This has been a year of many and varied Botanical sets – with different sets covering potted plants, bouquet and event a small chance of woodland. The theme has brought us hit after hit over the past few years, but this set takes a different approach: bringing us a collection of previously seen flowers (and a couple of new ones) , with a darker colour palette. The 11513 Dark Flower Arrangement has just been released. It has has 562 pieces and is priced at $AUD99.99/ USD$59.99 / 59.99€ / £54.99.
The LEGO Group sent a copy over for review: let’s take a closer look.
I adore the Dark Knight movies, but somehow the Batmobile Tumbler from those films never appealed to me much. I prefer the massive fins and entirely impractical wheel base on the 1980’s design, but the military looking Tumbler has its own fanbase, so let’s have a look at this set that was gifted by LEGO for us to review.
I have greatly enjoyed the movie Aladdin when it came out where, as usual, I was most delighted by the sidekicks in the form of Abu the monkey and the Genie. Aladdin was a little bit too much of a diamond (in the rough or not) and princess Jasmine too straight to provide much entertainment value for me.
But, Disney Princesses, and Jasmine certainly is a princess, have very high standards to uphold, and have strong fan-bases in the world. It behooves a princess to have some place to store her jewellery so it seems appropriate for LEGO to create a set that combines an iconic scene from the movie of her origin, with the ability to store jewellery. Or so it seems on paper.
The LEGO Group releases heaps of cars. Especially in recent years, there is a plethora of cars available in LEGO® form, and some Technic fans have been complaining about this. The LEGO Group gifted us a set of three new LEGO Technic cars that will be released on the 1st of August 2026 (and a Batmobile, which also counts as a car… of sorts – that review will be coming soon).
If we have a look at some history of Technic sets that can be qualified as ‘car’ or ‘construction vehicle’ we can kind of see why old-fashioned Technic fans may complain. Over the last 10 years, an ever-increasing portion of Technic sets are cars, although we see a little variation from year to year. On the other side, the percentage of ‘construction vehicles’ (excavators, wheel loaders, etc.) has been declining a bit. The trendlines show a clear trend, but if you just look at the bar charts, it’s not entirely convincing.
Join me to explore a bit further what is behind these trends, while I will also have a look at these three cars so you can make up your mind if any of them are your idea of fun. Let’s be clear, this is about *your* idea of fun, since these kind of vehicles lost their lustre for me a while ago. The build experience is almost identical for all of them, except for the outside shape, and that shape in Technic just doesn’t quite do it for me.
The LEGO Botanical Collection continues to grow. The Golden Pothos be released on august the first, and we were fortunate to have the LEGO Group send a copy over ahead of its release. The Golden Pothos, also known as Devils Ivy is a native of French Polynesia and is now found in south east Asia, South Africa and Australia. It is easy to grow in low light, and minimal care, making it a popular houseplant. So, how does a model of a low maintenance houseplant translate into LEGO form?
LEGO® Technic has been dominated a bit by model cars of late (more on this in a review coming soon). In an apparent acknowledgment of the more construction-vehicle-heavy origins of Technic, the LEGO group gifted us an entire box of Mighty Machines: a new series of small Technic sets in the style of collectible minifigs.
What’s that I hear you say? Collectable? Small Technic? Yes, indeed, small, collectable and Technic. The series is labelled ‘Series 1’, hinting at another possible future range. Based on my experience with this set I would loudly applaud this! Bigger is not always better, and in this case it seems smaller is much much better.
Series one consists of 8 different tiny construction vehicles with play cards retailing for AU$6.99/£4.49/US$4.99/€4.99. Each vehicle comes in a blind box, so you can either try your luck or scan the QR code at the bottom of the box with an appropriate app (see reference values in the appendix) to find out what is inside. A full box contains 2 of each, for a total of 16.
The top-level summary is: YES! Oh YES! Each of these little builds is delightful and tickles an itch of a bit of building and a neat little mechanism in a bite-sized package. After spending long hours on the assembly of large complicated LEGO sets it is a delight to get so much play in such a simple way.
Join me as I go over each of the little units and take a guess at what the ‘gaming cards’ may signifiy.
This year has been a huge year for Creature builds in Creator 3in1, with 11 out of 19 Creator 3in1 sets released this years featuring animals of some sort or another. We are about to add another with the 31394 Cute Animals: Red Panda to this list. Due for release on August 1 2026, the models include a Red Panda; an Owl and a Clown Fish. The set has 297 pieces and is has a recommended retail price of $AUD49.99/£24.99/29.99€/$USD29.99. This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes, all opinions are my own.
So, are these Cute Animals, or an appealing parts pack? Let’s take a closer look.
One of the challenges of earth-based astronomy is the fact that you are on the Earth. You are at the mercy of clouds, dust, atmospheric pollution, and indeed light itself.
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into low Earth Orbit in April 1990 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery and is expected to remain there until its orbit decays in the mid 2030’s. Viewing the visible and near-infrared spectra, the Hubble Space Telescope has enhanced our understanding of the universe over the 36 years it has been active.
This week, the LEGO Group has revealed ICONS 11382 The Hubble Space Telescope, a 1252-piece model commemorating the 35th anniversary of the orbital observatory. It will be available on August 1st, 2026, priced at $AUD229/ $USD139.99 / 129.99 € / £119.99. The set includes one minifigure.
The LEGO Group sent a copy of the set over for an Early review. Let’s take a closer look.
LEGO generously gifted us the LEGO 31388 Wild Animals: Family of Koalas, and I’ll make it clear right from the top. This is a botanicals set. The name on the box is largely misleading and has derived me of some of the pleasure this box could offer. What’s in a name, eh?
It makes sense that this largest member of ‘Creator 3-in-1 Continents’ representing Australia puts the emphasis on the animals, but it does so in name more than in bricks. Speaking of animals, the continent of Australia (Oceania) is represented by two very iconic characters from Down-Under, the koala and kangaroo and is joined by a less specifically down-under creature, the sea turtle. The sea turtle has risen to fame in Finding Nemo riding the East Australian Current (EAC) so I cannot argue there is a strong association with Australia, but I would have preferred to see an Australian bird like a like a Kookaburra or a Bin-chicken instead. We’ve had several turtles in the past, so why do we need one again?
“I didn’t know Ducati made offroad motorbikes, it’s kinda cute!” said my son, an avid rider, when I showed him the latest Technic Motorcycle 42238 Ducati Desmo450 MX Factory (457 pieces, AU$89.99/£44.99/US$49.99/€49.99). His response is not entirely surprising given that Ducati is most well known for their powerful (and loud) roadbikes. This particular model is a version of Ducati’s first motocross bike (not quite the same as ‘offroad’).
This set was provided by LEGO as part of the latest wave of Technic sets and it stands out as only having two wheels. LEGO fairly consistently has some motorcycle in the repertoire but bikes aren’t nearly as common as cars.
Let’s go through this relatively small set quickly and have a look what it offers for Technic lovers of bikes
