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LEGO Ideas Yellow Submarine & Apollo 11

by Thita (admin) on June 14, 2016

in LEGO Exclusives

A couple of days ago LEGO announced the chosen projects from the third 2015 LEGO Ideas review. There were nine qualified projects in this review-period that reached 10,000 votes between September 2015 and early January 2016. The results are quite interesting. Below is the video-announcement and some other details. 🙂

The LEGO The Beatles Yellow Submarine is by amateur musician and songwriter, Kevin Szeto. He wanted to show his affection for The Beatles through a LEGO tribute to the iconic British rock band. He really brought it to life in vibrant and fun colors, and even included the whole band as LEGO minifigures. The submarine in its current state is just a bit over 400 pieces, which is in line with other LEGO Ideas sets. It features a functioning propeller and rudder, as well as a set of periscopes that can rotate to different angular positions. The top cover of the chassis is removable to reveal a cockpit that fits all four minifigs. This is a great display-piece for Beatles fans, plus we will get the entire band in minifig form!

The LEGO Apollo 11 Saturn V is by LEGO fans saabfan and whatsuptoday is the second project that was approved in this round. The whole rocket is about 1 meter or 130 studs long, and consists of 1179 LEGO elements. If LEGO stays true to the original submission, this is going to the largest set released under LEGO Ideas, and could open the door for other larger projects. The rocket is actually quite complex with a modular design. It features a removable 1st rocket-stage with the main rocket engine, a removable 2nd rocket-stage with rocket engine, and a removable 3rd rocket-stage with the Apollo spacecraft. The Apollo spacecraft includes the “Eagle” Lunar Lander and the Lunar Orbiter. And there is also a rescue rocket on top of the whole spacecraft. The set comes with two minifigure astronauts. This is not just a beautiful LEGO model, but it is also educational and a testament to human exploration.

Below is the announcement video with more details:

LEGO is still working out the final design, pricing, and availably for both the LEGO Beatles Yellow Submarine and the LEGO Apollo 11 Saturn V, but they should be available towards the end of this year and/or early next year. At the same time the next batch of LEGO Ideas projects that reached 10,000 supporters between January and May 2016 are already in review. The results will be announced later this fall.

I think LEGO made a good choice with both projects. I’m particularly excited about the LEGO Apollo 11 Saturn V. This will be the third space exploration related LEGO Ideas set after the #21101 LEGO Ideas Hayabusa, and the #21104 LEGO Ideas NASA Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover – both excellent sets. If you would like to check out the currently available sets originally designed and submitted by LEGO fans, check out the LEGO Ideas section of the Online LEGO Shop.

So what do you think? How do you like the two projects LEGO has chosen? Are you excited about either of them? Or both? Were you hoping that some of the other projects get approved instead? 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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Having fun with the new LEGO baby

by Thita (admin) on June 13, 2016

in LEGO Minifigures

We have already discussed the #60134 LEGO City Fun in the Park – City People Pack (see: LEGO City Fun in the Park Available Now!), and as you know, the set comes with a brand new baby minifigure. The nature of babies is to make people exclaim; “Ohhh! Ahhh! How cute! How precious!” And while this baby is only a little piece of plastic, it has been getting similar reactions from LEGO fans. 🙂

So let’s take a closer look at this adorable little bundle of joy. First of all – just so you can appreciate how tiny the baby is – here is a comparison picture with other LEGO figures. The blue piece on the left is a LEGO micro-figure, used as a trophy, statue, or miniature version of a minifig. Next is the new baby minifigure. The bundled baby comes with the Tribal Woman from LEGO Minifigures Series 15. The next piece is a figure from the now retired LEGO Games series. And the last two are a child minifigure with short legs, and a standard LEGO minifigure.

As you can see, the new LEGO baby is just a tad taller than a LEGO micro-figure, and has about the same body-shape as the LEGO Games figure. However while the LEGO micro-figure and the LEGO Games figure are a single piece with no removable parts, the LEGO baby is made up of two pieces; a removable head, and a one-piece body.

The baby’s body is one piece; the size and height of a LEGO 1×1 brick. It can be attached to a single stud, like the LEGO Games figure. The arms and hands are not movable, however the hands have the same circumference as a standard LEGO rod, so you can attach a clip to them. The neck-post is also the same as a standard LEGO rod.

#60134 LEGO City Fun in the Park Wheelchair

The removable head is similar in shape to a standard LEGO minifigure head, but it is much smaller and has no neck section. It can be attached to a standard LEGO rod (so yeah, you can have smiling baby heads on stakes… okay, I agree… that’s too disturbing to think about). The stud on the top of the head is very tiny and smaller than a LEGO rod. So far I haven’t been able to find anything that could attach to it. However the head itself has the same circumference as the head of LEGO Games figure, so if you have one of those awesome and very rare miniature Viking helmets that came in the #3860 LEGO Games Castle Fortaan set, you can put it on the baby. Unfortunately this is the only helmet LEGO ever made for the LEGO Games figures, so no other headgear would fit the baby at this point.

As soon as new LEGO elements become available, LEGO fans immediately start experimenting with them. And the baby is no exception. In the picture above you can see daddy and baby Viking with the tiny helmet I mentioned in the previous paragraph, and daddy and baby hotdog guy with the new small hotdog piece. In the picture below, baby minifig and baby bunny are getting attacked by Slimer. All three images are by flickr member and excellent minifigs photographer Vanjey-Lego.

The LEGO baby minifigure is currently only available in the #60134 LEGO City Fun in the Park – City People Pack, but will also be included in LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 16 coming later this year (with a babysitter). And I’m sure LEGO will add it to other sets as well. If you want to get your own baby, you can find LEGO City Fun in the Park under the LEGO City section of the Online LEGO Shop.

So what do you think? How do you like the LEGO baby? Do you have it already? Have you been experimenting with it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! 😉

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

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LEGO Ideas Yellow Submarine & Apollo 11

Having fun with the new LEGO baby

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