MILUG member Ian's entry "Voyageur Waterfall" to the LEGO Ideas LEGO House contest has made it to the top 25 for the minifigure category (top 75 overall). There are a couple more days to vote to send his MOC (my own creation) to Denmark to be put on display at The LEGO House!
Voting us open until May 13 and you can vote here.
The MILUG Pride Parade was featured in the Nanaimo News Bulletin today. 11 MILUG members contributed to the collaboration which was a ton of fun to build! You can find the full story here.
I just learned about The Brick Train Awards. There are various categories and winners are chosen for each region, and those winners then move forward to the global competition.
We definitely have some skilled MILUG train builders ( @sema4 @MikeS @Ptrotter ) as well as other skilled builders who may want to try making a train so I thought I would share this. The 2020 awards were just announced so there is definitely time if anyone wants to create or refine an existing train they have for the 2021 awards (looks like the submission window is in June).
The BrickLink Designer Program: 2021 Invitational has been launched!
A selection of LEGO Ideas members and their 10K Club submissions were invited to participate in the pilot program. You can see the 31 projects by the 27 members participating in the program on LEGO Ideas here.
I wanted to give people a lot of notice that our July meetup on Wed July 7, 7pm-9pm will be IN PERSON!
This meetup will take place outdoors with the location to be determined but similar to last summer. You may want to bring a chair or blanket to sit on (we may not be in a parking lot this time so you may not be able to sit on/in your vehicle).
We will likely do a build activity with support sets (these are limited and will be provided to members based on participation points for this year) so you may want to bring a small table or something firm to build on. I will announce the set name/# closer to the date if new folks or members who are not elligible for a free set wish to pick it up locally (or have it in their stash) so they can participate.
I will provide more details closer to the meetup date. As always, appropriate COVID protocols must be followed.
TLG is looking for feedback from AFOLs. This is what they shared on the LAN:
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As an AFOL, we know you are passionate about building - but what else are you passionate about? Do current sets support your interest? How do you connect with the community? How engaged are you with the LEGO Group?
Our department is conducting a new survey on AFOL Passion. The purpose of this survey to answer these questions so we can better understand our AFOL audience and what they love the most. We have done similar surveys in the past but it's time to update our information to stay up-to-date 
The survey is anonymous and open to everyone, everywhere. We estimate it'll take about 15 minutes to answer, and the feedback you give us will help us better understand how to engage with the AFOL community
You can access the survey by clicking this link: AFOL Survey. Right now we have no end date and will close the survey when our response rate reaches a set threshold.
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If you have any questions about the survey, please share them by replying to this post or you can private message me, and I will forward them on to the team responsible and provide their response below.
Thanks everyone!
To take advantage of the weather and that we can all be outside together, the August meetup on Wed Aug 4, 7pm-9pm will be IN PERSON (with an online option)! Anyone 19+ is welcome to attend (membership is not required to attend your first meetup).
There will be a Show & Tell table (fee free to bring a set, MOC or anything LEGO related to share with others) and a LEGO Trivia activity/quiz.
SAFETY:
LOCATION:
IN-PERSON at Beban Park (2300 Bowen Rd, Nanaimo, BC V9T 3K7). We will try to meet on the grass (red circle) near the basketball hoops by the playground. You may want to bring a chair or blanket to sit on. If this area is being used then we will meet in the area across the parking lot (blue circle) and park our vehicles in a circle similar to what was done last year in the photo above. There are bus stops on Bowen Rd (yellow circle) for those who may be travelling by bus.
ONLINE: We will try to provide Google Meet for the business portion of the meeting (7:30pm-8:30pm) for those who are unable to join us in person. A link will be provided on the day of the meetup.
Our website has been updated with a few new blogs and a couple of photo albums have been added to our Facebook page with some of events from earlier this year.
It was announced today that the LEGO Ideas site and LEGO Rebrick site will be merging and Rebrick will be shut down in September to create more of a one stop shop that will serve as "the crowdsourcing and co-creation hub for teen and adult LEGO fans".
There will be some improvements to the functionality of the site as well as a few small changes to the Ideas program and the structure of contests.
From Jan Beyer at The LEGO Group:
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When LEGO
House for the first time in two years welcomes several hundred fans from all over the world on September 23, 2021, it is with a new fan exhibition in the Masterpiece Gallery and live presentations available both physically in LEGO House and virtually from home.
This year's LEGO House Fan Day will be all about re-connecting with friends after months of separation and celebrating that it is finally possible to attend a physical event again.
This is done with a fresh new exhibition in Masterpiece Gallery and presentations from LEGO Design Vice President, Matthew Ashton, the LEGO Ninjago Design team, and an update on the LEGO Group’s Sustainability agenda.
Masterpiece Gallery this year has a special set-up as the Corona pandemic has made it challenging to pursue the regular tradition in LEGO House, where selected fans have been invited to exhibit. There has been a need to think outside the box and LEGO House has had to search its own ranks to get fresh new models for the exhibition.
An internal competition in the LEGO entities in Billund has been taking place during spring, where all LEGO employees have been able to apply to exhibit their own creations in LEGO House for the next year. Among the 17 selected exhibitors, you might expect mainly LEGO designers, but there are also a mechanical engineer, executive assistant, and an operator who handed in their own LEGO creations.
Senior Product Designer Florian Müller, the designer behind the LEGO adidas Originals Superstar shoe (10282), is among the exhibitors with his version of the new modern Hamburg concert hall “Elbphilharmonie.” When asked what the coolest feature in his build is, he states “The coolest feature I think, is the opening mechanism: the thin front line of the concert hall can split up into two areas, which can open and reveal the inside of the concert hall. While most of the inside is purely built by my own imagination, the hoovering concert hall in the middle is something the real Elbphilharmonie also has.”
Executive Assistant Matthew Foster has also found inspiration in architecture and has, during the Corona lockdown, built a version of the famous Danish building “The Wave,” located in Vejle. He explains that the idea started “at the beginning of lockdown, where I was feeling like I needed something to occupy myself. I knew I wanted to build something to challenge myself, but I was having a tough time picking a project. On a walk past the water in Vejle I started thinking about how strange and unique the architecture of The Wave is and I wondered how to make it out of LEGO bricks.”
Due to complicated travel restrictions, not only in Denmark but worldwide related to the Corona pandemic, it has not been possible to gather exhibitors from all over the world this year, but LEGO House hopes it is possible next year.
Managing director from LEGO House, Jesper Vilstrup states “The already planned AFOL exhibitors for Masterpiece Gallery will be postponed to 2022, where LEGO House looks very much forward inviting them in for the longplanned event, and in that way get back to the very good yearly tradition that we appreciate very much in the Home of the Brick.”
On the LEGO House Fan Day guests can look forward to a packed day with lots of physical activities. They can experience the new Robo Lab and see the giant LEGO DOTS mosaic wall.
Furthermore, there are some exciting presentations from 2.00-4.00 pm (CEST) in LEGO Forum:
2.00 pm: Meet LEGO Design VP Matthew Ashton and hear about the latest news from his team
2:45 pm: 10th Anniversary of LEGO Ninjago
3:30 pm: The LEGO Group Sustainability Update
For those who cannot attend the presentation physically in the house, it is possible to attend with livestreaming via this link http://fanweekend.dk/video.php
As an extra bonus to look out for on the day, the display cases in Green-, Yellow- and Blue Experience Zones have also been changed with great new builds delivered via LEGO Ideas.
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Tricky Bricks (Flynn and Richard from LEGO Masters Season 1) is hosting a special panel review of the new Queer Eye LEGO set on YouTube Wednesday Sept 15 at 7pm Pacific!
They'll be joined by fellow Recognized LEGO Fan Media (RLFM) April B and DrKatBuilds from Twitch, and Jay Ong from Jay's Brick Blog and special guest Llano River Blue to talk about this important and groundbreaking set!
News from The LEGO Group via the LEGO Ambassador Network:
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New LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor app update helps builders bring to life anything they can imagine.
Creators can now update their LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor app free-of-charge and explore even more creative building and coding opportunities. Available from the Apple, Google Play and Microsoft App stores, the app update supports Bluetooth communication between LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor Hubs for the first time, unleashing more possibilities for what can be built, created, and coded with LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor sets. With the new Hub to Hub Communication, builders can builder larger, more complex models and control multiple robots and inventions at the same time.
The new update:
· Includes a new and updated Help Center (English only) including instructional videos for an easy getting started experience.
· Features an improved “My Projects” section making it easier to filter, order & find your projects.
· Is compatible with all supported operating systems: Windows 10, macOS, iOS & Android.
For more information about LEGO MINDSTORMS, please visit: https://www.lego.com/themes/mindstorms/about
This month drkatbuilds (a Recognized LEGO Fan Media) will be building Monkie Kid LEGO sets to raise money for the Starlight Foundation!
The Starlight Foundation provides game towers to children in the hospital to help make their experience less scary.
Tune in for the fun and mayhem!
https://tiltify.com/@drkatbuilds/kat-builds-for-starlight-2021
Another contest courtesy of True North Bricks (a Canadian Recognized LEGO Fan Media):
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It's a new month and time for the September 2021 LEGO giveaway from True North Bricks! We have been giving away LEGO sets this year in celebration of the blog's fifth anniversary. This month, we have something special planned. Get hyped, because True North Bricks is giving away an entire set of the brand new Marvel Collectible Minifigures. The LEGO Group recently sent us a full box of these characters. Each box contains three full sets of 12 Minifigures. One of those sets can now be yours! That is a value of approximately $60 in Canada. As always, True North Bricks will cover shipping anywhere in Canada. Incidentally, the giveaway is open to Canadian residents only.
How do you enter? Create a Marvel Superheroes comic book scene in a brick-built vignette. The build has to adhere to the following guidelines:
Use only authentic LEGO pieces (no knockoffs).
Use any Marvel Superheroes LEGO Minifigure.
The base must be an 8x8 LEGO plate.
The scene must be eight bricks high by eight bricks wide by eight bricks deep (see below for example).
To submit your photo to True North Bricks before September 18, 2021 at midnight.
True North Bricks will select the winner randomly from all eligible entries on September 19 , 2021
The prize consists of 12 sealed blind bags. I have done my best to ensure there is a complete collection. However, I cannot be sure since the bags are sealed.
-You can submit your entries through direct message on the TrueNorthBricks Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or email (TrueNorthBricks at Gmail dot com). While you are posting on social media, make sure you follow True North Bricks to keep up to date on LEGO news, reviews, and future giveaways (a new one begins in October). Now, get your bricks out and tell me a Marvel Superheroes story on an 8x8 plate!
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Tips & Bricks (a Recognized LEGO Fan Media) is hosting a "Build what you love about nature" contest.
You can check out the full details of the competition here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTSBbL8o66A/
@sema4 all good. You raised a good point though and I wanted to know! Your question actually started a whole other discussion on the LAN and turns out many Ambassadors also wanted to know the difference between set size variants and just different fire station sets. Guess we'll never know unless the pilot is successful and it becomes something they put into practice (if they even tell us at that point lol).
@sema4 the LAN rep did not have an answer for your question as he was not part of the team putting the pilot together. He agreed that the size variation concept doesn't seem to make a ton of sense.
He did have a voice at the table in terms of pushing for the team to find a way for AFOLs around the world to be able to purchase the sets. For whatever reason, the team chose different stores for the different sets and only the Fiat is available internationally, but I guess it's better than nothing.
@Ian this is the exact discussion on the LAN. TLG's perspective is that it is not a regional exclusive since it is a test pilot and their policy of no regional exclusions was only in regards to regular products. They also pointed out the fact that at least for the Fiat, Zavvi ships internationally so it isn't limited to only the UK. A lot of Ambassadors also pointed out the flaws in their pilot that you pointed out. If anything new comes up I will share it!
@sema4 I will ask your question on the LAN. Interestingly the entire discussion so far has focussed on the colour variations and the regional exclusivity. Note that although this is a pilot, TLG will NOT be issuing these same sets in the colour/size variation in other markets after the pilot.