on the faces. We already saw a Space police minifigure in #71029: Series 21 Collectible Minifigures, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them appear again.

Blacktron

Blacktron I and II have reappeared with the Blacktron Cruiser GWP recently. Maybe we’ll get a new Blacktron II minifigure? I like the jet pack suit. Maybe another one will show up?

Futuron

Futuron is kind of an upgraded Classic Space series. I enjoyed some of the tools they came with and it would be fun to see a new one, but I’m not sure we’ll be getting another one considering the popularity of Classic Space and how similar these look.

M-Tron

Please bring M-Tron back in the CMF series!!!!! I was a huge fan as a kid and still am. The magnets in the sets were fun to play with and I wouldn’t mind adding to my M-Tron stash.

Ice Planet 2002

Ice Planet brought a new theme with new helmet visors, printed faces, and lots of translucent orange pieces. It would be awesome to see these guys re-appear. Maybe some girl space figures?

Spyrius, Unitron

I forgot I had these guys. I picked them up right before I entered my “Dark Age.” They had some printing on their faces and different looks, but the theme wasn’t really a standout. I doubt we’ll see either of these guys make a return.

The Fighting Irish Also Stack Bricks

What do you get when you give a Catholic Priest who graduated from the University of Notre Dame 300,000 LEGO bricks and three years?

Picture from nd.edu

In 2019, Fr. Bob Simon, currently from Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, was challenged to build the University of Notre Dame’s main domed building. If you’re like me and have never been to the campus, the main building looks like this…

Photo from nd.edu

The build is not all LEGO System bricks. It uses a large amount of Duplo on the inside as support and substructure which many MOC builders use to keep their designs together. Also, hard core LEGO purists should be warned that he did 3D print a piece and he did some gold leafing for the dome itself so the build is not 100% LEGO, but it’s close enough in my opinion.

Photo from nd.edu

Throughout the build, there are a number of minifigures to tell the campus story. A few have custom Notre Dame attire on and they are placed to bring some life to the campus.

If you want to read more or see more detailed pictures you can check out the main Notre Dame site here. Also, they put together a page with some more detailed pictures here. The build made it online a few other places as well, but I didn’t want to list each location.

The LEGO Fan Media captures a lot of what goes on in the fan world, but I haven’t seen this one spot lighted yet so check it out.

Happy building!

I Went 1 for 5 in Picking the Series 1 Bricklink Designer Program Finalists

In case you missed it, Bricklink released the results of Series 1 of the Designer Program on 8 May 2023. You can see the results here. I made a post back in March 2023 with my top 5 picks. Well the results are in and only one of the five I voted for were selected.

Before we get into that, the program will open for crowd funding in February 2024. Bricklink users will be able to pre-order up to two sets of each available design. A design will go into production if it receives at least 3,000 pre-orders. LEGO will produce a maximum of 20,000 sets. Production/Shipping won’t occur until summer/fall 2024 so get ready to wait if you pre-order.

Onto the finalists selected…

Photo from bricklink.com

#1 - Mountain Fortress by user SleeplessNight. This set contains 3,986 pieces as currently designed. It’s a Black Falcon subtheme castle and it looks great! With the popularity of the castle theme, I’m not shocked to see a castle set in the top five. I have no doubt this one will get produced and it’ll probably go quickly. As for cost, I would guess over $400. We’ll see.

Photo from Bricklink.com

#2 - Parisian Street by user NicolasCarlier contains 3,465 parts. I voted for this one back in March 2023 and I’m stoked to see it made the list. This one looks awesome! I’m sure it’ll get made with the popularity of modular buildings. The initial design looks awesome! I can’t wait!

Photo from Bricklink.com

#3 - Old Train Engine Shed by user Mind_the_Brick. This one contains 2,298 pieces and to be honest, I didn’t think it would get voted in as train themed sets usually don’t see a lot of love. This one made it and it has some great details on the outside and then check the Bricklink site for pictures of the inside. The designer put a lot of details inside to capture what would be in an engine shed. Now we just need an engine to go with it.

Photo from Bricklink.com

#4 - The Snack Shack by user Skeletuhr. This set contains 548 pieces and is a fun little food trailer. It looks like it could be set at a beach for beach goers to grab some food. It’s a smaller set, but it still has some fun details. I like it and I think the price should be lower as compared to the others making it a bit more obtainable. Maybe $70?

Photo from Bricklink.com

#5 - General Store - Wild West by user llucky. This one contains 1,848 pieces. We’ve seen a number of Wild West type sets on the LEGO Ideas platform as well as in previous Bricklink Designer Program offerings. This is another opportunity to have something in the theme built. I think there’s a good opportunity here with this fun design. I like the inclusion of the stage coach and the blue coloring of the siding on the store is a nice choice. I hope to see this one as well as the other four out there in production.

Beware When Ordering LEGO from Walmart.com

I used to purchase a lot from Amazon.com here in the US. They had some great deals and the free shipping with orders over $35 was reasonable since it’s very easy to spend more than that amount on LEGO sets. Then Amazon just gave up on quality shipping. As I posted here, my orders arrive with little to no packaging in larger boxes and the sets looked like they had been used in a soccer game as the ball. The last straw was when I would order a larger set and they wouldn’t even put it in a box. They would just stick the shipping label on the outside and call it good. I went to the UPS Store to return one and the worker asked why I didn’t re-package it. It was because that’s how it was packaged when I received it. Needless to say, I think I purchased one or two LEGO sets from Amazon.com over the past year.

More of my orders went to Walmart. The discounts were often the same and the shipping quality was much better. I received well packaged sets in boxes that arrived looking brand new. This went on for a while, but has recently gone down hill. At first, I started receiving sets in padded packages. The items would get smashed and I had a lot of returns. The final straw came when I received this…

I’m sorry, but nothing in the item description said I was going to receive a set where the front packaging was peeled off. How did this even happen? My suspicion is that when Walmart does their pickup in store or home deliver orders, they typically put big stickers on the items. People didn’t want LEGO sets with big stickers on them so they return them. Apparently LEGO just recycles those sets back into their inventory and you get this. And get these…

It’s been a great run, but unless Walmart can guarantee that I am going to receive a new set or if they can tell me that the set will arrive damage (and give me a substantial discount for the damaged set), I’m not interested anymore.

Target has been the holdout so far. They continue to package items well and I don’t receive beat up sets. We’ll see how long that lasts. The unfortunate part is that Target has not had the sales that Walmart and Amazon have had.

Let met know in the comments what your experience has been. Have you found a way around receiving beat up sets from any of the big retailers? Have you received worse?

LEGO In The News - The Wall Street Journal - The Economics of LEGO

This one was posted today and I figured I’d throw it out there as the rest of the fan media doesn’t seem to push these out. As a LEGO fan, I didn’t learn anything new from watching this that I didn’t already know, but it’s a good plug for people who aren’t already addicted to the brick.

It’s also fun to see some of the old commercials and ads. I wasn’t aware of the original Star Wars cartoon they mentioned. It’s just under six minutes long so check it out.

Happy building!

LEGO in the News - Wall Street Journal - Investing in LEGO is Booming?

I didn’t see this anywhere else in the LEGO Fan Media so I figured I’d publish this one. Apparently LEGO investing is where it’s at and you can make big money buying and selling it. If you watch this just under 6 minute video, you’ll see that you can make better returns than the stock market.

As someone with a Bricklink store, I can say sets and minifigures sell, but all of your sales are not what the video says. It takes work and time and not all sets have the huge returns that the videos spotlights. I can point out some of the sets that I have had for many years and they have not sold. My advice would be to be careful before jumping into “investing in LEGO.” Just because a bunch of folks on YouTube say you can make big money doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a huge cash cow. So be warned and enjoy this clip.

MECHS!!!! -- Bricks in the News - NPR

A lot of the Fan Media sites are quick to publish articles when LEGO shows up in popular media or a larger news media site. I caught one yesterday that I haven’t seen posted elsewhere. It was posted on 28 November 2022 on NPR. The article is written by Rakiesha Chase-Jackson. It’s titled “How Legos helped me rebuild my foundation.”

And before I go any further, I will acknowledge that there are some fans out there screaming about the misuse of “Legos” and how she should have said “Lego Sets” or Lego Bricks” or something like that. It’s all good friends. Not the end of the world. We get what she’s talking about.

You can find the NPR article here. It’s a good story about someone stumbling into the hobby and how they came to enjoy it. I think it also does a good job pointing out the benefits of LEGO producing sets in different themes to appeal to different audiences. Not everyone has to be a die hard Star Wars fan. Some people are really into mechs.

Enjoy the read. Happy building!