Blues in twos

A quick post about a new element worthy of note as it is an unusual colour now brought to a common part.

Plate 1X2

Element ID 4649765 | Design ID 3023
Colour Bright Light Blue [BL] / Light Royal Blue [TLG]

Don't fence me fence in

Whilst new LEGO® elements are the raison d'être of my blog, they are not the be-all and end-all. (Does that sentence need another cliché added?) One diversion I'll be taking occasionally is to look back on parts released years ago, or even decades ago. The Old Elementary, if you like. Thanks to a now 60 year-old concept at the core of LEGO sets, System in Play, a cool old part (ooh, say like 1960s letter bricks) can sit happily in your MOCs alongside a 2013 element. But we're not going that far back just yet; only two decades.

Fence 1X8X2 2/3

Design ID 6079

For me, this part has long languished in my mental category of "parts that can only be used for one thing, and a rather dreary thing at that". But recently I noticed the amazing geometry of this part makes it far more flexible than I had imagined. It cropped up on some Pick A Brick Walls in UK Brand Stores last year, and after I employed that useful self-justification "why, I'm sure I'll need to make a big long fence one day", plus some egging-on from fellow addict friend SilentMode, I bought a large cup. And so it was that I began fiddling with fences and rapidly realised the original Parts Designer put seriously nice work into this element's design back in the early '90s. Nothing is wasted here.

Lip synch

August has seen the release of many new sets, several of which I have mentioned in previous posts as the sources of new elements and even new parts. Discussion of more new elements is to come, but today I'm devoting a post to a wonderful new part that I mentioned back in 'the early days' of this blog. (I'm surprised to realise I've been doing this for two months already!) This time around, let's see it in action and get lost in the minutiae of its geometry. Oooooo.

Hidden treasure in North America? [Nope.]

[edit 1st Aug: Spoiler; it is Dark Pink and NOT Medium Lavender! Feel free to read on nevertheless.]

If you live near a LEGO® Brand Store in the USA or Canada and have nothing to do at 5pm tomorrow the 1st of August 2013 and have a daughter aged 6 to 14 (or a son to be applauded), keep reading.

That's most of the caveats out the way; now look at this picture and tell me what you can spot? I think I know what I see. New element. Oooooo. I'd love to know if I'm right.

The box is mostly made of what I think is Medium Lavender, and I'm pretty certain those are some 1X4 Bricks in there - which are not listed anywhere as yet appearing in sets. It feels odd for an element to appear in promotional builds before actual sets. TLG don't just make new elements willy-nilly, certainly not just for a polybag that is available for a couple of hours on one continent. I would make a guess that this new element was included in a set 'first' in terms of TLG's development timelines, and the shorter development time required to make a wee model like this means that in the end it got released earlier than the set.

Cool for school

Stand by, fellow colour geeks, as a previously rare hue is back in basic bricks; Bright Light Yellow as it is named on BrickLink, but I personally prefer TLG's official name Cool Yellow. That sounds way cooooooler. Once again we have the Friends range to thank, and the great news is that you’ll get a lot of Cool Yellow basic bricks by buying just one set; 41005 Heartlake High, which went on sale today in the UK, and the US is this Thursday 1 August.

Mixels make a splash (page)

Man, I really never intended to post as often as I have been these last few days! Nor did I intend to behave like a news site. So when this dropped a couple of hours ago, I told myself to hold back.

I can't. This is too interesting. We have some jaw-dropping new elements coming in March 2014 as part of a kooky new intellectual property (IP) called LEGO® Mixels.

© 2013 The LEGO Group

© 2013 The LEGO Group

© 2013 The LEGO Group

Like a virgin

The mysterious 21050 Architecture Studio has just surfaced. There has been little info about this set but the general assumption online was that it would be exclusive, at least initially, to US Barnes & Noble stores who are running special LEGO® Architecture Studio store events from 25-28 July 2013. But no; a single copy was spotted and bought by 'Miro78' at Legoland California today.

It doesn't build anything in particular, there are no instructions. In fact there's an amusing and crazed disclaimer on the box stating, "Picture for inspiration only. Model cannot be built from the pieces in this box. Model shows pieces not included in this set. See side panel for full parts listing." Even more amusing if you read that out loud in the voice of a Dalek.

Miro78 has posted this helpful picture of said side panel on his Flickr, so look at the pic here and ask yourself - would I pay $US149.99 for these parts? There are 76 different elements, none are new or rare, and the total count is 1,210 pieces.

Heavy elements from the future

Just a quick post to alert UK & German readers (and presumably some or all other European countries) that 21103 Back To The Future The DeLorean time machine is *probably* available in physical (not online) LEGO® Stores from today - 14 days in advance of the official release date, 1 August. But please ring your Store before you travel! As the early release was not really intended, it's possible your Store have not put it on shelves.

A neat excision

A friend recently joked that my blog spoils the surprise of happening across a new element when you open a set. Actually I suspected he was only half-joking, so today I'm pleased to report his claim is not true!

Flat Tile 2X2, Round

Element ID TBC | Design ID 14769

Colour White

This element turned up in my 70002 Lennox' Lion Attack, a set which I happened to pluck from my build queue yesterday for no special reason other than it was close to my bed where I lay mafted by the unseasonable English warmth. Clearly it doesn't always come in that set - as 70002 has been available all year and as far as I can see, and no-one has mentioned this alternate part yet - so please don't buy the set expecting to get your hands on it! In fact, good luck getting your hands on it quickly, as there's no way yet to easily obtain it on BrickLink or Replacement Parts. Think of it as a poor man's Mr Gold for now.

And in the darkness bind them

Pl.Round 1X1 W. Throughg. Hole

Element ID 6050850 | Design ID 85861

Colour Yellow [BL] / Bright Yellow [TLG]

There’s something radical about this new element that really makes me happy.

It’s not a new part. The white element has been available for four (glorious) years. So obviously a yellow one adds nothing new to functionality! And bringing a part out in yellow is hardly a radical move. What’s so amazing is that the new yellow element comes in actual sets; the white element only came in LEGO® Games. So what? As consumers we don’t care if we’re obtaining them via a game or a set?