I’m excited to share a lot of great content this month. This included our review of #21061 Notre Dame (which is excellent), and our review of all four summer 2024 Jungle Explorer sets.

I had even more fun exploring some other aspects of the LEGO hobby, including an in-depth look at how you can still play all of the LEGO Adventure games produced by Tt / Travelers Tales games.

Lastly, I really enjoyed attending an interesting LEGO Exhibition that just started here in Seattle. Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO Bricks includes 18 brick-built skyscrapers designed by talented LEGO Certified Professional Ryan McNaught. Be sure to read the whole article to learn more about the exhibit, whether you live in the Seattle area or not.

Towers of Tomorrow features 18 massive brick-built skyscrapers.

In reflecting on the exhibit, I found myself thinking about the role of these professional exhibitions and how they complement, or compete, with events organized by the AFOL community like BrickCon. I think that fan conventions form the lifeblood of the LEGO fan community because they create a realistic bridge between casual LEGO fans who come to see the convention, and other fans who can nudge them to build something to display next year.

On the other hand, professional exhibitions offer a completely different opportunity—the chance for people to see a huge collection of LEGO models created by one of the most talented builders in the world with a singuar artistic sensibility. The Towers of Tomorrow exhibit benefits greatly from this focus, where you can really see the differences in the size of different skyscrapers since the models are built to the same scale.

I think there is room within the LEGO hobby for both fan events and professional exhibits since they inspire LEGO enthusiasts in different ways. I’m also eager to hear from you—have you had a good (or bad) experience at a professional lego exhibit or fan convention?

New at Brick Architect

We had a busy month—and stay tuned; we have some more new articles coming soon!

• Review: Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO Bricks
  Let’s take a closer look at this exhibit featuring brick-built skyscrapers, and the role of large touring LEGO shows like this within the LEGO fan community.
• Review: #21061 Notre Dame (LEGO Architecture)
  Are you ready to expertly re-create an undisputed architectural masterpiece using a ton of truly tiny LEGO pieces?
• Review: Summer 2024 Jungle Explorer LEGO City Sets
  Johnny Thunder is back with four sets featuring four new animal moulds — let’s find out which ones offer the best building adventure!
• Article: Can you still play all of the LEGO×TT Adventure Games in 2024?
  Yes, you can! There’s one current-generation gaming console where you can still play all 25 of these classic LEGO games!

I had fun researching this article which shows how many LEGO Games you can still play on a current-generation gaming console.

June 2024 releases for AFOLs

June is a big month for new releases! I’m thrilled that we had a chance to review #21061 Notre Dame since it is a truly exceptional building experience.

That said, the most discussed June release is probably #10333 Barad-Dur, the iconic black tower from the Lord of the Rings which has a glowing red Eye of Sauron on top. From June 1-7, you will also receive a 269-piece #40693 Fell Beast as a gift with purchase ($30 value). It’s a nice set featuring the winged creature that the Nazgûl/Ringwraiths use to serve Sauron’s dark deeds and try to find the One Ring.

In North America, the summer LEGO City sets are split with some releasing June 1, and others coming in August. Here are a couple of the most compelling sets which are now available globally. (For example, the awesome #60421 Robot World Roller-Coaster Park is available now in most regions, but folks in North America need to wait until August 1.)

• #21061 Notre Dame
  Please do read our review, but I’m happy to save you some time and say that this is an excellent set worth building if you have any interest whatsoever.
  4383 pieces, ages 18+, $230, available now at LEGO.com
• #10333 Barad-Dur
  While easily one of the most highly anticipated sets this month, it lacks some of the next-level beauty of last year’s #10316 Rivendell.
  5471 pieces, 10 minifigures, ages 18+, $460, available now at LEGO.com
• #60440 Yellow Delivery Truck
  While it is on the expensive side, we had the chance to build a review copy and this set is a winner that earned our 4/5 star rating… Full review coming soon!
  1061 pieces, 4 minifigures, ages 18+, $100, available now at LEGO.com
• #10334 Retro Radio
  This retro-style radio is pretty realistic, and features a speaker brick. It includes a ton of parts in the relatively rare 323AquaLight Aqua color, but feels like a bit of a boring build.
  906 pieces, ages 18+, $100, available now at LEGO.com
• #60426 Jungle Explorer Off-Road Truck
  This was our pick from the four Jungle Explorer sets this month, thanks to the great new tiger mould and interesting vehicle.
  314 pieces, ages 6+, $35, available now at LEGO.com

You can see all the rest of the new releases by visiting the lego.com store. (Making a purchase using our referral link helps support this website.)

#21061 Notre Dame is a near-perfect LEGO set for adult builders interested in Architecture.

Best articles from around the web

Learn more about the LEGO hobby every month with a selection of great articles from around the web…

• Seamless SNOT: LEGO Techniques for Smooth Surfaces
  I’m always keen to learn more SNOT buidling techniques, but this article by Oscar Cederwall dives into something I try to ignore—the small grooves on the bottom edges of certain LEGO elements like Tiles and Jumpers—and how to avoid those gaps by using less common parts.
  —BrickNerd
• Building with character: a conversation with NPU wizard Djokson [Interview]
  This interview with Serbian builder Djokson includes an awesome gallery of MOCs created with weird parts, and some insights into building with weird parts.
  —Brothers Brick
• Vote for the next LEGO Space Minifigure color and Castle Faction
  The ‘correct’ choice is 107Bright Bluish GreenDark Turquoise / Teal Space Minifigure and The Kraken castle faction, but I guess you can vote for whichever one you like. 😀
  —LEGO Ideas

Vote for the next LEGO Space minifigure color and Castle faction.

• Stickers vs Prints in LEGO Sets: What’s Up With That…?
  Retired LEGO designer James May is back with a two-part article exploring the role of stickers in the set design process.
  —Brickset
• LEGO Friends: new parts for June 2024
  New elements, and existing parts in new colors forms the backbone of the MOC community. Check out all these interesting new parts and recolors in this article by tobymac.
  —New Elementary
• Building Notre Dame’s McKenna Hall: A Journey of Faith and Bricks
  I love this article that is largely in the words of Father Bob Simon about his process building intricate LEGO Architecture models and the intersection with his faith. I’m clearly not alone in needing something to occupy my mind during the most repetitive parts of a large build.
  —BrickNerd

Learn how to cover your model with gold leaf in this article about amazing LEGO architecture builds. (Photo: BrickNerd)

• How to Part Out LEGO Sets: Sorting Your Way Out of a Dark Age
  I’m always eager to read articles about people’s personal journeys sorting and storing LEGO. In this article, Katie Walker shows us how she parts out sets and stores them efficiently in a small LEGO room.
  —BrickNerd
• Is this the perfect LEGO box?
  I touched on the new collapsible box design in my review of #21061 Notre Dame, but thought readers might appreciate this in-depth look at the box design itself by Huw Millington.
  —Brickset
• HA Bricks vs LEGO: Not a good day for railway fans (German)
  This article touches on a recent lawsuit between The LEGO group and a company producing custom LEGO sets using genuine LEGO elements that were modified to add metal bearings. The LEGO group won the case, blocking the company from modifying LEGO parts, but and also from doing custom printed parts. It sounds like the company was at fault, although this sets a worrying precedent for other companies producing custom sets using real LEGO elements.
  —Promo Bricks