The Disney·Pixar animated movie Up was released back in 2009 and won a couple of Oscars that year as well as a Best Picture nomination. Nearly 14 years have passed since its release, but recently LEGO® Disney 43217 'Up' House was revealed as part the Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary this year.
18 March 2023
24 April 2022
LEGO® Disney·Pixar Lightyear review: 76832 XL-15 Spaceship & 76831 Zurg Battle
Products in this article were provided by LEGO®; the author's opinions are their own.
Today’s article features 2 of the LEGO® tie-in sets from the upcoming Disney·Pixar film Lightyear, the origin story of the astronaut who inspired the Buzz Lightyear action figure seen in the Toy Story franchise. As usual, we’ll start with the new and exciting parts in each set then take a look at the minifigures and completed builds.
30 October 2021
LEGO® Disney parts review & MOC: 43196 Belle and the Beast's Castle
Eero Okkonen (@eerookkonen) analyses the contents of LEGO® Disney 43196 Belle and the Beast's Castle before using some of its new parts in his own creation. 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.
I have never seen Beauty And The Beast, and pretty much no other Disney animated films, but the castle featured in the film seems to be the most fairytale castle of fairytale castles, with smooth lavender walls, dreamy towering spires, gilded portcullises, romantic ballrooms and a comprehensive library. Its universality in the genre has led to many set versions in recent years so it's easy to get confused: there is 41067 Belle's Enchanted Castle from 2016, 43180 Belle's Castle Winter Celebration for 4+ builders from 2020, and even the single-spire 10762 Belle's Story Time from 2018… oh, and DUPLO 10877 Belle's Tea Party. Phew!
30 August 2021
5x5 fest: Tom Loftus' Raya and Sisu Dragon MOCs
Today I’ll be showing you two MOCs inspired by elements from 43184 Raya and Sisu Dragon. Coincidentally, both concern liquids which is appropriate given Sisu’s affinity with water.
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed there’s something missing from the set image. Well there’s a very good reason for that which will become clear as we discuss my first build.
22 August 2021
LEGO® Disney review + MOC: 43189 Elsa and the Nokk Storybook Adventures
Eero Okkonen (@eerookkonen) takes a look inside LEGO® Disney 43189 Elsa and the Nokk Storybook Adventures, before using some of its new parts in an original creation. 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.
LEGO® has recently shown interest in releasing sets that look like books, without actually being books. LEGO Ideas 21315 Pop-Up Book was released in 2018, and the first four Disney Storybook Adventures sets were introduced in early 2020. These lacked the advanced pop-up mechanism of the Ideas set, being simple cases fitting small playsets inside, easily closed for storage or travel.
These sets got a lone successor in January 2021 with 43189 Elsa and the Nokk Storybook Adventures. As the Frozen franchise is very popular, it is not surprising to see another storybook concerning it. I must warn you: the popularity of the franchise is the only thing I know about it!
29 July 2021
5x5 fest: Introducing the elements
It's been a while since we ran one of our "parts festivals", where we send LEGO builders some of the most interesting new elements and ask them to create some original models to inspire you. Well, buckle up because we have not one but two parts festivals coming at you this month, and they're a little different to before! We will introduce the second one soon, but today we reveal our 5x5 fest.
No, LEGO have not released a 5x5 plate, it's nothing like that! We simply sent 5 of our gorgeous contributors 5 LEGO sets, and asked them to get busy making gorgeous stuff. As well as parts in the sets, they could use their own part collections. So for the next 5 weeks, every Friday is 5x5 fest day when we will reveal what each of the builders created! The gorgeous bunch are Caz Mockett, Kev Levell, Aron Gerencsér, Thomas Jenkins and Tom Loftus.
28 January 2021
LEGO® Disney review & MOCs: 43187 Rapunzel’s Tower
43187 Rapunzel’s Tower is part of the LEGO® Disney theme, featuring Princess Rapunzel and Flynn Rider and Rapunzel’s cute little chameleon, Pascal, stars of the movie Tangled. The set is aimed at the 6+ age group and, when built, comprises the huge prison tower for Rapunzel, a garden swing and the Snuggly Duckling Inn. Let’s take a closer look at its unique and rare parts.
09 December 2020
LEGO® ART review: 31202 Disney’s Mickey Mouse
If you’ve been following our articles recently you may have guessed this review was coming! TobyMac dived into LEGO® ART 31201 Harry Potter Hogwarts Crests which teed me up for a go at the slightly smaller but similarly impressive 31202 Disney’s Mickey Mouse.
I must admit, when the first round of Art sets were revealed I wasn’t exactly blown away. That was due in equal parts to the subject matter and the inescapably sly marketing which requires you to spend upwards of £400 for a complete set of all four possible images.
15 June 2020
LEGO® Disney 43179 Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse: new set reveal
The set is on its way to us for review but we couldn't resist posting about it straightaway, as not only are there some really fascinating, useful new moulds but also the first pieces cast in a new 'colour' (or to describe it more properly, an 'effect') that was spotted on the LEGO palette earlier this year.
09 June 2020
LEGO® Disney review: 43182 Mulan's Training Grounds
It is not to be confused with the first Mulan set, 41151 Mulan's Training Day, which was released in 2018 and was swiftly followed by… no more. Until 2020 that is, when she was granted a Storybook Adventure (which includes a training ground) and today’s focus, Mulan's Training Grounds. That Mulan, she loves the training.
04 March 2020
LEGO® Disney review: Storybook Adventures - the new parts
New parts in LEGO® Disney Storybook Adventures
Firstly we will examine the elements that comprise the books themselves.The spine consists of a single part: Plate Special Book Cover Back 6 x 16 (65200). It is 16 studs long (or high, given that a book stands upwards in a bookcase) and the center consists of a plate with 4 x 16 studs with, for some reason, gaps of 2 x 2 in the middle. On the sides are curved walls with a pin hole on the ends, which allow the connection to the book covers.
02 March 2020
LEGO® Disney review: Storybook Adventures - the recolours and printed pieces
This week I’ll be looking at four sets at once: 43174 Mulan’s Storybook Adventures, 43175 Anna and Elsa’s Storybook Adventures, 43176 Ariel’s Storybook Adventures, and 43177 Belle’s Storybook Adventures. This series of sets consists of a LEGO-build book with a small diorama on the inside and figures, to play out your own stories.
These sets caught my eye because of the new style of figures introduced, which BrickLink call Micro Doll. Then I also noticed the large book pieces. Unneeded, single-use parts? Or could a creative mind do more with them? I’ll describe them for you, and let you be the judge.
09 January 2020
New LEGO® Colour 364 Transparent Medium Reddish Violet with Opalescence

One of our readers, BrickoMotion, mentioned that the 1x4 Panel in Transparent Medium Reddish Violet/ Trans-Dark Pink from Disney' 43173 Aurora's Carriage was "weirdly colored" and it seems it was also pearly and iridescent. They were right, so let's take a look at this second new colour.
07 January 2020
New LEGO® Colour 362 Transparent Blue Opal

13 August 2019
LEGO® review: 71044 Disney Train and Station
18 March 2019
LEGO® Ideas Review: 21317 Steamboat Willie
The original LEGO Ideas proposal was submitted in 2016 by Máté Szabó who lives in Budapest and is an animator. The proposal hit the 10k votes mark in July last year and it was only revealed that the proposal would become a set last month when the review results were announced. Clearly a lot has been going on behind the scenes as the set has evolved into a larger, functional, impressive version of the original proposal. Let's take a closer look.
08 September 2018
LEGO® BrickHeadz: Marcos Bessa interview part 2
At New Elementary, we love new parts so the two new types of glasses that we got in the Go Brick Me set are particularly interesting for us. What can you tell us about the development process of those?
Marcos: The brief for the BrickHeadz line actually came with a request to do something like this. The idea for the Go Brick Me set came very early, in early 2017, so the brand was just about to come out officially on the market. We were already planning what to do for 2018 and so the importance of customisation, allowing people to represent their features was of key importance for this. So we immediately started looking into what that would mean in terms of new elements – how to make glasses, do we need something new? I started exploring and came up with a whole lot of variations of new elements that we could make, trying to come up with something that would work and fulfil the brief for this purpose, but become a versatile enough element that it could become interesting for other uses. And I think we ended up finding something that is pretty cool for what we do in the set, but also offers a lot of other opportunities, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes out of it.
13 August 2018
LEGO® Minifigures: Tara Wike & Austin Carlson interview
Tara: Oh my God. I lost count after we reached the 300 mark. I stopped counting then.
That’s 55 per year, pretty much one per week, for eight years. Are you going to slow down?
Austin: I don’t think so.
Tara: Not if I have anything to say about it.
15 February 2017
Brickheadz: Super Heroes & Disney
As I said last time, there are certain pointers which tell me this theme could be a great success. Apart from its collectible perspective, the theme is jam-packed with pieces in new colours and exclusive printed elements, and I would assume this kind of budgetary flexibility isn't given to every LEGO design team.
Previously I built (and destroyed) the characters from The LEGO Batman Movie for your delectation; today it is the turn of the MARVEL LEGO Super Heroes and the characters from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.