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Mission to Space – LEGO & NASA partnership

“Mission to Space” is a NASA-LEGO partnership to inspire children about science and space exploration through two complimentary and interactive websites. They have lots of interesting information, activities, videos, quizzes, and more. If you have kids who are interested in spacetravel, becoming an astronaut, or how science is used in exploring distant planets, this is a great way to learn. It is also fun if you are just looking for some space related LEGO creations, and there is even a LEGO building challenge! 🙂

LEGO and NASA 1

NASA and LEGO have a longstanding relationship. LEGO released a number of space exploration related sets through the years, like the #21101 LEGO Hayabusa from 2012, the #21104 LEGO NASA Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover from 2014, and the entire LEGO Discovery collection from 2003 (see below). In addition, astronauts regularly take LEGO sets and minifigures with them to the International Space Station for both science and fun. In fact, LEGO delivered 28 LEGO models to the station in the last five years. They are used for various research projects, and to build models to see how they work in microgravity.

LEGO and NASA 8

NASA says the following on their website about the collaboration: “NASA and LEGO have worked together to produce a fun and engaging online activity. “Mission to Space” takes kids on a journey through space with visits to the International Space Station, Mars and Jupiter, and gives them a chance to make their own space creations through an online building challenge. NASA research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is essential to humanity’s continuing journey of exploration.” Check the NASA “Mission to Space” website here.

LEGO and NASA 4 LEGO and NASA 5

And this is what LEGO says about the partnership: “Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you could visit other planets and travel through space? Well, here’s your chance to go on a mission to space through a partnership between NASA and the LEGO Group! Pack your space-lunch, and get ready to fly the International Space Station, pass the Moon, all the way to Mars and Jupiter! Learn fun facts about our solar system, play quizzes, and get a taste of life as an astronaut and space-pioneer! Round off the trip by entering an out-of-this-world building challenge.” Check the LEGO “Mission to Space” website here.

LEGO and NASA 6

You learn interesting facts, like that in 2003 NASA and LEGO worked together to send the first construction bricks to Mars aboard the Spirit and Opportunity Mars Rovers. A third Mars rover, named Curiosity joined Spirit and Opportunity on Mars in 2012. Or, that onboard the Juno spacecraft that after a 5-year journey finally reached Jupiter earlier this summer, there are three specially-constructed LEGO minifigures made of space-grade aluminum: Roman god Jupiter, his wife Juno and ‘father of science’ Galileo Galilei (see below).

LEGO and NASA 2

Kids can also participate in the “Building Your Future” challenge. There is no prize, but it is still a fun activity. Here is the description: “We’re looking for the most creative builds and awesome space ideas. How would your home on a planet look like? How would you grow food in space? How would you travel from planet to planet? Just use LEGO bricks and build what your future in space look like, take a picture and upload to our “Mission to Space” gallery. The winner creations will be featured on LEGO.com and receive a winner badge on their LEGO.com gallery page!”

LEGO and NASA 3

While the “Mission to Space” website is supposed to be for kids, adults can enjoy it as well. And it also offers a great way for families to learn, explore and build together. I particularly like the little spaceship and planets you can build from the stop-motion instructions, and the videos about living on the International Space Station. This is a lesser-known section of the LEGO website, so check it out! And if you would like to build your own space exploration scenes, there are several LEGO City Space sets currently available at the Online LEGO Shop.

Shop 2015 LEGO Summer Space Sets

What do you think? Did you know about LEGO’s collaboration with NASA? Have you checked out the websites yet? Did you learn something new? What do you think about LEGO in space? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

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LEGO BrickHeadz collection coming!

At the recent San Diego Comic-Con LEGO revealed a new line of LEGO Super Heroes sets called BrickHeadz. Each of the four sets that were available at the event included two characters with a blocky body and big head; Batman and The Joker, Doctor Strange and Black Panther, Superman and Wonder Woman, and Captain America and Iron Man. While these sets were exclusive to SDCC, other sets in the same style will be released next year. So let’s talk about these guys. 🙂

LEGO Brickheadz 1 LEGO Brickheadz 2 LEGO Brickheadz 3 LEGO Brickheadz 4

This is not the first time LEGO released similar figures. You may remember the very creative LEGO CubeDudes designed by PIXAR animator Angus McLane (see links at the end of this post). However those were limited-release exclusive LEGO sets, only available at a couple of events.

LEGO CubeDude Exclusives LEGO CubeDude Bounty Hunter Collection

Bigheaded figures with small bodies and cute features are very popular in general. Just think of the Funko Pop collectible characters! So it’s no surprise that LEGO decided to jump on the bandwagon with their own collection.

LEGO Brickheadz Funko Pop

In addition, Mega Bloks have been very successful with their Kubros figures that were released earlier this summer. Series 1 includes Ezio from Assassin’s Creed, T-800 Gurdian from Terminator, He-Man, Master Chief from Halo, Spock from Star Trek, and Skeletor. Each Mega Bloks Kubros figure is about 150 pieces and costs $17, so we can probably expect the LEGO BrickHeadz figures to be about the same. It is interesting to note that the Kubros figures appear to be more posable that LEGO BrickHeadz. LEGO usually prides themselves in making their sets playable and kid-friendly, but it seems like BrickHeadz is specifically for collectors.

LEGO Brickheadz MegaBloks Kubros

It is also interesting that there is a project on LEGO Ideas called LEGO Avengers Blockheads that it very similar to LEGO BrickHeadz. However the project never got much traction and it is going to expire in a few days.

LEGO Brickheadz Blockheads

As I mentioned at the beginning, the BrickHeadz sets pictures above were specifically made for Comic-Con, however there will be a whole series and wider availability in 2017. It is not clear if the same figures will be re-released, or perhaps the characters will come in new packaging and/or with some slight variations.

Initial response to LEGO BrickHeadz varies widely. It seems like that people either love them or hate them. Time will tell if LEGO will be successful with the idea. Even for non-fans of the series, some of the pieces could be interesting. For example Unikitty’s tail in black, all the printed pieces, black eye pieces, and more. However I’m not sure if they would ever become as popular as LEGO Super Heroes Mighty Micros, which are small, cute, collectible, and also come with lots of playability (see below).

Shop LEGO Super Heroes Mighty Micros

What do you think? How do you like LEGO Brickheadz so far? Are you looking forward to their release? Or do you think they are a bad idea? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

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

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