LEGO VIDIYO: An Amped Up Collectible Minifigure Series

Billund, 16 February 2021 : The LEGO Group and Universal Music Group (UMG) have today presented the first products for LEGO® VIDIYO ™ – a playful and innovative way to make music videos, supported by a series of BeatBoxes, Bandmates, BeatBits and augmented reality – all developed to celebrate and expand children’s creativity through play and music. The announcement comes on the same day as the record company Astralwerks under UMG signs a record contract with LLAMA – the first human version of a LEGO minifigure. LLAMA’s debut single “Shake”, which will be released on Friday 19 February, features triple GRAMMY® winner NE-YO and new star Carmen DeLeon . “ Shake”Is available as pre-save on all digital streaming platforms .

Launched last month, LEGO VIDIYO integrates physical and digital play using “BeatBits” with special effects and music-inspired minifigures that are brought to life through AR in a brand new app that can be downloaded now.

The LEGO VIDIYO world includes an exciting product experience for all music-loving children and is inspired by a wide range of music genres and musicians. Each product is designed to be played with in combination with the free VIDIYO app, which gives children tools to instruct, produce and participate in their own music videos.

The first LEGO VIDIYO products consist of BeatBoxes, Bandmates and BeatBits. Fans will experience six unique, portable BeatBoxes, each featuring a minifigure representing a particular genre of music, a scanning scene, two selected BeatBits and 14 random BeatBits. BeatBoxes can transport up to 16 BeatBits and contains a building board that can be adapted to the owner’s style with a fantastic selection of LEGO bricks.

12 Bandmates is also part of this first wave of VIDIYO products and offers a fun selection of music-inspired Mystery Box collectibles. They each come with a selected BeatBit and two random BeatBits. BeatBits is a creative system with audiovisual effects and endless combination possibilities. The square 2×2 tiles have charming prints, as do small album covers representing music effects, dance steps and stage props, which are brought to life when scanned in the VIDIYO app. BeatBits are played LIVE during construction, just like instruments, and with the 130 BeatBits being launched the first year, there will always be a new VIDIYO hit production that can be made!

The six BeatBox and 12 Bandmate characters introduced today are:

• 43102 “Candy Pop” in Candy Mermaid BeatBox (pop)
• 43103 “Pirate Punk” and Punk Pirate BeatBox (punk)
• 43104 “Alien DJ” in Extra Terrestrial Dance Music BeatBox (ETDM)
• 43105 “Party Llama” and Party Llama BeatBox (tropicon)
• 43106 “Unicorn DJ” and Unicorn DJ BeatBox (K-pawp)
• 43107 “Robot Break-dancer” in HipHop Robot BeatBox (hiphop)
• 43101 Bandmates: Red Panda Dancer; Cotton Candy Cheerleader; Shark Singer; Bunny Dancer; Discowboy Singer; Genie Dancer; Samurapper; DJ Cheetah; Ice Cream Saxophonist; Alien Keytarist; Banshee Singer; Werewolf Drummer

The LEGO VIDIYO products will be available from March 1 and are just the first of many that are on the way. BeatBoxes is priced at 19.99 EUR / USD and the Bandmates collectibles are priced at 4.99 EUR / USD.

There will be around 30 songs from UMG’s incomparable global artists, including top hits and ultimate classics, all available in the app from the launch date, and new tracks are added frequently. Each song is programmed to work intuitively with all BeatBits to ensure that they match in terms of key and the special music effects that match the rhythm of the track, giving children an incredible number of creative sound customization options.

It’s easy to make a VIDIYO music video: Download the app, select the music, scan LEGO minifigures and Beatbits, and watch them come to life through augmented reality. Choose from three different sizes: Mini (4 cm), Medium (1.2 m) and Mega (5 m) for truly dynamic videos. Finally, you can record your masterpiece by activating the selected BeatBits and get an incredible 60-second performance, which can be saved locally in the app so you can show it to your friends and family, or it can be cropped and shared in a fully moderated and child-safe social feed!

As part of the experience with the VIDIYO app, children can choose clothes, band names and album covers and form their own bands with which they can make appearances. By regularly participating in new challenges in the app as well as by scanning products, points are earned, which can be used to unlock additional customization options such as costumes, accessories, choreography and stage layouts. Never before have fans been able to customize LEGO minifigures in such a high degree of detail using the more than 1,400 unlockable items that are only available through playtime and participation in challenges.

As if today’s product unveiling was not exciting enough, this partnership also includes UMG’s record company Astralwerks signing a new artist contract – a true human version of the DJ Llama minifigure from Tropicon BeatBox. LLAMA refuses to be attached to a particular genre and prefers to be as fluid with his music as he is with his imagination. “Labels are for clothes,” he says jokingly. “No musical style is outside my boundaries. I just want to work with people who do not take life too seriously ”. And LLAMA wants to take advantage of the mischievous freedom to “pique curiosity,” as he puts it, also in the audience.

The Los Angeles-based DJ and producer, who has recently signed a contract with Astralwerks, goes to both his music and to the world with curiosity, playfulness and joy. VP Marketing, Luke Armitage, Astalwerks says : “ It is an honor to enter into the first global record deal ever involving Llama and LEGO minifigures. When LLAMA first played the early demo of “Shake” for us, we all knew we wanted to work with him. The LEGO Group’s partnership with UMG is fully in line with our mission to make innovation a part of the electronic music world ”.

Fans can keep an eye on LLAMA and his crazy plans via his channels on social media @musicbyllama .

“Play and music are both universally appealing and have a fundamental impact on children’s development. With LEGO VIDIYO, we can now give children a safe space to express their playful creativity with their own music videos, through which they can develop new skills, ” says William Thorogood, VP and Executive Producer at LEGO VIDIYO, the LEGO Group. “The partnership with UMG brings innovation on so many levels, from an exciting new music-centric product and app experience to groundbreaking ways to engage fans with the record deal with LLAMA LEGO VIDIYO has been tested by more than 1,500 families in North America, Europe and Asia, and the reaction we’ve seen has been incredible, with children and parents all happy to bring LEGO minifigures to life in their very own unique, creative music videos. Now that LEGO VIDIYO is out, I’m very excited to see what today’s young creators have to offer! ”

Joshua Burke, VP, Strategic Marketing & Global Partnerships, Universal Music Group, adds : “ This is an exciting day for LEGO VIDIYO, which finally presents the full experience and completes it with the first record deal ever with a LEGO minifigure. Music goes hand in hand with creativity and plays a role in children’s development. All of these new products, BeatBits and characters will inspire young people as they discover music, artists and new sounds from around the world. While expanding their creative and technical skills and having fun, children learn to experiment and express themselves in their very own music videos ”.

LEGO VIDIYO is aimed at children aged 7-10 years and creates a safe universe where they can play across the physical and digital world. As LEGO VIDIYO requires parental consent, anonymity and external control of all content uploaded to the app feed, parents can rest assured that their children are in safe hands when unleashing their creativity online.

Prices and availability

BeatBoxes and Bandmate Mystery Boxes contain all instructions and a collection folder, and they will be available in most countries around the world from March 1st. BeatBoxes is priced at 19.99 EUR / USD (indicative) and the bundles consisting of Bandmate Mystery Boxes at 4.99 EUR / USD (indicative).

• 43102 Candy Mermaid BeatBox (19.99 EUR / USD)
• 43103 Punk Pirate BeatBox (19.99 EUR / USD)
• 43104 Alien DJ BeatBox (19.99 EUR / USD)
• 43105 Party Llama BeatBox (19.99 EUR / USD)
• 43106 Unicorn DJ BeatBox (19.99 EUR / USD)
• 43107 HipHop Robot BeatBox (19.99 EUR / USD)
• 43101 Bandmates: Red Panda Dancer; Cotton Candy Cheerleader; Shark Singer; Bunny Dancer; Discowboy Singer; Genie Dancer; Samurapper; DJ Cheetah; Ice Cream Saxophonist; Alien Keytarist; Banshee Singer; Werewolf Drummer (4.99 EUR / USD)