LEGO recently revealed 21332 The Globe that will go on sale next month, but according to Ralf Langer, it’s not really accurate to what LEGO world should look like. Where are the straight edges, the clean lines, the blocks? This cubic version Ralph designed is much better for our brickish hearts. The depth in the water and the tiled continents look gorgeous together, and as cool as the official set looks, it’s kind of making me want to redo it in this style already.
When Frodo and Sam approached Mordor, they felt a great dread about land of the dark lord Sauron. LEGO builder Hubba Blöoba has captured those ominous vibes with this fantastic microscale model of the Black Gate, where the hobbits snuck into Sauron’s wasteland. Beneath the gathering stormclouds, the eery glow from Mount Doom is excellently portrayed with a gradient of plates. The shallow depth of field used in photographing this mini model puts the tower of Barad-dûr out of focus, making the scene feel even more realistic.
LEGO Ideas is spinning up to release the next set from the crowd-sourcing platform, 21332 The Globe. Designed as a traditional earth globe, the newest set is based on the project submission from fan Guillaume Roussel, where it reached the requisite 10k votes on May 1, 2020, and was approved to become a set in September of that year. The official set has 2,585 pieces and will be available starting Feb. 1 for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £TBD. The 10-inch globe follows last year’s release of 31203 World Map in bringing geography-related sets to LEGO fans and features glow-in-the-dark tiles for labelling the continents and oceans.
Read the full press release and see more pictures below, and be sure to also check out our full, hands-on review of this set.
If I were searching for an island of magic like the explorer in this LEGO vignette by Josh, I’d be pretty excited when I saw this. Josh doesn’t provide us any further details on the specifics, but this mysterious island is flowing with lava and surrounded by a steaming sea. At the center lies some sort of magical cauldron. Note the subtle gradient beneath the transparent light blue tiles, giving the water a sense of depth.
Railways aren’t all built alike, and that’s what allows Pieter Post to create this awesome bit of recursion in a LEGO diorama. The green engine is a narrow-gauge steam engine, allowing it to be transported on a standard-gauge flatcar. The engine and flatcar both are magnificent, with lots of details that are so cleanly sculpted they blend in, even down to the wood-slatted structure on the back of the flat—a structure whose purpose escapes me. I also love that Pieter hasn’t simply shown the pair on a straight piece of track, but instead took the time to sculpt a small diorama. The uneven edges add a great deal of visual interest and give the scene a feeling of being part of something much larger.
Today LEGO has announced that it is finally and completely sunsetting LEGO Digital Designer (LDD), the company’s digital building program that was first introduced in 2004 as a consumer version of LEGO’s internal design software. While LEGO says it will continue to use a version of LDD internally, it is putting forward BrickLink’s Studio software as the officially supported digital building program, which LEGO acquired in 2019 when it purchased BrickLink. Studio supports most files created in LDD, LDRAW, and some other formats, and supports features such as automatically populating a BrickLink wanted list. Although LEGO announced way back in 2016 that LDD would no longer be supported, over the past few years it has continued to receive infrequent updates and even a selection of newer elements. However, the company now says it plans to remove the download page altogether. Users who have installed the program already will be able to continue to use it, and LDD will continue to be available unofficially from third-party download sites.
Click to read the full press release from LEGO
LEGO is rolling out an update to its online ordering systems for individual bricks in February. The current Bricks & Pieces system is being merged into an overhauled Pick a Brick platform. The current systems are fragmented and difficult to use. While most fans are familiar with online Pick a Brick, many are completely unaware of the Bricks & Pieces platform, which is an offshoot of the replacement parts system and is only accessible via a small link in the footer of LEGO’s website. Screenshots we’ve viewed of the new platform indicate that it will retain Pick a Brick’s more robust search features rather than Bricks & Pieces’ limited search capabilities. The new platform will allow users to search the full catalog of available elements in a single location, and prices will be standardized across the selection so elements will now have the same price regardless of color. The company says that some specialized parts may see price increases, while some elements will become more inexpensive. We cannot confirm how significant or widespread these prices changes may be. The update is planned to be available to the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the UK in early February, followed by Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the US in late February. Other markets will follow later.
Under the new, merged system, LEGO will select 1,600 of its top-selling elements to be clearly labeled as “Bestseller” and will be warehousing those elements in the United States and Poland. The company says that orders of Bestseller elements should be fulfilled within 5 working days, down from the 13-18 days with the old system. Orders of standard, non-bestsellers will still ship from Billund, Denmark, using the current, slower fulfillment process, but customers should be able to split their orders within a single purchase, so adding non-bestseller items to your cart won’t delay the whole order. All orders under the new system will now be eligible for promotions (currently Bricks & Pieces orders are not). Orders must meet a minimum threshold of €12 to waive an order fee of €3 for Bestsellers and €6 for non-bestsellers. Fees in other regions have not yet been disclosed.
LEGO will also be making the in-store Build a Mini experience available online, including elements that have been exclusive to it. However, this system will be separate from the merged Pick a Brick and Bricks & Pieces platform. Read the full press release from LEGO below.
When I was a kid, LEGO’s raised baseplates were among the coolest parts in my budding collection. But as I grew as a builder, I found myself using them less and less. It’s quite difficult to incorporate a the simplistic features of a raised baseplate into great, detailed model, but you wouldn’t know that from looking at this fantasy tower by Eyrezer. Hiding at the core of this diorama is the massive light yellowish green baseplate from a mid-2000’s Belville set. Combined with whimsical architecture and that huge onion dome from the Raya sets, this elven manor is glorious. See if you can spot all the other innovative parts uses, like the umbrella top, numerous hairpieces, leaf sprues, and even Bionicle statue.
Check out a few other times skilled builders have incorporated raised baseplates.
Starting today, LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71032 Series 22 are now available, bringing 12 more unique characters to your LEGO collection ranging from a Robot Repair Tech to a Forest Elf. Just like last year’s Minifigures Series 21, if you want the full set of 12, you should be in luck as every case contains three complete sets. LEGO’s blind packaging prevents you from seeing the figures, but we’re here to help you feel your way to getting exactly the figures you want. So we’ve compiled a handy guide that contains all the info you need to get started.
LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71032 Series 22 are available now from LEGO for US $4.99 | CAN $4.99 | UK £3.49. They may also be available from sellers on Amazon and eBay.
Some fans build massive recreations of props from their favorite movies and TV shows. LEGO builder Corvus Auriac has gone the opposite direction with this tiny five-stud-wide microscale model of the UFO poster that hangs over Fox Mulder’s desk in the X-files. The trees made of epaulets provide interesting texture, while the flying saucer works spectacularly considering it’s made of only two pieces—a pair of 2×2 radar dishes attached on a clear rod. Is this the smallest brick-built LEGO poster ever? I’m not sure, but I know the truth is out there.
Sometimes you just want to have fun, like LEGO builder W. Navarre clearly did when building this amusing vignetter of a hunter getting his comeuppance from a delightfully chibi elephant. The scene playing out here is great, but I’m mostly enthralled by the excellent elephant, who is completely adorable right down to the toenails. I’m also loving how good those grey Mixels eye tiles work turned sideways.
2022 kicks off with a new series of LEGO’s ever popular Collectible Minifigures. Although the series number has no correlation to the year, the first of several series for 2022 is Series 22, which brings another 12 new characters from all walks of life to minifigure form, and today we’re taking a closer look at each of them. 71032 Minifigures Series 22 will be available starting Jan. 1, 2022, and will retail for US $4.99 | CAN $4.99 | UK £3.49.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.