Sure, Lego megafans are pumped about based on "" — like the new . But there are also tons of existing, even vintage, Lego figurines and "worlds" that whiz by in the film that are getting everyone excited."For the fans there will be a lot of scanning to find sets and characters," said Joe Meno, editor of BrickJournal Magazine and co-author of "The Cult of Lego." "The humor of the minifigures trying to do things limited by their articulation (or lack thereof) was perfect for the movie," he told Yahoo Movies.[Related: Instant Commentary: 'The Lego Movie' Directors on Creating a 'Rave Party for Children']Awesome fact: Every scene in "The Lego Movie" can be recreated using real Lego bricks. But with so many of 'em (more than 15 million, according to Lego) you could spend a lifetime on the endeavor. And for those keeping score at home, there are 183 unique minifigs in the animated feature."The movie's fast pace pretty much guarantees that it will take a few showings to see everything," Meno points out.
All of that means Lego aficionados have an excuse to come back for many more helpings of the ginormous plethora of Lego parts depicted onscreen.Here are 19 "Lego Movie" easter eggs to keep your eyes peeled for when you go back to see it again and again:The current roster of "Master Builders" that appear in the animated flick include...1. DC Superheroes Batman, Superman, Wonder Women, Green Lantern, Flash, and their roster of super vehicles like the Batwing, Tumbler, and Invisible Jet shouldn't be missed.2. The Mermaid (not to be confused with the all-new Queen of the Mermaids) is one of a series of collectible minifigures that appear in the film.3. "Ninjago's" Green Ninja, the most powerful of the ninjas from the Cartoon Network series and sets, appears.4. Benny "1980-something" Space Guy shows his helmeted mug, crack and all. "He's a very over-the-top representative of the Lego classic space line that was released in the '80s," said Meno of the vintage figurine. Benny had thin plastic chin straps that often broke.
And filmmakers played upon the decades-old toy defect in the film. "Benny's cracked helmet was a nice detail," he added. (A Lego rep tells Yahoo Movies that newer molds have strenghtened the plastic, virtually elimininating the cracking now.) 5. Keep an eye out for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Michaelangelo (and his real-world counterpart). The "TMNT" is a current toy franchise.[Related: 'The Lego Movie' Stars Reveal Just How Many Lego They Were Paid]6. The 2002 NBA All-Stars, including Shaq (yes, that's his voice) and a couple of more generic NBA ballers, appear.7. Octan is the fictional gasoline brand used in Lego sets and it's safe to say, the company has a pretty major role in the movie.8. There are plenty of Lego construction sets, including Lego Technic construction vehicles and Lego City construction equipment, cars, buildings, and garbage trucks."What I found really impressive was how the builders spotted parts in the movie," Meno said. "The parts were highlighted and recognized by Lego part number — just like a fan would."
9. This shark (pictured being thrown) has appeared in several Lego City sets.[Related: Mondo Pieces Together an Awesome New Poster for 'The Lego Movie']10. Even more collectible minifigures show up in the movie, including but not limited to, Clown, Yeti, Crash Test Dummy, Mime, and Lizard Man. (Of course, "The Lego Movie" is adding to this set with a whole new line of film-specific minifigs, including William Shakespeare and the aforementioned Abraham Lincoln.)11. Lego Monsters, including, Vampire, Ghost, Mummy, Witch (all among Master Builders) appear, too.12. Old man wizards Dumbledore and Gandalf rep the "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" sets, respectively. (You can spot them running around in the background below.)13. Middle Zealand is a mashup of Lego Kingdoms with "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" sets. (Gandalf is seen below with the newly created wise man, Vitruvius, from "The Lego Movie" video game, which allows you to play 90 different characters in the faithfully recreated storyline of the movie), but the red dragon in the film is not the long-awaited Smaug (fans are expecting him to be unveiled at next week's Toy Fair in New York).
14. "Star Wars" — the most popular of all the licensed Lego sets and considered the franchise that helped save Lego from bankruptcy in the '90s — makes a memorable cameo in "The Lego Movie." Look for the Millennium Falcon, in both the normal toy size and the miniature form. And yes, the voice of mini-Lando really is Billy Dee Williams.15. Speed Racer, who starred in a discontinued toy line based on the ill-fated film remake, was also among the initial wave of thwarted Master Builders.16. The Old West, which has experienced a lot of Lego iterations over the years with various themed sets, is just as prickly as ever in the film.17. Pirate's Cove includes figures and constructions from the discontinued Lego Pirates series that has had many incarnations over the years but makes its big-screen comeback via the new Metalbeard, one of the main heroes created from various parts.18. You can see Lego's Bionicle (biological-chronicle) toys among the most prominent of the "sets we pretend never existed" that Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) rattles off quickly when discussing the greater Lego universe.19.
Duplo (the bigger blocks made for young kids) appear, too, in a climactic scene."This isn't a Lego movie in name only," Meno said. "It is a Lego movie in spirit in its theme of expressing imagination."Lillian Min, Meriah Doty, and 8-year-old Lucas Errico contributed to this report. (Lucas is a huge Lego fan. He also happens to be the son of Yahoo Entertainment deputy editor Marcus Errico.)It's only been out for one weekend, but you've probably — like most of the world — seen "The LEGO Movie" multiple times. But did you catch all the Easter Eggs and plot points that zip by during the non-stop speedy dialogue and action? Here are some of our favorite blink-and-you-miss-it moments. And spoilers on, of course: "Eight And A Half Years Later" Right at the top of the movie, after Lord Business (Will Ferrell) and Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) battle for possession of the all-powerful Kragle, we cut to a title screen that says, "Eight And A Half Years Later." While this is a nice preview of the running "very specific time frame" joke throughout the movie, it's also way more important to the plot.
That's because Finn (Jadon Sand), the kid who ultimately turns out to be playing with the LEGOs in the movie is eight and a half years old. So though it's never explicitly stated, when Finn was born, The Man Upstairs locked his toys away, separated the worlds and made sure that his son would never play with them. Given the poignant ending, this is yet another beautiful, emotional detail that adds to the richness of the film. Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman all get their time to shine in the movie, but there is one other DC Comics superhero gets his big screen debut. That would be the Flash, seen during Metal Beard's flashback to the Master Builders' initial assault on Lord Business' stronghold. He doesn't get any lines, so hopefully we'll get to see more of the speedster in the sequel. When Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and Emmet (Chris Pratt) visit The Old West, you can hear a plinky, olde timey Western version of "Everything Is Awesome" playing in the bar.
One of the biggest cameos in the movie has to be when the Millennium Falcon shows up unexpectedly next to our heroes' pirate ship. Though they weren't able to get Harrison Ford back as Han Solo (he's voiced by Keith Ferguson, who's done various Ford characters on "Robot Chicken"), they did manage to snag Billy Dee Williams for Lando, and Anthony Daniels for C-3P0. It's surprising that the Warner Brothers movie managed to get Disney's talent, but the long relationship between LEGO and Lucasfilm makes the whole thing a little more understandable. And super freakin' awesome. Another big screen reunion, Channing Tatum plays Superman and Jonah Hill plays Green Lantern, reprising their partnership from directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller's "21 Jump Street." The team will once again reunite on "22 Jump Street," though out of their superhero costumes. When Vitruvius runs down all the worlds Lord Business has tried to lock down, he mentions there's a bunch we don't care about. One that quickly flashes on screen is Bioncile, a LEGO line that ran from 2001-2010 with a deep, complicated back-story of its own.
Though this may have been a joke at the expense of some of the brick-maker's failed toys, it's also an indication of places the story could go in the sequel. What's With All The Croissants? One of the more knowing jokes in the movie finds Emmet's "friends" talking about what makes them all different, which includes eating croissants, and loving turkey drumsticks. The reason behind this is that LEGO has a few generic foods that fit right into mini-figs hands. Croissants actually show up in over 30 different LEGO sets, while turkey drumsticks are in well over 50. Probably the only item more popular is carrots, which show up over 60 times. Here's one we actually missed, but according to Deadline there's a shout-out to Jeffrey Robinov. The legendary studio head was working at Warner Brothers and greenlit "The LEGO Movie," before abruptly leaving the company. Perhaps he's mentioned on one of the many, many billboards in Brickington at the beginning of the movie? We'll just have to go watch the movie a few more times to find out...