Ten years ago in 1999 Dorling Kindersley published The Ultimate LEGO Book- a comprehensive and detailed history of the development and growth of both the Lego brick and The Lego Group. I've no idea where I was at the time, but I bought it on holiday as soon as I saw it. It came at a time when I was admittedly getting too old for Lego and entering my "dark age" of the interest, but it provided lots of memories and enjoyment through flicking and questing through the pages. Ten years later and DK have updated with a new two-part book simply titled The Lego Book.

As with the 1999 Ultimate, the book is an exploration of all things Lego, from the very beginnings in wooden toys to the electronic, licensed and diverse range of Lego we have now. The book starts with these very different beginnings showing timelines of bricks and figures as new ones were introduced, before moving on to cover themes in more depth. The final section of the book looks at the wider Lego world, so includes things like art and sculptures, the recent videogames and of course the parks themselves.

Of most interest to me was the theme development, showing the significant changes between the very first castles, police stations and pirate ships to what we have now. The section on Castle is understandably diverse, beginning with the basic classic knights, moving onto Wolfpack and Forestmen territory before arriving to where we are now, a theme with fantastical elements such as dragons, wizards and trolls.

The minifigs across these themes are something covered in more depth in the accompanying Standing Small: A celebration of thirty years of the minifigure. Like the ongoing changes shown by the sets in the previous book, the pages here are devoted to the evolution of the minifig from the prototype to the present and then again in outlining all the different doctors/police theme specific figs over the years or decades. Next to them are facts and "Did You Know?"ses which are genuinely interesting, ranging from obvious factoids to pointless yet fascinating trivia. The book is sadly a little incomplete, ignoring specific themes like Ninja, but as with The Lego Book, the art, photography, design and layout are all excellent.

Completing the DK/Lego releases is Lego Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary. I'll be honest, i'm not really a big enough Star Wars fan or one the book was perhaps tailored to, but it's still enjoyable for me all the same, at least in regards to the Lego. Over the last ten years the Star Wars license has completely changed Lego bringing in a multitude of new fans and dragging many back to the toy for the first time in perhaps decades. It's of course paved the way for an increase in licensed themes. Harry Potter, Batman and Indiana Jones all being obvious examples, and the latter, a personal favourite.

The book is designed differently from the other two, focussing on certain entities such as characters or factions within the universe. Obi Wan Kenobi has a page spread showing the different minifig iterations and also the ships/sets he's piloted/appeared in. Species such as Gungans and Wookies too have their own sections, as does Stormtroopers and the Clone Wars and all sorts of groups that goes completely over my head. Nonetheless, it's a good read- that the book exists in itself shows the impact the license has had on Lego I think.

All three books are fascinating, complimenting both the toy and the interest, naturally a worthy purchase of anyone who loves the brick. The books are informative, interesting, and incredibly visual but most of all generally up to date and accurate. As time moves on and TLG continue to grow and redefine themselves, it's inevitable that a newer book will be out after the next ten years have passed. If it's anything like these or those before it, this is certainly good news.

£80 Total. The big ship alone was that when it was released twenty years ago.

• Yes, I really did count that many individual Lego pieces over the last few days.
• Yes, they are for my Bricklink store.
• Yes, I have far too much spare time- thanks unemployment.

This is what i'm wearing. Well, clothes and all that shit too, but only because society would frown otherwise. It's been too wet to wear them these last few days, but hopefully that'll be coming to an end soon.

And that's it for this post. No, really.

Yes they are for Christmas, and yes, I will resist two weeks of temptation by not opening them before the 25th. No, you can not have them.

Thank you Blue!

My Toynami 3rd Wave Futurama figures arrived today -after the usual minor issues and obligiatory feud with the Royal Mail of course. They'd been on pre-order for a few months now, and while I think they were scheduled to be released in August, i'm well chuffed the date was brought forward and they arrived today.

 
Wave one and two was Fry and Zoidberg, Leela and Zapp, while the third wave sees the arrival of Bender and Kif- TV most infamous robot and the ever depressed green space sidekick. As with the previous figures there's a range of props and accessories -again annoyingly, most of them can't be held properly- and they compliment the character and maybe even add to the figure's appeal. Bender comes with extra pairs of eyes for 'angry face/sad face' lark, while Kif comes with his hat from Where The Buggalo Roam, and one of the sphere 'enemies' from the War Is the H-Word episode. There's also a framed photo of Amy, but this is a weak addition, second only to the possibility of an actual Amy figure.

Out of the two, Bender is undoubtedly the better figure, and perhaps even the best out of all those released so far. Even better, is the fact that his head can be unscrewed and replaced with Nixon's head-in-a-jar, as depicted in, A Head in the Polls, the best episode ever, fact. Wave Three also means that the Robot Devil figure is finally completed. The figure is all long and skinny compared to the rest, but it matches the character, and he's still a lot better than the horrible Fry release from earlier. And he's got a magnetic top hat, so, win.

The fourth wave of figures (which I think are already out?) is a Fry reissue, this time with superhero attire dressed as Captain Yesterday, and Nudar, from the recent DVD film. I'm passing on them both, but future releases include a Leela as Clobarella, Lrrr and Calculon. All must haves, and if they're anywhere near as good as the existing figures, fans are in for a treat.