LEGO® pieces, new set reviews, building techniques and brick model ideas
Thomas Jenkins (@thomas_jenkins_bricks) continues our series of Element Developer Q&As, once again with Stephan Breum Steen, Senior Mechanical Engineer in the Novelty Element Development department at the LEGO Group. This time Stephan answers our questions about the LEGO® Escalator Link Chain with Panel and Centre Divider (69900). Then, Thomas provides additional analysis and MOCs. Transcripts were edited for clarity, readability and narrative flow.
TobyMac (@efraimaspie) takes a special angle with his review of LEGO® Harry Potter 76393 Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, examining which parts you need to adapt these brick-built minifigures to other characters. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover some sets for their parts. Read about our stance here. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Tom Loftus (@inthert.lego) continues our series of LEGO® Element Developer Q&As today with Stephan Breum Steen, Senior Mechanical Engineer in the Novelty Element Development department at the LEGO Group. As explained in the first article, element developers are one of the many, many different roles in the LEGO Group who work together to create each new element. They receive the brief from the product designer or element designer, and when complete the mould developer continues the work. Today, Stephan answers our questions on a particularly curvy element, then Tom provides additional analysis and MOCs. Transcripts were edited for clarity, readability and narrative flow.
Commonly known as ‘Porsche bows’, having first appeared in 10295 Porsche 911, today’s subjects are Left Shell 2x10x2, Outside Bow, W/ Cut in White (6336752 | 77180) and Right Shell 2x10x2, Outside Bow, W/ Cut in White (6336754 | 77182). They have since appeared in 21327 Typewriter in Sand Green (Left 6359067, Right 6359068) and have just become available in Dark Red (Left 6359689, Right 6359690) thanks to 10290 Pickup Truck.
Stephan Breum Steen has been involved in the development of over 100 elements and is one of the marvellous minds who takes a new element design and makes it a reality. It's a process that involves careful consideration of countless factors, but most relevant to us today is how an element will be moulded and how well it fits in with existing LEGO parts.
Victor Pruvost (@leewanlego) is back today with a review of LEGO® 10295 Porsche 911, plus an original MOC! Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
The LEGO Group has released an unusually high number of Creator Expert sets in 2021, including three vehicles (four if you include the UK exclusive 77942 Fiat 500 in Light Royal Blue/ Bright Light Blue): 10290 Pickup Truck which has just been released, 10279 Volkswagen T2 Camper Van from August, and 10295 Porsche 911 from March. It is the latter that we’re going to talk about today. It contains 1458 pieces, is priced £119.99 / US$149.99 / CA$199.99 / 139.99€ (Euro price may vary according to the country) / AU$229.99.
Following our recent list of new LEGO® parts from October 2021, today we list recent sets from both September and October showing the quantity of new parts found each of in them. Developed in partnership with TobyMac (from Rebrickable), our table shows both quantity as well as overall percentage of new elements. So if you like to buy sets knowing they'll contain stuff you don't yet own, you may like to use our table as one of your purchasing factors.
Victor Pruvost (@leewanlego) takes the upcoming LEGO® 76240 Batmobile Tumbler for a spin. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
The LEGO Group is about to release its third “Ultimate Collector Series” (UCS) Bat-vehicle in a row, following the two sets inspired by Tim Burton’s movies - 76139 1989 Batmobile in 2019 and 76161 1989 Batwing in 2020. The subject of this year’s set is a bit more recent, since it’s a LEGO® recreation of the Tumbler from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. 76240 Batmobile Tumbler contains 2049 pieces, and is available from 1 November 2021 for £209.99 / US$229.99 / CA$329.99 / 229.99 / AU$399.99.
Today we kick off an exclusive new series of interviews with a different kind of LEGO Group employee: the Element Developers. We’re quite excited here at New Elementary because we haven’t spoken to them before, and anyone responsible for making LEGO® elements is a hero in our book! Conducted over email, we asked a series of set questions about recent elements to reveal a bit more about their production process. Transcripts were edited for clarity, readability and narrative flow.
In this first interview we asked LEGO Mechanical Engineers Niels Bundesen and Jonas Stubager about part 65094, which they call the 4+ Wheelbase, as it is a pre-assembled chassis created for the 4+ age mark range. Other names include:
Zachary Hill (@zaxbrix) completes our run of Saturday LEGO® Technic reviews today with 42129 4x4 Mercedes-Benz Zetros Trial Truck, which is now available. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Ben Davies (@ProfBrickkeeper) takes on the astonishing LEGO® 71741 NINJAGO® City Gardens, detailing all its interesting parts and techniques. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
When announced earlier this year to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the NINJAGO® theme, 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens was met with much excitement, heralding the continuation of the popular NINJAGO City subtheme. With speculation about the possibility of further entries, we thought it was high time to take a look at the parts in 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens and the exciting techniques and innovative parts usage it features.
The previous two sets in the line, 70620 NINJAGO City and 70657 NINJAGO City Docks were both notable for the number of new and rare elements that they introduced. This is a trend which is continued in NINJAGO City Gardens, which heralds the launch of a myriad of new elements.
Alexandre Campos continues our run of Saturday LEGO® Technic reviews with the 1 October 2021 release: 42126 Ford F-150 Raptor. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Victor Pruvost (@leewanlego) completes his review of LEGO® 71395 Super Mario 64 Question Mark Block today. Having examined its parts last week, he now looks at the build itself. Buying this set once it's released in October? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
The bags are numbered from 1 to 13. Bags 1 to 5 make the structure of
the cube, bags 6 to 12 are used to build the game levels, and with bag
13 you close the cube.
At Fan Media Days in May 2021, Francesco Spreafico and Zach Hill from New Elementary spoke online with the LEGO® Super Heroes team – a whole lot of them! – to find out more about their work and the elements they have designed.
Mark Stafford: I'm Mark. I design LEGO® sets. My latest ones are the Bugle and the Black Panther dragon flyer.
Justin Ramsden: My Name is Justin. I'm a LEGO designer, I make toys for kids. My most recent products have been in the Monkey Kid line or the Chinese Traditional Festival, but Super Heroes has always been my home for the past six and a half years.
Adam Grabowski: I'm Adam. My latest thing is the 1966 Batmobile. And also the Venom and Carnage.
Ashwin Visser: My name is Ashwin, I'm one of the graphic designers for Super Heroes, so I usually do the stickers and decorated elements. I work together with the guys on their products.
Jesper C. Nielsen: I’m Jesper and I'm the creative lead on Super Heroes. I used to be cool and build toys for kids.
Jonas Kramm (@jonaskramm) goes for gold today as he reviews LEGO® Super Heroes 76191 Infinity Gauntlet. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Zachary Hill (@zaxbrix) gets behind the wheel – and all the other parts – of LEGO® Technic 42128 Heavy-duty Tow Truck for you today. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Victor Pruvost (@leewanlego) starts his review of LEGO® 71395 Super Mario 64 Question Mark Block by examining its parts. Buying this set once it's released in October? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Tim Goddard (@tim_goddard928) teaches you his building techniques using the LEGO® minifigure utensil, binoculars (Design ID 30162) and shows ways he's utilised them in his own MOCs.
Minifigs got a whole new perspective on Legoland back in 1998. That was the year part 30162 first graced their clawed hands across Town (this was before the conurbation grew to become City) and the new Adventurers theme. The binoculars also appeared in three Belville sets in their freshman year, although they looked a bit more like opera glasses in the hands of these larger figures.
Alexandre Campos kicks off a series of LEGO® Technic reviews that we will publish for you every Saturday for the next few weeks. Officially revealed yesterday, 42131 Cat D11T Bulldozer is released 1 October 2021 priced US$449.99/ AU$$749.99/ £419.99/ 449,99 €. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/ for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
The 2021 LEGO® Winter Village set has been revealed: 10293 Santa’s Visit is a charming, angular home built of Light Royal Blue/ Bright Light Blue bricks. It has 1,445 pieces, measures 27cm x 16cm and is 19cm high. It is available exclusively for LEGO VIP members from 16 September and from LEGO Stores and online from 1 October priced €89.99/ US$99.99/ £79.99/ AU$159.99/ CA$139.99. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'.
Eero Okkonen (@eerookkonen) delivered his parts and build analysis of the upcoming LEGO® Ideas set 21329 Fender® Stratocaster™ yesterday, but left one vital conclusion for today's article: Can it be played? Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
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| ©2021 The LEGO Group |
This plastic guitar has 6 actual strings of different scale lengths. It has a fretboard so yes, technically, it is possible to press the strings against that and pluck or strum them. However, the frets are only printed, so while they assist with finding the correct chords, the guitar is essentially a fretless one. And more importantly, the strings are plastic, there is no electricity in them, they are quite loose and the pickups are only prints... and thus the instrument stays silent.
This is entirely expected.
Eero Okkonen (@eerookkonen) reviews the upcoming LEGO® Ideas 21329 Fender Stratocaster set, which will be available from 1 October 2021 priced US$99/ £99/ €99/ AU$159.99/ CA$139.99. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Usually, LEGO® Ideas products begin life as projects on the Ideas site,
gain 10,000 votes within a given time frame, go through the LEGO Group
review phase and are then converted into sets by employees. Gaining the
votes - no small task on its own! - far from guarantees the product will
be made; in the June 2021 review for example, only one of 25 projects
was selected.
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| ©2021 The LEGO Group |
However, the process was different for Ideas set number 37. In spring 2020 the Ideas website hosted a music-themed contest with fan voting. Tomáš Letenay's Fender Stratocaster project was chosen from the rank seven, surpassing band-specific, minifigure-scale and large figure-based projects.
Caz Mockett (@cazmockett) continues our LEGO® VIDIYO analysis today with a rundown on sets 43113 K-Pawp Concert & 43114 Punk Pirate Ship. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Caz Mockett (@cazmockett) follows up our 5x5 fest by taking on a further two LEGO® VIDIYO sets today, 43111 and 43112. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Starting today, 1 September 2021, LEGO® are running a product pilot in the UK & Ireland that sees a small number of retailers offering new variations of 3 existing LEGO sets, “so we can find out more about the colours and sizes of sets that fans of all ages want to see more of in our portfolio”. This is an exciting development in terms of recoloured elements, but also frustrating for the rest of the world!
A few days ago, Francesco Spreafico represented New Elementary in an online roundtable discussion to talk about this pilot with Lena Dixon (Vice President of Product and Marketing) and Mike Psiaki (Senior Designer), together with other Recognised Fan Media.Today I’ll be showing you two MOCs inspired by elements from 43184 Raya and Sisu Dragon. Coincidentally, both concern liquids which is appropriate given Sisu’s affinity with water.
Tom Loftus (@inthert.lego) continues to focus on new LEGO® VIDIYO elements in day 3 of his contributions to our 5x5 fest, incorporating them into original spaceship designs.
As a general rule the larger an element gets, the harder it is to integrate into a MOC, but also true is the fact that any part is a spaceship part. Let’s put that to the test shall we?
Tom Loftus (@inthert.lego) continues his daily contributions to our 5x5 fest today, turning his attention to another highly specialised element from the LEGO® VIDIYO range.
Devoid of studs, Technic holes, bars, clips, click hinges and anti-studs, this new mould instead features two previously unseen connection types: Firstly an extended base tab on each side featuring a trio of tiny rounded cutouts, and secondly, a pair of apertures that resemble supersized Technic axle holes. Both of which are intended only for use in conjunction with other Vidiyo elements. For a detailed look at how these work, see Caz Mockett’s review of the Vidiyo BeatBoxes.
Tom Loftus (@inthert.lego) is our final 5x5 fest contributor, and instead of one long article he divided his creations up. So, to complete this festival of MOCs using new-for-2021 parts, we have an article from Tom every day for the next four days! Be sure to check in.
It immediately struck me as a potentially useful detailing piece. The key word being ‘potentially’ because while it does belong to an existing element family, its system connection points are extremely limited and so remains a rather specialised entry in the LEGO parts catalogue. Today I’ll be proving this little part’s worth by discussing its closest relatives, exploring some unusual connections and combining the two in a micro-MOC.
Mitch Henry (CZQ on Flickr) completes our Forbidden Elementary Parts Festival today which, as its seed parts, uses the 3 weird LEGO® pieces that rubber bands used to come on back in the 2000s.
One play feature was pushing a lever on the back to flick its head forward. To make the head return to its resting position the sets included a rubber band. Naturally, this means each Bohrok came with a rubber band holder as well. When I was approached for this parts festival I had just picked up a lot with all 6 original Bohrok, so I was eager to participate.
Eero Okkonen (@eerookkonen) takes a look inside LEGO® Disney 43189 Elsa and the Nokk Storybook Adventures, before using some of its new parts in an original creation. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
LEGO® has recently shown interest in releasing sets that look like books, without actually being books. LEGO Ideas 21315 Pop-Up Book was released in 2018, and the first four Disney Storybook Adventures sets were introduced in early 2020. These lacked the advanced pop-up mechanism of the Ideas set, being simple cases fitting small playsets inside, easily closed for storage or travel.
Thomas Jenkins (@thomas_jenkins_bricks) is the penultimate contributor to our 5x5 fest, where we sent 5 LEGO® sets to 5 builders and asked them to use the new parts in interesting original creations.
An overview of the common sets we used in our 5x5 fest can be found here. In addition to the 71746 Jungle Dragon, 43184 Sisu Dragon and VIDIYO Beatbox that the four other New E writers received, I was given 71740 Jay’s Electro Mech and 41931 Extra DOTS Series 4 to work with.
James Kavanagh (JakTheMad on Flickr) joins our Forbidden Elementary Parts Festival today which for its seed parts uses the 3 weird LEGO® pieces that rubber bands came on in old sets. For an overview of the parts, check out last week's post by Aron Gerencsér.
Rubber band holders are a great relic from a different era of LEGO® sets. Sure, cardboard boxes may certainly be cheaper, more sustainable and take up less space, but there’s a lot of joy to be found in these old parts!
Tom Loftus (@inthert.lego) completes his analysis of the upcoming LEGO® Harry Potter 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors Edition with a look the techniques used in the build. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover some sets for their parts. Read about our stance here. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
We've already taken a look at the set's delightful elements in Part 1 of our review so today we'll be focusing on the build itself and gosh, what a stunning build it is.
Tom Loftus (@inthert.lego) takes a look at the new, recoloured and printed parts you'll get in the recently revealed LEGO® Harry Potter set, 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors Edition. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover some sets for their parts. Read about our stance here. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Launching 2 September 2021, LEGO® 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors Edition contains 3010 pieces, 3x 20th anniversary of LEGO Harry Potter minifigures and will cost €249.99/ US$249.99/ £229.99/ 1999 DKK/ AU$399.99/ ¥29980/ NZ$449.99/ CA$349.99. The age mark is 18+.
[EDIT: it will now launch on September 15th in the US, Canada, and
Mexico, rather than September 2nd as originally planned due to a
shipping delay in the US. The set will be available for online only
pre-order at LEGO.com beginning September 2nd. The product will be
available in LEGO Retail stores on September 15th. ]
Aron Gerencsér (@_pohaturon) not only kicked off our rubber band holder parts fest earlier this week, he also created MOCs for our 5x5 fest! Let's see what he came up with using a selection of interesting new parts released in 2021.
Our subjects for this exercise are 43184 Raya and Sisu Dragon, 71746 Jungle Dragon, 71740 Jay’s Electro Mech and 43104 Alien DJ BeatBox. All sets from the first half of 2021, there are interesting - and fairly specialised - pieces to be found in them all.
Aron Gerencsér (@_pohaturon) has been busy organising another parts festival for you, featuring some guest builders, which we will be revealing to you every Tuesday for the next 3 weeks, starting today! And for the first time, the chosen seed parts are not new - in fact some people might not even class them as proper LEGO® parts. I guess that makes this our first ever Forbidden Elementary Parts Festival!
My fellow New Elementarian Tom Loftus delved into a similar topic with the sticker sheet cardboard box a while ago, and back in 2018 Elspeth De Montes explored the plastic left over after detaching Harry Potter wands - however this time around, our subjects are neither packaging nor sprues. But sort of. Maybe?
Eero Okkonen (on Instagram)
continues his occasional series of articles today looking at LEGO® parts and their associated techniques which he likes to use in his own creations. Today's 2 selections are much squarer parts than his previous choices... however Eero is here to give you fresh insight into their potential usage!
Kev Levell (@kevlevell) is the next contributor to our 5x5 fest! We sent 5 LEGO® sets to 5 of our team and asked them to get creative with the parts. Be inspired every Friday!
Following our list of new LEGO® parts from August 2021, today we list the most recent sets showing the quantity of new parts each of in them. Of course, many more sets are being released in North America so also check out our June/July list too.
Developed in partnership with TobyMac (from Rebrickable), our table shows both quantity as well as overall percentage of new elements. So if you like to buy sets knowing they'll contain stuff you don't yet own, you may like to use our table as one of your purchasing factors.
TobyMac (on Rebrickable) has created a list showing all 320 new LEGO® elements added in August 2021, with links to which sets they come in so you can check for the ones you might be interested in. There are some very interesting new moulds! Those of you in North America may also wish to check our earlier lists, as many sets released elsewhere in June and July.
Caz Mockett (@cazmockett) is the first of the 5 contributors in our 5x5 fest! We sent her 5 LEGO® sets and asked her to use the new and interesting parts to create MOCs. Every Friday is 5x5 fest day for the next 5 weeks, so come back to see what our next AFOL built.
It's been a while since we ran one of our "parts festivals", where we send LEGO builders some of the most interesting new elements and ask them to create some original models to inspire you. Well, buckle up because we have not one but two parts festivals coming at you this month, and they're a little different to before! We will introduce the second one soon, but today we reveal our 5x5 fest.
No, LEGO have not released a 5x5 plate, it's nothing like that! We simply sent 5 of our gorgeous contributors 5 LEGO sets, and asked them to get busy making gorgeous stuff. As well as parts in the sets, they could use their own part collections. So for the next 5 weeks, every Friday is 5x5 fest day when we will reveal what each of the builders created! The gorgeous bunch are Caz Mockett, Kev Levell, Aron Gerencsér, Thomas Jenkins and Tom Loftus.
Kev Levell (@kevlevell) creates his own models inspired by LEGO® NINJAGO 71736 Boulder Blaster after examining all its new and interesting parts. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Eero Okkonen (@eerookkonen) casts his critical eye over the architecture of LEGO® Friends 41449 Andrea's Family House today, before creating a brand new model inspired by some of its parts. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Thorin Finch, who contributed to one of our parts festivals a couple of years back, returns with a guest review today of LEGO® Creator 3-in-1 31115 Space Mining Mech, as well as designing some alternate builds of his own. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
With the recent success of NASA’s latest Mars exploration rover Perseverance (and the even more recent but less successful test of SpaceX’s SN10 rocket), the wonders and dangers of space exploration have been at the forefront of society’s collective consciousness. And, for anyone looking to extend their newfound interests in space exploration into LEGO®, a simple search for the keyword ‘space’ on the LEGO website produces, among other things, Creator 31115 Space Mining Mech.
Ben Davies (@ProfBrickkeeper) has analysed the whole summer 2021 LEGO® Super Mario range - sets 71360, 71387, 71389, 71391, 71393 and 71394 – to show you all the parts that have been colour changed for this latest wave. Buying any? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'.
