After venturing out into The Minecraft Movie and Minecraft Legends, the LEGO® Minecraft™ theme returns to the core game with a myriad of biomes to explore. The June 2025 wave of sets includes a new ladder mould, big translucent plates, and menacing enemies, but that's not the only reason New Elementary is excited about this wave – New E alum Aron Gerencsér designed much of this LEGO Minecraft wave!
Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
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21274 The Warden Encounter
- Release date: 1 Jun 2025
- Pieces: 238
Price: US$19.99/ £17.99/ 19.99€/ AU$29.99
21275 The TNT Jungle House
- Release date: 1 Jun 2025
- Pieces: 287
Price: US$29.99/ £24.99/ 29.99€/ AU$49.99
21276 The Creeper
- Release date: 1 Jun 2025
- Pieces: 665
Price: US$39.99/ £34.99/ 39.99€/ AU$69.99
21277 The Pickaxe Mine
- Release date: 1 Jun 2025
- Pieces: 530
Price: US$54.99/ £49.99/ 54.99€/ AU$89.99
21278 The Pillager Outpost and Ravager
- Release date: 1 Jun 2025; 1 Aug in North America
- Pieces: 665
Price: US$79.99/ £74.99/ 79.99€/ AU$129.99
21279 The Enderman Tower
- Release date: 1 Jun 2025; 1 Aug in North America
- Pieces: 867
Price: US$99.99/ £89.99/ 99.99€/ AU$149.99
2x loyalty points available to LEGO® Insiders on all purchases until end Monday 23 June 2025
New mould: Ladder 1 x 4 (part 7307)
10x Ladder 1 x 4 in Medium Nougat (6535361 | 7307) are found across this LEGO Minecraft wave, with 2x in 21277 The Pickaxe Mine, 4x in 21278 The Pillager Outpost and Ravager, and 4x in 21279 The Enderman Tower.
Geometry of the new ladder
The LEGO Group and fan databases state the narrow ladder's dimensions are 1x4 modules, and it is indeed 4 horizontal modules (or ten stacked plates) in height, but its width is actually just under 1.5 modules at 28 LDU. This allows the protruding side rails to be evenly centered above studs.
This allows the ladder to be held securely in place using SNOT bricks or other open studs, instead of only connecting via clips onto its all-bar construction.
Both ladders have holes on one side, though the 62113 holes are large enough to accommodate accessory pin connections (albeit with zero clutch force) like the flame pictured above. The new narrow ladder's holes are too small to accept any connections.
MOCs exploring the new ladder
Microscale Minecraft Nether
No connections secure the ladders to the ground, but due to their dimensions they slot into place perfectly between studs and the rails align neatly end-to-end. The base also includes one of two new translucent recolours for 6 x 8 plates, which we'll see more of below.
Firefighting ladder truck
Another obvious rung of this exploration is viewing it simply as a ladder, but at a different scale.
When Micropolis highrise buildings are burning, its fire department is ready to save micro inhabitants with a capable articulated ladder truck. Should they need a shorter reach, two more ladders can be unclipped from the sides, each held with clips with two modules in between. After the day has been saved, the ladder folds up and is protected by side panels.
Like almost every other LEGO bar, the friction is sufficient to support a small amount of weight with clutch power alone.
A de-fence against crocodiles
Lattice pieces will always find usage as fences, but how many can a minifigure get their head stuck through? With this new ladder's stud-sized centre openings, a minifigure neck stud can pass cleanly through and leave enough room to attach a head.
A few LEGO® Technic pieces make up this fence too, with the main fence section bookended by 1x2 thin liftarms (41677, 44862) and gaps covered by 1/2 bushings (32123, 42136).
New minifigures and brick-built mobs
21274 The Warden Encounter marks the blind Warden's second appearance, with no changes, but still using the same rare tiles and a fantastic articulated build which makes great use of the classic 1x4 offset plate (4590, 42505) in teal for the Warden's horns.
The set's only minifigure, Silent Ranger, features new torso and head prints which are almost elflike, with metallic gold details. As long as she's able to keep her adventure a silent night, she won't have her greensleeves torn off by the Scrooge-like Warden.
Her medium lavender crossbow also returns from the first Warden set, 21246 The Deep Dark Battle, now in four sets — two of which are in this wave.
21277 The Pickaxe Mine updates LEGO Minecraft's Stray, a variation of the Skeleton enemy found in cold biomes. If normal skeleton archers weren't terrifying enough, Strays shoot arrows which slow the player—and this set includes a spider for the Stray to ride, giving it even more mobility.
21277 The Pickaxe Mine updates LEGO Minecraft's Stray, a variation of the Skeleton enemy found in cold biomes. If normal skeleton archers weren't terrifying enough, Strays shoot arrows which slow the player—and this set includes a spider for the Stray to ride, giving it even more mobility.
The Miner is the least fantastical of this wave's new minifigures, but he fits perfectly into the set's mines. His overall buttons are metallic gold, giving him just a bit of dazzle.
21278 The Pillager Outpost and Ravager introduces two new friendly minifigures, Space Sentinel and a Villager who most closely resembles a Savannah Mason.
21279 The Enderman Tower introduces two-player characters minifigures, and one looks familiar. Dimensional Defender and Realm Raider are teamed up in this Nether-themed set, and one more rare medium lavender crossbow is included.
A "dimensional defender" makes plenty of sense for Minecraft, as there are three dimensions, and the set's namesake Endermen are the only creatures who can spawn naturally in all three. But looking a bit closer, LEGO historians will recognize this hero as Nick Bluetooth from 2002's Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension.
The similarities are quite uncanny, though I doubt an Enderman could do as much damage to the fabric of the outer dimensions as Nick's nemesis Gorm did.
LEGO® Galidor was one of The LEGO Group's most unusual themes, as it eschewed LEGO System and LEGO Technic System connections for new rotation joints (a family which is still receiving new parts) and moulded body parts in the style of action figures. Despite its mixed reception over 20 years ago, the theme still finds itself appearing in modern sets as Easter eggs like this.
Across this June LEGO Minecraft wave, we're treated to 6 new, updated, or returning mobs.
Quite a few variations of Minecraft Spiders exist, now 21277 The Pickaxe Mine applies this year's updated Cave Spider face print to a black regular spider head (6546766) — a welcome improvement that properly displays the spider's fangs. A Polar Bear Cub returns in the same set after last appearing seven years ago in just one set.
The medium azure Parrot is one of only two recolours from 21275 The TNT Jungle House besides two 6x8 trans-blue plates. A closer look at those beauties is below!
Back when Minecraft was a simple indie game project, the Tall Pig was the result of swapping the body portion's intended height and length. That later became the Creeper, and is an Easter egg hidden inside 21276 The Creeper. No new parts make up this creepy pig, but this is the first time this arrangement has appeared in an official set.
The massive Ravager's only new part is a printed face, a slight update framing its eyes compared to the first LEGO Minecraft Ravager, included in 21278 The Pillager Outpost and Ravager. The full animal has a headbutting function.
Two Endermites are included in 21279 The Enderman Tower, along with an extra dark purple tile with red and black rectangles (6546775). This simple print could be useful for all sorts of architectural details, buttons on control panels, taillights on cars, and more. Endermites have been included in Minecraft for nearly 11 years, but perhaps due to their small size or unusual spawning conditions which lead to few player encounters, it has taken quite a while for them to manifest in LEGO form.
Recoloured parts
The return of big translucent plates
2025 must be the year of translucent parts; so many elements have been introduced or re-introduced thanks to the now fully-fledged shift to MABS plastic. One trans-orange 6 x 8 plate (6543441 | 7423) is included in 21274 The Warden Encounter and two more are in 21279 The Enderman Tower, and two trans-dark blue 6 x 8 plates (6548209 | 7423) come in 21275 The TNT Jungle House.
Classic Space and Blacktron I included the last translucent plates at this scale from 1979 to 1988, though at that time they were made of polycarbonate. This had several drawbacks, the largest being polycarbonate parts would bind to each other with intense friction, exacerbated by another drawback of their increased brittleness and tendency to crack. These new MABS parts can be easily attached to and removed from each other, a feat which wouldn't be possible with the original polycarbonate plates.
25x Plate Special 2 x 2 with Groove and Center Stud (Jumper) in Transparent Medium Reddish Violet/ Trans-Dark Pink (6490766 | 92569) make up the majority of the colour in 21277 The Pickaxe Mine.
Chain 2L with Bars in Dark Stone Grey / Dark Bluish Gray (6550534 | 6981) is a nice recolour which would be nice to have more of, as just one appears in 21277 The Pickaxe Mine.
A couple of earth-toned recolours flesh out the savannah of 21278 The Pillager Outpost and Ravager.
1x Minifig Head Plain in Trans-Black (6513999 | 28621) is the only recoloured element in 21279 The Enderman Tower, and it's used to create a menacing potion.
New printed parts
- 1x Tile 1 x 2 with Pixelated Enchantment Book print in Dark Brown (6546776 | 113580)
- 2x Brick 1 x 2 with Pixelated Medium Azure Diamond Corners, Dark Red Tablecloth, Dark Purple Pixels print in Black (6546777 | 113581)
21279 The Enderman Tower also includes an updated enchanting table, which both refines the table's side printing and adds a hovering book which can spin like it does in-game.
Rare parts
21274 The Warden Encounter
- 2x Tile Special 1 x 2 with Two Vertical Teeth in Bright Bluish Green/ Dark Turquoise (6430544 | 15209)
- 1x Tile Round 2 x 2 with Pixelated Dark Turquoise and Dark Azure Squares Print in Black (6422992 | 102158)
These sculk shrieker build and its surrounding sculk sensor tooth tiles return in after the printed tile previously appeared only in LEGO Minecraft 21246 The Deep Dark Battle and the tooth tiles appeared both in that set and in LEGO Monkie Kid 80056 Nine-Headed Beast.
21277 The Pickaxe Mine
- 2x Plate 6 x 10 in Medium Blue (6550532 | 3033)
Returning after a ten-year hiatus, these medium blue plates represent chilly ice. It's nice to see basic building elements in this colour, since it appears to have largely been reserved for minifigures and their accessories in recent years.
21278 The Pillager Outpost and Ravager
- 3x Tile 2 x 3 with Illager Face, Dark turquoise Eyes print in Black (6528871 | 111485)
- 2x Plate 1 x 12 in Dark Orange (6536566 | 60479)
- 2x Plate 6 x 6 in Olive Green (6528997 | 3958)
- 9x Brick 2 x 2 Corner in Dark Brown (6499819 | 2357)
Several rare parts find themselves in the Pillagers' Outpost, including the dark orange 1 x 12 plates first seen in LEGO® Ideas 21354 Twilight The Cullen House (see my review of set 21354).
21279 The Enderman Tower
- 2x Rotation Joint Disc with 2 Pins in Medium Stone Grey/ Light Bluish Gray (6514550 | 6991)
- 13x Plant, Flower 2 x 2 Leaves - Angular in Bright Bluish Green/ Dark Turquoise (6490210 | 4727)
A mine full of crafting supplies
With a new mould and a fully-fledged comeback of translucent plates, the June 2025 LEGO Minecraft wave brings more than plain bricks to builders' palettes.
New Elementary is excited to see how MOC builders and The LEGO Group put the new ladder piece to use, and we're always intrigued by references to the corners of LEGO history like this wave's LEGO Galidor reference.
Set 21275 on LEGO.com
Set 21276 on LEGO.com
Set 21277 on LEGO.com
Set 21278 on LEGO.com
Set 21279 on LEGO.com
READ MORE: Tribute to Jane Austen's Books GwP and 2x points for LEGO Insiders are underway
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"so many elements have been introduced or re-introduced thanks to the now fully-fledged shift to MABS plastic"
ReplyDeleteCurious what is meant by this, was the shift not fully-fledged before? Were there still polycarbonate parts around up until now? I thought they had to phase it out fairly quickly due to EU regulations
oops this wasnt meant to be anonymous
DeleteBy a full-fledged I meant that all the regular translucent elements have all been shifted to MABS, and now we're beginning to see elements which have not been translucent for decades (or ever) make their first modern translucent debut.
DeleteNice review!
ReplyDeleteThe new ladder piece looks very good and versatile. It may be designed for Minecraft's one-block-wide ladders, but its small size is plenty useful for other applications. I like that the side rails are spaced so that they work neatly with normal Lego dimensions.
The large transparent plates are also a really neat recolor. The last time we had large transparent plates like this, to my recollection, was the use of 8x8 polycarbonate plates in the early 2000s, where they appeared in trans light blue, trans fluorescent blue, and trans fluorescent reddish orange. But this 6x8 size is more reminiscent of their use in classic space, and I'm sure the trans dark blue recolor here will popular with Futuron builders.
The new short chain link getting its first recolor here is also exciting, and I'm sure we'll see that elsewhere.
I think this is indeed the beginning of many uses of the new ladder! It's already in a Disney 4+ set (as a ladder, but still!)
Delete