Looking ahead to 2014

January 2, 2014 | 7

Happy New Year!

New Years are all about brand new beginnings, aspirations and new dreams to realize – but it’s extra special for Lego fans as it means that we get to anticipate and mess around with new toys! 2014 is going to me a MASSIVE year for Lego, especially with The Lego Movie hitting cinemas in just a few months (February 7th for the US and April 3rd for us here in Australia) .

I think this movie will be a huge hit (think Despicable Me levels) and will draw in both old and new Lego fans into the fold. It also helps that the movie sets looks nothing short of incredible. Speaking of sets, here are some of the sets I’m most excited about in 2014.

Lego Movie Sets

70807 – MetalBeard’s Duel AU$49.99

The sets being put out for The Lego Movie is every Lego fan’s dream come true. Unencumbered by themes and handed a blank canvas, the Lego designers have really gone all out with the set designs; cranking up the creativity and wacky designs to 11.

First the good news. The Lego Movie sets are already available for purchase in Australia through Lego’s official online store Shop @ Home. With free shipping on orders over AU$150, it’s not that bad a deal especially since you get to collect VIP points.

The bad news, if you want to pick them up from your local store (especially at a discount), word on the street is that we’re only getting a March release for the movie sets.

To cushion the blow, at least we’re getting the Series 12 minifigures which comprise of characters from the movie in January (this month!).

I’m super excited about the leaked set, MetalBeard’s Sea Cow – a gargantuan steampunk inspired pirate ship which will debut sometime in the second half of the year. I’ve always been a fan of Pirate ships so I cannot wait for this one. MetalBeard’s Sea Cow will most likely be the biggest pirate ship that Lego has designed, comfortably eclipsing the Imperial Flagship by more than 1000 pieces. This is a must-buy for me.

Update: An incredibly clear picture of the back of Metalbeard’s Sea Cow box has turned up on Reddit, days before it’s scheduled to be sold to LEGO VIP Members (17 February is the supposed date), so not long now!!!

Emmet’s Construction Mech also looks like a great pickup. For one thing, it’s massive as well. I have a soft spot for mecha-inspired Lego so it’ll be hard to say no to this guy.

Lastly, the leaked set that has sent Lego fans into a frenzy is Benny’s Spaceship. A 900-piece love letter to classic Space lego (and by classic I mean 1970s classic). I expect this set to fly off the shelves. Definitely adding this to my collection as well. Who doesn’t love classic Space Lego??

Super Heroes

76012 – Batman: The Riddler Chase

2014 is shaping up to be a great year if you’re into Super Heroes (who isn’t?) with The Flash finally making his debut as a minifig! Finally, we’ll be that much closer to being able to complete a Justice League lineup!

On the Marvel side of the tracks, we’ll be getting some sweet new minifigs as well. In the small Captain America vs Hydra set, we finally get a Red Skull minifig, an iconic archenemy to Captain America.

Last but not least the Hulk Lab Smash set, featuring none other than PURPLE PANTS HULK. In the previous Hulk Helicarrier Breakout set which was based on the Avengers movie, our dear angry green friend only had tan pants. I’m glad that Lego took the time to give us his comic book version with the purple pants.

The Australian release date for 2014’s Lego Super Heroes sets should be sometime in February for the DC ones and March/April for the Marvel ones.

Yup, you do not want to piss this guy off.

Disney Princess

You probably know that I’m quite a big fan of the Friends theme. I am also a huge sucker for Disney movies so the next evolution for the Friends minidolls – Disney Princesses is an absolute winner in my book. Who wouldn’t want to collect and build iconic scenes and structures from Disney classics such as Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Tangled and Pixar’s Brave?

The sets retain the use of bright pastel colours that Friends did oh so well and took it up a notch with the fairy tale theme. The minidolls and supporting characters (like Flounder from the Little Mermaid or Pascal from Tangled) look really well designed, as are the huge variety of new parts and elements included. These are going to sell so well with young girls and Disney fans.

Yes, owning Cinderella’s Castle is pretty high on my list of priorities this year. The Disney Princess sets should hit Australian shelves sometime in March.

Cuusoo

21104 – Mars Curiosity Rover AU$49.99

I’m a pretty big nerd so I’m looking forward to owning a Lego version of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, fondly known as the Curiosity Rover. Curiosity is currently scurrying about the Gale Crater on the planet Mars digging up information, performing research and doing all sorts of sciencey magic on the Red Planet. Interesting tidbit about the set, it was designed by real Curiosity Rover engineer, Stephen Pakbaz. You can buy your very own brick version of Curiosity from Lego’s Shop @ Home website, linked above.

Modulars

10243 – Parisian Restaurant AU$249.99

I recently got myself a Modular set (the Fire Brigade) and I anticipate buying several more as I expand into more ‘adult’ Lego sets this year. The Parisian Restaurant is now available on Shop @ Home and looks absolutely stunning. I don’t think I’ll pick this one up this year (going to try and collect the previous modulars first) but I’m definitely excited about this set. If I win the Lotto, I might just pick this one up.

That’s it for my 2014 preview. I didn’t mention any City sets as I felt that the new 2014 ones were pretty pedestrian and dull and I doubt I will be picking any up. However, rumors are swirling around due to leaks by Brickfan which reportedly have the list of Summer (Northern Hemisphere) sets for 2014. It looks like we’re getting Arctic themed City sets (would be awesome if true!), a couple of Ninjago Rebooted sets, more Ninja Turtles and Friends as well as Agents! I hope the Agents rumour is true because the theme was so much fun.

Thanks for reading! It certainly looks like 2014 is going to be a great year to be a Lego fan but also a very poor one for our wallets!