Here’s some hot LEGO news to complement the crazy hot weather we’ve been having in the Pacific Northwest…

This month at Brick Architect

• Interview: Ekow Nimako’s Afrofuturistic Architecture
  Let’s learn more about the talented artist who chose black LEGO bricks as his preferred medium for massive projects like his 100,000-piece exhibition “Building Black: Civilizations.”
• Review: #10282 Adidas Originals Superstar
  Brick-built shoes in a nostalgia-inducing shoebox. Can the build experience match the top-notch packaging — It sure does!

Exciting new sets for AFOLs

Here are some top sets launching on July 1:

• #21327 Typewriter
  I didn’t get to review it myself, but the latest LEGO Ideas set looks top notch!
  2079 pieces for $200 (0.10/piece) at LEGO.com
• #10282 adidas Originals Superstar
  I gave the set our top 5/5 star rating in our review. It’s available now!
  731 pieces for $80 (0.11/piece) at LEGO.com
• #43197 The Ice Castle (Frozen)
  While the price-per-part isn’t great & the completed model isn’t that appealing, this may be the best 42Transparent Light BlueTrans-Light Blue parts pack you will ever find!
  1709 pieces for $200 (0.12/piece) at LEGO.com

Best articles from around the web

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

• LEGO Jerusalem: A Port City on the Shore of Eternity
  Rocco Buttliere is an amazingly talented LEGO Architecture builder who continues to prove that he can build anything out of LEGO. His latest creation recreates Jerusalem as it looked int he first century — using more than 114,000 LEGO pieces! It’s a great chance to go behind the scenes with an artist that is unmatched at his craft.
  —BrickNerd
• Brick Archive
  Lose yourself in a mountain of short articles about obscure variations of classic parts like the classic 2×4 brick through the ages. Mindless but fascinating reading if you have an hour to kill.
  —brickarchive.org
• LEGO Con 2021
  In the two-hour presentation by The LEGO group, they introduced us to talented LEGO fans and introduced some upcoming LEGO Sets. It was a bit more glitz than substance, but was well produced overall.
  —@LEGO on YouTube
• Slave I from the Star Wars galaxy is now known as Boba Fett’s StarshipRETCON ALERT: The upcoming LEGO set based on Boba Fett’s ship in the Starwars films comes with a ‘corrected’ name as advised by Disney. Mourn the ‘Slave I’ name if you must, but it’s time to move on…
  —Brothers Brick
• Sustainable LEGO Bricks: Will Recycled PET Be the End of ABS?
  It’s great to see The LEGO Group is making progres on their goal to use more sustainable materials in their products!
  —New Elementary

Best podcast episodes:

This month, another new LEGO podcast was launched. Happy Listening!

• Brick by Brick (22:06)
  Matthew Shifrin is blind, and he loves building LEGO. In this absolutely touching story, you will learn how a family friend Lilya made it possible to build real LEGO sets, and the relationship with The LEGO Group that followed. (This is the best LEGO-related podcast story that I’ve heard in a long time!)
  —Blind Guy Travels
• Nathan Sawaya – Brick Artist (38:44)
  Another excellent episode interviews the talented LEGO Artist known for his “Art of the Brick” exhibitions.
  —For the Love of Brick
• #23: LEGO Loco: The LEGO Group’s take on SimCity (35:07)
  The Bits n’ Bricks podcast is back with their second season. The episode I’ve enjoyed most so far covers LEGO Loco, a PC game that combines elements of classic PC game that I loved as a child and LEGO Trains. It’s a great look back to the early days of PC gaming.
  —Bits N’ Bricks
• #442: Tanz Tanz Revolution (48:14)
  As a long-time electronic music fan, I was eager to learn how the fall of the Berlin wall, a transatlantic connection to the burgeoning Detroit house scene, and a lot of abandoned buildings was the perfect recipe for the explosive growth of Techno music.
  —99% Invisible