Author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran (Page 1 of 27)

Today LEGO celebrates their 90th anniversary and is holding their first World Play Day. LEGO is holding various activities around the world for their 90 Years of Play.

Building the LEGO® Legacy – celebrating 90 years of creativity and playing well

The LEGO Group celebrates its 90th Anniversary with its first World Play Day as new research finds more than 80% of families want more play in their day.

Billund, Denmark: On Wednesday, 10th August, the LEGO Group will celebrate nine decades of fan creativity and helping children reach their full potential though LEGO® play. To mark the occasion, the brand will host its first ever World Play Day – a full day of play-packed global events, collaborations and surprises dedicated to helping families and communities play more.

From the moment Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a young Danish carpenter, picked up his tools and made his first wooden car in 1932 he was focused on making high-quality toys that teach children about the world and give them the skills to thrive in it. He named his company “LEGO” from “Leg Godt”, meaning “Play Well” in Danish. Inspiring fun, playful learning remains the toymaker’s purpose today.

In his small workshop in Billund, Demark, Ole hand-carved a collection of vehicles, ducks and yoyos and later started experimenting with plastic building bricks. His son, Godtfred, added a few small tubes to make the bricks click and stick together, officially launching the interlocking system we know today. The LEGO® brick that offers limitless creative building possibilities was born in 1958.

The LEGO Group has announced that have officially opened a 33,850 m² expansion at the Monterrey, Mexico factory. This is part of the $500 million investment for the location that will increase production capacity to meet growing demand in the Americas.

The expansion will includes new molding building which is set to open in 20204 and will have a 50% increase in production capacity. As a result, this will add another 1,000 jobs to the site as well. The investment is on top of the $1 billion that was put into the new factory in Virginia which was announced a few months ago.

The LEGO Group invests in the expansion of factory in Monterrey, Mexico

New warehouse, moulding hall and processing facility will increase site’s capacity to support long-term growth in Americas.

Monterrey, Mexico – August 5, 2022: The LEGO Group today officially opened a 33,850 m² expansion at its factory in Monterrey, part of a $US500 million investment in the site which will increase production capacity to meet growing, long-term demand in the Americas region and globally.

The expansion includes a fully automated high-bay warehouse and a building dedicated to assembling and decorating LEGO products which was completed 2022 The multi-year investment will also include a new moulding building which is set to open in late 2024 and will contribute to a 50% increase in production capacity.

An extra 1,000 jobs will be created to support the expanded site, taking the total number of employees to more than 6,000 by the end of next year.

We haven’t gotten a LEGO movie in theaters in three years but there’s recent news that one is currently in development. The LEGO Movie producer Dan Lin tells The Ankler podcast that the next movie is in the works and there should be some kind of announcement soon. At the end of the podcast, Lin says,

“We are very active in developing the next LEGO movie. We know we have to switch it up and take it a different kind of art form that’s still true to LEGO so we’ll have some announcements soon. I’m actually really excited about the progress that we’ve made. Lord and Miller really raised the bar for what a LEGO movie should look like and feel like and the tone. I think we’ve reinvented it in a really cool way but eager to announce it.”

If you don’t remember, LEGO signed a five year exclusive deal with Universal Pictures for development, production, and theatrical distribution for more LEGO movies after talks with Warner Bros. broke down. It’s been two years since the deal was signed and there has been absolutely no details about what the next LEGO movie will be about so we’ll see how long “soon” is.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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Set you calendars because LEGO Stores will be hosting the second round of the 90 Years of Play Red Brick building event next week. The next session will be on August 10-11 on a first come, first served basis. The build is for a 2×2 red brick but it also doubles up as a coin bank. If you have the parts, you can build your own using the instructions that was provided to us however free LEGO is free LEGO.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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Since the start of The Brick Fan, we’ve been using FeedBurner to bring you an email subscription service to get our latest posts. If you were subscribed, you may have noticed that you haven’t been getting any for the past week. That is because Google and FeedBurner has recently phased out some of their “non-core feed management features” which includes email subscriptions.

We are in the process of importing all current subscribers from FeedBurner to follow.it. If everything runs correctly, there you should start getting The Brick Fan emails in a few days. You don’t have to do anything. If you’re not a subscriber, you can follow us here or if you’re on desktop, you can sign up using the top widget on the sidebar. Subscribing to the newsletter is completely free and you can unsubscribe anytime you want. Please make sure you confirm your subscription that was sent to your email as well. Today is the first day that I’m switching over so there may be some kinks I have to work out.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.

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LEGO has recently put in another trademark registration for something called LEGO Dreamzzz. It was filed just last week on July 18 and it looks to be for an online fan club service that is a website featuring interactive games, activities, stories, etc. The listing doesn’t mention anything about toys like with the Brick to the Future trademark. I’m guessing whatever LEGO Dreamzzz will be in the Play Zone like all the other interactive games are. As of July 21, the status of the application is live and is waiting to be assigned to an examining attorney which will be in about six months.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.

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Yesterday and today, LEGO stores are doing a building event for the LEGO Red Brick. I’m not able to make it but our friend Charlie has sent over the building instructions if you want to build your own. There will be another building session August 10-11 on a first come, first served basis.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.

The Brick Fan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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LEGO Juris A/S has recently filed a trademark for the phrase “Brick to the Future” and could this mean that we could be seeing more Back to the Future products soon? Filed back on June 22, the trademark applies to games, toys, prints and publications, and other merchandise.

LEGO has already made a number of products based on the Back to the Future franchise with the first being the LEGO Cuusoo The DeLorian Time Machine (21103). Next came some sets for LEGO Dimensions including the Back to the Future Level Pack (71201) and Doc Brown Fun Pack (71230). There was also the LEGO BrickHeadz Back to the Future Marty McFly & Doc Brown (41611) which came out in 2018. Lastly, we have the LEGO Back to the Future Time Machine (10300) which has been out of stock since its release in April and had very small restocks.

Of course the phrase Brick to the Future doesn’t have to mean that it’s related to BTTF and could be for something totally different. We’ll keep an eye on this as it’ll take a while for the trademark application to get moving. It’ll be around six months before it is assigned to an examining attorney so we’ll circle back in December to see if there are any updates.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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LEGO has shut down its operations in Russia indefinitely and will be laying off 90 employees according to Reuters. This is due to “extensive disruption” in the country which has lead to LEGO ending their contract with Inventive Retail Group who operates 81 LEGO stores.

A LEGO spokesperson stated “LEGO Group has decided to indefinitely cease commercial operations in Russia given the continued extensive disruption in the operating environment.”

Back in March, LEGO stopped shipments to Russia as a repercussion of the sanctions imposed on the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

LEGO has released a statement about the situation as well from the LAN.

The LEGO Group paused shipments to Russia in March. Given the continued extensive disruption in the operating environment, we have decided to indefinitely cease commercial operations in Russia. This includes ending employment for most of our Moscow-based team and our partnership with Inventive Retail Group who owned and operated 81 stores on the brand’s behalf. We have provided 70 employees with financial packages to support them as they look for new opportunities.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.

The Brick Fan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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LEGO has released some new items in the LEGO Rewards Center that you may be interested in. First is a LEGO Logo Tin Sign that costs 1,200 points. It is 300mm x 150 mm in size. The other is a 1950 Logo LEGO Retro Spinning Keychain which costs 950 points. Both items have a 60 day redemption time limit once you redeem them.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.

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The LEGO 90 Years of Play rewards are now available on the VIP Rewards Center. First is the Vintage LEGO Logo Poster which costs 650 points.

Get this poster featuring LEGO logos from the last 90 years. Perfect for framing and displaying on your wall. Printed on 300mg poster paper and embossed with a LEGO stamp. Size is 40 cm x 30 cm.

The other reward is the LEGO Duck Sticker that costs 500 points. It is a lenticular sticker that changes from a wooden duck to a LEGO brick duck.

Get collectible 90 Years of Play lenticular motion sticker featuring the original LEGO wooden duck toy transforming into a LEGO brick duck. Size is 6.35 cm x 6.35 cm.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.

The Brick Fan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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LEGO Brand Stores will be holding a building event for a LEGO Red Brick to celebrate the 90th anniversary. On July 20-21 and August 10-11, there will be a limited quantity of sets available on a first come, first served basis. You’ll have to build it there and you can take it home after. It is limited to one per person but I know people will try to bring their whole family there to get multiples so get there early.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.

The Brick Fan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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LEGO is looking for some feedback on the LEGO Pick a Brick feature which hopefully will make positive changes to it later on. It only takes a few minutes but your responses will help shape the future of the Pick a Brick shopping experience. It takes probably less than five minutes to fill out and the most important questions are at the last two slides.

The team behind the Pick a Brick experience on LEGO.com is looking for your feedback. It is your chance to provide direct feedback about your current experience and also help build the Pick a Brick experience of the future. Your voice is extremely valuable so please take a moment to fill out this anonymous questionnaire today!

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.

The Brick Fan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

We partner with Rakuten Advertising, who may collect personal information when you interact with our site. The collection and use of this information is subject to the privacy policy located here: https://rakutenadvertising.com/legal-notices/services-privacy-policy/

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LEGO minifigures are a way for fans to identify themselves physically and digitally and they are known as SigFigs. Some of them are customized to the point where there are 3rd party logos printed on it and sometimes companies also use them to put their names and trademarks on it. Today, LEGO has cracked down this practice to protect their minifigure branding by releasing a statement on what you can and cannot do to a minifigure. This means you can’t print any “3rd party logos, names of organizations, and trademarks onto LEGO MInifigures” and you can’t use, order, distribute, or sell minifigures with them. SigFigs looks to be fine as long as there is no 3rd party printing on it, aka your social media/YouTube channels.

I know that LUGs and 3rd party custom minifigure creators will be affected by this ruling. Some LUGs do use their logo on minifigures to identify themselves and to pass them out to visitors. The custom printing companies will also have to shift their focus as well since companies do like to request their company logos on minifigs for company gatherings and events. I’m not sure how it will be supported legally, whether you get a cease and desist letters or if you’re a LUG, get removed from the Ambassador Network for violations.

The good thing is that custom printing on regular LEGO bricks is still allowed so there’s still ways for LUGs and companies to promote their organizations.

Customized LEGO Minifigures with printed 3rd party logos, names of organizations, and

A few years ago, LEGO announced that they will be accelerating their sustainability efforts which included their packaging materials. This included changing the plastic bags to paper bags as well as for the instructions. Unfortunately, this also goes for the packaging for the LEGO Collectible Minifigures line. Starting in 2023, the minifigures will be packaged in cardboard boxes. This means that feeling for them to find the one you want, which we have done for years, will no longer be relevant. It has also been stated that there will be no indicators on the packaging to show which minifigures will be inside the boxes.

The concept of using cardboard packaging for minifigure type sets has been used for the LEGO VIDIYO Bandmates line and it will soon be implemented for the LEGO Super Mario Character Packs – Series 5 (71410). There is no doubt that this will resort to theft because it’ll be easy to just open up the box in stores and check whatever one is inside. Resellers will also get a boost in profits because they can sell “confirmed” minifigures for people who are looking to complete the set.

Below are some of the concept packaging that LEGO used in testing with people and somehow they landed on cardboard boxes. Obviously, the boxes are recyclable and it helps the environment and all that jazz but come on. The negatives of this decision will overshadow the positives, e.g. lost sales, interactivity with others. I know I’ve helped many people look for a particular minifigure … Continue