I hope you all are into LEGO in a big way, because my love for the plastic bricks has come back with a vengeance lately, and I expect to be fully obsessed in 2012. As you heard in episode 10 of Bubble Pipe Theater, LEGO goes hand-in-hand with Christmas in my book, and so I thought it would be a great fit for our latest Instagram Roundup.

With two Advent Calenders out this year (regular flavor and a Star Wars version), I knew there would be plenty of Christmas LEGO goodness spread around Instagram. I got the Star Wars calendar for my nieces for Christmas, and today was the day that the Santa Yoda minifig was unveiled. I hope that set goes on sale after Christmas because I wouldn’t mind having a Santa Yoda for myself.

Today’s Instagram Roundup featured photos by steviebay1, mymeltingbrain, hosshina, mattapp, jijipunch, y_yuki, victoriiakate, ndangwp, and my sister patternpatti.

Have an idea for an Instagram Roundup? Tag your photo with #tophatsasquatch and we’ll see it!

It’s the show’s very first Christmas, and Tim, Rob, and Tommy spend it getting nostalgic about their favorite toys over the years and the presents they never got but always wanted. In this episode you’ll hear about Tommy’s penchant for sneaking around and finding presents early, Rob’s lifelong obsession with getting an AT-AT, and Tim’s knack for living vicariously through his kids, with a ton of retro Christmas and toy commercials sprinkled throughout.

I think by now it should be obvious to you that we here at Top Hat Sasquatch are huge LEGO fans. Even before the days of licensed sets, LEGO appealed to geeks and non-geeks alike, enabling creative play with endless possibilities. It’s no surprise that the LEGO brand has amassed such a huge cult following that continues to grow every year.

If you read this site and are a big fan of LEGO, you’re probably familiar with John Baichtal and Joe Meno’s work. John writes for the always-awesome blog GeekDad and Joe is the founder of BrickJournal. The Cult of LEGO is the product of their hard work and fanboy dedication to the little plastic bricks from Denmark.
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I get sent a lot of crazy stuff that people want me to review. Some of it gets on the site and some of it doesn’t. I wasn’t sure what to think about the direct-to-Blu-ray and Walmart-exclusive animated short film LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace until I heard Tim talk about it on the podcast, but I’m glad to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Not only am I growing utterly intolerant of prequel-era Star Wars, but I’d never heard LEGO characters talk despite being super cute in silent, video-game form, so I was leery. Luckily, it turns out that whoever wrote and animated this short film had a lot of creative freedom and decided to pump it full of slapstick, tongue-in-cheek humor, and lots of Star Wars in-jokes. Oh, and George Lucas makes a couple appearances.
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Happy Halloween! This is a very special episode of Bubble Pipe Theater. Join Tim, Rob, and I as we talk about all things Halloween. Get the scoop on our favorite scary movies, memorable costumes of years past, and a bit of nostalgia for trick or treating.