BrickForge Staff Retreat (7/23/08)
Our staff is taking a long awaited vacation and will be unable to ship and answer e-mail requests during these few days. Orders placed between July 23-31 will be delayed in shipping. No worries though, we plan to keep the store open so people can still browse, plan their wish list and order if they so choose.

BrickForge Releases New Items (7/9/08)
As life-long LEGO enthusiasts RedBean and myself have become passionate about not only the accessories that detail a minifig, but the various themes TLG has gifted us with. We were ecstatic when the Vikings theme was released and now we are excited to see the advent of the new fantasy Castle theme - both which coincidentally mirror our own personal visions. This time around - instead of simply making some cool weapons, we wanted to create a suite of accessories that could help inspire future themes. The below prototypes offer up the elements to create six distinct custom minifigs:

             
 

New Online Store - OPEN (7/8/08)
We are pleased to announce the launch of our new online store! The new e-commerce system caters to customers by offering a simple and secure way to browse and shop our uniquely-crafted accessories. Features include:

- Categories & Search function for easier browsing
- Credit Cards & PayPal accepted
- Shipping rates directly quoted from the United States Postal Service
- SSL (https) insures your payment data is secure
- Built-in News & Newsletters allow you to stay informed of new products/colors

                        

As a creative way to stage our products you will see the inclusion of 'miniquins' (minifig mannequins) either wearing or using items in clever ways. We invite you to enjoy our vignettes but remind that the miniquins and their surroundings are not included in the purchase of the products they feature. Keep an eye out for cameos of rare elements!

Each customer is required to assign themselves a no-hassle user-friendly BrickForge profile in order to purchase. This helps us weed out false or 'spoof' orders and allows us to better keep track of legitimate orders in the event of missing or damaged pieces.

Credit Cards are now a valid form of payment and will replace Money Orders and Personal Checks which are no longer enabled. We chose to do this for the simple reason that 40% of those who chose to pay by either MO or check never sent payment for the items they ordered. While we sympathize with those who are comfortable using these methods, it isn't fair to other customers to commit inventory and spend processing resources on those who unable to complete the transaction.

We want to thank the entire BrickForge staff as well as our customers who assisted in improving the system over the past few months. Please bear with us as we continue to upload additional photos, work out kinks and expand the website to include bigger and better features.


Product Changes (6/17/08)
Shortly after BrickWorld we will be undertaking a series of minor changes to the way products are ordered. Our ecommerce shopping cart is just about ready to process your orders more fluidly, and securely. Below are a few changes to expect:

- Credit Cards & PayPal will now be accepted at checkout.
- All products will be sold individually; no more sets.
  Current products affected: Greek Armor Sets, Battle Armor Sets, Pauldrons (no neck piece)
- Pauldrons, Horns & Vambraces will continue to be poly-bagged and sold in pairs.
- Our new Summer 2008 products will be available on the new system, not through the existing order form.

I think everyone will be happy with the new ordering system. Let us know if you have any concerns.
  
BrickWorld! (6/16/08)
BrickWorld registrants and attendees will be the first to sample 20 new items from BrickForge as they make their way to Chicago for the second annual BrickWorld show. These items will be available for order shortly after the BrickWorld event. Paid registrants can expect to receive a BrickForge/BrickWorld exclusive "Steel" Space Marine. If you are attending, please be sure to stop by our booth and check us out. During BrickWorld we will continue to take online orders, but unavailable to ship.

Brown Cows; Black Cows In Stock (5/23/08)
These are long overdue and we profusely apologize for the wait. The delay was due to our commitment in keeping our products compatible with other popular building-bricks. I'm happy to announce that our Black Cow is a bit darker in hue and better matches the 'official' Black. As you can see we've also added a white ring around the eye area where there is normally just a dimple.

                              

The Brown Cow also has a screen-printed eye; similar to the Brown Horse. After five months the plastic is the closest we've come to matching the official Brown. Because it's not quite 100% we will continue to pursue a closer color match - much like we did with the Black Cow.