The Brick Connection – A novice Lego fan explores the great brick world of LEGO

Happy February my fellow LEGO fans!

A new month finally brings a new topic. That topic is LEGO.

Well obviously every week the topic is LEGO (or at least I try really hard to make it about LEGO). But since I’ve spent the last month or so talking only about….a popular space opera, I thought I’d take some time to look at what I might have missed in the world of LEGO while obsessing over that one topic.

So what’s going on with LEGO?!

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens video game trailer!

I know, I know, I was supposed to talk about something other than Star Wars, but it’s not my fault that this exciting news was announced this week.

Check out the hilarious trailer:

As you can see, it prominently features the new trio of the new trilogy: Rey, Finn, and Poe. And it’s a great spoof of the real Star Wars The Force Awakens trailer. Really though, LEGO is pretty good at comedy.

I was hoping someone would make a side-by-side comparison video of the trailers and fortunately for me, somebody did:

There’s even a LEGO-style version of the movie poster

So what do we know? The game will be released on June 28^th, but it is available for pre-order now. Check it out on Amazon here.  

You can get in on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, and PlayStation Vita.

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One also offer Deluxe Editions for $10 more that get you a season pass and an exclusive Finn minifigure (still in his stormtrooper uniform) in addition to the game.

Here is the description of the game:

The No. 1 LEGO videogame franchise triumphantly returns with a fun-filled, humorous journey based on the blockbuster Star Wars film. In LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, players relive the epic action from the blockbuster film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, retold through the clever and witty LEGO lens. The game will also feature exclusive playable content that bridges the story gap between Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens also introduces Multi-Builds and Blaster Battles to the LEGO videogame universe. With Multi-Builds, use available LEGO bricks to open up new paths, then break them apart and re-build them again to open up another! And another! During Blaster Battles, use your surroundings as cover to stand against the First Order.

I love the line, “retold through the clever and witty LEGO lens.” It’s cool that they’re doing that for what is obviously supposed to be a fun kids game, but I’m wondering how they’re going to handle the dark and depressing ending to the film. Although for the very, very end of the film, I’d love to see what they do with the Luke and Rey meeting. That can very easily be made into something humorous. Do you think they will actually show that part, with a Luke minifigure? There hasn’t been a Luke minifigure released yet for The Force Awakens sets, although the reasons why are quite obvious. But I wonder if they do plan to release a Luke minifigure for Episode VII. We shall see.

The most interesting detail about the video game is that it will have content that bridges the story gap between Episode VI and Episode VII; a period of about 30 years. I know there are books being done to fill in the story as well, but a LEGO video game version sounds pretty awesome.

Anyway, it is not really a surprise that this video game is being made. The LEGO video game franchise began with LEGO Star Wars in 2005 and has sold over 33 million copies since according to Warner Bros.

Alright, how about some non-Star Wars news…

Did you hear about the upcoming wheelchair-using minifigure?

He is a part of a new LEGO City set coming out in June in which the setting is a park. LEGO hasn’t made any grand announcement about this minifigure and that is probably for the best. It would make the special thing they’re doing less special if they went around talking about how special they are for doing it. And really, it shouldn’t be that special. According to The Guardian, there are 150 million children with disabilities worldwide and their representation in toys and pop culture in general should be the norm, not a PR stunt.

All of this is apparently in response to the #ToyLikeMe campaign that was started in April 2015 by parents of children with disabilities. They have received over 20,000 signatures for a petition to LEGO to include representation of children with disabilities in their toy lines. Their petition included an idea for a set, which was a skate park, with kids catching air in their wheelchairs.

It appears that LEGO may have liked the park idea, since it is a park setting in which this wheelchair-bound minifig will be sold.

The response to LEGO’s new minifigure from the #ToyLikeMe campaign organizers was emotional. “We’ve got genuine tears of joy right now,” they said.

For a little more background on all of this, check out this video. It shows that LEGO has had wheelchairs in their sets before, but always for elderly minifigs. And of course, it’s not just the elderly that are physically disabled.

So that’s really awesome that LEGO listened to that campaign. As the biggest toy company in the world, LEGO can lead the way in positively influencing kids. And AFOLs are never too old to get some positive influence as well.

The images of the LEGO City park set came from the Nuremberg Toy Fair, the biggest international toy fair, which is held annually in Germany. This year it was held from January 27^th to February 1^st. It was there that LEGO showed off pretty much all of their products being released in 2016. This is the exact kind of LEGO news I needed!

The Brick Fan conveniently gathered all the images and video they could find from LEGO’s presentation, which you can find here, divided by theme.

Here is what I thought some of the highlights were:

The Angry Birds Movie sets

Fun fact: I’ve never actually played Angry Birds. But I know it involves throwing around birds, so that means there should be a lot of fun play features for these sets

LEGO Architecture United States Capitol Building

Maybe I’m a nerd for thinking this is cool, but it is. The funny thing is, the real Capitol Building is under construction right now, so you could have a little fun with that should you buy and build this set

LEGO City Volcano Explorers

I’m not sure how these sets will be critiqued once they’re in the hands of LEGO fans, but this is just a really cool idea. And also kind of random. Are they running out of normal settings for a LEGO City set?

LEGO Friends Amusement Park

Sweeeeeet! So many cool play features! My next LEGO purchase has got to be LEGO Friends. I’m a huge fan, despite never having owned or played with anything in this theme. I think this will be a big hit.

LEGO Technic Porsche

Okay, remember that I’m new to LEGO when I say, I’ve never seen LEGO Technic before. I have heard people talk about technic pieces though. It all makes sense now! Anyway, this is a sweet car. Remind me to look more into LEGO Technic for a future blog post.

I believe LEGO also showed off new Star Wars sets, namely the ones for Rogue One. But I think LEGO was stricter about any video or pictures getting out for anything Star Wars related. Though there was an image from LEGO’s presentation at the toy fair that has led to speculation that Boba Fett might make an appearance in the upcoming prequel/sequel being released in December. So there’s that.

The New York Toy Fair is next weekend, so we’ll have to see if LEGO reveals anything more about their upcoming releases.

For now, that concludes my look at the current happenings in the world of LEGO. Is there anything else LEGO-iscious going on out there that I should know about? Is there anything you saw from Nuremberg that you can’t wait to get your hands on? Let me know!

Until next time…have a LEGO-iscious day! 

*Compliments, general feedback, and constructive criticism are welcome. Any haters that are gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate can go step on some Lego with their bare feet.*