Old Elementary: A brief history of LEGO® magnets

Tim Goddard (@tim_goddard928) is back with another delve into the parts of yesteryear: an overview of various magnets the LEGO Group have included in products over the decades. 

Magnets have been in LEGO® sets for a long time. They were first used as practical train carriage couplings starting back in 1967 and for were restricted to train sets for over two decades. A variety of parts were made exclusively for this purpose and they were just perfect for a bit of shunting and easy carriage separation.

LEGO® House Limited Edition review: 40502 The Brick Moulding Machine

Ben Davies has received an exciting set from Billund to review for you today: LEGO® 40502 The Brick Moulding Machine which is priced 599 DKK and only available in LEGO House in Denmark. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Announced earlier this month, 40502 The Brick Moulding Machine is the latest exclusive set from LEGO® House, and the second in the “LEGO House Limited Edition” series, following 40501 The Wooden Duck introduced in 2020.

LEGO® set review: 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery

Omid (@nwbricks) examined all the new parts in LEGO® 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery yesterday and today he explores the build process of this 2,354-piece set. It's available from 1 April 2021, and if you're buying it (or anything) please consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

There’s actually two separate models in LEGO® NASA Space Shuttle Discovery to build: the Shuttle itself and its precious cargo, the Hubble Space Telescope. Each gets its own stand and information panel, but they can be combined into one display piece in a variety of ways and, yes, the entire telescope will fit snugly in the cargo bay - albeit with the solar panels removed.

LEGO® parts review: 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery

Omid (@nwbricks) has examines the upcoming LEGO® 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery over 2 articles, starting here with a look at its pieces and then his review of the build. Buying this set in April? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Hot on the heels of last year’s 21309/92176 Saturn V reissue and the 21321 International Space Station, the latest instalment of the LEGO–NASA collaboration takes the form of an incredible Space Shuttle Discovery model. Take a trip with us back to April 1990 and one of the most important space flights ever undertaken: Mission STS-31, the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope.

The 10283 Space Shuttle Discovery is on sale from 1 April 2021 with 2354 pieces. There are no minifigs or microfigs included, so I invited some friends. It will retail for 179,99€/ £169.99/ US$199.99/ CA$269.99/ AU$299.99/ NZ$319.99. 

LEGO® Star Wars™ review & alt build: 75293 Resistance I-TS Transport

Thomas Jenkins not only reviewed 2020 LEGO® Star Wars™set 75293 Resistance I-TS Transport, he also created an alternate build! Buying this $99.99/ £89.99 / 99.99€ set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | UK Amazon | USA LEGO Shop | USA Amazon | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

The I-TS Transport hails from Disneyland’s Star Wars-themed world, Batuu and although the vehicle shares a design similar to that of the Rebel frigates (like the Tantive IV blockade runner), this ship was unfamiliar to me. Given the relative obscurity of this vehicle, I imagine that this set went overlooked by most LEGO® fans in favour of the more recognisable vehicles and locations that made up the rest of the 2020 summer wave of sets. There are a few interesting parts and 2 exclusive minifigures to this set, which makes me hope this might be somewhat of a dark horse amongst last summer’s offering of Star Wars fare.

Old Elementary: Eero Okkonen's LEGO® vehicle fronts

Finnish LEGO® builder Eero Okkonen (on Instagram) continues his series of articles looking at unusual parts he likes to use in his MOCs, and today's article even includes a brand-new model. Last time he examined Windscreen 9 x 3 x 1 2/3 Bubble Canopy and Wedge 4 x 3 Cut Back with Cutout; today it is the turn of three more curved pieces intended for vehicles.

Cars are one of the evergreen subjects of LEGO® sets, and the parts specially designed for minifig-scale vehicles can be easily overlooked due to their everyday status, especially by builders who usually work at entirely different scales. I thought it might be interesting to briefly present several LEGO vehicle pieces I like to use in builds, along with examples of older MOCs of mine as well as this unpublished work: Jean of Emergent Dance.

(CW: HP) LEGO® Harry Potter review: Hogwarts Moments

Jonas Kramm opens the four LEGO® Harry Potter 'Hogwarts Moments' sets for you today. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover HP sets. Read about our stance here.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We won’t! Today we will take a detailed look at the inventories of the four new LEGO® Harry Potter Hogwarts Moment sets that were released on 1 January 2021 for £27.99 / $29.99 / 29.99€ each. They not only bring new book cover plates, but lots of interesting pieces and recolours to discover.

Often simply referred to as LEGO Harry Potter books, sets 76382 Transfiguration Class, 76383 Potions Class, 76384 Herbology Class and 76385 Charms Class are a miniseries of four 'books' which unfold to reveal a Hogwarts classroom playset inside.

LEGO® review: 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter

Aron Gerencsér (@_pohaturon) resumes our 2021 LEGO® Monkie Kid reviews today with 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter was the first of the 2021 Monkie Kid sets to be officially revealed, and gave us a bit of a preview of what to expect in terms of villains, designs and new moulds. With the wave now available, it’s time to judge just how emblematic this 1462-piece set, retailing for €129,99/£119.99 / $149.99/ 1099 HKD/ 12980 JPY/ 179900 KRW/ 599.9 MYR/ 199.9 SGD/ 4799 TWD really is! 

LEGO® 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair: Lee's alternate builds

Lee (cityson on Flickr) creates MOCs for you today using only the parts from LEGO® 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair, a 2020 set containing many interesting new moulds. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop (for other countries 'Change Region') or try UK Amazon | USA Amazon. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Last October, Tim Johnson took quite a thorough look at all the interesting parts in the 2 released LEGO® Minions: The Rise of Gru sets. While fans are still waiting for the postponed movie and its tie-in sets to be released, I have taken some time to see what alternate models can be rebuilt from the lovely set 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair. 

Sadly, I found myself running into a classic creative block. On the bright side, the set has given me 3 Minions minifigures, so I decided to outsource my task to Kevin, Stuart and Bob and see what they can come up with instead.

LEGO® Designers interview: 10281 Bonsai Tree

Recently, Thomas Jenkins represented New Elementary in a virtual roundtable interview with the designer of LEGO® Botanical Collection 10280 Bonsai Tree, Nicolaas Vás (aka @PrinceGalidor) and Senior Design Manager Jamie Berard along with Jay's Brick Blog, the Brothers Brick, the Rambling Brick and Blocks Magazine. We each had 8 minutes to ask our questions, so what follows is but a short excerpt from our conversation (edited for readability and clarity). We sent Nick and Jamie our questions ahead of the interview and they came back with some really thoughtful responses. Be sure to check out the other outlets for more.

New Elementary: The pink frogs in the set as well as your own bonsai creations have inspired a number of custom trees blooming with crazy flowers in the AFOL community, are there any that have caught your eye?

Nick: There was a particular tree that I saw from a Japanese builder online and he had basically covered the entire tree with LEGO® Friends hedgehogs and it was fantastic to see that he absolutely gets what this product is about.

 

Which LEGO® sets have the most new parts? February & March 2021

We've been on a bit of a "lists of new parts" roll these last few days! We showed you the new parts from March as well as a list of LEGO® VIDIYO™ BeatBits printed tiles, and we finish up today with our regular list of the newest sets showing the quantity of new parts each of in them. This covers this month as well as the previous, as there weren't many new sets in February.

Developed in partnership with Toby Mac (from Rebrickable), we show both quantity as well as overall percentage of new elements. So if you like to buy sets knowing they'll contain stuff you don't yet own, you may like to use our table as one of your purchasing factors.

Which LEGO® VIDIYO™ tiles come in each set?

This month LEGO® VIDIYO™ was launched; the LEGO Group's latest virtual-meets-physical play product. This time the focus is on musical performance and video creation, and the accompanying sets include random printed 2x2 tiles, called BeatBits, that add fun effects to the videos you create once you scan them with the app. We showed them in our previous post but today we have them all listed in a table for you!

We hope to be taking a look at the new elements in the range soon  but if you're buying any, consider using our affiliate links – UK Amazon | UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | USA Amazon | Australia LEGO Shop. New Elementary may get a commission.

What new LEGO® pieces were released in March 2021?

March 2021 brings a lot of new parts and so once again, TobyMac (on Rebrickable) has created this list showing all new elements this month, with links to which sets they come in, so you can check for the ones you might be interested in. We also have specific information about LEGO® VIDIYO™ BeatBits. 

As always, 'new elements' means new moulds, recolours and prints including minifigure parts.

LEGO® City review: 60264 Ocean Exploration Submarine

Tim Goddard reviews LEGO® City 60264 Ocean Exploration Submarine today, part of the 2020 Deep Sea Explorers sub-theme. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | UK Amazon | USA LEGO Shop | USA Amazon | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

We go back underwater today to look at another of the 2020 LEGO® City sets that ventured into the deep, to search for mysterious aquatic monsters and the crystals that inevitably seem to scatter the seafloor in the LEGO universe.

The 286 pieces in 60264 Ocean Exploration Submarine make a realistic looking deep sea submarine, the rocky home of an anglerfish, a research drone and some well-kitted-out divers led by Jessica Sharpe. 

LEGO® House Limited Edition reveal: 40502 The Brick Moulding Machine

Today, Ben Davies reports on the exciting news that the physical LEGO® Store in LEGO House, Billund will re-open this week on Thursday 4 March 2021 and a new exclusive set will be available for sale.

Today, LEGO® House has unveiled their newest exclusive, and the second product in their “LEGO Limited Edition” series of sets after 40501 The Wooden Duck, which will remain available.

LEGO® review: 40450 Amelia Earhart Tribute

A new month means new LEGO® sets are available today! Although if you wait until 6 March (date may vary across countries) and spend US$99 / €99 / £99 you also get the gift-with-purchase 40450 Amelia Earhart Tribute, which Kev Levell reviews for you now. No matter when you buy LEGO, please consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Before Christmas, my little girl was doing a topic at school about Amelia Earhart. In preparing for this review, I asked my resident Earhart expert what she knew about the aviation pioneer. Brace yourself for a little turbulence here, we have apparently learnt that Amelia was “cool”, “had a red airplane” and “flewed it ‘cross the ‘lantic ocean.” Oh, to be seven again!

With that esoteric knowledge in place, come fly with me as we review the upcoming ‘gift with purchase’ (GWP) offering from LEGO®.