August is almost here. Normally that marks the end of our anniversary, but with no forums the celebration hasn't begun. We have been around for ten years though, and that merits some fanfare. We do just that on the Powercast, and talk about BrickFair too. Subscribe on the right or go listen!

This month marks the two year anniversary of the Powercast and the ten year anniversary of BZPower. Those are quite the milestones! Unfortunately, the forums are still offline, and we start the show up with an update about where we are on that process. Then McSmeag, Hahli Husky, Than the Moa, DeeVee, and Takuma Nuva join me to talk about BZPower's tenth aniversary. We cover a lot of ground, and I'm not sure we make any kind of point, but that's okay. After that, I talk about the upcoming BrickFair with Nuju Metru and Friar Tuck. McSmeag closes things out with a new song. Thank you everyone for ten amazing years!

Welcome back to the BZPower Review Corner. Okay, I don't think we've ever called it that, but we do have a review for you today! DeeVee takes a look at Waspix this time around - will it be the best or the worst set ever? You'll have to read on to find out! 

BrickFair, the amazing LEGO Fan Festival taking place outside of Washington DC next weekend just got some more awesomeness! It turns out that LEGO Universe will have a booth at the event, with lots of cool activities. Be sure you check it out if you're going (after you check out the Bionicle table, we're right next door)!

Lego Universe devotees have most likely already seen this article (dang that new gear looks awesome) about the new LU Patch. An anonymous BZPower reader wished to give emphasis to the last line at the bottom there; The Power of the Nexus Force release is exploding with amazing additions! It�s...almost a bit strange, how much preparation the Nexus Force is going through right now. It�s almost as if they are preparing for an epic battle...of arachnid proportions! Is this a hint that the next patch will include the long awaited spider cave?

Ever wonder if you could make a living by building with LEGO Bricks? Well, Nathan Sawaya is. He used to be an attorney, but now he's a LEGO Artist. You can check out a short video where he describes his job. It's pretty interesting to watch.

We're getting close to the home stretch of getting the forums back, but there's still some work and testing to be done by the staff. All you staff members out there, if you haven't gotten in touch with me yet please IM me or send an email to [email protected]. Your assistance is appreciated.

Jim Foulds of the LEGO Community Team has sent word of a new survey for everyone to take. Head on over and share your thoughts and ideas. It's always great to see that LEGO is listening to their fans!

The biggest LEGO convention in the country is visible on the horizon. BrickFair is the first weekend in August in the Dulles Expo Center, Chantilly, VA, and BZPower has some exciting things in store. Read on for details about displaying MOCs and visiting over the weekend, or hanging out for the entire thing!  

BrickFiesta took place Fourth of July weekend, and BZPower was there, in a small way. As usual, we're here now to give you up-to-the-minute coverage, three weeks later. Okay, so nobody's perfect, but at least you can see some of what we saw. 

From July 24th to the 30th Toys 'R' Us is having a sale on LEGO sets again. As per usual, you buy one, you'll get another for 50% off - Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Ninjago are excluded. Head over and take advantage of this deal if you're in the market for some new sets.

It�s time for another Hero Factory review. Today Xccj will critique the new version of Bulk, who is now taking on the form of a wolf. Is this a canine you should take home and tame, or is he best left out in the wild? Read on and see for yourself. 

We're a couple days late on this, but July 20th was our tenth anniversary! It's crazy to think that BZPower has been around for ten years. I'd love to wax philosophical about it, but unfortunately, there's still work to be done. Since you're reading this, you can see that the move to our new host is complete and the main site is back up. Now it's a matter of putting the final touches on the forums. Fingers crossed guys!

San Diego Comic Con has been going on this week and the biggest news of the show (that LEGO fans care about) is that LEGO is partnering up with DC and Marvel to make superhero-themed LEGO sets. That's right, Superman, Batman (again), Spiderman (also again), Iron Man (geez, comic writers are almost as bad as the people who name 'Brick' conventions) are coming to ABS on a toy shelf near you. Read on for the full press release regarding the DC partnership. 

A predictable sequel to yesterday's story; the remaining Summer HF sets have surfaced on the Toys 'R' Us website! Meaning such tantalizing sets as Furno, Stringer and Rocka XL are for the first time easily available to the eager inhabitants of the US of A. If you're looking to splurge, ToysRUs.Com also has free shipping on all orders of $75 or more. That Rocka XL may be arriving at my doorstep before long...

Have you been itching to get your hands on some of the new Hero Factory animal sets? Well, if you head over to the Toys R Us website, you may find what you're looking for. Many of the larger Hero Factory summer sets are in stock, like Waspix, Scorpio, and the Witch Doctor. The only Hero available right now is Stormer 3.0, but the others are probably right around the corner.

Evil laughter, that is. Having recently surfaced on the Hero Factory section of the Lego website, the short video clip teases the upcoming Hero Factory movie, Savage Planet. Both heros and villains are shown off in all their CGI glory, concluding with a certain witch doctor's maniacal cackle. View it yourself here.

BS01 is planning their second annual live podcast, MakutaFest, on August 1, 2:00 PM PST, and wants the fans to mark the date on their calendars, rune tablets and star-charts. Hosted by members of the Three Virtues podcast and the BS01 Podcast, they anticipate BIONICLE prizes to be given away, audience participation, and much more. Details will be forthcoming on the podcast website.

Once again, Toys 'R' Us is having a sale on LEGO sets. If you buy one City, Ninjago, or Toy Story set, you can get another for 50% off. It's a bit of a limited sale, but if you're in the market for any of those sets, it's worth a visit to the store or their website!

The LEGO Star Wars series of sets, videogames, and shorts have been incredibly popular, with the games in particular spawning sequels and other LEGO games (like Bionicle Heroes!). Now, LEGO and Lucasfilm are taking their partnership to a new level, with a 30 minute animated adventure premiering Friday, July 22 at 7PM (less than two weeks away!). To find out more about the Padawan Menace and see some pictures from the short, read on! 

Gatanui noticed an interesting tidbit on the LEGO Club website. Toys 'R' Us, in partnership with the soon-to-be-opening LEGOLand Florida, wants to showcase your creativity. Head on over to find a list of stores where you can build a mural next Saturday expressing yourself that will be put on display at the theme park in October. Sounds like a great opportunity!

I like the feel and atmosphere of this season's Hero Factory story, with the jungle and the animalistic helmets. This latest HF artwork is more of the same, featuring Rocka and Furno, with the evil With Doctor leering toothily over them. The version of Rocka made for the animation is somewhat different from his set form, with his eyes looking through the lion head's eyeholes, rather than through the lion mouth as in the set. This is probably less confusing, though I feel like it's also less awesome.

Today, we have yet another Hero Factory review, and this time it's not a Hero. Xccj takes a look at the new beast Fangz. Will he be a worthy creature to add to your collection? Read on and find out. 

Reports are coming in that the July-August edition of the LEGO Magazine has been spotted in the mailboxes and hands of LEGO enthusiasts. Adorned with an Alien Conquest invasion on the cover, the innards contain a few comics, including a Hero Factory 3.0 comic book. All this and more, we wouldn't want to spoil all the surprises, await between the pages to satisfy your summer LEGO needs. So keep out on close watch for the mailman and get ready to dive in.

It seems as though some ambitious Bionicle fans have been working on recreating the much-beloved world in another much-beloved world: Minecraft. Apparently they are attempting to use the Minecraft Bionicle world to stage a film entitled BioCraft: Chronicles. The trailer has been released on YouTube, and can be viewed here.

I spent most of my Independence Day traveling home from BrickFiesta, but I hope all of our members across America were able to barbecue and enjoy fireworks and other festivities. Don't forget what today means - we would not be the same today had our founding fathers not signed the Declaration of Independence 235 years ago today. Enjoy the holiday everyone.

The amazing folks over at Templar Studios have provided another gem for us old-time Bionicle fans: script, storyboards, and even backstory from Chapter 5 of the MNOLG: Onu-Wahi. This post is filled to the brim with fascinating things. Apparently, there was originally supposed to be a mini-game in the Onu-Wahi chapter featuring Onua doing battle with the Kofo-Jaga (or "fire scorpions," as the post calls them), which explains why the Onu-Koronans keep warning you about them. There are more details that were dropped from the game as well. And Templar also provides us with an interesting insight into the problem of making the game in compliance with Lego's non-violence policy! The post is well worth reading every single word. Many thanks again to Templar Studios for letting us in on all this information!

It's time for another review, but not a Hero Factory one. Arpy has taken a look at one of the new Kingdoms sets - Blacksmith Attack. Read on to learn more about this little set and see if it's worth a buy. 

Today we're looking at another Hero Factory 3.0 set that LEGO sent us. This time, xccj takes a look at the newcomer Rocka. Is this lion themed Hero worthy of your purchase? Read on to find out.  

If you listened to our most recent podcast, you'd know a group of the BZPower staff are in Austin right now for BrickFiesta. If you're registered for the event come find us. If you're not and you're in the Austin area, come by tomorrow from 10AM-4PM or Sunday from 11AM-3PM and sign our guestbook and say hi. We may be able to make it worth your while.

Yesterday, the seventh of the audio serial Sahmad's Tale was posted on BionicleStory.com. This release concludes the story, wrapping up another chapter in the Bionicle universe. We'll have to see if Greg Farshtey starts up another podcast or if this is the last audio tale we'll be hearing for a while.