Category: Community (Page 116 of 174)

Top 10 LEGO 2017 Sets

December 24, 2017 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

It’s that time of the year where I list my top 10 LEGO sets of 2017. According to Brickset, there were 835 LEGO products that were released this year and choosing only ten of them will provide somewhat difficult as there are so many choices. Although the list consists of mostly Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) sets, there are also a couple of surprise entries as well. Keep in mind that this is my personal list and may differ from your list.

10. LEGO Star Wars BB-8 (75187)

The pseudo-UCS set, the BB-8 is scaled very well to the UCS R2-D2 (10225) and it even has the plaque that is synonymous with UCS sets. Although it’s not considered UCS, it does look great and comes in at a great price.

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9. LEGO Ideas Old Fishing Store (21310)

Usually LEGO changes a lot of things when a LEGO Ideas project becomes an official set but they stayed true to the original design that Robert Bontenbal had. It looks realistic and the color scheme is very eye-pleasing. Check out my review of the set here.

Amazon | Shop@Home

8. LEGO Star Wars UCS Snowspeeder (75144)

The UCS Snowspeeder is a good set compared to last year’s Assault on Hoth as it went back to its roots of a detailed model instead of a playset. Read my review here.

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7. LEGO Creator Carousel (10257)

The fairground subtheme for the LEGO Creator line gets an expansion with the Carousel. The vibrant colors of it … Continue

Kevin Hinkle No Longer with The LEGO Group

December 22, 2017 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Today is a sad day in the LEGO community as Kevin Hinkle has announced that he is no longer part of The LEGO Group after twelve years with the company. I’ve known about this for a few weeks but wanted to wait until Kevin himself made a statement out of respect to him. He did note that him leaving the company was not his decision or his intent but I won’t speculate why.

If you’re not familiar with Kevin and who he is, he’s basically started off working at a LEGO Brand Store to becoming the Community Coordinator for North America who worked closely with LUGs and well as connecting with LEGO fans in general. The Brick Blogger did a great write-up about Kevin’s story a few years back. My first and only time that I met Kevin was back in 2014 during Philly Brick Fest and he was a great person to talk to even though it was for a brief period of time. He actually knew about The Brick Fan site even though I’ve only had it up for a few short years at that time.

Although he’s no longer part of The LEGO Group, he’ll still be part of the LEGO community as a fan just like us. He can now be found on social media @MrKevinHinkle as well as on Bricks in the Middle.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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LEGO Nominated for 2018 Toy of the Year Awards

December 7, 2017 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

The 2018 Toy of the Year nominees have been announced and not surprisingly, LEGO has been nominated in a few categories. You can now go to each category and vote for it for a chance to win all the nominated toys on the page. Some of the categories that LEGO is in are:

Collectible of the Year – The LEGO Batman Movie Collectible Minifigures (71017)

Construction Toy of the Year – LEGO Star Wars BB-8 (75187) / LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean The Silent Mary (71042)

Creative Toy of the Year – LEGO Make Your Own Movie

Specialty Toy of The Year – LEGO Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon (75192)

Tech Toy of the Year – LEGO BOOST Creative Toolbox (17101)

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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BrickLink Announces Site Will Catalog BrickArms Products

December 7, 2017 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Yesterday, BrickLink announced that they will now start start cataloging BrickArms items and sellers will be able to add them to their inventory. If you’re not familiar with BrickArms, they are LEGO compatible accessories that specialize in military weapons and equipment which are not present in official LEGO products.

Of course, this annoucement has caused some outrage for longtime sellers on BrickLink who, for the most part, are not happy with this change. BrickLink has been known to sell LEGO products as well as some custom items before but those items were still on official LEGO parts like custom minifigures and bricks. BrickArms, however, are technically not genuine LEGO parts but are complementary to them and are pretty high quality molds from what I’ve seen.

Some commenters have say that this could open the door to other companies like LEPIN or Mega Bloks and even BrickLink mentions that they are open to adding more brands to the site in the future, with restrictions. One thing that’s for sure is that BrickLink will be trying it out and seeing how it goes.

For fans of BrickArms, this move makes the brand more accessible since they are only sold through authorized resellers. Adding them BrickLink will be another source to get the products. BrickLink will be making some changes to the site to filter out BrickArms products if you don’t want to see them.

As I stated yesterday on Twitter, this announcement is questionable but we’ll just have to see if this decision pans out or … Continue

The LEGO Group Wins Copyright Infringement Case Against BELA

December 7, 2017 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

In The LEGO Group’s seemingly endless fight against counterfeiters, the company has announced they have won against a company in China that infringes upon their copyrights. In September, the China Shantou Intermediate People’s Court ruled that BELA had indeed copied LEGO in various ways including the packaging and logo of their products from various subthemes. This marks the first time that LEGO has won a copyright infringement case in China. There is also another company that LEGO also filed a case against. There are no details on the other one at this time. Check out the full press release below.

The LEGO Group has received a favorable decision from China Shantou Intermediate People’s Court in September holding that certain BELA products infringed upon the copyrights of the LEGO Group and that manufacturing and selling of those products constituted acts of unfair competition. It is the first time the LEGO Group has filed and won an anti-unfair competition case against imitators in China.

The case was filed against two Chinese companies, which had been manufacturing and selling products that were almost identical to LEGO®products. The decisions come into effect in November 2017.

The court decided that the two Chinese companies must stop copying the packaging and logos of LEGO products in the future, as this constitutes copyright infringement. The court also decided that the LEGO Group enjoys protection under Chinese anti-unfair competition laws for the distinctive and unique appearance of certain decorative aspects of its packaging across particular product lines (in this case, LEGO Friends), which serves

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The Brick Fan November 2017 Monthly Recap

December 2, 2017 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

November came and went by just like that and here is a recap of some of the more interesting LEGO news from last month.

The LEGO Trademark Now Recognized as a Well-Known Trademark in China – LEGO can now take action against companies in China who infringe on the trademark.

LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Pod (5005376) Revealed – From December 15 – January 14, 2018, you can get a free LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Pod (5005376) with a purchase of $60 or more. Interestingly, it does not show up on the January 2018 LEGO Store Calendar like other promotions that run in consecutive months.

LEGO LIVE Event Announced for New York City February 16-18 – The popular LEGO LIVE experience will be coming to the US for the first time in February.

Tips From LEGO Designers on How to Get Supporters on LEGO Ideas – LEGO has released a four-part series of videos giving fans suggestions on how to get 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas.

LEGO Storage Guide Online Book by Tom Alphin – Tom Alphin has release a free online guide giving tips and recommendations on how to store your LEGO bricks.

Limited Edition Black LEGO VIP Card Now Shipping – LEGO has announced that for those who were able to purchase the LEGO Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon (75192), the exclusive Black VIP cards are now being mailed out.

Fairy Bricks Theft – Information Wanted – Fairy Bricks has reported that their van was broken into and 2,000 sets that were going … Continue

Fairy Bricks Theft – Information Wanted

November 17, 2017 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

A piece of sad news as our friends over at Fairy Bricks in the UK has reported that their van was broken into last night and a number of LEGO sets that were in the van for donations were stolen. It appears that were and probably have been targeted for a while as about 2,000 of the LEGO Seasonal 24-in-1 (40222) sets were stolen from their gated office area. The side door was pried open probably with a hydraulic tool. The set in question is from last year’s LEGO promotion which is shown below.

Most likely the people who stole the sets will be trying to get rid of them probably at a cheap price so if you see anything that’s out of the ordinary, please contact the Yorkshire Police via 101 quoting 13170537540.

This is a very unfortunate time because the holidays are just around the corner and many children will not be getting something that will make them a bit happier. If you’re not familiar with Fairy Bricks, they are an UK charity that provides LEGO sets to kids at local hospitals and hospices. You can help support Fairy Bricks by donating directly to them but more importantly, please share this post to help them find the perpetrator(s) behind this horrible event.

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

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