Another month brings a bunch of great new LEGO content from around the world and here at Brick Architect. Enjoy!

New at Brick Architect

• Review: #45345 SPIKE Essential (LEGO Education)
  The classroom-focused SPIKE Prime has a little sibling – let’s see what it offers for students and educators, and whether there’s anything here for adult builders, too…
• Update: Guide to LEGO ‘Powered Up’ System
  Now that I’ve worked with almost every product in the Powered Up system, I’ve gone back and added a “Conclusion” to this popular article, explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the system as a whole.
• Update: Unofficial LEGO Architecture Set Guide
  I made a bunch of updates to the article, including recent changes such that LEGO Certified Professionals are no longer allowed to create custom sets. Also added ‘Trondheim Skyline’ by Rocco Buttliere to the guide.

Brick Architect review of #45345 Spike Prime

#4000038 LEGO Campus – Employee Exclusive

The LEGO Group has produced a fair number of custom sets for Employees, many of which celebrated the opening of a new factory. This month, they opened up a massive (and iconic) new building on their Billund campus, modeled on the luxurious workplaces of Silicon Valley.

#4000038 LEGO Campus – Employee Exclusive Set (Photo: George Gilliatt)

I was able to confirm that the set was designed by Niels M. Frederiksen who (according to his designer page at Brickset) has worked exclusively on Star Wars sets since joining The LEGO Group in 2013.

• CF Møller Architects arranges Lego campus around circular yellow atrium
  —Dezeen
• Inside LEGO Campus: An Exclusive Tour of LEGO’s New HQ in Billund
  —BrickNerd

Do you have a copy of the set — or know someone who does? 
I am looking to buy a copy which I promise to actually build and review here at Brick Architect.

If so, please email me at tom@tomalphin.com — Thanks!

Exciting new sets for AFOLs

What’s coming out in May? As in recent years, most of the attention goes to the new Star Wars sets.

• #75341 Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder
  This year’s UCS Star Wars set is an intricately detailed version of Luke’s Landspeeder. It’s not super compelling to me, but this year’s promos might be enough to temp you to buy it.
  1890 pieces, $200, available April 4 at LEGO.com
• #76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck
  I’m not familiar with the game this is based on, but the model looks cool and it’s a great price-per-part for a licensed set!
  1222 pieces, $80, available now at LEGO.com
• #10311 Orchid
  This is the most attractive addition to the Botanicals series yet!
  608 pieces, $50, available now at LEGO.com
• #10309 Succulents
  These cute succulents can be arranged however you like.
  771 pieces, $50, available now at LEGO.com

2022’s May the Fourth (Star Wars Day) gift with purchase promos.

Don’t forget to take advantage of the free Star Wars gifts in celebration of May the Fourth with the following minimum LEGO Star Wars purchases: $40 minimum: AT-ST Set, $70 minimum: Mandalorian Beskar Key Chain, $160 minimum: Lars Family Homestead Kitchen (with exclusive Aunt Beru minifigure).

Best articles from around the web

Here are some highlights this month from around the web – Happy reading!

• The Muppets – 71033 Collectable Minifigures: Rambling Review
  This review is great because it showcases Richard’s deep knowledge of Muppet characters and includes great photography, too!
  —The Rambling Brick
• The LEGO 5×5 Curved Plate
  Here’s New Elementary doing what they do best… A whole article dedicated to a single new part! (The sample mechanisms are the best part.)
  —New Elementary
• Blocks Magazine Issue 90 – Special Edition
  I get most of my LEGO news online, but also enjoy magazines like Blocks and BrickJournal. This special edition issue has a lot of exclusive interviews looking back at the 90-year history of The LEGO Group.
  —Blocks Magazine
• Bricklink Designer Program – LEGO Ideas Projects: Round 3
  Pricing for the 3rd wave of sets in the BrickLink Designer Program have been announced. The real surprise is the scope and scale of these sets, with only one of the nine sets landing at under $200.
  —Bricklink
• Mad About Minifigs: Chatting with a Custom CMF Concept Creator
  There are so many way to express your LEGO fandom – this article looks at how Roberto has been creating fan-art ideas for future collectible minifigs.
  —BrickNerd
• Building a life-size LEGO Technic McLaren F1
  The awesome judge of LEGO Masters Australia is also a builder – in fact, just one of about a dozen LEGO Certified Professionals around the world. Check out behind-the-scenas photos building the nearly 300,000 piece model!.
  —Brickman
• Every LEGO April Fools Joke 2022: A Defense of Creative Foolery
  Why should I collect all the great 2022 LEGO April Fools articles in one place when Dave has already done such a good job?
  —BrickNerd

LEGO Masters around the world

There have been a lot of news regarding the LEGO Masters show around the world recently. This includes new seasons in USA and Australia, and the first season of LEGO Masters New Zealand.

• Preview: Back With A Few New Bricks | LEGO MASTERS
  Season 3 of LEGO Masters USA debits on May 31. The US show is overproduced and less fun than some of the international editions, but it has still been fun to watch in the past.
  —FOX @ YouTube
• LEGO Masters NZ premieres soon
  I’m eager to watch the inaugural season of LEGO Masters New Zealand which premieres on May 9. I hope that it follows the excellent Australia version in tone and style. This seems likely, since Brickmaster Robin Sather is really kind and has a similar upbeat attitude to Australia’s Brickmaster Ryan McNaught.
  —Brickset
• Contestants Revealed For LEGO Masters Australia Season 4!
  Australia’s LEGO MAsters show is my favorite, thansk in no small part to Brickmaster Ryan McNaught who brings a great attitude to the show. Season 4 debuted on April 18.
  —Brick Banter

Best videos:

Here are a couple videos that might catch your interest, too…

• Sorting LEGO like a PRO (8:08)
  Tiago doesn’t share my fondness for drawer cabinets, but his video is well done and his approach will surely makes sense for some builders.
  —Tiago Catarino @ YouTube
• Graphing the Motion Profile of LEGO Cams (3:22)
  Jason Allemann shows us the different motion profiles which are possible when building kinetic scultures!
  —JK Brickworks @ YouTube
• LEGO BUILDING STORIES | 15 Years of LEGO Modular Buildings (41:21)
  Jamie Berard takes us on an enthusiastic (and lengthy) tour of 15 years of the Modular Building series — the iconic series which he helped create!
  —LEGO @ YouTube

Best podcast episodes:

We’ve got just one audio story to highlight this month…

• Murder Most Fowl (30:49)
  Something as commonplace as a glass skyscraper is a death trap for birds. It turns out that modest interventions can make buildings a lot safer for birds.
  —99% Invisible