Showing posts with label Inside LEGO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inside LEGO. Show all posts

03 December 2024

Designer interview: 10350 Tudor Corner with François Zapf and Ashwin Visser

Posted by Tim Johnson

Just revealed, the 2025 LEGO® Icons Modular Buildings Collection set is 10350 Tudor Corner! Our review is coming tomorrow, but first we have a rather special introduction with exclusive photos.

Lego Designers Ashwin Visser & François Zapf hold a model of 10350 Tudor Corner

At Fan Media Days in Denmark in September 2024, I joined Andrew Becraft from The Brothers Brick to have the lead designer François Zapf (above right) and graphic designer Ashwin Visser (above left) talk us through the new Modular's features and development.

26 November 2024

Interview: 10363 Leonardo Da Vinci's Flying Machine from LEGO® Icons

Posted by Tim Johnson

Coming 1 January 2025, LEGO® Icons set 10363 Leonardo Da Vinci's Flying Machine is quite unlike anything you've seen before from The LEGO Group! 

Antica Bracanov, Senior Designer at The LEGO Group, holds the LEGO Leonardo Da Vinci Flying Machine she led design of.

We were present at the reveal of the set at Fan Media Days in Denmark in September 2024, where Antica Bracanov, Senior Designer (above) and Nathan Davis, Graphic Designer spoke about the product they helped develop.


07 November 2024

Pick a Brick update: How to download your cart

Posted by Admin

The development team at LEGO® Pick a Brick have released another awesome update to the service that LEGO builders have been asking for: you can now download a list of the elements in your shopping cart.

Screengrab showing the Lego pick a brick new download function as well as an example csv file

22 October 2024

Revealed: 21353 The Botanical Garden from LEGO® Ideas

Posted by Skye Barnick

On 1 November 2024, LEGO is releasing the next fan-inspired LEGO® Ideas set: The Botanical Garden! This set is based on a fan design by Valentina Bima (Goannas89), which reached the required 10,000 supporter milestone back on 9 January 2023, and was announced as a future set in the results of the First 2023 Review last December. 

21353 The Botanical Garden Lego set on display in a greenhouse

21353 The Botanical Garden will undoubtedly appeal to a lot of builders not only for its stately display presence and detailed construction, but also for its outstanding variety of useful plant-building elements. Without further ado, let’s put on our gardening gloves and dig in!

14 October 2024

Moulding LEGO® mini-doll legs

Posted by Elspeth De Montes

We recently came across a new LEGO® element. They look somewhat macabre and perhaps more akin to something from John Carpenter's The Thing than LEGO.

Pictures of lego friends minidoll legs in various states of production. Some of them are the two legs joined together into one long appendage with a foot at each end, referred to in this article as the "double-ended leg"

The elements in question appears to be mini-doll legs that are moulded in pairs. The double-ended legs started a discussion here at New Elementary about mini-doll leg moulding processes and the timing of printing. Read on to hear our theories.

17 June 2024

LEGO® Icons 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV: review & designer interview

Posted by Kev Levell
The Lego 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV, photographed with a 1980s style filter

I've stripped down the parts in the LEGO® Icons set 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole, got myself revved up, and built it. Today I'm taking a look its clever construction, and speaking with its lead designer, Sven Franic. I even took it for a bit of a respray in the 'shop!

04 March 2024

LEGO® House Exclusive set review and interview: 40505 LEGO Building Systems

Posted by Caz Mockett

Recently I was lucky enough to attend an online reveal of the latest LEGO® House exclusive set, 40505 LEGO Building Systems, with the opportunity to ask some questions to the set's designers, Stuart Harris (LEGO House Master Builder) and Markus Rollbüller (Senior Designer at The LEGO Group). 

08 February 2024

Temporary changes to LEGO® Pick a Brick in 2024

Posted by Admin

Many of you have been asking here on the site and across our social channels about the delays in adding new elements to the LEGO®  Pick a Brick (PaB) online service. We have an update from LEGO, and it is not good news in the short term.


In early January 2024 we received a list of new elements that were to be added later that month to PaB, but this didn't happen. Furthermore, readers say some 5000 existing elements have now been removed from the PaB "Standard" assortment. These elements will return, and the new parts will be added - but the estimated date for this is now March. 

25 January 2024

LEGO® Icons review and interview: 10331 Kingfisher Bird

Posted by Thomas Jenkins


LEGO® Icons is testing the waters with new subject matter. 10331 Kingfisher Bird is the latest black-boxed 18+ set and hopes to entice new builders with its entry-level pricing. Can it succeed? Let's dive in...

Our review features excerpts from our roundtable discussion with Senior Designer Sven Franic, who was responsible for this set's design. Some text has been edited for readability.

31 December 2023

LEGO® Friends build review and interview: 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion

Posted by tobymac

With 2275 parts, 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion is the largest LEGO® Friends set to date. These parts include a lot of interesting new elements which we’ve already taken a look at, but now it’s time to start building!

21 December 2023

LEGO® NINJAGO® review: mech sets 71806, 71807 & 71808

Posted by tobymac

Over the years we've seen many mechs in the LEGO® NINJAGO® line-up and their builds have increasingly evolved through time. In 2024 the designers are introducing new elements to bring even more build options and play features.

Today we’ll be taking a look at 3 mechs from the first wave of 2024 sets; 71806 Cole's Earth Mech, 71807 Sora's Tech Mech and 71808 Kai's Fire Mech.

18 December 2023

LEGO® Friends parts review: 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion

Posted by tobymac

LEGO® Friends celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2022, and in 2023 we saw a relaunch of the theme. The Heartlake City Universe made a time jump, introducing a new generation of characters. But the old friends were not forgotten! The original group is meeting up in 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion for a reunion and catching up on adventures since their ‘split’. We’ll join the party soon, but first we’ll be taking a look at all the new elements found in the set. And there is a new color!

14 December 2023

LEGO® DREAMZzz™ 2024 new parts and minifigures, and design team interview

Posted by Zachary Hill

The LEGO® DREAMZzz™ sets for January 2024 maintain the eclectic, fantastical nature of the theme with five new sets made up of bright shades, sinister baddies and wild mash-ups.


Naturally we're starting with a review of the new and rare parts in the wave. Sharing info along the way are designers Carter Baldwin, Trine Kinch Møller and Freddy Charters, and executive producer Tommy Andreasen. It's a very minifigure-focused wave but that didn't stop the design team from also stuffing in 16 recoloured curves, decorative pieces and more—some in the all-new colour Reddish Orange. Let's enter the Dream World and see what new pieces we find.

30 November 2023

LEGO® Monkie Kid™ 80054 Megapolis City: interview with designer Wen Xiaodong

Posted by Caz Mockett

Want to see more of the thrilling 2024 LEGO® Monkie Kid™ set, 80054 Megapolis City 5th Anniversary? Senior Designer/ Show Producer 温笑冬 (Wēn Xiàodōng) told us more about the set and its Easter eggs when I met him at the Recognised LEGO® Fan Media Days in Billund, Denmark in September. In advance of our set review next week, here are the highlights of our interview, with photography by Boris Vanrillaer of Stuck in Plastic.

 

28 November 2023

LEGO® part 4042: Curved Bar with Axle End and 1 x 1 Round Plate

Posted by Elspeth De Montes

Thomas Jenkins thought it was time to take a closer look at an interesting new element that has been appearing in more and more sets since its release earlier this year.


Bar Curved with Axle End and 1 x 1 Round Plate is a bended element we first noticed in two LEGO® Marvel sets earlier this year, but do you know which set it was originally designed for? Read on to find out more...

06 November 2023

LEGO® 80113 Family Reunion Celebration: interview with designer Niels Frederiksen

Posted by Caz Mockett
In September, I was lucky enough to attend the Recognised LEGO® Fan Media Days in Billund, Denmark on behalf of New Elementary, along with our guest photographer, Boris Vanrillaer of Stuck in Plastic.

We had the opportunity to talk to Niels Mølgård Frederiksen (above right), Associate Creative Lead for LEGO® Monkie Kid and designer of the latest LEGO® Spring Festival release, 80113 Family Reunion Celebration.

28 July 2023

LEGO® part 4190: The Pagoda Plate

Posted by Thomas Jenkins
As soon as the first images of sets 21060 Himeji Castle and 10315 Tranquil Garden surfaced, we spotted a new plate that required our attention. With set 21060 now in hand, I take a closer look at the new element we are calling the "Pagoda Plate".


I love a good LEGO roof technique. I’ve built a few in my time as a New E. contributor including shrines, fishmongers, and Hobbit holes. So, if you’re anything like me, you’ll love this exciting new LEGO element! Join me as I take a closer look.

24 March 2023

LEGO® Icons set review: 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell

Posted by Ben Davies

In a previous article, I took a careful look at the numerous new element designs, decorations, and recolours that appear in the forthcoming 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell set from the LEGO® ICONS™ theme. Today, I'll be expanding upon that by taking a look at the building process and finished model, with additional insight from Senior Graphic Designer, Ashwin Visser, who New Elementary spoke to at Recognized LEGO Fan Media Days in September 2022.

04 March 2023

LEGO® element design interview: 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell

Posted by Tim Johnson


No single designer is ever wholly responsible for a LEGO® set, so to get a better understanding of the new elements in 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, we spoke to four of them! Our very own ‘Council of Elements’ comprises three element designers: LEGO Senior Designer Mani Zamani, LEGO Senior Designer Gitte Thorsen and LEGO Design Master Yoel Mazur; as well as one of the model designers, LEGO Design Master Wes Talbott.

09 February 2023

LEGO® Speed Champions review: 76916 Porsche 963

Posted by Thomas Jenkins

The Porsche 963 is the German automobile manufacturer's newest race car and draws inspiration from the 956 and 962 from Porsche's 1980s racing days. It was revealed last year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and just made its racing debut last month at Daytona. Better still, next month it's getting a brick-built replica in LEGO® Speed Champions 76916 Porsche 963, which we are looking at today.