Assembly Square: part one

The new LEGO® Creator Expert "Modular", 10255 Assembly Square, will get 2017 off to a magnificent start. For many fans, Modulars are the highlight of the LEGO year and today we will take a look at all the new parts, recoloured parts and printed parts that come in this amazing set.

There's so much to discuss, I will do a separate post about some of the interesting techniques used in the build, but the tl:dr spoiler-free version is: this is awesome. It’s hard to believe designer Jamie Berard can keep pulling these out of the bag. This special 10th anniversary model is bigger than ever before - just over 4000 pieces sitting on a 32x48 base - and in many ways, is better than ever before. For starters, it has a brilliant array of completely new LEGO pieces, some of which fans have been dying to own for years.

New LEGO Parts in 10255 Assembly Square

Corner SNOT is here! This is one of those parts which regularly appears on those “what part do you wish the LEGO Group would release?” lists that regularly grace fan forums. If you want to use SNOT techniques on a corner, up until now you have had to use a 1x1 brick with studs on all four sides (4733) and to somehow deal with the unwanted extra two studs. There are other ways depending on what you are building, but it’s all very fiddly indeed. This new 1x1 SNOT brick, shown in the middle in the picture below, solves everything by having studs on two adjacent sides. TLG call it “Brick 1X1, W/ 2 Knobs, Corner”, it has a Design ID of 26604 and in the colour of Brick Yellow [TLG]/Tan [BL] its Element ID is 6175968.

You will also find it in LEGO Creator 31058 Mighty Dinosaurs, which contains four, but pffffft to that. Jamie has snuck 36 of these into 10255 Assembly Square! The only thing more thrilling than a new LEGO part is to have loads of them straight away. However, I haven’t much else to say about it. It will certainly be incredibly useful and will get you out of many tight corners (pun intended) but it is such a universal piece, I find it hard to think of general applications beyond ‘corner SNOT’ to tell you about. Here are a couple of thoughts though, using other new parts. Readers, please do send me your pictures of how you use it and if I get enough I will make a post of them.

Next, a new part that I for one did not expect at all, shown at the bottom of this picture.

The classic 45° 1x2 slope has been around since the late 1950s and in 2011, The LEGO Group released a variant which many of us call ‘the slipper’ (Design ID 92946): rather than being the full height of a brick, its non-sloped section is just one plate high, down at the base of the brick. Now, we have another variant with just a tile hovering at the top of the brick. I don’t know its official name yet (I’m tempted to call it the anti-slipper) but the Design ID is 28152 and you get it in not one but two colours in this set: two in White (Element ID 6166894) and two in Dark Stone Grey (6168776).

Its smooth top makes it different to the regular 1x2 slope, and similar to the ‘baby bow’ 1x2 curved slope (11477) introduced in 2013. Stepped parts like this are great for quickly and securely locking other parts onto a plate (which adds weight to my ‘anti-slipper’ nickname!) but is perhaps of greater use to LEGO designers than fans. I suspect we will find loads of other uses for it though; here is one idea.

Sticking with the 45° theme, we have a new angled door/window frame with Design ID 28321. It’s sort of like a chunky wedge brick and sits within an area of 4x4 studs. It fits the standard 1x4x6 LEGO doors or windows. The set contains one in White (Element ID 6177157) and one in Black (6177156).

Now it’s time to start talking about the tiles. There are a lot of tiles to talk about. Good tiles.

First up; a 2x2 corner tile with 45° angle! Although this is the first LEGO set to feature them, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have the ever-angular Nexo Knights theme to thank for these, and the anti-slipper. They are a lot of fun to play with, as you will see later. I think the Design ID is 27263 (man, it's really hard to see!) and as shown here, there are a whopping four colours provided in this set. 12 in White (Element ID 6168612), four in Earth Blue [TLG]/Dark Blue [BL] (6166854), 18 in Dark Stone Grey (6177079) and “yay they’re in bley" — seven in Medium Stone Grey [TLG]/Light Bluish Gray [BL] (6177078).

There’s more sweet bley tile happiness. At last, macaroni tiles are here! There are six 2x2 curved tiles (Element ID 6163990 | Design ID 27925) and, as if that wasn't enough excitement, these are also four 4x4 curved tiles (6163989 | 27507).

Look how beautiful they are. Even their undersides are pretty.

Given that the brick version of the 2x2 macaroni (Design ID 3063) has been around since 1955, I guess it’s high time we got the tile version… which in turn makes me want the macaroni plate even more. The tile's introduction hopefully makes that more likely... well, I can hope.

Obviously we are missing a 3x3 macaroni tile too, but then we are missing the brick version as well. That said, a 4x4 macaroni tile shares an edge with 3x3 shapes such as these.

Recoloured LEGO Elements

Good times with bley tiles continue among the existing parts that are newly recoloured in this set. There are four 1x1 quarter-circle tiles in Medium Stone Grey (Element ID 6176433 | Design ID 25269), which fit perfectly inside a 2x2 macaroni tile to create a 2x2 quarter-circle, which adds a lot of new possibilities.

‘Tooth’ tiles have already appeared in Medium Stone Grey (6151688 | 24246) but this set comes with 46 of them, 47 if you include the spare.

So all this means that 10255 Assembly Square has an amazing selection of bley tiles that all together are a lot of fun to play with… and play I did, before I began making the set. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun with new parts.

Back to the quarter-circle tiles now; there are additional new colours to savour. You get three in Black (Element ID 6172383) and will also find this in the 2017 set 41230 Batgirl Batjet Chase, and eight in Brick Yellow (6145570) which is also found in 2017’s 41150 Moana's Ocean Voyage. Also pictured here are the Brick Yellow ones with pie print (6151221) which appeared earlier in 2016 in 41126 Heartlake Riding Club.

Sticking with tiles, there’s now a 2x2 (6162894 | 3068) in the lovely shade of Light Royal Blue [TLG]/Bright Light Blue. Also, there’s a 2x3 tile in this colour! However it is printed, so I will come to that later. These are the first tiles to ever be made available in this hue, which is a good sign.

Birds do well in this set. The chicken has been cast in White (6063271 | 95342) and the parrot, seen here doing an impression of a Norwegian Blue, is cast in multicolour: Bright Blue and Bright Yellow [TLG]/Blue and Yellow [BL] (6178520). I presume the green in its beautiful plumage is due to mixing rather than a third additive, but someone please correct me if I am wrong.

[EDIT: it's been pointed out to me that the parrot is a new mould! I didn't even think to check, and in my defence it does seem quite subtle until you take a close look...]

Great to see the 1x1 round with bar and hole now in Black (6167933 | 20482); it bridges three LEGO ‘connection families’ - studs, 3.18s and 1.5s. There is only one plus a spare.

Also in Black: two bow windows (6177083 | 20309). A beautiful part, yet it has previously only appeared in just three sets in two colours: Brick Yellow in Friends and Sand Green in 10251 Brick Bank. I discussed the tweaked arch it was designed to fit inside previously on this blog, and the bow window was a seed part in one of our parts festivals, so check that out for interesting techniques and ideas.

Now on to a colour that seems to be getting a lot more love from TLG of late. This claw has been recoloured in Bright Green (6177124 | 16770) which will be perfect for foliage, which is indeed what Jamie uses two of them for in the set. He also uses three 3L bars (6161772 | 17715) in this shade, and happily there are two spares. These Bright Green bars are not new to this set however, having first appeared recently in 71040 Disney Castle.

Reddish brown 1x1 round tiles (6133854 | 98138) are new to sets and there are two plus a spare here, although BrickLink does note that they have appeared in Elves activity book Zemsta elfiej wiedźmy (Polish Edition).

Lovers of Medium Nougat [TLG]/ Medium Dark Flesh [BL] rejoice, two small basic parts arrive in this colour in this new Modular. There are two plus a spare 1x1 tiles (6177146 | 3070) and no less than 60 1x1 ‘cheese’ slopes (6167690 | 54200). It seems excessive to mention, but there’s a spare of those too.

A beautiful 2x2 dish (6178683 | 4740) is used in the set and oddly (but happily), a spare is supplied as well. BrickLink call this colour "Metallic Silver" and I’m confused about what TLG call it. They used to call it “Cool Silver, Drum Lacquered” and possibly still do, but I would have thought the logical modern equivalent is “Silver Metallic, Drum Lacquered”. (Drum lacquering is a process as opposed to a colour.) The reason I am unsure is that it seems TLG do not add parts in this colour to their online database, which Brickset uses. For example, the Technic ball joint (also pictured) appears in this colour (6082975 | 32474) in 10255 Assembly Square too, and BrickLink tells me it previously appeared in some 2014 sets and a 2015 set too, but all these Brickset inventories are missing it. Anyway, the important thing is that there are two really cool silvery metallicy 2x2 dishes in here that we’ve not seen before!

New printed LEGO pieces

There are not many decorated elements that are brand new but the two supplied are excellent. A 1x4x3 window is used in the dentist’s surgery (6177280 | 60603) - spot the cute LEGO nerd gag. I'll certainly be bringing my 1970s bricks to this dentist.

As I noted earlier the Light Royal Blue 2x3 tile is printed (6177290 | 26603) and this is a real treat - it’s a LEGO box; the first Modular from 2007, 10182 Cafe Corner. Closest we will get to a re-issue, I guess!

LEGO Minifigures

I don’t scrutinise minifigure parts as closely as I do regular parts for this blog, partly because other sites do that very well already. These are such a great bunch however, I took a bit of a look.

There is one new printed minifigure piece: the dentist's torso (6122988). Loads of the other minifigure elements have only appeared once before, many from LEGO City 60134 Fun in the Park . I did buy that set but never got around to reviewing it here, so will mention that the LEGO baby that comes in it also appears here in 10255 Assembly Square. Aside from its utter cuteness, the notable thing about the baby is that its neck is a 3.18mm bar and consequently the head has a 3.18mm hole. So there’s fun to be had there. Its hands however seem deliberately designed to hold nothing… has anyone found anything to fit?

Other Parts of Interest

There are simply too many great LEGO pieces in this set for me to cover much more! So I will just reel off some of the rarer or more interesting ones, but believe me there is much more to enjoy...

• two Black skeleton arms (6146095 | 26163) previously in 60113 Rally Car
• one Black Cupboard 2 x 3 x 2 6138479 | 4532 only came in 2016 in 41135 Livi's Pop Star House
• two Black Shovel 5X7X4½ W/ Hole/Cross (6109280 | 18943), previously only in two expensive Technic sets
• two Transparent Bright Green 3.18 bar with 5.9 ball (6139234 | 22484) only in 70332 Ultimate Aaron
• two arched window frames in Dark Stone Grey (6143849 | 30044) which appeared in one set in 2004 and reappeared in two sets in 2016
• two of Chief Wiggum's truncheon in Dark Stone Grey (6065072 | 13790)
• the 'perfect reflection' mirror from 10246 Detective's Office returns (6103793)
• two Medium Nougat doughnuts (6117405) only seen in 71016 the Kwik-E-Mart 
• two 4-prong palm tree tops in Brick Yellow (6143062 | 2566), seen only in 10253 Big Ben
• one 2x2 round jumper plate in Bright Red [TLG]/Red [BL] (6132541 | 18674) which has only appeared in 60133 City Advent Calendar 
• the guitar with black neck and silver strings (6160320 | 27989) from Series 16 Serenader
• the Red guitar (6121723 | 11640) in 71201 Back to the Future Level Pack and again in 60133 City Advent Calendar
• one Sand Blue 1x2x2 window frame (6149585 | 60592) only in 31052 Vacation Getaways
• one Dark Orange 6-stem stalk (6151196 | 19119) only in 21128 The Village 
• seven Earth Blue [TLG]/Dark Blue [BL] 75° roof corners 2x2x3 (6144750 | 3685) only in 71040 Disney Castle 
• also from Disney Castle, one Reddish Brown 2x2 round tile with clock (6157942)
• four Aqua [TLG]/Light Aqua [BL] 1x2 tiles (6133247) not seen since 2011's 8487 Flo's V8 Café and 9657 FIRST LEGO League Challenge 2012 - Senior Solutions

To finish, it is also worth noting the presence Sand Green bricks, most notably the 1x6 (6177081 | 3009) of which there are 12.

I have mentioned a few pieces in this post that come in quantity and Sand Blue does best here... and they mostly come in one bag, which is pretty!

• 22 1x1 bricks
• 50 1x2 grille bricks (not seen since 2004 in 4746 Mobile Command Center)
• 20 1x2 bricks
• 51 1x6 bricks

[EDIT: Okay I will mention now, as I am already getting comments, that the curved front to the yellow and white striped canopy is not the way it is done in the set, where it is straight. I was just having some fun!]

READ MORE: Part two of our Assembly Square review shows how the new parts are used in the set

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