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LEGO’s first movie on DVD, the Adventures of Clutch Powers, should be available today (February 23, 2010), at least in the US.

Amazon.com is currently listing it for $14.99 (normally $19.98) with a release date of today. This is for the widescreen version in English, with English, French, and Spanish subtitles. It’s 82 minutes long. Best Buy is also showing it with a release date of today but there’s no way to check if it’s available in the physical Best Buy stores yet – it’s only listed for pre-order on their website.

Before anybody says “what about the Bionicle movies?” LEGO is apparently not counting those, and rightfully so. It’s also not counting LEGO Atlantis: The Movie since that has not made an appearance on DVD (unfortunately).

Obviously it’s going to be used to help sell LEGO products and sets, however a lot of effort has been put into it, and it’s looking more and more like it will be a way to introduce newcomers and possibly even AFOLs to either existing sets or upcoming sets, such as Kingdoms (the replacement for Castle), Power Miners, Space Police, etc. I think it’s going to be as cool as the Atlantis movie.

Don’t expect any of the licensed themes like Harry Potter or Star Wars to make an appearance – from the trailer and from people I’ve talked to, this is all in-house themes/lines from LEGO.

This is LEGO and Universal Home Entertainment’s summary of the action:

For the first time ever, see the creative world of LEGO® come to life in the all-new feature-length DVD movie. Meet Clutch Powers, the best builder and explorer in the LEGO®universe as he heads off on his most dangerous mission yet. Join Clutch and his team of LEGO®experts as their adventure leads them from LEGO® City to the Space Police prison planet to the medieval world of Ashlar where they must help the rightful heir to the King’s throne find the courage to regain the kingdom from the evil wizard Mallock the Malign. Their brick-building skills will be put to the ultimate test as they face off against Mallock’s skeleton army. Get ready for an action-packed adventure like nothing you have ever seen before, The Adventures of Clutch Powers!

Adventures of Clutch Powers – Trailer:

More:
- LEGOClutchPowers.com – official site.
- Amazon.com – $14.99
- BestBuy.com

When it shows up, I’ll be doing a review.

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This week some Target retail stores in the US have three sets that normally sell for $29.99 on sale for $19.

The sets are:
5972 Space Police Container Heist (282 pieces)
8036 Star Wars Clone Wars Separatists Shuttle (259 pieces)
8960 Power Miners Thunder Driller (235 pieces)

The ads also mention that other selected LEGO Star Wars, Power Miners, and Space Police sets are on sale, however there is no mention of exactly which ones are on sale, at least in the flyer and on the Target.com website. It’s probably either a regional or store-by-store basis depending on what’s in stock.

On a related note, I noticed that Sears is carrying more LEGO sets. Keep in mind that it maybe a seasonal thing because of the holidays, but I saw several Star Wars sets, some Pirates sets, plus Power Miners, Bionicle, Space Police, Castle, and City.

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I walked into my local TRU Thanksgiving Eve. My mission: to find an interesting LEGO set that I hadn’t thought of grabbing before. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do a Power Miners set again, or get something from the Atlantis line. As I strolled up and down the LEGO aisle, I grabbed the Power Miners Thunder Driller, but that wasn’t enough. I felt I had to buy another LEGO set to quench me of my pending holiday boredom when I decided to snatch one the one particular PM set that was smack-dab right in front of me. The set? The new 2010 Magma Mech with Firax, an updated version of Firox from the Power Miners 8960 Thunder Driller (they switched the “o” with the “a”.) Sure, I really wanted to get the Crystal Sweeper, but that was not in the budget unless I wanted to put the mech and the Thunder Driller back on the shelf. It also dawned on me that you readers would want to read a review and see a pic or two of the newer set.

By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO Power Miners 8189-1 Magma Mech
Type: Vehicle in 2010 Power Miners Series (Core of the Underworld)
# of Pieces: 183
# of Extra pieces: A few
# of Minifigs and what kind: 1 X human Power Miner, 1 X Firax Rock Monster (New 2010 Version)
Stickers? One sheet of 9 stickers
Price: $19.99 at the Official LEGO Shop, Also at Amazon.com (Price may vary)

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Update: Reviews coming Tuesday (Dec 1)

Last week I did a quick report on what I saw at a nearby Toys R US. This week I swung by the one to the south of me (South Austin, Texas) and picked up a few of the new sets and tried to get decent pictures of the others.

I forgot to get a few prices on the some of the sets, and I may have missed a few Bionicle sets, but here’s a run down of 2010 LEGO sets I saw tonight that I didn’t see last week, along with prices. Keep in mind that this is the day after “Black Friday” – there could have been plenty more sets that were sold through. I did see all of the previous sets mentioned in the link above. I do believe some of those prices will drop or change when other retailers start carrying them.

Creator 5867 Super Speedster – 278 pieces ($19.99)
Creator 5865 Mini Dumper – 60 pieces ($5.99)

Bionicle Stars 7117 Gresh – 19 pieces ($7.99 or $8.99)
Bionicle Stars 7135 Takanuva – 21 pieces ($7.99 or $8.99)
Bionicle Stars 7136 Skrall – 21 pieces ($7.99 or $8.99)
Bionicle Stars 7137 Piraka – 15 pieces ($7.99 or $8.99)

Racers 8192 Lime Racer 1:55 – 44 pieces ($5.99)
Racers 8195 Turbo Tow 1:55 – 43 pieces ($5.99)
Racers 8197 Highway Chaos – 142 pieces (forgot to lookup price)
Racers 8199 Security Smash – 135 pieces (forgot to lookup price)

I’ve uploaded photos of all of the above to the 2010 LEGO sets at Toys R Us flickr page I created last week.

I am working on reviews for the following sets I picked up and will have them up this weekend:
Creator 5867 Super Speedster – 3-in-1 – also builds armored car or go-kart
Creator 5865 Mini Dumper – 3-in-1 – race car, dump truck, heavy truck
Racers 8192 Lime Racer
Racers 8195 Turbo Tow

In addition to my reviews of the above, Jason will be posting a review of Power Miners 8191 Magma Mech ($19.99) on Sunday (Nov 29), and I saw this one tonight as well. I’ll also be working on an update to the Creator 5866 Review of the Rotor Rescue, building out the other two models of the 3-in-1 kit.

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This review is for the Power Miners 8188-1 Fire Blaster that comes with 67 pieces (6 are extra). It’s nearly an impulse set, but is $4 higher than the true impulse sets such as the 8956 Stone Chopper (Brickset link) which only has 31 pieces and $2 more than the 8957 Mine Mech which has the exact same number of parts. It’s an in-house line and part of the Power Miners series, and was supposed to be released in 2010, but I purchased it on November 20th, 2009 at a Toys R Us (SKU: 673419129985) for $9.99. I’m going to complain about the price, but I do understand that the pricing may change and that right now we are at the mercy of only one retailer here in the US.

Basically, it’s a neat little buggy-style model with two minifigs, including Combustix, a lava monster minifig that has a hinged jaw and a large belly that can easily swallow the head of a human miner (check the minifig photos below) as well as a crystal or a handy stick of dynamite, or any other small accessory or piece. The buggy has a water (or liquid) reservoir along with a hose leading from the reservoir that contributes to the “Fire Blaster” theme (you didn’t think it shot out fire did you?). This represents an apparent transition from rock-oriented monsters of 2009 to lava-oriented monsters in 2010, and the next release should be the 8189 Magma Mech, which maybe currently available at some Toys R Us stores, depending on your location. See this EuroBricks thread for more discussion on the 2010 Power Miners as well as Brickset’s listing for the 2010 Power Miners.

By the Numbers:
Set: Power Miners 8188-1 Fire Blaster
Year of Release: 2010 (Technically 2009)
Type: Vehicle in the Power Miners series
# of Pieces: 67
# of Extra pieces: 6
# of Minifigs and what kind: 2 – a human miner, and
Stickers? Yes, 4. Not really necessary
Price: $9.99 at Official LEGO Shop, also at Amazon.com (price may vary)
Ages: 7-14
Time to Complete: Less than half an hour. An experienced builder with everything laid out could probably do it in 15 minutes from opening the box.

Remember: click on the photos for larger images at flickr (Full Power Miners 8188 gallery at flickr)

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Later today I’ll be posting reviews of two new 2010 LEGO sets – Creator 5866 Rotor Rescue and Power Miners 8188 Fire Blaster. It’s taking a little longer than expected and I thought I’d have them finished by now but it’s late, so here’s a couple of photos to give you an idea about the two sets as well as a parts listing for the 5866 (8188 Fire Blaster parts listing).

The 5866 Rotor Rescue, which also includes instructions for a biplane as well as a speed boat, both of which I’ll be assembling and posting later today is a great Creator set. I don’t necessarily agree with the ages of 6 – 12, because 5866 has a lot of small parts (click the “Read More” link below for a full parts list) and I do mean small parts – lots of 1×1 type of stuff. I definitely think it’s worth $10.99 – you get 149 pieces and being that it’s Creator, you would be hard pressed not to be able to find a use for all of them in MOCs. They are all standard pieces as well as a decent cockpit/windscreen and some transparent pieces. As mentioned, you also get instructions for three different models. It’s also a great way to teach somebody a lot of the basics when it comes to connections between the various LEGO elements – everything is reinforced well and it’s literally a very solid model, even though when you extend the back ramp, you can see all the way through from the front to the back.

As far as the 8188, I think they need to knock a few dollars off, especially since it’s an in-house line and not one of the licensed series. It’s very possible that it could be cheaper, and I don’t see how Amazon can price it at $12.99 for pre-orders at this point. It’s a really cool little buggy-style model, and the minifigs are great. Plenty of MOC opportunities as long as you don’t apply the stickers. We’ve applied stickers to other 2010 sets we’ve reviewed (and kind of wished we hadn’t on the 5981 Police Raid VPR), but the stickers in this instance are placed on parts that could easily be used elsewhere and it would prevent you from using them or being constrained as far as how you use them. The flick-fire dynamite is very lacking as well and could have been left off. Otherwise it’s a neat little set that should have been below $10. Then again, it may very well turn out to be priced below that point – we all know that retail pricing when there is no competition can vary widely.

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Update: Toys R Us Trip Report Part II – November 28, 2009.

Paid a trip to the Toys R Us in Cedar Park, Texas, to check out the 2010 LEGO sets that are popping up in the various Toys R US stores around the US, and came away with a couple of the cheaper sets, Creator 5866 Rotor Rescue, and Power Miners 8188 Fire Blaster, and I’ll get reviews of both up later today/tonight. I also took photos of the sets on the shelf to give you an idea of pricing and the fact that they are “official”, at least as far as Toys R Us is concerned. All had shelf stickers/price tags, and I didn’t come across any empty places. It’s in fact been a week since these have started showing up, and obviously they are not being pulled at the request of LEGO.

Here’s the list of what I saw tonight, followed by photos of each (remember, click on the images to see a bigger photo at flickr):
* 7207 City – Fire Boat ($49.99)
* 7208 City – Fire Station ($79.99)
* 5866 Creator – Helicopter ($12.99) ($16.99 at Amazon)
* 8188 Power Miners – Fire Blaster ($9.99) ($12.99 at Amazon)
* 7967 Racers – Fast (Probably $12.99) (Not at Amazon)
* 7968 Racers – Strong (Probably $12.99) (Not at Amazon)
* 8198 Racers – Ramp Crash ($14.99) (Not at Amazon)
* 8045 Technic – Mini-Telehandler ($10.99) ($12.99 at Amazon)
* 8046 Technic – Helicopter ($19.99)

That’s in addition to the ones we’ve already reviewed:
* 8056 Atlantis – Monster Crab Clash
* 8058 Atlantis – Guardian of the Deep
* 8060 Atlantis – Typhoon Turbo Sub
* 5981 Space Police – Raid VPR
* 5982 Space Police – Smash ‘n’ Grab

Besides the two I bought, I came very close to picking up the 8045 Technic Mini-Telehandler – a decent number of very usable parts for the price – 117 for $10.99, and while I could ignore the 2-in-1 conversion into a motorcycle and sidecar, that was kind of an interesting conversion. It’s interesting that Toys R Us has a lower price for the 5866 Helicopter, 8045 Mini-Telehandler, 8188 Fire Blaster. I would assume Amazon.com ends up a little cheaper at some point.

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