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LEGO Technic Powered Up Parts Now Available!

by on June 10, 2020
in LEGO Technic

To date, the LEGO Technic Powered Up electric components have been only available in LEGO sets. So, if you wanted to get more motors or hubs, you had to purchase extra sets that came with them. Recently, Gaute Munch, Director Product Technology (Product owner of Powered Up) announced that LEGO Technic Powered Up components are now available individually via the Online LEGO Shop. This news greatly delighted LEGO fans, until they say the prices… so, let’s talk about this.

First, here is the original announcement by Gaute, where he talks about the availability of LEGO Technic Powered Up components.

Great News on Powered Up components! – Until now, our LEGO Technic Powered Up components have only been available to buy as part of the sets, and we know that some of you have been interested in having the electronic components available to be sold separately.

Powered Up components are the hubs, motors, lights, sensors, and control handsets that can help builders bring their LEGO models to life. The components can be used to add motorized movement and light features to models, and control them through the Powered Up App. And now to the great news! As of June 1st 2020, fans will be able to buy the LEGO Technic Powered Up components individually at LEGO.com.

The new components available individually are listed below. They are also added to the Powered Up Components webpage, where you will find inspiration and ideas on how to use them.

➡ #88012 LEGO POWERED UP TECHNIC HUB

  • 4 input/output ports for connection with LEGO Powered Up motors, lights and sensors.
  • Integrated movement sensor.
  • Connects via Bluetooth to the LEGO Powered Up app and the Control handset
  • Designed for use with LEGO Technic elements.
  • Requires 6 AA batteries (not included).
  • Recommended for ages 8+.
  • PRICE: $89.99 – BUY HERE

➡ #88013 LEGO POWERED UP TECHNIC LARGE MOTOR

  • Use this motor for power and accuracy.
  • Integrated rotation sensor and absolute positioning for accurate speed and position control.
  • Designed for use with LEGO Technic elements.
  • 32 cm connection wire for Powered Up Hubs.
  • Requires a Powered Up Hub (sold separately).
  • Recommended for ages 6+.
  • PRICE: $39.99 – BUY HERE

➡ #88014 LEGO POWERED UP TECHNIC XL MOTOR

  • Integrated rotation sensor and absolute positioning for accurate speed and position control.
  • Designed for use with LEGO Technic elements.
  • 32 cm connection wire for Powered Up Hubs.
  • Requires a Powered Up Hub (sold separately).
  • Recommended for ages 6+.
  • PRICE: $39.99 – BUY HERE

As far as the prices, there are several things worth noting. The #88012 LEGO Technic Powered Up Hub is hard to compare, as it obviously does more than the old LEGO Power Functions Battery Box and IR receiver, but we can still compare it to the standard #88009 LEGO Powered Up Hub, which is available individually for $50.

The motors are easier to compare, as they just do what motors suppose to do. The old #88003 LEGO Power Functions Large Motor is still available for $14, and the #8882 LEGO Power Functions XL Motor is available for $10. The new regular LEGO Powered Up Motor is $17. Selling the LEGO Technic motors for $40 each is a staggering increase in price.

It’s also worth noting that the #42109 LEGO Technic App-Controller Top Gear Rally Car includes all three components (the hub, the L-motor, and the XL-motor, plus a bunch of regular LEGO Technic pieces), and sells for $130 (which was already considered very high). If you would purchase the three components separately, you would be paying a not so cool $170 – $40 more than the price of the Rally Car. So, buying the LEGO Technic Powered Up components separately doesn’t make any sense. It’s better to just get the Rally Car and either use or sell the extra parts.

So, unfortunately, after the initial excitement over the announcement, the news turned out to be not so exciting after all. Feedback has been provided about the pricing abnormalities to the LEGO Powered via the LEGO Ambassador Forum and customers are also voicing their displeasure via reviews at the Online LEGO Shop. We will have to wait and see if and how the LEGO Powered Up team is going to respond.

In the meantime, you may consider sticking with LEGO Power Functions, get a standard LEGO Powered Up set, or purchase the LEGO Technic Powered Up Rally Car (which is the cheapest and smallest set with all three of the LEGO Technic Powered Up components). Please remember that LEGO Power Functions and LEGO Powered Up are not compatible, so you can’t mix and match the components. You can check out the full selection here:

What do you think? Have you had a chance to try out the new LEGO Powered Up system? Or are you still using LEGO Power Functions? Do you think it’s worth switching over to the new system? And what do you think of the current status of the LEGO Technic Powered Up Components? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!

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Petition to Move Ninjago TV Show from CN to Netflix

by on June 9, 2020
in LEGO Ninjago

For several years now, the LEGO Ninjago fan community has been voicing their displeasure about how Cartoon Network have been handling the LEGO Ninjago TV show. Members of the community are currently running a petition at Change.org, requesting the transfer of the show over to Netflix or another, more suitable platform. IN the meantime, there is also a discussion about the issue at the LEGO Ambassador Network, which should also help to get the message across. Below is the summary of what this campaign is about, the challenges LEGO Ninjago fans have been facing, and the proposed solution.

Cartoon Network has been handling the LEGO Ninjago TV show quite poorly for several years now. For example the 2019 LEGO Ninjago sets were released in the summer/fall, but the TV show episodes the sets were tied to didn’t air until half a year later. And there is no sign of when the episodes related to the January releases will air, and not to speak of the summer sets that are getting released soon.

Because of delayed and unknown release dates, LEGO Ninjago fans have no choice but to pirate the episodes from other countries where the TV show episodes are released earliest. They upload the videos to YouTube to help out other Ninjago fans, only to be forced to take the videos down by LEGO’s legal department.

This has been an ongoing battle between Ninjago fans, Cartoon Network, and LEGO legal, and it appears that nobody wins under the circumstances. Ninjago fans have to wait an unreasonable amount of time to watch the episodes the new sets are related to, or watch low quality pirated versions online. LEGO can’t advertise the sets in the show, because by the time the episodes air those sets are old and they are a season ahead with new releases. And Cartoon Network doesn’t get the ratings and viewership they would like because most Ninjago fans have already seen the episodes somewhere else. Thus, they think that the show is no longer popular, so they delay the episodes even more. And the cycle continues…

The group of LEGO Ninjago fans who are running the Change.org campaign suggest that Ninjago gets moved over to Netflix. Older episodes are already available for streaming on the platform, so it seems like the LEGO Ninjago team already has an arrangement with the platform. This would allow LEGO to release new TV show seasons to coincide with the release of new wave of sets. This would be a win for both LEGO and LEGO Ninjago fans. If you are interested to sign the campaign, you can do so here: LEGO NINJAGO PETITION

The current wave of sets that are sold at the Online LEGO Shop were released in January, and are related to LEGO Ninjago Masters of Spinjitzu – Season 12: Prime Empire. So far, the episodes only aired in Asia and Australia, with no sign of when or even if they will air the rest of the world. Other sets currently available are under the LEGO Ninjago Legacy collection, which are updated versions of previously released popular sets (mostly vehicles and mechs). In the meantime, sets related to Season 13 are already sold in some countries. You can check out both the currently available sets and the upcoming releases at the LEGO Ninjago section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? Do you still watch the Ninjago TV show? Or did you give up trying to find the episodes? And do you still get the LEGO Ninjago sets even without knowing the story behind them until months later? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! If you like, I can share them with LEGO directly via the LEGO Ambassador Network.

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