This month’s update is a few days late, so I’ve taken the liberty of including some news from early December as well. This includes the announcements for several exciting sets which won’t be released until January.

New at Brick Architect

This month, I’ve been completing as many chapters as possible for the print edition of my LEGO Parts Guide! I shared 8 posts with Patrons since November 1, including drafts of the following chapters: Nature, Minifig, Articulation, and DUPLO.

Want to help? I’m looking for applicants to participate in the beta program. You can sign up by completing this survey: https://forms.gle/dafveyyKVuy22pma9. (Please understand that not all applicants will be selected.)

Presentation: The LEGO Parts Guide

You can learn more by watching my BrickCon talk about some of the obstacles I faced in creating this guide, some of my ideas to address those challenges, and even interactive feedback opportunities for the audience to help me refine the book.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• The number of top-level categories in the guide.
• How much ‘history’ to include in the chapters.
• How ‘retired’ parts could be handled in future editions of the guide.
• How to handle groups of nearly identical parts.
• If DUPLO should be included.

You can watch the whole presentation on YouTube.

If you enjoyed the video, please give it a ‘thumbs up’ and share it with another LEGO builder who might be interested in the LEGO Parts Guide.

What else is new this month:

I’m always excited to share new articles and reviews. I especially enjoyed Koen’s article showing you how to create your own Book Nook inspired by the official sets. This is a really approachable way to get into MOC building, even if you do not have a huge collection of LEGO bricks.

• DIY Book Nooks: Telling stories with LEGO Bricks
  LEGO Book Nooks squeeze rich brick-based storytelling in the smallest of spaces. Let’s learn how to build your own!
• Review: 21064 Paris – City of Love (LEGO Architecture)
  The LEGO Skyline concept — but compressed into a wall decoration. Does the idea have enough depth, or will it fall flat?
• Updated: LEGO Parts Guide
  Reorganized some parts in Minifig & Articulation categories to match chapter text for my upcoming printed book.

Don’t miss this article inspiring you to build your own Book Nook!

Looking Forward: January Releases

Of particular interest to my readers are three sets with a strong architectural pedigree… #11370 The Creel House features a creepy, boarded up home in a Second Empire / Victorian style which will look great in a halloween themed display. (It includes a lot of great Stranger Things minifigs, but $300 feels steep.)

We are also finally seeing images of January’s addition to the Modular Building Series. #11371 Shopping Street has an unusual composition with a triangular patio in front. I’m still building it but hope to share my review soon!

#11371 Shopping Street is the latest addition to the Modular Building Series.

Lastly, there’s #21064 Paris – City of Love which I already reviewed. It is a pretty set with a painterly aesthetic, but I don’t think it belongs in the LEGO Architecture series.

Looking beyond architectural sets, I am really excited by the new Collectible Minifigure series. I have always enjoyed when they included Minifigs dressed up as animals. If you like them too, you will love Series 28, which features 12 different animals including a fish, frog, crocodile, parrot, and dog. I also noticed that the new LEGO Dreamzz wave includes #71515 Tiger Shark which can convert between a pirate ship and a tank — while fighting a new antagonist with 6 eyes on it’s head!

Best articles from around the web

Learn more about the LEGO hobby with this month’s collection of great articles I’ve collected from around the web…

• A 3D-Printed Approach to Smarter LEGO Storage
  In this article, Chris Roberts offers an honest assesment of the cost and the benefits of using 3d printed storage within large drawers such as the popular Ikea Alex system.
  —BrickNerd
• The gift-with-purchase conundrum
  In this article, CapnRex101 explores the increased number of gift-with-purchase sets in recent years, including those which are only available with a specific set. For the most part these are small nice-to-have sets, but they also explore sets which could have sold well as standalone products.
  —Brickset
• Turkey Trouble! A History of LEGO Gobblers and Drumsticks
  Relive thanksgiving traditions with this cursed look at LEGO turkeys by Will Hafner. There’s a lot of great info about the history of the LEGO Turkey and drumstick elements.
  —BrickNerd

Author Will Hafner gets a little wild with LEGO turkeys. (Photo: BrickNerd)

• Building Confidence in Microscale: The John Klesh Challenge
  This article by Wayne Tyler is all about a microscale building challenge that resonates with me: “Build a version as small as possible while still having it be identifiable.” This idea is at the heart of building microscale!
  —BrickNerd
• U is for Urbanism (43:27) I recently finished listening to the audiobook edition of Jane Jacobs’ iconic The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and was surprised to find the book as a central theme in this awesome episode about how Sesame Street is modeled on her vision of diverse, dense urban landscapes.
  —99% Invisible
• When LEGO Became My Therapy (1:15:18)
  This episode features a fantastic interview with Another Jones, about her experiences of the healing power of LEGO, which she captured in a new book: Brick by Brick: Rebuilding Through Play.
  —AFOLs Welcome

My son Max [is a] chaos goblin who will build a castle on top of a car with a dragon head and a minifigure that’s got a random thing in his hand. — No rules, no shame, maximum dopamine!

Another Jones

• Bricklink suspends Marketplace operations in 35 countries
  Many people were worried when BrickLink was acquired by The LEGO Group, although changes were slow at first. This year alone, we have seen an annoying change forcing us to use a LEGO Account to sign-in to BrickLink, and now we are learning that LEGO fans in 35 countries can no longer buy or sell products on BrickLink. Explanations for the change are sparse, worsening the public reaction to the change.
  —Jay’s Brick Blog
• Color Guide – Build up your knowledge of LEGO colors! From the department of “it took you long enough”, BrickLink finally shows official LEGO color names and numbers alongside the proprietary BrickLink names. It only took six years — The LEGO Group acquired BrickLink in November 2019!
  —BrickLink
• How I Got My Barber to BrickCon: Building a Massive Minifig-Scale LEGO International Space Station
  This is a technically dense article highlighting the massive undertaking that Douglas Hughes undertook to build and display a massive award-winning recreation of the International Space Station. While no doubt a feat of amazing LEGO building, the real star of the show is a massive support structure that made the model possible.
  —BrickNerd