It's a little lessened by the forums still being offline (which we're still working on as quickly as we can) but today is still a day to celebrate! Eighteen years ago Dimensioneer started a little corner on the Internet for this new LEGO Bionicle theme, launching The Bionicle Zone on his personal web server. We've gone through a lot of changes over the years, seeing our theme canceled, rebooted, and canceled again, but as I was recently reminded when we announced our Discord server, the passion and dedication to the community is still there and all of you help to keep BZPower and Bionicle alive. Thank you all for 18 years of wonderful memories and friendships that I'm sure have affected all of us in countless ways. I'm proud of our community and hope we keep on at it for years to come!

Just in time for some space celebrations, like the 50th anniversary of landing on the Moon, LEGO has some perks for space fans. First off is a gift with purchase of a free space satellite for orders over $40. Next are double VIP points for the Lunar Space Station and Deep Space Rocket & Launch Control sets. And finally, though not space, is a cool Spider-Man: Far From Home poster by redeeming 500 VIP points. Check out the deals and see what catches your eye.

Last night was preview night at San Diego Comic Con 2019 and we've got a man on the ground! BZPower member jed1ndy is there and will be sharing pictures and information on the BZPower Discord server since unfortunately our forums are still offline. So far we've seen life-size statues of Iron Man from Avengers: Endgame, the new Sith Trooper from Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and Batman. Additionally, it looks like you'll be able to purchase copies of 75810 The Upside Down from Stranger Things signed by the designer Justin Ramsden. I've also seen elsewhere online that the upcoming LEGO Ideas Treehouse set is being sold at the event as well. I look forward to seeing what jed1ndy is able to share from the booth and panels at the show!

Yesterday, July 16th, marked the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the mission that landed the first humans on the moon. NASA has joined forces with The LEGO Group and others to celebrate the milestone in a number of ways, including festivities taking place on the National Mall in Washington DC from July 18th to 20th. LEGO has shared information about a life-size Apollo space suit and a press release outlining how kids feel about space and how they hope to encourage future generations to explore the final frontier. It's exciting to see the interest and I look forward to seeing us go back to the moon in the next five years!  

Ahoy mateys! Today be Tuesday, and I be a wee too excited to play some more LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. So sail on by to the BZPower Twitch channel tonight at 7:30 PM Eastern to watch the fun and adventure on the high seas happen! We look forward to playing and look forward to seeing you there!

Microsoft has kicked off their Xbox Super Game Sale with deep discounts on many titles. There's not a lot of LEGO games on the list, but there are definitely a couple worth looking at. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the LEGO Harry Potter Collection are 40% off, 50% if you're an Xbox Live Gold member, bringing the prices down to $10 and $20, respectively. The LEGO Marvel Collection, which includes LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2, and LEGO Marvel's Avengers, is 30% off, 40% for Gold, which makes it $36 for three games and all of their DLC characters. You can check out all of the games on sale over at Major Nelson's blog. I think it may finally be time to pick up Harry Potter for some future Twitch Tuesdays!

We're digging back a bit with today's new story, but I think it's cool enough that it's worth mentioning. BBC reporter Vishala Sri-Pathma spoke to Robin Smith, vice president and general counsel for LEGO China, about the issue with counterfeit LEGO products that are so prevalent in the market today. You can listen or read the transcript on Marketplace.org to see how fans play a big part in The LEGO Group tracking down where these fake sets are coming from. It's a quick but interesting read that's worth checking out, and it's even better knowing that this at least is one area where they listen to their fans.

This past week marked Pride in London and LEGO UK was there to join in the festivities. The LEGO Group has shared photos of their minifigure-scaled Pride parade on LinkedIn, and earlier had shared images promoting Pride month. In a nod to the soundtrack of The LEGO Movie, most of the artwork (and the pin design) highlights the phrase "Everyone is Awesome". They've now followed up with a video recapping their presence at Pride in London.

Looks like we have some more San Diego Comic Con news to catch up on. This past week Forbes revealed that two sets from the 2020 lineup of LEGO Star Wars will be on display at the show. Both from Episode IV: A New Hope, we'll be getting another version of Luke's Landspeeder and, possibly for the first time, Obi-Wan Kenobi's hut. Both sets will retail for $29.99 next year. Neither of them leaps out at me as being particularly amazing, but I do like that we get Luke with his poncho, which may or may not be another first. (It's so hard to keep track of all those Lukes!) Hopefully the 2020 lineup will see some nice original sets based on Rise of Skywalker, The Mandalorian and Resistance TV shows, and maybe even the Jedi: Fallen Order game in addition to these two classic Star Wars models.

The builders on the LEGO Ideas site have been busy lately promoting their projects and getting votes! Check out the three latest ideas that will be reviewed by LEGO for being made into actual sets:

• The Office by Lego The Office represents the popular sitcom that was a launching point for so many actors' careers
• Japanese Tea Garden by Coosey__Goosey has a ton of amazing detail and looks like it would make a great display piece
• Winnie the Pooh by benlouisa looks like a fun trip to the 100 Acre Wood, and I love the brick-built animals (but where's Christopher Robin?)

Congrats to these builders and best of luck in the review phase!

The LEGO Creator Expert set 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van has been sitting in our proverbial to-build pile for a while now, and I've decided it's finally time to rectify that! Come watch up build this iconic German minibus on Sunday, July 14th, starting at 1 PM Eastern on the BZPower YouTube channel. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the details packed into the van and the techniques the designers used. And of course, there will be giveaways as well, so it should be a blast for all!

In light of our continued difficulties getting the forums back online, we're moving forward some of our plans for BZPower's eighteenth anniversary this year. In the past there have been requests that BZPower add a chatroom or other things along those lines, and we have frequently been resistant to the idea. In the past especially it would have been very difficult to moderate, but as times change so to must we change. With that in mind, we are pleased to invite everyone to the BZPower Discord server. For the unfamiliar, Discord is a chat service that allows people to create free servers for whatever they want, although it started out with a videogame focus. We're trying to keep things light and friendly on the BZPower server with limited moderation, so please help us keep it that way and don't make us have to consider stricter rules. I look forward to seeing how this works out and hope it helps add some activity to the community!

Our friends over at The Brick Fan have some details on yet another San Diego Comic Con exclusive that will be available at the show. Go check out 77901 Sith Trooper Bust, which follows the design of the Darth Vader bust we saw last year. This is a new type of trooper that will feature in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker later this year and looks like a cross between a First Order Stormtrooper and one of the Emperor's Royal Guards.

Welcome to Tuesday! We'll see you later tonight on the BZPower Twitch channel to play some more LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. We're in the home stretch now, and it should be just a couple more weeks until we're done, so start thinking about what you'd like to see us play next. We'll see you at 7:30 PM Eastern to get things started!

Today LEGO is announcing its latest Creator Expert set, adding to its growing array of licensed vehicles with a motorcycle! The 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy looks like it's ready to hit the highway with tons of intricate details including rear suspension and working engine pistons. To celebrate the partnership, LEGO also created a life-size Fat Boy using nearly seventy-thousand LEGO bricks. To learn more about the 1023-piece set, which will be releasing on July 17th for VIPs and August 1st for everyone else, as well as its big brother, read on!  

We've been lax in reporting the LEGO exclusives that will be at SDCC next week - here's a quick summary:

• Yahoo! revealed a 271-piece, $45 Captain Marvel set that includes Monica Rambeau as well as Goose and Carol.
• The Hollywood Reporter shared a 427-piece, $45 80th anniversary Batman set.
• The Brick Fan has info on the PS4 Spider-Man minifig that will be given away.
• SyFy has details on the Zebra Batman minifig that will be up for grabs.

I had a realization today, one that seems to always happen around now every year, that BrickFair Virginia is almost here! The event is taking place from July 31st through August 4th at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia and will be five days jam-packed with LEGO fun. For the first time this year, we actually have some constraction games on the official schedule! If you're attending as an exhibitor and will be at the show on Wednesday, head over to the game page and sign up for the Constraction Combo Build and Constraction Draft! I look forward to seeing everyone at the event and all the great MOCs you'll all be bringing!

The LEGO Ideas team has recently launched another awesome contest. Now you can Join the mission to take us from the Moon to Mars! by building a LEGO creation of a space vehicle that could get us to the Red Planet. You have until August 1st to finish and submit your MOC, so there's still plenty of time! The winner gets a massive prize pack including all of the current LEGO City Space sets plus the Saturn V and Apollo 11 Lunar Lander and more. Good luck to everyone and happy building!