Medieval LEGO, Greyson Beights. 2015, No Starch Press. 132 pages, Hardcover. (8 of 10) 

No Starch Press has made a name for itself with the LEGO fan community by publishing beautiful books. Some of them are art books, some of them idea books — their newest book may be their first history book. And I love it. 

Author Greyson Beights enlists the help of seventeen professors of medieval history, and the skills of fourteen LEGO builders to tell some of the most impressive tales of Britan’s history from 1028-1485. This covers everything from William the Conqueror to Henry of Tudor. I’m a history teacher, so this is right up my alley–even then, my specialty is 20th Century US History, so there was a lot here I had learned in history class back in the day, but had forgotten over time.

Compared to similar LEGO books, this one has a lot of text–Beights really is using this to tell the history of England. Interspersed with the text are photos of LEGO builds illustrating that history. Some of them are very large — Richard the Lionheart arriving at the Holy Land on a ship filled with knights, the Monastery of St Albans — others are smaller, but still impressive. Most of them are more close-up shots of minifigures in certain situtations. So we get William Wallace in his full Scottish gear, Margery Kempe the Christian mystic all dressed in white. 

If you’re a fan of history, the LEGO makes this a fun and accessible way to get an overview of English history. If you’re a LEGO fan, you’re going to love the photography, and architecture and building techniques of these builders. You’ll probably even recognize some of the names in the appendix; I’m relatively new to the AFOL community, but I know Utah’s Kyle Ransom as one of the most talented young builders out there. At $14.95 it makes a great gift for either the history geek or the LEGO geek in your life. And if they’re both? They’re going to love it. 

Special thanks to No Starch Press for the review copy of “Medieval LEGO.” 

More LEGO books from No Starch Press:

Beautiful LEGO: Wild 

The LEGO Adventure Book Vol. 3 

Not No Starch Press, still fun:

Brick Flicks: 60 Iconic Movie Scenes and Posters to Make from LEGO 

The LEGO Group put out word yesterday that they’d be introducing a new theme at New York Comic Con today, and they were true to their word. While I was hoping for a license that’s in the LEGO Dimensions game but not yet a playset, like Portal or The Wizard of Oz, instead we get Nexo Knights. 

From their press release:

LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™ Catapults Into Action

World’s leading toy brand introduces new intellectual property that bridges physical and digital play with building sets, episodic content and digital gaming

New York Comic Con attendees get first-look at story, products and gaming app

NEW YORK, Oct. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The LEGO Group today announced LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS,™ a new, original LEGO property depicting a medieval kingdom set in a futuristic world where five young, brave knights “download” special powers to their shields in order to battle the royal court’s evil Jestro and a cast of monsters to restore peace. The story comes to life through LEGO building sets, an episodic television and a digital gaming app that fuels story-driven gameplay. The property launches later this year, with products available starting January 1, 2016. LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS characters, story, app experience and two iconic building sets from the collection will be previewed to New York Comic Con attendees, Thursday, October 8 through Sunday, October 11 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (Booth #1436).

“Inspired by insights to meet the emerging needs of today’s kids, LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS juxtaposes a timeless world of medieval knights with a futuristic twist in a captivating story that invites children to explore LEGO play in a whole new way,” said Casper Thingholm of the LEGO Group. “LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS offers children the rewarding building experiences they know and love, amplified by digital enhancements that merge what today’s kids love: self-expression, strong characters, deep content-driven story and digital gaming.”

Story
Set in the futuristic, high-tech world of the Kingdom of Knighton, LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS follows five young knights in their quest to battle Jestro, his sidekick, the Book of Monsters, and their Lava Monster Army. Heroic knight, Clay Moorington, leads the band of knights, including alpha superstar Lance Richmond, hipster Aaron Fox, Macy Halbert, a princess who would rather be a knight, and Axl, the giant. Together, under the tutelage of Knights’ Academy mentor and Great Digital Wizard, Merlok 2.0, they join forces to defeat the enemy.

The sets are kind of a steampunky medieval space futuristic…well…this:

So yeah. A castle, on tank treads, with robohorses/speeder bikes that…yeah. 

…and that’s Jestro’s Evil Mobile. 

Where this is a homegrown property, they won’t have the licensing fees that LEGO has with the superheroes and Star Wars brands. Their in-house brands are hit and miss. “Ninjago” was, and still is, huge. It’s had several iterations of the cartoon, games, and is getting it’s own theatrical release. The followup was “Legends of Chima,” which never really took off with kids (or adult fans), despite having some cool designs and play features. I’m guessing “Nexo Knights” is intended to replace “Chima.” From a jaded adult perspective, it’s kind of a mess. But it’s the kids that matter. Will they dig it? Here’s a trailer for the accompanying cartoon and app game:

It could work. LEGO Nexo Knights will be on store shelves in 2016. That’s when we find out. 

We’ve known for a while now that there would be a “Doctor Who” LEGO set coming in 2015. Today LEGO showed us everything in their press release:

You might have thought it disappeared into a crack in space and time, but today we’re excited to finally share pictures and details about the LEGO® Ideas 21304 Doctor Who!

AndrewClark2’s Doctor Who and Companions was too great for just one Doctor, who we decided to include two! You can buy yours  December 1st, in time for the Doctor Who Christmas Special, for a recommended retail price of USD $59.99 / EUR €59,99. You might want to keep an eye on that Weeping Angel though….

Here is the official product description:

Construct a stunningly detailed LEGO® version of the iconic TARDIS® and role-play the Doctor’s time-travel adventures! Created by fan-designer Andrew Clark and selected by LEGO Ideas members, this set is based on the BBC’s popular and long-running television series about a Time Lord – the Doctor – exploring the universe in a blue police box. Due to trans-dimensional engineering, the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than the outside and this cool multifunctional set includes the console room that houses all the flight controls. Regenerate the Doctor and defeat the evil Daleks™ and a Weeping Angel with the help of his extraordinary companion Clara. Then close the doors of the TARDIS and launch into another dimension! Includes 4 minifigures with assorted accessory elements: the Eleventh Doctor, the Twelfth Doctor, Clara Oswald and a Weeping Angel, plus 2 Daleks™.

The likenesses of the characters are good — and it just makes me want more “Doctor Who” characters in LEGO form. Doctors, companions, aliens, frigging K-9 — I want it all. Sigh. 

The LEGO Adventure Book Vol. 3: Robots, Planes, Cities & More! Megan H. Rothrock, Hardcover, 192 pages, No Starch Press. September 2015. (7 out of 10) 

Over the last few years, No Starch Press has been expanding their LEGO reach, with books written by and for LEGO fans, but not officially endorsed or published by the toy giant. As of today, there are a whopping 32 books in No Starch’s LEGO catalog, and on the whole they’re very good. They cover a variety of topics and styles, from LEGO Space models to medieval history to architecture to LEGO art and sculpture. Some are expressly meant for adults, but there are plenty that are good for kids as well. Which is good, because…LEGO. It’s a toy. 

This month sees the next addition to an ongoing series by author Megan H. Rothrock: “The LEGO Adventure Book Vol. 3.” I read the first in this series, but somehow missed the second. They were published in 2012 and 2013, so there was a large gap between volumes 2 and 3. 

Where most of the No Starch LEGO books are essentially a collection of pretty pictures of professional-grade LEGO models, with some building tips and instructions thrown in, “The LEGO Adventure Book” series attempts to tell an ongoing story. The tenuous storyline has Megs (a black-suited female minifigure representing Megan’s online avatar and persona) and her tiny Brickbot traveling through time and space in her little time machine. The first ten pages set up that story, but do so without explaining what has come before. We’re dropped into the middle of the story without any warning, and it’s very disorienting. Even as an adult who had read the first volume and knew the premise, I didn’t know what was going on. I guess in volume 2 they met a villain called the Destructor, who…destructs. Things. LEGO buildings, cars, spaceships–whatever he can get his mitts on. So Megs and Brickbot go throughout various LEGO worlds, trying to apprehend the dude. 

Aside from that bit of confusion, and a scene pretty much stolen directly from the LEGO Movie — remember that group of Master Builders who met inside the Dog in Cloud Cuckoo Land? With Abraham Lincoln and Michelangelo and Michelangelo and Milhouse? Well, it’s that. Here they call it the “Council of Creative Constructionists,” and it’s fine…but really, a complete ripoff. So aside from the confusion and the CCC, this becomes a very nice book. Megs’ journey takes her through nine different worlds, spending as much as 25 pages in some, as few as 8 pages in others. 

The settings include Dordrecht (a town in the Netherlands), outer space, a steam fair (a carnival, not a steampunk event), and a beach. They also vary in scale. While most of the chapters are in standard minifigure scale, others are “miniland” scale — the scale of the buildings you see at LEGOLAND, where the characters are approximately six inches tall, There are even a few pages of nearly human-sized food — a sushi platter, hamburger and fries, etc. This variety of LEGO models and genres ensure there will be something in “The LEGO Adventure Book” for everyone, whether you’re a kid or a LEGO-loving adult. 

My favorite chapters were on Dordrecht and one called “Trouble in Eden.” One of the great things about this book is that the builds in each chapter aren’t by Megan Rothrock herself, but by some of the best LEGO builders in the world. Dordrecht is built by Patrick Bosman. We also get the addresses of their Flickr accounts if they have them, so we can see what else they’ve done. There are hundreds of high quality photographs showing the worlds these builders have created, but also specific instructions for building specific models. In Dordrecht, Megs and Patrick show us how to build a beautiful 17th Century Dutch House, with brickwork, arches, Dutch spires and a detailed interior. These instructions are laid out more quickly than they would be in a standard LEGO instruction booklet. If you’ve got a lot of LEGOing under your belt, they’re challenging to follow; if you’re a kid attempting the same thing, I can see getting frustrated quickly.

The “Trouble in Eden” chapter features Birgitte Jonsgard, a science teacher from Norway. Most of these builders are just LEGO fans who have become amateur experts, not actual employees of LEGO. Her project is an eco-friendly house (pictured on the cover of the book). The house itself is an interesting modern build, but what I liked best are the small add-ons that are easy to build and add to any LEGO neighborhood. This includes rooftop solar panels, windmill, and water heaters, compost bin and chicken coop, a beehive and a lot of foliage. Each is a relatively simple build, but adds details to houses that I haven’t seen in LEGO form very often. Yeah, there’s irony in building them all out of toxic ABS plastic that will last for thousands of years after I’m gone…but I’m not going anytime soon. 

In all this is a great book filled with ideas. I’ve never built anything like sushi rolls or a hamburger out of LEGO, but I think I’m going to try. I may not do things exactly the same, or in the same color — I don’t think I have all the right pieces in the right color to make that Dutch House. But I can take piece of that design and incorporate them into other projects I’m working on. Rothrock emphasizes many times in the book that if you don’t have the right pieces, you can substitute one color for another, or X for Y, and still have a great model. If you’re looking for a gift for the LEGO fan in your life who already has every LEGO set, or you want to give them something different that they’ll still enjoy, “The LEGO Adventure Book” should be on that list. 

Other books for LEGO Fans

Beautiful LEGO Wild! 

Brick Flicks: 60 Iconic Movie Scenes and Posters Made From LEGO

Special thanks to No Starch Press for providing a review copy of “The LEGO Adventure Book Vol. 3.” 

“Beautiful LEGO Wild!” Mike Doyle, No Starch Press, September 2015 222 pages, softcover. (10 of 10)

No Starch Press has become the go-to publisher for fans of LEGO who want something a little more than the mass market books that LEGO itself puts out. LEGO’s official publications are understandably geared toward children, which is as it should be. No Starch Press has tapped into the market of adults who are either nostalgic enough to remember how much they loved LEGO, or who are rediscovering playing with LEGO themselves, or that rarest of adult–the ones who see LEGO as an artistic medium in its own right. This last group of people are highlighted in Mike Doyle’s “Beautiful LEGO: Wild!” 

This is Doyle’s third “Beautiful LEGO” book, following the original and “Beautiful LEGO: Dark.” All three have Doyle more as a curator of the best LEGO builds from around the world than an author. He includes a few of his own pieces in the mix, but most of these models are things that are clearly labors of love by other Adult Fans Of LEGO (AFOLs). These artists have found ways to use LEGO to make sculptures and mosaics of landscapes, birds, fish, insects, cartoon characters, and mythical creatures, all under the overarching theme of “Wild.”

In the preface, Doyle writes that “Seeing how simple shapes combine to give the illusion of a bigger picture is exciting.” The way the builders do that varies, and you can see the how the styles of different artists impact how they use these plastic bricks to create organic shapes. 

Some favorite pieces:

Peacock, by Sean Kenney — using only standard LEGO bricks, making a pixelated kind of animal; Kenney has touring zoo exhibits with dozens of his creations, many of which are life-sized. 

Sachiko Akinaga’s Sea Otter Mum & Pup. This gets more complex, moving beyond only rectangular bricks, adding different angles, rounded pieces, and LEGO facing different directions. 

Mike Doyle’s own piece, Appalachian Mountaintop Removal, is a good example of the scale of some of these projects; at around 10,000 pieces, it’s enormous, but is also depicting an entire mountainside. The jumble of vegetation is all made with different LEGO building techniques–most of the conifers are actually LEGO flower stems, simply turned upside-down. Chris Maddison’s Wilderness Cabin on the right is another good example of a very small-scale model, again using a completely different mode of tree-building. 

Andrew Simonson’s Ereg Durin is one of the many minifigure-scaled builds that demonstrate living with nature; understandably, many of these depict scenes from or inspired by the elves in “Lord of the Rings”–great examples of building organically and in harmony with nature. Out of ABS plastic that will last forever.

I’m including Andrei Pacurar’s Steamworks Owl not just because it’s beautiful, but also because it reminds me of “Clash of the Titans.” There are sections of the book highlighting “Artificial Life,” and this is one of the best examples of that.

Truthfully, every page of this volume is worth highlighting in a review. Which would be writing a book about the book which would be both Inception-y and copyright violation. I love that Doyle credits the builders in an appendix at the back of the book, he thanks those who participated in a competition to be included, and it feels more like a collaborative achievement than something that Doyle just cooked up on his own. There are similar books out there that obscure where some of the builds came from, I like that the artists get full credit here.

If you are, or have ever been, a fan of LEGO, “Beautiful LEGO: Wild!” is a gorgeous way to celebrate that fandom. The printing is high quality, the binding is softbound, but more durable than standard paperback/trade paperback format. It’s a great addition to your coffee table or your playroom. If you’re a LEGO builder yourself, you’ll find inspiration here. If you have a LEGO-loving loved one, and you’re not sure what to buy them for Christmas because they already have Every Damn Thing, this is a great gift idea. In any case, this book is by the fans and for the fans. They get it right. 

Thanks to No Starch Press for the review copy of “Beautiful LEGO: Wild!” 

This episode features: Tyson, Kiley, Jimmy, Lucas, and Tom, with special guest, Quinn!

Topic: Comcis / Collectibles / Video Games

The usual suspects are joined by Quinn Rollins, local LEGO expert and contributor to Big Shiny Robot!, to discuss female teachers sleeping with students. Tom tries to come to terms with his distaste for “Batman: Arkham Knight”, and other various geek topics are discussed.

Headlines:

• Marvel’s Secret War
• The Future of Spider-Man
• Drifter
• LEGOs
• Batman: Arkham Knight
• Nintendo Prototype

The Big Shiny Podcast LIVE!:
Utah-local fans of the Big Shiny Podcast! On August 28th, the fellas from the Big Shiny Podcast will be doing a LIVE show at Club at 50 West! This is a FREE event! You can get more details and keep up to date at our Facebook Event Page! We hope to see a lot of you there!

As always, thank you for listening! If you like what you hear, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and rate us! Have feedback for the Big Shiny Podcasters? Want to suggest a topic to cover? Want to just give us a shout? Feel free to drop the host of the BSPC, Tyson, an e-mail at tyson@bigshinyrobot.com, or on Twitter, @Arse_bot!

Listen to the Big Shiny Podcast! on iTunes

Listen to the Big Shiny Podcast on Stitcher:

I’m a lifelong fan of “Scooby-Doo.” I’m old enough to remember the original iteration of the cartoon, which started in 1969, ran through the 1970s, and has had some version of the show on the air nearly continuously ever since. There was the Scrappy-Doo fiasco, there have been live action movies, and the most recent version, “Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated” is probably the smartest and funniest version of the Meddling Kids ever made. That said, none of them would have happened if the original series hadn’t been so strong. That’s part of why I’m so happy that LEGO chose the first season of “Scooby-Doo” as inspiration for its lineup, debuting in stores August 1st. 

There are five sets, ranging in price from $12.99 to $79.99. Each of them has Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, and at least one monster/ghost/guy dressed up to scare away myster-solving teenagers. Of the sets, my favorite is the Mystery Machine. I have a thing for iconic fictional cars, whether it’s the Batmobile or Doc Brown’s Time Machine, Fred Flintstone’s steamroller-style car, or the ECTO-1. The Mystery Machine is solidly in that garage-shaped pantheon. And the LEGO version is just about perfect.

The Mystery Machine, while often called a classic VW bus, isn’t. It’s got a different shape, more angular and shorter. Hanna-Barbera probably didn’t want to pay royalties to Volkswagen, so Mystery Inc’s wheels aren’t German-made. Or…German-engineered, made in Mexico, which is what currently happens. Anyway. It’s got the spare tire mounted on the front of the van, it’s definitely got the classic hippie van vibe. LEGO has made VW buses before, but this was their first attempt at the Mystery Machine. It’s beautiful.

The colors, lime green and turquoise, are perfect. Both relatively new colors in the LEGO palette, they’re essential to get the cartoony look right, and they’ve got them. The outside is covered with stickers (it would have been better as printed pieces, but it would also probably cost $5.00 more), to give it that flowery groovy look. What impresses me most is the shape. Kind of top-heavy, with a combination of angles and curves that can be tricky when building with LEGO. It’s not just a straight-sided van; it’s…cartoony. The windshield is (I believe) a brand-new piece, and it’s perfect for the vehicle. The unique shape of the windshield opens up the front seats of the van, with enough room for driver and passenger to sit side-by-side.

The interior is detailed, with a radio in the front, and a kitchen with stove and sink in the back. There’s also a big Scooby-and-Shaggy style sandwich on a countertop, and a tape recorder (it’s either a reel-to-reel or a VHS), radar screen, and computer terminal in the back. For crime-solvin’. There are also crime lab-style bulletin boards on either wall behind the kitchen equipment. They crammed a lot into one van, and the rear swings open and the top comes off to allow play inside. 

The minifigures are also damn near perfect–Fred and Shaggy both have new, unique hairpieces that are more cartoony than most current LEGO hair, but look completely on-model for the characters. They’re classic Scooby, with Fred’s orange ascot and Shaggy’s green t-shirt with short sleeves (a relatively new LEGO innovation on their minifigures). Both Fred and Shaggy have two-sided heads so they can be either happy or scared; just take off the hairpiece and turn the head around. Scooby-Doo himself is an all-new molded piece, with a turning head but otherwise solid. My son pointed out that one side of Scooby’s face is scared, the other side happy–it gives him a slightly crooked face, which is just fine. The villain that comes with this set is the zombie from the first season episode “Which Witch is Which?” He’s also got a robotic tree, which matches the headline of the newspaper that Fred’s got, “Tree Comes To Life” 

So…this set is great. And for $29.99, it’s about average for a set of that size. I’m impressed with everything that’s included. The hard part for me is what’s not included–or who. And that’s Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley. That’s right, I know their last names. Don’t be surprised. (and Shaggy’s real name is Norville Rogers, and it’s Freddy Jones)(you’re nerds too, don’t judge me) LEGO, like every toy company, is a company, and they want as many of my dollars as they can get. If you’re looking to get every Avenger, you’re buying every “Avengers” LEGO set. Every Batman villain, the same. In this case, in order to get all five members of Mystery, Inc. you’re going to have to buy the Mystery Mansion (largest set at $79.99, and the only one with Velma) (Daphne comes with both this set and the Haunted Lighthouse) and the Mystery Machine, which is the only set with Fred. What that usually means for me is that I end up with half of the Avengers, or I’m missing a few Star Wars characters. In this case, each of the five characters is so important to me that I did it. I built the Mystery Machine now, I’m saving the Mystery Mansion for Halloween. I don’t resent it, I understand why they do it, and this time…it worked. 

Seeing these sets fly off the shelves, and seeing both young kids and nostalgic adults going bonkers over them, I think LEGO’s got another hot property on their hands. With the impressive assortment of sets in the first series, it will be interesting to see what follows. 

We’ve seen bits and pieces of these minifigures being leaked over the last few months, with some badly-translated lists of characters, but we finallyhave confirmation and a full image for the next series of LEGO’s popular Minifigures line. Series 14: Monster is only the fourth time we’ve seen an entire wave devoted to one theme; the others were for “The LEGO Movie,” and two series for “The Simpsons” (so far). Here’s what we’ve got coming September 1st:

Official names of the characters:

1. Werewolf
2. Zombie Pirate
3. Crazy Scientist
4. Wacky Witch
5. Plant Monster
6. Fly Monster
7. Spectre
8. Zombie Cheerleader
9. Tiger Woman
10. Gargoyle
11. Skeleton Guy
12. Monster Rocker
13. Zombie Businessman
14. Banshee
15. Bigfoot
16. Spider Lady

It’s a solid assortment, and although LEGO has made zombies and witches and ghosts in recent years, these offer enough new pieces that they’re worth buying. That witch’s hat and hairpiece are new, the zombies are all different than previous zombies, but would fit in nicely with them. The Spectre and Banshee both have a new ghostly leg piece that’s in the newest Ninjago sets, but haven’t been seen before that. The Yeti’s been repurposed as Bigfoot, instead of a traditional LEGO skeleton, we get someone dressed as one to go trick-or-treating. The outstanding ones (for me at least) are the Plant Monster, Fly Monster, Tiger Woman, and Gargoyle. They’ve got great new pieces, they represent classic monsters we haven’t seen before, and I can see things like Tiger Woman’s hairpiece being used to give us a classic Catwoman or Cheetah from DC Comics. Cool stuff.

It’s also great timing (way to go LEGO) that these will be on store shelves leading up to Halloween, but also because the new Scooby-Doo line of LEGO sets comes out August 1st. So for me, writing this, tomorrow. And I’ll be buying the hell out of them. Nice touch to have sixteen more villains for those meddling kids to round up. 

I believe in LEGO. They’ve been my favorite toy company for a long time, and judging by worldwide sales (they’re consistently in the top three alongside Mattel and Hasbro) so do many of you. I buy it new, I buy it used, I buy it on the secondary market via Bricklink.com and eBay…but there’s a dark world of LEGO collecting that scrupulously avoided until now. Bootleg LEGO. 

I’m a believer in intellectual property rights. I think companies (even multibillion dollar corporations) should make money off of the entertainment that they provide. I don’t illegally download movies, music, or comics. I have a lot of friends who do, I just haven’t gone there, and I’m not planning on it. LEGO, my favorite company, should be protected by that same moral code. And it was, until last month. 

I use LEGO in classrooms. I use it to teach kids, I use it to teach teachers. I think it’s a great way to help them break out of that boring cycle of worksheets and lectures. A colleague, knowing that, saw a lot of LEGO minifigures on eBay for dirt cheap and bought them for me. She knew they were knockoffs, but figured it was just for fun, not a serious collection, and got them. When they arrived, my sons and I assembled them. They were kind of ridiculous. Mismatched colors, some joints too tight and others too loose, heads that needed tools to snap onto the torsos, faces printed crookedly on heads. The thing is, they were so close to being right, it made me curious about what other product was out there. I’ve known about “BootLEGO” for years, but thought it would be difficult to find. One eBay search later, there they were.

Having bought (and sold) plenty of toys on eBay, I knew certain things to watch for–shipping costs, lot sizes, things like that. I’m also hyperaware of every minifigure LEGO has made in the last five years, and what they should really look like if they’re authentic LEGO. Closeup pictures of some of these reveal flaws that made me pass them up. Then I saw this:

I’m a huge fan of the Flash. The comic books, the CW television series, all of it. So is my 13 year old son. LEGO has officially made one Flash minifigure–he comes in a great set alongside Wonder Woman, Gorilla Grodd, and Captain Cold. I bought it the week it came out. I love it. The set above includes a Flash in his CW-styled costume, Reverse Flash in the same, a Classic Flash, Classic Reverse Flash, White Lantern Flash, Blue Lantern Flash, Reverse Flash in the bizarre burned suit he currently wears in the comics, and even Black Flash, who’s kind of the Grim Reaper for speedsters. For $8.99. Which includes shipping.

I’m only human. 

I bought it. Sort of as an experiment. Everything looked good on the auction (not even an auction, a store with the “Buy It Now” feature, but I’ve been burned before. Would these be like the shoddy bootlegs I’d been assembling a few weeks before? Turns out, no. They arrived in a little padded package, we opened them and assembled them. Their details (real LEGO has detailed pad printing instead of decals…many LEGO customs have decals instead) were pad printed, and looked like what LEGO would do if they ever made these characters. The Flash helmet pieces…it looks like they based those on the LEGO Batman II video game, with heavy chin straps. The “real” Flash that came out this year has a more streamlined look to it. But the eight characters all have matching ones, so it comes across okay. The one problem I had with the minifigures was that one of the Reverse Flashes had two left earpieces. Bugs me a little, not enough to contact them in China and see about a replacement.

So. What if the BootLEGO is an assortment of characters, or an entire franchise, the LEGO isn’t making, and never will make. They got my money when I purchased the legitimate kit that had the Flash in it–they may make a version of the Reverse Flash someday, but those other six characters? No way. Is this akin to “fan art?” Is it like a recording of a band’s live show that their label is never going to release? I knew I had entered a moral gray area. I figured while I was there…

The next set I bought was Young Justice:

This is another case where I’ve bought each of those characters as they were officially released (multiple Robins, Nightwing, Superboy), but they haven’t, and will probably never, made Kid Flash, Arrowette, Aqualad, and Miss Martian. I love those characters. I want them to be in my DC LEGO Universe. They arrived, they were good. I will say with both sets, while they’re fine for display and probably casual play, there are some small problems. The joints are too tight. Some arms feel like you’re going to break them at the shoulder twisting too hard. For die-hard LEGO fans, there’s a tactile difference as well. The plastic just…feels cheaper. It’s still ABS plastic, but it’s a little more lightweight, it feels a little more brittle. I haven’t had any breakage issues, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it happened.

This morning as I was looking for the right eBay seller, and for images to use for the article, I came across some others that are hit and miss in terms of quality:

“The Simpsons” — note that things like Homer and Bart, who have short sleeved shirts in the official LEGO, are sleeveless here. That’s another layer of printing and equipment that’s very new to LEGO, and may be difficult to replicate bootleg-style. In any case, LEGO actually makes “The Simpsons” LEGO, so it would go against my personal policy. I think.

I don’t know “Dragonball Z,” and I know their anime designs may be hard to translate into plastic, but these look a little bit off to me. Their torso printing looks great, the faces not so much. LEGO doesn’t have the “Dragonball Z” license, and I don’t see them picking it up anytime soon.

Another case where LEGO will never, ever pick up “The Walking Dead” license…and some of these characters look pretty cool. I’m not a TWD fan, but damn. Those zombies. Again, getting 8 characters for less than ten bucks…tempting.

…then I kept scrolling and saw these. And had purchased them before 45 seconds had passed. Serious. PayPal, done. LEGO has made zombie minifigures, as part of their collectible minifigures line. And I’ve bought them. There are more coming in September, and I’ll buy them. But this gives me six more. Ugh I feel so dirty…

…but not dirty enough to not buy these. I’m not even a Marvel guy. But the Fantastic Four! They have a (probably terrible) movie coming out any day now, but LEGO isn’t making any toys for it. There was a Doctor Doom minifigure with a Spider-Man set last year, but the others are brand new. They’ve even got the Woody/Jessie “Toy Story” style long legs for Reed Richards, and a transparent Human Torch variant, and a Hulk/Darkseid/Grodd-styled Thing. For like eight bucks.

That’s when I logged off, in a cold sweat. 

A friend asked how they could possibly be making them so cheap–if they are professionally made with the ABS plastic and pad printing and everything–what are they doing? I don’t have an answer, except that all of the equipment to make these is already there. They’ve got the technology to do it, and even though they appear to sell small volumes on eBay, add to that the enormous Chinese street markets and other venues to get them out, and they’re making a profit somehow. 

We come back to the idea of intellectual property. I love DC Comics. It’s pretty unconditional. I might hate the current movies, I may hate storylines in the comics, but I have enough goodwill towards them that if LEGO made a Teen Titans Tower LEGO set for $100.00 and put my seven favorite Titans in it, I’d buy it. If they made an Aquaman Lighthouse for $100.00 and it came with Aquaman’s wife Mera and Aqualad and Vulko and a giant purple seahorse, I’d buy it. But they’re not. Is it taking something from LEGO, who isn’t using those characters? I don’t think so. Is it taking something from DC/WB when I make this purchase? Probably. I feel like that puts it into that moral gray area. Maybe I’m kidding myself. But like, I pay full price to see their terrible movies, shouldn’t I catch a break now and then?

There’s some terrible BootLEGO out there. I said I’d provide the ugly, and here it is:

Obviously Han Solo, right? If you look closely, you’ll see things that don’t happen on official LEGO product–that flash seam on top of his hairpiece. The dotted printing on his chest, the almost Sharpied-on face, brown arms where they should be white. It doesn’t match the LEGO-accurate image on the box or on the store’s eBay page.

The worst (taken from the article “Cheap Chinese Rubbish” on Brickset) is this Anna figure from “Frozen.”

The box: 

…and the LEGO Friends-style minidoll inside the box:

There is literally nothing on that minidoll that’s displayed on that box. So if you ordered that box on eBay, with seven other “Frozen” characters, even for ten dollars you’d be stuck with them. For reference, this is what the actual Anna minidoll looks like:

Really a charming little toy.

LEGO is the best in the world at what they do. I don’t like the idea of undermining their sales of actual product by supporting the bootleggers. I don’t see myself buying huge numbers (I have over a thousand real LEGO minifigures…the couple of dozen bootlegs I’ve bought are a drop in the bucket), but I’m still unsettled. But then there’s the LEGO Red Hulk. And the Iron Man Hall of Armor. And Yellow Deadpool. And Daredevil. And…I have a problem.

Great news for fans of Star Wars and LEGO and Star Wars LEGO: a new 5-part series is premiering Monday evening July 6th at 6:30 PM on Disney XD. “LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales” is a LEGO animated miniseries that retells the stories of the Star Wars universe in chronological order from “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” up through “Star Wars Episode VII: Return of the Jedi,” through the eyes of C-3PO and R2-D2. Rooted in the humor and excitement that can only be conveyed through the LEGO brick, the five-part, 22 min episode series is a great resource for fans, families and first-timers to catch up and gear up for the next movie! 

Here’s the trailer: 

The first episode of “Droid Tales” will retell the events of “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones,” the second episode “Clone Wars” and “Revenge of the Sith.” The remaining three episodes will cover the original trilogy, with one per movie. Catch the series on Disney XD, and then buy it on DVD/Blu-Ray with an inevitable collectible minifigure when it comes out. It’ll be awesome.