There are a couple of new LEGO books that I wanted to show you today that were just released by DK Publishing; LEGO Ninjago: Build Your Own Adventure, and LEGO Friends: Build Your Own Adventure. Both books are similar to – and probably replacements for – the LEGO BrickMaster line, with included LEGO building elements and minifigs along with the book. The new books however are designed a bit differently than the LEGO BrickMaster books; instead of the book itself having a thick storage compartment for LEGO elements, this time we get a slip-case that contains a normal hardbound book and a separate box with LEGO parts. 🙂
➡ LEGO NINJAGO: BUILD YOUR OWN ADVENTURE – Get ready for your own Ninja adventure with this inspirational book. Build, play and learn all about the thrilling world of LEGO Ninjago. LEGO Ninjago: Build Your Own Adventure combines fan built inspiring ideas for building with exciting stories. In the pages of this book, you will discover an exciting LEGO Ninjago adventure story. You will also see some clever ideas for LEGO Ninjago models that might inspire you to create your own. There are no limits to what you can build. This is your adventure, so jump right in and get building. The boxed set includes: an 80-page book filled with stories, building instructions, tips, and ideas. 70 LEGO bricks to build an exclusive Ninja Mech. An awesome Lloyd minifigure. All the inspiration you need to build your own LEGO Ninjago adventure. Regular price: $24.99, sale price (at the time of publishing this post): $17.14 – BUY ON AMAZON
Besides the main model, which is the Ninja Mech, the book also includes other models that you can use as inspiration. These are grouped within the five chapters of the book that are based on different adventures (jungle battle, going underground, volcano quest, etc.). Please note that these are not alternate models that you can build with the same included pieces, but simply suggestions to build from your LEGO collection. As mentioned above, the included minifigure is Lloyd.
➡ LEGO FRIENDS: BUILD YOUR OWN ADVENTURE – A book with bricks that inspires kids to build, play, and learn all about the fascinating world of LEGO Friends. LEGO Friends: Build Your Own Adventure combines fan built inspirational ideas for building with enthralling story starters. In the pages of this book, you will discover an exciting LEGO Friends adventure story. You will also see some clever ideas for LEGO Friends models that might inspire you to create your own. This is your adventure, so jump right in and get building. This boxed set includes: an 80-page book filled with stories, building tips, ideas, and instructions. 73 LEGO bricks to create a cool, exclusive touring car. An awesome Liza mini-doll. All the inspiration you need to build your own LEGO Friends adventure. Regular price: $24.99, sale price (at the time of publishing this post): $12.37 – BUY ON AMAZON
The main model in this book is a touring car, which looks good. This book is also divided into five chapters with various inspirational models grouped around activities like a picnic, horse show, carnival and party. There are some small but clever builds, along with larger models. Again, these models can’t be built from the included bricks, but they are simply there to give you inspiration and ideas. The most interesting models are actually quite small and can be put together from just a couple of common elements, and even the larger ones you should be able to copy if you have an average size LEGO collection. The included mini-doll is named Liza, who pretty much looks like Andrea from the LEGO Friends sets.
I have been a fan of the LEGO BrickMaster books because they offer hours of play for kids; there is a story to read, characters to play with, and included LEGO elements for building. I do like that in this new format the book and the box are separate but still stay together within the slip-case; a handy way to keep everything together for transportation and storage. I’m hoping that DK Publishing will add other titles as well, just like they have done in the LEGO BrickMaster books line. Both books are recommended for children, but I admit I enjoy them as an adult as well.
What do you think? Do you like the LEGO BrickMaster books? And what do you think of this new line of building your own adventure? Do you feel they are better or worse than the BrickMaster books? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the LEGO Books section for more book reviews, or select from the following related posts:
In my opinion these are much better than the brickmaster series as they contain inspiration for things to build and not just instructions. Many of these friends things would also work with a regular LEGO city which is something i’m quite fond of.
These seem pretty nice, but I’m pretty sure that you could build a couple different things from the brickmaster pieces. I think that this made the brickmaster books better.
Yes, the BrickMaster books included alternate instructions. In one sense that made them nicer, on the other hand the alternate models were often very weak. This time we get one main model and stronger inspirational models. So both have their plusses and minuses. I actually like both, so I think it really just comes down to personal preferences.
Brickmaster was self-contained, which is both a strength and self-limiting. These books either assume you already have a bunch of the other sets, or are serving as advertisement for those other sets.
Ray, both formats have strengths. Please note that the suggestion models in the book are not from sets. They are custom designed by the authors of the books. Also, they are not very large, so pretty much anyone with a reasonable LEGO collection should be able to build them, or something similar. Again, they are just suggestions.