Today was the June 2014 Mini Monthly Build at my local LEGO Brand Store and this month’s build was the Jet Ski (40099). Before the event started, due to the increasing popularity at my store, there was a new strategy implemented to reduce the overcrowding. Instead of kids lining up and waiting their turn to build the set inside the store, they were given a time slot and can do whatever until their specified time has arrived. This new strategy seemed to go pretty smoothly as there was not a whole line of people waiting outside for their turn to build which meant less crowding. Also while at the event, I met a couple of younger fans who requested to take a picture with me (that’s a first). It was unexpected but it was also a pretty cool experience as well. On to the Jet Ski itself. It’s a simple 33 piece set with no real special pieces or techniques to build it. It was a straightforward build and it comes together quite well at the end. The JetSki can also fit a minifigure which is an interesting trend for this year’s mini builds.
The Helicopter (40097) from April could also fit a minifigure as well. Overall, the Jet Ski is a nice addition to the mini monthly build event. Next month’s build is a beach with a generic white surfboard! The surfboard alone will be one of the cooler parts included in the set. The Brick Fan Scoring SummaryDesign Playability Value Overall March 12-17: Bring in your little one for 10 minutes of LEGO® DUPLO building inspiration! March 1-15: FREE Police Helicopter with purchases of $35 or more! March 20: Bring in one of your own Minifigures and trade it with other fans! March 6-16: VIPs earn double points on all purchases!The August 2014 LEGO Store Calendar is now available and we can now discuss some of the promotions and events that are offered in stores and on . For the freebies for August, the LEGO Creator MINI Cooper MK VII Polybag (40109) will be available with purchases of $99 or more and the offer lasts for the whole month or while supplies last.
From August 25th – September 14th, you can get a free LEGO Legends of Chima Worriz’ Fire Bike Polybag (30265) with purchases of $50 or more. This offer overlaps with the MINI Cooper (40109) polybag promotion so if the Cooper polybags are still available by then, you can possibly get both polybags with a single purchase. In other related Chima news, the Summer 2014 wave sets will be available starting in the beginning of the month. There are reports that the Ultrabuilds sets will not be available in North America so that is a disappointment. From August 4th – September 15th, visit your store to race the new Speedorz sets on a new racetrack. Get your practicing in before the Speedorz tournament later on in the month (below). On August 9th, new episodes of LEGO Legends of Chima will be on Cartoon Network at 7:30a/6:30c. On August 18th, 20th, and 22nd at 5pm, the LEGO Stores will be holding a LEGO Chima Speedorz Tournament and all participants will receive an official LEGO Chima Certificate and tournament winners will get a LEGO Legends of Chima Speedor.
There’s not mentioning of which Speedor you will be getting. The final piece of Chima news on the Calendar for Chima is the LEGO Club Meeting held on Saturday, August 23rd. The t-shirt you will be getting features Worriz powering up. For non-Chima news, there will be a number of new set releases including the Summer wave of LEGO Star Wars and the LEGO Architecture Trevi Fountain (21020). The LEGO Creator MINI Cooper MK VII (10242) will also be available for everyone in stores and on [email protected] Finally, the newly announced LEGO Fusion sets, minus the Resort Designer, will be available as well. On August 5th, the Monthly Mini Build event will be a Monkey (40101). As with these events, get there early to ensure that the kids will be able to build one. On August 18th – August 31st, there is another VIP early access to an exclusive set. If we follow the pattern of last year at the same time when LEGO released the LEGO Star Wars Ewok Village (10236), I’m going to venture a guess that this set will be the rumored UCS Slave I (75060).
I could be wrong but that’s my educated guess. On Saturday, August 30th, there will be a second LEGO Club Meeting and this event will be a LEGO Friends meeting. I know this is a lot to soak in but there are some pretty exciting things happening for August 2014. What will you be getting during the month?LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Retiring Fans of LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be sad to hear that LEGO has ended their licensing deal with Nickelodeon. Mattel/Mega Bloks recently announced in a press release that they have reacquired the license. Mega Bloks originally had the building block license to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a decade ago before LEGO took over in 2013. The good news is that you can still purchase LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets at Amazon and LEGO Shop. They’ll be out of production once the current stock sells out. For fans of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, let’s hope Mega Bloks has improved their quality from the beginning of the decade.
LEGO TMNT (2013) vs Mega Bloks TMNT (2003) Jor-El & Flashback Shredder Minifigure Promotions IF you missed out on getting either LEGO DC Super Heroes Jor-El (5001623) or LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Flashback Shredder (5002127), you now have another chance for both at LEGO Shop. Add any LEGO DC Super Heroes set to your cart and Jor-El will automatically be added. Add any LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set to your cart and Shredder will automatically be added. LEGO DC Super Heroes Jor-El (5001623) – Free with any LEGO DC purchase LEGO TMNT Flashback Shredder (5002127) – Free with any LEGO TMNT purchase Discounts on LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Sets Amazon has discounted several LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Every set below was released in 2014 so they’re fairly recent. The minifigures in each set are different from the sets in the 2013 wave. 22% off – Mutation Chamber Unleashed (79119) – $19 18% off – Turtle Lair Invasion (79117) – $82
18% off – Turtle Sub Undersea Chase (79121) – $49 15% off – T-Rawket Sky Strike (79120) – $30 LEGO Ninja Turtles Big Rig Snow Getaway (79116) For $59 Amazon has LEGO Ninja Turtles Big Rig Snow Getaway (79116) for $59. This is a discount of 16%. It’s a nice discount especially if you’ve recently seen the theatrical movie. The 743 piece set comes with April O’Neil, Raphael, Leonardo, Karai and 2 Foot Soldiers minifigures. Turtle Lair Invasion (79117) is also on sale for $89 which is a 11% discount. 16% off – Big Rig Snow Getaway (79116) – $59 LEGO Ninja Turtles Movie Sets Available Now All the new LEGO Ninja Turtles sets based on the movie are available now on Amazon and LEGO Shop. The Ninja Turtles minifigures are different from the sets based on the cartoon. If you want to collect every turtle, you only need to purchase Turtle Van Takedown (79115) for Raphael & Michelangelo and Turtle Lair Invasion (79117) for Donatello & Leonardo. Turtle Van Takedown (79115) – $40
Big Rig Snow Getaway (79116) – $70 Turtle Lair Invasion (79117) – $100 LEGO TMNT Flashback Shredder Minifigure Available Now Today marks the first day you can get a Flashback Shredder minifigure in the US. You can get it for free with a $75 purchase at the LEGO Shop or retail LEGO Stores. These are the only ways at retail to get Oroku Saki before he became The Shredder. This would be a good time to get the retailer exclusive LEGO TMNT Shredder’s Lair Rescue (79122) set. The other deal this month is getting an additional 50 VIP points with purchase of LEGO TMNT Turtle Sub Undersea Chase (79121). In non-TMNT news, LEGO Creator Fairground Mixer (10244) is available for everyone to purchase. Karai Bike Escape (79118) – $13 Mutation Chamber Unleashed (79119) – $25 T-Rawket Sky Strike (79120) – $35 Turtle Sub Undersea Chase (79121) – $60 Shredder’s Lair Rescue (79122) – $50 LEGO Ninja Turtles Turtle Van Takedown (79115) for $38
Amazon has put up the listing for LEGO Ninja Turtles Turtle Van Takedown (79115). It’s not out yet but it’s already being discounted 6% off for $38. This set will be shipped on July 1st and is based on the upcoming live action movie. Minifigures included are Raphael, Michelangelo, Vern and a Foot Soldier. 6% off – LEGO Ninja Turtles Turtle Van Takedown (79115) – $38 LEGO Shop July 2014 Calendar & Flashback Shredder Minifigure The LEGO Shop July 2014 calendar has arrived to help you plan next month’s budget. This calendar is focused on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The main promotion for this month is a Flashback Shredder minifigure with $75 purchase. New sets for Ninjago, Technic and Juniors will be officially released in July. Check out the LEGO Shop June 2014 Calendar for this month’s promotions. Free exclusive Flashback Shredder minifigure with purchase of $75 or more from July 1st – 20th 50 bonus VIP points with purchase of Turtle Sub Undersea Chase (79121)
On July 1st, the free Monthly Mini Model Build is a beach van. On July 18th, VIP members will have early access to a new set. This is probably the rumored Mini Cooper MK VII. On July 24th, LEGO will announce a new set at the San Diego Comic Con. Since it’s a comic book focused event, expect to see the rumored UCS Batman Tumbler or something else from the DC universe. LEGO TMNT Mikey’s Mini-Shellraiser (30271) Polybag Available at Toys R Us Toys R Us is back with more new polybags. This time it’s LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mikey’s Mini-Shellraiser (30271) for $4.99. They also have LEGO Friends Emma’s Flower Stand (30112) if you missed out on it at Walmart. Like the other polybag sets, these will probably sell out within a couple of days. LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mikey’s Mini-Shellraiser (30271) – $5 LEGO Friends Emma’s Flower Stand (30112) – $5 LEGO TMNT Flashback Shredder Promotional Minifigure A new retro Shredder minifigure from the LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme has been discovered.