The Lego Universe just got a little more busted. That Lego would be doing a licensed Ghostbusters set had barely leaked a week before the company unveiled it this morning. For the record though, this is the Old School Ghostbusters, not the reboot. Those minifigs are definitely boys. Check out the other promo pics below. Two great tastes that…well, ok, well don’t eat the funko pops. (Even though out of the box, they do look a bit like doggie chew toys.) This Instagram account is inspired. Check out a few more of my favorites below. It’s the Lego set Doctor Who fans have been waiting for since the dawn of time. Or at least since the reboot. Lego finally got the licensing rights and the design for the official Lego TARDIS. It is, naturally, bigger on the inside. In case you haven’t heard, today the 4th will be with you. But it’s not May the 4th, the organic holiday that sprung up in the Star Wars community in the last decade. Today is a different fourth.
One invented by Disney, to go along with their marketing department’s plans for total Star Wars world domination. Yesterday’s drop of the BB-8 toy and leaks of Captain Phasma and Kylo Ren masks were no accident. They were simply the run up to today’s opening salvo of marketing insanity, as Star Wars releases tons of toys and merch today for The Force Awakes, including an 18 hour YouTube stream of toy unboxing. As anyone who has paid attention to pop culture in the past few years is doubtlessly aware, Disney is ruthless in marketing their A List properties. Every major movie drop comes with a full six-week onslaught preparing the way. Star Wars, which doesn’t come out for another three and a half months, is starting today. Let me for a moment pull the curtain back and talk about the sausage we here at Anibundel make on a daily basis for your consumption. In today’s blogging economy, entertainment sites of all stripes are content churners. We have to be relentlessly posting all the time.
Ads want eyeballs, eyeballs want content and content wants new information. Savvy marketing departments like Disney, and others, use this to their advantage. The run up to releases can last four weeks for smaller properties, like Inside Out, while larger ones like Age of Ultron, go for a full six. During the onslaught period, information is released everyday, without fail, whether it be a new interview, a new trailer, new tie in products, a new clip, a behind the scenes CGI breakdown of said new clip, and on and on. The idea is to make sure there is at least one thing a day that entertainment sites will post which will keep their upcoming release date forefront and above the din of the internet. Disney’s current six-week campaign–in case you haven’t noticed–is for The Muppets TV show. We currently do a post a day of their stuff. (We could do more, but I am unwilling to become a single subject dominated site.) The first shots of the Star Wars lego sets that are being released in conjunction with the new movie are here.
And some of them look really awesome. The Millennium Falcon, of course. And yes, Old Han and Old Chewie are included, also with Rey, Finn and BB-8.Famously it was the one thing Spaceballs wasn’t allowed to do, in order to get George Lucas’ blessing to make his parody film of Star Wars. But with Star Wars no longer owned by Lucas, suddenly we might be able to see some Spaceballs toys after all. No, it’s not Spaceballs: The Flame Thrower, but it is Spaceballs, The Legos! These sets are the brainchild of Lego Ideas member NvdK, who has them up for voting on the Lego Ideas forum. Check out some pictures of Eagle 5 (The Winnebago) and Spaceball One, below. It’s been a long time in the works, but the official Doctor Who Lego set is finally coming. And it’s even got its own trailer.The Lego series of video games has been top-notch quality since its first installment, and has gone to strength to strength. When the announcement came earlier in the year that they were throwing their small plastic hat into the “Toys to Life” ring, competing with games like Disney INfinity and Skylanders, interest was high.
As reports came out as to which of their licenses would be available in the game, that interest sailed even higher. Confounding the old belief that “It can’t be that good”, LEGO Dimensions is a perfect mix of the Lego game franchise, that the company have been doing for years, with the interactivity and variety of the collectible figures and vehicles that the company have been doing for decades. Of all the unique things the game brings to the table is the play pad itself. Like Disney and Skylanders, figures are placed on the pad to bring them into the video game, but unlike the other games, its use doesn’t end there. The pad is an interactive part of the gameplay – the figures can be moved from spot to spot on the pad to give the characters special powers, and on certain levels, to solve puzzles to move forward in the game. The figures are themselves true Lego toys – minifigures for the playable characters, and their vehicles can be re-built in three unique forms, each with unique powers and abilities.
Also, Lego promises that the game pad will never need upgrading, even as more gameplay and functionality is added to the game. So while the initial investment is the highest of the three big Toys to Life – its starter set is $100 – you won’t need to re-purchase it when “version 2.0” is released. The game is at its core another solid addition to the Lego series, following the standard process of keeping the best gameplay mechanics while adding new ones, all over a solid and hilarious storyline. This one features a new bad guy, Lord Vortech (voiced by, would you believe it, Gary Oldman) who is seeking the “Prime Elements”, with which he will, dare I say it, rule the world. Or should say, the multiverse, as his plan is to merge all the various dimensions of reality. Those dimensions are, of course, the various licenses Lego has collected over the years, and quite a few more. Like The Lego Movie, the game is a mad mishmosh of worlds and characters – the main playable characters from the starter set are Batman, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, and WildStyle from The Lego Movie.
The main game brings you through all the worlds of the game, including The Simpsons, Doctor Who, Portal, and The Wizard of Oz, as well as Lego’s own franchises Legends of Chima, Ninjago, and the aforementioned film. Each level features the same staggering replay value of any Lego game – certain areas of the game are only available by using the skill of particular characters – the only difference being that while in the regular games, those characters are collected by playing through the game, here they are obtained by purchasing the character figures in either a fun pack, or a Level Pack, which also includes access to a completely separate game level than is included in the base game. With only a couple exceptions, the various powers are available from characters in various franchises, giving the player great flexibility as to their purchases. The voice cast for the game is staggering, with many original actors returning to voice their plastic counterparts. The cast of Doctor Who voice their characters, Christopher Lloyd is back as Doc Brown in the Back to the Future levels, and Chris Pratt plays two roles – Emmett from The Lego Movie and Owen Grady from Jurassic World.
Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson return for the Ghostbusters levels – veteran voice artist Frank Welker steps in for the role of Peter Venkman, as well as Fred Jones and Scooby Doo. The writing is as spectacular as any Lego game. With tongue firmly in cheek, the characters quip their way through outlandish adventures and difficult (but not impossible) boss battles. The gameplay will be immediately familiar to the veteran Legoist, and the new twists of the play pad keep you on your toes as you shift the characters about while you play. There are releases planned for the game well into next year, including more characters for Doctor Who, and a whole world dedicate to Midway video games. While they have made no official announcements, the developers hope to add new worlds into the game – the sheer number of licenses the company makes as Lego figures could provide new content for literally years. But just what’s out and coming soon makes this a game that will keep the game player busy, and the toy collector happy.