2011

Review: LEGO 7049 Alien Conquest – Alien Striker

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The conquest is here! No, not the conquest on the Planet of the Apes, but the LEGO Alien Conquest series has finally overrun your local LEGO shop and other toy stores (and Target). The first set I’ve picked up at my local LEGO store is set #7049 Alien Striker. It’s available at the online LEGO Store as well as Amazon.com.

LEGO 7049 - Alien Conquest - Alien Striker Review

I had a bunch of LEGO VIP points (become a VIP member if you haven’t), and spent some of them on this nice $4.99 set. Like all sets in this price range, the Alien Striker leaves a lot to be desired with it’s 42 piece count, but I believe this is more than made up for with the inclusion of a new alien soldier figure and blue ADU (Alien Defense Unit) trooper.

By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO 7049 Alien Striker from Alien Conquest Series
Year of Release: 2011
Type: Small set/Impulse
# of Pieces: 42
# of Minifigs and what kind: 2, including alien
Stickers? No
Price: MSRP $4.99 USD
Ages: 6-14
Time to Complete: Less than 10 minutes

Available for Purchase: (Prices maybe higher than MSRP)
* Amazon.com

If you are a major fan of minifigs like I am, then you will most likely want this set. At about five dollars, this set is a good buy for the figures alone. Compared to the $2.99 bagged minifigs that LEGO has been cranking out of the past year, an alien and an ADU trooper is worth buying, more so than a series 4 minifig that can be a double of something you already have (since you never know what’s in the bag).

LEGO 7049 - Alien Conquest - Alien Striker Review

This set is a great way to build your army for the alien conquest of LEGO Earth.

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Alien Conquest is Here and in Stores!

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If you haven’t been to your local LEGO store lately, the Alien Conquest sets are available, at least in Texas. Jason has picked up one of the smaller sets, the 7049 Alien Striker (Brickset) and I’m looking at a few mid-range. Alien Conquest themed MOCs have started appearing, such as … Read more

LEGO Star Wars Promos – May 3 – 4, 2011

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LEGO is running some Star Wars related promotions through the online LEGO store (Star Wars). The main item of interest to serious collectors is that you can get the Star WArs Shadow ARF Trooper minifigure, although you have to spend $75 or more on LEGO Star Wars sets. Promotions: * … Read more

LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu – King of Shadows Movie Review on Cartoon Network

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This is part two of my LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu movie reviews. This is going to be light on the commentary – the images speak for themselves.

LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu - King of Shadows Movie Review

Remember, click on the images for larger versions – I’ve uploaded 1080p. Yes, they are out of order.

The first part of the review can be found here (Way of the Ninja Review)

As mentioned previously, SPOILERS AHEAD!

LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu - King of Shadows Movie Review

Would love to have a LEGO set of this ship:

LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu - King of Shadows Movie Review

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LEGO Ninjago Masters of Spinjitzu – Way of the Ninja Movie Review on Cartoon Network

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I wasn’t intending to post such a large review at this point – I wanted to watch the entire thing again and pay attention to the plot, but I’m impressed with both movies, and I’m going to go ahead and post a bit as well as a bunch of screen captures. It was a little bizarre seeing skeletons driving around in motorcycles and four-wheel drive monster trucks, however from my limited experience of what I’ve seen in stores, they did an excellent rendering of the actual LEGO sets into animation for TV. I also saw a lot of vehicles and settings in the movies that I’d like to see turned into actual LEGO sets. If they make the ship you see in the second review, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

LEGO Ninjago Masters of Spinjitzu - Way of the Ninja Movie Review

I’ll say up front that I’m not very familiar with Ninjago! (or NinjaGo! or Ninja Go! as I’ve seen it) and its universe. The screenshots I’ve posted below are going to be out of order – I was jumping around and just taking random screen captures to give you a sense of things I thought were interesting – potential future LEGO sets, etc. I’m trying to avoid giving the actual plot away since many people haven’t seen it yet. Screenshots from the second “movie” – Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu – King of Shadows, will be in a follow-up post. These are screenshots from the first episode “Way of the Ninja” but they are out of order.

Even though I’m not familiar with the Ninjago line, I still enjoyed what I watched. It was very very well produced. The animation, voice acting, sound effects, and music seem to have been upgraded over last year’s LEGO Atlantis movie. This year I do benefit from being able to see it in HD, and it looked great. I would love to be able to view last year’s Atlantis movie in HD. I’m not that into Ninjago! but I think if you were a fan of the sets and minifigs, you’d love the movies.

I have no idea how long these episodes take to produce, but I hope The LEGO Group produces more, and not just in the Ninjago universe.

Just a quick note on the screen captures – there will be blurry areas – that’s due to motion of the characters. It looks great in HDTV. There were a lot of Cartoon Network logos popping up. If this comes out on DVD or Blu-ray, definitely worth picking up if the price is good just to avoid those.

DO NOT VIEW THE IMAGES BELOW IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS!

Link to the second movie at the bottom.

A really cool animation style that was explaining some of the backstory of the characters:

LEGO Ninjago Masters of Spinjitzu - Way of the Ninja Movie Review

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