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July 2020 – New LEGO Sets & Promotions

by Thita (admin) on July 1, 2020

LEGO is running several new promotions during the month of July, including freebies, Double VIP Points, and some new sets. So, let’s take a look at everything that’s happening this month!

➡ FREE LEGO CREATIVE FUN SET: Between July 1st and July 26th, you will get the #40411 LEGO Creative 12-in-1 Set free with purchases of $85 or more. This is a really neat set, similar to what we have previously gotten for Christmas, with 240 pieces to build 12 different alternate models related to summer. This offer is valid on all purchases at official LEGO stores (if they reopened in your area) and the Online LEGO Shop.

➡ FREE BACK TO SCHOOL PACK: Towards the end of the month, between July 27 and July 29, you will get the #5005969 LEGO Back to School Pack free with purchases of $50 or more. This offer is also valid on all purchases at official LEGO stores and the Online LEGO Shop.

➡ FREE CHRISTMAS IN JULY SET: Then, for some reason, LEGO is giving away the #40338 LEGO Seasonal Christmas Tree with purchases of $100 or more between July 24 and July 26. I guess they may have had too many of these left over from last year? It’s a great set though and it includes some exclusive pieces. This offer is also valid on all purchases at official LEGO stores and the Online LEGO Shop.

➡ LEGO VIP MONTHLY SWEEPSTAKES: The Monthly Sweepstakes this month is for the very rare and limited-released 2012 San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Bizarro minifigure. Go to your LEGO VIP account and follow the instructions to enter the sweepstakes with your VIP points.

➡ LEGO DOUBLE VIP POINTS: Two sets that come with Double VIP Points this month are the #11717 LEGO Classic Bricks Box and the #10698 LEGO LEGO Classic Large Creative Brick Box. If you need loose elements, this is a good time to get them. Both sets are available at the LEGO Classic section of the Online LEGO Shop.

➡ LEGO CROCODILE LOCOMOTIVE AVAILABLE: The #10277 LEGO Creator Crocodile Locomotive is now available! We talked about this interesting historical train previously (see: LEGO Crocodile Locomotive Coming!) It’s not the prettiest locomotive out there, but it looks great for display and even customization. It’s available at the LEGO Creator section of the Online LEGO Shop.

➡ LEGO BRICK SKETCHES COMING SOON: LEGO fan Chris McVeigh has been well known for his LEGO Christmas ornaments and his Brick Sketches. So, when LEGO hired him last year as a designer, he had a chance to pitch his idea of brick sketches to the company as a potential product line. And they were accepted! There is an interesting interview with Chris at Brickset if you would like to hear more about how the collection came about. The four sets currently in the collection as official LEGO sets are as follows: #40386 LEGO Brick Sketches Batman, #40391 LEGO Brick Sketches First Order Storm Trooper, #40428 LEGO Brick Sketches The Joker, and #40431 LEGO Brick Sketches BB-8. They will be available on July 15th for $19.99 each at the LEGO Batman and LEGO Star Wars sections of the Online LEGO Shop.

The many new summer sets are already available the rest of the world, but we will continue to have to wait for them in North America. This gives us the time to catch up on some of the earlier sets of the year. Keep in mind that the LEGO factory in Mexico is still closed, so stock at the Online LEGO Shop has been quite sketchy. LEGO is doing its best to reroute some of the stock from other regions, but you will see a lot of LEGO sets on backorder or temporarily out of stock. So, if you see something that you like, and its available, I would suggest purchasing it right away before it goes out of stock again at the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? Are there any new sets that you would really like to get? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below!

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

➡ LEGO SHOP IN USA: Online LEGO Shop USA

➡ LEGO SHOP IN CANADA: Online LEGO Shop Canada

➡ LEGO SHOP IN UK: Online LEGO Shop UK

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LEGO Xtra Tape for Road and Water Layouts

by Thita (admin) on June 30, 2020

in Other LEGO Sets & Themes

A couple of curious items showed up under the LEGO Xtra line; the #854048 LEGO Xtra Road Tape and the #854065 LEGO Xtra Water Tape. The LEGO Xtra collection has been pretty good at providing interesting accessories for LEGO City fans, so it’s a good idea to check once in a while what’s new in this category. So, let’s see that the new tapes look like.

Both the #854048 LEGO Xtra Road Tape and the #854065 LEGO Xtra Water Tape are literally that – a roll of tape. The material and stickiness is similar to the masking tape that painters use, so they’re pretty easy to apply and remove, and perhaps even reuse a couple of times if you’re careful with it.

The #854048 LEGO Xtra Road Tape is mostly gray and features road markings, tire skid marks, and grass effects, and the #854065 LEGO Xtra Water Tape is blue with ripple and wave effects.

Both of the tapes are about 3” (8cm) wide, and you get about 15m (49ft) long of the material. This works well for the #854065 LEGO Xtra Water Tape, as you can make long rivers, or by laying pieces of the tape next to each other horizontally, you can even make a wider body of water.

The #854048 LEGO Xtra Road Tape is great for quickly laying out roads, but because it’s only three inches wide, and with a divider in the middle, it only works with the narrowest 4-stud wide cars. So, unfortunately it’s not a substitute – or even addition – to LEGO City road-plates. Without the divider, it could have been a great way to cover up the surface of a standard 12-inch wide shelf in front of the LEGO Modular Buildings (or other narrow street layout). A missed opportunity.

Both the #854048 LEGO Xtra Road Tape and the #854065 LEGO Xtra Water Tape come with some useful LEGO pieces. Most noteworthy is the scooter that comes with the road tape (always nice to get one of these), and the water tape comes with a dark-blue toolbox that’s still quite rare.

Whether you have any use for the #854048 LEGO Xtra Road Tape and the #854065 LEGO Xtra Water Tape depends on your needs, but the bottom line is that they are good quality and might be useful for some LEGO fans. If you want to check them out, they are available at the LEGO Xtra section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the idea of sticky tape used to create surfaces for LEGO play or display? Would you use either the road tape or water tape? Or would you like some other design? 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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July 2020 – New LEGO Sets & Promotions

LEGO Xtra Tape for Road and Water Layouts

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