Pick a Brick update: How to download your cart

The development team at LEGO® Pick a Brick have released another awesome update to the service that LEGO builders have been asking for: you can now download a list of the elements in your shopping cart.

Revealed: 21353 The Botanical Garden from LEGO® Ideas

On 1 November 2024, LEGO is releasing the next fan-inspired LEGO® Ideas set: The Botanical Garden! This set is based on a fan design by Valentina Bima (Goannas89), which reached the required 10,000 supporter milestone back on 9 January 2023, and was announced as a future set in the results of the First 2023 Review last December. 

21353 The Botanical Garden will undoubtedly appeal to a lot of builders not only for its stately display presence and detailed construction, but also for its outstanding variety of useful plant-building elements. Without further ado, let’s put on our gardening gloves and dig in!

Moulding LEGO® mini-doll legs

We recently came across a new LEGO® element. They look somewhat macabre and perhaps more akin to something from John Carpenter's The Thing than LEGO.

The elements in question appears to be mini-doll legs that are moulded in pairs. The double-ended legs started a discussion here at New Elementary about mini-doll leg moulding processes and the timing of printing. Read on to hear our theories.

LEGO® Icons 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV: review & designer interview

I've stripped down the parts in the LEGO® Icons set 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole, got myself revved up, and built it. Today I'm taking a look its clever construction, and speaking with its lead designer, Sven Franic. I even took it for a bit of a respray in the 'shop!

LEGO® House Exclusive set review and interview: 40505 LEGO Building Systems

Recently I was lucky enough to attend an online reveal of the latest LEGO® House exclusive set, 40505 LEGO Building Systems, with the opportunity to ask some questions to the set's designers, Stuart Harris (LEGO House Master Builder) and Markus Rollbüller (Senior Designer at The LEGO Group). 

Temporary changes to LEGO® Pick a Brick in 2024

Many of you have been asking here on the site and across our social channels about the delays in adding new elements to the LEGO®  Pick a Brick (PaB) online service. We have an update from LEGO, and it is not good news in the short term.

In early January 2024 we received a list of new elements that were to be added later that month to PaB, but this didn't happen. Furthermore, readers say some 5000 existing elements have now been removed from the PaB "Standard" assortment. These elements will return, and the new parts will be added - but the estimated date for this is now March. 

LEGO® Icons review and interview: 10331 Kingfisher Bird

LEGO® Icons is testing the waters with new subject matter. 10331 Kingfisher Bird is the latest black-boxed 18+ set and hopes to entice new builders with its entry-level pricing. Can it succeed? Let's dive in...

Our review features excerpts from our roundtable discussion with Senior Designer Sven Franic, who was responsible for this set's design. Some text has been edited for readability.

LEGO® Friends build review and interview: 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion

With 2275 parts, 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion is the largest LEGO® Friends set to date. These parts include a lot of interesting new elements which we’ve already taken a look at, but now it’s time to start building!

LEGO® NINJAGO® review: mech sets 71806, 71807 & 71808

Over the years we've seen many mechs in the LEGO® NINJAGO® line-up and their builds have increasingly evolved through time. In 2024 the designers are introducing new elements to bring even more build options and play features.

Today we’ll be taking a look at 3 mechs from the first wave of 2024 sets; 71806 Cole's Earth Mech, 71807 Sora's Tech Mech and 71808 Kai's Fire Mech.

LEGO® Friends parts review: 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion

LEGO® Friends celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2022, and in 2023 we saw a relaunch of the theme. The Heartlake City Universe made a time jump, introducing a new generation of characters. But the old friends were not forgotten! The original group is meeting up in 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion for a reunion and catching up on adventures since their ‘split’. We’ll join the party soon, but first we’ll be taking a look at all the new elements found in the set. And there is a new color!

LEGO® DREAMZzz™ 2024 new parts and minifigures, and design team interview

The LEGO® DREAMZzz™ sets for January 2024 maintain the eclectic, fantastical nature of the theme with five new sets made up of bright shades, sinister baddies and wild mash-ups.

Naturally we're starting with a review of the new and rare parts in the wave. Sharing info along the way are designers Carter Baldwin, Trine Kinch Møller and Freddy Charters, and executive producer Tommy Andreasen. It's a very minifigure-focused wave but that didn't stop the design team from also stuffing in 16 recoloured curves, decorative pieces and more—some in the all-new colour Reddish Orange. Let's enter the Dream World and see what new pieces we find.

LEGO® Monkie Kid™ 80054 Megapolis City: interview with designer Wen Xiaodong

Want to see more of the thrilling 2024 LEGO® Monkie Kid™ set, 80054 Megapolis City 5th Anniversary? Senior Designer/ Show Producer 温笑冬 (Wēn Xiàodōng) told us more about the set and its Easter eggs when I met him at the Recognised LEGO® Fan Media Days in Billund, Denmark in September. In advance of our set review next week, here are the highlights of our interview, with photography by Boris Vanrillaer of Stuck in Plastic.

 

LEGO® part 4042: Curved Bar with Axle End and 1 x 1 Round Plate

Thomas Jenkins thought it was time to take a closer look at an interesting new element that has been appearing in more and more sets since its release earlier this year.

Bar Curved with Axle End and 1 x 1 Round Plate is a bended element we first noticed in two LEGO® Marvel sets earlier this year, but do you know which set it was originally designed for? Read on to find out more...

LEGO® 80113 Family Reunion Celebration: interview with designer Niels Frederiksen

In September, I was lucky enough to attend the Recognised LEGO® Fan Media Days in Billund, Denmark on behalf of New Elementary, along with our guest photographer, Boris Vanrillaer of Stuck in Plastic.

We had the opportunity to talk to Niels Mølgård Frederiksen (above right), Associate Creative Lead for LEGO® Monkie Kid and designer of the latest LEGO® Spring Festival release, 80113 Family Reunion Celebration.

LEGO® part 4190: The Pagoda Plate

As soon as the first images of sets 21060 Himeji Castle and 10315 Tranquil Garden surfaced, we spotted a new plate that required our attention. With set 21060 now in hand, I take a closer look at the new element we are calling the "Pagoda Plate".

I love a good LEGO roof technique. I’ve built a few in my time as a New E. contributor including shrines, fishmongers, and Hobbit holes. So, if you’re anything like me, you’ll love this exciting new LEGO element! Join me as I take a closer look.

LEGO® Icons set review: 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell

In a previous article, I took a careful look at the numerous new element designs, decorations, and recolours that appear in the forthcoming 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell set from the LEGO® ICONS™ theme. Today, I'll be expanding upon that by taking a look at the building process and finished model, with additional insight from Senior Graphic Designer, Ashwin Visser, who New Elementary spoke to at Recognized LEGO Fan Media Days in September 2022.

LEGO® element design interview: 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell

No single designer is ever wholly responsible for a LEGO® set, so to get a better understanding of the new elements in 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, we spoke to four of them! Our very own ‘Council of Elements’ comprises three element designers: LEGO Senior Designer Mani Zamani, LEGO Senior Designer Gitte Thorsen and LEGO Design Master Yoel Mazur; as well as one of the model designers, LEGO Design Master Wes Talbott.

LEGO® Speed Champions review: 76916 Porsche 963

The Porsche 963 is the German automobile manufacturer's newest race car and draws inspiration from the 956 and 962 from Porsche's 1980s racing days. It was revealed last year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and just made its racing debut last month at Daytona. Better still, next month it's getting a brick-built replica in LEGO® Speed Champions 76916 Porsche 963, which we are looking at today.

LEGO® Speed Champions interview: Christopher Stamp discusses new parts 3385 and 3387

Previously, we teased several new LEGO® Speed Champions elements that will be appearing in the March 2023 lineup. Today, we share another excerpt from our discussion with the theme's creative lead, Christopher Leslie Stamp, discussing another two new moulds in depth: a chassis and a wheel arch. 

LEGO® Speed Champions interview: Christopher Stamp discusses new part 3386

During Skaerbaek Fan Media Days 2022, New Elementary’s Tim Johnson and Francesco Spreafico had the opportunity to chat with LEGO® Speed Champions Design Manager Christopher Leslie Stamp about the new sets to be released in 2023. As part of this, Chris unveiled several new elements that will be appearing in the March wave of sets.

We will be telling you more about the sets and elements soon, but today we share with you our discussion about one particularly interesting element, which Chris considers “a game changer”!