Time to get another Creator 3-in1 review out. While the majority of sets in the current wave are creature builds, a couple are based on real-world objects.
Lets take a look at the 31380 Retro Video Game Console.
This set is one of 2 sets in the current wave that tie into real-world objects, with the hero model setting out to mirror handheld consoles of the nineties and early noughties. The set is aimed at audiences from age 8 and up, has 268 pieces and is priced at $AUD29.99 / $USD19.99 / £17.99 / 19.99€
Dinosaurs are cool. Dinosaurs keep appearing in LEGO sets from time to time for that exact reason. Over time 305 sets have appeared with an association to the word ‘Dino’, of which 102 for Jurassic world! The most popular dinos in LEGO are raptors (74) and T-rexes (85) and various other theropods (two-legged dinosaurs, ancestors of birds).
Far less common are sauropods such as brachiosaurus, for which only 23 sets can be found and Stegosaurus for which we can only see 16 sets! Introducing 71514 Dino Jet, offering you both a stegosaurus and a sauropod in a two-in-one package! With 1007 pieces this set is the second smallest(!) set in the January 2026 Dreamzzz range and retails for AU$149.99/£89.99/US$99.99/€99.99.
LEGO generously gifted this set so we could share our own opinion on it with you. It is cool. It is dinosaur.
After months of rumor and speculation, LEGO® SMART Play™, an Integrated Smart Brick and Minifigure system has been revealed at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. The first sets to include this technology will be in the LEGO STAR WARS range, and are due for release in March. This Press release has dropped just as I am getting started on a normal work day: I will probably post again about known knowns and known unknowns later in the week. But in short, this is a way to enhance the way trhat kids play with their bricks and Minifigures.
I have always been intrigued by the ways in which LEGO has worked to combine technology with play, from the first ‘Stop signal’ that I owned with my childhood trainset through Life of George, Boost, Vidiyo, and Super Mario. Some have been hits, some misses, but ways of enhancing play are constantly under investigation by the research teams at LEGO.
Branko continues his reviews of the latest LEGO Dreamzzz Sets, and finds the ‘B’ on this one strangely familiar. In many different ways!
When LEGO gifted this set for review my eye was immediately drawn to the alternate build on the back of the box; the eagle. There is quite a lot to see in this set before we get to that point, so join me while I share my opinion on this set, and highlight several references and associations this set conjures.
For example, is Logan the dreamworld manifestation of Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon? Does this mean Dreamzzz may become a licensed series after all, or does it still qualify as a story theme (read my essay on that here)? How does Eris the eagle tie into all of this?
Green and gold, favourite national colours in Australia, but I think my appreciation for this set has little to do with that. 71508 Fox Guardian Mech is the second smallest set released in the new Dreamzzz wave, coming in at 883 pieces for AU$129.99/£69.99/US$79.99/€79.99. As I mentioned before, these sets are not small or cheap, but they are good!
The official name of this set it ‘Fox Guardian Mech’ and I typically associate the word ‘Mech’ with a large robot occupied by a pilot (like a Jaeger in Pacific Rim, or powered armor like in Avatar). LEGO is partially to blame for this, with so many sets labelled ‘Mech’ containing piloted robots. Ninjago in particular has been releasing mechs with someone driving them. Coming back to this set; this fox does NOT contain a set for someone to drive it so it almost deserves a different qualification. Also, the alternative build could equaly qualify as a Fox Guardian, so should the name perhaps just be Fox Guardian?
LEGO gifted one of these guardians for use to review, so join me as we present our own opinion on this set, and explore what it has to offer.
A sparkling unicorn-themed monster truck. I know that the word ‘monster’ in this name refers to the truck, not the theme of the decorations, but I am just used to monster trucks having appearances that match the loud, powerful, anything-but-subtle destruction and mayhem they can cause.
Does this mean, perhaps, I should reconsider my understanding of unicorns? After all, Unikitty is not known to be the most stable and coherent entities in the LEGO universe; perhaps unicorns like a bit of roar and thunder? I still do not know, but I can say that I don’t mind this style of Monster Truck.
LEGO gifted us a copy of 42220 Monster Jam™ Sparkle Smash™, one of the new Monster trucks to be released in January 2026. The set contains 243 pieces and retails for AU$44.99/£24.99/US$34.99/€29.99.
Branko woke up from a dream wondering if Construction Equipment was on the way out. He couldn’t get back to sleep until he came up with the answer…
In January 2026 LEGO will release another wave of Dreamzzz sets and the balance between ‘dream’ and ‘nightmare’ seems solidly to have swung towards ‘Dream’. There is only 1 set out of 5 in the wave that is considered a nightmare, and it is the smallest of the lot at that. Cue “Nightmare Scorpion Digger 71513”, coming in at 505 pieces for AU$79.99/£44.99/US$49.99/€49.99. This is not a small set, it’s just the smallest of the lot (read more on that here).
The sets in this series are all associated with animals, and some machinery, but it struck me that this particular one is very strongly related to construction equipment. In recent years fans of Technic have been complaining a bit about a reduction of the number of construction equipment sets, so this left me wondering. Has construction gotten into bad books? Is digging holes no longer considered cool?
Join me as we have a quick look to see if Technic fans are objectively correct in their gripe, and then we will cheerfully ignore that and have a look at how construction equipment is used to create this particular nightmare creature.
This set was generously gifted by LEGO, but the expressed opinions are my own.
Its time for the third part of our interview with Theo Bonner. If you have missed out on the previous parts, you can catch up with them in our review for the 11501 Tulip Bouquet and the 11504 Peace Lily. Before taking a look at the 11508 Daisies, one of the 9-plus sets in the latest Botanical wave, Theo and I talk about the new colours to be found in the January Releases as well as the importance of Storytelling, even in sets that might not have an obvious narrative.
Earlier in the month I was visiting Denmark, and had the opportunity to visit the LEGO Campus and have a conversation with LEGO Botanicals senior designer, Theo Bonner. In part one, we discussed recolours and the rationale behind new elements being developed in the Botanical theme. Last time, we spoke recolours and the introduction of new elements in Botanical sets.
Today, we discuss the flowerpot design in the 11503 Peace Lily, the fan base for LEGO Botanicals, designing 18+ sets for builders who have never built a LEGO set in their lives before and discover something what LEGO Star Wars and Botanicals have in common.
Branko’s been thinking a lot about Dreamzzz lately. Here is his first formal review for the wave:
I imagine the brainstorm sessions for the latest wave of Dreamzzz sets went something like this. Get a group of children in a room as ask them what they like. They all start shouting and words get thrown onto a whiteboard “Tigers! Knights! Tanks! Diggers! Sharks! Swords! Dinosaurs!” with a subdued “classic space” or “classic castle” mumbled by an aging adult LEGO fan in the back of the room. All that remained was to group these terms together and you end up with something like this Tiger Shark Tank.
This set ticks the boxes of having buzzwords, or clickbait, to make sure to appeal to as many sensibilities as possible. Not only is there a shark, and a tiger mixed, there is a reference to Black Falcon castle, another to Pirates and then there is a tank. The only thing to widen the appeal more was to add Space to the mix, but Mr Oz has done that plenty in previous iterations of Dreamzzz.
