Bricks for Bricks Update for June 2016

In the last month of our campaign, we're at $107.43 to donate to Pencils of Promise.  Thanks for those of you who have supported the campaign and bought some good LEGO items in the process.

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We've added a few sets to Brick Classifieds.  

70816: Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! - The LEGO Movie - $105 - Free Shipping
     (3 available)

70809: Lord Business' Evil Lair - The LEGO Movie - $69 and $12 shipping
     (2 available)

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Lots of discounts available in the US via Amazon.  As of the evening of 31 May, there are over 200 sets priced at 20% off or more.  Check out the Brickset Amazon List for details.

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Finally, the summer 2016 LEGO Catalog arrived at my home today.  While there are some amazing looking sets, I was initially shocked about how much of the catalog was filled with Licensed sets.  The first few pages were Star Wars sets.  Then there were Minecraft, Super Heroes, Ghost Busters, Speed Champions, Angry Birds, and Disney Princess.  Yikes!  That's a lot.  The breakdown of what's available (in the US only):

-Star Wars has a number of Rebels sets and a few new Force Awakens sets.  I'm not a huge fan of the Rebels sets.  There's an X-Wing fighter and a set from Jakku.  Both have BB-8 and a few other good minifigs though.  
-I'm not a Minecraft fan and I don't follow or sell any of the sets.  You tell me what you think.
-A few Super Heroes sets are listed.  Nothing new that I wasn't already aware of.  
-A page on the MINDSTORMS EV3 and a page on City Skylines from the Architecture line (nothing new)
-The current LEGO Ideas sets.  The Big Bang Theory (#21302) was recently discounted at Amazon for 34% off so I get the feeling it's not selling really well.
-Ghostbusters
-Modular Buildings and some of the Creator Experts buildings, but not including the new Big Ben set (and YouTube video), some of the fairground sets, and some of the vehicles.  
-Speed Champions
-The amazing looking Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS.  The You Tube Designer video is here.  It looks pretty awesome... although it's $299 so... yikes!  A few other Technic sets are listed as well.
-LEGO Simpsons & Classic are next
-Some new LEGO Creator Sets are next.  The buildings aren't as impressive as some of the older Creator houses that existed, but the Vacation Getaways brings a new style to some of the CITY Campers of the past.  The details look pretty good too.  
-NEXO Knights are next, followed by Ninjago, and Angry Birds
-As a Train fan (no new trains... come on LEGO!!!), I look at the city sets to see what might go good with future train displays.  There are some new aircraft.  Nothing drastically new, but they might be worth waiting for discounts on Amazon in a few months.  The Fun in the park - City People Pack  is a great edition to any LEGO City.  It includes a LEGO baby minifigure, the first LEGO figure in a wheel chair, and a bunch of other great minifigs to add to a CITY scene.
-The rest of the catalog hits on Disney Princess, Friends, Elves, and then the Minecraft Village on the back.

A few notes:
-Yes, I'm biased and I only spent time mentioning the themes I enjoy.  
-LEGO VIP members get free shipping on orders over $35 in June.
-Purchases over $75 get an exclusive Fountain (#40221) set which goes well with the Fun in the Park set.

Happy Building!

Double VIP Points and Pencils of Promise Update

Everything I've seen is that LEGO will be having a double VIP point sale from 7 to 22 March 2016.  That means that instead of getting $5 in store credit for every 100 points (you get 1 point for every dollar you spend), you will get $10 for every 100 points you earn.  If you've been saving up to buy a big set like a modular building or one of the larger Star Wars items, now might be a good time.  Also, LEGO has released a large number of new sets as of 1 March.  There are a bunch of new Star Wars sets, some new Super Heroes sets, and more.  Definitely check out the LEGO Shop at Home site for more info.  

As for me, I'll be looking to pick up a few of the Star Wars sets, but I can't quite decide.  The Millennium Falcon?  Poe's X-Wing?  Or maybe some of the new Star Wars sets that have some of the new minifigures?  We'll see.  

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If you've looked at the Brick Classifieds items for sales or at this site you know that I am running a Pencils of Promise campaign to raise funds to build schools and support students and teachers in Ghana, Guatemala, and Laos.  The campaign started on 24 January 2016 and we are giving 15% of our profits to Pencils of Promise.  After a little over a month, we have raised $13.86.  The amount is slowly going up and I'm confident at the end of this campaign we'll donate a lot to help them out.  Thanks to all who have made purchases so far!

Bricks for Pencils of Promise

Bricks for Bricks is always looking for local groups to help out with, but we've decided to support some larger groups as well since our online sales will not always be from people in the local area.  With that being said, the first group we have decided to support is Pencils of Promise.  Have you ever heard of it?  Pencils of Promise was founded in October 2008 by Adam Braun.  While traveling in India, he asked a boy what he wanted most in the world.  The boy responded that he wanted a pencil.  Adam handed the boy a pencil and so it began.  Since then, Adam put together a team that collects funds to build schools in Guatemala, Ghana, Laos, and Nicaragua.  Besides building schools (329 finished since 2009), they provide support to teachers, water and health programs for the school, and scholarships for students.  If you want to see more about them, you can visit the Pencils of Promise site here.  

So what's the plan?  Bricks for Bricks is focused on giving back.  In the past year or so of operations, we've given a small amount of funds to various local groups by participating in sales at their fundraising events.  Now that we're selling online, it's time to reach out to help a wider audience.  Why not help people around the world?  So here is the announcement...

Starting today, 24 January 2016, bricks for bricks will be giving 15% of our profits to Pencils of Promise.

Pencils of Promise lists a number of goal amounts:
-$25 provides educational opportunities for 1 student
-$500 supports a teacher
-$10,000 provides a WASH (Water Sanitation, and Hygiene) for a school
-$25,000 builds a Pencils of Promise school

So what can we do?  Support a few students?  Support a classroom of students?  Support the class and their teacher?  Keep the class healthy?  Build a school?

What can you do?  Just check out our STORE and get the minifigures you were looking for.  We'll track our profits and give 15% to Pencils of Promise.  Simple as that.  No extra work required.

One other bonus...

Starting today until our supply is exhausted, we'll give a free brick separator to anyone making a purchase of $25 or more.

Brick separators are sold by LEGO for $2.49.

250 million children worldwide lack basic reading, writing, and math skills.  Together we can change that.  Every purchase can help make a difference.  Thank you for your support!