It truly is a Christmas miracle! Earlier this fall we reported that the LEGO Group would be returning to its vault in order to dish out some remakes of old school sets as new, nostalgia-fueled creations. Today we’re able to share a first look at two of the upcoming builds, including the new BIONICLE gift with purchase and the long-awaited return of LEGO Blacktron. Arriving as freebies through the month of January, the LEGO BIONICLE Tahu and Takua set joins the 2023 return of another classic theme with the Blacktron Cruiser.
LEGO BIONICLE making a comeback in 2023, sort of…
By far the most exciting of the two upcoming gift with purchases from the LEGO Group has to be the return of one of the more beloved themes. While not quite as retro as the likes of Classic Space or Castle, two themes which have been receiving a lot of love as of late, BIONICLE is every bit as much of a mainstay in the overarching catalog. And now for 2023, the theme is making a comeback. Or something like that at least.
Arriving as a one-off promotional set, the upcoming LEGO BIONICLE gift with purchase will be assembling two of the iconic characters, but with a twist. Normally BIONICLE figures are part of the Technic theme and have unique, molded bricks to deliver their signature designs. But for 2023, we’ll be seeing the likes of Tahu and Takua reimagined in the System style.
Set number 40581 will mark the return of the mighty Toa, but this won’t be the first time we’ve seen the Technic series mashed over into the System world. It will be the first time in over a decade we’ve seen a proper BIONICLE set, making the 2023 an even more notable year. It will notably include both Tahu and Takua, and is on the smaller side. There’s no confirmation, but we’d expect the promo set to use printed elements for both of the figure’s masks.
The 2023 gift with purchase will be available starting at the end of January on the 27th, and will run until February 9 or when stock sells out. It is exclusively available as this freebie, and will come in all LEGO purchases over $100. Themes are a bit more limited, as you’ll have to spend that minimum purchase on any of the following sets. City, Monkie Kid, Ninjago, Friends, Classic, DOTS, and Creator. So pretty much any of the in-house themes will have you covered.
While the image above is a little rough, 9to5Toys can confirm that we’ll be seeing an official reveal next month on January 18. If not a bit sooner. It’s all up to the LEGO Group at this point on when it wants to start celebrating the heralded return of the fan-favorite theme.
LEGO Blacktron making a return in 2023 with upcoming gift with purchase
Alongside the upcoming BIONICLE gift with purchase coming in 2023, the LEGO Group will also be kicking off the year by launching another retro promotion. Blacktron may not be as iconic as Classic Space, but it’s still one of the those early in-house themes that reared an entire generation on brick-built sci-fi action. Now making a return for the first time in decades, we’re seeing an upcoming freebie that’ll give the theme much of the same stoplight as some of the other Classic remakes.
Arriving as set number 40580, the LEGO Blacktron Cruiser will deliver a rehashed version for 2023 of the original Invader kit from back in 1987. This time around, the build will stack up to 356 pieces compared to the 164 bricks in its predecessor, while still packing a Blacktron astronaut minifigure and a little robot companion. The ship itself is largely the same design, but with the kind of enhancements you’d expect from a refreshed set all these years later.
The LEGO Blacktron Cruiser will be available exclusively as a gift with purchase on orders over $190 starting on January 1. It’ll be available for two weeks through January 14, or until stock runs out. But with such a massive collection of new kits on the way for the start of the year, expect to see this one fly off shelves. It doesn’t matter what sets you buy, as long as you hit the $190 threshold.
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