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! Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. 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.

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® Star Wars 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina: Thomas Jenkins' Alternate Build & MOCs

Following his examination of its parts and review of the build, Thomas Jenkins (on Instagram) takes LEGO® Star Wars 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina in a different direction today with some original creations of his own! Plus, a look at the changes LEGO recently made to the click hinge family. Buying the Cantina? Consider using our affiliate links: USA | UK. 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.

From a Star Wars icon to more of a deep cut from the Star Wars universe…

Alternate build using parts in Mos Eisley Cantina

Tan Leader standing by!

My goal with creating an alternate build was to make something as different as I could from the original model.

LEGO® Architecture review & MOCs: 21054 The White House

We have not one but two authors today: Miller Keys (@miller.keys) and Kaitlyn Lee (@ktlynl_) who, you will be charmed to learn, became a couple after meeting as rival contestants on LEGO® Masters Australia. We sent them 21054 The White House for review with the additional challenge of creating alternate builds from this 1483-piece set, which retails for £89.99/ US$99.99/ 97.47€. If you're buying this set, consider using our affiliate links: USA LEGO Shop, USA Amazon, UK LEGO Shop, UK Amazon. New Elementary earn from qualifying purchases. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

LEGO® Architecture debuted onto the LEGO scene in 2008. Since then over 50 sets have been released, with two of those being models of The White House. The first – 21006 – in 2010, and more recently 21054 in 2020 which we are exploring today.

LEGO® Monkie Kid review & alt-build: 80008 Monkie Kid's Cloud Jet

Continuing our LEGO® Monkie Kid reviews, today we have Tim Goddard (on Instagram) examining 80008 Monkie Kid's Cloud Jet, as well as creating a couple of cute little alternate builds! The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

This is the second of two Monkie Kid sets that I have been sent to review and compared to the other, 80009 Pigsy’s Food Truck, this one is more to my liking. The Cloud Jet looks great, with interesting angles and vivid colours, and I found it to be much more interesting build-wise.

LEGO® Iconic review & alt builds: 40424 Winter Snowball Fight

Today we greet another new contributor:  Lee (city son on Flickr) who hails from Hong Kong. We sent Lee a copy of LEGO® Iconic 40424 Winter Snowball Fight to review, plus he also designed several creations of his own using only the parts in this small set. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

The LEGO Group has put out quite a lot of seasonal vignettes over the years, and they rarely disappoint me. With a low price point, a lovely model and a great selection of parts, 40424 Winter Snowball Fight easily won me over once again. Let’s take a look at what you can get out of this US$12.99/ CA$16.99 set

LEGO® Monkie Kid review & alt build: 80009 Pigsy’s Food Truck

Today we welcome back super-Spacer and co-creator of Lego Space: Building the Future (Amazon USA: affiliate link), Tim Goddard (on Instagram) for the first of our examinations of sets from LEGO® Monkie Kid. If you need an overview of this exciting new Asian theme check out our article, otherwise read on and see what new parts Tim found in 80009 Pigsy’s Food Truck – and enjoy his original creation, made from parts in the set!

Monkie Kid. It’s not just Ninjago with a lockdown haircut, apparently. Let’s see, shall we…

Pigsy’s food truck is a massive lump of a 10 module-wide food wagon. The scale is well off anything in the LEGO City range but you might get away with it put next to the new scale of Speed Champion sets. You will not get away with it next to a minifigure.

LEGO® 40411 Creative Fun 12-in-1: Professor's "One Set" MOCs

Today we welcome the Professor (on Instagram) for an altogether different kind of LEGO® review! He's a French engineer who loves LEGO Star Wars and Creator – especially the 3-in-1 sets, as he loves to create his own alternate models – which made him ideal to take on the new set 40411 Creative Fun 12-in-1. This is a gift-with-purchase in many parts of the world from July 1 to 26 with qualifying purchases over $85 / €85 / £85.  He added so many of his own builds, it's now a 50-in-1! 

According to me, LEGO is synonymous with infinite play. I love making several creations from just the parts of one set – what I call One Set MOC. This is the very essence of LEGO. Only limited by your imagination!

LEGO® Trolls World Tour: Jonas Kramm's Temple of the Blue Sea

Jonas Kramm returns today to reveal the alternate build he created using only sets from the controversial LEGO® Trolls World Tour theme!

My analysis of the new pieces in the LEGO® Trolls World Tour sets revealed many colourful elements so it’s no wonder that my alternative build turned out pretty flashy too. Let’s dive in and discover the Temple of the Blue Sea!

Inthert's alternate build of LEGO® Overwatch 75976 Wrecking Ball

Our little fiesta of LEGO® Overwatch 75976 Wrecking Ball finishes today with original alternate models designed by British builder Inhert, using only the pieces found in this set. The set is priced £17.99 / US$19.99 / 19.99€ although perhaps you may now be seeing it on sale. If you missed our Wrecking Ball review by Inthert and Jonas Kramm, check it out here.

Alternate builds are tricky enough with the majority of sets but with 75976 Overwatch Wreaking Ball containing only 227 parts, I was a little doubtful I could make anything half-decent without dipping into my existing collection. As a safeguard against that temptation, I decided to take this challenge on holiday! Four days in a log cabin with LEGO bricks seemed like the perfect setting, with plenty of time to come up with ideas - my thought being I could come up with one alternate build per day.

Day 1: Bipedal Mech

Jonas Kramm's alternate build of LEGO® Overwatch 75976 Wrecking Ball

Last time, LEGO® Overwatch 75976 Wrecking Ball was reviewed by both Jonas Kramm and Inthert but we had a further task for these two champion builders: create an alternate model using only the 227 pieces in the set! Here is Jonas' creation, and come back tomorrow for Inthert's. The set is priced £17.99 / US$19.99 / 19.99€ although perhaps you may now be seeing it on sale.

For my alternative creation with the pieces from the Wrecking Ball I started with the most prominent pieces: the dishes. I wanted to find a good and creative use for these. First thought was to build a motorcycle, but I couldn't find complimentary pieces to build the wheels. However the thought of building something to ride was still in my mind and so the idea of a hoverbike was born.