New LEGO Star Wars Sets Expected in 2014

New additions will be added to one of LEGO’s most popular themes, Star Wars, in 2014. Thus far, pictures of two of these additions have become available:

Coruscant Police Gunship – 75046

New LEGO Star Wars Microfighters Line Unveiled

LEGO’s latest addition to the ever popular Star Wars theme will provide some of the Sci-Fi franchises most iconic vehicles in a small buildable format. Called Microfighters, each set is packaged together with a minifigure of a equally well known character and will be priced at $9.99. Sets in the line are slated to include:

 

Millennium Falcon (75030) with Han Solo Minifigure

New LEGO Batman Set Picture Revealed

A new set, LEGO Super Heroes Batman The Joker Steam Roller, has been revealed on a Dutch website. The set will include five minifigures: Batman, Batgirl, Robin, The Joker and the Joker’s Henchman. The set will be priced at €64.99(≈$89.99) and will be available in May,2014, just in time for Summer.

Source: ToysNBricks

LEGO To Introduce New Disney Princesses Line

LEGO will be introducing a new theme that follows in the footsteps of LEGO Friends featuring Disney Princesses. The new theme will share similar style in terms of aesthetics and minifigures as seen in LEGO Friends. The sets will include:

41050 Ariel’s Amazing Treasures

New Call of Duty Mega Bloks Sets To Be Released

The popular video game franchise, Call of Duty now has its own line of collector construction sets thanks to Mega Bloks. The line of the new sets, set to be released later this month feature a diversity of models inspired by the series of video games, including:

Mega Bloks Call of Duty – Chopper Strike

Mega Bloks Call of Duty – Dome Battleground

Mega Bloks Call of Duty – Drone Attack 

Mega Bloks Call of Duty – Heavy Armor Outpost

Mega Bloks Call of Duty – Light Armor Firebase

Mega Bloks Call of Duty – Mountain Recon Mega Bloks Call of Duty – Rib Beach Assault

Call of Duty follows in the footsteps of popular video game titles that have received their own Mega Bloks lines, including: Halo, World of Warcraft and Skylanders. The Call of Duty franchise, which saw its first game released in 2003, has since had immense success and has gone on to sell more than 100 million copies of all its titles combined.

Source: Articate

Kre-O to Get Dungeons & Dragons Theme

The legendary and iconic role-playing game franchise, Dungeons & Dragons,  will soon have its own line of construction sets under Hasbro’s Kre-O brand. The new line of construction sets also double as an action battling game. Sets in the line will include:

Outpost – $17

Series 12 Minifigures To Feature The LEGO Movie Characters

With The LEGO Movie expected in theaters early next year, it is no surprise that the latest Series of LEGO Collectible Minifigures will focus on characters from the film. The series will feature 16 different figures and will be the 12th series of LEGO Collectible Minifigures. Figures that will be part of the series include:

• William Shakespeare
• Abraham Lincoln
• Panda Guy
• Marsha
• Queen of the Mermaids
• Velma Staplebot
• Scribble-Face Bad Cop
• Wild West Wyldstyle
• Hard Hat Emmet
• Gail the Construction Worker
• “Where Are My Pants?” Guy
• Mrs. Scratchen-Post
• Wiley Fusebot
• President Business
• Calamity Drone
• Taco Tuesday Man
• Larry the Barista

As per the norm, each blind bag will feature a minifigure, stand, accessories and a collectors book. No word yet on a release date.

Source: ToysNBricks

Project Swapfig Marches On: An Interview With Its Founder, SilentMode

SilentMode, a longtime pillar of the LEGO community is crowdfunding to provide a brand new design for LEGO minifigure trading site: Project Swapfig. SilentMode recently sat down with Kollectobil and spoke about the present and future of the up and coming site, Project Swapfig:

What has changed with Swapfig since it first launched?

Project Swapfig officially launched on May 1st, and I wish I could say it was a smooth launch… I had to spend the next two and a half days sat at my computer, trying to fix all kinds of errors that appeared. It took about a week before I finally managed to rest.
In the six months the site has been up, I’ve been adding other interesting features, such as a Statistics page, and a convenience page for finding users with a specific minifigure to trade – and of course a lot of time has been spent on SEO, site maintenance and bug fixing. Most importantly I’ve been listening to feedback and working on adding future support for other kinds of minifigures, as well as polybag sets and even parts to trade. Other than those things, my focus is on expanding the site in order to introduce more people to trading and collecting minifigures.

Why use the crowdfunding model again to raise money for Swapfig?

It was difficult the first time, and I knew that a second crowdfunding attempt was going to be even more difficult because the site had launched anyway. I also knew that asking for donations for the site’s upkeep wouldn’t work. I eventually decided to try crowdfunding again because, in addition to raising money for a web designer, I would also be able to offer rewards to supporters: for example, the Gold Swapfigure as a substitute for Mr Gold from the Series 10 Collectible Minifigures. Crowdfunding also proved to be a great way of spreading the word about and attracting new people to the site.
Regardless of the outcome, I highly doubt I will ever do crowdfunding again, and there definitely won’t be a third attempt for Swapfig.

Why the move away from Kickstarter?

There were (and still are) many good reasons to use Kickstarter for crowdfunding, but my main reason for going elsewhere was with my first attempt being “buried” on the site before it ended. The shorter than usual campaign length (which was necessary as I was working to the May 1st deadline) was also a result of having to wait for approval before it could launch, which took several days.
I had looked at alternatives as soon as I’d decided to make a second attempt, and the main reason for going with Zequs (formerly PleaseFund.us) was because of their enthusiasm and support in the planning stages of the campaign: something I’d didn’t have and couldn’t get elsewhere. They also accept PayPal for pledges, which some people who didn’t back the first campaign had claimed was an issue.

What is your vision for the new design?

The main aim of the redesign is to attract a wider audience of people, both directly and through promoting the site, and encouraging existing users to use the site often. I would be open to giving the designer creative input, but my thoughts at the moment would be to build on the existing design by making use of colour and imagery, while maintaining an overall clean and distinctive look. The end result will hopefully be something you’d find featured in a web design magazine; it would also coincide with Swapfig losing the “Project” from its name! I would really like to attract younger fans of LEGO to the site as a result (with their parents’ supervision, of course), but avoid the clichéd “Web 2.0” look of other places, such as LEGO’s own Collectible Minfigures web site.

What has been the feedback from users since Swapfig’s launch?

Even though the first crowdfunding attempt had failed, it went a long way toward getting the word out about the site – and many times more people than supported the campaign have since joined the site and have been trading. I’ve had quite a few compliments about the site, even with its current design, and most of them have noted how simple and effective it is to trade with other people. There have been people who’ve found things to complain about, be it the design, crowdfunding, bugs or other things – but they show just how much of an impact Swapfig has made since its inception. They may not admit it, but many of those critics are actually members!

Swapfig’s crowdfunding campaign runs until November 16th. To start using Project Swapfig or to find out more information about it, check out the official site and its Facebook page.

First The LEGO Movie Set Picture Emerges

The first picture of a set from the upcoming The LEGO Movie theme has just emerged online, providing a glimpse of what the new line may offer once its released next year. The first set image is of the Super Cycle Chase (pictured above), which features four minifugures based on characters from the movie. Other sets in the theme will include:

• 70800 Escape Glider
• 70801 Melting Room
• 70802 Pursuit
• 70803 Fool Palace
• 70804 Ice machine
• 70805 Waste Crusher
• 70806 Castle Cavalry
• 70807 Metal Beard’s Duel
• 70808 Super Motor Pursuit
• 70809 Lord Business’ Hideout

Expect to see The LEGO Movie theme on store shelves sometime in 2014.

Source: Brickset