LEGO® DOTS review: Bracelet Strap

As a follow up to Michael Studman's report from the LEGO® DOTS launch at the House of Dots in London, we are taking a closer look at one of the most unusual elements from this new-for-2020 theme which is available in stores from Sunday 1 March.

Dots was actually delayed from its planned launch date last year and the reason seems to be this strap, known as Bracelet (Design ID 66821). The design was changed from a 'slap' bracelet to a flexible fastening bracelet.

LEGO® Technic review: 42110 Land Rover Defender - the model

In part 1 of his review, Victor Pruvost (Flickr) examined all the exciting Olive Green pieces and new moulds found in LEGO® Technic 42110 Land Rover Defender, and he concludes today by building the model, revealing its surprising techniques and showing you the functions.

Although the LEGO® Technic 42110 Land Rover Defender contains almost 2600 parts, the bags are only numbered from 1 to 4. These four big steps are: the rear of the chassis, the front of the chassis, the rear of the bodywork and the front of the bodywork.

LEGO® Technic review: 42110 Land Rover Defender - the elements

Victor Pruvost (Flickr) returns today to examine the thrilling colour and new moulds found in LEGO® Technic 42110 Land Rover Defender, which retails at £159.99 / 179,99€ / US$199.99.

The last decade saw a massive increase in the size of LEGO® Technic sets. In 2011 the first set with over 2000 parts was released, 8110 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U400, and in 2019 three sets with more than 2000 parts were released, including the biggest Technic set so far, 42100 Liebherr R 9800. Today we’ll be taking a look at another of them, 42110 Land Rover Defender, which is made of 2573 elements.

Minifig Posing Stand: Jonas Kramm's fantastic furniture

As soon as we saw the LEGO® DC Super Heroes Collectable Minifigure Series, we knew that we had to get our hands on the new little transparent angled bar included with the figures. We gave a handful of these new elements to three creative minds to see what they thought, and we will publish these over the coming weeks. First up is Jonas Kramm who analyses its geometry and possibilities.

Jumping, flying and fighting: these poses and many more can now be achieved easily by your LEGO minifigures. With the new element introduced in the DC Super Heroes Collectible Minifigure Series, called "Handle No.1" (6285587|65578) by The LEGO Group and "Minifigure, Utensil Posing Stand" by BrickLink, minifigures can strike a suitably super stance by connecting it to the bottom or the back of their legs. Regardless of which DC character you get, you get one posing stand and often even an extra one spare.

Product review: Le-Glue

Is kragle still a sin if it is temporary? Are there situations when it is appropriate or even necessary to glue your own creation? Gary Davis has built some towering LEGO® creations in his time and we asked him to try out one of the new non-permanent glues aimed at LEGO builders.

This is not a paid-for post. As many companies do, Le-Glue contacted New Elementary and offered free samples for review. This time we accepted, out of genuine interest as to what you readers will think of it!

For many adult fans, the idea of gluing their LEGO® bricks together is quite abhorrent. But I expect we’ve all experienced our MOCs, or even LEGO sets, apparently self-destructing during handling or in transit. Is Le-Glue the solution?

What is Le-Glue?

Le-Glue is claimed to be “…a non-permanent glue that’s strong, non toxic and won’t damage your blocks. It is water releasable adhesive designed to hold your plastic building blocks together.”

Having used very permanent solvent adhesives for my several of commissioned builds, I was keen to put Le-Glue to the test.

Old Elementary: the Train Light Prism

Following his stunning contributions to our recent LEGO® Parts Festival, the talented Swedish builder Oscar Cederwall (Flickr) suggested he write an article about one particular element he used in one particular build that a lot of you have been asking about. 

You might have seen this MOC of mine before. It showed up in the New Elementary Parts Festival in late 2019. When you saw it, you might have wondered what those weird parts that make up the cockpit are? Well, let me tell you all about them…

The story about the Electric, Train Light Prism 1 x 3 (Design ID 4171), or "train prism" that I will call it hereafter, begins in 1980 with the new LEGO electric train system. The part was released in six sets during a seven-year period, and only in Transparent/Trans-Clear. Just three of these sets are actual trains; the other three are accessory packs.

LEGO® FORMA and Revan New's alien moth

Back in September 2018, The LEGO Group launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for a new kind of premium set aimed at adults: LEGO® FORMA, a kinetic sculpture that could be customised with different skins. Although the theme is not to be continued, we thought we would take a look at the new elements that came with it, and ask the talented Russian fan builder Revan New to create something original using them. We also have official instructions and sample skins at the bottom of this post, for you to download and build yourself.

LEGO® Build a Minifigure: Exclusive elements from January 2020

Every three months, new LEGO® elements are added to the Build a Minifigure towers in LEGO Stores worldwide and last year The LEGO Group started including some pieces in exclusive colours or with decorations not found in sets. Erik H. from HokayBricks has scrutinised January's offerings for us all!

The parts described below are all completely new – they have not appeared in any officially released set prior to the January 2020 (Q1) batch of new parts for Build a Mini (BAM) Towers at LEGO Stores worldwide. Previous iterations of the design have been listed along with their origins.

LEGO® Architecture review: 21052 Dubai

Examining another 2020 LEGO® Architecture set today, we have Ben Davies. 21052 Dubai is part of the Skylines series, has 740 pieces and is priced £54.99 / US$59.99 / 59.99€.

21052 Dubai is one of the latest sets in the long-running LEGO® Architecture range and depicts several buildings from the United Arab Emirates’ most populous city, arranged in Architecture’s signature Skylines format.

LEGO® DOTS: Inside The House of Dots

We have an event report today from a new contributor, Michael Studman (yes, his real name), who is active in the London AFOLs LUG. We asked him to report on the launch of LEGO® DOTS, especially to check out the new parts in the sets and the never-before-seen opalescent colours. 

It’s not uncommon for a LEGO-lover like me to have an emotional connection with established LEGO themes, from childhood, or later in life as an AFOL. What is more unusual is to have an emotional connection to a new LEGO range even before it has been revealed to the public, and to have had a small but exciting part to play in its launch.

This thought occurred to me as I excitedly waited with fellow fans, reporters, and influencers last Tuesday 28 January in Kings Cross, London for the public unveiling of LEGO DOTS, their newest theme.