Blocks magazine Issue 109 launches with LEGO Star Wars Venator cover

Star Wars: The Clone Wars has arrived in the LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series – and Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine, is celebrating by putting the enormous capital ship on the cover.

The new LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series (UCS) set, 75367 Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser, is wowing fans who are taking the time to put its thousands of parts together – so in Issue 109 of Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine, we’re talking to Designer Hans Burkhard Schlömer to find out what went into its creation.

How do LEGO sets get selected for release? In a unique feature, Blocks reveals how the LEGO Group takes the hundreds and hundreds of concepts that could be products or ranges and whittles them down to the few hundred sets that actually get released each year. It’s a fascinating insight into a little-known part of the process.

Reviews has a big model to focus on this month – the gargantuan 42146 Liebherr Crawler Crane LR 13000. Delayed by a year, was it worth the wait? And on the topic of potential Christmas gifts, how do 10325 Alpine Lodge, 21343 Viking Village and 76262 Captain America’s Shield measure up?

For those who want something new to build, get your bricks ready; you can put together a mini version of 10318 Concorde, a tiny depiction of Eldorado Fortress from Pirates or a minifigure-scale catapult to equip your Castle knights with.

Within the 116-page magazine you’ll also find out exactly how the LEGO Groups’ sustainability plans are going (without the sensationalism), learn what caused Trains to transition from 12V to 9V, count down the top 10 Christmas minifigures and much more.

Blocks is giving away LEGO Winter Village 10325 Alpine Lodge! To be entered into the prize draw and to get Blocks magazine delivered every month – ahead of the shops – check out the money-saving subscription deals available.

Everyone who subscribes to the print edition by December 6 will be in with a chance of winning (existing subscribers will automatically be entered into the prize draw).