Anatomically correct tigers in 2022, the latest addition to the Modular Building Series, oversized LEGO parts from Target, and more in this month’s roundup. (P.S. Happy New Year!)

New at Brick Architect

• Going Big: Giant LEGO parts in the LEGO×Target Collection
  The collection includes a bunch of products featuring oversized LEGO parts. How big?—Really big! We’re talking approximately 8 to 12 times larger than a real LEGO brick.
• Review: #21057 Singapore Skyline
  The unattainable Marina Bay Sands set from 2013 is back in a complete cityscape — at 827 pieces, it’s the largest LEGO Architecture Skyline set to date (but it’s a bit kinky).
• Review: #10297 Boutique Hotel
  Celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the Modular Building Series with the first set in the series to use a prominent angular composition. There’s a small Art Gallery next door, but we’ll need to look closer to decide if this set is a masterpiece — or not.
• Interview: Secret history of #10297 Boutique Hotel with Anderson Ward Grubb & Ashwin Visser
  In this interview, we chat with the designers who created this year’s excellent Modular Building, and uncover the inspiration and alternate designs which were considered along the way.
• Update: #45025 DUPLO Coding Express
  I have updated my review of this set to include a disclaimer that the app required fully utilize this set has dissapeared from Google Play (the official Android App store) twice in the last year — and is not currently available.
  This is yet another example of The LEGO Group struggling with digital / app-based experiences. Another recent example was the poor user experience of the Vidiyo app when it was initially released.

Exciting new sets for AFOLs

Every year, a bunch of highly sought sets are released on January 1. Check out these awesome new sets (including a few we’ve recently reviewed at Brick Architect).

• #10297 Boutique Hotel
  The latest installment in the wildly popular Modular Building series is excellent, earning 4/5 stars in our recent review.
  3066 pieces, $200, available January 1 at LEGO.com
• #21057 Singapore Skyline
  Revisiting the Marina Bay Sands (which was featured in a rare 2013 LEGO Architecture set), we get a complete cityscape that allows you to travel without leaving your home. Learn more in our recent review of the set.
  827 pieces, $60, available January 1 at LEGO.com
• #80036 The City of Lanterns
  Capturing some of the same frenetic energy as the popular #70620 Ninjago City set (now retired), but in a smaller set for younger builders, the City of Gardens is a playful set for all ages what will be sure to inspire a new generation of kids who are growing up with the Monkie Kid series.
  2187 pieces, $150, available January 1 at LEGO.com
• #31129 Majestic Tiger (3-in-1)
  The latest entrant in the popular 3-in-1 series features a Tiger, Red Panda, and Koi. It’s also getting a lot of attention because it’s the first LEGO set featuring the inevitable terminus of large intestine.
  755 pieces, $50, available January 1 at LEGO.com
• #21331 Sonic the Hedgehog – Green Hill Zone
  Rewind to 1991 with this cute set based on the classic SEGA Genesis game! The looped course really sells the set for me.
  1125 pieces, $70, available January 1 at LEGO.com
• #80108 Lunar New Year Traditions
  This set leans heavily on Chinese traditions, and is designed for multiple family members to build together. (Learn more in this review at Jay’s Brick Blog explaining the underlying cultural context of this set, or a detailed new parts analysis at New Elementary.)
  1066 pieces, $80, available January 10 in USA at LEGO.com
• #80109 Lunar New Year Ice Festival
  The second Lunar New Year has widespread appeal, ans it features a gorgeous Ice Skating scene and a ton of parts in new colors. (This review at Brickset highlights some of the interesting new parts, incuding lots of Transparent and Opalescent White parts.)
  6785 pieces, $800, available January 10 in USA at LEGO.com

Best articles from around the web

December was packed with great LEGO content from around the web — enjoy!

• WBI’s 2021 Top Ten LEGO List for Equity and Inclusion (and Five Opportunities)
  The Women’s Brick Initiative highlights some of the most important actions made by The LEGO Group, as well as the most inclusive sets of 2021 in this annual tradition. The good news – progress on many fronts. The bad news – so much further to go!
  —Women’s Brick Initiative
• Behind the Brick Alliance: A Conversation About Diversity and Inclusion
  Speaking of advocacy for Diversity & Inclusion, the Brick Alliance was established this year to elevate the discussion around D&I issues in the LEGO Community as a whole. This interview offers a good summary of their approach.
  —BrickNerd
• LEGO Inside Tour Exclusives: Once In a Lifetime Souvenir Sets
  John Cooper offers a great summary of the rare Inside Tour sets in this two-part series..
  —BrickNerd
• Craig Ward’s Brik Font Makes Us Wonder If We’re All In Search Of More Simplistic Design Afterall
  A whole font created using LEGO elements, yes please!
  —Print Magazine
• Reducing Gender Bias in LEGO® Friends in 2022
  Richard Jones continues to look critically at how well The LEGO Groups intentions to improve representation in their sets match reality.
  —Rambling Brick
• The New LEGO Paper Bags reviewed: Every beginning is difficult (German)
  The 2021 LEGO Employee Gift set includes the first real-world example of The LEGO Group’s ambition to eliminate plastic bags within their sets. Let’s see how well it works.
  —Promobricks
• Interview with George Gilliatt, designer of the Creator Tiger
  The 3-in-1 series offers a great value for families. I loved learning about specific choices which are made to include more versatile parts in these sets. I think the 3-in-1 series is instrumental in pushing part designers to create versatile parts that can be used in a lot of different ways!
  —Brickset
• Possible design flaw found in 2022 Super Heroes set
  Brickset highlights what appears to be a design flaw in an upcoming set causes significant strain on LEGO parts which can bamage them over time. Why this error made it throguh the review process remains a mystery.
  —Brickset
• Puppy by timofey_tkachev
  I rarely highlight MOC’s in these roundups, but this model of a black and white puppy by timofey_tkachev is both the most expressive and beautiful models I’ve seen in ages.
  —@timofey_tkachev
• In The Brick of Time: The Journey of the LEGO Wheel of Time
  Speaking of MOC’s, here’s a rich gallery of LEGO creations inspired by The Wheel of Time books and the new series streaming on Amazon.
  —BrickNerd

Best podcast episodes:

As always, here are some of the best audio-based stories that I’ve heard recently. Happy Listening!

• #45 – 25 Years of LEGO Lessons (55:17)
  Perhaps the best news of all in this “wrap up” episode for the popular official podcast fromt he LEGO Games team is that they will be back with more episodes soon after all. It certainly makes sense to keep the conversation going, at least up to the release of the LEGO Star Wars game sometime next year.
  —Bits N’ Bricks
• Episode 154: Centers for Disease Control Museum (13:08)
  This episode touches on a topic that has always piqued my curiosity – how do you capture the history of the present. This is a challenge that I face as an Architecture enthusiast, since it takes years for new trends in architecture to earn a name and become a “style” (like Postmodernism or Brutalism). In this case, they are discussing the challenge in capturing COVID-19 related artifacts in real-time, without knowing how the story will end.
  —Atlas Obscura Podcast
• The Art Market is in Massive Disruption (46:10)
  There are only a few successful commercial artists using LEGO as their medium, but I do try to refer to fellow LEGO builders who create fantastic MOCs as ‘LEGO Artists’ as a sign of respect for their craft. This multi-part series looks at the mainstream fine art market, and how so few artists will ever see their work fetch high prices at an art auction.
  —Freakonomics
• The child tax credit has given stability to many families. Today’s payment could be the last. (26:22)
  There’s an interesting discussion in the middle of this episode with Puja Patel (editor-in-chief at Pitchfork) about the role of a music critic in the modern era.
  —Marketplace
• Artist Ai Weiwei (49:42)
  This is a fascinating (and at-times awkward) glimpse into the mind of a creative genius who doesn’t see himself as an artist at all…
  —Design Matters

Brick Architect in the news

• Little big horns for your Krampus
  In addition to highlighting a brilliant model by Blair Archer, they highlighted my recent article about the LEGO×Target Collection to learn more about the oversized parts!
  —Brothers Brick
• Organizing your LEGO
  In addition to supporting LEGO Brick Labels as a Patron, Jim shares extensive photos of his well organized, and well labeled collection (using the LEGO Brick Labels collection).
  —Jim Winslett