Tag Archives: 2019

2019 | Year in Review

Leave a reply

Well it’s been quite a year. TLCB’s home nation had yet another election, President Trump became the third U.S leader in history to be impeached (not that it means anything at all), Greta Thunberg led the world’s children on strike over climate change, during which time the world’s leaders literally fiddled whilst California and Australia burned, and Russia were thrown out of the Olympics for mass state-sponsored doping (again).

It’s been a busy year for the automotive world too, with PSA and FCA merging to create, er… PSFCAA(?), Nissan-Renualt-Mitsubishi boss Carlos Ghosn’s arrest (and current exile in Lebanon after smuggling himself out of Japan whilst on bail), Elon Musk inadvertently smashing the windows of his own truck live at its unveiling, Volkswagen revealing the most ambitious ‘we’re not evil, honest’ plan since Italy swapped sides in World War 2, and flying cars still not becoming a thing despite Blade Runner now being set in the past.

But enough on the criminality of the President, Carlos Ghosn, Russian athletics, and Volkswagen, what about The Lego Car Blog? Well the good news is we’ve not done anything criminal…

Stats:

The bad news is we saw a drop in visitors for the second year, after six consecutive years of growth, and will end the year at about two thirds of a million. That’s still a lot of people mind, and we’re still surprised that anyone at all likes this site enough to visit it, so if you’re reading this; thank you. Those numbers don’t include visits to our Facebook page either, where all posts now also appear.

Search engines brought around 200,000 visitors, with Pintrest and Facebook the next greatest referrers. Our most popular page was, as ever, the Review Library, which now holds over one-hundred reviews of official LEGO sets, books, and third-party products such as BuWizz and SBrick.

The most viewed creation of 2019 was Lachlan Cameron’s awesome Ford Mustang [Hoonigan], which was also received the most clicks of any link we published whilst the video of the real [Hoonigan] Mustang tearing up the streets of LA at the hands of Ken Block was the most watched media. The second most clicked video link was altogether more silly.

The United States proved to be the most popular visitor country once again, perhaps as people try to escape the inane gibberish that seems to be going on there at the moment. Germany and the UK make up the rest of the top three, probably for similar reasons.

In all visitors from two-hundred countries visited The Lego Car Blog over the course of 2019, with several counties posting a visitor of number of one, including Iran, Liberia and Haiti amongst others. If you’re reading this and you’re that one – thank you, and you are part of something much bigger! There were also three visitors from Vatican City, which makes us kinda hopeful that one might be the Pope, but if it is we’d better stop making ‘Your Mom’ jokes…

Interviews:

OK, we forgot about these in 2019, with just one new builder added to the Master MOCers Hall of Fame. The wonderful Redfern1950s joined us for the twenty-first interview and you can find his page via the link above, plus read the twenty interviews that proceeded his via the main menu at the top of the page.

We’ll try to do better in 2020. Unless we forget again…

Advertisements:

Lastly, your visits and clicks here at The Lego Car Blog have continued to do good, with a few thousand dollars now raised in total via the adverts that you view. We don’t allow many ads to appear here, and whilst some are dubious in their content – ‘Local Mom makes $[insert ridiculous amount here] without working!’ is perhaps the most irritating – we hope they’re not too intrusive and we’re more than happy to take money from internet marketing companies and redistribute it to those that need it most.

As has been the case for some time we’re pondering whether we can and should do more with this platform, and should that ever happen we will of course let you know. For now though, things continue as they are.

2020:

As we enter a whole new decade The Lego Car Blog will continue to champion the best Lego vehicles created by the online community. TLCB Elves are searching Flickr, MOCpages, Eurobricks, Brickshelf and other creation-sharing sites as you read this, in the hope of uncovering the next blog-worthy model that will earn them a meal token.

If you’d like to suggest something they’ve missed you can continue to do so via the Feedback page, Contact page or on Facebook, where you can also let us know your thoughts (good and bad) about what we write.

Thank you for visiting us in 2019, and we wish you all a very Happy New Year!

TLCB Team

42109 Technic Top Gear Rally Car | Set Preview

4 Replies

Our Elves are on it right now. Much as we hate to admit it, they’re doing rather well at sneaking into The LEGO Company’s headquarters, not being eaten by Danish Alsatians, and bringing back brand new sets for us to share with you. Hot the heels of the Unnecessarily-Long-Named Lamborghini set revealed here last week, this is their latest scoop; the new for 2020 Technic 42019 App-Controlled Top Gear Rally Car.

42019 is the latest in LEGO’s app-controlled line-up, utilising the new Control+ app that allows a model to be controlled via bluetooth from a mobile device (as per SBrick and BuWizz). It also adds another (slightly odd) brand to LEGO’s burgeoning roster of official partners. Yup, BBC Top Gear join such names as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Chevrolet and Jaguar in being printed on a LEGO box, although this link is perhaps a little more tenuous (and perhaps more than a little late given Top Gear’s peak was some years ago).

The new 42109 App-Controlled Top Gear Rally Car set is a fully remote controlled rally racer of a generic and non-specific design, featuring an XL motor for drive, an L motor for steering, LEGO’s new Bluetooth smart hub, and a whole load of stickers.

463 pieces make up the set, none of which look new or remarkable, but what is very cool is that 42109 isn’t just operable via a bluetooth device through the new Control+ app, it includes interactive in-built challenges, merging video game thrills with a real functioning Technic model. That sounds rather neat, and is something we think any nine year old (or TLCB staff writer, which amounts to the same thing) will absolutely love.

Of course the success of the new App-Controlled Top Gear Rally Car will depend upon the execution of those app-based challenges, but as the app could be easily updated with new challenges added over time, we see far more longevity in the Control+ platform than LEGO’s past forays into gaming achieved (we’re looking at you 8432 Technic Red Hot Machine)…

42109 is due to reach stores at the end of the year aimed at ages 9+ and is expected to cost around $129/£125. We’re cautiously excited…

Speed Champions 76899 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO & Urus ST-X | Set Preview

11 Replies

LEGO set names just keep getting longer. This is the new Speed Champions 76899 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO & Urus ST-X set, the latest in LEGO’s rather excellent line of officially licensed real-world vehicles. Joining the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, McLaren, Jaguar, and Mini, plus VW Group brands Porsche and Audi, Lamborghini (another brand within the Volkswagen empire) are the latest manufacturer to partner with LEGO’s Speed Champions range.

The new set brings two Lamborghini cars to bedroom floors around the world, the marvellous Huracán Super Trofeo EVO and the hideous Urus ST-X. Each model is built in LEGO’s new 8-wide scale, includes a mini-figure driver, and deploys an array of stickerage to add visual realism (or cheat, depending on your point of view), with the Huracán looking rather lovely and the Urus spectacularly ugly, so correct on both counts.

The obligatory start/finish gantry that seems to be included in every Speed Champions set makes an appearance as expected, whilst another 660-odd pieces make up the two cars. 76899 will reach stores imminently, and whilst we do really hate that Urus, adding Lamborghini cars to the LEGO line-up (even if one is a Urus) is a welcome move. More please LEGO!

LEGO 76139 1989 Batmobile | Set Preview

4 Replies

Great news for those of you who only work in black! LEGO have revealed their upcoming 76139 ‘1989 Batmobile’ set, at it is really very black indeed. With 3,306 pieces (at least 3,000 of which look to be black), 76139 is one of the largest Superheroes sets to date, and bridges nicely across the DC and Creator car lines.

The model is a faithful replica of the vehicle used in the 1989 Tim Burton movie, and comes with a rotating platform and three slightly superfluous mini-figures (Joker, Vicki Vale (who?!), and Batman himself), which gives away the model’s primary purpose as being a display piece rather than a toy or engineering demonstration. Nevertheless the new set does feature working steering, a sliding cockpit (using a new piece), and pop-up machine guns should Batman decide to go rogue.

The new 76139 ‘1989 Batmobile’ set is expected to cost a around £220/$250 – which is rather a lot – and will go on sale on Black Friday 2019, which seems both appropriate and quite possibly a dark joke considering the price…

Creations for Charity 2019

Leave a reply

Creations for Charity 2019 is here!

Creations for Charity, the awesome annual event that provides thousands of LEGO toys to underprivileged children is back for 2019! Many of the world’s best builders will be donating their models to the Creations for Charity online store, raising money to purchase LEGO sets for children in need around the world. Last year Creations for Charity raised over $16,000; that’s a whole lot of LEGO, with hundreds of children receiving a LEGO set as a gift – perhaps the only one they received – at Christmas.

You Can Help!

You can join this incredible initiative in a number of ways; by publicising Creations for Charity, donating your own creation, or by buying one of the unique creations for that will be for sale via the online store.

Donate a Creation: Donations are now open – if you’d like to give away a creation that you think could raise money to buy LEGO toys for children who may otherwise receive nothing this Christmas then please click here to get in touch with the Creations for Charity team!

Buy a Creation: Click here to visit the Creations for Charity Bricklink store to watch the brilliant bespoke creations appearing for sale over the coming weeks, with all proceeds used to buy LEGO sets for children in need.

Finally, remember that just by visiting The Lego Car Blog you are helping to do good around the world too;

All of the advertising revenue received through your clicks and views here at TLCB is donated to those who need it more than we do.

So please keep clicking, keep liking, and share us if you can : )

TLCB Team

LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator | Set Preview

14 Replies

There’s been one hole remaining in our reveal of the H2 2019 LEGO Technic line-up. It turns out it was a very big hole indeed. This is the 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator, the largest and most expensive Technic model ever released.

With over 4,100 pieces, seven electric motors, and two of LEGO’s new ‘Smart Hubs’ which allow for remote control via Bluetooth thanks to the recently released LEGO Control+ App, the 42100 set is the most advanced Technic set yet, and it has a price tag to match, costing $450/£400.

That is seriously expensive for a toy, but LEGO are hoping that the set’s enormous array of programmable functionality will make it an attractive purchase. The officially-licensed Liebherr (joining such sets as the Volvo L350F, Mack Anthem and Claas Xerion 5000) can drive, skid-steer, rotate the superstructure, extend and raise the boom, and open and tilt the bucket, all remotely via a phone.

Those functions can be programmed too, thanks to the new Control+ App, with realistic sound effects and real-time feedback available. It’s a modern interpretation of the brilliant plug-and-play 8479 Barcode Truck from twenty-two years ago, only with the up-to-date control programmability afforded by today’s intuitive touch devices.

The new LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator set will reach stores in October of this year, instantly becoming the flagship of the Technic range. Will the intuitive control, easy programmability and amazing multiple motorised functions offset that huge price? We’re willing to bet that if it does then a $500+ Technic set isn’t too far away…

LEGO Technic H2 2019 | Set Previews!

9 Replies

Our Elves have been sneaking! Following our reveal of the H1 2019 Technic sets another batch of Elves were dispatched to The LEGO Company’s HQ to uncover the H2 additions to the Technic line-up. The survivors returned home over the summer and after much consideration we’re now able to offer our ‘expert analysis’ of LEGO’s latest sets! So, here you go, the H2 2019 LEGO Technic line-up…

– 42098 Car Transporter –

There’s a theme running through the H2 2019 Technic range and, much like your Mom, it’s size. We’ll start with the largest. Or longest at least. This is the 2,500 piece, 3ft long 42098 Car Transporter, a vehicle type that LEGO have dabbled with in the past in the Technic range, but never really tackled properly.

Three models in one, 42098 includes a truck, trailer and a muscle car, all of which are packed with mechanical functions like Technic-of-Old. The aesthetics are very much Technic-of-New though, with plenty of stickers and an increased level of visual realism.

42098 can fit five cars on board by our count, leaving room for four of your own once built. Both the truck and muscle car feature ‘Hand of God’ steering and miniature working piston engines, whilst the truck and trailer include ingenious hand-powered mechanisms to access the top decks, with gears lowering and extending a multitude of ramps to enable a full load to be driven on board.

42098 looks like a really interesting addition to the Technic range, and it’ll be nice to be able to store other sets and MOCs neatly on top of it. Expect the new set to cost c$180/£140 when it reaches stores later this year.

…

– 42099 4×4 X-treme Off-Roader –

Next we have a set that’s got the Elves very excited. It’s huge, it’s orange, it’s remote controlled, and it features LEGO’s penchant for poor spelling when words contain the letter ‘x’.

The 42099 X-treme Off-Roader looks… well, nuts, and it features LEGO’s new bluetooth remote control, finally catching up with third-party providers such as SBrick and BuWizz who have been offering control-via-phone for some time.

Like the 42098 Car Transporter above, 42099 is a complicated set aimed at ages 11+, but this time it swaps mechanical functionality for LEGO’s Power Functions motor system, now with the addition of the new ‘Control’ bluetooth-compatible app-based operating system.

This gives 42099 superb-looking playability, provided the set’s all-wheel-drive, remotely controlled steering, and suspension are up to the job. Judging by the images we’re hopeful, and if the number of stickers is a measure of off-road ability, the X-treme Off-Roader will be able to climb Everest.

Like all the sets previewed here 42099 will reach stores later this year. We’ll do our best to resist testing its Elf-smushing ability when we get our hands on it…

…

– 42097 Compact Crawler Crane –

The last H2 2019 Technic set we’re previewing today (but not the last in the range…) is this, the 920 piece 42097 Compact Crawler Crane. Featuring an all-mechanical array of functions including boom extension and raising, four spidery legs that use the huge stabiliser parts from the 42078 Mack Anthem set reviewed here earlier in the year, a winch, and a set of manual tracks, it looks like no crane we’ve ever seen but contains some excellent gear-driven functionality nonetheless.

Still towards the top of Technic’s age range, 42097 is aimed at ages 10+ and will cost around $100/£80, making the H2 2019 line-up one of considerable size and complexity, earning LEGO a few TLCB Points after a slightly lacklustre H1 range.

There’s one more set in the H2 2019 line-up left to reveal, and we’ll do just that later this summer. In the meantime you can check out our preview of the H1 2019 Technic sets here, plus you can visit our Review Library where 100 LEGO sets past and present have been reviewed so far via the link.

Creator Expert 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy | Set Preview

4 Replies

LEGO’s officially licensed replicas just keep coming! This is their latest, in partnership with motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, the 10269 Creator Expert Fat Boy.

The first motorcycle in the Creator Expert line, the Harley-Davison Fat Boy becomes the second bike to be recreated in LEGO form following the excellent 42063 Technic BMW Motorrad R 1200 GS Adventure released a few years ago, and brings another new manufacturer partnership to LEGO’s already impressive back-catalogue.

With just over 1,000 pieces the new 10269 set is a hefty thing befitting its name, and it features a few new parts too – including printed Harley-Davison tiles that appear on the neat tear-drop shaped fuel tank and new authentic ‘Lakester’ wheels with very probably the widest tyre ever fitted to a LEGO motorcycle.

The new 10269 set also features a few working functions, including handlebar steering, a moveable gearshift pedal, kickstand and brake levers, and a working replica of the Fat Boy’s ‘Milwaukee-Eight®’ V-Twin engine with a brick-built engine block and pistons, making the Fat Boy the first LEGO set to use a non-specialised brick-built engine since the Technic sets of the 1980s. The model’s authenticity is completed with accurate ‘wicked red’ colouring as well as bespoke decals for the badging, speedometer and license plate.

10269 looks to be another fine addition to LEGO’s officially licensed range, and with Harley-Davison having such a loyal (often fanatical) following worldwide we expect the set to have an appeal as wide as that ludicrous rear tyre. Expect the Creator Expert 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy set to cost around $100/£85 when it reaches stores later this month.

75895 Speed Champions Porsche 911 Turbo 3.0 | Set Preview

6 Replies

It’s a new set day here at TLCB, as LEGO have revealed their latest officially-licensed entry into the Speed Champions line-up from old favourite Porsche; the most excellent looking 75895 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.0.

If 75895 looks familiar that’s because it is, as LEGO have recycled the design from 2018’s 75888 set, but Porsche have been recycling the 911’s design for decades now so if anything that makes it more authentic.

Featuring 180 pieces including a new-if-slightly-douchbaggy-mini-figure (wearing luxury car-branded clothing is never OK), 75895 includes rubber tyres, a removable windshield to give access to the cockpit, bespoke ‘Porsche’ and ‘Turbo’ decals, and a set of cones which – this being a 1970s Porsche – you can run over as you career off the road in a snap-oversteer/turbo-lag induced moment.

The new Speed Champions 75895 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.0 set will cost around $15 when it reaches stores in August of 2019 and we like it very much. Thumbs up LEGO.

42110 Technic Land Rover Defender | Set Preview

15 Replies

Oops. We suspect someone is going have an interesting day on Monday. This is the new Land Rover Defender. And by new, we really do mean new. The new Defender it not on sale yet, the press releases haven’t been issued, and camouflaged test cars are still pounding African roads.

Yet here the new Defender is, photographed un-camouflaged, complete with engine specs… only it’s in LEGO Technic form. Oops indeed.

We can’t take the credit/blame for this one as we haven’t yet dispatched our usual team of Elves to sneak into The LEGO Company’s HQ to bring back previews of the upcoming Technic sets. Instead this image was found on the website of a British toy shop, where we suspect it’s been mistakenly uploaded far too early.

Unfortunately the 42110 Land Rover Defender set seems to confirm our misgivings about the direction the new Defender has been taken. Spy-shots of prototypes have hinted at a fairly generic, very un-iconic looking SUV, and that appears to be exactly what we’ve got here. It’s certainly not a design that befits the Defender’s incredible 50 years of continuous production heritage.

Still, the Technic model itself looks properly good, features a slew of new pieces, and we particularly like the olive green colour chosen. The new 42110 Land Rover Defender set is also packed with mechanical functionality, featuring a winch, working steering, suspension, four-wheel-drive with three differentials, and a four-speed gearbox. That the description also claims the officially licensed LEGO set ‘captures the vehicle’s level of refinement’ and features a 6-cylinder engine makes us seriously worry for the real Defender’s future though…

We expect the new 42110 Technic Land Rover Defender set to cost around £160 when it reaches stores later in 2019, and someone to be in a bit of trouble come Monday…

10265 Creator Ford Mustang | Set Preview

33 Replies

10265 LEGO Creator Ford Mustang

LEGO on are on quite a roll with their officially-licensed sets at the moment. Spanning the Speed Champions, Creator and Technic ranges, we’ve had authentic replicas from Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Caterham and many more besides. Ford are one of the more humdrum manufacturers to partner with LEGO, but for us their cars chosen are some of the coolest in LEGO’s line-up. Revealed today, LEGO’s newest officially-licensed Ford set has to be the coolest of the lot!

Lego 10265 Ford Mustang Review

10265 joins the ‘Expert Creator’ range, a 1,470-piece replica of one the most iconic American cars ever made; the 1960s Ford Mustang. LEGO and Ford have chosen the late-’60s fastback, complete with Shelby stripes and a beautiful blue finish. Printed tiles add authenticity with accurate badging, license plates and gauges, and the new 5-spoke wheels are faithful to those found on the real car.

10265 joins the 10262 Aston Martin DB5 at the top of the creator range, measuring over a foot long and featuring working steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, and adding another 200 pieces to the DB5’s count. With the two sets being the same scale (and the DB5 being packed with 007 gadgets) you might be wondering where those extra 200 parts go, but LEGO has put them to good use! Or bad use, depending on your taste…

10265 LEGO Creator Ford Mustang Review

10265 can be customised with all sorts of go-faster goodies, including a supercharger complete with hood-protrusion, an aero kit consisting of a ducktail rear spoiler and a front air dam, quad side-pipes, and even a rear axle lift.

If you’re a) 10 or b) a TLCB Elf you’ll no doubt love the add-ons included in the set, which are a great idea from LEGO to add extra play value to their new Mustang set. For us these extra bricks would probably go into our spare parts box, as we think they thoroughly ruin the car (as they do in real life too…), but we won’t begrudge LEGO for a second for including them.

10265 LEGO Creator Ford Mustang

To our eyes the new 10265 Expert Creator Ford Mustang set is the best looking officially-licensed vehicle yet, and if you agree you can get your hands on one from March 2019. Aimed at ages 16+ we expect 10265 to retail for around £120/€140/$150 and to be the coolest way to spend said cash short of getting a flaming skull tattoo or an electric guitar. Bravo LEGO and Ford!

2018 | Year in Review

1 Reply

Lego 2019

The Lego Car Blog’s infamous New Year’s Party is fast approaching, so whilst we still have the capacity to write let’s take a look back on the year that was 2018. A cave rescue, a Royal wedding, Facebook douchbaggery, #MeToo, and one Presidential scandal after another, it’s been a busy year!

…

Stats; The Lego Car Blog passed the 5 million visitor mark a few weeks ago! However as usual we weren’t paying attention and forgot to blog about it. 2018 saw another 900,000 of you joining us here, a roughly 10% drop on the last two years when the site surpassed 1 million visitors per annum.

We mused as to the reasons why this may be a little while back, looking at the rise of Instagram, the fall of MOCpages, and various other factors, but we’ve since realised we’ve written just over 10% fewer posts this year than last. Oops.

Search engines brought just over a quarter of a million visitors to these pages (who knows what they were searching for!), whilst Pinterest and Facebook another 50,000 combined. The rest of you – we assume – came here on purpose, mostly from the United States, with Germany, the U.K and the Netherlands the next post popular.

The Lego Car Blog

Creations; Hundreds of new cars, trucks, motorcycles, aircraft, and the odd spaceship were blogged here at The Lego Car Blog in 2018, albeit around 10% fewer than last year. Top posts were our reveal of LEGO’s new 42083 Technic Bugatti Chiron set, Leviathan’s own Bugatti Chiron creation, and – as always – our Set Review Library, which expanded this year to include the third-party Bluetooth devices SBrick and BuWizz – take a look at what we thought of them via the links.

Lego Master MOCers

Interviews; The Master MOCers series added another two of the world’s finest builders to the Hall of Fame, with Mahjqa and Nico71 earning a permanent place in the archives. Linus Bohman, the creator of the brilliant LEGO set review aggregator Brick Insights, also joined us here at TLCB Towers – make sure you check out his amazing website via the link above!

Lego Treasure

Advertising; In 2018 we continued to show limited ads via our hosts WordPress, with all profits donated to good causes. This really does mean that your views and clicks here at The Lego Car Blog can make a positive impact – thank you!

…

So it seems 2018 has been quite a year for The Lego Car Blog too. We’ve added another 442 posts, written 77,060 words, received 260 comments (including 3 threats from Putin supporters), and raised $thousands for those in need.

For 2019 we aim to continue to showcase the very best Lego vehicles from all around the world, review more LEGO sets and third-party products, and bring you the latest LEGO news and exclusive interviews. Until then we’d like to thank you for joining us here at The Lego Car Blog, and we wish you all a very Happy New Year!

TLCB Team

Speed Champions 2019 | Set Previews!

14 Replies

LEGO Speed Champions 2019 Sets

A few weeks ago a crack team of The Lego Car Blog Elves were dispatched over the perimeter wall of The LEGO Company’s HQ by way of the office catapult. Tasked with uncovering LEGO’s new-for-2019 sets, those that made it back to TLCB Towers would be revered as heroes, whilst their fallen comrades would be mourned for around 15 minutes, before we all moved on with our lives.

Today the lucky survivors able to out-run a Danish alsatian see the fruits of their courageous mission revealed to you, our readers – and what tasty fruits they are! So without any further pointless preamble, here are the brand new 2019 LEGO Speed Champions sets!

LEGO 75893 Dodge Challenger Demon & Dodge Charger

LEGO’s partnerships with real-world car manufacturers is (and we may be a bit biased given the title of this website), one of their best ever decisions. The sets resulting from the tie-ups to date have been almost universally excellent, so it’s little wonder that LEGO and other manufacturers are looking to partner. Dodge become a new addition to LEGO universe for 2019, joining the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, Porsche, Volkswagen, Ford, Volvo, Ferrari and others.

Their first set is 75893 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon & Dodge Charger RT, a wonderful dual car homage to Dodge’s fastest products. A brilliant classic 1970 Charger (complete with a huge drag-racing supercharger) competes against the brand’s latest 2018 SRT Demon at a drag strip, with three mini-figures and the drag racing ‘christmas tree’ lights included. Each car looks faithfully accurate – although some of that accuracy is admittedly due to stickers, and with just under 500 pieces 75893 looks to be an excellent addition to the expanding officially-licensed Speed Champions line-up.

LEGO 75890 Speed Champions Ferrari F40 Competizione

Next we have a vehicle from one of the first manufacturers to partner with LEGO – it wouldn’t be Speed Champions without Ferrari! With 198 pieces the new 75890 Ferrari F40 Competizione set marks the entry point to the 2019 Speed Champions range, and brings one of the most famous supercars ever made back into LEGO form after its last appearance as the 1,158-piece 10248 Creator F40 set from 2015.

Although considerably smaller than its predecessor, 75890 is nevertheless a brilliantly accurate little set. This version of the F40 is the Competizione, or racing car to you and me, and thus it features a mini-figure racing driver, an all-important spanner, and switchable parts to convert the F40 from race to road. 75890 will reach stores in early 2019 and will be a roaring success.

LEGO 75892 Speed Champions McLaren Senna

LEGO’s third new Speed Champions set brings another previous partner back into the range; McLaren, with their mind-bending track-only Senna. With 219 pieces the 75892 McLaren Senna set is slightly more complicated than the Ferrari above, as is required by the fantastically intricate design of the real car. It’s an aesthetic that doesn’t seem to translate too well to LEGO in our opinion, and – despite what appear to be a few new pieces to help replicate the real Senna’s shape – 75892 looks to our eyes a bit of mess. Nevertheless for McLaren / supercar fans it’s sure to be a winner when it arrives alongside the other Speed Champions sets in January of next year.

LEGO 75891 Speed Champions Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Chevrolet first joined the Speed Champions range a few years ago and they return to the line-up for 2019 with the 75891 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Race Car set*. Another single-car set, 75891 brings Speed Champions into the world of NASCAR, although for licensing reasons you won’t find that link anywhere on the box. What you will find are 198 pieces, some of which are uniquely printed, a mini-figure complete with fuel-refill tank and the ubiquitous spanner, and a wealth of stickers to help recreate the ZL1 in LEGO form.

We’ve bemoaned the over-use of stickers rather than bricks to recreate real-world replicas in the past and the same is true here, but LEGO know their market, and also the most cost-effective way to hit the spot aesthetically. 75891 should be hit – especially amongst NASCAR fans!

*Plus an exciting new addition to the 2019 Technic range… but more on that another time!

LEGO 75894 Speed Champions Mini Cooper-S Rally & John Cooper Works Buggy

The fifth and final Speed Champions set new for 2019 brings another old favourite back onto shelves; Mini, with a pairing of the iconic 1960s Cooper-S and a 2018 John Cooper Works Buggy. A tricky thing to make from rectangular bricks, LEGO seem have done a superb job recreating the original Mini in mini-figure scale, and whilst there are stickers present they’re not used to create the shape of the car – bravo LEGO! The classic Cooper comes in rally car spec, complete with quad spot-lights and a roof-rack, and includes a mini-figure rally driver.

The John Cooper Works Buggy isn’t quite as successful, looking not all that much like the real thing. But we’re guessing that if you’re reading this and you’re eight, that won’t matter one bit! Featuring big rubber tyres, a workshop complete with tools, and some cool stickers, if we were eight we’d absolutely love it!

75894 Mini Cooper-S Rally and MINI John Cooper Works Buggy is the largest set in the 2019 range at 481 pieces including four mini-figures and will join the rest of the line-up in stores from January.

Which set is your favourite? We’ll take the classic Dodge Charger and recreate the train-jump scene from the first Fast and the Furious movie, although we’d really need a Speed Champions Toyota Supra to do it properly. Over to you LEGO…

42096 Technic Porsche 911 RSR | Set Preview

8 Replies

42096 LEGO Technic Porsche 911 RSR

It’s that time of year again! No, not the fast approaching scourge of Black Friday, but the time when a crack team of TLCB Elves are dispatched on a dangerous mission to The LEGO Company’s HQ, tasked with uncovering the brand new Technic sets.

Those that make it back (there are guard dogs…) are hailed as heroes – at least for a couple of days until everyone forgets about them again – and we get to bring you LEGO’s new releases in detail. Today we’re delighted to reveal the first new Technic set for 2019, and it’s an absolute cracker!

Continuing LEGO’s brilliant line of officially licensed sets is 42096, Porsche’s mad 911 RSR racer. Noticeably smaller than LEGO’s previous Technic 911 effort, 42096 brings the previous Speed Champions 911 RSR from set 75888 into the Technic range. Aimed at ages 10+ 42096 contains 1,580 pieces (a few of which are new) and features a flat-6 engine, working steering, a detailed cockpit, and a wealth of authentic decals.

42096 is perhaps a bit short on technical functions when compared to past sets of a similar size, and instead continues Technic’s push towards increased visual realism. It’s largely successful too, with the 911 RSR’s difficult shape and unique racing aerodynamic additions pretty well replicated in LEGO form, although the headlights do look a little odd to this writer.

On looks alone 42096 seems to be winner, and with a few working features too it could do rather well. LEGO’s new Technic Porsche 911 RSR set will reach stores early next year and is expected to cost around £120/$140/$170 depending on the market. Until then we’ll continue to bring you LEGO’s new 2019 releases as our Elves return to TLCB Towers with them, and remember that you can read our reviews of the current Technic and past line-ups via the Review Library.

42096 LEGO Technic Porsche 911 RSR

The LEGO Movie 2 | Full Trailer

1 Reply

It’s been 5 years since Bricksburg was invaded by Duplo monsters, and things have turned very… Mad Max. Opening in cinemas on February 8th 2019, ‘The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part’ sees Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett and Alison Brie reprising their roles from the first film, with a number of new names joining them for Part 2. Warner Bros has just dropped the full trailer and we can’t wait!