The LEGO Minecraft theme continues in 2017 with a number of sets and the first one I’ll be reviewing is The Waterfall Base (21134). The set contains 729 pieces and retails for $69.99. The contents of the box includes five numbered bags and two instruction booklets. The Venetian Houses by McMarco is the latest project to achieve 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas. It features a double modular size model that shows a couple of Mediterranean buildings between a bridge and a water canal. The 4,500 brick project also includes 17 minifigures. The project now joins The Blues Mobile, SEGA Classic Arcade Machines, Dungeon Master, and Red Arrows Hawk as the projects to reach the First 2017 Review Stage. If you saw my post for the April 2017 LEGO Store Calendar, you probably saw that the US is finally getting the LEGO Creator Mini Volkswagen Beetle (40252) as part of a promotion. It is a 141 piece set that is basically a smaller version of the Volkswagen Beetle (10252) which was released last year.
We will be getting it from April 1-15, while supplies last, with purchases of $50 or more at LEGO Stores and on Shop@Home. The April 2017 LEGO Store Calendar is now available and we can see some of the promotions and events for the month. April 1-15: FREE LEGO Creator Mini Volkswagen Beetle (40252) with purchases of $50 or more, while supplies last. April 1-30: FREE LEGO Friends Tic Tac Toe game with a $20 LEGO Friends purchase, while supplies last. April 1: LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales The Silent Mary (71042) available to the general public. April 4-5: VIP Monthly Mini Build event for a Chick. April 1-16: Easter Egg Hunt at LEGO Stores. Find all the Easter eggs and get an Easter sticker sheet, while supplies last. April 15: VIP LEGO Friends Mini Build event. Sign up is required. April 7 & 21: Family Game Night. April 22 & 29: LEGO Life meeting. February was a pretty news heavy month and here’s a recap of some of the more popular LEGO posts from the month.
LEGO Disney Beauty and the Beast BrickHeadz Officially Announced – LEGO announced the new LEGO Disney Beauty and the Beast BrickHeadz which now available to everyone on Shop@Home for $9.99 each. LEGO Named 2017 World’s Most Powerful Brand – LEGO was named the world’s most powerful brand in the Brand Finance yearly Global 500 rankings. LEGO Dimensions Wave 8 Expansions Packs Announced – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced the new LEGO Dimensions expansion packs which include The Goonies Level Pack (71267), the Hermione Fun Pack (71243), and LEGO City Fun Pack (71266). The LEGO Ninjago Movie First Trailer Released – Warner Bros. released the first official trailer for the upcoming The LEGO Ninjago Movie. LEGO House Website Now Live – LEGO launched a new website for their LEGO House which opens in September. The LEGO Batman Movie The Ultimate Batmobile (70919) Revealed – LEGO revealed one of the new The LEGO Batman Movie sets with The Ultimate Batmobile (70917).
LEGO New York Toy Fair Set Images – The 2017 New York Toy Fair kicked off and there were a lot of images for the upcoming summer 2017 LEGO sets. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Spider-Man: Homecoming Sets Revealed – During the NY Toy Fair, some of the sets for LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Spider-Man: Homecoming were shown off. LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 17 Revealed – Also shown off at the Toy Fair was the characters for the Series 17 LEGO Collectible Minifigures. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales The Silent Mary (71042) Officially Revealed – The last major thing that was revealed at the Toy Fair was the LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales The Silent Mary (71042). LEGO Ideas Second 2016 Set Winner Announced – The winning LEGO Ideas project for the Second 2016 Review Stage was announced to be the Women of NASA. A reader has let me know this morning that there are some LEGO minifigure plushies that has been released in stores or will be released soon.
Currently, there are four characters to choose from including Batman (853652) and Batgirl (853653) from The LEGO Batman Movie and Kai (853691) and Nya (853692) from LEGO Ninjago. Each minifigure plush will stand 12″ tall and are made with brushed tricot fabric with silkscreen-printed decoration. Update: They have shown up on Shop@Home. Today is the last day for the promotion to get The LEGO Batman Movie Disco Batman/Tears of Batman (30607) polybag at LEGO Stores and on Shop@Home. You can get it for free with purchases of $75 or more. The polybag is fairly easy to get especially with a lot of new sets already available. I’ve already done a review of the polybag if you haven’t checked it out yet.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 We have asked the LEGO experts: Which has been your favorite LEGO set of the year – and why? Here are their answers: Best of 2016, part 2! Jamie Berard – LEGO Design Manager Jamie is Design Manager for LEGO Creator Expert and LEGO Architecture and responsible for most of the modular buildings and so many more amazing sets.
„My favorite set of the year is a tough one because there are still ones that I’ve asked for that I really can’t wait to build. However, the Disney Castle 71040 is really a standout this year: – It’s massively impressive to look at – It has great details in and out – It has clever building techniques like the floor in the atrium, lamps and furniture throughout – It has wonderful little stories throughout.“ Kevin Hinkle – LEGO Market Integration Manager Kevin is LEGO Market Integration Manager for Marketing & Open Innovation and I met him for the first time at the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend this year. „The Volkswagen Beetle 10252 was by far my favorite LEGO set of 2016. It was an incredibly fun build with a wonderful allocation of the Dark Azur colored LEGO elements. The completed model was gorgeous, fun to drive along the desk and iconic.“ Kim Ellekjær Thomsen – Community Manager Kim is Community Manager for Operations & Community Engagament and responsible for recognized LEGO fan media like us.
LEGO Batman Classic TV Series – Batcave 76052 „My favorite set of 2016 is the Batman Classic TV Series – Batcave 76052. Simply because it is a great build with some awesome techniques used – as in the Disney Castle, but this one wins also on nostalgia. I love the classic TV series and I’ve even purchased the original soundtrack on LP vinyl and the entire TV series on DVD. In my opinion the real Batman is Adam West and only recent Batmen (?) like Christian Bale and Ben Affleck are providing acceptable interpretations of the Bat Man that come close to the exceptional character play by Adam West.“ , the best LEGO resource in the web. Claas Xerion 5000 TRAC VC 42054 „Normally, picking a favourite set of the year would be a case of looking at the D2C exclusives and picking one, but many of them this year have been disappointing or not appealing to me personally. I’m therefore going to look further afield and choose a set that really impressed me: LEGO Technic Claas Xerion 5000 TRAC VC 42054.
It packs in so much functionality into its relatively diminutive size and aesthetically the designers have done a terrific job of nailing the look of the real vehicle. The logging arm is a bit superfluous, but remove it and you’re left with a model that’s a great build, fun to operate and a joy to behold – everything a good Technic set should be.” Luigi Priori – Cremona Bricks Luigi is LEGO Ambassador: RLUG Cremona Bricks is located in Italy. LEGO Ninjago Misfortune’s Keep 70605 „My favorite set in 2016? This is a tough question. So many amazing sets came out this year, I am spoilt for choice. The Disney Castle and the Brick Bank, just to mention the first two sets I have in my mind. Those are designed by the two best LEGO designers, imho. But with all due respect, I must confess I fell immediately in love with a lot smaller set: the Misfortune’s Keep 70605. I am not a Ninjago guy… at all. But this set: Wow! there’s something that drew my attention from the very first moment I saw it.
The propellers I think. And all those dark orange and reddish brown pieces. It seems like coming out of a Studio Ghibli movie (I am a big fan of Miyazaki’s). You watch it and you ask yourself: how could it possibly fly? But that wreck look is just perfect. The minifigures are quite something, especially the bad guys: the most detailed printed parts I’ve seen so far (only the Rogue Ones minifigure are better). And the cherry on top? I haven’t bought it yet, but… there’s still time till the end of the year!“ Sophie Deprez – LCC Builders Sophie Deprez is LEGO Ambassador: RLUG and fan media LCC Builders is located in Belgium. „My favorite set of the year is the Disney Castle 71040. I think it is gorgeous and big, so lots of hours to build are fun. As disney fan it brings me back to my childhood, and I hope more disney minifigures will be coming in 2018, as we already know that won’t happeen in 2017.“ Stephan Sander – Skaerbaek Fan Weekend Stephan is member of the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend steering team and LEGO car maniac.
„There are a lot of good candidates in 2016. The Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS 42056 is a true masterpiece. Working steering wheel paddels to shift gears! LEGO Ideaa is always a good source for great sets. The latest one is surprisingly not a car but still one of my favourite one. It’s yellow and according to the introducing video it is very fast. The predecessor is also superfast, superyellow and supercool. The Caterham seven 620R might not have the fancy technic features of the Porsche, but on the other side it doesn’t have so many holes in the body. I was tempted to vote for set 71238, but somehow it’s not set enough. It’s the LEGO Dimension Doctor Who Fun Pack with a Cyberman minifigure! I love the cyberman and I’ve already bought several boxes just to get at least a tiny army of them. But still, not really a set though. My favourite set of 2016 is a car and it is yellow, but it is small. It’s simply called Rally Car 60113 and this is precisely what you get. Set 60113 with just 99 elements and a tough driver minifig.