LEGO has been building interlocking brick toys of all shapes, sizes and colors since 1949. In that time, the company’s output has evolved from the simplistic playsets to highly complex lines that cover original concepts as well as licensed products including “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Ant-Man,” DC Comics, Star Wars, “Scooby-Doo” and much more. Toy Fair 2015: Hasbro Preps for “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Combiner Wars,” “Jurassic World” & More With fans eagerly awaiting the appearance of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” on the big screen, it comes as no surprise that LEGO’s sets based on the film were met with equal excitement. Attack on Avengers Tower, Hydra Showdown, Iron Man Vs. Ultron, Quinjet City Chase and The Hulk Buster Smash offer some looks at what might happen in Joss Whedon’s upcoming film, albeit a bit blockier than what we’ll see in theaters. You can even check out Scarlet Witch’s hero costume thanks to the Hulk Buster shots! Two months after “Ultron” boots up in theaters, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will add another batch of characters to its stable with the July 17-debuting “Ant-Man.”
LEGO also plans on bringing the shrinking hero into the world of building sets and MiniFigures. Not only will the characters and a giant flying ant be available, but huge LEGO blocks to represent Ant-Man’s shrunken state are also included! Marvel’s number one hero, Spider-Man, will also continue to appear in LEGO form via the “Ultimate Spider-Man” line. Different versions of the Wall Crawler will appear in sets like Carnage’s SHIELD Sky Attack and Rhino and Sandman Super Villain Team-Up. But those aren’t the only comic based sets coming from LEGO in the coming months. The DC Super Heroes line will mine the comic company’s pantheon with Batboat Harbor Pursuit, Black Manta Deep Sea Strike, Darkseid Invasion, Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas, Green Lantern Vs. Sinestro and the epic Jokerland, which features a variety of traps and action features. Meanwhile, Star Wars and its aliens, droids, ships, vehicles and planets continue to lend themselves well to the world of LEGO.
Smaller sets like the ARC-170, Vulture Droid, AT-AT, Republic Gunship and Homing Super Droid will help build any collector’s fleet. Film-based projects Death Star Final Duel, AT-DP, Snowspeeder, Flash Speeder, Naboo Fighter and the Imperial Shuttle Tydirium should keep fans busy, as will ones based on the Disney XD series “Star Wars Rebels” such as AT-DT, Ezra’s Speeder Bike, Imperial Assault Carrier, TIE Advanced Prototype and Wookie Gunship The galaxy far, far away even lead to a pair of Construction Battle Figures based on Jedi Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, as well as a MiniFigure-packed Advent Calendar for Christmastime. The company also teased sets for this year’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” but nothing was shown and no details were given. A more Earth-bound and dinosaur-packed film, “Jurassic World” will also get the LEGO treatment. The June 12 debut will be accompanied by T. Rex Tracker, Raptor Rampage, Pteranodon Capture, Dilophosaurus Ambush and the telling Indominus Rex Breakout sets.
LEGO announced another new license that will scare up some interest: Scooby-Doo! Sets like The Mystery Machine, The Haunted Lighthouse, Mummy Museum Mystery, Mystery Plane Adventure and the spook-filled Mystery Mansion will give buyers plenty of supernatural chicanery to debunk. As a fun bonus, all of the monster and ghost MiniFigures come with removable masks and heads that turn 180 degrees to reveal the very human culprit underneath. Finally, if you’re looking to give a younger person some comic-influenced toys, LEGO’s Duplo line will have Batman and Spider-Man sets for the kid crowd. The Batman Adventure set not only comes with the Caped Crusader, but also his pals Superman and Wonder Woman. At the same time, Spider-Man can swing into their lives with sets that revolve around the Spider-Copter, a Spider-Cycle and even a Green Goblin with a glider that shoots out pumpkin discs. For more LEGO unveilings as the year rolls on, check out TOYING AROUND here on CBR every Saturday.
So why is this the last LEGO gallery of Toy Fair 2015? Just ask Vanessa Williams! Outdated references aside, I digress. LEGO continues to provide the broadest range of Star Wars toys out there, with new toys consistently coming covering every major era, from The Clone Wars to the Original Trilogy, from Star Wars Rebels to well, at least the promise of The Force Awakens. While some of the product on display is already on the shelves, 2015 promises to be a great year for LEGO Star Wars fans. You've already seen the official shots of the new 1685 piece TIE Fighter, but we have some new looks at it from our in-person visit. While there wasn't anything from the new film yet, and only a couple of Rebels sets, the new 724 piece "Death Star Final Duel" set featuring Luke, Vader (with removable helmet revealing his decrepit Anakin form), and the Force Lightning-wielding Emperor was the real stand-out. Well, that and a womp rat (though it's not really to scale...) Check out what LEGO has in store for Star Wars for 2015, and of course, there will be new sets revealed later in the year.
We have a bunch of posts on the LEGO booth at Toy Fair. To kick things off here’s a quick video run-down on what was on display. Check back for more detailed analysis of the kits. /2015/02/14/toy-fair-2015-lego-star-wars/ on this server. Your technical support key is: 36b3-d2a1-1756-6707In the first half of this year, LEGO will be releasing 32 individual sets of Star Wars bricks. That’s one massive amount of toys, and one certain to drain your wallet before you can say “but I – stay in that cockpit!” Lucky you, a Naboo Starfighter (75092) from Star Wars Episode I is part of this release schedule. You’ll also see a Flash Speeder from that same film as well as the Imperial Shuttle Tydirium (75094) from Return of the Jedi – and that’s only a tiny sample of what’s to come! One of the most fantastic sets to come in this batch is the Final Duel – Luke Skywalker VS Darth Vader in the Throne Room with Emperor Palpatine. The Death Star Final Duel (75093) comes with 724 pieces and will cost you a cool $79.99 this June.
Here you’ll see a new Darth Vader minifigure – perhaps a bit taller than the original Darth Vader whom, if you’ve ever compared to the rest of the characters in the Star Wars LEGO universe, you know is entirely too short. His helmet comes in two pieces instead of one – one below the head piece, another above. Just like the real Darth Vader! Three “polypack” sets will be released in the near future: A-Wing Starfighter (30272), AT-DP (30274), and TIE Advanced Prototype (30275). Another set from Star Wars Rebels: Imperial Assault Carrier (75106). This set will carry 4 mini-TIE Fighters for battle. The Imperial Assault Carrier (75106) will come with 1216 pieces and will cost you $129.99 this June. One set that’ll be released nearer the end of this year is the Star Wars Advent Calendar 2015 (75097). This set will contain Santa C-3PO and a reindeer R2-D2 very likely inspired by the original 1979 greeting card illustrated by Ralph McQuarrie. Next you’ll find the Ultimate Collector Series TIE fighter (75095).