2019 Parts Fest #1: Samuel Pister's tube and king

Samuel Pister (Pistash on Flickr and Facebook) is a French LEGO® builder and member of Lug’Est. His wild and colourful style seemed the right fit for the wild and colourful elements in our Parts Festival!

When I received the different parts shipped by New Elementary my first question was, “What will I do with this giant coral gear?” (Gear Wheel 6x6, Z14 in Vibrant Coral 6258385|35446.)
Obviously there were two main difficulties with this part. Firstly this element is designed to be used as a functional element, a gear in rotation, not for aesthetic effect. Secondly, the Vibrant Coral. I love this newest colour introduced by LEGO but it is not natural and very difficult to integrate in MOCs.

Despite these difficulties, it is always feasible with LEGO parts to find solutions and that is one aspect of the hobby that I particularly like: everything is possible.

2019 Parts Fest #1: Inthert is Starry-Eyed

The next Parts Festival participant to introduce you to is Inthert (on Flickr), a UK-based LEGO® builder who was one of the winners of our Build 'n' Fix contest earlier this year with his lovely spade, although spaceships are really his thing. Here's the first of his investigations into our 19 seed parts.

At first, I questioned how useful the star element (Design Plate 4X4X2/3 No. 1 in Bright Yellow/ Yellow – Element ID 6248804| Design ID 39611) would be, especially without straying straight into illegal techniques. This is simply down to its number of connection points which, for a part of its size, is pretty limited. A star with nine friends is a slightly different story though.

LEGO® Ideas review: 21319 Central Perk

Well, it might not have been your day, your week, your month, or even your year but we are here for you with our review of the new LEGO® Ideas 21319 Central Perk set. Could you BE any more excited? Well it might depend on whether you actually ever watched the television series Friends back in the 1990s.

LEGO Ideas 21319 Central Perk is rated for ages 16+ and contains 1070 elements, seven minifigures and a small sticker sheet. It is due for release on 1 September 2019. Let's go and have a coffee with some friends now.

2019 Parts Fest #1: Duncan Lindbo's TRT13 dropship

Our Parts Festival begins today! If you missed yesterday's post introducing the LEGO® parts that our selected builders are using in their creations, check it out. To kick things off proper today though we have the one returning builder from a previous parts festival, Duncan Lindbo (donutsftw on Flickr and Instagram). Duncan is a member of the North Carolina LEGO Users Group who generally builds mecha and Space stuff and for his first build he has chosen one of the most peculair and controversial elements from our selection.

Stud shooters: Kids love ‘em (I assume, since LEGO keeps making new ones) and AFOLs hate ‘em. So Shooter w/ Cross Axle, No. 1 (6248534|41812) probably wasn’t a part I would have sought out on my own but now that I’ve got my hands on a bunch of them (thanks Tim!) let’s see what I can come up with.

The various ridges, flaps, and clips that facilitate the stud-shootin’ action give this piece some interesting texture, and because every part is a spaceship (or mech) part, my first thought was to use them as thrusters/engines on a mini spaceship.

LEGO® review: 71044 Disney Train and Station

Announced today, LEGO® set 71044 Disney Train and Station is a mammoth, detailed set containing a 77cm-long train, and a station based on Disney theme parks measuring 39cm x 35cm. Victor Pruvost has reviewed it for us and it retails at £299.99/ US$329.99/ CA$379.99/ DE€329.99/ FR€329.99/ 2499DKK/ AU$549.99.

In 2016, LEGO released the first series of Disney Collectable Minifigures, followed by a big set. This year, LEGO released the second series of Disney Collectable Minifigures, and it is also followed by a big set. 71044 Disney Train and Station comes with 2925 pieces and five minifigures, which we’re about to examine!

LEGO® Ideas set review: 21318 Treehouse

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.

Plant or Animal? A closer look at Plant w/3.2 Shaft

Bright Bluish Green [TLG]/ Dark Turquoise [BL] Plant, W/3.2 Shaft, No. 2 (Element ID 6262134 | Design ID 49577), known as 'Plant Thallus, Seaweed' on BrickLink, appears in LEGO® Friends underwater themed sets released this month in Europe.  I initially thought this element was depicting coral rather than seaweed, but its official LEGO name suggests it is a plant, not an animal.

Either way, this interesting new element immediately caught our eye and we thought it would be fun to take a closer look.

LEGO® Overwatch: Weapon No. 20

The new gun introduced this year for LEGO® Overwatch sets is officially named "Weapon, No. 20" or "Minifigure, Weapon Gun, Blaster with Studs on Sides, Bottom, and Front" by BrickLink. It's a super interesting piece, so we asked Jonas Kramm to explore its geometry and capabilities.

For the Overwatch theme, The LEGO Group (TLG) introduced a new weapon mould (Design ID 44709). So far it comes in four colours:

• White (Element ID 6253694) in one set: 75970 Tracer vs. Widowmaker (2x)
• Dark Stone Grey [TLG]/ Dark Bluish Gray [BL] (Element ID 6255067) in two sets: 75972 Dorado Showdown (2x), 75975 Watchpoint: Gibraltar (2x)

• 
Black (Element ID 6253695) in one set: 75970 Tracer vs. Widowmaker (1x)

• Light Purple [TLG]/ Bright Pink [BL] (Element ID 6254789) in one set: 75973 D.Va & Reinhardt (2x)


LEGO® Overwatch review: 75974 Bastion

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.

75936 Jurassic Park T. rex Rampage: set review

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.

The 1x8x3 25° Slope

We were surprised by a large new piece that appeared in a LEGO® set recently, so we sent a copy to Ben Davies (ProfessorBrickkeeper) to check it out.

Although the LEGO® 4+ sets (previously Juniors) may not appeal to all builders, the simplified sets have led to the introduction of several new elements over the past few years. The most recent of these is the 1x8x3 Slope (Design ID 49618), also known as Roof Tile 1X8X3/25º [TLG] and Slope 25 8 x 1 x 3 [BL], which comes in the new LEGO Toy Story 4 theme.

2018 Bricks in Florence workshop: clockwork creations and moustachioed animals

Last November we attended Bricks in Florence Festival (BiFF), hosted by ToscanaBricks in Italy. We ran workshops with fan builders using new LEGO® parts from 2018 – the same seed parts we used at Skærbæk Fan weekend a few weeks prior. 

Robert Gigli "Mechanical Mechanic"

2018 Bricks in Florence workshop: new part connections

Last November we attended Bricks in Florence Festival (BiFF), hosted by ToscanaBricks in Italy. We ran workshops with fan builders using new LEGO® parts from 2018 – the same seed parts we used at Skærbæk Fan weekend a few weeks prior. Today we're sharing some of the interesting connections our builders noted about the new elements on offer.

Hub Cap, dia. 24, No. 1 (37195)

Cristiano Grassi noted the ball at the tip of levers and walkie talkies sits neatly in the wheel 'spokes'.

2018 Bricks in Florence workshop: the pantograph, candle and puppy ear

Last November we attended Bricks in Florence Festival (BiFF), hosted by ToscanaBricks in Italy. We ran workshops with fan builders using new LEGO® parts from 2018 – the same seed parts we used at Skærbæk Fan weekend a few weeks prior. 

Candle No.1 (Element ID 6234807 | Design ID 37762)

Here are a couple of microscale ideas using the candle introduced in Harry Potter sets.

Cristiano Grassi 'Future City'

2018 Skærbæk Workshop: the lantern and the puppy ear

Two or three times a year, New Elementary run building workshops at AFOL conventions. Attendees use new LEGO® parts with general brick stock to come up with quick, interesting ideas. At Skærbæk Fan Weekend in Denmark last year, 70 builders explored some elements released in summer 2018. Here are some of our favourite creations and interesting techniques they came up with.

Lamp, No. 1 (Element ID 6227901 | Design ID 37776)
Design Plate 1X1, No. 1 (6231382 | 35463) 

Another two seed parts for you today. Lamp, No. 1 first appeared in Harry Potter sets in 2018 in Titanium Metallic [TLG] / Pearl Dark Gray [BL], but the Black version comes in other themes like Disney and Elves as well as the LEGO Xtra polybag 40312 Streetlamps.

As for the other, it's called Tile, Modified 1 x 1 with Tooth / Ear Vertical, Triangular on BrickLink but here at New E we prefer the nickname 'floppy puppy ear'. It is still only found in one set, the dalmatian Prince Puppycorn blind bag from 41775 Unikitty! Collectibles Series 1. Each bag has only one black ear, as the other is white. We gave our builders hundreds to build with.

Bailey Fullerton “Lantern Speeder"

"Every part is a spaceship part", be it thrusters...

2018 Skærbæk Workshop: wheel hub

Two or three times a year, New Elementary run building workshops at AFOL conventions. Attendees use new LEGO® parts with general brick stock to come up with quick, interesting ideas. We’ve fallen a little behind at presenting the results to you so it’s time to play catchup! Just wind your clocks back to last September at Skærbæk Fan Weekend in Denmark where 70 builders spent a good couple of hours exploring some elements released in summer 2018. Here are some of our favourite creations and interesting techniques they came up with.

Hub Cap, dia. 24, No. 1 (Element ID 6227156 | Design ID 37195)

The Metallic Silver [TLG]/ Flat Silver [BL] hubcap is still only found in one set at present, 10262 James Bond Aston Martin DB5. Especially interesting are the illegal connections some people found.

Anne Jeppesen “Drone”

2018 Skærbæk Workshop: the candle and the inverted tile

Two or three times a year, New Elementary run building workshops at AFOL conventions. Attendees use new LEGO® parts with general brick stock to come up with quick, interesting ideas. We’ve fallen a little behind at presenting the results to you so it’s time to play catchup! Just wind your clocks back to last September at Skærbæk Fan Weekend in Denmark where 70 builders spent a good couple of hours exploring some elements released in summer 2018. Here are some of our favourite creations and interesting techniques they came up with.

Candle No.1 (Element ID 6234807 | Design ID 37762)
Tile 1X3, Inverted, W/ 3.2 Hole (6223491 | 35459)

Two elements to focus on today. White Candle No.1 only comes in White so far and appears in three sets in the Wizarding World theme as well as BrickHeadz 40348 Birthday Clown and 10264 Corner Garage. The candle is made up of two sections; a 3.18mm diameter bar that is 3mm long and a wider 5.8mm hollow portion that accepts 3.18mm bar connections in its base.

White Tile 1X3, Inverted, W/ 3.2 Hole (Element ID 6223491 | Design ID 35459) was first introduced within the Unikitty theme last year but can be found within many sets now including 21043 San Francisco and 21150 Minecraft Skeleton BigFig with Magma Cube.

Rafal Piasek “Line Jumper"

2018 Skærbæk Workshop: the pantograph shoe

Two or three times a year, New Elementary run building workshops at AFOL conventions. Attendees use new LEGO® parts with general brick stock to come up with quick, interesting ideas. We’ve fallen a little behind at presenting the results to you so it’s time to play catchup! Just wind your clocks back to last September at Skærbæk Fan Weekend in Denmark where 70 builders spent a good couple of hours exploring some elements released in summer 2018. Here are some of our favourite creations and interesting techniques they came up with.

3.2 Shaft Element, No. 1 (Element ID 6226706 | Design ID 37494) 

Called Hinge Train Pantograph Shoe on BrickLink, this is a relatively rare part as it only appears in two train sets and only in Black at the moment. You will find one in 60197 Passenger Train and two in 60198 Cargo Train. It's used as the pantograph to conduct electricity from overhead lines but we thought the plentiful 3.18mm connections and unusual angles would make it ideal for a parts festival.

Paul Lee "Micro post apocalyptic rover with steering and roll bars"

LEGO® NINJAGO turntables

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.

More on the 3x3 Technic beam

Yesterday Victor P discussed the new Magenta Connector Beam 1x3x3 that does not yet appear in any LEGO® sets. Today he reveals it also comes in Black, explores more of its potential and explains how he found it for sale on the LEGO website.

In part 1 we explored the geometry of the new Connector Beam 1x3x3 and the kind of applications it could have in Technic builds. Today we’re going to experiment a bit further and see what other builds are possible with a few of them in hand.  Since I work in construction, one of the first things I thought of doing was a I-beam: