Elementary, my dear Brickman

Christmas is so last Thursday. This post is all about a happy New Year, because on January 1, the next set in the 'Modular' series hits shelves: 10246 Detective s Office. This annual treat from the Creator Expert line is aimed largely at adult fans and always delivers a complex build with interesting techniques, nice part usage, rare colours and new elements. In fact building these is such a treat, it feels a bit spoilery to point out the great techniques to you. And I am going to - but I've moved that part of this review to the end, so that those of you wishing to maintain the mystery for when you build it can simply stop reading when I warn you!

Love handles

A short post for a small set today! A weeny Creator set isn't normally the kind of thing I discuss here, but I had to get my hands on 2015 set 31028 Sea Plane just as soon as I could, for one reason and one reason alone.

BIONICLE 2015: Protectors

Scott Barnick (Aanchir) comes to the end of his thorough examination of the return of BIONICLE.

Hello, New Elementary readers! Today I’ll be reviewing the last three BIONICLE sets I received from the LEGO Group: 70778 Protector of Jungle, 70780 Protector of Water, and 70781 Protector of Earth. The six Protector sets will each cost $9.99 US/£9.99 GBP when they are released on January 1, 2015. This makes them the smallest sets currently revealed for the 2015 BIONICLE range, but they still boast some very interesting parts and colors that will greatly boost their appeal.

BIONICLE 2015: Lewa and Gali

Scott Barnick (Aanchir) resumes his examination of 2015's return of BIONICLE with set reviews of two more masters of the elements.

Today I’m bringing you a review of two more of the new Toa from next year’s LEGO® BIONICLE range: 70784 Lewa Master of Jungle and 70786 Gali Master of Water, both of which were generously donated to us by the LEGO Group. Each of these two sets will cost $14.99 USD/£12.99 GBP when they are released on January 1, 2015. As such, they can be considered fairly average-sized models for the new BIONICLE. But average-sized doesn’t mean boring! Read on to see just what new elements and techniques these two Toa have to offer!

Birds is the word

1 January 2015 sees the launch of the next Ideas set, 21301 Birds, designed by British LEGO (and bird) fan Tom Poulsom. I had the pleasure of meeting him last week at the massive Brick 2014 show in London, and can bring you some of his insight in this review of the set. Being sort-of-British myself I can't help feeling proud that two Ideas sets released within months of one another are by British fans, and it's an interesting coincidence that unlike other Ideas sets, neither are based on existing intellectual properties (IPs).

AFOLCON 2014

Just a note to say I've no time to put a post together this week... as AFOLCON/Brick 2014 is here in London, and today consisted of some 200 or so adult fans enjoying seminars and setting up displays in the MAAASSIVE exhibition hall. However I'll try to post bits and bobs on social media, so keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook feeds. Here are some tidbits from today.

The best thing about today was someone quietly pointing out that the minifig heads from Minecraft are 'in System' after all, so I was wrong in my recent post on the subject. By placing a 1x2 jumper and a 2x2 jumper next to each other, two Minecraft heads align. Now that is nice.

BIONICLE 2015: Kopaka

As part of our BIONICLE 'season', Scott Barnick (Aanchir) now turns his attention to some of the actual 2015 sets and how they compare to the originals.

Hello once more, New Elementary readers. Today I am here to bring you this site’s first true LEGO® BIONICLE set review! 70788 Kopaka Master of Ice is one of the larger BIONICLE sets for this upcoming wave, with 97 pieces and a $19.99 USD/£14.99 GBP price tag. This price might seem a bit steep for fans that are used to the prices of more traditional LEGO building sets, or even for BIONICLE fans that are used to Toa costing between $7 and $13 apiece, but this set’s price per piece is actually fairly consistent with many Toa sets of the past.

BIONICLE 2015: masks & weapons

Continuing our fiesta of constraction, Scott Barnick (Aanchir) furthers his examination of new BIONICLE parts by discussing the Toa’s weapons, masks, and a little bit about the enemies they’ll be facing in 2015.

As creative director Cerim Manovi said at the BIONICLE panel at New York Comic Con, “A Toa without weapons is not a Toa”. BIONICLE has always featured lots of ornate mechanical weaponry, and this year’s sets are no different. Also, taking cues from the weapons of the Toa Nuva sets from 2002 and some of the Toa sets from 2004, most of the characters’ weapons perform a dual function, which sometimes involves combining two weapons into one or separating one weapon into two. Typically, one of these modes will be combat-oriented and another movement-oriented. In the new sets, the designers call these “battle mode” and “adrenalin mode”.

BIONICLE 2015: new parts

Regardless of how you feel about the LEGO® Group's constraction themes there's no denying the appeal and success of BIONICLE, which ran from 2001-2010. To mark its return we have a series of articles from mega-fan Scott Barnick (Aanchir). Today is the first of two parts that share the exclusive insight he recently gained into the new elements coming in 2015, and explains LEGO's interesting Character and Creature Building System.

It’s easy to overlook in certain corners of the online LEGO community, but lately there has been a LOT of hubbub surrounding the impending return of one of my all-time favorite LEGO themes: BIONICLE. The new LEGO BIONICLE theme is a reboot of the classic storyline, so many things have been changed, but some of the theme’s most timeless story elements and design principles have been retained or re-imagined for a new generation of fans.

New kid on the blocks

Following Tim G's review of 21113 The Cave, I've got one more minifig-scale Minecraft set to tell you about today. However I can imagine that many of you will be rolling your eyes, yawning at the simplicity of these sets and won't be forking out your dosh on a bunch of 2x bricks. But don't dismiss these sets too hurriedly; the level of interesting parts in 21114 The Farm really surprised me.