Toys

375 designs — and Lego will turn five of them maximum into limited-edition sets. Vote by 12PM PT on March 31st.

Today’s the day you can begin voting in Lego’s BrickLink Designer Program, where 375 designs are competing for the chance to become a limited-edition Lego set and earn their fan designers 5 percent of sales. Here are a few of my very early favs!

Somehow, these ones made it to stores before they were even announced — and @echoalive122_ has already built ‘em for us. More at their Instagram.

I’m pumped for Jack Black Bowser — almost as much as the man himself. My wife knows I’m excited for The Super Mario Bros. Movie (releasing April 5th!) and surprised me with this fire-breathing (water-vaporizing) Bowser figure. It joins other movie merchandise, like the Plumber Van.

The Dart Zone Pro MK-3 is $60 at Amazon, an all-time low — it originally retailed for $130. It’s one of the few non-boutique blasters you can buy that’s designed for sporting grade Nerf right out of the box, even if many community-designed blasters can easily outclass it.

I told you about the Bricklink Designer Program in January, but this weekend is your last. February 28th is the deadline to submit your design to be judged by peers and by Lego. You can make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars if your design is one of the five winners.

This is, to me, a perfect Lego video — just a person putting bricks together to make a fun and clever idea, then showing it in action.

Okay, this Fortnite Heavy SR replica isn’t all cardboard: you’ll see springs, dowels, rubber bands, and a pair of motorized flywheels that fling its foam (not particularly far).

In 2021, I profiled Out of Darts, calling them “the foam-slinging equivalent of James Bond’s gadget armorer Q.” Their latest gadget is the Herja, a fully-automatic flywheeler you can bolt onto another blaster so you’re never cornered without ammo.

621 sets vied for your vote, and a winner has now been chosen: Lego will be producing a version of BoltBuild’s Dragon’s Keep: Journey’s End as its first Dungeons & Dragons set. Lego designers will take it from here, so the final result might not look exactly like the pics — but it’s confirmation that the Lego Castle renaissance will continue.

With permission, of course! It’s for a custom action figure that should arrive 45 days after the show — and if you want to see what it’s like, perhaps even try or buy one yourself, I’ve got the Verge hands-on story for you:

My favorites are The Travel Suitcase and the Japanese Castle, though I’d be happy with many of them! Here’s the full list.

Neither snow, nor rain, nor the freezing temperatures that have disrupted Christmas travel around the country will stop Santa Claus from delivering gifts this Christmas. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which runs the acclaimed NORAD Santa Tracker each December, has assured anxious families that “Santa will be right at home with the Arctic weather”.

We’re assuming the big guy is fairly on top of things, but just in case he’s running behind: it’s also a good idea to charge gadgets and download any relevant software updates before December 25th. Console updates can take hours, and no kid wants to wait for that nonsense on Christmas day.

Remember when this man brought Lego’s classic computer bricks to life by putting a working computer and OLED inside? I have bittersweet news. Though I did connect him with someone at Lego, it doesn’t look like that’s moving forward, he’s no plans to produce more than a few, and at this point it sounds like he’s nearing the end of the project.

Check out Polygon’s list of the ones that really stood out this year, which covers the gamut from easy party games, to Magic: The Gathering sets, and hardcore strategy.

I know what I’m making for stocking stuffers this year! Here’s the new X-Wing, last year’s Tie Fighter is especially stunning in ice blue, and you can find lots of other easily 3D printable “kit cards” at your STL repository of choice.

The pop-up “sights” are the best part.

Disney is hyping the excellent new Willow TV show with a bunch of merchandise based on the original film, including this currently on-backorder “vintage style” Willow action figure that comes with a tiny dessert-shaped ugly baby.

Lego recruited its own fans to design an official D&D set, and you can now vote on the five finalists by signing up for a free account. Winners don’t just get bragging rights, but also 1 percent of the proceeds!

Dungeons & Dragons is getting an official Lego set based on designs from fans — and those fans are telling Lego loud and clear that the Mimic deserves consideration. Over two dozen different Mimic designs have been submitted (out of 621 total entries), but I can’t get over how beautifully / terrifyingly Varghoss’s Ultra Mimic here comes to life.