We'd be Silly to Not Make this the Next Train Based LEGO Set - LEGO® IDEAS

The Train Station: Studgate

So if you don’t regularly follow this blog or if you’re new to it, here’s the deal. I’m a huge LEGO train fan and I’ve been disappointed since the Creator Expert line ended train sets with #10233-1: Horizon Express all the way back in 2014. I posted a few times suggesting a few sets to vote for with LEGO Ideas. I was really excited when Ymarilego’s Chemical Plant achieved 10,000 votes and was disappointed when it was not selected (or the fast food stands for that matter).

If you didn’t see my post about it, there’s a video by the You Tube channel “Assembled” of an interview with Jamie Berard (my post with all the details and links is here). In the interview, Jamie says the Creator Expert line of trains ended as it was not as popular (I read profitable) for the company. They instead have tried to squeeze trains into other lines (read Harry Potter or the new Hidden Side theme).

With the odds not in my favor between one LEGO Ideas project with 10,000 votes not making it and Jamie saying LEGO is not interested, I haven’t given up hope. There is a new project out there and it is moving fast on LEGO Ideas. If you have yet to see it, then feast your eyes on this project:

This project was submitted by user Bricky_brick around May 2019. It is a 19th century train station with 2 track lines running through, a 2 car electric train (that can be motorized), 7 minifigures, and awesome use of some clear pieces that I didn’t even know existed in the collection. It looks incredible! If you go to the LEGO Ideas site, you can find it pretty easily as it is one of the top supported items. At the time of this post there are over 3,600 votes and climbing. The site for this set has some other great photos and shows what the set looks like in a pretty cool looking city scene.

So what are you waiting for… let’s make this one get to 10,000. Let’s show the LEGO Company that we are willing to put our money where our votes are to get some amazing Creator Expert-like train sets.

Thanks for your support in this matter!

New LEGO® Shop @ Home Rule for Collectible Minifigure Buys

I went to order some of the new Disney Series 2 minifigures from Shop @ Home. The maximum limit per order was listed as 18. While placing that order, I figured I’d throw in a few more of the LEGO Movie 2 minifigures. I added 5 to my order. A little while later I received an email from LEGO stating that my order was cancelled because I “went above our purchase limits” for the LEGO Movie 2 minifigures. The message went on to state:

“We sometimes put limits on popular sets so as many LEGO fans as possible can get their hands on them. Although you won’t be able to buy those sets right now, we regularly change and remove purchase limits, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on our website over the next few months.”

WHAT?!?!?!

So I contacted LEGO Shop @ Home customer service. The answer I got was:

“As we want in the beginning to let every LEGO® Fan have the chance to buy the Minifigs without loosing [their spelling, not mine] all stock straight away there is a limit per household of 18 for Disney Series 2 and 40 for THE LEGO® MOVIE 2. So if you reached this quantity in multiple past purchases, every future order which has these sets included will be cancelled by the system.”

Well thanks for letting me know that! I realize not everyone buys that many, but I like to have some extras for my collection and then to sell (when my store re-opens). Apparently I will not be able to use Shop @ Home for that any longer. There are only 18 minifigures in Disney Series 2. What are the odds of ordering 18 and getting the full set? Not very likely is my guess.

Customer service pointed me to LEGO Brand Stores. I was told that I could buy full boxes of Collectible Minifigures (40 in a box) from the stores and that they don’t have limits there. That would be nice if I had one nearby that was easily accessible.

So if you want more than just 18 Disney Series 2 sets, where can you go online from the US (at the time of this posting)?

Amazon.com in the US has the following:
-LEGO MOVIE 2 - Can order up to 30 minifigures for $3.92 each.
-Disney Series 2 - Can order up to 30 minifigures for $3.92 each as an add on (you need to purchase something else and add these to the order)

Walmart.com in the US has the following:
-LEGO MOVIE 2 - Can order up to 12 minifigures for $3.92 each.
-Disney Series 2 - Not Available
-Harry Potter Series - Can order up to 12 minifigures for $3.99 each

Target.com in the US does not appear to sell collectible minifigures online.

Are there any other online locations that you can buy them without a ridiculous mark up?

Obviously you can just go to a physical store to buy them too.

Happy building!

BrickLink AFOL Designer Program - Update

In case you missed it, the BrickLink AFOL Designer Program ended its pre-order sales on 15 April 2019. You can see BrickLink’s update here. You can see my post on the original program here. The roll up is:

-13 of 16 sets met or surpassed the limits set to go into production.

-1 set (Löwenstein Castle) is completely sold out (should LEGO bring back the Castle Theme?)

-Sets will begin to ship in May 2019. The box designs were released about a week ago.

-If you missed out on the pre-order period, sets will be available for purchase starting on 22 April 2019. I believe there is a cap on each set so don’t wait too long if you are interested.

If you ordered some sets like I did, you were supposed to see the charges hit your credit card on 15 April. That has not happened for me yet. I’m guessing maybe they will charge me when my sets ship? The web site says they are producing in batches so I am guessing I’ll receive both sets at different times.

I’m looking forward to seeing some of the set reviews on these sets. I’ll definitely be posting reviews of the two I purchased.

Now I just have to wait for them to arrive.

In the meantime, happy building!

Heirs to the LEGO Fortune

I saw this online and it didn’t get any traction on any of the other fan web sites so I’ll throw it out there.

Bloomberg.com posted an article on 1 April 2019 titled:

Lego Heirs' $16 Billion Fund Is Bracing for a Bleaker Future

While it is not about building, giving, or LEGO fandom, it does say how much money LEGO has brought its owners through the years.

And apparently if you have a lot of money, you invest in solar energy and wind farms. Or maybe you profit from selling a brick version and invest those profits into a real one?

So That's Why We Haven't Seen More Creator Expert Trains!

I wrote a post a while back complaining that it’s been a while since we had a Creator Expert style LEGO train. Well I think I may have found our answer.

I found an interview with LEGO Designer Jamie Berard by the show Assembled which is an interview done by Mike Psiaki. It’s about a 30 minute interview and I found it pretty interesting. They talk mainly about the new Roller Coaster set (#10261-1)., but they also talk a few more topics like set re-releases and to the point of this post, Creator Expert trains.

Mike asks why there aren’t more Creator Expert themed trains at the 27:50 mark or so. Without directly stating it, Jamie’s response is pretty much that LEGO doesn’t make the money they want to on Creator Expert themed trains. There is a subset of LEGO fans out there that love trains, they each buy one or two of the train sets and that’s it. So LEGO will release the standard LEGO CITY passenger and freight trains on a regular basis, but that’s mostly it.

Jamie also brings up some of the other ways they have tried to incorporate trains. The goal is to get a group that enjoys another theme and to add a train to that theme. He brings up #10254-1: Winter Holiday Train as an example. There is a larger group that enjoys the Winter Village theme. They may not be into a Creator Expert style train, but when a train fits in with the Winter Village theme then it is a buy for them.

After hearing that, you can tell LEGO has done that elsewhere. For example the Hogwarts Express (#75955-1) and the upcoming Hidden Side theme has a set titled Train (#70424-1). It will be interesting to see where else LEGO can add the train line into another theme in the future.

With that being said it leaves us LEGO Creator Expert train fans left out. As Mike mentions in the video interview, he likes the Winter Holiday Train, but it’s not on par with the Horizon Express (#10233-1). I don’t think the LEGO Ideas platform will work either based on Jamie’s interview response. If LEGO doesn’t think there is a market out there to sell advanced train sets, then even if a train set does get 10,000 supporters it might not go into production. Another way to get advanced train sets out there might be the Bricklink AFOL Designer Program. There are some design limitations that I’d have to look up and there are potentially some piece restrictions too, but it could be a possibility. If BrickLink sees this program as a way to increase profits in the future, then submitting train designs there might be the better way to go versus LEGO Ideas.

Dear LEGO,
I would still like to see more Creator Expert themed train sets. Thank you for your understanding!
-Bricks for Bricks

Bricklink AFOL Designer Program

If you look at any of the LEGO related fan sites recently you have probably seen plugs for the Bricklink AFOL Designer Program. Back in 2018 I remember this program being announced and the initial response from the community was “huh?” Why should we submit designs for people to vote on and then if they get enough votes, the design gets made? That sounds a lot like the LEGO Ideas program. I will be honest and say I saw it come out and then ignored it. Thankfully, not everyone did… so let me give a quick explanation of how it works in case you haven’t been following this effort.

Over 400 designs were submitted to Bricklink by September 2018. Between November and January, LEGO and Bricklink got together to review designs. The review team ended up selecting 16 designs. Those designs were posted on Bricklink (here) in January. From January until 15 April 2019, anyone can go and vote with their wallet on one (or a few of the designs). If the design you vote on reaches the required number of votes by 15 April, the design goes into production (and you get charged on 15 April). From that point, Bricklink (not LEGO) will work on getting parts and putting the packaging together. Then they will ship (for free if you use the pre-order time) sometime in the May time frame.

I recommend checking out the Bricklink page to get more information on how this project works if it still sounds confusing. Also, the Beyond the Brick team did some press for the program as well. There are some good videos they made to include an interview with Jamie Berard (LEGO Designer), an interview with Tormod Askildsen (LEGO’s AFOL Engagement Team Lead), and then one with Russell Callender (BrickLink Catalog manager). Of the three, I found the interview with Jamie Berard the most interesting. One because it went through how he was selected to join the company and two because he talks about why the Bricklink AFOL program is cool. What it boils down to is that LEGO designers really have to put a lot of thought into how things are constructed and what techniques are used as their designs reach huge audiences across the world. With this program, the goal is not to go in and do major design changes to a proposed set. Since the program is targeted to AFOLs, they figure that AFOLs can handle some different techniques that are not allowed in official sets. To me, that is a big selling point.

Enough about the program, let’s talk about the designs. There is still over a month to go so you have time to put your pre-orders in. As of the writing of this post, 10 of the 16 designs have met or exceeded their crowdfunding goals. I voted for two and I’ll mention two that I deem as honorable mentions.

The first one is called Skyline Express by user Jazlecraz. At 1,373 parts and $139.99, it works out to $0.102 per piece. It’s a bit high, but not too bad. The coloring is very simple, but in my mind this set opens up a ton of possibilities for adding more track, stations, scenery, or even modifying the monorail train itself. The builder has posted that he’s working on instructions for adding an M-motor to the set so make it motorized so that would be a great addition. I don’t know about anyone else, but as I kid I always saw the LEGO catalogs with the monorails in them and was never able to get one so this I saw this as my chance. If you need a reminder, there was the Classic Space version (#6990-1 Monorail Transport System), the theme now known as CITY had #6399-1 Airport Shuttle, and finally another space version (#6991-1 Monorail Transport Base). This set is slightly different as it uses the rail from the Roller Coasters (#10261-1 Roller Coaster or #31084-1 Pirate Roller Coaster). The rails match the color of #31084-1 so you can get that set and use the rail to expand the Skyline Express rail. There’s also a small juice bar in the station with JüS spelled out in tiles (I even figured out how to get the umlaut over the U in there).

Picture from BrickLink.com

The second set I backed is called “Bikes!” and it was built by user mdt.maikel. This one is 529 pieces and goes for $49.99 which works out to $0.094 per piece. It’s slightly under the so called 10 cents per piece average, so not too bad. I like this set because it is something different. I’m a big CITY and Train fan and my goal is to one day have a house with a basement that I can take over with a large CITY display. This one is not in line with the usual stream of CITY sets that come out of the LEGO Group. There are a lot of official sets with cars, fire trucks, and police vehicles, but not one dedicated to bicycling like this set. It will definitely add a welcome change to any LEGO CITY scene.

Picture from Bricklink.com

Two honorable mentions that I liked, but didn’t end up backing.

The first is called The LEGO® Story. It’s by user BrickJonas and contains 1,442 pieces for $99.99 ($0.07/piece).. This one highlights the 60th anniversary of the brick and contains four different vignettes dealing with LEGO”s history from making wooden toys, to the first plastic bricks, to designing the models, and finally modern production. I thought this one was pretty cool, but alas I don’t have an endless budget to buy LEGO sets.

The second is called Eight Studs and it is by user kleinraum. It’s 1,393 pieces for $9.99 ($0.072/piece). This one is a modular living area in the shape of a 2x4 brick or two 2x2 bricks. If you check out the set’s page you’ll see that it can be customized to look a few different ways. Definitely check it out. It’s a cool design.

Photo from Bricklink.com

Photo from Bricklink.com

To be fair, I’m not saying that the other 12 sets I didn’t mention are bad models. I’m just showing you the ones that interested me the most. There are some great designs from some talented builders. If you aren’t interested in purchasing, be sure to check out what is out there anyways. Maybe next time when Bricklink puts out a call for designs you can submit yours.

Happy building!

The Making of a Large LEGO® Model

Normally the LEGO fan sites are all over everything that gets posted well before I get to them, but every once in a while I see something that others don’t catch for some reason or don’t deem worth posting. The Detroit Auto Show was 14-27 January 2019 and LEGO worked with Chevrolet to built a LEGO version of the Chevy Silverado. They unveiled it on 19 January and a few days back they released this video describing the build process. This video goes through the LEGO build process to include the software used and how it was built. It also talks about how the metal structure was made as well as how they coat the build with protective materials. It’s definitely worth the watch if you have a few minutes.

Turning Your LEGO® Bricks Hobby into a Business

If you’re a nerdy AFOL like me, you probably think it would be great to get paid to build with LEGO bricks all day. Maybe you’re a great builder and could go work in Billund designing sets or at one of the theme parks. Or maybe you’re like me and your building skills are just average. As far as I know, the LEGO Group isn’t looking for mediocre to average builders. Maybe I could be a janitor at the LEGO House?

Besides working for the LEGO® Group, a number of fans have turned what they do as a fan into a full time business that pays their bills. I’ll bring up a few of them here and if you know of more, please let me know in the comments or email me at store@bricksforbricks.com.

Beyond the Brick: I posted about this YouTube channel here. My post has a link to an interview of them where they spend some time talking about how they turned traveling around the world to visit LEGO conventions, theme parks, and other events into a full time business that pays the bills. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

Brickset: If you haven’t been to brickset.com and you’re an AFOL, where have you been? Huw Millington decided in the late 1990s that there needed to be a database of all of the LEGO sets out there to include special edition sets and those sold in limited markets. It has since expanded to minifigures and individual pieces as well. Along the way he found that he could add advertising to his site and he used affiliate marketing (you buy LEGO from amazon.com and he gets a cut of the sale if you link through his site) as well. Once it started paying the mortgage, he quit his job and ran the site full time. There are a number of interviews with Huw online. I watched one from Beyond the Brick here. This one is a few years old and there are some newer ones so check around.

Brick 101: Another YouTube channel… this one is run by fan Dave Pickett. To be honest, I hadn’t heard of this channel until I stumbled upon a video he posted. Dave gave a talk at Bricks by the Bay 2018 about how he turned his love of LEGO and animation into a full time gig. You can watch the video here. He has videos where he explains how to build various creations, he reviews sets, and he does some animation work. He also does some work for non-LEGO toy companies… GASP!!!! (from the purists out there) The video is about 45 minutes long, but it’s interesting to see how he made it work.

The big recurring theme I saw from all 3 of these businesses I mentioned is that their success did not happen over night. It took all of them a few years to turn their hobby into a business. I’m not saying that there aren’t overnight successes out there, but something to keep in mind if you plan to be a full time brick fan starting tomorrow.

I only selected 3 to talk about here and I realize I’m missing a lot of people. I know there are folks that run BrickLink, EBay, BrickOwl, and other stores full time selling sets, pieces, minifigures, and other LEGO related items. I’m sure there are others out there too that Brick full time and don’t run stores. I will look to do an update to this post in the future with some others I find out there who went from hobby to business. In the meantime, happy building!

Amazing Fan Creations of Hogwarts Castle

Normally, I’d have a set review to post, but I’m in the middle of a large build so I guess you could say I’m killing time until I can finish and write a proper post. Most of my “LEGO fun time” has been consumed by building set number 71043-1, Hogwarts Castle. At 6,020 pieces, it’s the second largest set out there by piece count. I’ve been trying to enjoy the build instead of rushing through it so it’s taking a bit longer than usual.

Unlike some of the LEGO themed blogs out there, I don’t run this full time so my goal right now has been to post something new once a week. So while you’re waiting to hear what I think about the latest Hogwarts Castle set (spoiler alert, so far, it’s awesome!), I figured I’d talk about some of the ones out there that fans have created.

I realize I’m going to report on some old news here, but back in 2013, a LEGO builder named Alice Finch built a 400,000 piece Hogwarts Castle to display at a Comic Con. If you haven’t seen it yet, it is phenomenal! Definitely check out her Flickr page, a YouTube video of her set up, or if you can find it, watch the Lego Brickumentary from 2015 as she is spotlighted there too. Beyond the Brick (you can check out my post about them here) has done 3 videos out her. They are:
-A tour of her building area in her home (I’m jealous)
-A microscale version of her larger Hogwarts Castle
-An hour plus long interview with Alice about the 400,000 piece version she built

Onto the smaller scale… on the LEGO Ideas page is a submission titled “Hogwarts Castle Miniature Model.” It was submitted by user “LegoDog0126” and as of 15 January 2019, there are 12 days left with 8,435 votes total. Go to the LEGO Ideas site and do a search for it. It doesn’t say the piece count (that I could find), but you can download instructions and a fan even went out and built it (pics are on the Ideas site as well).

And one more…

I wasn’t able to find more on this one, but there was a BrisBricks LEGO®  Fan event (Australia) back in September 2018 and a builder there displayed a giant Hogwarts castle connected by rail to Kings Cross Station. Here is the link to the article advertising the event and here is the picture. You can go to the BrisBricks site photo book here and see more pictures of the build as well as all of the other awesome MOCs. Definitely check it out… it’s pretty cool with the whole castle and the train leading to it.

Enough stalling… back to building so I can get a set review out!

LEGO® Appearance - CBS Sunday Morning

Normally all of the major fan sites are great at posting LEGO related items that appear in the media. If you’re a regular reader of The Brothers Brick site, you’ll note that on Mondays they do a role up for the week to include LEGO items that appeared on various blogs, websites, and news media outlets.

Well I found one video that I haven’t seen anyone post yet. CBS Sunday Morning pushed a roughly 5 minute long clip about LEGO on 16 December 2018 that you can see here:

The video’s main focus is on the quest to find alternative, sustainable materials to make bricks out of. There are some clips of testing materials and some interviews with the company personnel involved in finding new materials. There is also a short discussion on the material used to make some of the plant parts. Definitely check it out.

Happy building!