2022 saw the debut of LEGO® Monkie Kid Season 3, accompanied by the release of seven sets on 1 January. Six months later, 80039 The Heavenly Realms appeared; the largest of three more sets released in the summer wave. 

Tim Goddard (@tim_goddard928) presents a bumper article for you today about LEGO® Speed Champions 46905 Ford GT Heritage Edition and Bronco R! Not only does Tim include our interview with LEGO® Design Manager Specialist Christopher Leslie Stamp, he analyses the set and its parts, and creates an original MOC with its parts. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.

Images of set 76905 and Christopher Stamp ©2021 The LEGO Group

Ford: the backbone of American automotives. Today we look at a set comprising two of their most famous offerings, with a very special bonus – some exclusive comments from the LEGO® Speed Champions design lead, Christopher Stamp, taken from an interview with New Elementary earlier this year. From Chris we learn about why the set was not originally part of the 2021 line up, why these vehicles were chosen, and where the new 1x5 plate really came from.

Thorin Finch, who contributed to one of our parts festivals a couple of years back, returns with a guest review today of LEGO® Creator 3-in-1 31115 Space Mining Mech, as well as designing some alternate builds of his own. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.

With the recent success of NASA’s latest Mars exploration rover Perseverance (and the even more recent but less successful test of SpaceX’s SN10 rocket), the wonders and dangers of space exploration have been at the forefront of society’s collective consciousness. And, for anyone looking to extend their newfound interests in space exploration into LEGO®, a simple search for the keyword ‘space’ on the LEGO website produces, among other things, Creator 31115 Space Mining Mech. 

The Professor (on Instagram) is back today with more of his excellent alternate builds, this time using the 2020 LEGO® Creator 3-in-1 set 31107 Space Rover Explorer. Buying this set? 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'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.

I’ve always liked the LEGO® Creator 3-in-1 sets as they’re often a good basis on which to create plenty of MOCs! 31107 Space Rover Explorer contains many pieces specific to the theme of Space. Let's take a quick look at its parts and 3 models, before I experiment with my own creations using only the parts in the set.

Jonas Kramm (@jonaskramm) is joined by Stefan (@robo.block) today to create alternate models from 4 LEGO® Harry Potter sets coming in June 2021! Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover some sets for their parts. Read about our stance here. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.

In the first part of the review we took a detailed look at the new moulds, and recolours of existing pieces. Today we take it a step further to see what else we can build with the pieces from upcoming LEGO® Harry Potter sets. To make this alt-build task a bit of a festival, I got help from Stefan who dropped by to contribute his own creative juices.

Alice Finch (@bippitybricks) returns as our guest reviewer again today, with LEGO® Creator 31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House in her sights. She examines each of the 3-in-1 models before designing a 4th of her own! Buying this £29.99 / US$29.99 / 29.99€ / AU$49.99 set? 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'. The products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House is in the LEGO® Creator line and features an animal, a vehicle or structure, and at least one colourful bird in each of the three models. Seeing as most of us are still staying close to home, taking a trip on a LEGO safari is a welcome departure from the living room, office or wherever you have been spending the last year.

Lee (@citysoncreation) designs his own alternate model from a 2020 LEGO® Friends set for you today: 41433 Party Boat, which is priced 79.99€/ US$$79.99/ £74.99/ AU$$159.99. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | UK Amazon | USA LEGO Shop | USA Amazon | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

It may be a 2020 set but there is no such thing as a bad time to build and review a LEGO® party boat, so let’s hop on with Andrea, Emma and Ethan to take a break as I examine for you the second-largest boat set in LEGO Friends yet: 41433 Party Boat. Then, I use its parts in my own creation!

Thomas Jenkins not only reviewed 2020 LEGO® Star Wars™set 75293 Resistance I-TS Transport, he also created an alternate build! Buying this $99.99/ £89.99 / 99.99€ set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | UK Amazon | USA LEGO Shop | USA Amazon | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

The I-TS Transport hails from Disneyland’s Star Wars-themed world, Batuu and although the vehicle shares a design similar to that of the Rebel frigates (like the Tantive IV blockade runner), this ship was unfamiliar to me. Given the relative obscurity of this vehicle, I imagine that this set went overlooked by most LEGO® fans in favour of the more recognisable vehicles and locations that made up the rest of the 2020 summer wave of sets. There are a few interesting parts and 2 exclusive minifigures to this set, which makes me hope this might be somewhat of a dark horse amongst last summer’s offering of Star Wars fare.

Lee (cityson on Flickr) creates MOCs for you today using only the parts from LEGO® 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair, a 2020 set containing many interesting new moulds. Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop (for other countries 'Change Region') or try UK Amazon | USA Amazon. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Last October, Tim Johnson took quite a thorough look at all the interesting parts in the 2 released LEGO® Minions: The Rise of Gru sets. While fans are still waiting for the postponed movie and its tie-in sets to be released, I have taken some time to see what alternate models can be rebuilt from the lovely set 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair. 

Sadly, I found myself running into a classic creative block. On the bright side, the set has given me 3 Minions minifigures, so I decided to outsource my task to Kevin, Stuart and Bob and see what they can come up with instead.

A month ago, Kev Levell (on Flickr) reviewed the parts and the build of LEGO® Ideas 21325 Medieval Blacksmith and today he presents a whole bunch of his own alternate models using only parts from the set and sticking with the set's theme. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

I love banging on about LEGO®, and beating something into shape using the elements found in one set. I've been forging ahead on a few ideas I had for MOCs inspired by the Medieval Blacksmith.

It hasn’t been either heavy, hard or hot work and no-one needed to do it, but I had fun in any case. Maybe I’ve hit on something that might interest you, I hope so.

75979 Hedwig immediately attracted me because it mixes classic LEGO® System elements with Technic. I have always liked these sets which combine the best of both worlds, especially when maintaining aesthetics while integrating movement. Before I show you my alternate builds let's take a brief look at the original model and what interesting pieces you get in it.

After a close examination of sets 80106 Story of Nian and 80107 Spring Lantern Festival on their own, it is time to take them apart and make something new with the awesome selection of LEGO® parts - as the festive banner suggested, “Out with the old, in with the new” (辭舊迎新)! However, before diving into the MOCs I created, let’s have a comprehensive look at all the noteworthy parts in these two incredible sets.

From a Star Wars icon to more of a deep cut from the Star Wars universe…

Alternate build using parts in Mos Eisley Cantina

Tan Leader standing by!

My goal with creating an alternate build was to make something as different as I could from the original model.

LEGO® Architecture debuted onto the LEGO scene in 2008. Since then over 50 sets have been released, with two of those being models of The White House. The first – 21006 – in 2010, and more recently 21054 in 2020 which we are exploring today.

This is the second of two Monkie Kid sets that I have been sent to review and compared to the other, 80009 Pigsy’s Food Truck, this one is more to my liking. The Cloud Jet looks great, with interesting angles and vivid colours, and I found it to be much more interesting build-wise.

The LEGO Group has put out quite a lot of seasonal vignettes over the years, and they rarely disappoint me. With a low price point, a lovely model and a great selection of parts, 40424 Winter Snowball Fight easily won me over once again. Let’s take a look at what you can get out of this US$12.99/ CA$16.99 set

Monkie Kid. It’s not just Ninjago with a lockdown haircut, apparently. Let’s see, shall we…


Pigsy’s food truck is a massive lump of a 10 module-wide food wagon. The scale is well off anything in the LEGO City range but you might get away with it put next to the new scale of Speed Champion sets. You will not get away with it next to a minifigure.

According to me, LEGO is synonymous with infinite play. I love making several creations from just the parts of one set – what I call One Set MOC. This is the very essence of LEGO. Only limited by your imagination!