RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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TL;DR: Lego is livestreaming a demo of its new Pokémon Smart Play sets on July 31 at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT, just ahead of the collection's official Aug. 1 launch.
If you're the kind of person who still gets excited seeing Pikachu, Lego's new Pokémon Smart Play sets are about to make your day. Lego is livestreaming a demo of the collection, giving fans a first look at how these sets work before they officially launch Aug. 1.
The demo streams July 31 at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT on Lego's site . If you're near a Lego Store, it's also worth stopping by during the stream — Lego says visitors can score extra rewards on that day.
What makes these sets so much fun
Mashable's Timothy Werth got hands-on with the sets ahead of launch , and by his own account, he came away completely won over — despite not even being a big Pokémon fan going in.
The sets are built around Lego's Smart Brick , a modified 2x4 piece packed with an accelerometer, microphones, speakers, LED lights, a gyroscope, and a color sensor. It responds to Smart Tags and Smart Minifigures included in the sets, meaning your Pokémon can "talk" to each other, and light up or make noises as you play with them.
According to Werth, some of the small details are what really sell it: Pikachu , Squirtle , Bidoof , Geodude , Charmander , and Eevee all make adorable noises, chattering when placed near each other, and the Pikachu Treehouse Set even hides a tiny Murphy bed where Pikachu can lie down and snore.
However, not every set includes a Smart Brick, so if you want the interactive features, you'll need at least one all-in-one set (starting at $69.99) — cheaper add-on sets start at $19.99. The full lineup launches Aug. 1, with a few sets already on Amazon and the rest up for preorder at Lego's online store .
Even a casual Pokémon fan will get something out of this — Aug. 1 is coming for your wallet either way.
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