60420 Yellow Construction Excavator is the smaller of the two construction-themed LEGO® City sets that were released in June 2024.
An obvious companion piece to 60409 Yellow Mobile Construction Crane which I recently reviewed, there are a number of recolours, prints and minifigure parts shared between both sets. Even so, the Excavator is a fine model in its own right, boasting its own selection of unique and interesting parts. Let's take a look.
Loftus? Lofty? There's a joke there somewhere. Anyway, today we take a look at LEGO® City 60409 Yellow Mobile Construction Crane. Confusingly, it's anything but LEGO yellow. Instead, it sports a bright light orange colour scheme and brings with it a host of recolours, new moulds and prints.
Space, the final frontier… wait, wrong context.
Earlier this year LEGO® City 60372 Police Training Academy introduced a new type of worm gear; Technic Worm Gear 6M with Axle Hole in Light Bluish Gray and the accompanying Brick Special 2 x 2 x 1 2/3 with Worm Gear in Black. I always love to see LEGO® Technic parts appear in ‘regular’ sets, so I think a closer look is warranted.
But what is that kitty doing there?
The LEGO® City Stuntz subtheme uses a number of unique elements in its sets' novel play features. Today, I'm taking a look at 60338 Smashing Chimpanzee Stunt Loop from 2022, which offers a nice sampling of the specialized elements featured throughout the Stuntz range.
LEGO® City introduced something quite original this year with the Missions series: there are no instructions, instead giving the builder a series of building challenges. Is this the thing I need to inspire me to finally start MOCing?
Products in this article were provided by LEGO®; the author's opinions are their own.
TobyMac (@toby_mac83) takes some of the Stuntz subtheme for a spin: LEGO® City 60298 Rocket Stunt Bike, 60297 Demolition Stunt Bike and 60293 Stunt Park. Buying these? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
The October 2021 addition to the LEGO City Universe was a team of stunt-racers. These daredevils all have newly moulded bikes and ramps to perform the craziest stunts. I’ll be taking a closer look at these new moulds and figure out if this new series of sets are as entertaining as they sound.
Ben Davies (@ProfBrickkeeper) talks to the animals, and dinghy, in LEGO® City 60307 Wildlife Rescue Camp. Don't forget Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend starts 26 November 2021! Please consider following New Elementary's affiliate links; we may earn a commission. LEGO.com USA | LEGO.com Australia | LEGO.com UK (for Europe, 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.
Released earlier this year, the LEGO® City Wildlife Rescue subtheme caught the interest of many for its location shift to the African savanna, and the animals it introduced. The largest of the sets, 60307 Wildlife Rescue Camp provides a nice distillation of the subtheme, featuring many of the most interesting new elements in a single set.
Starting today, 1 September 2021, LEGO® are running a product pilot in the UK & Ireland that sees a small number of retailers offering new variations of 3 existing LEGO sets, “so we can find out more about the colours and sizes of sets that fans of all ages want to see more of in our portfolio”. This is an exciting development in terms of recoloured elements, but also frustrating for the rest of the world!
A few days ago, Francesco Spreafico represented New Elementary in an online roundtable discussion to talk about this pilot with Lena Dixon (Vice President of Product and Marketing) and Mike Psiaki (Senior Designer), together with other Recognised Fan Media.An earth-shattering change occurred in LEGO® City in 2021: the introduction of brick-built roads, replacing the thin baseplates that have been used for decades. So New Elementary asked The LEGO Group about the development of this new 'element platform', including questions from our lovely Patreon supporters. The answers are a team effort from the LEGO® City team and Element Design. Before anyone asks; we did not ask them about the absence of curved road elements as the team had already stated; "At this point the LEGO® City team does not have a comment on corners."
The idea has been hovering around the project for a number of years. The first time this system of elements was pitched as a concept was more than 10 years ago.
Tim Goddard (@tim_goddard928) reviews a 2020 LEGO® City set today with an interesting inclusion: magnets! Buying 60243 Police Helicopter Chase? 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.
Last time I looked at a brief history of LEGO® magnets, today I look at the 2020 return of the magnet and one of the two sets that these new offerings come in. But before the pull of the magnets overwhelms us, let us have a look at the rest of the set.
This is a fairly basic set, at least by New Elementary standards, and so something that AFOLs may easily overlook. It is the kind of set designed to appeal to younger children who might just be able to pester a parent into buying it for them during a trip to the supermarket. It offers good value for money and plenty of play value and I have often seen it available on discount.
Tim Goddard reviews LEGO® City 60264 Ocean Exploration Submarine today, part of the 2020 Deep Sea Explorers sub-theme. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | UK Amazon | USA LEGO Shop | USA Amazon | 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.
We go back underwater today to look at another of the 2020 LEGO® City sets that ventured into the deep, to search for mysterious aquatic monsters and the crystals that inevitably seem to scatter the seafloor in the LEGO universe.
The 286 pieces in 60264 Ocean Exploration Submarine make a realistic looking deep sea submarine, the rocky home of an anglerfish, a research drone and some well-kitted-out divers led by Jessica Sharpe.
Tim Goddard (@tim_goddard928) gets inspired by a 2020 LEGO® City set today, 60263 Ocean Mini-Submarine – or rather, one of its massive parts: 44665. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.
The LEGO Group has a long and glorious history of underwater themes, whether fantastical like Aquazone or more contemporary – like a LEGO® City subtheme of sets. Indeed, in 2020 we once again journeyed underwater with the Deep Sea Explorers sets which have the tagline ‘Supporting National Geographic Explorers’. This seems to mean some cool aquatic animals and a light-touch pro-environmental feel. LEGO Friends also took part in this collaboration in 2020 with some jungle themed sets which also came with some nice, somewhat cuter animals.
Today I complete my reviews of five LEGO® CITY sets to be released on 1st January 2021. So far we looked at 60304 Road Plates and then 60290 Skate Park with 60291 Family Home, which leaves 60292 Town Centre and 60306 Shopping Street. So let's head into town for some shopping!
Of course, the first thing I did was build all five sets and put them together into a City layout to see what could be made from them.
After months of rumour and speculation, the new LEGO® CITY Road Plate system has been finally unveiled. This review will examine the new elements in set 60304 and how they can be integrated with an existing City layout, either using regular baseplates or a modular system such as MILS.
