October 2024 LEGO News Roundup

Looking back at some reviews and interesting articles as we wrap-up the spooky month and accelerate towards the winter holiday season.

The highlight of this month was the opportunity to review #21353 The Botanical Garden. While I did not love the set, it is a good addition to the LEGO Ideas lineup, offers some nice improvements from the fan submission, and includes a lot of interesting new parts.

Review: #21353 The Botanical Garden (LEGO Ideas)

Review: #21353 The Botanical Garden (LEGO Ideas)

I also purchased a Special Edition magazine called The Magic of LEGO which was produced by the people who write Time Magazine. Please feel free to read my short review which includes photos from inside the magazine, but you don’t need to bother if you don’t want to — my main takeaway from reading the 96-page print-on-demand magazine is that you can skip it…

TIME Magazine: The Magic of LEGO - The toy that changed the world.

TIME Magazine: The Magic of LEGO – The toy that changed the world.

The upside is that it offers a decent summary of the history of The LEGO Group including their transition from woodworking to plastic toys, but the sections on LEGO Movies and the Adult Fan Community are pretty awful. You will find a much better account of the companies history for about the same price by reading the excellent book: The LEGO Story: How a Little Toy Sparked the World’s Imagination. And if reading isn’t your thing, the audiobook is also excellent.

Lastly, I have resumed work on my LEGO Parts Guide by updating some custom scripts to make it easier to identify parts which are missing custom images. This makes the Most Common Parts galleries richer because there are fewer missing images.

November 2024 releases for AFOLs

The LEGO Group is releasing just two sets this month, and they are both aimed at older audiences. Interestingly, they both cost the same amount and both come with a free gift-with-purchase (while supplies last). Given the architectural bias of this blog and many of my readers, I think #21353 The Botanical Garden will be the more popular option — thanks largely to the interesting new parts!

  • #76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion
    This is the fourth Marvel set that can connect to adjacent buildings in the same way as sets in the popular Modular Building Series. Reviews are a bit mixed, appreciating the details that were included but acknowledging that the interior floorplan is cramped because it is too small overall.
    3093 pieces, ages 18+, $330, available now at LEGO.com
  • #5009015 Cerebro
    This is a small vignette of the room Professor Xavier uses to amplify his mind and detect mutants.
    153 pieces, ages 10+, Free with purchase ($20 value), available now at LEGO.com
#76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion

#76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion

  • #21353 The Botanical Garden (LEGO Ideas)
    As I explained in my review, this is a good set with a ton of exciting new parts, but despite the high part count it is a poor value by objective measures like price-per-gram. (Also, it should be called a ‘Conservatory’ and not a Botanical Garden.)
    3792 pieces, ages 18+, $330, available now at LEGO.com
  • #5009005 Entrance Gate
    This tiny vignette adds a small gate that you can display near the entrance to the Conservatory. One issue that reviewers noticed is that it is on a standard plate, which is taller than the thin baseplate used for the larger set.
    152 pieces, ages 10+, Free with purchase ($20 value), available now at LEGO.com

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

Best articles from around the web

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

Adam Betts shares behind-the-scenes photos as he designed and built an award-winning LEGO model.

Adam Betts shares behind-the-scenes photos as he designed and built an award-winning LEGO model.

New Elementary showcasing how LEGO Friends legs are made using 'overmoulding' technique.

New Elementary showcasing how LEGO Friends legs are made using ‘overmoulding’ technique.

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