Blog And News Articles

After a somewhat long absence from writing articles, I decided that a good way to try and get back into the rhythm was to revisit one of my 2013 articles, The LEGO December Effect. For those of you who have not had the time to read the previous article, back in 2013 I noticed an interesting price trend for the most expensive sets: they seemed to take a big deep in value in the month of December. Back then, I decided to compile some data for a few of the most expensive sets at the time and do a comparison between their November and December value. The table below is the one I originally used. It is pretty apparent that a majority of the sets in the list dipp…

LEGO Elves was launched in March 2015. This set was released in a small second wave late that summer. I purchased this set at RRP a few days after release, but it has taken me until now to actually put it together. Below is my finished product: SET DETAILS: Set #: 41078 Name: Skyra's Mysterious Sky Castle Theme: LEGO Elves Parts: 808 Regular Retail Price: $79.99 BOX CONTENTS For this set, there are 7 numbered bags, one loose 6 X 12 dark sand beige plate, one sticker sheet, one pegasus-style horse and one thick 132 page instruction book. I liked that the book was a single binding as compared to the multiple i…

As a countdown to the Force Awakens, I will be writing reviews on Star Wars LEGO sets this week. I haven't really done an exclusive set before. I kind of wonder if the exclusives are the sets that people would be most excited about getting, or the ones that people wouldn't mind missing. Let's dive into the Hailfire Droid set and see if it's a can't miss, or a swing and a miss. REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 75085 Name: Hailfire Droid Theme: Star Wars Parts: 163 Price: $19.99 Before we get to the build, let’s talk value. At $19.99 the price per piece works out to a bit over $.12 each. This is to be on the high side of pricing for a licensed set. The…

The LEGOLAND Discovery Center Arizona is set to have their grand opening on April 22, 2016. They are located in the Arizona Mills Mall 5000 S. Arizona Mills Circle. Tempe AZ 85282. Tickets are $22 for a single day admission, and you have to book a time for entrance. An individual annual pass is available for $65, or $60 per person for a family of 4 or more. The incentives for the annual pass holders include a 10% discount in the LEGO retail store and a 20% discount in the cafe as well as skipping the line and going right in to the center. Pass holders do not have to pre-book. I was able to get in early as part of a soft opening that they hosted for their annual pass …

I wanted to take a moment to thank people for reading the reviews that are being posted. I'd love to know what your opinions are. I put this poll in place to help to figure out some of what people do and don't enjoy. I also wanted to take a moment to explain my 2 most recent articles. I didn't really want to own either of these sets, and I had to come up with an interesting way to make me want to do them. I just took my smaller set review ideas like the microfighters and battlepacks and made it more of a story. I don't know if people really like it. I picked up a couple mighty micros that I might try to make a hybrid, but that really depends on if people actually lik…

I picked up this set and put it down in the store so many times, I just can't recall. Nothing about it made me want to build it or own it. Clash of the Heroes was not speaking to me. One day I thought of something that amused me. I decided that if I was going to do it, instead of describing the building process, I would tell a story and put the pictures in reverse order to tell it. You'll still see the build in steps, but I'm not going to give my thoughts about each little chunk. I'll give you my reaction at the end of the review like I normally do. For now, I ask your indulgence as I play with my LEGO a little bit. To differentiate this from the more serious reviews…

I've been wanting to build this set since it was released in June. I never really realized how much I enjoyed stuff from Return of the Jedi until I really looked at my LEGO collecting habits. This particular ship is a beautiful and elegant design in the films, but how does it look when translated in the most recent LEGO iteration? Well the box was pretty, so let's delve into the set. REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 75094 Name: Imperial Shuttle Tydirium Theme: Star Wars Parts: 937 Price: $99.99 Before we get to the build, let’s talk value. At $99.99 the price per piece works out to a bit under $.11 each. This seems to be about average for pricing fo…

When Star Wars Rebels premiered, we were introduced to a brand new smuggler's freighter that had an odd shape. LEGO released the Ghost in 2014. It retired on January 1. In order to keep the demand fulfilled, they've created a microfighter featuring the pilot/owner Hera Syndulla in Micro form. In my review, I'm going to take a look at set 75127 The Ghost. REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 75127 Name: The Ghost Microfighter Theme: Star Wars Parts: 104 Price: $9.99 Before we get to the build, let’s talk value. At 9.99 the price per piece works out to almost $.10 each. This is on the lower middle side of pricing for a licensed set. There is 1 minifigure. (This is s…

I love Captain America. For over twenty years, if you asked me who my favorite super hero was, I'd tell you Cap. When Ed Brubaker introduced Winter Soldier it blew my mind, I loved Bucky as a character, which is something I never had done before. LEGO's Black Panther Pursuit has both of these characters. I was ecstatic when I heard about it. There's something that people probably know about Super Heroes sets. Invariably they will contain some kind of plane, motorcycle, truck, or helicopter. In this review, we'll look at which of these is contained within, and how successful it is. REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 76047 Name: Black …

The Brickpicker Brick Index was updated recently. This index gives an indication of the movement in value of each set based upon the previous 6 months of sales data from Ebay. You can review the sets by theme if you like, but @Jeff Mack has accumulated the top 20 performers for the last 6 months on the landing page. I'd like to take a look at the data and see what it tells us. First, let's take a look at the data that is presented. Each set is ranked by what percentage of value it has increased in the past 6 months. There's a handy graph of that period of time showing a whole dollar value on the Y Axis and months expressed numerically on the X. A cursory overvie…

I wanted to throw this out there. I am looking to improve my LEGO Review blog articles and provide readers with more of what they want. With that in mind, I have a few questions. Do you like having the large number of pictures showing the build in process? Am I providing enough information about the process or my feelings on the sets to make you feel well enough informed? Am I missing data that would help you to determine if the set is to your needs? So, basically I'd like to know what I am not doing so well, also let me know what parts are enjoyable so I can try to keep it up. I'm not really looking for an ego boost, I just want to provide the best pr…

I read Captain America comics for at least 20 years. Crossbones was an interesting character to me, a nutcase that idolized Red Skull. With the small number of villains that are not related to Spider-Man in some way, I doubted I'd see him anytime soon. LEGO threw me a curveball with Crossbones Hazard Heist and delivered Crossbones. I sn I knew that Crossbones was going to make an appearance in the new Captain America movie, but who knew what we would be getting before the official announcement? I felt a lack when LEGO did nothing for Captain America: the Winter Soldier. We didn't get movie Falcon or Winter Soldier 2 years ago. They've made up for that somewhat with o…

Issue 18 of Blocks Magazine is now with subscribers and on shelves nationwide in the UK. This month, we celebrate all things Batman v Superman, with an exclusive series of builds, reviews of the new sets and the lowdown on how to create the perfect Dark Knight Tumbler. Elsewhere, MOD Squad member Daniel Konstanski shows us how you can improve your Carbon Freezing Chamber, while we catch up with the Brick to the Past team and find out whether TT Games’ latest effort is worth your time. There’s much more besides, including reviews of the latest Frozen sets and a behind-the-scenes look at David Pickard’s Blacktron project. It’s all topped off with an exclusive inte…

"You don't know you're in the good old days until you've actually left them." I am not sure how many of you have read my postings over the last 2 months since I joined in January, so I will give you a very brief intro to my background. While I am a relatively new Brickpicker member, I am certainly not new to this game. I was in it huge from 2004-2007, Had many UCS xwings, UCS Tie Interceptors, UCS ISD, UCS Y-wings, UCS Snowspeeders, CTT, Cloud Cities etc. While I was not an emazer level operation, I was running about 3,000-4,000 in volume on an average month and reached Bronze Powerseller level, so not too bad. However, in 2007, d…

Here is the list of current, former, and upcoming polybags in the LEGO world. If you've found a polybag that's not on this list, or have any update to give us, please note it in the comments below. This information is put together from a number of different sources on the Internet, including real world reports. Availability in your area may vary. This information is US-based. Polybags Currently Available Set # Theme Set Name Locations Status Date 30312 City Demolition Driller TRU …

The Rebel Alliance Battle Pack is not based on anything in the Star Wars films. It's a set of expanded universe figures based upon the game Battlefront. I'm generally hesitant about battle packs, the builds are an after thought to the minifigures. The builds are forgettable and look generally like nothing you'd like to have as part of your display. I'm even more hesitant to build a Star Wars set without anything canon. LEGO has given us more of the same. In my review of 75133, we'll see if it's not just that. Hopefully it's something truly interesting. REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 75133 Name: Rebel Alliance battle Pack Theme: Star Wars Parts: 101 Price: $…

If you read my Rebel Alliance Battle pack review, then you know I was relentlessly negative and joyless from the outset. I am going to try to make the Galactic Empire Battle Pack review a little more entertaining. So, hopefully, even if this set is a disappointment, at least the review won't be. Besides, how disappointing can a LEGO set be? Welcome to LEGO STAR WARS 75134: THE EMPIRE STRIKES NEXT REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 75134 Name: Galactic Empire Battle Pack Theme: Star Wars Parts: 109 Price: $12.99 Before we get to the build, let’s talk value. At 12.99 the price per piece works out to almost $.12 each. This is on the high side of pricing f…

LEGO Ideas sets are projects that were submitted by fans and voted on by other fans. If a project got 10,000 supporters, the LEGO Group brought it under review. In the review process, they decided if the project fit their standards, if there was a reasonable chance that the supporters would actually purchase it, and if the build itself was feasible. They make certain changes to the set to make it fit more appropriately within their standards and release only a small portion of those that hit the 10,000 supporter goal. Disney/Pixar's Wall-E is a unique set, in that the designer of the set actually helped to create the movie that this set is based on. The flowthro…

I like Super Hero sets. I think there's a lot of people who do. Well, ok not so much the sets. A lot of people like the minifigures. DC and Marvel Super Heroes sets by LEGO tend to be heavy on lame playsets or jets or bank trucks. There's also a lot of motorcycles. If it's a Batman set, there's almost never anything new. In76053 we get not one, but 2 Motorcycles. I kind of shake my head and try to figure out if it's worth doing a review. Well, let's just see, shall we? REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 76053 Name: Batman: Gotham City Cycle Chase Theme: DC Super Heroes Parts: 224 Price: $19.99 Before we get to the build, let’s talk value. At 19.99 the …

Here is a quick guide for smooshing (feeling) the new 71011 CMF Series 15 packs. Smooshing is a term used by Lego fans for feeling the CMF packs' hidden contents to determine which minifigure is inside it. You should be able to identify each minifigure by feeling for the 1st accessory on the list below. The other accessories can be used for back-up identification purposes. Farmer: round hat, pitchfork, pig Astronaut: visor (like a big fingernail), oxygen tank Frightening Knight: ball with soft spikes, shield, bucket helmet Clumsy Guy: crutches Tribal Woman: …

Hope you didn't spend all your money on the new LEGO Ghostbusters Headquarters. In November, we mentioned the possibility of new LEGO Ghostbusters sets coming, based on a press release from Sony Pictures, the rights holder to Ghostbusters franchise and the 2016 reboot film's distributor. Paul Feig, director of the new film confirmed today on Twitter that there indeed will be LEGO sets based on the movie. He states "Fun stuff coming from LEGO too. Just FYI. Sorry, bank account." Note this is ahead of any official word from The LEGO Group. The movie should no doubt drive buyers to all things Ghostbusters, including 21108 Ghostbusters Ect…

When I first got into LEGO as an AFOL I was looking at all of the Star Wars sets that I had missed and how much they cost. It became necessary to figure out a way to get the sets cheaper or make more money. I knew that some people must be making money buying bulk lots and taking out the stuff they wanted and selling the rest. That seemed like 2 birds with one stone. I looked at the bulk lots on Ebay, realizing that most of what I would get from these guys were common pieces. So I started looking at bigger lots, somewhat intimidated by their cost. I figured, however, if an Ebayer was getting $10 for a pound maybe I could make some money just throwing stuff in a box, easy m…

Welcome back to another installment of For the Distinguished Lego Batman Collector! Next on tap is a review of the three sets of DC Comics Mighty Micros: 76061 Batman vs. Catwoman, 76062 Robin vs. Bane, and 76063 The Flash vs. Captain Cold. Full disclosure: I was pretty excited about grabbing these at my local Lego Store. These chibi-style mini-builds are DC's version of Star Wars Microfighters and, as any distinguished Lego Batman collector might be, was excited to see chibis appear in Batman form. As usual, first the basics: there are three individual sets here: 76061 Batman vs. Catwoman includes 79 pieces, 76062 Robin vs. Bane includes 77 pieces, and 76063 …

I am not a little girl. I know that may come as a surprise to some. I have never built a LEGO Friends, Elves or Princess set, but I have helped my daughter build a couple. With that in mind, I asked my little girl to help me with this set. I thought it might be valuable to get the insight of the target market for the Water Dragon Adventure set. She was excited to help me, and her younger sister tried to "help" as well. So, in this review, we're going to take a look at the stuff that interested a 6 year old girl about this set designed for 7 year old girls. Is LEGO doing a good job reaching their target audience? REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 41172 Name: Th…

In a previous review, I looked at an exclusive Star Wars LEGO set from Target, the Hailfire Droid 75085. This time I thought I would look at the one remaining exclusive set from Walmart, Anakin's Custom Jedi Starfighter. This is the ship that Anakin flew in Star Wars: Clone Wars. For those of you who don't know or don't remember, in 2003 between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, there was a short lived animated series called Clone Wars. This series was loved by some, hated by others and largely forgotten until used as trivia. None of the events are considered canonical anymore since the CGI The Clone Wars series was launched. All of that to say that…