Just wanted to update you on some of the LEGO magazines that are on my desk right now and I flip through whenever I have some free time. Some of them are primarily for kids, others for teens and adults, but they are all great reads for LEGO fans.
➡ LEGO LIFE MAGAZINE: The 2019 April-June issue of the LEGO Life Magazine is now available. As you may know, the LEGO Life Magazine is basically the same as the discontinued LEGO Club Magazine, published directly by LEGO. It is a free magazine designed for kids between ages 5 and 10 that is mailed to their home four times a year. Every issue is packed full of LEGO news, interviews, comic adventures, games and puzzles, building challenges and cool creations built by LEGO fans all over the world. There are also occasional sneak peeks at the latest sets and themes. The print version of the LEGO Life Magazine is not available in all countries, but the PDF version can be downloaded from the LEGO Life Magazine website. (The website tends to be late with publication. At the time of this writing, they still only have the January-March issue.) You can request the magazine or download the PDF version at the LEGO Life Magazine website.
➡ LEGO NINJAGO MAGAZINE: We talked about the LEGO Kids Special Editions magazines some time ago (see: Fun LEGO Magazines by Minifigs & More!). They are similar to the LEGO Life Magazine with puzzles, games, posters, and comics that kids can enjoy. They are official magazines published by Media Lab Publishing on behalf of LEGO. A unique feature of these magazines is that they also include a minifigure with accessories in a foil packet attached to the front. Another unique feature is that unlike the LEGO Life Magazine which covers many different themes and topics, each issue of the LEGO Kids Special Editions magazines cover one interest. So far, they have released magazine featuring LEGO City, LEGO Friends, The LEGO Movie 2, and LEGO Ninjago (we talked about all of these at the link above). Recently, they released a second magazine featuring LEGO Ninjago, this time with a Cole minifigure and a double-sided poster with Master Wu on one side and Ninjago heroes and villains on the other side. Like the previous publications in the series, this magazine is 35 pages long, and the price is $10.99. They are available at newsstands and at OnNewsStandsNow.com.
➡ BLOCKS MAGAZINE: This monthly magazine is published in the UK, but is also available in the US at select bookstores (Barnes & Noble is a good source in the US) as well as through their official website. You can subscribe to one year of issues, two years, and get individual back issues as well. To give you an idea, a one year subscription (12 issues) for LEGO fans in the UK is £54.88, in Europe £83.88, and for the rest of the world £98.88. (This comes to about $10 per issue for LEGO fans in the US, which is on par the price of other niche/hobby magazines.) PDF version of the magazine is also available. The magazine is aimed at older teens and adult LEGO fans and it includes set reviews, interviews with LEGO designers, interviews with prominent members of the LEGO fan community, news, events, guest articles by LEGO fans, custom builds, building techniques, reports from community events, articles on LEGO’s history, etc. Each issue is around 110 pages long with so many articles that there is plenty to read for the entire month, until the next issue arrives. If you would like to learn more, visit their website at BlocksMag.com.
➡ BRICK FANATICS MAGAZINE: This is another subscription magazine for teen and adult LEGO fans published in the UK by the same team that runs the BrickFanatics.com website. Five issues have been published so far. While Blocks Magazine has European size A4 pages (somewhere between a US letter and legal paper), the Brick Fanatics Magazine is half that size, so it’s small and easy to carry around. The total page count per issue is about 80. The content is very similar to Blocks Magazine; set reviews, interviews, news, events, building techniques, etc. It’s interesting that the UK can support two magazines like this, but I guess that’s a good thing for the community. This magazine also offers one and two year subscriptions with prices about the same as Blocks Magazine for the UK, and better for the US ($7 per issue). Both magazines offer free shipping for subscribers. Individual issues are available at select books stores (Barnes & Noble in the US). For more information, visit BrickFanatics.com.
➡ HISPABRICK MAGAZINE: This magazine for teen and adult LEGO enthusiasts started in 2008 as an initiative of some Spanish LEGO fans in order to preserve the best custom models and articles that were published in their community. From the third issue on, the magazine has been published in two editions of identical content – one in Spanish and one in English. Thirty-two issues of the magazine has been published so far, with usually 2-3 new issues per year. The printed version of the magazine is available in Spain by an on-demand printing service, and the free PDF version can be downloaded at HispaBrickMagazine.com.
In summary, there are several magazines available for LEGO fans, both young and old. If you have kids, I recommend signing them up for the LEGO Life Magazine. It’s free, and includes plenty of games, reading material, and other activities for young LEGO fans. The LEGO Kids Special Editions magazines are not subscription based, and issues only come out sporadically, so they could make extra special gifts for young LEGO fans. For older LEGO fans, both Blocks Magazine and the Brick Fanatics Magazine could be a good option. They are very similar, so if you are interested, I would recommend picking up one issue of each and see which one you prefer before subscribing. For casual digital reading, HispaBrick Magazine is a great choice.
The benefit of LEGO magazines over LEGO books is that they offer fresh, relevant, and up-to-date information on current events and information. The downside is that they are not as current as online LEGO news sites and forums can be. However, magazines can compensate for this by publishing high quality, in-depth articles on a particular topic that LEGO news sites usually don’t have the time and resources to write. If you want to delve deeper into LEGO-related topics, magazines can be a good option.
What do you think? Are you subscribed or have any copies of the LEGO magazines mentioned here? How do you like them? Would you recommend them to other LEGO fans? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!
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Btw, there’s been a bucketload of summer sets revealed recently, so I figured we’d see an article about that, soon…
I will wait a little with the new sets until I can do a round up. New reveals have been happening every day this week. As TBB is not a breaking news site (there are plenty of those already), but I always write up a summary article on important news. However, you’re welcome to talk about them, if you like. 🙂
The Ninjago and other magazines in that series are great. We also get the lego club/lego life magazine, and between those two publications, the kids are happy.
I have been following the reveal of the summer sets. They look amazing! Especially Happy Potter and Friends. As far as the magazines, I just get the free one. I did see an issue of Blocks, but it was overwhelmingly long. I know I couldn’t have read it all. And I didn’t like the text was so small. Or, maybe I’m just getting old. LOL
Holy cow, Batman! The new HP sets are amazing! And Friends, and creator, wow! Lego really outdid themselves with the summer wave, and Lepin was raided! All great news!
I don’t see the need to subscribe to Lego magazines. I just read everything online. Maybe for people who are not online very much, it could be worth it. I appreciate the effort though, and if I would run across any of the magazines at a bookstore, I would probably pick it up.
I think the new non space sets just announced are great.
Space not so great for a city layout builder.
No mention of “Brick Journal” in the US? Brick Journal has started showing up at Barnes & Noble also and subscriptions are cheaper than “Blocks”. “Blocks” for US customers i comes out to about $130/year. Brick Journal has several different subscripton options and may be cheaper- http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=616
Thanks for mentioning that! I haven’t seen Brick Journal for ages, but you are right, it looks like they are still around. I will add them to the list. 🙂
I so want that Mini on the front of the Brick Fanatics magazine! But the set is so expensive, and I only want that one car from it. What should I do?
There only tends to be occasional issues I’m slightly interested in, but single issues tend to be quite pricey when imported to Sweden.
I think I actually thought about buying Bricks #14, with a special feature on colors of parts and minifigs, but it turned out too expensive in the end.
https://brickset.com/article/22527/bricks-issue-14-available-now