With the new year nearly upon us, let’s look back on the most interesting LEGO news this month…

This month at Brick Architect:

• Article: Most Common DUPLO Parts – Ever wondered which DUPLO parts are most common? I did the math so you don’t have to!
• Review: #21325 Medieval Blacksmith (LEGO IDEAS) – A very good set based on an excellent fan submission.
• Review: #10943 DUPLO Happy Childhood Moments – A rare 5/5 Must Have set!
• Review: #45025 DUPLO Coding Express (LEGO Education) – Great for classrooms, but I’ll show you how to save when buying for your home.
• Update: Unofficial LEGO Architecture Set Guide – Added one set to the guide, and more information about another set.

Articles from around the web

We can’t include every article in the past month, so here are a few of my favorites…

• Designer Video (4:28) for the new #10280 Flower Bouquet set.
  It was interesting to learn that this set was inspired by an apprentice at LEGO who started decoratign the worsplace with LEGO floral bouquets.
• Designer Video (5:11) for the new #10281 Bonsai Tree set.
  One of the first things that the designer built when joining LEGO was a large Bonsai tree for the Ninjago area of the workplace. He kept making smaller ones for the desks of colleagues, and eventually the idea grew into an official set. (Fun sense of houmor in the video, too!)
• Brickfanatics learned how important the AFOL community is to their business…
  “We used to say, five years ago, that adult consumers were 5% [of our market]” … “20% of our sales now are going to adults who buy for themselves.”
• The history of LEGO DUPLO (5:40) shows how DUPLO was not The LEGO Group’s first product for toddlers, and how DUPLO has evolved to include more storytelling opportunities for young kids.
• Brickset shared a great overview of how closely each LEGO Ideas set so far matched the original fan submission.
  The article was inspired by the strong response by the fan comunity to early photos of #21325 Medieval Blacksmith set.
• Barely Legal: Building LEGO with Dubious Connections is a deliciously nerdy look at how to build with obscure (and questionable) techniques.
  P.S. BrickNerd re-launched on January 1, with my good friend Dave Schefcik as the new Nerd-in-chief. Congratulations!
• New Elementary looks closely at the new 2×2 Pointed Wedge which has the same geometry as two previous parts combined in one, but can be used on some new ways.
• Brickset explores The composition of modular buildings with Pau Padrós. I enjoyed the framework to describe Modular compositions as hilly, flat, or negative space.
• Bricknerd teaches us How to create a Con kit. In this interview with fan designer Tim Heiderich about creating three extremely professional little kits for the Bricks LA convention.

Best new podcast episodes:

I’m going to try and continue highlighting my favorite episodes about LEGO and Architecture in these monthly updates. Happy Listening!

• LEGO Minifigures: A Conversation – While arguably about the portrayal of LEGO Minifigures in videogames, there’s a ton of interesting information about how Minifigures are designed, too! (Bits N’ Bricks).
• Humans of Brickvention – A look back at the history of Melbourne’s Brickvention LEGO Convention. (For the Love of Brick).
• Beneath the Skyway – This is a great episode about the rise and inevitable downfall in popularity of enclosed pedestrian bridges in Minneapolis. (99% Invisible).
• LEGO Builder’s Journey – While this episode is not as tightly edited as I would like, there’s a quote about game design that really resonated with me: “If the game isn’t great, make it smaller until it’s great”. (Bits N’ Bricks).