17 June 2024
LEGO® Icons 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV: review & designer interview
04 March 2024
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).
25 January 2024
LEGO® Icons review and interview: 10331 Kingfisher Bird
31 December 2023
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!
21 December 2023
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.
18 December 2023
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!
14 December 2023
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.
30 November 2023
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.
28 November 2023
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.
06 November 2023
LEGO® 80113 Family Reunion Celebration: interview with designer Niels Frederiksen
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.
28 July 2023
LEGO® part 4190: 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.
04 March 2023
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.
06 February 2023
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.
31 December 2022
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”!
15 November 2022
LEGO® 10307 Eiffel Tower: Designer interview with Rok Žgalin Kobe
The next LEGO® ICONS™set will be the tallest LEGO set to date: a new version of that most iconic of landmarks, the Eiffel Tower. We got to speak with LEGO Senior Designer Rok Žgalin Kobe at Fan Media Days in Billund, Denmark in September. Rok discusses their approach, and the challenges of designing such a huge set.
01 July 2022
LEGO® Speed Champions interview with Christopher Stamp: Iconic Movie and TV Vehicles
We were thrilled to be invited for a chat with LEGO® Speed Champions Design Manager Christopher Leslie Stamp about the upcoming sets 76911 007 Aston Martin DB5 and 79612 Fast & Furious 1970 Dodge Charger R/T, which we reviewed yesterday.
Kev Levell took the passenger's seat as Chris jumped behind the steering wheel and took us for a drive around the new sets and elements! The transcription has been edited for clarity, readability and narrative flow.
03 May 2022
LEGO® Horizon Forbidden West review & interview: 76989 Tallneck
Products in this article were provided by LEGO®; the author's opinions are their own.
Role-playing games elicit high hopes. Players expect a deep story, stunning graphics, and fulfilling gameplay, and only the best games spawn a successful franchise. Horizon Forbidden West solidifies the impact left by Aloy and her robo-dino co-stars of Horizon Zero Dawn, and now just three months after the sequel’s release a LEGO® set celebrating the series has just hit the shelves.30 March 2022
LEGO® Star Wars review: 75329 Death Star Trench Run, 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training & 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor
Products in this article were provided by LEGO®; the author's opinions are their own.
Today I’m taking a look at a new line of sets labelled as the ‘LEGO® STAR WARS Diorama Collection’. As you might guess from the name, each consists of a diorama depicting an iconic scene from the Star Wars movies. The 3 sets are:
- 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama from The Empire Strikes Back, with 1,000 parts (I love that round number!), RRP 119.99 AUD / 109.99 CAD / 79.99 EUR/ 69.99 GBD / 79.99 US.
- 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama from A New Hope, with 802 parts, RRP 149.99 AUD / 119.99 CAD / 89.99 EUR / 79.99 GBD / 89.99 USD.
- 75329 Death Star Trench Run from A New Hope, with 665 parts, RRP 89.99 AUD / 79.99 CAD / 59.99 EUR/ 54.99 GBD / 59.99 USD.
They are available from 26 April 2022 and you can pre-order now – please consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'.
03 February 2022
LEGO® Speed Champions 2022: Interview with Christopher Stamp
The 2022 range of LEGO® Speed Champions has been revealed, and we were excited to once again speak to LEGO Design Manager Specialist Christopher Leslie Stamp. Tim Johnson and Ben Davies had a quick video chat with Chris at Fan Media Days in May 2021 where he told us about the highlights of each set: 76906 1970 Ferrari 512 M, 76907 Lotus Evija, 76908 Lamborghini Countach, 76909 Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance & Mercedes-AMG Project One, and 76910 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro and Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
10 November 2021
LEGO® Element Development: the Friends Hoop – Interview with Poul A Thomsen
Alexandre Campos and TobyMac complete our current run of Element Developer Q&As today as we speak to Poul A Thomsen, Mechanical Engineer at the LEGO Group, about the LEGO® Friends “hoop element” (77107). Then, Alex and Toby investigate the geometry of this new element. Transcripts were edited for clarity, readability and narrative flow.
Curved LEGO Technic beams, most notably the Technic Gear Rack 1/4 Circle 11 x 11 35 Teeth (24121), aren't common, and any addition is welcome. Indeed, another "banana gear" was just revealed yesterday in the upcoming LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series 75313 AT-AT! But today we are here to talk about the Technic Beam Round 11 x 11, revealed earlier this year in LEGO Friends. As you might guess from its name, is a Technic beam that is round and has a diameter of 11 modules.