Brick Update

Some new displays appeared in the LEGO aisle at my local Target. First up, the big Monster Fighters Display. Notice the images of minifigs at the bottom (kid eye-level) with the phrase “collect them all”

I believe this is a Target exclusive, set 9465 The Zombies:

A pretty large Monster Fighters section, but that is to be expected given that Halloween is coming up:

This is one of the new minifig displays, really pushing them as huge selling point in buying sets (which we know they already are):

Two of the bigger Monster Fighter sets:

Super Heroes had the same type of minifig display. I’m sure this drives kids nuts, as it must parents. A kid who wants just the Hulk minifig realizing he has to buy some big set to get it. That said – this is a nice way to make LEGO a bit more like action figures in the toy aisle, since most action figures are behind a clear pastic bubble:

Up close:

A mix of sets: Lord of the RIngs, Ninjago, and Hero Factory:

Ninjago. This stuff seems to be wildly popular. I am just now starting to pay more attention to it:

The $20 training set, displayed as an action figure would be:

A Ninjago Booster Pack:

City, Dino and Creator:

That Pirates of the Caribbean ship is still in stock everywhere:

More City. Bank Transfer is still in stock too:

LEGO Star Wars:

More:

Finally, some of the Summer 2012 releases:

Blurry, but good:

The Skiff:

The new Star Wars display. Kind of underwhelming, especially when you realize that the one ship costs $90 by itself:

I stopped by a local toy store the other week, and saw they had received a big shipment of LEGO Star Wars summer 2012 sets, along with Monster Fighters:

Wal-Mart is having a mid-summer LEGO sale, I assume clearing out sets to make way for the first wave of Fall/Holiday merchandise. Mostly 25-30% off, the sale covered a wide range of themes. The only thing I picked up in the sale was Battle of Helm’s Deep (my second one) for $89. No other Lord of the Rings Sets were on sale.

There were reports of Wal-Marts having 50% off Star Wars Turbo Tanks and 30% off Friends, but the Wal-Mart I went to didn’t have that. This is one of the first glimpses of the great sales we hope to see leading up to the holidays. Last year Wal-Mart had an amazing 50% off sale just after the holidays.

It looks as though the Imperial Shuttle set is about to hit “end of life,” meaning be retired after 2 years, which is common for Star Wars UCS sets. I have two already, but wanted a third, and found a decent deal at Target. They had a promotion where you got the Jedi T-6 Shuttle for free, plus I think there was already a 10% discount. I coupled this with 10% off via a Discover card promotion, and now have a 3rd Imperial Shuttle in my collection.

It’s a beautiful model, and pretty unique compared to all the other hulking gray ships in the other UCS sets. While it has been widely discounted for awhile, I think Amazon had it for $206 for weeks at a time in the winter, I think it will do well in the aftermarket. It is being replaced by the B-Wing, which was barely seen in the movies, is rather odd looking, and doesn’t seem to have much of a presence.

There is talk of this set being discounted as we get closer to Black Friday. From what I have seen, fewer and fewer retailers have this in stock. So it could be like a Green Grocer scenario, where LEGO discounts it on their site near Black Friday, even though it had been sold out everywhere for weeks already. I would definitely pick up another two if I found a good deal. If I found a 50% off deal, well, all bets are off!

Here is the haul:

A few more summer 2012 LEGO Star Wars sets began arriving at my local Toys R Us. Here we have the Sith Fury-class Interceptor:

Jabba’s Palace. A pretty hefty markup too:

Evidently, Target is having a summer clearance of LEGO sets to make room for the new wave now appearing in some stores. The Target I visited today really didn’t have much of either – no new summer 2012 sets, and not much on sale. Let’s take a look:

It’s funny how much of the store the toy section occupies, I remember toy sections when I was a kid being dramatically smaller. But then, stores were smaller then too…

The LEGO aisle. City and Dino on the left, everything else on the right:

An endcap with Super Heroes sets:

Star Wars, the same sets we have seen for awhile now. Others are reporting these sets on discount for 30% off or more, but all were full retail price here:

Ninjago:

More Super Heroes:

Still some Harry Potter sets hanging around:

This was one of the few sets on sale, Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle

And a pretty good price too:

But the box was opened, which means that likely someone stole the minifigs:

The Pirates of the Caribbean Queen Anne’s Revenge was on sale too, one left:

Not really an amazing price for a set that has been discounted a lot. Nice ship though.

The one Star Wars set that was on sale for $17.48:

Dino:

Blurry City:

And more blurry City:

Today we take a look at another LEGO Lord of the Ring set, #9472 Attack on Weathertop. This set definitely felt more expensive than it should have been: $60 for a small set with 5 minifigs. Two of them are Ringwraiths which offer little detail, and two other characters can be found in other sets. The real key to this set and the $60 outlay is getting Merry. The horses seem to only be available in this set, and because of the red in the eyes, I am wondering if they are exclusive to this set. That black horses in future sets will have different markings on the head and eyes.

Like the Mines of Moria, the set offers great detail in the building style, and clearly meant to be displayed by adult collectors.

Here is what you get in the box:

I love the colors in this set, lots of dark green:

The finished set:

The Wringwraiths, horses, and little rock:

Good detail for such a small part of the set:

The details on the horse’s head:

Wringwraith:

The main portion of Weathertop:

Our heroes: Frodo, Aragorn, and Merry:

Back printing:

Probably my favorite minifig head at the moment:

Merry is looking ready for attack:

Weathertop:

Cooking:

The back. The way they curved the walls is nice, and you can tell all the different pieces they used to add detail:

The set opens up to show detail on the inside:

Oddly, they included two flick-fire missiles:

More detail:

Statue:

The staircase:

The parts I didn’t use, including the capes:

Overall, it’s a fine set but it still felt pricey for what you get. Also, unlike many of the other sets, it doesn’t have a modular feel to it, this is a stand-alone playset.

I had the pleasure of visiting a LEGO Store in a tax free state recently, which accounts to 7% savings compared to where I live. The storefront:

The Lord of the Rings is getting a lot of play in the store window, focusing on the minifigs:

The store was on a corner, and they had a very cool design on the side of the store:

Inside the store, it makes me wonder how well Master Builder Academy is doing:

Dino:

Monster Fighters and Friends:

One side of the store:

The other side of the store:

I have no idea what this is…. the eye of Sauron?

LEGO stuff by the counter:

Mmmm… modulars, Sopwith Camel, VW Bus, Maersk Trains, I never get tired of looking at this:

Joust and Harry Potter Diagon Alley are shoved into the area with the larger sets:

Ninjago:

Star Wars. I was hoping to buy their last Imperial Shuttle, but the box was really beat up and resealed with tape:

Super Heroes. Also interesting how they put the R2D2 set low so little kids can see it:

A variety of themes:

Lord of the RIngs:

I don’t think I have seen a display like this before, really showing off the modular nature of the sets:

Monthly mini model builds:

Big sets displayed in the main window:

There were a couple LEGO Star Wars sets on sale at Barnes and Noble for 30% off, Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator Set 7961 and Republic Frigate Set 7964:

I haven’t seen this before, the LEGO Star Wars LED Desk Lamp of Darth Vader. I thought it was interesting that they had box art for the older release (clone trooper on the box) and 2012 sets with Darth Maul on the box:

An underwhelming selection of Star Wars LEGO:

Some Lord of the Rings sets, oddly next to the Duplo stuff:

Still an entire shelf full of Alien Conquest:

Still some Pirates of the Caribbean in stock, and a red boxed Ninjago set:

I always like the LEGO guy reading a book on the top of the display:

So here we are in the middle of 2012… waiting for some summer LEGO sets, excited about what was recently announced at San Diego Comic Con, and starting to envision the holiday shopping season, with all of it’s great LEGO sales. Let’s see what the LEGO Store has to offer right now…

The last days of the Imperial Shuttle. Many places are now sold out of this, and with the UCS B-Wing about to hit shelves, we are about to say farewell to this guy:

LEGO Star Wars, still awaiting the summer 2012 sets:

Lord of the Rings, occupying the former Kingdoms spot in the store:

Some of the more interesting smaller sets:

July’s Pickable Model, which I assume is Uncle Sam:

Kingdoms Joust occupies a strange place in the store, shoved in with Creator sets:

Ninjago, all the red boxes are finally gone:

So many great exclusive sets all at once:

Monster Fighters:

Super Heroes:

The big Lord of the Rings display right when you walk in:

The Master Builder Academy display:

A $15 Ninjago minifig set:

The 2012 Monthly builds:

One of their “ribbon” displays:

Some employee with a sense of humor put a Lord of the Rings figure in the Friends display:

Pick a Brick wall: