(CW:HP) Build a giant minifigure with LEGO® 76393 Harry Potter & Hermione Granger

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.

The moment the subject of today’s review was announced, I fell in love with the concept of large, brick-built versions of Minifigures. I know we have seen them before, like the 3723 LEGO® Minifigure, but they never really captured the curves and angles of the original. I can’t find an official name for these types of figures, so I hereby dub them BFG, or Brick Figure Giant. 

LEGO® Element Development: the Porsche Bows – Interview with Stephan Breum Steen

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.

LEGO® review & MOC: 10295 Porsche 911

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.

Which LEGO® sets have the most new parts? September & October 2021

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.

A question though: does anyone find these useful? I know many of you love the actual new elements lists and we will continue those for sure, but I'm wondering if these "in sets" tables are worth persevering with, going forward?

LEGO® Super Heroes review: 76240 Batmobile Tumbler

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.

LEGO® Element Development: the 4+ Wheelbase – Interview with Niels Bundesen & Jonas Stubager

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. 

LEGO part 65094

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:

• Brickset: Car Chassis 6x16x2
• BrickLink: Vehicle, Base 8 x 16 x 2 1/2 with Mudguards and 4 x 14 Recessed Center with 5 Holes 
• Rebrickable: Vehicle Base 8 x 16 with Wheel Arches, Front and Side Studs, and 4 x 14 Recessed Studded Section, 5 Holes

What new LEGO® pieces were released in October 2021?

TobyMac (on Rebrickable) has created a list showing all 274 new LEGO® elements added in October 2021, with links to which sets they come in so you can check for the ones you might be interested in.

LEGO® Technic Review: 42129 4x4 Mercedes-Benz Zetros Trial Truck

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.

The new LEGO Technic 42129 4x4 Mercedes-Benz Zetros Trial Truck honors one of the world’s most unusual motorsports: truck trials, where a driver navigates a short but extremely challenging off-road obstacle course. This remote-control rock crawler comes with 2129 pieces including two new moulds and a smattering of parts recoloured in ever-versatile gray. Fans of off-road trucking and RC rock crawling will find something to appreciate, but others may find the price tag even steeper than the hills this truck climbs. After 42131 Cat D11 Bulldozer, this set is the second-largest and second-priciest Technic set of 2021 at £274.99 / US$299.99 / CA$399.99 / 299.99€ / AU$$499.99. Keep reading to see the new parts or scroll to the bottom to see a video of this truck in action.

LEGO® review: 71741 NINJAGO® City Gardens

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.

LEGO® Technic review: 42126 Ford F-150 Raptor

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.

42126 Ford F-150 Raptor is the latest in the "mid-scale car" Technic line, joining 42096 Porsche 911 RSR, 42111 Dom's Dodge Charger, and 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE 'AF Corse #51'. You may have already heard of this set due to it being officially revealed a while ago, but now you can learn additional details and hopefully have a better idea on whether or not to get one for yourself.