ResIpsaLoquitur

Try this link to download.

The calendar is up on the Store webpage. It defaults to the January calendar, but click on the arrow to the right to see the Feb one.

Good find. I wonder when and where they'll be available? I forgot to mention earlier that the February calendar mentions some free Lego Movie parts pack when you visit the store between the end of January and February. I'm guessing it's like the Friends parts pack that came out a few months ago. There's also this Piece of Resistance book which comes with a cop figure. I guess if someone wants to get absolutely every TLM set and figure, there will be a lot of hunting. (Oh, and I'm calling it now--the TLM DVD will come with an exclusive figure. What, I don't know.)

The February store exclusive will be a Lego Movie set with Emmet and the Piece of Resistance. You need to spend $50 to get it; I assume the same will apply to S@H customers. Anybody seen any new polys out in the wild? We're anticipating a new City Police Helicopter, two Friends sets, two Hobbit sets, and a Spider-Man.

Yeah, I was just thinking that the POR set is a lot like the Cosmic Cube bag, or a smaller version of Riddles for the Ring. I've noticed that polybags often include unique parts--most often hairpieces. I assume that Lego not only uses them to promote a line on the cheap, but also to get some extra use out of a mold. (Remember, Lego molds are VERY expensive--when you want Lego to make a highly specialized piece, it costs them an extra $30,000. That's probably why we see so much part recycling.) So this set probably lets them reuse Emmet's hair and the POR one more time. If I had to guess, a second TLM polybag might have Lucy, since she has the unique hair and hood elements.

I just got the Store Calendar for February. Check these out... That's obviously the promotional polybag for the set. (A lot of lines get two polys, so I wonder whether there will be another and if so, what.) I'm not too impressed, given that almost every set comes with Emmett and the 1 x 1 x 2 brick. If I see it at TRU or Target, I may grab one. Sweet! My daughter and I do the Monthly Mini-Build every month, so this looks full of win and I bet it'll be pretty popular. I'm actually moderately worried, because I may actually be busy that day and might not be able to go. (I could ask my wife to take my daughter, but I bet I'll owe a lot of favors if I do that....) This MicroManager looks like he'll be compatible with the main line. I was wondering if they'd do a micro ship from the film or something, but this is way better. If you don't live near a store or don't have a kid, Lego always puts out the parts list and instructions, so hit Bricklink and you can easily build your own. If I make it to this event, I promise to post photos of the parts. Also, the monthly Store Lego Club meeting for February is themed around the movie. Attending a Club meeting usually nets you a "free" set (it's included in your reservation fee), so I'm guessing kids will get either the Melting Room or the Getaway Glider...plus a t-shirt with Lord Business on it (which I didn't photograph).

I have a feeling that (Speculative Spoilers)Lord Business is going to erase the Good Cop face, and Emmett will get the bright idea of actually drawing Good Cop back on with a Sharpie. Hence, the scribbled-but good face.(/Spoilers)

I saw the Birthday Cake polybag at a Lego Store today--one that I don't normally go to. It was full price at $4.99. Anybody else seen this at your local stores? I thought it was only released for Store anniversaries.

Thanks for all the kind comments, everybody. I see a lot of really cool entries appearing all the time, so I don't think I nearly have a chance at 1st place--but this was a lot of fun nonetheless! (I'd be happy if I won 3rd or 4th at this point, so if you want to cast a spare vote my way, thanks!) Good luck to everyone!

Well, I got my first three figures today. (I like to space out my CMF purchases so I can get a sense of who I *really* want and could fit in our small town.) I got Gail (I realized my town has no construction workers), Lincoln (an instant classic), and Scribble-Face Bad Cop. On the latter, I felt the 1 x 2 plate and thought I was getting Emmett (to go with Gail), until I felt the bag on the way home and realized that it was SFBC. Darn--as if my town didn't have enough cops. Well, at least this saves me from having to get a more expensive set with him. I honestly don't have the money to get nearly all of these sets, so the CMFs do create a cheaper option on some of the figures instead of having to get a huge set. ...hopefully I find that Emmett, though.

I had a thought... Getaway Glider + Creative Ambush + Rescue Reinforcements = enough pieces for a complete saloon?

Hey, I'm wondering--the top of Lord Business' hair is almost perfectly square. Does it fit in anything? I'm wondering if that square hole in Emmett's 1 x 1 x 2 brick fits on Business' head and whether the plot of the movie has anything to do with that. I also just noticed that Wyldestyle and Gail the Construction Worker have very similar faces, right down to the freckles. Could they be the same person (maybe Gail is an undercover disguise), or am I just imagining it?

I don't understand why people are so upset about the lack of an altmode. You can make your own! I mean, the irony is that the movie is specifically about not following the instructions and using your imagination to make your own thing. I imagine that you have enough parts there to make a decent kebab stand even without instructions. For the saloon, probably not, but you might at least be able to start one. Plus, let's see what actually happens in the movie. Maybe in the climactic scene, the saloon owner just rips a bunch of parts out of his restaurant to build the plane.

With 2013 coming to a close tomorrow (eek!), I thought it'd be fun to quickly review all of the Lego Store Monthly Mini Builds for the year. Last year, my family moved to an area that actually has several Lego Stores nearby. We've been going monthly ever since. Sometime this year, we got the crazy idea of making a goal of going to every MMB for the year, and we actually did it. This required me to take off from work once a month, picking up my daughter immediately afterschool, and rushing over to the store. It got tedious after awhile, but we did it. To recap, if you haven't heard: the physical Lego Stores do a free mini-build at least once a month. At least here in the States, the build is held at 5 p.m. on the First Tuesday of the month. The build is a quick project made up of 20-40 pieces, and a competent kid should be able to put it together in 10 minutes. Let's be honest, it's a way to get parents into the store outside of the weekend. It works, as I've seen plenty of customers coming out of the store with large purchases and then getting in line for the build. Heck, I usually end up at least filling my Pick-a-Brick cup on a given visit. You do get a free pile of bricks. FREE! Nothing to complain about there, and you're not obligated to buy. I'll note that these aren't the ONLY monthly builds. This year, the Stores did a few extra builds other than on the First Tuesdays. My recollection was that they had a mini-model of Superman, a grill, a Star Wars Holocron Droid, and a Friends jewelry box. If you live near a store and want to start doing these, I do advise that you get to the store as early as possible. The line at my local store gets pretty long within 1/2 hour of the event. We make a point of getting there an hour early, and then my daughter and I take turns running in and out of the store to keep ourselves busy. (I also make her do her homework. If she finishes early, she can go in the store.) So, here goes: January was a little Igloo with two brick-built penguins. I don't care for brick-built animals, but these do look rather cute. Some of the unique pieces in here are the four white curved dome parts. This igloo does bear a superficial resemblance to the little igloo in 2012's Winter Village set, only a little smaller. This wasn't a bad start to the year. February was a little Log Cabin. I don't know why--perhaps because President's Day is in February, which celebrates Abraham Lincoln, who lived in a log cabin as a boy? Maybe it was just wintry. This set did come with a lot of L-shaped 2 x 2 brown tiles and some long brown slopes. It was OK as a building, but otherwise just sat there and was kind of blah. This model didn't really do it for us. March was a little Sea Turtle. The fun thing for us about this model is that we got it literally an hour or two after getting off a plane from Florida. We almost missed this build, but I convinced my wife to let us go even though we just got off the plane. Anyway, it had some nice parts, mostly the light green curved bricks. I also enjoyed the functionality of this model, as you can make the turtle "swim" by moving the legs. This felt like one of the better models of the year. April was these two Lambs, a big one and a small. Honestly, this was my personal least favorite build of the year, and we almost didn't go to it because I was getting a little sick of rushing to the mall on the 1st Tuesday of every month. (I think this was just after Easter, too.) I realize that all Lego is abstract, but this set of models struck me as really, really abstract, Yeah, they look like two lambs if you use your imagination, but they're really just lumps of white brick IMO. May was this Kingfisher which I reviewed on EB shortly after getting it. (I'll start showing the free cards that the Store gives out as your ticket to get in. We didn't keep the cards from January to April.) We liked this model, as he had some functionality with movable wings and tail. He's cute and wasn't a bad little build, plus he had interesting parts like the blue slopes and yellow clips. June was this Fisherman, which is functional but also kind of blah in my opinion. Just like brick-built animals, I also tend not to like brick-built people (maybe it's the lack of faces). Still, he's functional with his moveable fishing rod, and the orange fish is a nice touch. July was this little Crab which we enjoyed a lot since we live in Maryland. (The only thing that would have been better would be if he had come in blue.) Like the turtle, he's pretty functional, as his "claws" can extend (but not pinch) and the switch-built legs can be posed many different ways. I also reviewed the crab on EB over here. August was this Flamingo, which would be a lot of fun if you lived in Florida. It's not a bad build, and has a lot of interesting pink pieces. It has a little bit of functionality in the wings, but otherwise just sits there. Because the base is so small, it's probably the most unstable model of the year, but it does stand up if left alone. September is when "Talk Like a Pirate Day" is held, so I guess that's why we got this Pirate. Again, I'm not keen on brick-built people, but I will admit that he captures a lot of pirate details in a small space. The buttons, pegleg, and flair of his hat are all pretty well done. He even has a little functionality, as you can bend his head at the neck (though this does leave a weird gap where his neck should be). October gave us this Witch for Halloween. Her head can move at the neck, but that's it. It's not a bad looking witch and made a nice decoration for our house in advance of Halloween, and she did come with some nice cone pieces, but otherwise didn't really do anything. November gave us a Lawnmower which, ha-ha, doesn't come with Batman. We just stuck him on there to illustrate that this was the only minifigure-compatible MMB for the year. The timing was a little odd, as the Ride-On Lawn Mower polybag came out around the same time. A fun fact is that this model was designed by some Lego fan out there. The Store has a "design a MMB contest" every year, and this was 2013's winner. Next year's winner will be revealed in October. Anyway, we kind of like this one. I honestly think it's a little big for a mower, and the Ride-On Mower poly looks a lot better, but it's not a bad model and works well in a City scene. Finally, December gave us this cute Rocking Horse. This model is very similar to 2012's Rocking Horse polybag, only smaller. It's cute and does the job, although brick-printed eyes might have been a nice touch. The one drawback is that the 4 x 4 red plate on the bottom keeps it from really rocking. You can take the plate off to regain that feature (with some pushing, as the red slopes are partly flat on the bottom). Then again, the red plate does hold the thing together. The really nice touch is the black rope, which has enough clutch power to support the model. We hung it on our Christmas tree, and it looks great there. So, a pretty good year overall. It took some work, but we got a good load of free bricks as a result. We've kept all the models together since getting them, but if we get tired of them, they're a pretty good source of parts. I'm not sure if we'll keep going every month in 2014, but the draw of free bricks is hard to resist. I haven't seen 2014's schedule yet, though--all I know is that January's model is a nice looking snowplow. Anyway, if you live near a store, have a kid under 12, and want to brave the lines, I highly recommend going. Your kid will have fun, and it's free bricks! Here's hoping 2014 is just as fun.

You know, with the Krazy Glue, the battery, and the black magic marker squiggles, I am now *very* convinced that the end of the movie will reveal that the whole film was set in some kid's bedroom. Edit: There's no mistaking what that glue bottle is supposed to be. I wonder how long it's been since a commercial product (like Shell and Exxon) appeared in a non-exclusive set? Hopefully the people over at the Krazy Glue corporation take it all in good fun...

Well, maybe part of the challenge is to build your own saloon and kebab cart. Both items *look* like they have enough parts to make them (though the saloon may just be the facade of one). I'm equally curious about the Fire Mech. That set *also* doesn't have 2-in-1 on the box, yet it looks like it has almost but not quite enough parts to make a decent fire engine. Wonder how that will play out....

This isn't apparent from the review, but my understanding is that Ma and Pa Cop are Emmett's parents. Also, raise your hands--who used Krazy Glue on a Lego creation when you were a kid? Seeing that brick-built bottle is hilarious!

There's probably people out there who think that Star Wars and Superheroes are taking up valuable Friends space.... No need to be grumpy about this. Lego fans have different interests, and themes come and go. There's no need to be competitive about it. Me, I miss Monster Fighters, as I think that theme had plenty of room for additional waves and didn't need to disappear for the sake of Chima and Galaxy Swarm. It wasn't my call, though, so I'm not mad at those themes. Finally, in the stores that I shop at--Wal-Mart, Target, and TRU--Friends is always in its own section. At Wal-Mart and Target in particular, Friends is over in the girls' toy section along with Barbie and Hello Kitty. "Regular" Lego is in its own aisle. There's no shelf space competition there, unless you want City, Castle, and Creator to get out of the way next.

One of the Wal-Marts near me had a new polybag bin out that was populated with Mia Picnics, Umbaran MHCs, and a single Lone Ranger Pump Car. Target predictably has the Christmas polys at 50% off. Oddly, I had to check several Targets to find the Christmas train, as a lot of the ones I frequent were clean out (but still had Emma and TMNT). I did see a few other polys sitting in the Christmas section but didn't check whether they were also on clearance--somebody could have just stashed them there, as the store is always in chaos after Christmas.

Oh, I'll play along too. My daughter got three CMFs in her stocking: Pretzel Boy, Pretzel Girl, and Gingerbread Man, as well as the Harry Potter lab polybag. Her big present was the 2011 Hogwarts set which I magically found on clearance a few months ago. I gave my wife An Unexpected Gathering, and I tracked down all the dwarves to fill it. (My wife got lots of non-Lego stuff, but she is a big Tolkien fan.) Me, I got the Master Building Academy Set 1 and the new Minifigure coffee table book.

A reminder that Target's seasonal section should go to at least 50% off tomorrow, so the three Lego polys (Friends, TMNT, and the Creator Train) should be greatly reduced.

Brickset is reporting that McDonald's will be doing some Happy Meal toys for the movie. Hopefully these will be actual sets (and good ones) rather than cheap plastic figures that aren't actually Lego.

Grievous. 2011's calendar was the entire saga, 2012 was Episode I, and 2013 was Episode II. Stands to reason that 2014 will be Episode III, so either Greivous (who should come with red and green lightsabers) or a Red Vader would be the ideal candidates.

No comments on this lately? Tomorrow's the last day! Here's where the Calendar is at on Day 23: I love the selection of minifigures. My town leans towards the orange firefighters and black and white cops from 2011-2012, but these folks are a welcome addition. The kid is great. We're not big on racing here, but the little racer with the go-kart makes me want to get the larger Octan car that's just been released. Best of all... Check out all these spares! This calendar has been a treasure trove for spares, especially food and mugs. I forgot to include the spare scarves--they're mostly on the various minifigures, who shouldn't be underdressed in the cold. The carrot stem is not included--it comes from the Thanksgiving Feast polybag. Spare stem + spare carrot = awesome. I'm not sure if this is the best City Advent Calendar ever, but it's pretty good, particularly if you need spares.

Woot! I'm a Day 24 winner, and I get the LOTR set! Works for me. (Hopefully I get the Cave Troll to match.) Thanks for your generosity CopMike, and for keeping me on my toes for 24 days!