BrickPiggy LEGO Rental: Yes, It’s a Good Idea

Boys with LEGO set

They’re not even mad that I sent it back.

With all of the services out there that were designed to make your life easier, of course there’s one that lets you rent LEGO kits and send them back when your kids are done with them. Or when you’re done with them – LEGOs are just for kids, right?

Yes, BrickPiggy is exactly that service. You sign up for an account on their LEGO kit rental site, choose a kit pricing level, then order your kits to be sent. For a fee as low as $24.95, you get 2 kits to play with for 30 days. Then you disassemble the kits, put all the pieces and instructions bag in the mesh bag they came in, then mail it back in the free mailer. And then you can continue to get more kits, just like that!

I know what you are thinking. “What if my kids loses some pieces?” Because that’s exactly what I thought when I first read about BrickPiggy. But there’s no penalty for missing pieces! Plus, BrickPiggy includes some extra pieces just in case.

The other question I wondered about was “What if my kid doesn’t want to return the kit?” Well, you can simply pay BrickPiggy the retail price of the kit and keep it! Same if you forget to return your kit within 30 days.

Sounds too good to be true, but my kids and I put it to the test. Since they are both into the Minecraft LEGO sets, I ordered a Minecraft kit from basic level of 350-700 pieces. It came packaged in a lovely box with gift wrap, a special bright orange foldable building mat that you get to keep, and the mesh bag for returning the kit.

The set was big enough for my boys to split and assemble together. Then they put it on a shelf in the family room so they could play with it while it stayed at our house.

It may be small, but the boys will tell you it took a long time because it was “complex.”

The biggest surprise for me was that when it came time to disassemble the kit, the boys enjoyed that just as much if not more than when they built it!

It was easy to shove everything in the bag, stick the return mailing label on the outside, and then place in our mailbox. The boys weren’t even sad to see it go, because they had had their fun. Our experience was fantastic, and I am not surprised that BrickPiggy was created by two moms who love to foster their children’s love of building and creating, but aren’t fond of the clutter!

A BrickPiggy subscription would make a wonderful gift, especially for those kids you love who live far away. Or for families who don’t have the room to store every LEGO creation the kids every get. Or its millions of pieces!

Random Delightful Gift: the Footput

I live with two boys and a man. They are constantly putting their feet up on the coffee table – with shoes on, without shoes on, without shoes or socks on…I know. Gross. I never put anything on the coffee table anymore that I want to stay clean and sanitary.

But then I saw this invention that seems like one of those things that you don’t know you needed until someone comes along and convinces you otherwise. Kind of like the iPhone.

Introducing the Footput!

It’s a pillow for your feet so you can rest them on any surface. The company’s marketing tag line is “Comfort, Style…and Acceptability.”

It’s literally just a pillow…but it’s for your feet. That’s it. Genius, really. What makes the Footput a thing I wanted, though, is the website. It takes itself just a skosh less seriously than it has to, and that makes me love it.

“Ever since humans grew feet, they have yearned to put those feet on the coffee table. Yet society frowned. Until now.”

Even the color selection has a funny one: “Harvest Gold or something.”

I asked for and received a complimentary Footput in Moroccan Print so that I could test it in actual real life and tell you about it. On a weeknight, I snuck downstairs in my jammies and made a cup of hot cocoa after the rest of the family had gone to bed, and settled in for some TV and putting my feet up. I don’t know why I felt I had to do this in secret. I mean, it’s all about social acceptability, right? But I wanted some alone time with my new Footput, and also when the kids are awake they insist on the most mind-numbing TV shows, so after bedtime was the best.

I’m happy to say the Footput kept my feet nice and comfortable through an entire episode of Kevin Can Wait. That was about 25 minutes. After that I was just ready to go to bed. Does that mean the Footput is the gateway to sleeping? Perhaps. Maybe they’ll add that to their website. “The Footput; comfort, style, acceptability, and a natural sleep aid.” Or maybe I was just really tired.

In the end though, I think it’s just that I’m not a feet-on-the-table type of gal. But I’m also a person who gets grossed out when others do it. So thank goodness I now have a Footput I can chuck at the latest offender, not-so-gently suggesting he put this pillow beneath his feet.

The Footput
$25-$34 plus shipping
Made in the US
thefootput.com

Celebrity Sighting: Nintendo’s Kirby at Planet Robobot Party

Nintendo’s new 3DS game, Kirby: Planet Robobot, was celebrated at this cool party in LA!

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My son, Kyle, and I got to take a summer afternoon to attend a party at a Los Angeles studio celebrating the release of Kirby: Planet Robobot, the new game for Nintendo 3DS. Of all the parties that Kyle attended with me over the years, this one might have been the most perfect for him. The first thing we saw was the giant blowup Kirby atop his star! He hovered over a half a dozen clusters of the perfect gaming setup. Bean bag chairs in Kirby colors of pink and yellow were arranged around gaming stations with 3DS systems loaded with Planet Robobot, just waiting for kids to come and play.

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Kyle has been a Kirby fan for years. Here he is, ahead of his time, showing YouTube fans how to beat a level, 5 years ago:

Naturally, the moment we walked into the party, Kyle dropped into a bean bag and headed down the rabbit hole after Kirby in this latest adventure. I’ll be posting his review (and I’ll play the game too) next week, so check back!

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The party was set up for kids and adults to enjoy. There were snacks as well as a table of pink and yellow candy.

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There was a T-shirt making station where we could pick our favorite Kirby ability and have it printed right before our eyes. My favorite was Poison, not because I wanted to spray any noxious mists, but because I like purple.

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Stars in the Room

Of course the gaming stations were the big attraction, but they were eclipsed for a short time by an appearance from Kirby himself!


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Human celebrities were present too – there were a bunch of young actors and YouTubers, but the only one I met was the lovely Peyton List (Disney Channel’s Jessie and Bunk’d), who introduced the event.

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Her brother Spencer read out some trivia questions about the game, and the kids who answered those correctly got tickets for door prizes. Kyle answered one (of course) and he won an awesome prize! A new Nintendo 3DS system and a copy of the game Planet Robobot! So check in (or tune in, he might be inspired to do his review on YouTube) next week for the game review!

From the adult side, I enjoyed the pink M&M’s and getting to reconnect with some of my fellow blogger friends, and also meeting new people. It was a colorful and fun afternoon!

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This post is sponsored by Nintendo. All opinions are my own. And Kyle’s.