2018 Parts Fest #2: Peter's Bloodborne beast and Vera Kamsha scene

In his second post, Russian builder Peter Guz showcases two more fantastic creations using the LEGO® elements we sent him for our parts festival.

When I saw candle parts, I imagined long and pale creepy fingers. I thought, who could have such fingers? I love the PlayStation game Bloodborne so much, and there are a lot of creepy creatures with cool designs in it. Vicar Amelia is one of the bosses, and the last high cleric of the Healing Church. She could not resist the curse of the old blood and became a beast.

2018 Parts Fest #2: Peter's Post Apocalyptic World and Flying Fortress

We are continuing with our ongoing LEGO® parts fest and welcome our penultimate guest builder, an extraordinarily talented young builder from Russia, Peter Guz. We are huge fans of Peter's work, but even we did not anticipate the creations Peter made in a short space of time with a parcel of elements we sent.  Peter is a builder of few words but his images speak for themselves. This is the first of two posts by Peter.

“Lanterns have to light” thought I at first. And then I found the mecha leg Elspeth made using a Lantern in the blog post Enlightening Elements. I realised that I must complete it and build a light-up Lantern mech using Black Lamp, No. 1 (Element ID 6227901 | Design ID 37776).

LEGO® Creator review: 10265 Ford Mustang

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.

2018 Parts Fest #2: Devid VII's mecha, radiator and more

The next builder in our LEGO® parts festival is Devid VII, an Italian builder whose work I have admired for sometime, especially his mecha creations. Devid showcases a variety of ways to use our chosen parts festival elements, including this fantastic mecha just for us!

2018 Parts Fest #2: Hubtastic skyscrapers

As our parts festival nears its end, there are still a couple more LEGO® builders to come but two builders we have already featured sent me some further ideas using Metallic Silver [TLG]/ Flat Silver [BL] Hub Cap, dia. 24, No. 1 (Element ID 6227156 | Design ID 37195), an element only found in one set at present, 10262 James Bond Aston Martin DB5. So I thought both Sarah Beyer and Ralf Langer could share a hubtastic post, starting with Sarah.

When I first saw the hub cap my instant thought was "skyscraper". The silver colour and round shape remind me of modern cylindrical skyscrapers. The pattern adds an interesting aesthetic dimension and, seen from the side, makes excellent nanoscale windows. However I didn't have a clear idea about the surroundings and lay the concept to one side. Later on, when I was sorting loose parts, I came across the hub caps again.

LEGO® Xtra 40341 Sea Accessories

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.

2018 Parts Fest #2: Ralf's Compass, Medieval cart and microscale menagerie

The next builder in our parts fest is Ralf Langer from Germany.  He previously wrote about integrating LEGO® Modulex bricks in two posts for New Elementary last year.  Ralf has a real knack for innovative parts use, sometimes illegally, but always with the potential for stunning results.  If you haven't seen his builds before then you are in for a treat.

I started off with Reddish Brown Mini Brush (Element ID 6046576 | Design ID 15232), quite a versatile part. It is not as versatile as it could be as it doesn't fit in a recessed stud because of its tapered ends.

2018 Parts Fest #2: Sarah's Furniture and Robot

Our next builder is Sarah Beyer from Sweden. We have been admiring her creations for some time as she builds beautiful homes with LEGO® bricks, complete with detailed interiors. We sent Sarah a parcel containing new parts to see what should would build.

My first reaction when I saw the parts sent to me, was that they would constitute great furniture material. I mostly build modern furniture for my MOCs, but these elements fit in both retro and contemporary surroundings.

2018 Parts Fest #2: Simon's naughty dog and a touch of Japanese Architecture

The next builder in our LEGO® parts festival is Simon NH, a talented guy from Austria who is best known for his clever use of parts, especially novel ways to create textures and patterns.

Let’s start off with a fun little build featuring the four new elements shown: Metallic Silver [TLG]/ Flat Silver [BL] Hub Cap dia. 24 NO. 1 (6227156|37195) , White Tile 1X3 Inverted W/ 3.2 Hole (6223491|35459),White Candle No.1 (Element ID 6234807 | Design ID 37762)  and Reddish Brown Mini Brush (6046576|15232).

2018 Parts Fest #2: Marcel V's Helmet, Kitchen and More

Our second guest builder taking part in our second 2018 Parts Fest is Marcel V, an excellent LEGO® builder from Germany with an eye for detail whose work is full of creative parts use. We posted him a selection of new LEGO parts last month and waited to see what would happen.

Yay, new elements to discover! Can’t wait to dive into it…

2018 Parts Fest #2: Grantmasters' elephant, church and more

We sent some of the most interesting new LEGO® parts from 2018 to fan builders to see how they would use them. Grantmasters received his elements in two parcels due to a slight logistics issue and so his first post took a look at the 1x1 brackets, and now the remaining elements are explored in this second post. Over to Grantmasters...

So, round 2 began after receiving a load more parts from New Elementary. Whilst this image isn't all of the parts sent, it is all of the parts I included in this lot of builds.

2018 Parts Fest #2: Grantmasters' 1x1 brackets

As well as running workshops at fan events like Skaerbaek or Paredes de Coura, we also like to post a bunch of new LEGO® elements to some of our favourite builders from across the world. We will be publishing the techniques and creations they came up with in the coming weeks, and then show you what builders at the Skaerbaek workshop did with them. First up we have Grantmasters, a talented builder from New Zealand. The first of his two posts takes a look at the 1x1 brackets: Medium Stone Grey [TLG]/Light Bluish Grey [BL] Plate 1X1, W/ 1.5 Plate 1X1, Downwards (Element ID 6248078|Design ID 36841) and Dark Stone Grey [TLG]/ Dark Bluish Gray [BL] 1X1, W/ 1.5 Plate 1X1, Upwards (6225494|36840).

Initially, I was a bit stumped by the brackets as they aren't really what I would usually consider a "decorative" seed part. Over the years I have regularly wanted one of these brackets for various builds.  I tried to arrange the brackets with different orientations and with other offset types of connections to see where that took me first.

2018 Parts Fest #2: Introducing the Elements

Clearly we love new elements here at New Elementary, and what better way to explore the potential connections and uses than to send a pile of new parts to some innovative and inspirational LEGO® builders.

Let's introduce the  elements released in the second half of 2018 that our guest builders will be taking a closer look at in the coming weeks.

LEGO® MOVIE 2 review: 70840 Welcome to Apocalypseburg!

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. 

PdC Parts Fest 2018: shield, mudguard and arch

I've been super-slow at showing you the rest of what was created in our workshop in Paredes de Coura (PdC) Fan Weekend in Portugal way back in June 2018... so here's a few more to inspire your building ideas. 25 builders were given 11 of the new LEGO® parts released in 2018 to create as many ideas, tablescraps, techniques and small MOCs as they could. Huge thanks go to Andrew Tipping for taking the photographs.

"Minifigure, Shield Rectangular with 4 Studs" [BL]/ "Plate 2X3 W/ Hor. 3,2 Shaft" [TLG] (Design ID 30166)

2018 Parts Fest #1: Luc Byard's The Alchemist

One of the 2018 LEGO® elements that we sent to builders to investigate was the new minifigure neck bracket with four bar attachments (Element ID 6215458 | Design ID 36452). One of our talented buiders, Luc Byard, used it to create a walker mech and has now come up with another interesting creation based upon this unusual part.

This build came out of looking for a way to connect the two shafts that are at 90° to each other. ‘Easy enough,’ I said to myself but the placement is not as convenient as I expected. It’s a tight fit and I think I’m pushing tolerances but I managed to secure them.

LEGO® Unikitty: the floppy puppy ear

In the last of his series investigating the interesting parts introduced for the LEGO® Unikitty! theme, Sven Franic turns his attention to the floppy ears of Unikitty's brother, Little Prince Puppycorn. (Yes, the unicorn/cat thing has a unicorn/dog thing for a sibling. Keep up.)

For our final study of unusual new Unikitty elements, it is time for Design Plate 1X1, No. 1 (Design ID 35463) or, by BrickLink’s more descriptive terminology, Tile, Modified 1 x 1 with Tooth / Ear Vertical, Triangular.

LEGO® Minecraft: BigFigs Series 1

LEGO® Minecraft are taking a different direction in 2019 with the new subtheme BigFigs, which features yet another new scale of Minecraft build. 21148 Steve with Parrot, 21149 Alex with Chicken and 21150 Skeleton with Magma Cube will be released 1st January and we asked Jonas Kramm to investigate the new pieces that come in these sets. 

The trend that LEGO® Minecraft sets are privileged to include new elements continues. Usually these are specific Minecraft moulds such as the tools and heads (which I’ve recently explored) but sometimes also includes pieces that aren’t so specialised, that will be used in other sets and themes afterwards as well. Let’s take a look at the new Minecraft sets called BigFig Series 1, and see what is new.

LEGO® MOVIE 2 review: 70827 Ultrakatty & Warrior Lucy!

THE LEGO® MOVIE 2: The Second Part is assembling in cinemas in February 2019, and we happened to stumble upon a few of the tie-in sets placed on the shelf early in a John Lewis store. We took this opportunity to review some of the sets before their official release starting with 70827 Ultrakatty & Warrior Lucy! This set contains 348 parts and is due for release 26th December 2018 in the UK priced at £24.99/ US$29.99/ €29.99.

Clearly, we have not yet seen THE LEGO® MOVIE 2: The Second Part but from the trailers and the various promotional information we know that it takes place five years after the end of the first movie. We saw some DUPLO characters appear just as the final credits started to roll and it seems those invaders turned awesome Bricksburg into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, now known as Apocalypseburg.

LEGO® Minecraft animals: Horse and Wolf

Jonas Kramm has been examining the LEGO® Minecraft animals and thinking up inspiring ideas as to how they might be used for something other than blocky animals! 

Welcome to the last lesson of Minecraft Anatomy class. Today we will analyse the horse and the wolf to see what can be done with grey Minecraft moulds.