Geeks lucky enough to be in San Diego enjoying Comic-Con are starting to get the first looks at what LEGO has in store for the coming year, and so far some cool stuff has been revealed. Sets based on the upcoming move of The Hobbit, a pretty sweet new Star Wars set, and some new minifigures have all popped up online so far.

First off, Bag End from The Hobbit was unveiled, and it looks great. Due out in December, the Hobbit hole comes with six minifigures and is surprisingly awesome in LEGO form. I can’t wait to see what else LEGO has in store for the first Hobbit movie. Make sure to check out FBTB for a huge gallery of photos.

I’m not a collector of LEGO Star Wars sets, probably because they’ve been around so long that diving in feels too daunting, but this new Rancor Pit set really caught my eye. One of the best scenes in Return of the Jedi makes for an awesome little LEGO set.

LEGO aslo has some super cool Super Hero exclusive minifigures that I’ll probably never get to see in person. Expect to see these for crazy prices on ebay. Phoenix, Black Suit Spider-Man, Shazam, and Bizarro are all available at Comic-Con this year, and they all look great.

The Top Hat Sasquatch team reads a lot of blog posts every day, and some slip through the crack or just don’t warrant their own post. That’s where Missing Links comes in. Every few days we collect the best links we’ve come across and pass them on to you.

Infinite Hollywood: Ninja Turtle Classic Collection Michelangelo Figure Review
Newton Gimmick over at Infinite Hollywood got his hands on a TMNT Classics Michelangelo figure early, and posted a very thorough review. My level of excitement for this line couldn't be higher right now. I can't wait to have these.

Events LEGO: LEGO Events @ Comic Con 2012 | From Bricks To Bothans
A good roundup of all the LEGO-related events at Comic-Con this year. I'm sure that Shazam! minifigure will sell like hotcakes on eBay.

2012 TMNT Guide to San Diego Comic-Con
A nice roundup of all the TMNT-related stuff you can expect to find at Comic-Con this year from Rose over at Ninja Pizza. One addition I would make, check out Alex Deligiannis' booth and pick up some sweet TMNT prints.

A visit to Geppi’s Entertainment Museum in Baltimore, Maryland — Cool and Collected
Brian from Cool and Collected took a trip to Geppi's Entertainment Museum, and boy does this place look awesome. The next time I'm in the Baltimore area I plan on stopping by here.

Nickelodeon’s ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Series Gets A Premiere Date
Can't wait to torrent watch this show when it comes on Nickelodeon!

We’ve mentioned LEGO’s new Kickstarter-esque site CUUSOO a couple of times before on the ‘squatch and since that time it’s grown quite a bit. The LEGO Minecraft set has actually been produced (review coming soon!), and many more projects have passed the 10,000 supporter mark needed for LEGO to step in and review their potential.

Users post some amazing builds there, but most of them seem to be projects that LEGO would never make, like the awesome Shaun of the Dead pub set or the countless OMG Please Make Phineas and Ferb sets! that you’ll find on the site. Most of the time I see a CUUSOO project that would require LEGO to get a license from a company, I ignore it.

But then again the Minecraft set was licensed (albeit from a small company) so it’s always a possibility. I hope that’s the case for this amazing Portal-inspired CUUSOO project because I’d love to see it become a reality. A group of talented builders have mocked up an extensive collection of Portal LEGO products including multiple sets and a Heroica-style board game. The sets are modular and would let you make your own Portal puzzle room, which is brilliant.

The sets all look great, and surely if LEGO can get a license from Mojang they can get one from Valve, but time and a few thousand more supporters will tell. Make sure to check out the project’s page on CUUSOO and be sure to vote for it if you’d like LEGO to consider making it a really-for-real product!

Via The Brothers Brick

Did you know there is going to be a LEGO movie? You didn’t? Well, there is, and it’s being made by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the duo behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street. The big news today is that LEGO versions of Batman and Superman will appear in that film, but I extracted a much more awesome headline out of that story.

Will Arnett is going to voice LEGO Batman. If this isn’t the best idea in the history of pretty great ideas I don’t know what is. If you’re a fan of Arrested Development or just Will Arnett in general, chances are you’re a fan of Batman and LEGO too, and if not, hearing Arnett voice LEGO Batman on the big screen will surely change your mind.

I’m pumped for this movie. Variety has a quick description of the plot, which revolves arond a generic LEGO character (well, it worked for The Muppets), voiced by Chris Pratt.

Pratt will play Emmet, an ordinary, law-abiding, rules-following, perfectly average Lego mini-figure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary MasterBuilder. He’s drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the universe together, a journey for which he is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.

Count me in. I’m sure since this is a WB production we’ll only see the DC superheroes, but I’m fine with that. The working title is LEGO: The Piece of Resistance, but I wouldn’t put too much money on that not changing before the release date in 2014.

Check out the article on SlashFilm for more details.

LEGO is trying awfully hard lately to make me look like this, and I must say, it’s working. Between the Super Heroes, Lord of the Rings, and Monster Fighters lines, there is just way more LEGO awesomeness than I can afford right now. Somehow though, I’m going to be budgeting in this awesome haunted house that comes out in September as part of the Monster Fighters line. Just look at it, pure LEGO Halloween fun.

This set just has a lot going for it. It comes with some extremely nostalgic (to me, at least) ghost minifigures, along with a few monsters, and get this, a Zombie Chef! He may not have a brain in his pan, but that’s one of the coolest minifigures I’ve seen in a long time.

I love the detail in this set too. The boarded windows, the zombie heads on the columns, the gate, the gargoyles. Not to mention the detail I haven’t even seen yet, like the three floors inside that include an office, kitchen, and more. The set will be around $179 in September, and you can expect a detailed review here when it comes out.

Via The Brothers Brick