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LEGO Classic & LEGO Technic contests!

by Thita (admin) on April 8, 2017

in Community News

There are a couple of new contest for teen and adult LEGO fans at LEGO’s ReBrick website that I wanted to make sure you know about. If you would like a good challenge for this spring, and a chance to win some awesome prizes, check them out. 🙂

➡ LEGO BUILDING BEYOND BRICKS CONTEST: This is a different sort of contest, where LEGO invites you to build with both LEGO bricks and common household objects. So you can create a forest around your LEGO creations with yarn and pencils, a mountain with pillows, or a cave using suitcases. The idea is to put your building expertise and imagination to the test by making a world where LEGO models interact with objects in your house. Below is an example.

There will be one grand prize winner who will receive a brick-built winner certificate in a LEGO Classic frame, and the following LEGO sets: #10692 LEGO Classic Creative Bricks, #10693 LEGO Classic Creative Supplement, #10694 LEGO Classic Creative Supplement Bright, #10696 LEGO Classic Medium Creative Brick Box, #10698 LEGO Classic Large Creative Brick Box, #10699 LEGO 32×32 Tan Baseplate, #10700 LEGO 32×32 Green Baseplate, #10701 LEGO 48×48 Gray Baseplate, #10702 LEGO Classic Creative Building Set, #10703 LEGO Classic Creative Builder Box, #10704 LEGO Classic Creative Box, #10705 LEGO Classic Creative Building Basket, #10706 LEGO Classic Blue Creativity Box, #10707 LEGO Classic Red Creativity Box, #10708 LEGO Classic Green Creativity Box, #10709 LEGO Classic Orange Creativity Box. There will also be two runner ups winners, who will receive the same sets, but not the winner certificate.

The deadline to enter this contest is April 20th, 2017 at 10:00AM EST. You can read more about the contest rules and submit your entry here: LEGO BUILDING BEYOND BRICKS CONTEST DETAILS

➡ LEGO BUILD TO THE FUTURE CONTEST: This contest challenges you to create your own futuristic LEGO Technic BMW motorcycle. Remember the alternate model of the #42063 LEGO Technic BMW R 1200 GS Adventure motorbike we talked about before? (See: LEGO Technic BMW Motorcycle Review). LEGO is looking for something like that, although you don’t have to use parts and ideas from that particular set. Your motorcycle can fly, travel underwater or through space and time, run on alternative fuel, generate power, or whatever else you can imagine.

There will be one grand prize winner who will receive a trip to BMW Motorrad’s biggest customer event: the BMW Motorrad Days in Garmisch-Partenkirchen July 7-9 2017. The winner will meet motorcycle fans from all around the world, see LEGO’s own futuristic hovercraft together with other new products, and be impressed by the great number of stunt-shows and riding adventures! The prize includes a flight, stay at a nearby hotel, and entry to the event. The grand prize winner will also receive the #42063 LEGO Technic BMW R 1200 GS Adventure motorbike signed by the design team, and a BMW fan package, including a silver BMW Motorrad roller pen, BMW notebook, Motorsports hat, and Motorrad lanyard. Nine runner up winners will receive the same set and BMW fan package, but not the trip to Germany.

The deadline to enter this contest is May 4th, 2017 at 10:00AM EST. You can read more about the contest rules and submit your entry here: LEGO BUILD TO THE FUTURE CONTEST DETAILS

Also, remember that the amazing LEGO Mini Modular Contest, where you can enter for a chance to win the entire LEGO Modular Buildings collection is still running! The deadline to enter that contest is May 12th, 2017 at 10:00 AM EST. You can read more about the contest here: LEGO Mini Modular Contest & Amazing Prizes!, and submit your entry here: MINI BUILDING MADNESS CONTEST DETAILS

What do you think? Are you planning to enter any of these awesome LEGO contests? Have you participated in any of the previous contests run on LEGO’s Rebrick website? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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LEGO Technic 40th anniversary model

by Thita (admin) on April 7, 2017

in LEGO Technic

As we discussed already in previous 2017 LEGO Technic reviews (see links at the end of this post), 2017 celebrates the 40th anniversary of the LEGO Technic line. To commemorate the event, all 2017 LEGO Technic sets come with a special 40th anniversary printed LEGO Technic beam that’s incorporated into each model. In addition, LEGO also released instructions for a 40th anniversary combo-model, which is an updated version of the #8860 LEGO Technic Car Chassis from 1980. 🙂

While the #8860 LEGO Technic Car Chassis may look crude by today’s standards, in its time it was a revolutionary model, displaying the capabilities of LEGO Technic, with a 4-cylynder reciprocating engine, 3-speed transmission, working rear differential, working rear suspension, functioning steering, and sophisticated reclining seats. It was a vast improvement over the earlier #853 LEGO Technic Auto Chassis from 1977 (see both sets below).

The updated version for the 40th anniversary combines pieces from three recent LEGO Technic sets; the #42057 LEGO Technic Ultralight Helicopter, the #42061 LEGO Technic Telehandler, and the #42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure motorcycle. If you have all three of those sets, you are fully equipped to build the anniversary model. If you don’t have all three sets, but you do have a decent collection of LEGO Technic pieces, you will need to look through the instructions step-by-step to see if you can build the model. Unfortunately, there is no parts-list published with the instructions, but I’m sure eventually enthusiastic LEGO Technic fans will put it together.

While the 40th anniversary set is not a boxed model, it’s nice to see that for the instructions LEGO included the familiar yellow and black striped border, which appeared on all LEGO Technic sets from the 1980s. A sweet touch, which those who grew up in the ’80s can appreciate.

Looking at the original and updated models of the car chassis, it is very interesting to see how building with LEGO Technic evolved through the years. You can see that the original model still uses mostly studded regular LEGO elements and only relies on specialized LEGO Technic pieces for the mechanical functions. The new model, on the other hand, is all LEGO Technic pieces, which gives it a smoother and rounder look.

Although the anniversary addition is completely different as far as parts-usage and building-techniques, LEGO stayed with the original color-scheme as much as possible. It would have been nice if the seats are all red, but since this is a combo-model from three different sets, it didn’t work out. However, I really like that they recreated the gray box from the front of the original vehicle, even though the pieces used are much different. (In the original model, the gray box served as a counter-weight for the engine.)

The 40th anniversary version of the LEGO Technic Car Chassis is smaller and more compact than the original model, however I don’t think this is a negative. It’s simply another feature that highlights the differences between classic and modern LEGO Technic sets.

While I’m not so much a fan of just displaying LEGO sets (I prefer the more interactive approach of building and playing), I think it would be worth displaying the #8860 LEGO Technic Car Chassis and the anniversary edition next to each other in a display-case. The pair is such a wonderful visual representation of the LEGO building system rooted in the past, yet constantly evolving to meet the needs of the present and the future.

If you would like to build the 40th anniversary LEGO Technic set, you can go the LEGO building instructions download page, and type in the set number of any of the three sets the combo-model is made of: #42057 LEGO Technic Ultralight Helicopter, #42061 LEGO Technic Telehandler, or #42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure. The instructions for the combo-model will be included as one of the downloadable PDF files for any of those sets. And if you don’t have the 2017 LEGO Technic sets yet, you can find them under the LEGO Technic section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the 40th anniversary LEGO Technic set? Do you think it’s a good representation of the original model? Are you planning to build it? Or have you build it already? Feel free to share your thoughts and own review in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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LEGO Classic & LEGO Technic contests!

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