Recolours for 2016

There's probably no need to introduce today's writer, Chris McVeigh (powerpig) who has been a prolific and influential builder, photographer, designer and entrepreneur on the LEGO® scene for many years now. Chris was a strong supporter of New Elementary from the very beginning (which, by the way, was three years ago yesterday!) and I'm thrilled he has prepared this great post for us detailing the most interesting recoloured LEGO parts recently released. Thanks must also go to Huw Millington once again, for making this information readily available to the community via the Brickset parts database. Huw and I have been a bit worried this year as the LEGO® Group have not updated their online database with many new parts at all this year. However our fears that they would no longer add new parts were unfounded, and a massive update occurred earlier this month. 

The LEGO Group recently published instructions and inventories for its summer sets, and in the process, added thousands of missing pieces. After Brickset added the information to its own database, I sat down with a coffee and gorged myself on the many, many new elements. Now that I’ve had a chance to digest all the information, I’m going to highlight some of the notable part recolours. (New Elementary will examine a number of the entirely new parts in a future article.) Please note that some of these elements debuted with winter and spring sets, but I'm looking at the recent database additions in  aggregate.

Bricks, Plates and Tiles

The first thing I look for in new sets are basic bricks, plates, and tiles in new colours, and happily, the summer sets are teeming with recoloured parts.

Aqua [TLG]/Light Aqua [BL] is one of my favourite colours, so I’m pleased to see the addition of six basic plates: 1x2, 1x4, 1x6 and 2x4. Most of these parts can be found in the upcoming Elves 41178 The Dragon Sanctuary.

Bright Green [TLG]/[BL], another under-represented colour, also sees the long-awaited reissue of a couple of basic plates and the addition of a 2x4 Plate, a 2x2 Tile and 1x1 Round Plate. You can find these elements in sets like Marvel Super Heroes 76059 Spider-Man: Doc Ock's Tentacle Trap, Minecraft 21128 The Village and Elves 41174 The Starlight Inn.

Dark Azur [TLG]/Dark Azure [BL] is strong colour that doesn’t get nearly as much love as it should, but thanks to Star Wars 75148 Encounter on Jakku and Ninjago 70596 Samurai X Cave Chaos, we’re getting a few more basic parts.

Meanwhile, Medium Azur [TLG]/Medium Azure [BL] continues its march to be the most ubiquitous shade of blue in current sets. There are now only a handful of basic parts (e.g. 2x2 Corner Plate, 1x6 Tile, 2x3 Brick) not yet available in Medium Azur.

Medium Lavender – which for a while looked like it might be passed over in favour of Lavender – gets a full complement of tiles along with a new 4x4 Plate.

Sand Blue is back with a force this year. Starting with January’s 10251 Brick Bank and continuing through to Star Wars 75149 Resistance X-wing Fighter, we’re seeing the reissue of Sand Blue plates and tiles not available since the early 2000s.

Medium Lilac [TLG]/Dark Purple [BL] also sees the reissue of 2x2 and 2x4 plates this year, along with a new 2x2 Round Tile.

Other notable plate reissues include 2x8 Plates in New Dark Red [TLG]/Dark Red [BL] and Bright Yellowish Green [TLG]/Lime [BL], as well as a 2x2 Plate in Bright Reddish Violet [TLG]/ Magenta [BL], none of which have been available in sets for over ten years. All-new additions include a 1x12 Plate in Brick Yellow [TLG]/Tan [BL], a 2x14 Plate in Bright Purple [TLG]/Dark Pink [BL], 2x3 and 2x4 plates in Light Royal Blue [TLG]/Bright Light Blue [BL], a 1x1 Tile in Dark Orange and 1x6 and 2x2 Corner Bricks in Lavender.

Recently Introduced Parts in New Colours

It’s always fascinating to see how quickly a relatively new part gets produced in additional colours. Here’s a round up of the most interesting palette expansions:

Flat Tile 2X2 Inv. (Design ID 11203) is now available in Black, Medium Stone Grey, Bright Reddish-Violet, Medium Blue and Flame Yellowish Orange [TLG]/Bright Light Orange [BL].

I was excited by the introduction of first inverted curved slope – Brick 1X4X1 Inv. Bow (Design ID 13547) – back in 2013, but after an initial push, new colour introductions slowed. Thankfully, we’ve been treated to six new colours this year: Aqua, Bright Reddish-Violet, Bright Yellow [TLG]/Yellow [TLG], Medium Lavender, White and Medium Stone Grey.

Complementing the larger inverted curved slopes is a similar, smaller part – Plate W/ Half Bow Inv. 1X2X2/3 (Design ID 24201) – now available in five colours: Black, Bright Reddish-Violet, Flame Yellowish Orange, Medium Stone Grey and Aqua.

With this year's new additions - Sand Yellow, Dark Green [TLG]/Green [BL], Medium Lavender, Bright Yellowish Green, Aqua, Bright Green and Reddish Brown - Plate W. Bow 2X2X2/3 (Design ID 15068) is now available in 26 different colours!

Brick 1X3X2 W. Inside Bow (Design ID 18653), previously only available in White, gets four new colours - Medium Lavender, Earth Blue [TLG]/Dark Blue [BL], Medium Stone Grey and Black - making possible new awnings, roof adornments and circular gateways.

Flat Tile Corner 1X2X2 (Design ID 14719) gets a modest but welcome expansion in its palette with the addition of Earth Blue and Black.

Roof Tile 1 X 2 X 2/3, Abs (Design ID 85984), also known as the double-wide cheese wedge, now comes in Bright Green, Dark Azur and Dark Brown.

1/2 Circle Plate 2X6 (Design ID 18980) sees the addition of Bright Red [TLG]/Red [BL], Medium Lavender and White.

Plate Half Circle 3X6 With Cut (Design ID 18646) adds four new colours to its palette this season: Black, Medium Stone Grey, Bright Blue [TLG]/Blue [BL] and Light Purple [TLG]/Bright Pink.

I feared that Plate 6X6 Round With Tube Snap (Design ID 11213) may be sidelined after the introduction of part 18646, but it’s been served up in Bright Yellowish Green, Flame Yellowish Orange and Dark Green in recent sets.

Plade 1X1 M. 1 Lod. Tand (Design ID 15070), also known as the tooth plate, was introduced in three new colours with the recent Elves sets: Bright Yellowish Green, Medium Azur and Warm Gold [TLG]/Pearl Gold [BL].

And lastly, Flat Tile 1X1, Round (Design ID 98138) is now available in two new solid colours (Bright Red and Black) as well as Transparent Bright Green.

Old Parts, New Colours

It’s always good to see older parts available in new colours, and this wave of sets brings us two significant expansions.

Plate 2X1 W/Holder,Vertical (Design ID 63868) is now available in four less-common colours including Bright Yellowish Green, Dark Azur, Dark Brown and Sand Yellow.

Finial Brick 2X2 Tr. (Design ID 18441) bring us three transparent versions of the the round final brick (previously only available with astromech prints.)

Other Notable Additions

Hidden amount the massive update are a few singular additions worth mentioning.

Profile Brick 1X2 Single Gro. is now available in Brick Yellow (Element ID 6148262 | Design ID 98283), allowing you to add a touch of brickwork to your tan-coloured wall. Angular Plate 1.5 Bot. 1X2 1/2, one of my favourite parts, is newly offered in Bright Blue (Element ID 6133721 | Design ID 99780). And if you like to make brick-built trees, you may be interested in Brick 1X1 W. 4 Knobs in Reddish Brown (Element ID 6133765 | Design ID 4733).

After a 12-year absence, Telephone Reciver returns in Black (Element ID 6151289 | Design ID 6190). You may also be happy to know that 3.2 Shaft W/5.9 Ball, which fits snugly into the new ball cup parts popularized by Mixels, is now available in Dark Stone Grey [TLG]/Dark Bluish Gray [BL] (Element ID 6158469 | Design ID 22484) which is the first time this part has been cast in a solid colour. Additionally, Flat Tile 6x6 is now offered in Dark Stone Grey (Element ID 6147337 | Design ID 10202), which should make tiling roadways a bit easier (and let you trade a glossy sheen for a matte finish).

Three final finds to round-up this round-up: Pl.Round 1X1 W. Throughg. Hole is now available in Warm Gold (Element ID 6141499 | Design ID 85861); Stalk W. 1,5 Shaft And 3,2 Shaft now comes in Dark Orange (Element ID 6151196 | Design ID 19119), and Indian Feather W. Pin is available in Dark Green (Element ID 6145295 | Design ID 30126).

So Much More!

You can find a listing of all 2385 parts recently added to Brickset’s database here. It’s worth a look – remember, I've only highlighted recoloured parts in this article. There’s so much more to discover!

READ MORE: See Chris McVeigh's original models created especially for New Elementary

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