LEGO® Technic review: 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE 'AF Corse #51'

Zachary Hill (@zacharyphill) reviews the 2021 LEGO® Technic 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE “AF Corse #51” for you today. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | UK Amazon / USA LEGO Shop - for other countries, Change Region | USA Amazon. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Nothing compares to the intensity of the FIA World Endurance Championship. 24-hour long races, mid-race driver changes, and multiple car classes sharing the track are a monumental challenge for any team. Race team AF Corse and racecar builder Ferrari have had an incredibly successful partnership in endurance racing, while The LEGO Group and Ferrari have enjoyed similarly astounding teamwork bringing over 50 co-branded sets to fans since 1997.

The new LEGO® Technic 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE gives racing fans the biggest Prancing Horse set ever with 1677 pieces, over 300 more than previous record holder 8653 Enzo Ferrari 1:10. At 48 cm (18¾”) long this model breaks the 13-year hiatus since the last 1:10 Ferrari model. This set is now available priced at US$169.99/ CA$229.99/ £169.99 / €175.45.

Inside the LEGO® Element Design department: Interview with Marinus Jasperse, Senior Designer

You may recall Marinus Jasperse, Senior Designer on the LEGO® Element Design Team, from his recent article when he pulled apart a 1980s DUPLO phone! Following this, Tim Johnson caught up over a video call with Marinus in his 'home office', to gain a deeper insight into how the element designers at The LEGO Group are structured and operate. This transcript has been edited for clarity, readability and narrative flow.

New Elementary: Hello, Marinus, thanks for your time this morning! 

Marinus: Let me just start by saying, that is always very thorough research you guys do on elements. In some cases you even manage to surprise us like, “wow – there is a connection there!” So very, very thorough.

That's what we like to hear, we're hoping we're surprising people, especially TLG employees! So when did you begin at the LEGO Group and what has your journey there been? 

I started in October 2015, in the Platform team. Back then they were developing the roller coaster track so I came half-way into that project and what an awesome project it was to start with, creating such a unique subsystem! I’m part of the Element Design Team too now; about a year ago I made the decision to move over and go a little more into Downstream. 

10 years of new LEGO® NINJAGO® pieces

Ben Davies (@ProfBrickkeeper) celebrates the 10th anniversary of LEGO® NINJAGO® today as well as spotting new moulds in 4 sets just announced for March 2021. Also, 71741 Ninjago City Gardens is available for LEGO VIPs as of now – if you're buying, consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop - for other countries, Change Region. New Elementary may get a commission.

2021 marks a major milestone for LEGO® NINJAGO®, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Although the theme was originally intended to only last for three years – from 2011 to 2013 -–popular demand from fans led to Ninjago becoming an “evergreen” theme alongside the likes of City, Space, Castle, Friends and Star Wars.

With such a long lifespan, it’s not surprising that Ninjago has been a breeding ground of exciting elements for LEGO builders, and will surely continue to be into the future. In honour of Ninjago’s 10th anniversary, I’ve decided to highlight a selection of the most notable (and versatile) elements introduced by the theme, and take a first look at some of the upcoming elements coming in new Ninjago sets in March 2021.

New LEGO® pieces for December 2020 & January 2021

We love keeping you up to date with what new LEGO pieces are available for you to use in your building and so it is high time for another of our lists revealing elements recently added to Rebrickable.com. We skipped this last month as December was a quiet month for new releases so those few are included here, along with the absolute avalanche of January releases! There might also be a few pre-December ones that sneaked through.

Unfortunately it seems most if not all new parts are currently unavailable from Bricks & Pieces; at a guess I imagine this is because it is High Season for the LEGO Group. But whenever you're buying from LEGO including Bricks & Pieces, please consider following our affiliate links to get there; New Elementary may get a commission. USA B&P / UK B&P - for other countries, Change Region.

LEGO® Ideas review: 21323 Grand Piano

Today Tim Johnson reviews LEGO® Ideas 21323 Grand Piano, the 3662-piece set based on the Ideas submission by Donny Chen. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this. Consider using our LEGO.com affiliate link whenever you buy your sets or bricks; New Elementary may earn a commission.

Released in August 2020, 21323 Grand Piano is an unusual and remarkable LEGO® product. For the few of you still unaware of it, let’s start with the quickest of rundowns. Measuring 58 x 38 x 16 cm (23 x 15 x 6 in) and weighing over 6kg (13 lb) in the box, this is a faithful LEGO representation of a working grand piano. Lids flip open, the stool rises, the keys strike strings – and it kinda plays music too; a Powered Up electric motor can be activated by a phone app to make the keys move while music plays on the phone.

LEGO® Chinese Festival 80106 & 80107: new parts & Lee's alternate builds

Lee (cityson) finished his reviews of the 2021 LEGO® Chinese Traditional Festival lineup and got straight onto designing his own MOCs with the parts! Tomorrow, 10 January 2021, is when these sets become available to the rest of the world; if you're buying please consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop - for other countries, Change Region. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

After a close examination of sets 80106 Story of Nian and 80107 Spring Lantern Festival on their own, it is time to take them apart and make something new with the awesome selection of LEGO® parts - as the festive banner suggested, “Out with the old, in with the new” (辭舊迎新)! However, before diving into the MOCs I created, let’s have a comprehensive look at all the noteworthy parts in these two incredible sets.

LEGO® Trolls World Tour review: 41258 Vibe City Concert

Today Tom Loftus (Inthert on Flickr) completes our LEGO® Trolls World Tour coverage – that we began back in April 2020! – with a review of the parts in 41258 Vibe City Concert. If you're buying this set from USA Amazon, consider using our affiliate links - New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

The explosion of colour that is the LEGO® Trolls World Tour theme concludes with its final encore: 41258 Vibe City Concert. With 494 pieces, five weird and wonderful minifigures and an original retail price of US$59.99 / £54.99 / 58.48€ it is the largest set to come from this theme.

LEGO® Star Wars review: 75274 TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet

Today Tim Johnson reviews LEGO® Star Wars 75274 TIE Fighter Pilot – somewhat belatedly, as LEGO.com stopped selling the set a month ago, so you may need to locate it elsewhere. Consider using our affiliate links if you buy from UK Amazon  or USA Amazon; New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

In March 2020 The LEGO Group released a series of ‘helmet’ sets under the 18+ branding featuring designs from Star Wars and Iron Man. I eschewed the perhaps more iconic Stormtrooper and Boba Fett for the sleek TIE pilot fighter, depicting John Mollo’s design from the original film in 1977. 

Before the build, let’s take a look at its parts which are fairly standard for the most part – in fact, quite a nice aspect to the inventory is its prevalence of simple elements. Well over half of its 724 pieces are plate or some kind of useful modified plate!

Part 66956, Wedge 2x2 Pointed with Stud Notches: analysis and MOCs

Zachary Hill (@zachary.p.hill) explores a new LEGO® part from 2020 today, as well as briefly reviewing the set he first received it in, 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers. If you're buying from LEGO Bricks and Pieces, consider using our affiliate links: UK or USA (Rest of world, choose Change Region). New Elementary may get a commission.

Introduced in the autumn 2020 wave of new LEGO® sets, Wedge 2 x 2 Pointed with Stud Notches (66956) combines two existing wedge slopes into the first curved slope with five corners. This new mould has been thoughtfully designed to be more than the sum of its parts; with its pointed nose and unique underbelly this POOP offers builders a sharp take on slopes.

LEGO® Technic review & MOC: 42123 McLaren Senna GTR

Aron Gerencser (Pohaturon) kicks off 2021 by reviewing a LEGO® Technic set available from today – 42123 McLaren Senna GTR™ – and then building something quite different with some of its parts! The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this. If you're buying today, consider using our affiliate links – New Elementary may get a commission. LEGO Shop UK or LEGO Shop USA - for other countries, choose Change Region.

Alongside really big licensed LEGO® Technic cars like the Chiron and the Sián are the smaller - but still sizeable - licensed cars intended to be more affordable. while still bringing accuracy and build quality that both kids and adult collectors will appreciate. 42123 McLaren Senna GTR is the latest of these cars. Let’s see if we have a champion on our hands, or if it should have made a pit-stop before primetime. 

This 830 piece set costs 49,99€/ US$49.99/ £44.99/ AU$89.99/ CA$69.99 and is available from today, 1 January 2021.