happy (i am your) father's day!

I Am Your Father

Happy (I Am Your) Father's Day!

To all our personal superheroes (or super villains, whichever applies), the half of the reason of our existence, be it by blood or by something else entirely, thank you very much! Happy Father's Day!

birthday card [5004931] review

Birthday Card [5004931]

Wow! A birthday present from LEGO!

Using the first voucher in the UK / EU 2017 LEGO Wall Calendar, you can claim your birthday present from your favorite brick company. All you have to do is to present the voucher in a LEGO Store in the week of your birthday. And that's exactly what my wife did, for today is her birthday! (Happy birthday pi!).

I thought at first that the free gift is a literal birthday card, but we've discovered that it's more than that. Yes it is a card where you can write down your greetings, but there are bricks included as well in the Birthday Card [5004931] set.

Birthday Girl

The 20-pieces set also includes a kid minifigure, with two heads and two hairpieces to match the celebrant's gender. The unisex torso is printed with a blue sweater over a green striped top. And this is matched with a pair of red mini-legs.

Birthday Boy

A birthday celebration is not complete without a cake and a wrapped present. The minibuilds are simple but very effective, and not to mention super cute. The chocolate cake with marshmallow icing looks very yummy with a strawberry cupcake on top. The gift covered in orange and blue wrapping was finished with a yellow bow. At least that's how I see them, haha. Everything is neatly arranged in a 4x4 lime green tile. 

Happy Birthday!

For a free gift with no purchase necessary, the Birthday Card [5004931] set is a sweet gesture from LEGO. Thank you very much for making your fans' birthdays extra special!

christmas 2016 haul

Snowglobe [40223]

Happy holidays everyone! What's a better way to celebrate the festivities than bricktacularly?

For my wife and I, this will be our first time celebrating the holidays in the United Kingdom. To divert our attention from homesickness, we both turned to (as one of my closest friends would describe it) brick therapy. Without realizing it, our Christmas 2016 haul instantly grew (mainly due to the freebies).

LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar [75146]

The first set on this list is the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar [75146]. As you can see here, I bought it as early as September when it first came out. My wife had to make a note on the box, wrap it, and hide it in plain sight in order to ensure that I'll be able to delay my gratification. I wasn't able to do a daily blog as planned, but I made a gallery post to compensate.

Come November, on the opening of the new London Leicester Square LEGO Store, we acquired the bulk of our holiday sets. For going there really early, we were rewarded with last year's Gingerbread House [40139].

Gingerbread House [40139] Box

Gingerbread House [40139]

And for our purchases, we were gifted with the Toy Soldier [5004420] ornament, and the 24-In-1 Christmas Builds [40222] box set.

Toy Soldier [5004420]

24-In-1 Christmas Builds [40222]

We weren't really planning to buy any LEGO last Black Friday Sale, but the Snowglobe [40223] set is irresistibly beautiful. In my opinion, this is one of the best seasonal sets ever.

Snowglobe [40223] Box

Then there are always the impulse sets. Seasonal sets from the previous years were popping out everywhere. We found the very cute (and very cheap) Santa's Visit [40125] and Reindeer [30474] sets in our local stores.

Santa's Visit [40125]

Reindeer [30474]

And to cap our Christmas 2016 haul, we claimed the re-released Gingerbread Man [5005156] to complement our Gingerbread House [40139]. I just think he was a little overbaked.

Gingerbread Man [5005156]

I guess that's it for this year. There's always next year. Enjoy the holidays!

LEGO star wars advent calendar 2016

LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 2016 [75146]

It's already the 24th of December, and today marks the end of the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar [75146]...

As my first advent calendar, I immensely enjoyed the 2016 version of my favorite brick theme from a galaxy far, far away. Opening a door everyday (or in my case every other day or two) and discovering each surprise gave me simple festive joys. Snow Chewbacca, U-3PO, and the Hoth Snowman are few of the notable ones. The microbuilds were also ingeniously designed using only a small number of bricks.

What's behind Doors 1 to 24?

I initially planned to do a daily blog on this, but my long work hours didn't permit me to do so. So, here is a simple gallery to present my little holiday babies:

Day 1: Slave I

Day 2: Bespin Guard

Day 3: TIE Interceptor

Day 4: Imperial Navy Trooper

Day 5: Anti-infantry Battery

Day 6: Snowtrooper

Day 7: Hoth Snowman

Day 8: P-Tower

Day 9: Hoth Rebel Trooper

Day 10: Republic Attack Cruiser

Day 11: Armored Assault Tank

Day 12: Droid Gunship

Day 13: Battle Droid

Day 14: Jedi Starfighter

Day 15: Tantive IV

Day 16: U-3PO

Day 17: Gonk Droid

Day 18: Jabba's Palace

Day 19: Luke Skywalker

Day 20: Desert Skiff

Day 21: Stormtrooper

Day 22: Imperial Landing Craft

Day 23: Sleigh

Day 24: Snow Chewbacca

Happy holidays everyone!!!

UK LEGO store year-end promotions

Gingerbread Man
(Photo grabbed from: https://www.lego.com/en-GB)

2016 is almost over but the UK LEGO Store has still some lovely presents to giveaway.

These freebies are just in time for the holidays. Stocking fillers, anyone?

From 11 to 20 December, there's a free Exclusive Gingerbread Man Minifigure [5005156] for any purchase over £25. This is perfect if you miss this the first time in the Collectible Minifigures Series 11 [71002]. This little fellow also goes well with last year's Gingerbread House [40139].

From 11 to 31 December, you can get a free Rebel A-Wing Pilot [5004408] polybag for any Star Wars purchase over £25. The long sought Phoenix Squadron Pilot minifigure will be officially up for grabs at last in the UK brick market. The minifigure is from Star Wars Rebels, more specifically from the end of the second season.

Rebel A-Wing Pilot
(Photo grabbed from: https://www.lego.com/en-GB)

And don't forget to pick your 2017 LEGO Wall Calendar from 11 December to 15 January. Simply present your valid receipt (with sticker) to any LEGO Store.

2017 Wall Calendar
(Photo grabbed from: https://www.lego.com/en-GB)

Of course, everything is claimable while supplies last.

Enjoy the remaining days of 2016!

halloween 2016 haul

Boo!

Happy Halloween! Brick or treat? Both!

My wife and I decided to treat ourselves with some bricks on our first Halloween in the United Kingdom. Our Halloween 2016 haul is more like 2015, for everything we bought were stuff from last year (and we're both not a fan of this year's spooky set. Is that a walrus vamp?). Needless to say, they're on sale.

For our first and only set, we purchased the Trick or Treat Halloween Set [40122].

Trick or Treat Halloween Set [40122]

Trick or Treat Halloween Set

We spotted this cute little vignette in our local Sainsbury's. It used to retail for £8.49 but they were selling the set for only £7, then they marked it further down to £5.60! This is our first ever vignette and it has inspired us to make similar projects in the future. Good thing I chose this over some spooky sweets.

For the next items, we used a voucher from WHSmith taking £5 off from at least £15 worth of kids' books or toys. Fortunately, our local store still has a few Minifigures Series 14: Monsters [71010] bags left. To be specific, there were six bags on the shelf. The exact quantity we need to avail of the promo.

Minifigures Series 14: Monsters [71010]

Out of the six bags, only one is a duplicate (to my younger sister's delight). For this haul, we got Zombie Businessman, Wolf Guy, Square Foot, Zombie Pirate, and Specter.

Zombie Businessman

Wolf Guy

Square Foot

Zombie Pirate

Specter

These guys will now join my Monster Scientist, Plant Monster, Tiger Woman, and Gargoyle. I still need to hunt down seven more minifigures to complete the set (I'm late. I know!). Not to mention my desire to have a cool Yeti from Series 11 [71002] to complement my cute Square Foot.

How about you guys? Brick or treat?

Happy Halloween!