It's the first of the month, which can only mean one thing: there are new sets available at LEGO.com!
Actually, it's a fairly quiet month in terms of releases compared to June's onslaught, but there are some highly desirable sets among the five that are launched today:
42240 Aston Martin Aramco AMR25 F1 Car ($230 / £199 / €230)
The pinball machine is a great functional model which I praised in my review, and the Swedish sports car is pretty awesome, too. I'm about 70% through building it, which has been a struggle during the western European heatwave. That's why I have not posted a review yet!
Unfortunately, gifts with purchase are thin on the ground, with just 40894 Koenigsegg Sadair's Spear Steering Wheel being offered to purchasers of 42232 Koenigsegg Sadair's Spear Megacar between now and the 6th of July.
Display frames provide a means of showcasing your favourite models on the wall, and are particularly useful when you've run out of horizontal surfaces to put them on.
In addition to making acrylic cases, such as the one we reviewed recently, BrickZoneHub also manufactures wall-mounted frames for specific models, such as the Technic ultimate cars.
The company has sent me one for 42172 McLaren P1 to peruse, which incorporates an LED strip around its perimeter.
43023 Lando Norris Helmet is one of four Formula 1 Drivers' helmets that have been released this year and what's interesting about this one is that it's a model of the helmet that was worn only once by the British driver, at Monaco this year, to celebrate McLaren's 1000th race.
I'm not going to do a full review because, construction-wise, it's 90% the same as 43014 Charles Leclerc Helmet, which we reviewed fully earlier this year.
Blocks Issue 141 goes inside the design of LEGO The Lord of the Rings: Minas Tirith
Discover the secrets behind the creation of the mighty new The Lord of the Rings LEGO set, 11377 Minas Tirith, in Issue 141 of Blocks – the monthly magazine for LEGO fans. The new edition also includes interviews on 77984 Jurassic Park Jeep Wrangler with Design Manager Henrik Rubin Saaby and Hero Factory with creative storyteller Christian Faber.
Issue 141 is available to order worldwide as part of a subscription or as a single issue at blocksmag.com and will be in UK stores from July 3.
When you get in touch with us via the contact form your messages are directed to a customer service platform to allow us to manage them efficiently.
Until last Monday we used FreshDesk, but its free plan has been discontinued, so we've switched to another provider, Zoho Desk.
I'm only mentioning this because we can't reply to messages sent to FreshDesk before the change, so if you're awaiting a reply and none has been forthcoming, that'll be why. Feel free to get in touch again as everything's up and running on the new system now.
LEGO's last foray into playable arcade games, 21337 Table Football, was an unmitigated disaster, so it's perhaps surprising that the company is launching another, 11374 Arcade Pinball Machine.
As well as promising to be more than just a display model, it's also looking to tap into our collective nostalgia for Classic Space. It succeeds in one of these aims, but not the other...
Jay's Brick Blog has revealed that the set given to attendees of this year's LEGO Inside Tours in Billund is 4000049 Vintage LEGO Logo.
The 1,614-piece set builds a 3D version of the logo used by the LEGO company in 1946 that, in addition to a plethora of drum lacquered gold pieces that make up the letters, also includes some surprises in a 'secret' drawer housed in the base.
It looks to be one of the better Inside Tour sets, so is likely to command a hefty price on the secondary market, especially as so few are made and most participants do not part with them. Those that do can recoup most of the cost of the tour.
Head on over to Jay's Brick Blog to see back of the box photos, the inside details and close-up pictures of the built model.
Pre-orders for the five sets that comprise BrickLink Designer Program series 8 are now being accepted.
All models that receive at least 3,000 orders will be manufactured and, as before, production numbers are expected to be flexible, so even popular sets should be available for a reasonable length of time.
The pre-ordering phase lasts until June 18, with production and shipping beginning in November.
View the five sets after the break, then place your pre-order here. Note that Brickset does NOT receive an affiliate commission on BLDP sets.
Creator 3-in-1 animals are among the best sets released in recent years, offering great-looking models, unrivalled creativity, and excellent value for money.
This year there seems to be more of them than ever, including 31386 Wild Animals: Majestic Lion, one of three that have just been released.
Unusually, all three models are variations of the same species of animal, in this case lions, of course.
I suspect that the first thing you wondered when the set was revealed was whether its rear end is anatomically accurate, or whether certain features are missing...
I think we can guess the answer to that already, but empirical evidence now backs our theory up.
Amazon.co.uk has slowly been dropping the prices of the sets pretty much from day one, and now some of them are almost 50% off, just three months after their launch.
For example, the price of 75422 Yoda's Hut and Jedi Training has been slashed from £59.99 to £30.83, and 75420 Luke's Landspeeder from £34.99 to £20.40. These are sets that are not 'smart' at all until you've spent at least another £60 on a set that contains a smart brick and charger.
Most of the others have been reduced by 25% or so. Even at those prices, they do not look like good value to me.
What's also telling are the figures Amazon quotes for the number of copies that have been sold in the last month. 75422 Yoda's Hut and Jedi Training has sold just 200+, 75420 Luke's Landspeeder, 300+. Those numbers compare very unfavourably with, say, Creator, City or Ninjago sets, which can run into the thousands.
Still, if you're tempted to see what all the fuss is about, now's a good time to find out. Take a look at Buy listing which shows the current discounts at your local Amazon for all Star Wars Smart Play sets. The reductions are not as high in Germany and France, but are still significant, and unfortunately they've not been discounted at all in the USA, at least on Amazon. There have been some discounts at Walmart though.
11511 Water Lilies is one of three Botanical sets released this month and, like 11505 Woodland Mushrooms, it introduces a new branch of nature to the theme, in this case an aquatic one.
It's an attractive set, but it comes at a high price...
The 171-piece set 11514 Cosmos Flowers is one of three new additions to the hugely popular and successful Botanicals collection, offering a pretty posy at a pocket-money price, and a good excuse for me to make more 3D printed vases.
A model of the beautiful Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona has been revealed. It contains in excess of 12,000 pieces, making it the largest LEGO set ever, in terms of number of parts.
It looks absolutely stunning, not only capturing the exquisite architectural details inside and out, but also the incredible lighting inside that's produced when the sun shines through the colourful stained-glass windows.
Construction of the basilica began in 1882 and a year later Antoni Gaudí took over the project. This year marks the centenary of his death, and although much work remains to finish sculptures and decorative elements, the building's main structure was completed earlier this year when the final stone was placed on top of the central tower.
Unfortunately, we have to wait five months before we can do the same on the model but, in the meantime, you can read the press release and view more pictures after the break.
21065 Sagrada Família
12,060 pieces, rated 18+
$799.99 / £649.99 / €749.99 Available to pre-order now and released on November 1st.
LEGO Architecture Sagrada Famíliaset unveiled to honour Gaudí's 100-year legacy
To commemorate the centennial year of Antoni Gaudí’s passing, the LEGO Group today reveals the LEGO Architecture Sagrada Família set – a detailed new model inspired by one of the world’s most recognisable and ambitious buildings. Designed to reflect both the scale and spirit of Gaudí’s vision, the set offers builders an immersive way to explore the architecture of one of the most complex and celebrated buildings ever conceived.
Acrylic cases for keeping your models dust-free appear to be popular, judging by the number of companies that make them nowadays.
Relative newcomer in that space, BrickZoneHub, has sent us one of its offerings to examine, designed to house 10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell.
It has a few nice features that I've not encountered in its competitors, but they come at a price.
Two new F1 helmets have been added to LEGO.com today.
Like their Ferrari predecessors, the pair of McLaren drivers' helmets, 43017 Oscar Piastri and 43023 Lando Norris, look absolutely superb and, like on the first two, all decorations (except on the visor) are printed.
They are available now at LEGO.com, priced at £79.99 / $89.99.
Following the launch of LEGO SMART Play with Star Wars in March, a selection of new Pokémon SMART Play sets have been announced today!
Auditorily, the use of SMART Play makes sense with Pokémon since the tech is similar to that of the Game Boy. Pikachu saying its name to communicate, like it does on the title screen of Pokémon Yellow, is entirely possible!
Furthermore, most of the Pokémon in the early games don't say their name as their cry like they do on the show. Instead, they sound more like electronic babble, so this might actually be the perfect application for the SMART Brick.
The press release follows:
Build, Train, Nurture & Battle: New LEGO Pokémon SMART Play sets allow children to feel like Pokémon Trainers!
Today, the LEGO Group and The Pokémon Company International unveiled the latest sets in the LEGO Pokémon range, bringing to kids around the world even more opportunities to play with their favourite Pokémon in LEGO brick form.
Thanks to LEGO SMART Play technology, builders will feel like Pokémon Trainers, as their beloved LEGO Pokémon now have the power to play back. Going beyond building, the sets are all about training, nurturing and battling! The LEGO SMART Play System is powered by the LEGO SMART Brick – packed with more than twenty patented world-firsts within its technology, making LEGO builds respond to how kids play through light, sound, motion and sensing, all without screens.
The most interesting and innovative addition to the Botanical collection this year is undoubtedly 11505 Woodland Mushrooms, an eye-catching and very colourful display of various varieties of toadstools and plants typically found on the ground of Northern European woodlands.
The highly-anticipated next model in the Lord of the Rings collection, 11377 Minas Tirith, is now available at LEGO.com.
The 8,200-piece set costs £579.99, $649.99, €649.99 and if you buy it before the 7th June, you'll receive the essential companion set 40893 Grond as a gift with purchase, but only while stocks last.
Remember that when you buy at LEGO.com via our links we'll receive a small commission that helps keep us online and free for all to use.