Theme Guide: Mixels

Mixels is a new animated series co-developed between Lego and the Cartoon Network. The first Lego sets are expected to be released in March 2014. Each of the sets will be one Mixels character, each with a colour-scheme and theme based on a natural element.

Common between all the sets are lots of the new ball-hinge parts, as well as many other clip joints. All the characters also seem to have big googly eyes, either printed on balls, or round plates. Teeth and claw parts are also quite common, along with more unusual and visually distinctive parts such as flames and lightning.

The first wave of nine sets includes three sets of three characters which appear to be based on fire, rock, and electricity. The three sets for each element can be combined to create a larger character to represent each theme.

Here are the sets in wave one (packaging images via Hoth Bricks), the guide continues after the jump:

41500 Flain

41501 Vulk

41502 Zorch

41503 Krader

New Minifgures Online trailer

Funcom have launched a new website for their forthcoming Minifigures Online game. The website has a few partially populated sections, such as character profiles, revealing each minifigure's special abilities, and a guide to the "worlds" of the Minifigures game (although so far only Pirate World is previewed). You can also sign up to take part in the beta testing of the game. And they have released a new trailer demonstrating some of the game's features:



For more on the Minifigures game, see my earlier report, with the previously release trailer and screenshots.

Cuusoo Curiosity Rover

Lego have revealed the final design for the forthcoming fifth Cuusoo set, 21104 NASA Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover, which is set for release in January. Here's the set and box art:

Here's Lego's description from their announcement blog post:

This LEGO version of the highly advanced mobile laboratory features lots of great details, such as 6-wheel rocker-bogie suspension, articulated robotic arm and multiple camera sets, plus a display plate complete with LEGO brick Martian rocks – perfect for testing out the rover’s go-anywhere suspension! Similar to other LEGO CUUSOO sets, the building instruction booklet also includes background information about the fan builder, the history of Mars exploration, and the real Curiosity Rover.

The final model is remarkably similar to the original Cuusoo concept model. Here's what was submitted to Cuusoo, and the real thing, for comparison:

Lego's announcement also includes comments from Stephen Pakbaz, a NASA engineer who worked on Curiosity, and submitted the set idea to Cussoo, there are also pictures of him building his own copy of the set.