Lego Creator Parisian Restaurant (10243) Modular Building Revealed!

During Brickcon 2013 Lego has officially revealed the newest Modular Building, the Lego Creator Parisian Restaurant (10243). This is a very different modular then the recent releases from Lego. The building doesn’t completely fill (vertically) the 32 stud baseplate. Instead having a small outdoor patio on the roof of the first floor. The first floor is an extremely detailed parisian restaurant. With a small apartment (Murphy bed!) on the second floor, and an artist studio at the top. This set will come with 2,469 pieces at a price of $159.99. The Lego Creator Parisian Restaurant (10243) will be available to purchase in January 2014.

Check out the official Lego Design video here:

http://youtu.be/r_VroKcBFqE

The Parisian Restaurant feels like it has been influenced by the rare Lego Market Street (10190) Modular Building. Although this new restaurant seems to avoid the problems that Market Street had. A more standard design that fits in with the other Modulars, and much more carefully thought out features. It looks like this set will fit in nicely with the latest Modular Buildings.

“Have an unforgettable evening at the amazing Parisian Restaurant!

It’s very busy in the Parisian Restaurant. As a scooter zips by, inside the waiter rushes between the tables as the nervous young man gets ready to propose with the ring! It’s just as hectic behind the scenes, with the chef busily preparing the food. This beautifully detailed building is the setting for so many stories and is a great addition to the modular building series. The Parisian Restaurant has a fully-stocked, blue and white tiled kitchen with tableware as well as a cozy apartment with pull-down bed, kitchenette and fireplace. On the top floor is the artist’s room with a studio that includes a cast iron heater, easel, paintbrush and two works of art by the aspiring artist. Outside, stairs lead down to the roof terrace lined with hanging lanterns and flowers where the diners eat alfresco-style. This amazing Parisian Restaurant model even includes a facade with croissants, clams and feather details that recapture the feel of Paris. Includes 5 minifigures: chef, waiter, girl and a romantic couple.”

The Lego Creator Parisian Restaurant (10243) comes with an all new Moped style scooter. This new scooter alone is worth the full price. Vrooom…

Lego Marina Bay Sands (21021) Architecture Set Revealed!

The new Lego Architecture set, the United Nations Headquarters (21018), has just been released and with it comes details about whats next. According to a Lego survey, the Marina Bay Sands (21021) is coming soon. The Marina Bay Sands is a massive casino located in Singapore. It features an extremely unique design, with a full shopping mall and massive outdoor rooftop pool. It kind of looks like someone took a cruise ship and placed it on top of three skyscrapers. Hah.

Thanks to Brickset for revealing the early details.

Lego United Nations Headquarters (21018) Reviewed @ Toys N Bricks

The newest set in the Lego Architecture theme, the United Nations Headquarters (21018) is now available
(Amazon). With 597 pieces and a $49.99 price tag this is one of the more reasonably priced Architecture sets. Over at Toys N Bricks, Brickbuilder0937 has recently posted a full pictorial review of the set. The Lego United Nations Headquarters seems to be one of the best Architectures sets with an extremely accurate (for Lego) and professional design.

The set depicts not only the U.N. tower, but the other four surrounding buildings too. By the time you complete the base, the layout of the complex is very apparent.

If you have been looking around for “1 x 2 trans light blue” bricks then this is the set to get, with 155 included. They are put to good use, creating some beautiful windows. This set also features some of the “smoothest” brick built slopes. Achieved by combining “headlight bricks” and the “1 x 1 with stud-on-one-side” bricks. These half step slopes can be seen on the smaller surrounding buildings.

The little Lego lever is a perfect representation of a flag pole, one of the best details in this set. Making the building instantly recognizable as the U.N. Headquarters. Just don’t accidentally brush up on those levers.

The whole build is quite a bit larger in person then it looks on the box. Which, is the opposite effect from most of these Architecture sets.

“In the past I was skeptical of buying the Architecture series sets because they seemed small for their price, but after seeing how accurate and profesional this model was, I was impressed.” — Brickbuilder0937

Read the full Lego United Nations review over at Toys N Bricks: http://toysnbricks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=9403

The Lego United Nations Headquarters (21018) is available from Amazon: here.

Lego Maersk Line Triple-E (10241) Container Ship Revealed!

Lego has recently announced a new entry in its Maersk Theme. The Lego Maersk Line Triple-E 10241 container ship is one of the largest ships that Lego has released. Measuring more than 2 feet long this ship is going to have a tough time fitting in a bath tub. Speaking of which, Lego is quick to point out that the Triple-E does not float. The Maersk ship does feature twin engines and propellers, viewing port into said engine, rudders, lifeboats, removable containers, movable crane, and one hidden coin. It also looks like this set will be featuring about a million stickers.

This is the first Maersk ship to be built using the new medium azure (blue). In the past Lego used an exclusive color, Maersk blue, which could only be found in Maersk themed sets. It would seem that Maersk blue has been retired, at least for the time being.

This massive container ship is made up of 1,518 pieces, which makes it a decent value at $149.99. One interesting detail is that Lego and Maersk are making a big deal out of the twin propeller engines, even building a viewing port into the side of the hull. The 10241 Lego Maersk Line Triple-E will be available in January 2014.

“Presenting the largest ship in the world — the record-breaking Maersk ‘Triple-E.’ Built from over 1,500 bricks, the model recreates the real vessel in amazing detail. Our LEGO® designers have included rare colors such as medium azur, dark red, sand blue and sand green. There are rotating gold-colored screw blades leading to the brick-built twin propeller engines, which you can view through the window built into the port side of the ship. You can even customize it by adding or removing the containers. This authentic set includes a display stand and fact plaque with detailed information about the ship and, as a finishing touch, there’s the gold coin that is added under the mast of all Maersk Line ships for good luck on their voyages. This model is perfect for LEGO fans!

Ages 12+. 1,518 pieces.

US $149.99 – CA $179.99 – DE 129.99 € – UK 109.99 £ – DK 1199.00 DKK

Available for sale directly through LEGO® beginning
January 2014 via shop.LEGO.com and LEGO® Stores”

Check out the Lego Design video over on YouTube, as usual very entertaining:

http://youtu.be/WzSOrQBmEhI

Lego Minecraft: The Village & Lego Minecraft: The Nether Available Now

Lego Minecraft is one of those perfect themes. The two come together to create some of the best Lego sets of all time. The Lego Minecraft Micro World set is easily one of the best selling Lego sets of last year. Often selling out of stock once the set had been replenished. Lego has noticed, and has been continually “reprinting” the original Minecraft set. Now Lego has officially released two new sets in the Minecraft theme. Making this the first CUUSOO project to graduate into a full theme. The new Lego Minecraft: The Village and Lego Minecraft: The Nether are now available through Lego and Amazon.

The early reviews are starting to show up, and are generally forming the opinion that these new sets are great. Perfect for anyone who enjoyed the original. Check out the details at Amazon:

Lego Minecraft: Micro World, The Village.

Lego Minecraft: Micro World: The Nether.

Lego Minecraft: Micro World.

HispaBrick Magazine 017 – Vehicles, Mindstorms, Reviews & Interviews

The best digital Lego Magazine is back. HispaBrick Magazine 017 is available now for download as a PDF in english or spanish.

Featuring articles on Lego vehicles, Mindstorms, Robotics, Modular Landscapes, & Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Plus many reviews and interviews. This 100 page PDF is full of so much Lego content it might be the greatest issue yet.

http://www.hispabrickmagazine.com/en/content/english-hispabrick-magazine-017

Lego Marvel Super Heroes Gamescom Trailer

Another video game convention, another Lego Marvel Super Heroes Trailer. This new trailer was released at Gamescom and shows off a whole lot of gameplay. It is looking like Lego Marvel Super Heroes is going to feature almost every Marvel super hero and super villain, from the famous to the obscure. It is worth noting that Galactus, Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Squirrel Girl, MODOK and more are present.

http://youtu.be/67RWEWEQPAg

Lego and TT Games have released a few other Lego Marvel Super Heroes videos. The funny “Big Figure Trailer”, the full “E3 Trailer”, and the original “Teaser Trailer”

Make sure to preorder the video game on Amazon on pretty much every platform available (Xbox, PS3, WiiU, PC, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Vita, etc.): Lego Marvel Super Heroes with a special $10 Credit.

Lego Mindstorms EV3 (31313) Reviewed by Lee Hutchinson @ Ars Technica

The new Lego Mindstorms EV3 (31313) is almost here with an official release of September 1st. The early reviews are starting to be published, with an especially good review by Lee Hutchinson over at Ars Technica. The whole 601 piece set includes an Intelligent EV3 Brick, 3 servo motors, a remote control, a color sensor, a touch sensor, an infrared sensor, an instruction manual, and Mac/Win software. And, to no surprise, no batteries.

“Still, price is really the only downside to this set. They’re ludicrously fun to play with, and I had a great time sitting on the floor like a kid piecing a robot together (and the whole process was made even better by the fact that I got to do it on the clock!). It’s hard to deny that making robots and then programming them to do your bidding is just straight-up awesome.”

Check out Lee Hutchinson’s full review of the Lego Mindstorms EV3 (31313) over at Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/08/review-lego-mindstorms-ev3-means-giant-robots-powerful-computers/

For a quick video review, Lee Hutchinson made a great video:

Lego Architecture Studio (21050) Review by Jim Butcher @ Eurobricks

The LEGO Architecture Studio (21050) is a very mysterious set. Currently only available in the United States, this set can be hard to find. Because of this, the set is wrapped up in mystery. Jim Butcher got his hands on this massive set and broke it open to document and review what he found. The Architecture Studio contains 1,210 pieces and comes in a very unconventional box. Most official Lego sets are released in a flat(ish) rectangle shaped box, not so for the Architecture Studio. This is a huge package. Taking up the space of 3 or 4 normal Lego sets. Inside is a very unique set, that Lego has never produced before.

Besides the 1,210 Lego pieces the set comes with two clear sorting trays. Fun fact: these sorting trays are official Lego pieces. They work well, and help to manage the massive amount of like sized/shaped pieces. Speaking of which, almost every piece is white. With the exception of a handful of transparent pieces. The whole point of the Lego Architecture Studio is to use the included pieces to begin building technically minded architecture models. The monochrome color scheme helps break the Lego models down to their core concept, while reinforcing the minimalistic goal of the set.

The large Lego piece count and sorting trays are not the main focus of this set. The instruction manual or book is the star. A huge 272 page perfect bound book. Featuring tips, building techniques, styles, history, and general information about Architecture and Lego. The book does not contain standard instructions. No step by step builds of famous architectural models. Instead the book features very general instructions, often showing the building of a model across only 3-4 steps. The Lego Architecture Studio (21050) is an educational and inspirational set, sharing more in common with Lego Mindstorms then Lego Star Wars.

Read the full review by Jim Butcher over at Eurobricks: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=85176&st=0

Lego Architecture Studio (21050) Book Download

UPDATE: It looks like Lego has taken the file offline. ~~Lego has offered a .pdf download of the whole 272 page book from the Lego Architecture Studio (21050). This is huge download, at 413 MB. Check it out here:~~
~~http://cache.lego.com/bigdownloads/buildinginstructions/6062928.pdf~~

Amazon has the set for sale, but like other recently popular sets it comes and goes out of stock often. Check it out on Amazon here: LEGO Architecture Studio (21050)

Lego Back To The Future DeLorean (21103) – Get It Before You’re OUTATIME.

The Lego CUUSOO: Back To The Future DeLorean (21103) is currently for sale on Amazon. The DeLorean is destined to become one of those special legendary Lego sets. Make sure to pick it up early. Who knows how many of these Lego is planning on making. It may be tough to find, but keep checking Amazon in case they get new shipments (Just like the Minecraft set). It is currently $34.99 and shipping in 1-2 days.

Lego CUUSOO: Back To The Future DeLorean (21103) at Amazon!