Aanchir Posted April 27, 2012 Posted April 27, 2012 (edited) Shortcut to Part One: Hero Factory Shortcut to Part Two: Ninjago Shortcut to Part Three: City Shortcut to Part Four: Monster Fighters and Dino Shortcut to Part Five: Super Heroes Shortcut to Part Six: Friends Shortcut to Part Seven: Creator, Racers, & Games Shortcut to Part Eight: Star Wars Shortcut to Part Nine: The Lord of the Rings This year, I was able to go to the New York International Toy Fair for the first time as a representative of the BIONICLE wiki BIONICLEsector01 and its sister site HEROsector01. Together with fellow BS01/HS01 staff member Chols, who took most of the photos, I attended the LEGO Collectors Preview where representatives of LEGO fansites can view and photograph the new sets for an extended two-hour timeframe (our invitations unfortunately did not cover admission to the full three-day Toy Fair event, so externally-produced LEGO products like clocks and watches were not among the things we saw). Since our sites' normal coverage doesn't extend outside the constraction themes, we reached an agreement with Eurobricks to share with them our coverage of the LEGO Collectors Preview and all the sets and themes on display. Part ten of our coverage is the Minifigures and Bricks & More sets as well as non-licensed Duplo sets. Most of these sets are already released, and few had any details on display that would greatly interest AFOLs, but we're covering them for the sake of comprehensiveness. Bricks & More All the sets from LEGO's most basic theme were released in January: 4625 LEGO Pink Brick Box 224 pieces USD $14.99 CAD $17.99 Other currencies from Brickset While this set has a lot of great pastel (read: "girly") colors that any AFOL can appreciate, I won't lie: in a set like this where they form the core colors with few less vibrant colors to tone them down, they can be quite garish. One new female minifigure is included. 4626 LEGO Brick Box 232 pieces USD $14.99 CAD $17.99 Other currencies from Brickset This brick box, featuring more traditional LEGO colors, is farm-themed, but of course that's no limitation since it is a basic brick box and the farm-inspired models are only suggestions. One male minifigure is included. 4635 Fun with Vehicles 525 pieces USD $29.99 CAD $39.99 Other currencies from Brickset This set is larger even than the brick boxes on display, and features some great curved slopes, arches, and other vehicle parts. The LEGO Group has certainly been all about their orange tow trucks since last year's Unimog! Two mechanic minifigures are included. 4636 Police Building Set 130 pieces USD $9.99 CAD $12.99 Other currencies from Brickset This more specialized Bricks & More set still sticks to mostly basic parts, with the exception of the minifigures, printed "POLICE" tile, and jail door. Not much is included in enough quantity to generate demand among AFOLs—it's pretty clearly aimed at beginners. Figures include a cop and a crook. 4637 Safari Building Set 152 pieces USD $9.99 CAD $12.99 Other currencies from Brickset Again, this set is a small and specialized set aimed toward beginners, but this one has some non-traditional LEGO colors to its credit. This set includes one male and one female minifigure, both sharply dressed for adventure. Minifigures This much-celebrated theme was careful not to let any huge details slip: 8827, 8831, and 8833 Minifigures Series 6–8 USD $2.99 (per figure) CAD $3.49 (per figure) Obviously with only placeholder packages, there wasn't much to conclude about these sets. Series 6 was a January release and Series 7 an April release, although both started appearing before then. Series 8 is due for release in September, and since the packaging colors for the previous two Series turned out to be reliable, I think we can assume the black packaging of Series 8 will also be authentic. Perhaps the best news revealed at Toy Fair is that at least in the U.S. and Canada, the price per package will remain the same for all three series. Duplo Finally, we have non-licensed Duplo sets, starting with those released in January: 4623 LEGO Duplo Pink Brick Box and 4624 LEGO Duplo Brick Box 30 pieces/31 pieces USD $14.99 CAD $17.99 Other currencies from Brickset Other than colors, it's nice to see that the contents of these sets are similar. Each has two animals, a door/window frame, a flower or two, a fence, and several basic bricks. TLG clearly understands that gender identity is not a big deal to Duplo-age kids. 4631 My First Build 59 pieces USD $24.99 CAD $29.99 Other currencies from Brickset There are so many more colors in Duplo than when I was a kid! But sets like this show that some of the most basic parts and colors never get old. The 2-D "instruction cards" are a neat concept that I'm sure very young kids could understand well. 6141 My First Farm 62 pieces USD $24.99 CAD $29.99 Other currencies from Brickset Cute set with a blend of basic parts and more specialized ones. I can easily imagine myself as a toddler making good use of those barn pieces, or at least trying to. Duplo in my heyday tended toward prefab roofs, so this is arguably an improvement. 6169 Fire Chief 6 pieces USD $9.99 CAD $12.99 Other currencies from Brickset This set seems about as boring as it comes in terms of building, but I guess with the absurd price-per-piece needed for Duplo it's hard to make an impulse set with both building and role-play value. 6784 Creative Sorter 23 pieces USD $19.99 CAD $24.99 Other currencies from Brickset Shape-sorter toys for preschoolers are everywhere, but I like the building-toy concept here that shows kids the parts they need for a model and how they go together, instead of just challenging them to put blocks in a container. 6785 Creative Cakes 55 pieces USD $24.99 CAD $29.99 Other currencies from Brickset This set is very non-traditional, and its parts are somewhat specialized. But it is the same building level as many other Duplo sets. As a bonus, this is so far the only set to include the new color Spring Yellowish Green (Bricklink's Yellowish Green). Then there are three Duplo "storybook" sets due for release in June: 6758 Grow Caterpillar Grow! 17 pieces USD $12.99 CAD $15.99 The "storybook" sets come with resealable containers for parts and a board book, and as such it seems they were specially designed for kids to take with them on car trips or other family outings. 6759 Busy Farm 15 pieces USD $12.99 CAD $15.99 I had a Duplo storybook when I was young. It mostly had basic bricks used for making bridges, stairs, etc. to progress in the story, like if Dora the Explorer were actually interactive and not just pretending. I think kids might prefer this setup where the book tells them to make familiar models they can proudly show their parents. 6760 Let's Go! Vroom! 12 pieces USD $12.99 CAD $15.99 These little Duplo brick people are cute, aren't they? Certainly a bit less uncanny-valley than some of the LEGO brick people from last year's Bricks & More! It's funny seeing that blocky chassis piece that was around even when I was Duplo-age! And finally, there is one Duplo set due for release in August: 6171 My First Gas Station 45 pieces USD $29.99 CAD $39.99 This set is quite substantial even with its open-front shop. I'm sure some City fans wouldn't mind a gas station set like this! That concludes the coverage of these three categories! We're really winding down now. The next section will be focused on miscellaneous licenses: Spongebob Squarepants, Cars, and licensed Duplo sets. Before I sign off, I'd like to apologize for the pace of these updates. This is my first time doing this, and obviously I was not prepared for the work it would entail! I understand that demand for Toy Fair coverage has waned in the two months since the event itself, but I hope that with some of these themes not yet fully reviewed here on Eurobricks, somebody will find these last few parts useful. If not, at least I will have some valuable experience for the future. Just bear with us a little bit longer! Edited April 27, 2012 by Rufus Indexed Quote
Fugazi Posted April 27, 2012 Posted April 27, 2012 Thanks for another interesting peek preview, Aanchir. My interest in Duplo sets has greatly increased during the last year with our eldest daughter now old enough to click bricks together. I look forward to the release of those Read & Build sets which combine two of my daughter's favourite activities. The Creative Cakes set would probably also be a hit with her. I'll then have plenty of big bricks to build up the scenery in my MOCs! Quote
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