“Bio-Cup 2023 preliminary round starts when?” you ask? Why, it has already started! The preliminary round of the Bio-Cup 2023 building contest is now underway, and the theme of this qualifying round is Villain. What type of villain you create is entirely up to you. Contestants have until June 6th (23:59 PDT) to submit their entries, with the highest-scoring entrants moving on to the subsequent “head-to-head” elimination rounds (detailed rules can be found here). If for some reason you have no idea what the Bio-Cup is, even after all all of our prior contest coverage, below is a refresher of our past contest kick-off article by Grayson Moses. It provides such a great summary of what the contest is all about, that we shamelessly dust it off and put it back to use again each year - it’s tradition for us at this stage. Here’s hoping that participating in the Bio-Cup...

The Western River Steamboat by CTDpower is the latest project to achieve 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas. The boat is about 30″ long and 7.5″ wide and can separate into four parts for easy access. It is also minifigure scale. The project joins “Big Boy” Locomotive, Retro Arcade, Spartan Helmet of Leonidas, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider, The Muppet Show, Red Bull Racing F1 Team RB18 1:12, and Scooby Doo Mystery Machine as the ones to reach the Second 2023 Review Stage. The post LEGO Ideas Western River Steamboat Achieves 10,000 Supporters appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

To mark the announcement of LEGO’s new Technic 42158 NASA Mars Rover Perseverance, we thought we would republish an exceptionally nerdy article about an actual MOC on Mars. Today we showcase the first LEGO Ingenuity helicopter (complete with instructions) built by engineer Stephen Pakbaz who worked on the actual Perseverance chassis which is now roaming our neighboring Red Planet. This article was originally published on June 13, 2021. You are probably more familiar with builder Stephen Pakbaz than you realize. In fact, Stephen designed the fifth LEGO Ideas set, the iconic 21104 Curiosity Rover. Every year, Stephen brings out-of-this-world (sorry, I had to) motorized content to the space theme at Bricks LA. It feels like next year might give us those thrills again. Stephen has given us a preview of the good things we’ll have on the other side of lockdown, this time by building a stunning 1:1 scale LEGO model...

Although we’ve seen a glimpse of it already, LEGO has officially revealed the LEGO Technic NASA Mars Rover Perseverance (42158). Releasing on June 1, the set has 1,132 pieces and retails for $99.99. The set makes use of the LEGO Technic AR Augmented Reality app to enhance the building experience. Update: The Rover is now on the LEGO Shop and it looks like North America will be getting it in August while the UK and Europe will get it next month. Building The Engineers Of Tomorrow: Space Themed LEGO® Technic Set Will Encourage Fans to Shoot For The Stars • LEGO® Technic unveils NASA Mars Rover Perseverance model with companion Ingenuity Helicopter• STEM and space themed product to encourage children to learn more about engineering• LEGO Technic AR Augmented Reality app gives a holistic experience both physically and digitally BILLUND, DENMARK – May 23, 2023, 10:00 CEST: The LEGO Group has...

Continuing with my reviews of the recent LEGO Harry Potter sets, we now check out the Hogwarts: Room of Requirement (76413). It has 587 pieces and retails for $49.99. Minifigures Although this set is a medium sized one, it has five minifigures included, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and the Helena Ravenclaw as the Grey Lady. Harry is in his Deathly Hallows: Part 2 outfit which is the more casual one with the tan jacket and blue pants. His double-sided head shows him with a smile on one side and a stern look on the other. Hermione has on a blue jacket over a lavender hoodie. Her double-sided head shows her with a smile on one side and an angry face on the other. Malfoy is in his black shirt and tie with some green on the inside shirt. His double-sided head shows him with an angry expression...

If you’re wanting to get the new LEGO DREAMZzz sets, LEGO has put up pre-orders for a majority of them. Although they won’t ship until August, you can stack them with the current run of GWPs including the Pirate Ship Playground (40589) with a $100 purchase and the Spring Fun VIP Add-On Pack (40606) with $50 purchases. Remember to use Rakuten to earn some cash back on your purchases. Make sure to activate the extension before you complete your purchase to get credit for it. Izzie and Bunchu the Bunny (71453) – 259 pieces/$19.99 Mateo and Z-Blob the Robot (71454) – 237pieces/$19.99 Grimkeeper the Cage Monster (71455) – 274 pieces/$37.99 Mrs. Castillo’s Turtle Van (71456) – 434 pieces/$47.99 Pegasus Flying Horse (71457) – 482 pieces/$49.99 Crocodile Car (71458) – 494 pieces/$59.99 Stable of Dream Creatures (71459) – 681 pieces/$79.99 Mr. Oz’s Spacebus (71460) – 878 pieces/$99.99 Fantastical Tree House (71461) –...

Today’s guest article comes from BrickNerd patron Wayne Tyler. We’ve featured Wayne’s work numerous times and always marvel at his realistic renders. Today he shares some of the secrets behind getting the perfect lighting. So you’ve finished building a digital model or scene in BrickLink Studio and now you want to render an image to send to friends or post on social media. You click on the render icon to bring up the render dialog, then click on the render button and then wait until sometime later when your computer is heating up enough to fry an egg when you finally get an image. But what if you wanted to make that image look better, have more impact, and appear more lifelike? What should you do? The quickest and easiest adjustments to get an improved render are made with lighting. Using What You’ve Got: How BrickLink Lights a Model You can imagine the lighting...

On the 42nd anniversary of the release of PAC-MAN, LEGO has officially revealed the LEGO Icons PAC-MAN Arcade (10323). Releasing on June 1 for VIPs, the set has 2,650 pieces and will retail for $269.99. The main features of the set include larger scale characters of PAC-MAN, Blinky, and Clyde, a light-brick for the coin slot, and a small vignette of a person playing PAC-MAN that is hidden inside the cabinet. Here’s a video of it in use. Chomp your way back to the 80’s with the new LEGO Icons PAC-MAN Arcade! Ready! Build! Play! pic.twitter.com/ZlvhV5KLVc — LEGO (@LEGO_Group) May 22, 2023 THE LEGO GROUP AND BANDAI NAMCO PARTNER TO RELEASE THE LEGO® ICONS PAC-MAN ARCADE SET TIME TO MUNCH SOME BRICK GHOSTS WITH THE NEW LEGO ICONS PAC-MAN ARCADE SET • New LEGO Icons PAC-MAN Arcade set is a detailed recreation of the classic 80’s arcade game• New LEGO set...

LEGO has kicked off a new promotion on the LEGO Shop to celebrate the upcoming Children’s Day. The LEGO Pirate Ship Playground (40589) is available with purchases of $100, while supplies last. You can also get the LEGO Spring Fun VIP Add-On Pack (40606) as well. I guess North America doesn’t get the LEGO Children’s Amusement Park (40529) but the UK and the rest of Europe does. LEGO is also offering a Brand Catalog – May 2023 (5007966) with a $50 purchase which is interesting as they usually just send it out in the mail. Remember to use Rakuten to earn some cash back on your purchases. Make sure to activate the extension before you complete your purchase to get credit for it. As a Rakuten/Linkshare Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The post LEGO Pirate Ship Playground (40589) Promotion Live on LEGO Shop appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original...

June is almost here and there are some rumored promotions that LEGO will be doing next month. According to Promobricks, there will be five promotions spread throughout the month as well as a Double VIP Points event. Everything is subject to change unless LEGO confirms it. LEGO Pirate Ship Playground (40589) – May 22 – June 3 LEGO Children’s Amusement Park (40529) – May 22 – June 3 If it’s the same as before, it’ll be with purchases of $90. LEGO Summer VIP Add-On Pack (40607) – June 4-16 If it’s like the other VIP Add-On Packs, it’ll with with purchases of $50. Double VIP Points – June 9-13 LEGO DOTS Big Box (41960) – June 20-28 With purchase of LEGO DOTS, LEGO Friends, or LEGO City, LEGO Minecraft, or LEGO Disney Princess of a certain amount. Houses of the World 2 (40590) – June 20-28 The set was originally released...