Gamestop to Offer Promo Captain Jack Minifigure

FBTB is reporting that Gamestop will offer a promotional Captain Jack Sparrow minifigure not currently slated for sets when you pre-order the LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean video game. 

So this now makes 51 versions* of Capn' Jack that you'll have to collect if you want the entire series. I'm not certain what variant this one is supposed to represent, and the details are sparse on the Gamestop website. The face almost looks wooden and the pupils aren't highlighted. A voodoo doll?! Nevertheless a 'fun' idea!

You can see more about this story at FBTB.net.

*Not really, but it feels like it

Hi-Res Pics of New LEGO Harry Potter Sets

Ace of FBTB points the way to SnitchSeeker.com, a Harry Potter fan site, who have been given hi-res photos of three upcoming LEGO Harry Potter sets - Battle for Hogwarts (4867), The Knight Bus (4866), and The Forbidden Forest (4865).

There are a few new minifigures, and hi-res photos give you a great look at the designs.

You can see the pics of all three sets at SnitchSeeker.com.

Grand Opening Minifigs...I Like It!

Ace of FBTB reports on the LEGO Store grand opening this weekend at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA. The planned events seem to cover the standard fare for a new brand store - A Master Builder event, in this case Yoda, and some free exclusive items with qualifying purchases. It's the Saturday promotion which I find most intriguing...

When the LEGO Store opened in Cincinnati, OH there was a small brick-built model that you could get with a qualifying purchase (I think it was a 'flying pig'...don't ask). It would seem that LEGO has foregone the brick built model in Costa Mesa for an exclusive 3-pack of minifigures. On Saturday, be one of the first 300 people to make a purchase of $35 or more to receive the figures (hopefully given the time difference you can make your way down and still take advantage of this).

The torso prints are the real win here with designs I've not seen before. There's also back printing with the date and store to commemorate the event. Now I don't know if these prints will make an appearance in the 'Mini Build Bin' anytime soon, but future stores may have their own figures to look forward to.

If you are in the Costa Mesa area and want to read more about the event, head on over to read the full article at FBTB.net.

FBTB FTW

If there was an award for event coverage in the LEGO community, it should go to FBTB.net. The crew continues to add detailed pics of the sets and minifigures up on Flickr.

I'm currently perusing the LEGO Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean pics and adding them to my favorites (which can be viewed directly on Flickr or here). Nicely detailed shots of the front and back of each fig.

Needlessly to say fans of minifigures have a lot to look forward to this year...

New Ninjago at American International Toy Fair

I'll not post the image as it appears to have a 'confidential' watermark, but we seem to have more details on new Ninjago minifigures from the American International Toy Fair.

Picture are appearing around the net of two new skeletons, Kruncha and Wyplash, as well as a second version of Sensei Wu (DX version perhaps?). 

The skeletons are of the large head variety with Wyplash sporting a conical hat and Kruncha with a samurai style helmet. They both appear to have a new armor style as well.

The new Fire Temple set has a gold 'sword of fire' that is a new part mold. This piece did not appear in the first wave of sets, but looks fantastic with a dragon head hilt. The dragon screens from this set are phenomenal as well.

Finally, the dragons in these sets are quite nice! My favorite to date being the Earth Dragon.

My sincerest thanks to all the sites, like FBTB.net, who have not only taken the time to shoot and upload all of these pictures, but have likely sacrificed the time they could be spending on the showcase floor. I think if I was in their shoes, the temptation to run around and check all the other vendors would be too much for me. I can't wait to see all the pics from New York over the coming days.

FBTB Downloads the American International Toy Fair

It looks like the wait is over for the FBTB.net pics from the 2011 American International Toy Fair. Tons and tons of pictures have been added to their Flickr stream of great shots across a wide variety of play themes. No matter what you like, you are likely to find your favorites.

There are pages and pages of pics, which can be found on the FBTB photostream.

Quick Hits: Sales and Deals (US/CAN)

Just passing along some deal information courtesy of Toys N Bricks...

Toys R Us Canada is having a BOGO 50% off sale on all LEGO City, Atlantis, and Kingdoms sets. You always maximize you savings when purchasing sets of equal value. We are an affiliate with TRU Canada, meaning that if you click through via the banner at the top of our page and make a purchase, we get a small commission. Those commissions are then reinvested back into the site for content.

Also in Canada, Wal-Mart is offering 23% all Ninjago spinners. This would be a great time to round out your collection of Ninjas or Skeleton armies (I've also been told there's a game associated with these fellers...Who knew?!). If you would like to learn more you can take a peek at our Ninjago minifigure guides and get the skinny before you buy.

Finally, starting today through Monday, you can save up to 30% on three select sets at Toys R Us in the US:

• LEGO CITY Garage
• LEGO Power Miners Titanium Rig
• LEGO Space Police Hyperspeed Persuit

If you decide to purchase in store, FBTB.net reports seeing the exclusive LEGO Star Wars set Battle for Geonosis (7869) in certain TRUs. This set has only been available at Shop at Home to date, so another great way to pick one up.

Lot's more sales and deals news can be found at Toys N Bricks.

More PotC Minifig Pics at Stitch Kingdom

Disney blog Stitch Kingdom has a series of pics from the launch party for LEGO and Jakks Pirates of the Caribbean toy lines. They include a few close-ups of the figs and some of the sets from different angles.

Head on over and check them out. Thanks to FBTB.net for pointing out the original link.

Well Scoop My Timbers, PotC Set Pics Revealed!

MTV Shows

Well it seems that the MTV Movie blog manged to score pics of the upcoming LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean sets. There's also a teaser trailer for the LEGO game above. Someone in the FBTB.net community found these on the MTV site. No watermarks, no confidentiality, no problem.

First glance at the eight sets posted would suggest that the minifigs and elements are gonna be good. If you want to take a good look at the sets, I would recommend heading on over to FBTB.net where they are on display.

I guess this means we can start the guides for Pirates now, right Leper?!

Do We Have our First Look at Series 5 Collectible Figs?

FBTB.net has shared their invite to a US Toy Fair meet and greet come February. The invite features several minifigures from upcoming 2011 sets. Chances are you can place all but two of those minifigures. 

So who are the female spacer in blue and the alien with the broad head? I'm guessing these are two Series 5 Collectible Minfigures based on a couple of facts. First, LEGO announced earlier this year that had up through Series 5 already designed. Second, I would find it hard to believe that 2011 would have room for a third space set theme, with the LEGO City Space sets and Star Wars still in play. I guess only time will tell...

(Via FBTB.net)

LifeLites Now Has LED LEGO Lightsabers

LifeLites has just announced a blue LED lightsaber for your minifig duals. The saber and blade are all one piece with a 6 inch cord coming out the bottom of the hilt. The accessory itself is $8 USD, and you will also need to purchase a separate power source. The good news is that it's compatible with a wide variety of LifeLites kits.

Supplies are limited, so act soon. Hopefully if these are successful, other color blades will be made.

(Via FBTB.net and LifeLites)

LEGO Series 4 Collectible Minifigure Line-Up

Let's see how long it takes for TLG to ask me to take it down (although there are no confidentiality markers on this anywhere)...

Big thanks to Jamie for directing my attention to this. Originally found on the FBTB forums.

UPDATE: Although not contacted directly, I did overhear that the original source material has been taken down, suggesting TLG is not happy. Instead of upsetting the ABS overlords further, I'm taking down the pic until I hear otherwise.

UPDATE (AGAIN): Given that many fan sites have kept the images up, and there is often safety in numbers, I'm reposting the pic above. I'm also including the non-renedered pics of the actual figs!

Lego-fied Harry Potter Movie Posters

Another gift from FBTB.net today...It seems that TLG has reimagined several Harry Potter movie posters with rendered minifig designs. Okayaraman was kind enough to track these down and post on Flickr. Jump on over to his Flickr stream to see them all.

Amazon Lightning Deals Hack

First AFOLs crack the 'enigma cypher' that is the Series 3 Collectible Minifigure braile codes, now we find a way to hack the Amazon Lightning Deals using Google Chrome.

From Bricks to Bothans (FBTB.net) is reporting that today's 12pm PST Toys & Games Lightning Deal is expected to be LEGO Games Monster 4. This is a great parts pack for minifigure heads including werewolves, goblins, devils, jack o' lanterns, vampires, and skeletons. It also happens to be a nice game for the little ones.

Amazon Lighting Deals are quite good, but they go very quickly. Have your mouse poised and ready later today.

(Via Amazon Lightning Deals and FBTB.net)

LEGO Star Wars Minifig Wish Lists Announced

Somehow Ace at FBTB.net slipped this by me yesterday (and by 'slipped by' I mean showed it in plain sight for all to see), but they are reporting on the minifigs fans requested for future LEGO Star Wars sets. You can check out the top 25 selections here. A lot of good stuff across the original trilogy, pre-quals, Clone Wars, and expanded universe. My favorite? Grand Admiral Thrawn (he just barely made the top ten).

A few of these selections I think you are almost guaranteed to see it future sets, like Quinlan Vos (he was mysteriously dropped from the T6 Jedi Shuttle) and Oola (come on LEGO has to use that Twi'lek head piece for other sets). Padme/Amadala and the Max Rebo band were pretty popular as well.

I believe these were requested with the intention of sharing with TLG, but only time will tell who will make an future appearance.

Hey, LEGO! There's nothing that says a Star Wars series of Collectible Minifigures isn't a possibility too...

(Via FBTB.net)

New LEGO Star Wars Alarm Clocks

You may recall a few weeks back, a Stormtrooper and Darth Vader minifig alarm clock debuting on the scene. It seems that FBTB forum member Tim Steff has found two new variants of these clocks featuring the large-and-in-charge likeness of Yoda and Anakin Skywalker.

It's only a matter of time until Karf Oohlu finds a way to corrupt these 'maxifigs' in a new and unusual way.

These gems were found in a WalMart in Kentucky (my neck of the woods...so to speak) retailing for $19.97 USD.

Check out the full entry on the FBTB forums.

Quick Hits: Redeye Edition

So I'm finally back from my work trip and, man, did a few things happen while I was away. Let's get to it...

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean becomes even more of a reality as Disney Interactive and Traveler's Tales announced a video game based on the property will be released in May 2011. I would expect more set and minifigure news to appear around Toy Fair season in the coming months. Although financials on LEGO Harry Potter haven't been shared, the video game, LEGO sets, movie combination may be here to stay. Check out FBTB.net for more information. (UPDATE: TLG has also announced 8 sets for the line-up debuting in Spring 2011).

Also on FBTB, there's a contest in conjunction with TLG to submit your most wanted LEGO Star Wars minifigures. Now this isn't a 'who is your favorite' list, this is a 'who would you like to see' kinda thing. FBTB provides the e-mail  and other instructions for how to send your list. A select few, 10 people to be exact, will win White Boba Fetts for their participation. Here's the link for more details.

Thanks to one of our readers, Nathan, we have more details on the Series 3 Collectible Minifigures. Nathan was able to pick up a few of these at a Washington (state) Fred Meyer and provided some additional details for the Samurai, Snowboarder, Gorilla Suit, and Tribal Chief. Check out the comments for each entry in the guide for more details. I'll be updating those entries shortly. Also BrickPOP posted pics of the green Series 3 package. It's official - no secondary bar codes. You can also read Hillel Cooperman's colorful unboxing of his Series 3 minifigures on the site. The box ratios (rare, uncommon, and common) are all there too!

Mr. Will Chapman and fine folks at BrickArms released their WWII German soldier minifigs: Johann, Wilhem, and Fritz. Each fig retails for $20 and comes with a minifig stand, collector card, and great BrickArms accessories. You can check them out on the BrickArms site. Also for this month...winter camo freebies!

Arealight announced recently that starting November 25th, they will have the new sci-fi helmets in three new colors - Tan, Red, and Blue. The scooters shown in the pics? Those can be purchased now from BrickForge.

If you've checked out our customization tutorials page, you will have likely seen the name 'Lamanda2'. Well this female, customizer has several lots of hand painted goblin heads in tan and green for sale. You can check them out and negotiate a deal on her Flickr page.

Apologies for the lack of pics. If you can't find something, just shoot me a message and let me know.

Cygnet

Minister of Information

Ugly Duck Command Center

Minifig Nation

Quick Hits: Shopping News

It seems like every year retailers push the Christmas shopping season up more and more. If Halloween isn't careful, they might start playing 'Silver Bells' in October. Christmas also means that retailers are competing for your dollars, and this year is no exception. I've already begun to see the 20/30/40% sales on LEGO, as well as the infamous BOGOs. I'm certain Amazon will start having their 'gold box' daily deals any minute now. So what is a thrifty parent or collector to do? I'm going to do something a little 'unorthodox' here. I'm going to recommend you visit other LEGO sites...

Although the command center is staffed with my minifig minions, I'm the only purveyor of news on the site (not counting Cygnetron). It's for this reason that I just can't compete with the legions of forum members who post every little sale they come across. With that said, I would recommend checking in regularly with Toys N Bricks and FBTB.net for sales in North America, Brickset for deals in the UK, and Bricks Down Under in Australia. I'm certain there are other regional sites and blogs that cover your area, but I've found 99.9% of the sales and deals come through these sites. I will continue to mention certain pieces relevant to the LEGO minifigure universe, but some of these deals can pop up fast and go out faster than I can keep up with. Also, check in with these sites directly, as RSS feeds can be delayed. So much so that certain deals may be gone by the time you see them in your feed. Now, speaking of minifig related deals...

Toys R Us (US) re-released the LEGO Star Wars Chrome Stormtrooper polybag last night...and they were promptly snatched up online (see what I mean!) The website currently lists them as being in stores, but won't do a store location search for you. Listed at $2.99 USD, this may be one of your last chances to pick one of these puppies up.

Toys N Bricks is reporting that Wal-Mart (US) is putting LEGO Prince of Persia sets on clearance. Some fantastic figures and accessories for the collector or customizer. Some discounts have placed the Desert Attack set as low as $3.00 USD! The catch? Wal-Mart must apply some scientific algorithm to determine how to price clearance items. The deals vary from store to store, but at such deep discounts, it's worth a quick trip. Thanks to Toys N Bricks for the news.

I've mentioned over the past couple days that FireStar Toys has some new product in stock including the new Hazel Fantasy custom accessories, LEGO Harry Potter minifigs, and even a new Dr. Who custom. This is currently the only place where you can pick up new Hazel Fantasy product, although they should be available soon through the Amazing Armory website and United Armory. UK based FireStar does ship internationally so there are no issues there. If you needed yet another reason to check them out, you can use coupon/voucher code 'KV882256' to get an additional 10% off your order now through January 2011.

Even LEGO.com is getting in the Christmas spirit! They continue to offer double VIP points and free shipping or orders above $99 USD through December 14th. I also noticed that you can receive an extra bonus of 50 VIP points when you buy the LEGO Kingdoms King's Castle before November 12th. So head on over to the the LEGO Holiday Gift Shop today. Do remember that an order that originates from the site earns us a small commission, which we will use to help extend services and bring new content. Just click on the banner at the top of the page or the link above.

That's all for now. Happy Holidays and let the LEGO sales and deals season begin...

Cygnet

Minister of Information

Ugly Duck Command Center

Minifig Nation

Oky Wan Kenobi Presents: Toy Wars

Originally seen on FBTB.net, this mash up of Star Wars and Toy Story by Eurobricks member Oky Wan Kenobi is just terrific. This group shot seals the deal, but there are additional pics to be found on his Flickr stream. eclipseGrafx med droid would feel right at home with this group!

(Via FBTB.net and Okayaraman's Flickr stream)

More Quick Hits: LEGO Star Wars and White Boba News

A lot of news coming off the interwebs today...

This may be old hat but there's an opportunity to score a white Boba Fett minifigure if you plan on attending Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, Florida this weekend. There will be a community mural build for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Fans who help the Master Model Builders will receive an albino Boba for their efforts. It really makes me wonder how many of these guys are left of the original 10,000 unit run, especially since they were a promotional item at LEGOLAND California last weekend. How did I know that?! Well...

There's also a fantastic review of Star Wars Days at said LEGOLAND on FBTB.net. It seems that not only did participants in the Fan Gallery receive one in their goody bags, but on Sunday albino Boba was given to vistors making a $35 purchase at the store. In addition to coverage for 'White Boba Watch 2010', they provide some great pics of Branden Griffith's Empire chess set and other MOCs provided by a a veritable 'who's who' of the AFOL community. A new LEGO Star Wars trend may have been started by Paul Meissner and Branden Griffith - Battle Tauntauns. Ace enjoyed this so much that they have officially launched it as a community build project.

Finally, there's an article on a couple of rare minifigures that made an appearance. If you've seen the book LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary you may have noticed a minifigure likeness of George Lucas. I don't know if the real Mr. Lucas attended this past weekend's event, but his minifig likeness did. It's not known how many of these figs were produced, but we can safely assume it's quite rare. Also making an appearance is the minifig droid R2-KT. Originally made to test the printing pattern of the Clone Wars R2-D2 only 50 of these pink astromech droids are known to exist!

When you get a chance I recommend heading over and reading all three articles.

(Via Millionare Playboy and FBTB.net)