The new game from the LEGO Game Series, LEGO 3862 Harry Potter – Hogwarts, is starting to become available everywhere, at least in the US. It’s been going in at out of stock for $29.95 on Amazon.com
and I’ve also seen it in person at Target tonight. By the time I saw it tonight, I had already ordered it online and it had shipped unfortunately.
This is the first major licensed game LEGO has put out in their new game series. It comes with buildable LEGO pieces, and revolves around searching Hogwarts castle, and is for 2-4 players. The description claims games take 10-20 minutes. We’ll see. Maybe we’ll videotape a session and put it on YouTube.
Features:
* 1 buildable LEGO Dice
* 9 LEGO microfigures (not minifigs!), including Harry, Hermione, Ron Weasel, Draco Malfoy, and Dumbledore, along with microfigs from each house.
* 332 LEGO pieces
This is going to be the next major review we do.
Today’s review is of the new LEGO Kingdoms 7949 Prison Carriage Rescue. This is set within the new Kingdoms line (or universe). Like yesterday’s review of the LEGO Kingdoms 7955 Wizard, this review will be fairly brief, although there is much more to this 50-piece set versus the 19-piece 7955 set. Like yesterday’s review, it also highlights a fantasy element of the new Kingdoms lineup, although don’t get the impression that the new Kingdoms line is fantasy-based. Fantasy takes a backseat in this replacement series for LEGO’s popular Castle line.
What is it? It’s a simple two-wheeled carriage that is being used to transport a prisoner. The fantasy element is the unicorn, which is actually a horse with a piece of armor for its head that includes a mount for a unicorn horn. With the horned helmet it becomes a unicorn. In addition to the horse/unicorn, it comes with three minifigures – a captured soldier from the Red Lion faction, along with a knight from the same faction intent on rescuing him. Opposing them is a knight from the Green Dragon faction.
By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO Kingdoms 7949 Prison Carriage Rescue
Year of Release: 2010
Type: Kingdoms vehicle/horse set with three minifigs
# of Pieces: 50
# of Extra pieces: 2 (1×1 wedge)
# of Minifigs and what kind: 3 Minifig Knights/soldiers (1 King’s Army soldier, 1 King’s Army knight and 1 Dragon Knight soldier) + 1 Horse/Unicorn
Stickers? No
Price: $9.99 US MSRP – Official Shop.LEGO.com, Also at Toys R Us, Amazon.com (US) and Amazon.co.uk (UK) (Prices may vary through third-parties based on retailer and availability)
Ages: 5-12
Time to Complete: Less than 10 minutes
Box Art:
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It’s been a while since we posted anything new, but that’s changing, and there are a lot of new and very interesting sets coming out. I’m also nearly done with a new site design that will roll out next week. I’m most excited about the new Atlantis sets as the new Kingdoms line from LEGO. Kingdoms is replacing the Castle series, and it has a feel to it that goes back to some of the classic sets.
This is going to be a very short review of the LEGO Kingdoms 7955 Wizard set, since it’s an “impulse” set consisting of less than 20 pieces and is meant to compliment the larger sets, but it’s a good start to the upcoming reviews we are posting. I’m also testing out a new camera so the color might be off slightly. I’m using two different 32×32 baseplates which is why the gray seems off on one.
The LEGO Kingdoms line is meant to replace the Castle series in 2010, and it does so with two factions – the Green Dragon and Red Lion factions. These are more of a medieval style setting, and rely much less on fantasy. From the sets I have, there are wizards (or sorcerers if you prefer), unicorns, and dragons, and nothing else that points to a fantasy setting – no trolls, dwarves, etc.
By the Numbers:
Set: 7955 Wizard (Kingdoms)
Year of Release: 2010
Type: Impulse minifig set
# of Pieces: 19
# of Extra pieces: 2 1×1 rounds
# of Minifigs and what kind: 1 – Wizard + little green dragon
Stickers? No – book/scroll is printed.
Price: $3.99 MSRP, Available at Amazon.com (US) and Amazon.co.uk (UK) (price may vary depending on seller) or through the official LEGO Shop Online, and Toys R US.
Ages: 6-12
Time to Complete: Less than 5 minutes
Box Art:
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A couple of people have emailed us about upcoming Toy Story 3 LEGO sets that are now showing up for pre-order at Amazon.com (USA) (and Jason came across them earlier today while looking for something else). All three sets are available May 1, 2010. They don’t appear to be showing up in other countries just yet.
The big news to me, from the information posted with the three sets, is that the listing for the 7597 Western Train Chase say it is “Fully compatible with existing LEGO train tracks power functions. This isn’t like the LEGO 7199 Temple of Doom from Indiana Jones that featured a unique rail system for the mine carts that was not compatible with existing LEGO train tracks/power functions. It’s pricey, weighing in at $79.99 for less than 600 pieces, but if it’s compatible with the existing train systems, that adds quite a bit to the value.
* LEGO 7597 Western Train Chase – $79.99
* Locomotive and train cars rolls, train cars have opening doors, roofs, and traps on the roof.
* Includes Train, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, Rex and Hamm as “Evil Doctor Porkchops” minifigs/minifigures
* Fully compatible with LEGO train tracks and LEGO power functions
* 584 pieces
* LEGO 7596 Trash Compactor Escape – $49.99
* Trash compactor set
* Has Lotso, Hamm, Woody and 2 alien minifigures/minifigs
* Movable crane, functioning claw and dumpster, and moving conveyor belt
* 370 pieces
* LEGO 7789 Lotso’s Dump Truck – $19.99
* Dump truck set with driver
* Includes Lotso, Chunk and Stretch minifigures (minifigs)
* Trailer bed can be raised and lowered
* 129 pieces
The Playstation UK Blog posted an interview with Jonathan Smith of Traveller’s Tales, the company behind the upcoming LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 video game. Smith is the Head of Production for Traveller’s Tales, and is calling the LEGO Harry Potter game “a new kind of LEGO gameplay” with characters learning/advancing over a long period of time (4 years in-game).
Hogwarts is going to be fully modeled in the virual LEGO universe, and in a different way from other LEGO or Harry Potter games (including a new way of building):
The new layer of physics makes the world more realistic and enable us to build with Lego using magic in a way you’ve never been able to do before. And taking advantage of this wonderful setting of Hogwarts and the magical characters within it, we can use magic to create a new kind of lego gameplay as well
So what’s radically and completely new in Lego Harry Potter from what we’ve done before is the effect that having Hogwarts as a massive explorable environment has on the game progression and the game structure. When you first start as a new student in Hogwarts, finding your way to your first lesson you’ll be pretty well directed by the teaches and the design of the environment to find your way, but as you play and progress further through the story, with each new spell you’ll gain access to new areas and trigger new story events that move on through the plot. So you’ll find more and more of Hogwarts accessible to you as a player, switching between different characters, until it becomes a really huge, immersive, explorable, open environment — to which you’ll return between story events to discover more secrets and learn more things.
Additional images:
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If you are in the Houston, Texas area, you may already know about the new LEGO Store that is opening up. It may have even opened already, but the official Grand Opening Celebration is starting tomorrow and runs from March 26 – 28. It’s located on the 2nd Floor near Border’s
There are some events/special give-aways planned, including:
* Helping a Master Model Builder build an 8 foot tall Star Wars R2-D2. This will take place from Friday (March 26) through Sunday (March 28). If you help with the build, and if the supplies hold out, you’ll get a free LEGO Star Wars Certificate of Achievement.
* On Saturday (March 27), if you are one of the first 300 customers that spends $35 or more, you’ll receive the exclusive, limited-edition LEGO Bull Rider set pictured above.
* On Sunday (March 28), the first 300 customers to spend $35 or more will receive an exclusive, limited-edition LEGO Minifigure/Minfig T-Shirt (only in children’s sizes)
* You can also enter a drawing for a chance to win a $50 LEGO Store Gift Card (no purchase needed)
Store times for this weekend are:
Friday, March 26: 11:00am – 7:00pm
Saturday, March 27: 10:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday, March 28: 11:00am – 6:00pm
Read more »
Earlier this week, this new chapter of the LEGO Atlantis sage popped up on the official LEGO Atlantis site:
Ready for more fun? Chapter II of the Atlantis Adventure is now live – including a new game! Not only can you collect more pictures for your photobook, but you can also collect treasure items hidden on the bottom of the ocean floor. Check it out in the Fun Zone!
This second chapture is called Chapter 2: The Gateway of the Squid. This corresponds directly to the Gateway of the Squid (our 8061 Gateway of the Squid review) portion of LEGO Atlantis: The Movie (our LEGO Atlantis: The Movie review).
The new game involves you being captured by the Giant Squid and trying to escape the tentacles. It does support playing it in 3D.
Even though the links below are for the US site, you should be able to find them on your native sites outside of the US. There are at least three more chapters, going live in April, June, and July, which will probably lead us up to the release of the two major LEGO Atlantis sets:
* 8077 Atlantis Exploration HQ
* 8078 Portal of Atlantis (aka the Shark Temple)
Links:
* Atlantis.LEGO.com (US Site) – Announcement
* LEGO.com Atlantis – The Adventure (US)
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