LEGO® NINJAGO EVO review: 71760, 71761, 71762 & 71763

Áron Gerencsér (@_pohaturon) takes a look at the range of 2022 LEGO® NINJAGO sets aimed at builders aged 6+: 71760 Jay’s Thunder Dragon EVO, 71761 Zane’s Power Up Mech EVO, 71762 Kai’s Fire Dragon EVO and 71763 Lloyd’s Race Car EVO. Buying these? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: UK LEGO Shop (for Europe, 'Change Region') | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.

Constraction’s back, baby!

The first wave of LEGO® NINJAGO sets in 2022 is doing things a bit differently compared to previous waves, and thanks to set designer Niek van Slagmaat’s documentation on the process, we have some insight into what motivated this new approach.

Old Elementary: Part 4 of the LEGO® BIONICLE 20th Anniversary Festival

Guest contributors Alex Van de Kleut, Mitch H and Matt Goldberg conclude our celebration of the 20th anniversary of LEGO® BIONICLE with three more parts; examined and utilized in builds.

Old Elementary: Part 3 of the LEGO® BIONICLE 20th Anniversary Festival

Max Howell, Kevin Huxhold, Thomas Jenkins, Johann Dakitsch and Zachary Hill join our celebration of the 20th anniversary of LEGO® BIONICLE! Five more parts have been chosen by our regular and guest contributors; they analyse them for you and then get building original creations.

Please consider following New Elementary's affiliate links if you're buying from LEGO.com; we may earn a commission. LEGO.com USA | LEGO.com Australia | LEGO.com UK (for Europe, 'Change region'). 

Old Elementary: Part 2 of the LEGO® BIONICLE 20th Anniversary Festival

Tim Goddard, Aiden Rexroad, Caz Mockett and Disty continue our celebration of the 20th anniversary of LEGO® BIONICLE, the New Elementary way! Five more parts have been examined by our regular and guest contributors.

Old Elementary: Part 1 of the LEGO® BIONICLE 20th Anniversary Festival

Áron Gerencsér, Eero Okkonen, Mitch H and Ivan Martynov kick off a fresh Parts Festival using old parts, in honour of the weird and wonderful elements from LEGO® BIONICLE.

LEGO® BIONICLE is a beloved, if controversial, theme and it turned 20 this year. Memorable to different people for different reasons - be it its extensive story and mythology, or the feat of saving the company from bankruptcy, or the unusual moulds which at first glance might seem hard to finesse into the broader LEGO building system. The legacy of ‘Constraction’ was kicked off by Slizers / Throwbots, popularized by Bionicle, streamlined with CCBS, and lives on today in brick-built creatures and mechs using tow ball joints. Once revived and twice cancelled, Bionicle still has a dedicated fanbase full of enthusiastic builders. In true New Elementary fashion, we decided to celebrate the occasion by digging into the parts. 

8-Year Old Elementary: Eero Okkonen's 8 LEGO® Pieces For 8 Years

It's our 8th anniversary of publishing LEGO® articles today! As part of our celebrations, here's a fun article from Eero Okkonen, who even explains why LEGO part 26047 is a good thing.

The basic unit of LEGO® System is not a millimetre, module, stud or plate. It is a part, or piece, or element (or sometimes probably brick, but that being also a subtype leads to confusion and turmoil). All sets and MOCs and exhibits and contest entries consist of pieces and, as this is New Elementary, we like to talk about pieces.

This little article (articlette?) goes through 8 pleasant, nice and useful pieces. There is no common theme binding them together; some are old, some are new, some are super common and some might be a bit obscure. This is not a “top 8 pieces ever” list - just a little love letter to helpful little moulds that make building fun.

What new LEGO® pieces were released in June 2021?

TobyMac (on Rebrickable) has created a list showing all 895 new LEGO® elements added in June 2021, with links to which sets they come in so you can check for the ones you might be interested in. There's a lot of interesting stuff here!

Whenever you're buying from LEGO.com, including Bricks & Pieces, please consider following our affiliate links to get there, New Elementary may get a commission: USA, UK or AU. Other countries, choose 'Change Region'.

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® Monkie Kid review: 80022 Spider Queen's Arachnoid Base

Aron Gerencsér (@_pohaturon) continues to work through the 2021 LEGO® Monkie Kid sets with 80022 Spider Queen's Arachnoid Base. It is available from tomorrow, 1 March 2021 along with the rest of the range, so get ready! – and 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.

If you’re excited about the new spider-themed villains of Monkie Kid’s second season, 80022 Spider Queen’s Arachnoid Base is definitely the set to keep an eye out for. It has 1170 pieces and comes at the price of US$119.99/ £89.99/ € 99,99/ 849.0 HKD/ 11980.0 JPY/ 149900.0 KRW/ 499.9 MYR/ 179.9 SGD/ 3699.0 TWD. On first glance, it boasts an impressive selection of purple hues among other even more exciting recolours as well as some interesting play features. Will we get caught in its web, or is it time to break out the insecticide? 

LEGO® Monkie Kid review: 80020 White Dragon Horse Jet

Aron Gerencsér (on Flickr) kicks off his series of 2021 LEGO® Monkie Kid set reviews today, commencing with the stunning 80020 White Dragon Horse Jet. Buying this set when it is released 1 March? 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.

80020 White Dragon Horse Jet is one of the smaller sets in the first wave of 2021 Monkie Kid products, including 565 pieces with a price of US$59.99/ 39.99€/ HK$329/ ¥4780/ 59900 KRW/ 179.9 MYR/ SG$64.9/ TW$1399. The set includes three minifigures, an interesting selection of parts and a blue cat with a mohawk riding a weaponised hoverboard. What more could you possibly need? 

Old Elementary: Eero Okkonen's gentle LEGO® curves

Finnish LEGO® builder Eero Okkonen (now on Instagram!) kicks off his new series of articles with us today where he will look at unusual parts he likes to use in his models and reveals some techniques.

I thought it might be interesting to briefly present several LEGO® pieces I like to use in builds that are not necessarily rare but are maybe a bit forgotten, along with examples of older MOCs of mine. To kick things off, two parts from the early 2000s that sport gentle curves: Windscreen 9 x 3 x 1 2/3 Bubble Canopy and Wedge 4 x 3 Cut Back with Cutout.

What new LEGO® pieces were released in December 2020 & January 2021?

We love keeping you up to date with what new LEGO pieces are available for you to use in your building and so it is high time for another of our lists created by Toby Mac (on Rebrickable) revealing elements recently added. We skipped this last month as December was a quiet month for new releases so those few are included here, along with the absolute avalanche of January releases! There might also be a few pre-December ones that sneaked through.

Unfortunately it seems most if not all new parts are currently unavailable from Bricks & Pieces; at a guess I imagine this is because it is High Season for the LEGO Group. But whenever you're buying from LEGO including Bricks & Pieces, please consider following our affiliate links to get there; USA, UK or AU. New Elementary may get a commission.

LEGO® Ninjago MOCs: 70687 Spinjitzu Burst - Lloyd

Recently Inthert took a look at the parts in LEGO® 70686 Spinjitzu Burst - Kai, in particular the strange new plate with 4 handles. Now, Aron Gerencsér (@_pohaturon) focuses on the other new mould present in these Spinjitzu sets and uses it in his own creations. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Occasionally the LEGO Group releases a highly specialised part designed, very pointedly, to fulfil a specific role in a play feature – with versatility taking the back seat. Naturally, we then do our absolute best to subvert that specific role and find other uses for them. 

One such part is Function Element W Hinge, aka Energy Burst with Wide Clip (Design ID 66960) appearing in three dual-moulded colour variants throughout this year’s Ninjago Spinjitzu Burst sets. I was sent 5 copies of 70687 Spinjitzu Burst - Lloyd, each including 4 of them in Silver Metallic with Transparent Bright Green (Element ID 6322846), giving me 20 of these to mess around with!

Tipper Ends: Eero Okkonen's Aurora Sievert & Hurricane III

Yesterday, Eero Okkonen examined in great detail the history and geometry of the 'Tipper End Family' of LEGO® pieces, especially Vehicle, Tipper End Flat with Pins (Design ID 3145) and Vehicle, Tipper End Sloped (3436). Today he reveals this never-before-published model he built in February using tipper ends, but first he takes us through earlier models where he utilised these unusual parts that were introduced five decades ago.  

Previous Builds

A more mathematical approach to tipper ends is a new and exciting world to me, but I’ve used them few times before, mostly as armour shells or clothing, something akin to Constraction shells.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Eero Okkonen's Doctor Who and the Frost Serpent

Finnish builder Eero Okkonen returns to our Parts Festival today with another two varied creations using new LEGO® parts. You can see his earlier two builds here and follow his builds on his blog.

Frost Serpent Arises

Sometimes the bulk of a creation stays almost the same while the concept changes completely. 

LEGO® House interview: Fan designer Simon Hundsbichler & LEGO Designer Stuart Harris

On 26 September 2019, LEGO® House threw a party for AFOLs to mark the second anniversary of its inauguration. Among the events was the reveal of the fan models chosen to appear in the Masterpiece Gallery for the coming year, including three creations by Simon Hundsbichler (Simon NH) from Austria who you may recall participating in our 2018 Parts Festival. We met up with Simon for a chat and were joined by Stuart Harris, Senior Experience Designer at the LEGO House, for some context and information about how AFOLs and their artworks are chosen.

What are the intentions of the Masterpiece Gallery, Stuart?

Stuart: When Kjeld was dreaming up the idea of doing LEGO House, the fans were an integral part of his plans so they’ve been involved in everything – even reviewing the architecture and giving us input, which is why we have this giant 2x4 brick on top of the building. So they’ve always been planned in, to be a permanent part of the LEGO House. We have a number of places where the fans can showcase their work and the ‘main’ showcase, if you like, is here in the Masterpiece Gallery. This is the one place where we put together fan collections.

2019 Parts Fest #1: Duncan Lindbo kills bugs

Duncan Lindbo returns from the garden today with a rather nasty discovery for our LEGO® Parts Festival.

There I was, out getting some fresh air, when a flash of purple caught my eye. Upon further investigation, it turned out to be some kind of foul alien worm. In an abundance of caution, I put on a pair of thick gloves before handling the specimen.

Nasty little critter, isn’t it?

NEXOGON: Wearable LEGO® creation

When selecting builders for our parts festival, one thing I was looking for was the unusual. So I couldn't pass up on Blair Archer's wild idea to add Nexogons to the outfit he was developing for his local LEGO® convention in Portland, Oregon! He shares the ups and downs of this inspiring project with us today. (Oh - and if you haven't yet seen Blair's 1979 ALIEN Xenomorph on his Flickr page, you totally need to check that out too.)

For some time now, I had a ‘wearable LEGO creation’ concept rolling around in my mind and various sketches in my notebooks. I'd been wanting to build a cyberpunk-style Samurai suit of armor/battledress, but was struggling with the fashion design element since LEGO connections don't lend themselves to creating curves or complex polygons very easily (at least not ones that can withstand motion, without being overly rigid/heavy/uncomfortable to wear). I jumped at the chance last year to load up on Mixels joints in bulk, thinking these would be ideal for creating a LEGO wearable piece that could conform to the shape of a human body, and withstand some bending and movement.

LEGO® BIONICLE® Team Interview

ALSO: Read our interview with LEGO Architecture designer Rok Žgalin Kobe

To conclude our farewell to LEGO® BIONICLE® “Generation 2”, we have an interview with three members of the team. This was actually recorded prior to the announcement that the theme would be ending, but of course these guys continue to make Constraction figures with The LEGO Group, so whilst BIONICLE is dead (or perhaps merely dormant), the elements live on!

Ekimu and Umarak

With 2016 drawing to a close, we are going to spend a couple of posts looking back at LEGO® BIONICLE®, a theme which ended (for a second time) this year. On 30th December we have an interview with the team who were responsible for the sets, elements, story and marketing but to kick things off today, Scott Barnick examines two of the final sets released in the theme.

Hello, New Elementary readers! I’m going to be reviewing this year’s final two Bionicle sets, 71312 Ekimu the Mask Maker and 71316 Umarak the Destroyer. Sadly, these will also likely be the last Bionicle set reviews here on New Elementary for the foreseeable future, since this is the final wave for the current generation of Bionicle.