All articles tagged with #smart play
Lego reported record first-half 2026 revenue of 41.9 billion Danish kroner, up 21% year over year, driven by new technology, partnerships, and a broad price range.
Engadget's Sam Rutherford previews Lego's Pokémon Smart Play line, praising interactive Smart Bricks that animate Pokémon, enable two‑Pokémon battles with type advantages and HP, let you feed them and heal them with potions, and train them with compatible gear; the sets lean into the video game roots rather than Star Wars, feature classic 151 plus later-gen Pokémon, and range from $15 to $120, hitting shelves on August 1; while some faces look blocky, the overall experience translates Pokémon into a magical brick‑built play world.
Lego’s Smart Brick—featuring a microcomputer, microphone, and NFC in a 2x4 brick—launches with eight Star Wars sets; three include a Smart Brick with a charging cradle, while the rest are Smart Play compatible (BYOB). Prices range from $69.99 for Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter to $159.99 for Throne Room Duel & A-Wing, with details on which kits include the brick and NFC tags.
Early hands-on with Lego's Star Wars Smart Play sets shows the bricks' lights and talking sounds largely underdeliver, with generic engine noises and warbling voice samples; the steep entry price (from about $70 for a starter set to around $140–$160 for additional bricks) makes the value proposition doubtful, threatening the technology's momentum unless iteration improves.
LEGO has announced its first Smart Play sets featuring interactive Smart Bricks, Minifigures, and Tags, with three Star Wars-themed sets available for preorder, launching on March 1, including the Emperor's Throne Room Duel, Luke's X-Wing, and Vader's TIE Fighter, offering enhanced play with sound and light features.