Set review: 10355 Blacktron Renegade remake by LEGO® Icons

Black and yellow designs and patterns have great visual impact. They're used effectively on hazard tape, warning signs and all manner of things that we should be wary of. That was part of the instant appeal of the original LEGO® Space Blacktron sets. They captured the eye and the imagination, and hinted at some unseen danger. Wild styling was also a feature of those first five sets back in 1987, and the wildest was arguably 6954 Renegade. 

Like a queen space wasp, the redesigned LEGO® Icons 10355 Blacktron Renegade has flown in rapidly on a stealthy mission, and hit me with a surprise attack! Those Blacktron spies have returned and I did not see them coming – they're obviously doing their job, so I guess it's time I did mine and inspected their new tech.

Parts review: January 2025 LEGO® Friends sets

The first wave of 2025 LEGO® Friends contains 20 sets in total, including 2 only-partly-poly-but-mostly-paper bags. Across these, I’ve counted 222 new elements for us to enjoy, and so before I review the individual sets, I’ve put the most prominent, fresh molds in an overview for you.

Parts review: 10355 Blacktron Renegade from LEGO® Icons

In 1987, LEGO® Space turned to the dark side. Blacktron was introduced, and suddenly we had villains in the void. They had the same enigmatic smiling faces that our good guys did, but that obviously made their scheming and spying all the more concerning.

The combination of black, yellow, trans-yellow and trans-red parts was highly effective in creating visual impact in the design of the original Blacktron sets. In 2025, the theme returns for a one-off LEGO® Icons nostalgic recreation – we're Back in Blacktron! – and almost all of the new parts in 10355 Blacktron Renegade come in that established colour palette.

Designer reveal: 10355 Blacktron Renegade from LEGO® Icons

They're back, they're bigger and they're more powerful than ever. Those pesky Blacktron folk have been playing a long game, and on 1 January 2025, it all comes to fruition as LEGO® Icons set 10355 Blacktron Renegade invades stores! 

Who better to introduce it than Jae Won Lee, Senior Designer at The LEGO Group, who has brought his own swoosh factor to this 1987 classic LEGO® Space set?

Review: 10343 Mini Orchid and 10344 Lucky Bamboo from LEGO® Botanicals

In July, I reviewed LEGO® Botanicals sets 10368 Chrysanthemum & 10369 Plum Blossom. They were pronounced to be two of the Four Gentlemen: a set of traditional plants in East Asian culture. The remaining two are bamboo and orchid. Those flowers are less straightforward to make into LEGO sets: orchid because it already appeared in sets 10311 Orchid and 43237 Isabela's Flowerpot (review of 43237 by me, again), and bamboo because it's basically some sticks, and thus not interesting… or so we thought. 

On 1 January 2025, sets 10343 Mini Orchid and 10344 Lucky Bamboo will be available, and today I am going to see if they are worthy successors to the first pair – both of which got good marks from me.

Review + MOC: 10359 Fountain Garden from LEGO® Icons

August 2023 saw the introduction of LEGO® Icons 10315 Tranquil Garden, a Japanese-inspired model which is a little bit larger than minifigure scale and features modular components to vary the garden layout. At the time, we assumed that this was a one-off.

However, set 10359 Fountain Garden, led by senior designer Henrik Saaby, will be released on 1 January 2025 under the new LEGO Icons sub-theme "Gardens of the World". Let's take a look at the parts and construction of the Fountain Garden to see what delights await.

Review + MOC: 71478 The Never Witch's Midnight Raven from LEGO® DREAMZzz™

The last 2024 LEGO® DREAMZzz™ set we're reviewing is another great example of the quirky set design of this original theme: a witch's hut nested atop a gigantic raven. So far, I've been critical towards many sets of this wave due to unfocused and messy set design. I've associated this with the alternative builds. I like how these sets offer different designs using the same parts, emphasising the nature of this medium – but so far, it has deemed sacrifices on the design coherence.

Obviously, it's much easier to make one focused set design with a specific set of parts. In this respect, 71478 The Never Witch's Midnight Raven is closer to the original August 2023 wave. There is a distinct B-Model, but it shares about 85% of the structure with the main model while still supporting very different play patterns. How does the raven fare?

Review: LEGO® 40702 Christmas Picture Frame gift with purchase

Still doing your Christmas shopping – or just starting? After midnight Friday 13 December 2024, the 40701 Ballerina & Nutcracker Scene is gone from LEGO.com, but a new Gift with Purchase (GwP) becomes available that isn't limited to LEGO® Insiders and has a lower threshold. Let's pull out those holiday snaps in readiness for 40702 Christmas Picture Frame. 

Pick a Brick: Standard service paused in North America – and obsolete elsewhere

This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

 In what is surely our final update on LEGO® Pick a Brick for 2024, we have been informed that the service has temporarily paused "Standard" elements in the US and Canada over the holiday period as usual. However, "Bestseller" elements remain fully operational, with over 4000 elements available with fast delivery. 

Canada: note that they are temporarily unable to ship orders to certain rural areas due to the ongoing disruptions with Canada Post.

In Europe, Australia and New Zealand, there’s no change because everything is now available through the Bestseller service! There is one change though: you will see that the site has been updated to completely remove this Bestseller/Standard distinction. Hooray! A great and symbolic end to an incredible year of improvements from the Pick a Brick team. Can't wait to see what 2025 brings!

All text ©2024 New Elementary unless otherwise attributed.

Mind that Banana contest: The winners

With the new LEGO® Fortnite Odyssey social roleplay experience Brick Life launching today, 12 December 2024, now's the perfect moment to announce the winners of our Mind that Banana contest and find out which original creations won the prizes of LEGO Fortnite sets! 

We asked readers to create non-banana MOCs using LEGO bananas. With 102 entries to judge, finding the pick of the bunch was no easy task.