LEGO® Speed Champions 2020: The new pieces

Tomorrow is January 1 and that means new LEGO® sets, which in turn means new LEGO parts! We asked Duncan Lindbo to locate all the new moulds and printed parts in the 2020 range of Speed Champions, and additionally tasked him with exploring the capabilities of those exciting new moulds.

A few weeks ago, LEGO revealed the first wave of 2020 Speed Champions sets which are available from January 1 2020.

• 76895 Ferrari F8 Tributo
• 76896 Nissan GT-R NISMO
• 76897 Audi Sport Quattro S1
• 76898 Formula E Panasonic Jaguar Racing GEN2 Car & Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY
• 76899 Lamborghini Urus ST-C & Huracán Super Trofeo EVO

But we’re not here to talk about the sets themselves, we’re here for the parts!

New moulds in LEGO Speed Champions 2020

LEGO® Architecture Review: 21051 Tokyo

We hope you all had a good Christmas and got some brick-based treats from Santa. Looking forward to 2020? Ben Davies is here to get you in the mood with a beautiful new Architecture set: 21051 Tokyo.

LEGO® Architecture goes small in Japan in the latest addition to the Skylines subtheme. 21051 Tokyo depicts a composite skyline of the capital city, featuring eight different landmarks. The 547-piece set will be available January 1st, 2020, retailing for US$59.99 / £59.99.

LEGO® FABULAND® Lives On: exquisite but exclusive

Welcome to the fourth article in our LEGO® FABULAND® Lives On series, celebrating the 40th anniversary of this unique LEGO theme from yesteryear.  So far we have looked at Fabuland's introduction of new colours, Fabuland elements that continue to this day and Fabuland's 'hidden side' when elements popped up into other themes. Now, this article focuses on some of the Fabuland elements that were exclusive to, and retired with, this much-loved theme.

For those Fabuland experts out there, I will say that this is not a list of ALL the elements that were exclusive to Fabuland. I picked a selection that I felt were a little special in terms of their attractive or detailed appearance but there are plenty more if you care to look.

LEGO® Creator Expert review: 10267 Gingerbread House

Continuing our pre-Christmas look at more 2019 sets, today Victor Pruvost examines the latest LEGO® Winter Village set in great detail. Missed our interview about it with Design Manager Specialist Jamie Berard? Read it here.

Winter will soon be upon us; the holiday season is approaching. LEGO gave AFOLs the perfect opportunity to decorate their homes for this occasion ten years ago with the Winter Village line.  We’ve mostly seen buildings made for humans so far, but this time, LEGO decided to make a surprising addition to the Winter Village by giving our minifigures edible neighbours. Indeed, this year’s Winter Village set is 10267 Gingerbread House.

10267 Gingerbread House: Designer Interview with Jamie Berard

Tomorrow we will publish our review of this year's Winter Village set - 10267 Gingerbread House - but back in May in Billund we chatted with LEGO® Creator Expert Design Manager Specialist Jamie Berard  about it. It has 1477 pieces, including three LEGO minifigures, and is priced £84.99/ US $99.99/ CA $139.99/ DE €89.99/ FR €94.99/ 799DKK/ AUD $159.99 and is already available directly from LEGO.

(CW:HP) LEGO® Harry Potter review & alt build: 75958 Beauxbatons' Carriage

Jonas Kramm continues our final run of 2019 sets that caught our interest parts-wise, with an August release from LEGO® Harry Potter which he has not only reviewed but also created an alternate build of his own design with! 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.

The recent series of sets from the Wizarding World brings us a bunch of scenes from the fourth movie: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Our pick is 75958 Beauxbatons' Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts including 412 pieces and priced at £44.99 / $49.99 / 49.99€.

LEGO® Technic review: 42100 Liebherr R 9800

As we approach Christmas, we will be reviewing some of the sets from 2019 that caught our interest parts-wise, in case you're looking (or asking!) for a present... or just hoping for some discounted sets in the post-Christmas sales! We start with LEGO® TECHNIC 42100 Liebherr R 9800, with Ryan Welles on reviewing duties.

This last summer, with an appropriate amount of excitement, here at New Elementary we showed you the new Powered Up System that replaced the Power Functions mainly used in the LEGO® TECHNIC product line. In our review of 42099 4x4 X-Treme Offroader we showed you the possibilities of the system that can be controlled with a smart phone device with the use of Bluetooth technology. We also predicted that the true potential of the system would be demonstrated with set 42100 the Liebherr R 9800, that includes a total amount of seven motors and two smart hubs.

Considering the fact it has been on backorder ever since its release, expectations for this €450/ US$450/ £400 set are even higher. For many brick-stackers this is quite a hefty sum of money. So, is it all worth it?

2019 parts Fest #2: Okkonen's Kekkonen and Tempietto

Finnish builder Eero Okkonen returns to our Parts Festival today for a fourth outing using new LEGO® parts. You can see his earlier builds here and follow his builds on his blog.

Portrait of the President

The person in the portrait is Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (1900-1986), the eighth president of Finland. His reign lasted from 1956 to 1982, over 25 years, which is unusual in democratic country that limits its president’s career to two six-year terms.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Peter Ilmrud's gunship, flying city and bathhouse

Our final new Parts Festival participant is Peter Ilmrud, a Swedish AFOL who is a building engineer in real life but builds wondrous fantasy, castle and steampunk builds in his LEGO® life. His most well-known creations are perhaps his beautiful scenes contained within glass domes.

This build is an alien gunship often referred to as "Bullet Bill" by the survivors in the year 2119, 50 years after The Invasion.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Mansur Soeleman's Star Wars

Today, another new participant for this Parts Festival presents his first builds. Mansur “Waffles” Soeleman (Flickr & Instagram) is a former art & design student who, having just come out of his Grey Age (that's a semi-Dark Age), has been building with LEGO® elements seriously for just a year now, but mostly digitally.

For a newbie it is always an exhilarating surprise to be recognised for your work, and to be invited to challenges that only elevate your skills. Such was my reaction to find out that I had been recommended for this year’s second Parts Festival by several world-renowned Classic Space builders.

Clone Turbo Tank and AT-TE