“We’ve been expecting you.” Welcome to Downton Abbey, or Highclere Castle as the famous country house is known in the real world. After spending quite some time in intellectual property approvals, this LEGO Ideas project was finally approved, and in October 2026 we can buy this monumental landmark.
We received an early copy for review, and also spoke to the design team as part of a roundtable presentation.
We have a guest article from Margit Bermudez (on Flickr and Instagram), a frequent Iron Forge competitor and active member of PortLUG and BioniLUG. We sent her a copy of a January 2026 set containing some parts in the new warm pink color to explore.
Looking for a nice-sized display piece? Want to build your own trees, or a vibrant coral starfish? Read on for my review of LEGO® Ideas set 21365 Love Birds and a couple of MOCs inspired by its recolors.
It's time to grab your Speak and Spell and mount your BMX, because E.T. needs to phone home. Set 21370 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is the latest set to emerge from the LEGO® Ideas platform.
It's not just 1980s nostalgia in the box; there's a new mould, a couple of new prints and a lot of medium nougat to feast on.
It was a dark and stormy night. A doorbell rang! Tim screamed. Could this be the long-lost sister of the boy in the tattered shawl who escaped the castle dungeon after his spaceship crashed? He threw the door open in earnest.
Our earlier review of 21367 Tintin® Moon Rockets took a detailed look at the newest LEGO® Ideas set, but there seemed to be a lot of discussion around the minifigures all wearing spacesuits. The set designers explained that this was a requirement from the Tintin IP holders, as they wanted the minifigures to be wearing their appropriate outfits from Explorers on the Moon.
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I thought it would be interesting to try and use official LEGO minifigure elements to change the Tintin characters into their more classic clothing. Let's just say that altering Snowy in his spacesuit proved tricky!
It is time to make our Destination Moon with 21367 Tintin® Moon Rocket, the next set to launch from LEGO® Ideas.
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With new moulds, recolours and stellar minifigures, plus insights from the design team from a roundtable interview, there's lots for us to be excited about here at New Elementary. Are you ready to launch into this review of the LEGO Tintin Moon Rocket?
The next LEGO® Ideas set takes us back to nature: 21366 Floating Sea Otters is available to pre-order now and releases from 1 March 2026.
With a mother otter floating on her back, and the option to cradle her baby or prioritise a snack over being maternal. Yes that is a otter pup and not a chunky otter with a large belly. Let's see if this set otters something for New Elementary readers...
Watch as the LEGO Ideas Design Team reveal which 6 fan models are going to go into production to become real LEGO® sets!
Or if you just want to know the sets without watching a video, continue reading this article.
Set 40773 The Goonies: The Walshes' Attic will be available as a Gift with Purchase (GwP) from 1 to 7 November 2025 with purchases of LEGO® Ideas set 21363 The Goonies, while stocks last. I have already reviewed set 21363 The Goonies but the GwP is an interesting little addition to the main set. Let's head to the attic!
Set 21363 The Goonies originated from a challenge on the LEGO® Ideas platform to recreate some iconic 1980s memories in LEGO form.
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LEGO® Ideas set 21361 Gremlins: Gizmo originates from a contest on that platform, and I'm happy seeing a LEGO Ideas set that's not in minifigure scale. But is this little Mogwai a companion worth all the strict rules, and the threat of Gremlins infestation?
The latest set to be announced from LEGO® Ideas, 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, is based on the 1971 movie of the same name and will be released on 15 September 2025.
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You can sample all the tasty new elements and minifigures in set 21360 in our first article along with background on the original submission, while this article dives like Augustus Gloop straight into the delicious building process.
The latest set to be announced from LEGO® Ideas is 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The set is based on the 1971 movie of the same name, via the original LEGO Ideas submission from 2PPL.
We will examine the LEGO Wonka build process and play features in the next article, but first there are some fun new minifigures, recolours and printed elements to drool over. So let's go where nobody ever goes in... and nobody ever comes out.
