Showing posts with label Set review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Set review. Show all posts

07 August 2019

LEGO® Ideas set review: 21318 Treehouse

Posted by Admin
Time for the second part of our LEGO® Ideas 21318 Treehouse review, looking at the build. We covered its elements in part 1.


In a great alteration to Kevin Freeser's original fan submission, which had a grey square base, César Soares' official version has an irregular green shape with a stream running through it. The stream is Dark Azure plate (including the 4x8, Element ID 6209672, its third appearance in sets) with a layer of Transparent 1x1 and 1x2 plates on top.

05 August 2019

LEGO® Ideas parts review: 21318 Treehouse

Posted by Admin
Fan designer Kevin Freeser faced an unexpected challenge after submitting his Treehouse to LEGO® Ideas: he had exceeded the 3000 part limit imposed and had to redesign it with fewer elements. Ironically the final retail set exceeds it again, at 3036 pieces, but you can see why The LEGO Group didn’t want to skimp with this set. Folks, this thing is big.


01 August 2019

LEGO® Technic review: 42099 4x4 X-Treme Off-Roader

Posted by Admin
Our final review of summer 2019 LEGO® Technic sets is 42099 4x4 X-Treme Off-Roader which uses the new Control+ system, has 958 pieces and is available as of today for US$249.99/ £199.99/ 229.99€. This time, we welcome back Ryan Welles to reviewing duties! 

It was the year 2007 when the good people in Billund introduced a new motorized system. The Power Functions system, known for its orange banded box art and incorporated in both Creator and Technic sets, is the electrical system that has had the longest lifespan in LEGO® history to date. The powerful motors came in several types and sizes, with infrared remote controls and receivers, and initially showed a combination of studded and studless connections. Later additions to the Technic line included a Large Motor and Servo Motor introduced in 2012, that only allowed for studless mounting. 



29 July 2019

LEGO® Technic review: 42097 Compact Crawler Crane

Posted by Admin
Continuing our reviews of this summer's wave of LEGO® Technic sets, today Alexandre Campos and friend return to review 42097 Compact Crawler Crane, available from 1 August 2019.



Cranes have been a frequent presence in LEGO® Technic almost since the beginning, when in 1978 the 855 Mobile Crane was launched. It was also in this set that a very important part that is still a familiar sight to this day appeared: the Connector Peg/Cross Axle (Design ID 6562).

Yet, with all the cranes that have been pouring out during these last 41 years, the Technic team has managed to release one of a type never done before: the spider crane. Or, should we say the 42097 Compact Crawler Crane? Although the "CCC" abbreviation is tempting, "Spider Crane" sounds way cooler, so that's what I'll be calling it throughout this review. And, as you'll see in a while, I suspect I'm not the only one with this opinion.

18 July 2019

LEGO® Technic review: 42098 Car Transporter (part 2)

Posted by Admin
Yesterday, Alexandre Campos showed you the interesting parts in upcoming LEGO® Technic set 42098 Car Transporter along with the build process. In this, the second part of his review, he discusses the finished set and gives his verdict. 42098 Car Transporter has 2493 parts and will be available from 1 August 2019 priced €149.99/ £139.99/ US$179.99. 

The finished set is definitely a beast. The colour scheme chosen for the truck looks good and utilitarian, thankfully without any weird colours to make parts gathering for MOC construction harder (42039 24 Hours Race Car, 42050 Drag Racer, 42066 Air Race Jet, and 42069 Extreme Adventure: I'm looking at you all).

17 July 2019

LEGO® Technic review: 42098 Car Transporter (part 1)

Posted by Admin
We have three of the upcoming LEGO® Technic sets to show you over the coming weeks. First up is 42098 Car Transporter which has 2493 parts and will be available from 1 August 2019 priced €149.99/ £139.99/ US$179.99. Our technically minded friend Alexandre Campos (Ambassador for PLUG, a Portuguese LEGO User Group) took a look at its parts and construction.


Amongst all the construction machines, trucks and sports cars released in the LEGO® Technic range, a car transporter is something almost unique: the only previous example is the B-model of the 8872 Forklift Transporter, from 1993.

The 42098 Car Transporter picks up this legacy. Let's see what 26 years of LEGO Technic evolution has brought.

09 July 2019

LEGO® Creator Expert review: 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy

Posted by Admin
Just announced, LEGO® Creator Expert 10269 Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® will be available directly from LEGO exclusively for LEGO VIP members from 17 July 2019, with general availability beginning on 1 August. The price will be £84.99/ US$99.99/ CA$139.99/ DE€89.99/ FR€94.99/ 799DKK. We asked Ben Davies (ProfessorBrickkeeper) to take it for a spin to see what new and recoloured elements it includes.

Until now, the LEGO® Creator Expert vehicles subtheme has focused purely on four-wheeled vehicles. The newly announced 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy marks a departure from this, by using bricks to depict the popular motorcycle.

01 July 2019

LEGO® Overwatch review: 75974 Bastion

Posted by Admin
Over the next week or so we have a series of LEGO® Overwatch articles for you. Firstly, following on from our reviews of 75975 Watchpoint: Gibraltar and 75973 D.Va & Reinhardt a few months ago, we now have one more set review which we asked Victor Pruvost to check out.

In our third LEGO® Overwatch review, we’re going to examine 75974 Bastion. With 602 parts and  a RRP of £54,99 / US$49,99 / 59,99€, Bastion is the second-largest set of the January 2019 Overwatch wave.

28 June 2019

LEGO® Inside Tour 2019: new and exclusive parts

Posted by Admin
Every year The LEGO Group run a few “Inside Tour” events where they open their doors to a small group of fans. The lucky participants – I say lucky because although they are paying for the pleasure, tickets sell out almost instantly – are given behind the scenes access to LEGO HQ, hang out with designers and receive all manner of goodies. The most notable goodie is the Inside Tour set, a set designed for the tours that (sometimes) remains unavailable elsewhere. Each celebrates an aspect of LEGO history such as the Ferguson tractor, or the LEGOLAND train.

This year’s set is especially exciting to New Elementary as it contains a new element, produced exclusively for the set. It is 3D printed rather than injection moulded, so while its quality is much lower than regular LEGO pieces, it’s still super exciting... and rare. Participants were told it is the first 3D-printed piece ever to appear in a LEGO set (unless any of you readers know otherwise?). They’ve even given it ID numbers; Element ID 6286866|Design ID 66237, but don’t expect it to ever become available anywhere!


22 June 2019

75936 Jurassic Park T. rex Rampage: set review

Posted by Admin
We hope you've been enjoying the run of LEGO® Jurassic World articles we've published recently including two designer interviews and a look at the new parts in 75936 Jurassic Park T. rex Rampage. Today, Jonas Kramm examines the build and techniques of that set.

75936 Jurassic Park T. rex Rampage is only the second set from the LEGO® Jurassic World series that is a homage to the classic movie from 1993. It comes with 3120 pieces that get used to build a huge dinosaur, an enormous gate and an additional minifigure stand.

30 May 2019

LEGO® Creator Expert review: 10266 NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander

Posted by Admin
Revealed today, the spectacular LEGO® Creator Expert 10266 NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander comes with 1087 pieces, and will be available June 1st 2019 for 89.99€/ US$99.99. Sven Franic took this modular module for a spin, and had a blast!



The LEGO Group (TLG) has a longstanding relationship with NASA which has ensured minifigures are no strangers to space travel. They once sent three minfigures as far as Jupiter, just for fun. If the number of NASA-themed LEGO Ideas proposals are anything to go by, there seems to be a recent increase in popularity of non-fictional space sets. The LEGO Ideas 21309 Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket is great for demonstrating the different rocket stages and modules, but despite its impressive size, the most iconic landing module which touched the surface of the moon was tiny compared to the entire vessel.

15 May 2019

LEGO® Stranger Things parts review: 75810 The Upside Down

Posted by Elspeth De Montes
The LEGO Group has announced its first ever product collaboration with Netflix, LEGO® Stranger Things: 75810 The Upside Down. The set was revealed today in launch events in New York and London with special midnight opening. It has 2287 pieces and RRP is US$199.99 /CA$269.99 / DE€199.99/UK £179.99. It is available now for LEGO VIP members, with a full release coming June 1.


26 April 2019

LEGO® Overwatch review: 75975 Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Posted by Elspeth De Montes
Our second LEGO® Overwatch review takes a look at the new and interesting elements in 75975 Watchpoint: Gibraltar. The largest set in the theme, it contains 730 elements, four minifigures and costs £79.99 / $89.99 / 89.99€ and has been available since January 2019.


There are some interesting new angles in this set and a few elements appear for the first time in a new colour, so let's take a closer look.

21 April 2019

LEGO® NINJAGO turntables

Posted by Admin
Sven Franic examines the unusual and interesting new turntable pieces that come in new LEGO® Ninjago sets like 70670 Monastery of Spinjitzu.

We don't often get younger age group LEGO playsets to pick apart here at New Elementary, which makes it easy to overlook some cool new parts. Ninjago model designers have really stepped up their game in interactive play functions, and I want to see if we can bastardize some of the novelties that come in LEGO Ninjago 70670 Monastery of Spinjitzu.


One of the recent features of several Ninjago sets are the hand-held minifigure turntables. Presumably to promote interactive and social play, the resourceful designers came up with a brick-built contraption allowing players to rotate a minifigure character and fight an opponent by mimicking some impressive ninja moves.

27 March 2019

LEGO® Overwatch Review: 75973 D.Va & Reinhardt

Posted by Elspeth De Montes
LEGO® Overwatch 75973 D.Va & Reinhardt is one of the smaller sets in the Overwatch theme. It features the two tank heroes D.Va & Reinhardt with an Overwatch minifigure character for each. The set has 455 parts and has been available since Jan 19 priced at £34.99 / $39.99 / 39.99€. Lets take a look at those elements.


This set has three completely new elements that have new moulds seen for the first time in 2019, great news for all of us parts-obsessed LEGO fans.

18 March 2019

LEGO® Ideas Review: 21317 Steamboat Willie

Posted by Elspeth De Montes
The next LEGO® Ideas set, 21317 Steamboat Willie, marks the 90th anniversary of the most famous cartoon character ever, Mickey Mouse. His fame was sparked in the 1928 black-and-white animated short film called Steamboat Willie which was also the first Disney film to have synchronized sound. Let's steam ahead with Mickey and take a look at the set that will be available from 1st April 2019 priced US $89.99/CA $119.99/DE €89.99/UK £79.99 and contains 751 parts.


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.

22 February 2019

LEGO® Creator review: 10265 Ford Mustang

Posted by Admin
The LEGO Group have just announced the next car in the LEGO® Creator Expert series 10265 Ford Mustang, based on the 1967 Fastback and will be racing into LEGO stores and online from 1 March 2019. It has 1,471 elements and priced US $149.99/€129.99/£119.99. Jonas Kramm gets into gear to take a closer look under the hood of this 1960s American muscle car.


The LEGO Creator Expert theme’s new addition to your garage is a classic 1967 Ford Mustang. It’s a dark blue beast that comes with two play features and - even more importantly – includes two new moulds and more delicious recolours.

18 February 2019

LEGO® Xtra 40341 Sea Accessories

Posted by Admin
We're always excited to receive new sets from The LEGO Group but this supplementary set was definitely one of the stranger offerings... so after scratching our heads we challenged a man who will seemingly face any LEGO® challenge, Tim Goddard (Rogue Bantha), to actually build something with them!

The LEGO® Xtra line is a very welcome one, offering a chance to purchase some useful parts at a reasonable price. The Xtra set 40312 Streetlamps released last year contains particularly great parts such as the new lantern (Design ID 37776). I was sent three copies of the new 2019 set 40341 Sea Accessories to, um, review I guess.


There is something a bit fishy about this Xtra set though; the parts are not quite so useful as those found in other sets in the range and I am not sure I would be tempted to buy a copy myself.

16 February 2019

LEGO® Ideas 21316 The Flintstones

Posted by Admin
Sven Franic reviews LEGO® 21316 The Flintstones for us today but will it be a yabba dabba doo or a yabba dabba don't? The set is available to VIPs this Wednesday 20 February 2019 with 748 pieces, four minifigures and retails for US$59.99/ CA$79.99/ 59.99€/ £54.99/ 549DKK/ AU$99.99.

LEGO Ideas is a constantly evolving system, but there are a couple of individuals who seem to have cracked the magic formula. This is fan designer Andrew Clark’s second Ideas submission to make it all the way to store shelves after 21304 Doctor Who in 2016.

21 January 2019

LEGO® MOVIE 2 review: 70840 Welcome to Apocalypseburg!


Posted by Admin
Coming 1 February 2019 (and already available for VIP members), LEGO® 70840 Welcome to Apocalypseburg!
 is the largest and arguably most thrilling set from THE LEGO MOVIE 2: The Second Part. But how do the parts stack up? Sven Franic takes a look inside this 3178-piece set and its plethora of Sand Green.


The flagship set for THE LEGO MOVIE 2: The Second Part focuses attention on the part of the film featuring the derelict remains of Bricksburg from the first film (which may have some resemblance to New York?). This is an opportunity to jump on the revived pop-culture trend of the post-apocalypse dystopia and a great way for adult fans to connect with what is probably the closest The LEGO Group will touch a certain Ozploitation trilogy from our childhoods.