droolicious : building sets

Beyond the Basic Block

Lisa Mulcahy — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:30:00 GMT

Blocks, shapes and colors this building set has it all.

Originally launched exclusively at the Metropolitan Museum Store, Fat Brain Toy’s Twigs, $50, is scheduled to be released to a wider array of retailers this January. The set features 72 vibrant colored wooden pieces—each precision-cut and compatible with one another. Designed to foster creative thinking Twigs will provide hours of open-ended play.

LEGO MagnaGuard Starfighter No Longer Just a Clone Wars Extra

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:04:00 GMT

The actual MagnaGuard Starfighter, which transports General Grievous' ultra-nasty Magna Droids around the Star Wars galaxy, is a bit player at best in the Clone Wars series. But LEGO's version of the ship, a 431-piece creation aimed at ages 8 and up, officially bumps the MagnaGuard Starfighter into A-list territory.

The set includes two Magna Droid minifigures (pictured), whose shapes, capes and electronic-Q-Tip-styled weapons allow for nice twists on the typical minifig (even droid minifig) design. As for the MagnaGuard Starfighter itself, it has several cool features -- hidden missiles, a flip-open cockpit, and pop-up launchers on either side -- that'll allow the kids to do more than simply set the ship on a shelf for display when they're done building it.

Primarily because of the number of pieces and the somewhat advanced wing assemblies, the ship can be a little daunting for inexperienced builders to put together. If your kids are old pros at building mid-sized LEGO vehicles, however, they should have no trouble completing this one without Mom's or Dad's help.

$44.99 from the LEGO Shop.

1st Wonder of the LEGO World: The Biggest LEGO Set Ever Made

Aaron Burgess — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:35:00 GMT

Just when we thought the $500, 5,175-piece Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon was as big and complex as a LEGO set could get, along comes the mother of all brick-building challenges: At 20" wide and 16" tall, the LEGO Taj Mahal may be a wee bit under the 22.44 hectares of the actual wonder-of-the-world after which it's modeled, but at 5,922 pieces (clearly not making it one for the junior builders), it's still a formidable piece of architecture.

Priced at $299.99, the LEGO Taj Mahal ships Sept. 15 -- preorder now and you may still have time to finish it by 2009.