10366 LEGO® ICONS Tropical Aquarium 3: Customisation

Colorful display of the 10366 Tropical Aquarium with LEGO elements including a yellow submarine, a treasure chest, and various sea plants and coral.

We have been taking a look at the 10366 Tropical Aquarium, coming out in mid November 2025. This is a large, expensive set, quite unlike anything that the LEGO Group has produced at this scale before. It’s not based on a renowned piece of Architecture, it doesn’t tie in with any preconceived cinematic universes, and neither does it follow up with one of the regular ICONs subthemes. It’s a 52 litre fish tank, filled with corals, plants, and fish of unrealistic provenance. However, I must admit, it looks quite neat. Impressive even.

A colorful LEGO diorama of a tropical aquarium filled with various coral, plants, and fish, showcasing a vibrant underwater scene.

Fish tanks often feature decorative elements within them. The Tropical Aquarium features a treasure chest, tucked away in the back corner, serving as a bubbler, along with a rock cave and shelf. However, beyond that, it is comprised of all plants, coral, and anemones.

In fact, it’s beginning to look like one of those colourful underwater layouts you often see at LEGO Conventions, with lots of hidey holes and scope for exploration and storytelling. This left me thinking about the broad range of underwater exploration themes that have cropped up over the years, and more importantly, made their way into my collection. And how they could add life to this set.

Let’s start with a quick look at some of the sets which I own (and some that I don’t), which feel as though they might serve as aquarium decorations .

  1. A Brief History of Underwater Themes
    1. Aquazone
    2. 1997-2012: Divers, Alpha Team, Aqua Raiders and Atlantis
    3. LEGO City Deep Sea/ Polar Explorers
    4. LEGO IDEAS
    5. SpongeBob SquarePants
    6. The Little Mermaid
  2. Let’s consider the space that we are planning to customise.
  3. Filling the Aquarium
    1. SpongeBob Square Pants
    2. Yellow Submarine
    3. Fantasy Underwater Layout: Enter the Aquazone
      1. Action Stations
  4. In conclusion
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Minifigures On Parade (MOPs) Three years On: Updating our collaborative build standard.

Time flies when you are having fun. Or have a lot going on around you. Or…and so on. I can’t believe it is over 3 years since I published my original description of MOPs – Minifigures on Parade/ Minifigures on Patrol – back in July 2022. MOPs is a modular platform for community participation. I initially proposed an 8×16 plate, on a standardized base, including a raised ‘middle 8’ plate. Advantages of the format include the capacity to start simple, and build up, as well as the scope for storytelling within the space available.

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I took an Adventure to Brickvention 2025

I built a thing. This is not a specifically unknown concept. Each year, I build an original model for Brickvention, Australia’s AFOL Networking Event, which was held last weekend. I presented a MOC (my own creation) paying homage to the LEGO Adventurers theme from 1998. The amount of Lore that found its way into the MOC possibly warrants a post in its own right. Here it is.

Let me tell you a tale…

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40601 Majisto’s Magical Workshop: Finessing the Figures

I recently reviewed the Castle revival set 40601 Majisto’s Magical Workshop, available as a gift with purchase over the Insiders weekend as well as the upcoming Black Friday sales event at LEGO.com. With a buy in of US$250 / AU$400 / £220 / €250 / CAD$330, it has received some criticism from the point of ‘cost of ownership’ as well as the fact that perhaps some of the elements that defined the look of the Dragon Knights were no longer available – particularly the distinctive halberd, plumes and helmet. There were some elements that could have beeen printed, such as Majisto’s torso, and the addition of the Dragon Knight’s shield.

I accept that there are reasons for these elements not being included…

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