Category: Community (Page 114 of 174)

Toys R Us Will Close 180 Stores Across the US

January 24, 2018 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

As reported back in September, Toys R Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and today they have announced that they will be shutting down 180 stores around the country. The closings will start at the beginning of February and will last until the middle of April. It has been noted that the 83 locations in Canada won’t be part of the closings. There are about 880 stores, including Babies R Us, and it’ll be about one-fifth of the total stores closing.

This will make it a little harder to find some Toys R Us LEGO exclusives for some people which is a bummer. I see that there are three locations around the San Diego area that are shutting down, one of which is expected but the other two are surprising.

You can read the full list of TRU/BRU stores closing below:

ALABAMA

Tuscaloosa, 2600 McFarland Blvd. East

Birmingham, 335 Summit Boulevard

ARIZONA

Yuma, 801 W. 32nd Street

Paradise Valley, 12801 North Tatum Blvd.

Scottsdale, 9139 Indian Bend Rd.

Tucson, 4619 N. Oracle Rd.

Scottsdale, 7000 E. Mayo Blvd.

Mesa, US 60 and Signal Butte Rd.

ARKANSAS

Little Rock, 2616 S. Shackleford Rd.

Fort Smith, 5609-E Rogers Ave.

CALIFORNIA

Indio, 42500 Jackson St.

Simi Valley, 1189 Simi Town Ctr Way

Santa Clarita, 26573 Carl Boyer Dr.

Covina, 960 Lakes Drive

Puente Hills, 1600 S. Azusa Ave.

Brea, 2575 E. Imperial Highway

Westminster, 530 Westminster Mall

Torrance, 20120 Hawthorne Blvd.

Riverside, 2550 Canyon Springs Pkwy S.

Yuba City, 700 “A” Onstott Rd.

Folsom, 2785 E. Bidwell … Continue

LEGO at the 2018 New York Toy Fair

January 19, 2018 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

The New York Toy Fair is happening next month and there’s some details about the LEGO booth that you should need to know before you get your hopes up about seeing the summer 2018 LEGO sets. Various media outlets have receieved their emails for the LEGO “Save the Date” preview party, including one of my contacts, and according to the email, LEGO will not be displaying any of the summer 2018 product lineup. This means there will be nothing for the 2018 second half sets (after June releases) which is a disappointment because it is something that fans really look forward to at this time of the year.

However, this doesn’t mean that there won’t be anything on display at the LEGO booth. We can probably look forward to the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Avengers: Infinity War sets and the LEGO Star Wars Solo sets because they’ll be out before June. Other than that, there isn’t really anything else of importance since we’ve pretty much seen everything already that is set to be released in March-May besides LEGO Speed Champions. I don’t see them listed on the February 2018 Store Calendar so they’re probably spring releases.

This little detail about the 2018 New York Toy Fair comes to light a few days after it was revealed that LEGO won’t be at the London Toy Fair and will be somewhat restricted at the Nuremberg Toy Fair. I’m not sure why LEGO decided to change up the things at this year’s toy fairs but it’s a little saddening … Continue

LEGO at the 2018 London Toy Fair

January 17, 2018 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

One of the more exciting times at the beginning of the year are the upcoming toy fairs and the first one coming up is the London Toy Fair. For many years now, LEGO exhibits the summer line up at the London Toy Fair and we get the first details for various sets and themes. Unfortunately for 2018, it doesn’t look like LEGO will be at the London Toy Fair as they are not listed as one of the exhibitors of the event. This is the first time since I’ve started this site that they won’t be attending.

I’m not sure of the reasoning behind it but the financial results from last year may have contributed to it as the company tries to focus on rebounding in 2018. Another reasoning could be to avoid reporting details of the summer sets but that’s trivial because there are already leaks and it doesn’t look to be stopping any time soon. I remember Huw from Brickset said that LEGO last year was only allowing retailers to the booth.

Whatever the reasoning, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any details of the LEGO summer 2018 sets at London so we’ll have to wait another week for the Nuremberg Toy Fair where we’ll actually get images of the sets. Again, we’ll have to rely on our German friends Promobricks and Zusammengebaut for the details. There’s also the New York Toy Fair in the middle of February and we hope to have someone on the floor for us at that event. I’m … Continue

LEGO Masters Looking for Builders for Series Two

January 17, 2018 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

The hit UK show, LEGO Masters, is back for a second series and they are now looking for builders to appear on the show. If you’re not familiar with what LEGO Masters is about, it’s basically a building competition for amateurs and contestants’ builds are judged in a number of categories. One of the judges is LEGO’s Vice President of Design, Matthew Ashton. The only bad news is that you have to be a resident of the UK or Ireland to apply. Now if the US can get a similar show…

Age 18+: https://tuesdayschild.wufoo.eu/forms/kfn2ldw0yjwl10/
Under 18: https://tuesdayschild.wufoo.eu/forms/z1mc8riu0tlfrig/

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/

www.thebrickfan.com/

… Continue

The LEGO Group Announces Partnership with Tencent

January 15, 2018 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

The LEGO Group has announced that the company is partnering up with one of China’s biggest tech companies, Tencent, to develop safe digital content and platforms for children in the country. LEGO has been expanding more into the Asian market the past few years and this partnership allows the LEGO and Tencent to create games, videos, and a social media network for children in China. The partnership will look to bring LEGO Life to China as well as publication and operation of the online operation system for LEGO BOOST. This move also allows LEGO to bring brand awareness to China, which unfortunately, is ripe with imitators. Check out the full press release below of LEGO’s partnership with Tencent.

THE LEGO GROUP PARTNERS WITH TENCENT TO EMPOWER CHINESE CHILDREN IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

The partnership will bring safe digital LEGO® experiences to Chinese children and seeks to increase the awareness of digital safety among children and parents in China

With more children spending time in the digital landscape, safe online play experiences have become a vital issue for parents and society in China. The LEGO Group and Tencent have a mutual understanding of the issue – and the importance of digital child safety. The two companies today announced a partnership to collaborate across a broad range of digital content and digital platforms to provide Chinese children with fun, creative and most importantly safe digital LEGO® experiences.

Julia Goldin, Chief Marketing Officer of the LEGO Group, says ”Our most important purpose is to inspire children and help them

… Continue

LEGO Ideas Moments in Space Building Contest

January 15, 2018 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Remember back in September of last year when LEGO asked the community on ideas for future Gift-with-Purchase items? It looks like LEGO Ideas is doing the same thing with a building contest called LEGO Moments in Space. In this contest, they want you to create some small to mid-sided space designs with the size smaller than 16×16 studs.

The grand prize winner will have your model adapted into an exclusive Gift-with-Purchase set for LEGO Brand Stores, LEGOLAND and LEGOLAND Discover Centers, and for Shop@Home, a $250 LEGO shopping spree, and a collection of last year’s GWP sets including 40252 VW Mini Beetle, 40251 Mini Piggy Bank, 40253 Christmas Build Up 2017, 40254 Nutcracker, 30611 May the 4th 2017, 30607 Super Heroes Excl. GWP 17, 40220 London Bus, 40221 Fountain, 40222 Christmas Build-up and 40223 Snowglobe.

There are also ten runner up winners who will get a $125 LEGO shopping spree as well some GWP items including 40251 Mini Piggy Bank, 40223 Snowglobe and 40253 Christmas Build Up 2017.

Head on over of the LEGO Ideas challenge page to submit your entry. The deadline to enter is February 9, 2018 at 6:00 a.m. EST.

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

… Continue

LEGO Digital Designer 4.3.11 Update Now Available

January 12, 2018 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

A few days ago, I reported that LDraw had just updated the parts list on the software and it looks like LEGO Digital Designer has also updated their software as well. The latest version (4.3.11) includes updates to the parts list from the past year which includes over 400 pieces. You can download LDD directy for both Windows and Mac OS.

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.

www.thebrickfan.com/

… Continue