July 2020 LEGO News Roundup

While it’s been a quiet month here at Brick Architect, there’s been a ton of interesting LEGO News that I’m excited to share with you. We’ll be back with new reviews and articles soon!

IKEA + LEGO = BYGGLEK (Photo: stonewars.de)

Last year, The LEGO Group and IKEA announced a partnership to “explore and develop solutions to stimulate play all around the home.” The result is BYGGLEK, a series of three different LEGO-compatible storage products which you will be able to purchase at IKEA stores. They are not available yet, but stonewars.net was able to purchase and review them early. (While I hope to offer a detailed review in the future, I’m not impressed with what I’ve seen so far.)

BrickCon 2020 goes virtual.

Following on the heels of major LEGO conventions around the world, The BrickCon convention in October is going virtual. Unlike many of the other conventions that have gone virtual (such as Bricks by the Bay and Brickworld Virtual), BrickCon 2020 is trying to re-create as much of the convention experience as possible for AFOL’s, with a full range of “awards, classes, workshops, prizes, vendors and more.”

The BrickCon Private Convention for AFOL’s starts at $25 (Tickets available August 1), or you can attend the Public Expo for a lower price (Tickets available September 1). P.S. No promises, but I will probably give a talk at the Private Convention.

I’m also excited to highlight two sets coming soon that will be of particular interest to Adult Fans of LEGO:

#71374 Nintendo Entertainment System (Photo: The LEGO Group)

#71374 – Nintendo Entertainment System will contain 2646 pieces for $229.99 (229.99€ / £209.99). Learn more on YouTube.

#21323 LEGO Ideas Grand Piano (Photo: The LEGO Group)

#21323 – LEGO Ideas Grand Piano will contain 3662 pieces for $349.99 (349.99€ / £319.99). Learn more at LEGO.com.

Both of these sets will be released on August 1. (You may be able to pre-order them at LEGO.com soon.)

The last big news is that LEGO has cancelled yet another new LEGO Set before widespread release. #42113 Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey Helicopter was based on a Tiltrotor Vertical Takeoff aircraft designed in partnership between Bell Helicopters and Boeing.

#42113 Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey Helicopter (Photo: The LEGO Group)

The set depicts the Helicopter in a domestic Search and Rescue context, despite the fact that it has only been deployed in military contexts so far. Protests by the German Peace Society contributed to the decision to cancel the product release, which was scheduled for August 1. (As with #21038 Las Vegas Skyline, it looks like a few copies of the set were sold before this decision was made.)