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New Harry Potter Lego Sets Coming

Rumor has it that a half dozen new Harry Potter Lego sets will be coming later this year (2010). We have not seen any Harry Potter sets in the Lego store in a long while, which is shame especially because the Harry Potter sets were one of the few themes that appealed to girls as well as boys. My daughter has a couple of them. Some of the new sets may be mostly be re-working of prior models, but at least it is something on the shelves.

4736 Dobby’s Release

4737 Quidditch Lesson

4738 Hagrid’s Hut

4840 The Burrows

4841 Hogwart’s Express

4842 Hogwart’s Castle

If you hear anything more about the new Harry Potter Lego sets let me know.  Meanwhile, although Harry Potter Lego sets are tough to find in stores, and even on Lego.com, Amazon has a diverse selection.

If you ever buy Harry Potter Legos, or any other Legos for that matter, keep the pieces together and try to keep the box. I’ve found these sets retain their value. If you grow tired of them, you can often sell them for more than you paid (if the set is complete). I’ve never re-sold though, cause they are just too fun, and they are timeless. The kind of toy you can hand down to the next generation.

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Toy Story Legos Review: Fun that Retains Value in More Ways Than One!

Legos are my all-time favorite toy. My sons loves them. And I do not even mind spending a small fortune on them. Legos are well made: they fit together perfectly, rarely break, and last forever. Legos inspire creativity, and more than that, they make kids think. I am always amazed at how my son uses pieces from different sets to engineer something totally new.

On a recent trip to the Big Shop in Legoland I was surprised to see a new genre of Lego sets based on an all-time fav kid movie: Toy Story! How cool is that? Classic Toy Story characters like Woody, Buzz, Jesse and Bullseye, and Stinky Peet, and even the little green army men and Zurg are now minifigs! If you are a Toy Story fan, you are gonna fall in love with them.

Introducing new Toy Story Legos is yet another smart move by Lego Company, which has  flourished despite a down economy. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Lego has had a sharp revival: in  the first half of 2009, while “jittery consumers sent global toy sales down 5%, Lego increased its sales 23%.”

Another thing I like about Lego toys is that if you keep a set in good condition and keep the box, the toy retains its value.  I learned that when my son wanted Star Wars Lego sets that were no longer in stores . . . and found you could get them on Ebay or a number of specialized Lego re-sell sites, but you would have to pay sometimes double or more the original price.  Even a rare minifigure alone without the rest of the set could go for $50 or more.

Like Star Wars, the 1995 Pixar movie Toy Story is a timeless classic loved by both kids and adults with sequels.  So I would expect that the original Toy Story Legos sets may someday be collector’s items.  Hmmm.  Maybe these aren’t toys, but fun investments?

Some collectors buy two sets: one for play, and one for the closet to be brought out at a later date and sold.  Hey, isn’t selling old toys in original boxes a part of the whole Toy Story theme?

Toy Story 2 came out in 1999 to even bigger success than the original. Toy Story 3 is scheduled to be released in June, 2010.  So I bet more Lego Toy Story sets will be out in time for the movie’s release.

If you have a kid who likes Toy Story, check out the new Toy Story Legos, and if you want one of the original sets, I would act sooner rather than later.  You don’t want to pay more on Ebay because you waited.

Another cool thing about the new Lego sets is that the instructions can be found online at lego.com. Now that we have Toy Story Lego sets, I wonder if Legos will show up in the next Toy Story movie. If you get a Toy Story Lego set, let me know what you think of it.

My favorite of the new sets is Toy Story Woody’s Round Up Lego Set 7594 as it has Woody, Jesse and Bulleye (the horse) as well as Stinky Pete.  Plus it has a gold mine wired with dynamite, a jail, a sheriff’s office, a safe, and a catapult trap in the sidewalk.

Toy Story Woody and Buzz Rescue Lego set 7590 has both Woody and Buzz Lightyear. There’s also a car with pull-back motor.

Toy Story Army Men on Patrol 7595 has little green army men minifigure that are too cute.

Lego has put out 6 sets so far, and more may be on the way. All are available on Amazon and some purchases may qualify for free shipping.

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Lego Rock Band Review

Legos, rock music, and video gaming, what more could you ask?

The new Lego Rock Band videogame works with your existing Rock Band instruments. In the minifig version of the rock band, those cute little Lego minifigs rock out with you as you strum along on your guitar, beat the drum or sing as notes fall down from the top of the screen. The game features an eclectic list of songs, a charming story and loads of fun gameplay. You can play on your own or with up to three friends.

Lego Rock Band is kid friendly, and even includes a super-easy mode for younger players. You can turn off the kick pedal for drummers for beginners or even play a shorter version of any track. The 45 songs are fun, but you cannot expand Lego Rock Band’s catalog through the Music Store, nor does the game have an online play element. My kids have been playing this since Christmas, and they love it. One thing I like: the songs are good, so I do not even mind them playing it loud.

The minifig characters charm, just like they do in other Lego video games.

Well worth the money.

The game runs about $50, but you need to buy instruments separately. If you do not already have instruments, you might buy Rock Band 2 Bundle. Although this special edition is in short supply, Amazon does have it in stock for about $140 for the Wii version. You might also consider Beatles Rock Band Bundle, although that is pricier.

Amazon sells Rock Band 2 as just the game or as a special bundle. Check out the Amazon link below, then choose your platform and then and choose “special” to order the bundle. I would order it soon as it is sold out in most stores now and may sell out on Amazon as well.

Related post: New Toy Story Legos: review