ResIpsaLoquitur

You could close it, find a way to keep it closed (maybe some tape?) and then subject it to some heat. Not TOO MUCH heat, because you don't want to warp it, but add just enough that the plastic gets used to being in the closed position. One option would be to put it in boiling water for a few seconds, then take it out and pinch it closed (keeping your fingers covered with something, of course). Quickly run it under cold water and the plastic should warp in the right shape. I would be VERY CAREFUL doing this--subject it to too much heat or pinch it too hard and you may warp the piece to a point where the clutch power is destroyed or it's otherwise too misshapen to look right.

I was just thinking about the sheer volume of free bricks Lego gives away on a monthly--maybe a weekly basis. For example, I took my daughter to every Monthly Mini Build at the Lego Store last year. According to Brickset, we racked up 428 free bricks (plus spares) in the course of a year. And that's JUST from the MMBs on the first Tuesday of the month. The Store did a few "extra" builds that we didn't go to--I recall a Superman model, a grill, a Friends box, and a Yoda Chronicles robot. Also also, there were a few free builds elsewhere, like a Friends model and a Police car which we got at Toys R Us. 428 bricks is probably the equivalent of a decent-sized set--maybe $20 US worth of bricks? Maybe $30? The Stores plan on 250 kids attending, so that's 107,000 free bricks they're potentially giving out every year. I'm too lazy to count how many Lego Stores there are, but one website said there's 93. Let's assume it's now 100. That means Lego is potentially giving out 10,700,000 free bricks per year in Monthly Mini Builds alone. If that's $20 worth of bricks, then that's $214,000,000 worth of free bricks being given out yearly. Unless my math is off, that's insane. Remember, that's a very lowball number, too. I'm not counting the free promotional sets given out at Toys R' Us, the Factory Tours, or elsewhere. On the one hand, I have to say that is incredibly generous of Lego. I cannot think of any other toy company that gives out free product at that rate. Granted, a lot of companies can't do that--giving out free action figures would be ridiculous. Still, nobody else does it. I've never heard of free Play Doh events or anything like that. On the other hand, Lego Marketing must have done incredible analysis to determine that giving away that much product is worthwhile. I can't fathom what the statistics are on that. I do remember waiting in line for the Monthly Mini Builds and seeing kids come out of the Store with $100 sets, so it must work. Me personally, I play it conservatively--we'll either do the Pick-a-Brick or buy a small set while waiting, so our purchases tend not to go past $15. We're probably on the low end of the sales, though--obviously, Lego isn't being all that altruistic. The MMBs are motivated entirely on the idea that people will come into the store and buy stuff. Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts or observations? Is my math ridiculously off--and even if it's by one decimal place, isn't that still a crazy amount of bricks being given out?

Hmmmm. I'll have to check the DVD again for the cape length--it's ambiguous in this photo. I don't have any short capes, but it's be an easy matter to just slice an existing cape down. Also, looks like I need to make the eyeholes a little wider away from the center of the head. With the R2-Ewok, I'd have to think really hard about it. I do have some early Ewok figures, so I suppose I could paint the brown one to match the above picture. I was thinking the best way to do this, though, would be to stick R2 legs into some 1x1 bricks with technic holes and put a jumper 1x2 plate on top so the head could attach. Still, it wouldn't be ideal. I'll consider it, but I am nowhere near as talented as some people in modifying minifigs.

I'd love to, but I have no idea how! That thing has to drape right over a 2x2 cylinder shape!

A Dremel. I used a circular blade to cut off the back of the helmet and then a small drill bit to poke out the eyes. The portion where I cut the helmet is actually a little uneven and I think I need to run it over a sander a few times to try to smooth it down.

Well, I can do that when I'm finished...there's nothing to show right now except the other side of Luke's head and the cape.

Here's a custom minifig I'm partway through making, and I wanted to get your impressions. This is going to be Luke Skywalker from "The Empire Strikes Out" cartoon, wearing a cheap version of Vader's costume. Gosh, I wish this had been the freebie minifig that came with the DVD. Anyway, I took a Vader helmet and chopped off 75 percent of the back of it, then drilled the eyeholes. Next, I need to get a spare Luke hairpiece so I can chop off the front 25 percent of that and glue them together. Bam, custom headpiece (which TLG obviously wasn't willing to manufacture for a DVD exclusive). If you're unfamiliar with the movie, it has the original trilogy heroes travel to Naboo to establish a new Rebel base. There are Imperials on the planet, so in a very funny scene, Luke runs into a costume shop and puts on an obviously fake Vader suit that looks pretty much like this. (Luke's hair is still visible from behind.) Oddly, everyone falls for it. Thoughts are appreciated. I've never modified a headpiece before--if anyone has thoughts on what glue to use, please let me know.

Let's not forget that CMF Santa now appears to be Lego's go-to Santa for Christmas sets, particularly Advent Calendars. "Pirate Santa" is finally dead. A variant of the CMF elf will be appearing in this year's Winter Village set.

I got my prelude Vitruvious today. Aside from the cape, I'm disappointed he doesn't have a double-sided face with the blinded side as well. Since "blind" Vitruvious is in an expensive set, it would have been nice to have a cheaper option...

Yeah, I wish there'd been a quick cutaway to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gandalf, and Dumbledore all freaking out about Vitruvius. Maybe it would have hurt the drama of the moment, though.

...that's...I mean, that's explained in the movie. It just is. I don't know how to do spoiler tags, so I'll assume we all know what I'm talking about. The metaphysics of how the "Lego world" interacts with Finn's imagination isn't clear. It might have ALL been in his imagination, except that Emmet actually moves and thinks in the real world. I'll note that in the Lego world, things can literally change and aren't cemented in their existing blocks. Case in point: Batman becomes Bruce Wayne in the movie. That shouldn't strike you as weird, except that Bruce and Batman are separate minifigures right down to the head. It wasn't simply a matter of Bruce changing clothes--that's literally an entirely different figure. So whatever happens with Vitruvius--well, it just happens. He changes, and either Finn's imagination allowed it or something else weird happened. I wouldn't overthink it.

Yeah, I wouldn't overthink it. They're kids in robot costumes. Besides, we saw beheaded minifigs being used as golf balls in Cloud Cuckoo Land. I think it's a staple of Lego animation that the characters know they can be disassembled.

I took my daughter as well. The TRU we went to was pretty generous and let you take as much as you wanted. I had to calm my daughter down and tried to limit her to two of each piece (she went a little over on that, but the store didn't mind). I really wanted her to leave plenty for the other kids attending. This certainly was a different event since there were no pre-planned instructions. I wonder how well those will do in the future if they or the Lego Store ever have a freebuild event again.

Yeah, I don't know where you're at, but I go to the Annapolis store. Their selection was kind of bland for awhile, but they've been perking up lately with all the wheels, angled pieces, and other goofy parts. The manager there is really nice, so if you're looking for something specific they may pull it out of the back. I once asked her if they'd ever get any house doors in, and she went to the back to get a box of both the frames and the doors. I'm hitting the McLean store tomorrow, so I'll be curious how their setup has changed. I might hit Potomac Mills over the weekend, which I recollect as being a little bigger.

I've not seen the show, but it's worth noting that Allison Brie--who I think plays Annie--was the voice of Unikitty in The Lego Movie.

TRU (US, anyway) is doing another build on Saturday the 14th. I'm unclear on what it is--the ad describes it as "build a mini-Master Builder inspired by Metalbeard." I wonder what this is? At first I thought it could be the Mini-Beard from the Sea Cow, but that's probably too many pieces for a TRU build (which tends to be around 50 pieces or fewer). Or it could be pre-mutilation Metalbeard, but that would only be 10 pieces or fewer. (He's basically the Series 8 pirate Minifigure with Metalbeard's head and beard.) Or maybe it's some kind of brick-built figure.

I just found that Toys R' Us is having another free build: "build a Master Builder inspired by Metalbeard." I wonder what that will be? The TRU builds tend to be 50 pieces or less, so the Mini-Beard from the Sea Cow would probably be too big for that. http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=4311963

Bump. Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I decided to add tomorrow's "Lego Day" at Game Stop and the Blu-Ray release to the schedule.

Hmmmm, maybe? Our store calendar says "jet ski." I'm pretty sure Brickset has it labeled as one as well. I think there's been a few instances where the U.S. had one build that was very-U.S. specific (it might have been an Independence Day or Thanksgiving thing) and the UK had something else.

So apparently GameStop is doing "Lego Day" on Saturday (at least in the U.S.), and if you buy a Lego game you can get a free Western Emmett or Good Morning Bilbo. I'm guessing they have a lot of leftover stock from both of the earlier promos. Anyway, I may just have to go buy a game so I can get the Emmet I missed out on the first time.

It's that time again! The first Tuesday of the month means that the Lego Brick-and-Mortar Stores have put out their Monthly Mini Builds for the kids. The Stores do these once a month (at least) to get you into the store and spending money. However, you do walk out with some free bricks and a possibly functional model. I recently reviewed all of 2013's MMB's in this article. I also reviewed January's model here, February's here, March's here, April's here, and May's here. I plagiarize my opening paragraphs from my past articles, because it's after 9 p.m. and I'm also watching cartoons. If you're sad because you don't have a Lego Store near you, that's ok, because Lego publishes the instructions for each month's builds on their website. If it's not up yet, it should be soon. This month, we're reviewing a jetski to get us ready for summer. (Sorry, Aussie EBers. Do you ever wish that seasonal sets were released in reverse order from the Northern Hemisphere?) This is the second minifigure-sized MMB that we've seen this year. Is it worth adding to your City display? Let's find out. Set Title: Jetski Set #: 40099-1 Theme: Monthly Mini Build Pieces: 33 Minifigures: None Year of Release: 2014 Price at release: Free. To begin, you get a small card while waiting in line which is your ticket to get in. (Only 250 kids get into these builds!) The front of the card is a picture of the build with a spot to write your child's name. The back of the card has a parts inventory. The Minifigure is not incuded; I've added her here to give you a sense of scale. She'll be returning later. When you get into the store, you're given a PB container with the parts and instructions which your kid takes to a building area. In this case, you get these 33 bricks (plus one leftover trans-yellow stud). I admit that this month's build doesn't have any spectacular or rare pieces (I guess bright green is harder to come by), but it does come together nicely in the end. Halfway through the build. I was astonished that this was a six-wide build, as it doesn't look that big from the photos. Trust me, it comes together well in the end, but it does look unnaturally large at first. The undercarriage is two "pontoons" rather than a solid boat-like bottom. And, uh, here's the finished product. This build is only 33 pieces, so it didn't take long to put together. The color layout looks nice, however, with the green and black offset by the white in the middle. Front view. Sorry about the shadows, but hopefully this helps you see the "pontoons" better. Rear view. One observation--this build reminds me more of a Florida-style airboat than a jetski. The propeller is a little small for an airboat, but the shape and concept seem similar enough to me that I wonder if it was named correctly. And of course, a Minifigure fits inside. This seems to be an interesting trend this year--April's Helicopter build could also hold a Minifigure, and February's Micro-Manager was appropriately sized for the Movie theme. I wonder how many builds this year will be Minifig compatible? I also wonder if this isn't a sly way of the Stores getting you to buy some figures from the Build-a-Figure station. CONCLUSION Design: 9/10. I think this is pretty good for what it is. It doesn't quite look like any jetski I've ever seen, but it's not bad and will work well in our City scene's lake. Parts: 7/10. No major parts here. Build: 7/10. I'll give it a small markdown here because my daughter found it a little tricky to build. She has difficulty translating the building steps into the actual build (we've all been there) and we had to rearrange a few parts before we were done. Minifigs: N/A. But it's minifig compatible! Playability: 10/10. Its sole functional piece is the propeller, but come on, your kid will be zooming this around your house. Price: 10/10. It was free! Overall: 43/50. This was a nice little treat to represent the kickoff of summer. It's a little bit of a "brick," but it looks like a jetski and promises to be fun. Now, on a sad note, I probably won't be reviewing next month's build. My family will be on vacation and although there are Lego Stores within an hour's distance, we likely won't get there. The next build is another 4-wide vehicle: a summer beach van. If somebody else out there in the EB community would like to review the July build, please do. I may track down the build on eBay or just Bricklink the parts, but I won't be doing a fresh review on the day of the build.

I can see where the complaining will come from...buy my 8-year old daughter will love it, so I'm in.

Good heavens--Brickset is telling me that the Phantom is $25 US for 234 pieces, or two minifigures and a flying brick. That's crazy. I like the concept of both ships, but I think I'm only going to get these if they turn up on clearance. Is there much room for the characters to move around in the interior, though? I like ships where the characters can actually play around inside as opposed to being stuck in a cockpit. (Which makes me wonder how Ezra is supposed to get into the main part of the ship short of putting on his helmet, opening the cockpit, and floating outside.)

Question withdrawn--I reread your post and saw what I missed.

I suspect that Lego will keep a lock on its brand name. As mentioned, "Coke" is a generic term for cola in certain parts of the U.S., but Coca-Cola is doing just fine with its brand name.