LEGO® pieces, new set reviews, building techniques and brick model ideas
We are already a few months into the Year of the Rabbit, so are overdue to have a look at what sets 80110 Lunar New Year Display and 80111 Lunar New Year Parade have to offer. Both sets launched end of December 2022 and won’t be available for longer than a year, so let’s get creative with them - but first, I'll see what unique elements they include.
As time progresses, it feels as if the prices of LEGO® Classic Space sets are flying out of my reach; certainly the boxed examples in good condition. I know some of the gaps in my collection may now never be filled (and that’s fine, because being completist is a fool’s errand), however there’s always the odd occasion when the Classic Space Moon aligns with a healthier bank balance and I do manage to acquire a long hankered-after gem.
Last week, New Elementary's Flowerfest kicked off with an impressive line-up of character builds by Eero Okkonen. A Sontaran built from rose petals is a tough act to follow, but I'm ready to do my best! I'll be analyzing two recent arrivals to the LEGO® Botanical Collection - 40646 Daffodils and 10313 Wildflower Bouquet - and sharing MOCs inspired by their parts.
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After we took a look at the new and rare parts in the 2023 LEGO® Icons Botanical Collection sets a week ago, I am now kicking off our Flowerfest! Over the next few weeks, my New Elementary colleagues and I will reveal what we created with these beautiful elements.
I received two LEGO® Icons Botanical Collection sets, 40646 Daffodils and 10314 Dried Flower Centrepiece. As usual, these floral bricks and pieces inspired me to build flowing hair and elegant clothes… Well, mostly. I also turned a rose into Sontaran.
Here at New Elementary, we love a good Parts Festival! But we also love to push boundaries. So how about a Parts Festival containing no new moulds?
The largest and loftiest of the LEGO® Technic sets launched in March 2023 has taken to the skies, but New Elementary is calling it into to the hangar for inspection. Before we clear this airplane for takeoff, why not refit it into something a little more whimsical? Keep reading to see the features of 42152 Firefighter Aircraft; one of which inspired me to repurpose its parts into a giant dragonfly.
Released as the smallest set in the mid-2022 wave of LEGO® Monkie Kid™ Series 3, 80037 Dragon of the East is a fun playset featuring two baddies pitted against our hero Monkie Kid and Mr Tang. Let's take a look at the interesting elements found in the set, before I use some of them in a creation of my own!
What if LEGO® Jurassic World sets had brick-built dinosaurs? I was intrigued by the presence of one in 2022's 76956 T.rex Breakout, and wanted to check it out to see if LEGO succeeded to bring the prehistoric predator to life with so-called normal pieces. Also, a brick-built Tyrannosaurus is definitely easier to refurbish than one of those prefabricated dinosaurs, so I gave mine bit of a facelift.
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| Left: ©2022 The LEGO Group. Right: Eero's revised version. |
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.
In August 2022 the world of LEGO® Super Mario™ expanded yet again with 71408 Peach’s Castle Expansion Set. Today we're playing a bit of catch up with a look at the new elements and prints it introduces, as well as a handful of MOCs inspired by its inventory.
Thomas Jenkins has already reviewed the largest offering of the January 2023 wave of LEGO® Monkie Kid sets, 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech, and I have taken a look at 80040 Monkie Kid's Combi Mech and 80041 Mei's Dragon Jet in a combined review, plus 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant. Today it is the turn of 80044 Monkie Kid's Team Hideout.
Thomas Jenkins has already reviewed the largest offering of the January 2023 wave of LEGO® Monkie Kid sets, 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech, and I have taken a look at 80040 Monkie Kid's Combi Mech and 80041 Mei's Dragon Jet in a combined review. Today I'm turning my attention to 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant, which sits in the middle of the range, and I will be assessing 80044 Monkie Kid's Team Hideout very soon. For brevity, I will refer to them by their set numbers in the text below.
80034 Nezha's Fire Ring was part of the January 2022 wave of the LEGO® Monkie Kid theme. Let's take a look at the interesting elements to and build the set, before we have a play with some of the parts.
It's no exaggeration to say that 2022 has been an exciting year for new elements introduced in the LEGO® DOTS theme. Throughout the year, we've seen the introduction of the charms system, bowed bricks for constructing frames, as well as stitch-on and adhesive patches.
For the uninitiated, Mario’s archenemy is Bowser, a turtle like creature with dragon-like features. Also known as King Koopa, the big boss kidnapper of Princess Peach is depicted in LEGO® Super Mario™ set 71411 The Mighty Bowser at a suitably magnificent scale.
Will this LEGO power-up set be collecting all of your gold coins? Let’s jump down the warp-pipe and see where it takes us, as I review its parts and build, and create some original MOCs.
2022 saw the debut of LEGO® Monkie Kid Season 3, accompanied by the release of seven sets on 1 January. Six months later, 80039 The Heavenly Realms appeared; the largest of three more sets released in the summer wave.
Glue and LEGO® bricks? 41957 Adhesive Patches Mega Pack brings this unholy combination to customers. Of course, we at New Elementary don't limit ourselves to adhering these patches to notebooks and folders. What have they to offer to MOC builders?
