(CW: HP) LEGO® Harry Potter review: Hogwarts Moments

Jonas Kramm opens the four LEGO® Harry Potter 'Hogwarts Moments' sets for you today. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover HP sets. Read about our stance here.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We won’t! Today we will take a detailed look at the inventories of the four new LEGO® Harry Potter Hogwarts Moment sets that were released on 1 January 2021 for £27.99 / $29.99 / 29.99€ each. They not only bring new book cover plates, but lots of interesting pieces and recolours to discover.

Often simply referred to as LEGO Harry Potter books, sets 76382 Transfiguration Class, 76383 Potions Class, 76384 Herbology Class and 76385 Charms Class are a miniseries of four 'books' which unfold to reveal a Hogwarts classroom playset inside.

LEGO® review: 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter

Aron Gerencsér (@_pohaturon) resumes our 2021 LEGO® Monkie Kid reviews today with 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter was the first of the 2021 Monkie Kid sets to be officially revealed, and gave us a bit of a preview of what to expect in terms of villains, designs and new moulds. With the wave now available, it’s time to judge just how emblematic this 1462-piece set, retailing for €129,99/£119.99 / $149.99/ 1099 HKD/ 12980 JPY/ 179900 KRW/ 599.9 MYR/ 199.9 SGD/ 4799 TWD really is! 

LEGO® 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair: Lee's alternate builds

Lee (cityson on Flickr) creates MOCs for you today using only the parts from LEGO® 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair, a 2020 set containing many interesting new moulds. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop (for other countries 'Change Region') or try UK Amazon | USA Amazon. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Last October, Tim Johnson took quite a thorough look at all the interesting parts in the 2 released LEGO® Minions: The Rise of Gru sets. While fans are still waiting for the postponed movie and its tie-in sets to be released, I have taken some time to see what alternate models can be rebuilt from the lovely set 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair. 

Sadly, I found myself running into a classic creative block. On the bright side, the set has given me 3 Minions minifigures, so I decided to outsource my task to Kevin, Stuart and Bob and see what they can come up with instead.

LEGO® Designers interview: 10281 Bonsai Tree

Recently, Thomas Jenkins represented New Elementary in a virtual roundtable interview with the designer of LEGO® Botanical Collection 10280 Bonsai Tree, Nicolaas Vás (aka @PrinceGalidor) and Senior Design Manager Jamie Berard along with Jay's Brick Blog, the Brothers Brick, the Rambling Brick and Blocks Magazine. We each had 8 minutes to ask our questions, so what follows is but a short excerpt from our conversation (edited for readability and clarity). We sent Nick and Jamie our questions ahead of the interview and they came back with some really thoughtful responses. Be sure to check out the other outlets for more.

New Elementary: The pink frogs in the set as well as your own bonsai creations have inspired a number of custom trees blooming with crazy flowers in the AFOL community, are there any that have caught your eye?

Nick: There was a particular tree that I saw from a Japanese builder online and he had basically covered the entire tree with LEGO® Friends hedgehogs and it was fantastic to see that he absolutely gets what this product is about.

 

Which LEGO® sets have the most new parts? February & March 2021

We've been on a bit of a "lists of new parts" roll these last few days! We showed you the new parts from March as well as a list of LEGO® VIDIYO™ BeatBits printed tiles, and we finish up today with our regular list of the newest sets showing the quantity of new parts each of in them. This covers this month as well as the previous, as there weren't many new sets in February.

Developed in partnership with Toby Mac (from Rebrickable), we show both quantity as well as overall percentage of new elements. So if you like to buy sets knowing they'll contain stuff you don't yet own, you may like to use our table as one of your purchasing factors.

Which LEGO® VIDIYO™ tiles come in each set?

This month LEGO® VIDIYO™ was launched; the LEGO Group's latest virtual-meets-physical play product. This time the focus is on musical performance and video creation, and the accompanying sets include random printed 2x2 tiles, called BeatBits, that add fun effects to the videos you create once you scan them with the app. We showed them in our previous post but today we have them all listed in a table for you!

We hope to be taking a look at the new elements in the range soon  but if you're buying any, consider using our affiliate links – UK Amazon | UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | USA Amazon | Australia LEGO Shop. New Elementary may get a commission.

What new LEGO® pieces were released in March 2021?

March 2021 brings a lot of new parts and so once again, TobyMac (on Rebrickable) has created this list showing all new elements this month, with links to which sets they come in, so you can check for the ones you might be interested in. We also have specific information about LEGO® VIDIYO™ BeatBits. 

As always, 'new elements' means new moulds, recolours and prints including minifigure parts.

LEGO® City review: 60264 Ocean Exploration Submarine

Tim Goddard reviews LEGO® City 60264 Ocean Exploration Submarine today, part of the 2020 Deep Sea Explorers sub-theme. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | UK Amazon | USA LEGO Shop | USA Amazon | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

We go back underwater today to look at another of the 2020 LEGO® City sets that ventured into the deep, to search for mysterious aquatic monsters and the crystals that inevitably seem to scatter the seafloor in the LEGO universe.

The 286 pieces in 60264 Ocean Exploration Submarine make a realistic looking deep sea submarine, the rocky home of an anglerfish, a research drone and some well-kitted-out divers led by Jessica Sharpe. 

LEGO® House Limited Edition reveal: 40502 The Brick Moulding Machine

Today, Ben Davies reports on the exciting news that the physical LEGO® Store in LEGO House, Billund will re-open this week on Thursday 4 March 2021 and a new exclusive set will be available for sale.

Today, LEGO® House has unveiled their newest exclusive, and the second product in their “LEGO Limited Edition” series of sets after 40501 The Wooden Duck, which will remain available.

LEGO® review: 40450 Amelia Earhart Tribute

A new month means new LEGO® sets are available today! Although if you wait until 6 March (date may vary across countries) and spend US$99 / €99 / £99 you also get the gift-with-purchase 40450 Amelia Earhart Tribute, which Kev Levell reviews for you now. No matter when you buy LEGO, please consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Before Christmas, my little girl was doing a topic at school about Amelia Earhart. In preparing for this review, I asked my resident Earhart expert what she knew about the aviation pioneer. Brace yourself for a little turbulence here, we have apparently learnt that Amelia was “cool”, “had a red airplane” and “flewed it ‘cross the ‘lantic ocean.” Oh, to be seven again!

With that esoteric knowledge in place, come fly with me as we review the upcoming ‘gift with purchase’ (GWP) offering from LEGO®.