Review: 10343 Mini Orchid and 10344 Lucky Bamboo from LEGO® Botanicals

In July, I reviewed LEGO® Botanicals sets 10368 Chrysanthemum & 10369 Plum Blossom. They were pronounced to be two of the Four Gentlemen: a set of traditional plants in East Asian culture. The remaining two are bamboo and orchid. Those flowers are less straightforward to make into LEGO sets: orchid because it already appeared in sets 10311 Orchid and 43237 Isabela's Flowerpot (review of 43237 by me, again), and bamboo because it's basically some sticks, and thus not interesting… or so we thought. 

On 1 January 2025, sets 10343 Mini Orchid and 10344 Lucky Bamboo will be available, and today I am going to see if they are worthy successors to the first pair – both of which got good marks from me.

Review + MOC: 71478 The Never Witch's Midnight Raven from LEGO® DREAMZzz™

The last 2024 LEGO® DREAMZzz™ set we're reviewing is another great example of the quirky set design of this original theme: a witch's hut nested atop a gigantic raven. So far, I've been critical towards many sets of this wave due to unfocused and messy set design. I've associated this with the alternative builds. I like how these sets offer different designs using the same parts, emphasising the nature of this medium – but so far, it has deemed sacrifices on the design coherence.

Obviously, it's much easier to make one focused set design with a specific set of parts. In this respect, 71478 The Never Witch's Midnight Raven is closer to the original August 2023 wave. There is a distinct B-Model, but it shares about 85% of the structure with the main model while still supporting very different play patterns. How does the raven fare?

Mind that Banana contest: The winners

With the new LEGO® Fortnite Odyssey social roleplay experience Brick Life launching today, 12 December 2024, now's the perfect moment to announce the winners of our Mind that Banana contest and find out which original creations won the prizes of LEGO Fortnite sets! 

We asked readers to create non-banana MOCs using LEGO bananas. With 102 entries to judge, finding the pick of the bunch was no easy task.

LEGO® parts 77845 & 77850: rounded plates

Occasionally, a new LEGO® part will present opportunities that I haven't encountered before. The family of rounded plates received two further wonderful new additions in 2023, and although they’re not quite so new anymore I felt that they were worthy of some exploration.

Best new LEGO® parts of 2024

The end of the year is typically a time for reflection, and for us New Elementarians, that means looking back at some of the coolest new LEGO® elements that were released in 2024!

After-Party Fest: Kev Levell's MOCs

One of my favourite LEGO® activities is a good old New Elementary parts festival. I love taking part, for a number of reasons. A bundle of lovely new parts arrive, supplied in the kind of quantities that would be prohibitively expensive for me to acquire in any of the normal ways. There are elements I perhaps might not gravitate to buying, and that's a nice challenge to face. There's a shared experience with fellow builders in the creation of MOCs that generally surprise and delight, both from my own build table and those of my co-contributors. They have become rarer in recent years and that too makes them a sweet experience. In short, even as a regular contributor to New Elementary, it's a privilege and an honour to be included.

2024 Skærbæk workshop and After-Party Fest: introducing the elements

New Elementary ran a building workshop at Skærbæk Fan Weekend in September 2024. During the event, attendees were tasked with making something using 10 elements released in the last 12 months as seed parts; we will show you some of the results in due course, but first up, it's our turn! We rounded up some of the reclaimed seed parts from the workshop to run one of our "parts festivals", and dispatched them to a couple of our regular contributors: Kev Levell and Caz Mockett, and one of the workshop attendees, Nathan Don as a guest builder.

So, welcome to After-PartyFest! For our first instalment, Tom Loftus introduces all 10 elements and to take a closer look at those that have escaped New Elementary's analytical eye so far. 

LEGO® parts 5533 & 5608: Column of Bubbles and Florence Flask

Today I'm taking a look at new LEGO® chemistry set elements released in June 2024, which have just become available on the Pick a Brick service today along with some 900 other June elements.

 

There are two moulds: a column of bubbles and a round-bottomed flask, each of which comes in two different colours. 

Review: 76924 Mercedes-AMG G 63 & SL 63 from LEGO® Speed Champions

LEGO® Speed Champions 76924 Mercedes-AMG G 63 & Mercedes-AMG SL 63 comes with several recolours, exclusive prints and two builds that couldn't be more different from each other – aside from the fact they're both cars, of course!

Review & MOC: 76925 Aston Martin Vantage Safety Car & AMR23 from LEGO® Speed Champions

LEGO® Speed Champions has long been in pole position as a theme, bringing us great-looking cars put together with brilliant building techniques and useful new elements. It seems 76925 Aston Martin Vantage Safety Car & AMR23 is another winner...

LEGO® City review: 60409 Yellow Mobile Construction Crane

Loftus? Lofty? There's a joke there somewhere. Anyway, today we take a look at LEGO® City 60409 Yellow Mobile Construction Crane. Confusingly, it's anything but LEGO yellow. Instead, it sports a bright light orange colour scheme and brings with it a host of recolours, new moulds and prints.

LEGO® Technic parts review: 42172 McLaren P1™

The LEGO® Technic Ultimate Car Concept Series, which traces its roots all the way back to 1977 with 853 Car Chassis and whose modern form was codified in 2016 with 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, gets its latest iteration in 2024 courtesy of set 42172 McLaren P1. 

Today, New Elementary will take a look at its most interesting elements. Alternatively, read our examination of the build process and functions of the LEGO Technic McLaren P1.

Wheel 30.4 x 20 with 5 holes (part 5650) from set 10337 Lamborghini Countach

LEGO® Icons set 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole is available for LEGO® Insiders from midnight tonight (i.e. Monday 1 July 2024).

Although Kev Levell as already reviewed it for us thoroughly, we've learnt something more about one of the new moulds created for the set: Wheel 30.4 x 20 with 5 holes in Flat Silver (6481570 | 5650).

LEGO® Icons review + MOC: 10328 Bouquet of Roses

The Botanical Collection is a subtheme of LEGO® Icons that features relatively affordable sets. In reality, similar life-size botanical subjects have found their way to other LEGO themes, too, including LEGO® Creator and, surprisingly, LEGO® Disney Princess sets. For me, these sets appeal as beautiful models. However, I'm foremost a MOC maker, and they are very good material for own creations – they include usually many of the same pieces, often in bright colours and sleek, organic shapes. 

The Botanical Collection often features many species, with differing colours, but set 10328 Bouquet of Roses focuses on strong red romanticism. How does it score with a MOC builder like me, and what did its pieces inspire me to build?

LEGO® Friends review: Adventure Camp sets 42622, 42624, 42626 & 42631

Grab your sleeping bag, citronella candle and first aid kit; we're going camping! The June 2024 LEGO® Friends wave includes 4 sets that are situated out in the wild: 42622 Adventure Camp Archery Range, 42624 Adventure Camp Cozy Cabins, 42626 Adventure Camp Water Sports, and 42631 Adventure Camp Tree House. Will these sets bring us some much needed relaxation, or will the bugs and bears keep us up at night?

LEGO® Icons parts review: 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole

The Lamborghini Countach represents perhaps the pinnacle of 1980s iconic sports car design. Exciting angles, crisp edges and subtle curves all balance perfectly in the epitome of the classic wedge-shaped sports car.

First seen in 1971 and available to buy from 1974, the Countach was designed by Marcello Gandini and had a style that endured in popularity over a 16-year production run that spanned six standard models. Of the six, perhaps the most iconic variant is the 5000QV, and it is that which LEGO® Icons has decided to reimagine in brick form, in set 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole.

Moko's MOCs with set 76414 Expecto Patronum

Parts wizard Moko is back with some more MOCs for New Elementary. This time he has been working his magic with the elements found in the 2023 LEGO® Harry Potter™ set 76414 Expecto Patronum.

LEGO® part 5404: Grateless Cheese Grater

Some call it cursed, others say it was overdue. Either way, the 2 x 1 x ⅔ 18° Slope (part 5404) is finally here, and we think it looks great! Or should that be grate-less?... 

... Because, of course, we have had the 'cheese grater' (61409) since 2008! So, does that make the new slope a grate-less cheese grater? 

Christopher Hoffmann's Ma.K MOC using 42156 PEUGEOT 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar

We invited Christopher Hoffmann to choose a LEGO® set with inspiring new parts to add to his collection and create his own MOC. Today he reveals his work, with a masterclass insight into the creative process, and the elements and techniques he used.

As I thumbed through the catalogue of sets to review, my inspiration was immediate and specific. It was September 2023 and the most wonderful time of the year, Ma.Ktoberfest, was just around the corner. Set 42156 PEUGEOT 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar, released 4 months prior, beckoned to me with the perfect ingredients for the theme: a range of new Technic panels in dark stone grey.

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...