Castle and Other Summer Themes Available at TRU

Toys R Us now has several of the Summer Castle sets for sale. Along with Legends of Chima, Hero Factory, City, Galaxy Squad, and more.
Selections vary from store to store, so I can't promise you'll find any of these sets at a TRU near you. But it's worth a try.

75025 Jedi Defender-class Cruiser Revealed

The newest LEGO Star Wars set has been revealed: 75025 Jedi Defender-class Cruiser. The set contains 627 pieces, 4 minifigures (Sith Warrior, Jedi Knight, Jedi Counselor, and Sith Trooper), and will most likely retail for $119.99.
Looks like a great set with awesome figures! LEGO has finally started giving the Old Republic the attention it deserves.
In other news, most Summer 2013 Star Wars sets are available from Kmart.

EDIT: The Summer sets are not available at Kmart. They were shipping out Gungan Subs instead.

2013 LOTR High-res Images

Eurobricks has revealed high-res images of two more of the Summer 2013 Lord of the Rings sets.

The two sets are The Council of Elrond, and The Wizard Battle. 

Both are relatively small sets, with rather *cough* lame *cough* builds. Especially on The Council of Elrond set. I am very disappointed in the design of this set.

The Wizard Battle is slightly more promising. The build isn't much better, but the Saruman minifig is very nice. And with a price point of $12.99, it's a great impulse set.

See more images on Eurobricks.

Summer 2013 Star Wars Picures

Just a couple days after we saw the Summer 2013 LOTR set pictures, all the Star Wars sets have been revealed. We get high-res images of every set. Including many we haven't seen before.

Most sets are remakes of 3-5 year old sets, with the designs differing slightly from the originals. But we do get some brand new models, including several from Episode II and the Clone Wars. 

See more on Eurobricks.

High-res Summer LOTR Images

High-res images have been posted of the Summer 2013 Lord of the Rings sets. Up until now, we've only seen small, blurry pictures of each. Hardly enough for any LEGO fan. But now we can view them in their full glory.

79007 Battle at the Black Gate. 5 minifigures. 656 pieces. Price: $60-$70.
79008 Pirate Ship Ambush. 9 minifigures. 756 pieces. Price: $80-$100.

See more images on Eurobricks.

2013 Star Wars Sets Revealed

Flickr user Motayan has published some pictures from the summer 2013 Star Wars wave. I do wonder how he came by them. But he seems to come by a lot of future LEGO sets.
The two sets revealed are 75019 AT-TE, and 75018 Jek-14 Stealth Starfighter. Even though they're new sets, they are barely even that. Why? The AT-TE is nearly exactly the same as the one from 2008. And the Jek-14 is the evil(?) equivalent of the Republic-class Strike Starfighter.
But there is still plenty of stuff to be excited for. Such as the brand new Jedi in the AT-TE (I believe this set will be from Episode II). And the great blue Stormtrooper figure. He'll be an expensive one for sure. Check him out below!

LEGO LOTR Battle at the Black Gate Preliminary image

The Sears Canada website has listed one of the yet-to-be-released LOTR sets. The image has a confidential watermark on it, so thanks to ToysNBricks, we have a white-out version. I believe the release date for this set is Summer 2013. I have no idea how Sears got so priviledged. They'll probably be hearing it from LEGO very soon. UPDATE: The set is out of stock. Either LEGO pulled it, or many lucky fans lucked out.
Set info below:

79007 Battle at the Black Gate. 655 pieces. $59.99. Minifigures: Gandalf, Aragorn, The Mouth of Sauron, two Mordor Orcs.

Fly the Great Eagle high above the Black Gate of Mordor where Aragorn and Gandalf the White must distract the Eye of Sauron. Use them to stage a scene while Frodo Baggins and his friend Sam throw the One Ring into the fiery depths of Mount Doom and destroy it forever. To reach the Ring's final destination, you must defeat the Mouth of Sauron and the Mordor Orcs positioned high in the spiked gate walls. Then breach the gate and lead the attack on the enemy! Includes a Great Eagle and 5 minifigures with weapons: Aragorn, Gandalf the White, Mouth of Sauron and 2 Mordor Orcs

Despite the fact that the Black Gate is so short, this should be a great set. And I'm very excited for the Mouth of Sauron figure. As is the case with most early images, the minifigures are nowhere near final.

New Summer 2013 Set Rumors (LOTR, Star Wars, Castle)

A hoard of Summer 2013 set rumors have appeared all over the internet. The most exciting rumors (to me) is the announcement of more LOTR, certain Star Wars sets, and the return of Castle!
There's also some Galaxy Squad, Legends of Chima, and City. So let's dive into the rumors of 2013 LEGO!

Toys R Us Gets Summer Sets

Yes! It has finally happened! As of now Toys R Us stores have the summer 2012 wave of LEGO. This includes The Lord Of The Rings, Monster Fighters, City, Ninjago and more! One problem though: as always, Star Wars will not be for sale until later in the year.
If it weren't for the ridiculous (And I mean RIDICULOUS) price raises, I would go out and pick up some LOTR. But as it is, Gandalf Arrives is $17 itself.
Also, as pictured above, there is a LEGO LOTR Project Case that was unheard of until now.

Check out the new LEGO stuff here.

9476 The Orc Forge in High-res

Just a couple of days ago, I posted a small blurry pic of this set. But now we have the high-res pic!

This set contains four minifigs: Lurtz, Uruk-hai, two Orcs. 363 pieces and a light brick. Retail price is $39.99.

Scheduled release date for these sets is June first.

I totally love this set! It's a must have for any LEGO LOTR fan, and I intend to be that fan. In other words: I must have it!

Other news: the LEGO The Lord of the Rings sets are available for pre-order on Target.com. Bad news is: 9472 Attack on Weathertop will be priced at $59.99, instead of the hoped for $49.99.

Summer Sets at Shop@Home

I know I'm really late in saying this but all the new summer sets are at Shop@Home. These include: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Kingdoms, Hero Factory, Ninjago, Cars, and pretty much every LEGO theme.

My wallets gonna hurt the next couple months.

Happy buying!