It’s been a couple of years since we have had a set of collectable minifigures to review here on the blog. In CMF series 29, we have have a set of 12 different minifigures. The LEGO Group sent a couple of sets over for early review. This is not themed like series 26 (Space) or 28 (costumes), or any of the licensed themes we have seen over the years. Instead, it’s a mix of classic and crazy characters, some based on existing themes, and some that are just plain crazy. The series will be on sale on May 1 (most of the world) and June 1 (Australia/New Zealand). They will be priced at $AUD5.99 / $USD4.99 / £3.49 / 3.99€.
Geopolitical instability in the Middle East is threatening the supply chain of the petrochemical precursors to Acetyle-Butyl-Styrene, the primary plastic used in the creation of LEGO® Bricks. With the potential shortage of physical bricks, the LEGO Group have fast-tracked the beta testing phase of their new digital building tool, LEGO Builder Virtual.
An unladen oil tanker in more certain times
“We were not anticipating this supply problem to become significant until 2035, which is why we had accelerated our approach to developing sustainable plastics in recent years. The current situation has caught us short, with crude oil deliveries already slowing around the world.” up and coming digital luminary April Løjer explained from the LEGO Group’s new Digital Hub in Copenhagen
The Copenhagen digital hub, prior to its opening in 2024
LEGO ICONs appears to be on a roll with its collection of large-scale aircraft. In 2023 we saw the 10318 Concorde, and last year we gained the 10360 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft – a combination 747 and Space Shuttle. This April, athe 11378 DC-3 Pan American Airliner is being released. Introduced in the 1930s, the DC-3 was the first airliner to be able to cross the continental United States in only 18 hours, with 3 stops. Carrying up to 36 passengers, it had a top speed of 333km/h. The DC-3 was in production until 1942. While around 600 DC-3’s were built, its military equivalent, the C-47 Skytrain, was produced in the thousands.
The LEGO Group sent this set over for an early look, ahead of it’s April release – but all opinions are my own. Let’s take a look at the pieces, the minifigures, and the final build, and then consider reasons that might exist behind some of the design choices with this set.
I mentioned in the post announcing the upcoming release of LEGO IDEAS set 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket that this set represents a key factor in one of the earliest fandoms I was part of: I first read Destination Moon in January 1977, during the summer holidays. As the new school year began, I hunted the books down, eventually hunting most of them down through various school libraries over the following years. As I put the rocket together, I was excited by a sense of nostalgia as a childhood memory, now pop-culture icon, came into being on my desk.
I am grateful that the LEGO Group sent this copy of the set over in advance of the release on April 1. This set is based on the moon rocket from TKel86’s LEGO Ideas submission, which also included a gantry. In the design process, the team decided to focus on the rocket, which ties into the two books telling the story of Tintin’s journey to the Moon: Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon. The rocket’s gantry is only a feature in the first of these. However, I might have some parts lying around the house, which I picked up for another project a couple of years ago.
During properation for this review, I had the chance to take part in a round table discussion with designers Jordan Scott and Ellen Bowley – I’ll add their insights as we go along…
This year, to celebrate Mario 10th day, the LEGO Group has upped the ante on last year’s 72037 Mario and Standard Kart with a brick-built Luigi with the Mach 8 Kart.
This new set, 72050 LEGO® Mario Kart™ – Luigi & Mach 8 has 2234 pieces and is priced at $AUD 279.99/ £159.99 / €179.99 / $USD179.99. It is available for preorder now, and will be on the shelves on April 1, 2026
This is the fourth in the LEGO Scaled Up Minifigure series, and the first spaceman. Last year, I had the chance to put together the ultra-cute red Baby Spaceman, which had been available as a gift with purchase. This year, we have a blue spaceman. This may polarise some: he’s playing it straight. It’s not Benny with the broken chinstrap and idiot grin. It’s a classic smiley. And it’s blue. I mean, sure, its kind of acceptable: I was there in the beginning, when LEGO Spacemen were red or white. The set, 40921 Scaled Up Blue Astronaut Minifigure goes on sale on the first of March and will be priced at AUD99.99/ USD59.99/ EURO59.99 and £54.99
The box for this set is around 20% larger than that for the ‘regular’ 40649 upscaled minifigure, released in 2023, and it features the silver ‘Space’ sideband that was everywhere space-like in 2024.
In part one, we looked at the development and history of the Classic LEGO® Dragon. Go on, read it now. It was posted nearly 18 months ago. Even if you read it back then, you might have forgotten some of the more salient points. The last variation of this appeared in the Adventurers Orient Expedition 7419 Dragon Fortress in 2004. But how did LEGO Dragons develop from here?
If you have ever gone questing for a dragon, you be aware that you must often undertake some type of side quest before you reach your final goal. Here is the first. There might be several others to come..
The partnership with Maersk is one of the oldest that the LEGO Group has in its portfolio. The announcement of 40955 Maersk Dual Fuel Container Vessel was greeted with excitement (back after 12 years), apprehension (will there be more or fewer stickers than the 133 seen in 2014’s 10241 Maersk Line Triple E) and disdain (It doesn’t look like they have brought Maersk Blue back.)
The LEGO group have sent over a copy of the set: Let’s take a closer look and see if those concerns should affect you.
The Magnolia branches are the second botanical set we have to look at, scheduled for March 2026. You can checkout our review of 11502 Sunflower Bouquet here. This set brings us relatively sparsely decorated reddish brown branches, with a magnolia flowers in different stages of bloom. Can such a minimalist set maintain the attention of an 18+ consumer base? Could it be one of the most striking botanical sets to date? Read on to find out.
LEGO Botanicals set 11510 Magnolia Branches has 435 pieces and is priced at $AUD99.99/ $USD49.99/49.99€/£44.99. It goes on sale on March 1st, 2026, but is available for pre-order now.
More than 100 years ago when cars were an uncommon sight on roads, decades before Ole Kirk Kristiansen started making wooden toys, and long before the name LEGO was chosen, Henry Ford caused ripples in history with this car; the 11376 Model T Ford. This set comes with 1060 pieces for AU$ 199.99 / € 129.99 / US$ 129.99 / £ 119.99 and will be available from the 1st of March 2026 (113 years after the car that inspired it was first produced).
To say this is a ‘classic’ doesn’t quite do it justice. Many more (newer) cars would be considered classics, but this is a little different. Henry Ford decided he wanted to build a motor car for anyone, so that every family could own a car and “enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.” Up until that point cars were an expensive excess only for the wealthy. To achieve this dream, Ford used assembly line manufacturing, effectively kicking off the era of mass-production.
It may feel like LEGO has been around forever (or certainly for as long most of us have been alive), but when LEGO was founded this particular car was already part of history. Notice in the photo above, showing he first production line with a car (on the right ladder) surprisingly similar to this car. Was that a model T?
Join me as I explore some history of classic cars with LEGO, and dive into this particular model, generously gifted by LEGO. All opinions are our own.
