Packed with interesting techniques, LEGO® Architecture 21042 Statue of Liberty is my favourite build of the year so far. Today, I'm going to examine the parts that have been provided in new colours in this new set and show a couple of cool techniques that the designer has used.
Not sure if you noticed, but this set contains elements in Sand Green. As you would hope, there are quite a lot of parts appearing in this colour for the first time.
Having said that, let’s start with one that isn’t strictly new. There are 25 ‘double cheese slopes’ (Element ID 6210479|Design ID 85984) which came in the San Diego Comic-Con 2017 exclusive, LEGO BrickHeadz 41496 Supergirl and Martian Manhunter. In other words, they’re new to virtually everyone on the planet.
The other two parts pictured are absolutely critical to the design of this model; Slope, Curved 2 x 1 No Studs with Stud Notch a.k.a. “baby wedge bows”. There are 40 provided in left (6221730|29120) and 35 in right (6221729|29119). A tip: pay attention when applying these. I reached the end of the build to realise I only had a left one remaining when I needed a right! I went crosseyed working my way back identifying where I went wrong.
By the way, this brings the available number of colours of these parts to 11; note they will finally be released in Medium Stone Grey [TLG]/ Light Bluish Gray [BL] this July in 76109 Quantum Realm Explorers (Element IDs – Left 6225139, Right 6225142) .
There are seven Bar Holder with Clip (6226411|11090). There are now 10 shades of this part including Sand Blue, from this year’s LEGO Star Wars 76103 Corvus Glaive Thresher Attack.
You’ve all been waiting for LEGO handcuffs to come in Sand Green, right? Wait no more. This set contains two Sand Green handcuffs (6225000|61482/91795/97927) plus a spare. And what clever usage are they put to? They are used as, um, handcuffs. What is interesting is that despite appearing in more than 140 sets, this is the first time this part has ever come in a colour other than Medium Stone Grey.
Now for some modified plates.
2x2 round plates (6223237|4032) – now they will be useful, and you get five. Less useful are the six Plate, Modified 2 x 6 x 2/3 with 4 Studs on Side (6227190| 87609). Rounding out the plate selection – or octagonning it out perhaps – is one Plate, Modified 2 x 2 with Bar Frame Octagonal (6223219|30033).
There are three 3x3 dishes in Sand Green (6223166|43898), a new colour for this part, which might immediately make regular readers think of Peter Reid's robot turtles, especially given the presence of the octagon plate.
Furthermore, the designer has used one of these dishes, the octagon plate, the clip/bar holders and some Unikitty horns to make a turtle that likes to sit on Lady Liberty's head. Pah! Who needs Peter Reid?
As you will have no doubt noticed, rather than render her facial features the designer opted for a blank expression using a solitary Nexo shield, which is also new to Sand Green (6245273|22385/35341). Also in the tile department is one inverted 2x2 tile (6186828|11203).
There are a range of different kinds of 1x1 SNOT bricks provided in Sand Green in this set, including eight of the newest kind: ‘corner SNOT’ bricks (6223225|26604).
It’s worth noting this part is also provided in other colours that we’ve seen before: five in Black (6187572) and 23 in Brick Yellow (6175968). Although if it is the latter you’re after in bulk, you will find 32 of them in in the relatively cheap 40172 Brick Calendar, and 96 in 40174 LEGO Chess.
They’re put to great use in the set, and although I imagine the designer could have found a way to create this set without the existence of this part, it doubtlessly would have been trickier for him, less stable for the builder and the end product might not have looked as good.
Our final piece new to Sand Green are the three 1x2 hinge tops (6223168|3938). The matching base (6223234|3937) is also present in equal quantity, and while it’s not new to Sand Green, it’s not been included in sets since 2011. Great to now have the complete hinge!
It’s not new to Sand Green but one of the smallest parts in this set is still big news. 1x1 tiles (6223913|3070) were first introduced in this colour in the original 3450 Statue of Liberty, thereafter only appearing in two 2002 sets: LEGO Star Wars 7194 UCS Yoda and LEGO Harry Potter 4729 Dumbledore's Office. At time of writing, these go for an average price of £1.42 each on BrickLink! There are 18 in this new set, so hopefully the price will drop rapidly.
Similarly, 1x2 grille tiles haven’t been available in Sand Green (6223126|2412) only came in three LEGO Harry Potter sets dating from 2002-2004. This set has 21!
Parts in other colours
Liberty’s flame is a minifigure hairpiece in Warm Gold [TLG]/Pearl Gold [BL] (6234261|32602), newly recoloured from the Black version (6192197) created for Captain Salazar from LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean 71042 Silent Mary. What a great idea!A somewhat uncommon yet basic part, the 3x3 brick with 45° wedge, come in White (6210105|30505) for the first time in this set and LEGO City 60182 Pickup & Caravan.
The Technic 16-module axle link is back in Bright Red [TLG]/Red [BL] (6212053|2637) this year after a 23 year absence. Three are provided here. You’ll also find it in 42077 Rally Car and 60188 Mining Experts Site.
And of course there’s the Black 1x8 tile with ‘Statue of Liberty’ printing (6223269).
Finally, there are some noteworthy Brick Yellow [TLG]/ Tan [BL] parts.
Pyramid tiles appeared in Brick Yellow (6177165|22388) in 21033 Chicago early this year but there were only four – you’ll find 20 here! What’s especially nice is that this is the first time that this part has come in a solid opaque colour… previously they’ve all been transparent or pearl.
The 48 profile bricks in Brick Yellow (6148262|98283) is the most ever provided in one set – even the massive 71040 Disney Castle only had half this amount.
2x2 corner 45° slope is back in Brick Yellow (6222431|3045), having only appeared in five sets between 1998 and 2006, which surprises me. You get eight here.
It's easy to overlook the plinth but this was my favourite part of the set to build. Some lovely techniques are used here and the steps are laid out so cleverly, even children younger than the age mark should be okay to manage them.
This very neat arrangement connects a strip of boat studs with a mix of plates and tiles to the blue Erlings. Is it just me or does that entrance look like a robot Unikitty?
I never remember to use this technique and this is a great example. The canopy over the entrance is connected with a clip/bar connection instead of plate.
The finished model is huge, yet surprisingly light.
There are plenty of other interesting techniques that I haven't spoiled for you, and this is a really unusual model. If you're buying Statue of Liberty – or anything – from Amazon, consider using our affiliate links to help us carry on publishing articles like this. Here are links to the set on Amazon USA and Amazon UK.
Products mentioned in this post were kindly supplied by the LEGO Group. All content represents the opinions of New Elementary authors and not the LEGO Group. All text and images are © New Elementary unless otherwise attributed.
I was surprised to read that the "Wedge 3 x 3 Cut Corner" was new this year in white, as I was sure that I used it in white last year... but I see that I actually used the similar 2462, "Brick, Modified Facet 3 x 3", which was used in various sets long time ago.
ReplyDeleteFunny that these two parts are listed in two different categories on Bricklink despite being quite close :)
Haha the perils of taxonomy!
DeleteI wanted to point out that there is one other element returning from a 14-year hiatus: Plate 1x1 (3024|6099189) has not appeared in Sand Green since 2004 and makes its return in this set and BrickHeadz Owen & Blue.
ReplyDelete