LEGO® Friends review: 42602 Space Research Rover

To boldly go where no mini-doll has gone before! Olivia has set out for the stars, as her next space-themed set has her exploring alien life beyond our solar system. Buckle up and join the ride with LEGO® Friends 42602 Space Research Rover.

LEGO® Friends review: 42620 Olly and Paisley's Family Houses

Houses of the main characters have always been prominent in the LEGO® Friends line. The theme was rebooted last year, and the new style has been generally acclaimed. 42620 Olly and Paisley's Family Houses is the first LEGO Friends main cast set to feature two different houses, both in unusual colour schemes, yet feeling architecturally coherent.

LEGO® House Exclusive set review and interview: 40505 LEGO Building Systems

Recently I was lucky enough to attend an online reveal of the latest LEGO® House exclusive set, 40505 LEGO Building Systems, with the opportunity to ask some questions to the set's designers, Stuart Harris (LEGO House Master Builder) and Markus Rollbüller (Senior Designer at The LEGO Group). 

LEGO® Icons review: 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna

Few Formula 1 cars have ever come close to the dominance displayed by the McLaren MP4/4. In the 1988 season, teammates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost drove the cars to win the World Constructors' Championship with more than triple the points of their closest competitor; a feat never again seen in F1.

This legendary car and its drivers have been immortalized in many forms, but 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna is its first time as a LEGO® set. It's also the first LEGO® Icons car to include a minifigure. Their scales don't match but display stands are included for both and nothing's stopping you from putting tiny Senna in the larger car. Several new moulds and printed elements form the wheels, suspension, bodywork and iconic helmet. Even in a bare-bones F1 car, some areas such as the engine bay still pack in the detail expected of LEGO Icons vehicles.

LEGO® Disney™ review: 43249 Stitch

Say 'Aloha!' to LEGO® Disney™43248 Stitch, a brick-built version of the mischievous extra-terrestrial. Today we take a look at all the recoloured elements and techniques used to build the little critter.

LEGO® Disney™ review: 43239 Mirabel's Photo Frame and Jewelry Box & 43237 Isabela's Flowerpot

The Walt Disney Animation Studios film Encanto was featured in three LEGO® sets – one large house and two small storybooks – in 2021. It is therefore surprising that two more sets are soon to be released; 43239 Mirabel's Photo Frame and Jewelry Box and 43237 Isabela's Flowerpot. Furthermore, these sets borrow their idea and style from the LEGO® Botanical Collection and the discontinued LEGO® DOTS theme. This double-feature article takes a look at both sets.

LEGO® Disney™ set review: 43242 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' Cottage

"Heigh-ho, heigh-ho! It’s home from work we go!"

The cozy house from that memorable song to is now featured in LEGO® Disney™ 43242 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' Cottage. Based on the revolutionary movie from 1937, this set depicts the little house in the woods Snow White stumbles upon after being chased away by the huntsman. So grab your pickaxe and join me in song as we march home to explore all the new elements.

LEGO® Friends review: 42604 Heartlake City Shopping Mall

The LEGO® Friends theme was rebooted last year and in addition to brand new set concepts like 42605 Mars Space Base and Rocket it has brought many new takes on sets from earlier years. During its 12 year run, LEGO Friends has given us 41058 Heartlake Shopping Mall in 2014 – remembered for its Pearl Gold palm leaves, and 41450 Heartlake City Shopping Mall in 2021 – a surprisingly recent model that shares the same name, layout and escalator system as the new mall I'm reviewing today: 42604 Heartlake City Shopping Mall.

 

All of the rebooted LEGO Friends sets seem to be large improvements over their predecessors; so how does this mall fare?

LEGO® Minecraft™ review: 21257 The Devourer Showdown

One of the more intriguing new sets released under the LEGO® Minecraft™ theme in January 2024 was 21257 The Devourer Showdown, based on this year's Minecraft™ Legends video game.

The 420 piece set features new moulds, new prints and some new recolours that currently remain exclusive to this set. It's definitely worth taking a closer look, even if Minecraft, the disgusting Devourer or mucus projectiles are not your thing.

LEGO® Icons build review: 10327 Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter

The definition of Frank Herbert's Dune series may be found in its myriad of sophisticated analogue technology. Of all this tech, ornithopters are arguably the most iconic. Their dragonfly-like movements provide relatively safe passage over the treacherous sands of the desert planet Arrakis and are a key pillar of the House Atreides "desert power."

Their rhythmic undulations are no longer a thing of science fiction with the release of LEGO® Icons 10327 Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter. While the hefty set doesn't fly, it doesn't let down fans who have long yearned to see 'thopter wings move in complex reality. With an overview of the sand-skipping ornithopter's parts and minifigures completed, New Elementary swoops in again for a look at this fascinating set's build and functions.

LEGO® Friends review: 42621 Heartlake City Hospital

While the LEGO® Friends theme often portrays small, independent businesses, it also gets a fair share of public services. The health services take place in 42621 Heartlake City Hospital which is a name that might sound familiar to you as there is a LEGO Friends set from 2020 with the exactly same name - 41394 Heartlake City Hospital. Comparisons with it show just how far the LEGO Friends theme has come; not only during its 12-year run, but also just within this decade. Heartlake City has been rebooted, so let's find out how its hospital has changed with it.

LEGO® Friends review: 42605 Mars Space Base and Rocket

A Space subtheme – or should that be supertheme? – has been spread across several lines in January 2024 sets, and LEGO® Friends get their fair share with sets 42605 Mars Space Base and Rocket and 42603 Stargazing Camping Vehicle. I've posted my review of the latter on New Elementary's Patreon and social accounts, but first let's look at the Mars base, which features a unique design with two large quarter-dome modules along an airlock; a semi-realistic design with some amusing details. Step aboard!

LEGO® Icons review and interview: 10331 Kingfisher Bird

LEGO® Icons is testing the waters with new subject matter. 10331 Kingfisher Bird is the latest black-boxed 18+ set and hopes to entice new builders with its entry-level pricing. Can it succeed? Let's dive in...

Our review features excerpts from our roundtable discussion with Senior Designer Sven Franic, who was responsible for this set's design. Some text has been edited for readability.

LEGOⓇ Marvel™ set review: 76269 Avengers Tower

We took a look at all the new elements present LEGO® Marvel™ 76269 Avengers Tower in our parts review. Now it's time to look at Avengers Tower, assembled.

 

LEGO® Friends build review and interview: 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion

With 2275 parts, 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion is the largest LEGO® Friends set to date. These parts include a lot of interesting new elements which we’ve already taken a look at, but now it’s time to start building!

LEGO® Technic™ set reviews: 42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer and 42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck

Here at New Elementary we’re looking ahead to what the New Year will bring to the LEGO® Technic™ theme with two January 2024 sets: 42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer and 42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck. Since neither set is very large, we’ll take a look at their elements and their builds together.

LEGO® Star Wars™ set review: 75371 Chewbacca

LEGO® Star Wars™ sets are stereotypically expensive horizontal Light Bluish Gray, Dark Red or Dark Blue objects made of wedge plates and featuring detailed minifigures. Alongside those, there have also been sets of larger figures, almost since the theme's beginning. I remember looking at 7194 Yoda in a catalog 21 years ago in 2002 when I was seven and wondering how many pieces it would have... it has 1075, which doesn't sound that much in 2023.

In comparison, 75371 Chewbacca has 2319 pieces - over twice more - although it doesn't look much larger. Of course, many modern parts have been made character building a lot easier than it was in the bricky 2000s. How does our first large-scale LEGO System model of Chewbacca manage to capture the classic first mate of the Millenium Falcon?

LEGO® NINJAGO® review: mech sets 71806, 71807 & 71808

Over the years we've seen many mechs in the LEGO® NINJAGO® line-up and their builds have increasingly evolved through time. In 2024 the designers are introducing new elements to bring even more build options and play features.

Today we’ll be taking a look at 3 mechs from the first wave of 2024 sets; 71806 Cole's Earth Mech, 71807 Sora's Tech Mech and 71808 Kai's Fire Mech.

LEGO® Spring Festival review: 80112 Auspicious Dragon

I have already examined the larger of the two LEGO® Spring Festival sets for 2024, 80113 Family Reunion Celebration and spoken to its designer, Niels Mølgård Frederiksen about it's inception. Today it's the turn of the smaller release, 80112 Auspicious Dragon.

LEGO® Monkie Kid™ review: 80054 Megapolis City 5th Anniversary

Today I'm taking a look at LEGO® Monkie Kid 80054 Megapolis City 5th Anniversary, which contains some very interesting new pieces, and even a new LEGO colour!