Tag Archives: set

LEGO Technic H2 2025 | Set Previews

The days are getting longer, skirts are getting shorter, and The Lego Car Blog Elves have returned from their ‘volunteering’ trip over the perimeter wall of LEGO’s HQ. Yes it’s time for us to reveal the brand new LEGO Technic sets for summer 2025, and there are twice as many as last year!

LEGO Technic 42208 Aston Martin Valkyrie

The first of the eight new sets for summer 2025 is this, the 42208 Aston Martin Valykrie. Constructed from 707 pieces, many of which are debuting in dark turquoise, 42208 features a working miniaturised V12 engine, opening doors, working steering, and a tie-up with the ‘Asphalt Legends Unite’ video game. For, um… reasons.

The usual stickerage is deployed for the headlights, lime green pin-striping, and badging, whilst a brand new three-hole-with-cross-axle lift-arm appears for the first time. Aimed at ages 9+ 42208 will cost around £55 / €60 / $65 when it reaches stores this summer.

LEGO Technic 42209 Volvo L120 Electric Loader

Also aimed at ages 9+, but with around 250 more pieces, is the brand new 42209 Volvo L120 Electric Loader. And it looks brilliant.

An all-mechanical set (hurrah!), 42209 features three linear actuators – turned by hand via cogs mounted at the rear – to raise and tip the new bucket piece. Articulated steering is also controlled via a cog, whilst the ‘engine’ cover lifts to reveal, um… some spinning cylinder thingies. It’s an electric loader after all.

Well-placed decals enhance the visual realism, whilst we expect 42209 might be the pick of the range when it comes to mechanical engineering. Expect it to cost around £90 / €100 / $120 when it arrives later this year.

LEGO Technic 42210 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) Car

Ten-year-olds rejoice! Because the Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) from ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ is sliding into the LEGO Technic range! Yes, this is the brand new 42210 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 Car.

We’re not sure why LEGO felt the need to add ‘car’ to the title, but no matter; Nissan’s iconic R34-generation Skyline GT-R is finally available in bricks. Over 1,400 of them in fact, which means that the aforementioned ten-year-olds are eight years below the advised age on the box.

We wouldn’t worry about that though; LEGO’s black box and ’18+’ age stamp are purely to make it more acceptable for dads to buy one, and they’ll get a suite of functionality when they do.

A working inline-6 engine lives under the opening hood (which might be driven by all four newly-hub-capped wheels), there’s steering and all-wheel-suspension, opening doors, an adjustable wing, and, um… some balls drop from underneath.

We’d better explain that. Like the 42111 Dom’s Dodge Charger set, 42210 includes a play feature that allows the model to replicate scenes from the movie in which it was featured. In this case a pair of balls can be lowed to raise the rear wheels off the ground, allowing the model to drift. Which whether you’re ten or a dad, is sure to make it more fun to drive on the kitchen floor.

Large stickers recreate the movie car’s livery (which is rather necessary here), but most of the other details are brick-built, and you’ll be able to get your hands on 42210 for around £130 / $140 when it drifts into stores this summer.

LEGO Technic 42211 Lunar Outpost Moon Rover Space Vehicle

We think this set might be based in space. The new 42211 Lunar Outpost Moon Rover Space Vehicle is so spacey LEGO gave it three different space references in the name alone.

Following on from the Technic Space range that surprised all of us last year, 42211 looks… incoherent. A strange robotic crane of sorts, 42211 nevertheless includes some interesting Technic engineering, including oscillating suspension, all-wheel-steering, a rotating and extending crane, and two smaller lunar rovers, one of which appears to munch up rocks and – joy of joys – crystals. LEGO just can’t let them go.

The crane and two smaller rovers all fold neatly into the main rover, and 42211 does feature some unconventional parts, including rubberised tracks not seen for a few years and new wheel covers.

Aimed at ages 10+, the new 1,082-piece set will cost around £90 / €100 / $100 when it lands in stores this summer. Let’s get back to cars…

LEGO Technic 42212 Ferrari FXX K

…and one that looks really rather good. This is the new 42212 Ferrari FXX K, a 900-piece recreation of Ferrari’s track-only V12 hypercar. Featuring working steering, an opening engine cover and butterfly doors, a V12 piston engine with differential, and another tie-up with the ‘Asphalt Legends Unite’ video game, 42212 is rather formulaic, but it’s a good formula.

Several pieces make their debut in red, and we’re getting used the heavy reliance on stickers. Aimed at ages 10+, expect 42112 to cost £55 / $65 when it reaches stores later this year.

LEGO Technic 42213 Ford Bronco SUV

With a few more pieces, but a slightly lower target age, the new 42213 Ford Bronco SUV brings Ford’s iconic off-roader to the Technic range for the first time.

We think it looks great too, with opening doors, working steering (via the spare wheel), front and live-axle rear suspension, a V6 engine under the raising hood, plus new fender parts and tyres.

Expected to cost £55 / $65, 42213 looks to be quite good value (these things are relative), and is perhaps our pick of the cars for H2 2025.

LEGO Technic 42214 Lamborghini Revuelto

The seventh new set for H2 2025 continues another longstanding brand partnership, as Lamborghini’s new supercar joins the Technic line-up in the form of the 42214 Lamborghini Revuelto.

Lamborghini claim the Revuelto is “The first HPEV (High Performance Electrified Vehicle) hybrid super sports car”, which conveniently ignores all the other high performance hybrid supercars that have proceeded it.

Still, let’s not get bogged down in marketing, because LEGO’s Lamborghini Revuelto is electrified too, with motorised steering, drive, head and tail lights, all controlled remotely via the Control+ app.

Aimed at ages 10+, 42214 will charge into stores later this year, with 1,135 pieces, ‘Asphalt Legend Unite’ness, and an £160/ $180 price-tag.

LEGO Technic 42215 Volvo EC500 Hybrid Excavator

And finally, the eighth model to join the H2 2025 Technic line-up is the new flagship; this is the 42215 Volvo EC500 Hybrid Excavator.

Weighing in at over 2,300 pieces, 42215 is a fully motorised – but not remote control – recreation of Volvo’s fifty ton excavator, deploying a mechanically operated gearbox to switch between various functions.

These include the boom, arm and bucket/drill attachments, whilst the superstructure and tracks can rotate manually. That enormous boom is raised and lowered by LEGO’s XL linear actuators, which appear in black for the first time, with a single motor providing the power.

Motorised functions via a mechanical gearbox is a combination we like, as evidenced here, here, and here, so we’re rather excited about the big Volvo. We’re less excited about the price however, as despite that single motor 42115 is expected to cost £350 / $430, meaning it’ll excavate your wallet before it excavates anything else.

Aimed at 18+ (perhaps legitimately this time), 42215 will be available to buy later this year, if you’re diggin’ it.

There you have it, eight new Technic sets, seven officially-licensed real world vehicles across six different manufacturers, one vehicle from space, and one that’s got balls. Here at The Lego Car Blog at least, we think it’s a rather good line up.

LEGO Super Mario 72037 Mario & Standard Kart | Set Preview

LEGO’s expansive new Formula 1 range is now on sale, bringing every single Formula 1 team into the line-up. Which is cool and all, but Formula 1 will never be as entertaining as an Italian plumber racing to free a Princess from the clutches of a giant tortoise. Or something. We’re a bit hazy on the plot to be honest, but who cares when you can fire shells and drop banana skins in front of your foes!

Yes Mariokart is now skidding into the LEGO line-up, with the brand new LEGO Super Mario 72037 Mario & Standard Kart set!

Aimed at ages 18+ and constructed from nearly two-thousand pieces, 72037 brings the aforementioned Italian protagonist to bedroom floors and – more likely given the price – shelves everywhere, and includes a posable Mario figure in his Standard Kart, mounted on a stand that “enables fans to display the kart at dynamic angles, as if Mario is speeding through a high-stakes race or drifting in true Mario Kart fashion”.

We note that none of those two-thousand pieces are to create a green shell or a banana skin, which feels a bit miserly, but those printed eyes and Mario’s new moustache piece almost make up for it.

On sale from 15th April 2025, the new LEGO Super Mario 72037 Mario & Standard Kart can be had for €169.99 / $169.99 / £139.99 (just bring your own banana skin), or if you fancy something for less than half the price but with equally amazing nasal topiary, there’s always Nigel Mansell…

LEGO Technic H1 2025 | Set Previews

It’s a few weeks before Christmas
And all through LEGO’s HQ
TLCB Elves have been sneaking
Finding sets to preview.

Yes it’s that time of year once again, when a crack team of ‘volunteer’ Elves are thrown over the LEGO Company’s perimeter wall to uncover next year’s new Technic sets. This is the complete H1 2025 Technic line-up!

42197 Backhoe Loader

LEGO Technic 42197 Backhoe Loader

We kick off the 2025 Technic range with this, the new 42197 Backhoe Loader. A neat counterpart to last year’s 42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer, 42197 includes a raising front bucket via a worm gear and a roof mounted cog, a posable backhoe, and deployable stabilisers. Just 104 pieces are needed, it’s aimed at ages 7+, and it fulfils the starter-set brief beautifully.

42198 Bush Plane

LEGO Technic Bush Plane 42198

Trebling the piece-count is the 42198 Bush Plane, a welcome and too-rare foray into fixed wing aircraft.

Aimed at ages 8+, 42198 includes a flat-4 piston engine linked to the propellor and powered – we think – by an intriguing push-beam mechanism that simultaneously operates working ailerons (flaps) that flip in opposing directions to make turns.

Besides the rather clunky-looking landing gear, 42198 looks like an excellent small-scale set, with zebra-stripe stickerage and some good parts too, including propellor blades, new white beams, and a surprising number of gears. We like.

42199 Monster Jam DIGatron & 42200 Monster Jam ThunderROARus

After a short break away from Monster Jam for the Pull-Backs, LEGO is returning to the partnership for 2025. And that’s no bad thing, as these sets are really only designed for one purpose; being launched down a hallway and over a ramp made of books and a cereal box.

42199 Monster Jam DIGatron and 42200 Monster Jam ThunderROARus will no doubt perform said task admirably, and – outfitted with both stickers and teeth – they’re perfect for their 7+ target.

42201 Deep-Sea Research Submarine

On to one of 2025’s most unusual Technic sets, the 413-piece 42201 Deep-Sea Research Submarine. Reminiscent of the largely forgotten 1997 Divers sub-theme, 42201 looks rather un-Technic-y, despite being constructed almost exclusively from Technic pieces. A selection of cogs operate the pitch of the propellors and the grab-arm, and you’ll be able to scoop up the remnants of the Ocean Gate Titan when 42201 dives into stores from January 2025.

42202 Ducati Panigale V4 S Motorcycle

Wait, haven’t we done this already? Almost.

The 42202 Ducati Panigale V4 S moves one letter down the alphabet from 2020’s 42107 Ducati Panigale V4 R, and in doing so ups the piece-count by a thousand, the target age by eight, and the price by $100.

Measuring over 40cm long, the new 1,600-piece Ducati will arrive with a foot-operated three-speed (plus neutral) gearbox, a V4 engine chain-linked to the rear wheel, functioning steering, and working suspension, plus some spectacular looking bodywork.

Joining LEGO’s previous 1:5 scale Technic motorcycles (the 42159 Yamaha MT-10 SP and 42130 BMW M 1000 RR), the new 42202 Ducati Panigale V4 S is expected to cost around £170/$200 when it arrives next year, and whilst it does look to somewhat repeat its smaller 42017 brother, there have been dozens of red Ferrari sets to date, so a second (and much larger) Ducati is fine by us.

42203 Tipping Dump Truck

We complete* the new 2025 Technic line-up with a neat mid-size truck of the type LEGO has built for decades. The new 462-piece 42203 Tipping Dump Truck features ‘HOG’ steering, and hand-cranked tipper, and, um… that’s it. Perhaps for £45 we’d have hoped for some basic oscillating suspension or something, but we’re in the minority. LEGO know it’s aesthetics that sell their products today, even Technic ones, and thus 42203 likely loses that extra feature in favour of decals and visual detail. And on those counts it scores rather well.

Aimed at ages 9+, the new 42203 Tipping Dump Truck will join the rest of the new Technic range in stores from early next year, with a few of the new sets (including this one) available to pre-order via the official LEGO website from now.

*Plus of course the 42204 Fast & Furious Toyota Supra Mk4, 42205 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and 42206 Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 F1 car sets already revealed here at The Lego Car Blog, and the enormous new LEGO Formula 1 line-up of which the latter is part.

LEGO Technic 42204 Fast & Furious Toyota Supra MK4 | Set Preview

Aaaand here it is! Probably the most over-hyped car in history, the source of a million internet arguments, and a vehicle countless LEGO fans have been waiting for ever since the company secured both ‘Fast & Furious’ and Toyota licensing rights. It’s that Toyota Supra; this is the brand new LEGO Technic 42204 Fast & Furious Toyota Supra MK4!

So does 42204 live up to enormous weight of expectation? Nope. Which makes it the perfect metaphor for the real thing. And after LEGO’s 42206 Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 F1 Car snuck in three-hundred more pieces than its Ferrari counterpart for the same cost (just like the real Red Bull F1 car), we’re beginning to think LEGO have a mighty good sense of irony.

Aimed at ages 9+ and with 810 pieces, the new 42204 Fast & Furious Toyota Supra Mk4 is rather smaller than its movie contemporary the Technic 42111 Dom’s Dodge Charger from a few years ago. And nowhere near as good.

It is instantly recognisable though, in lurid orange, with truncated bodywork decals that are every bit as terrible as those on the real car, plus a load more for the intercooler, vents, side windows, rear lights, license plate… Still, if we were nine and LEGO asked us how ‘How many stickers would you like?, we’d have said ‘Yes’ too.

A working inline-6 engine, steering, removable targa roof, opening hood, and NO2 canisters in the trunk also feature, and you’ll be able to get your hands on the new LEGO Technic 42204 Fast & Furious Toyota Supra MK4 set for around £55 when it races into stores in March 2025.

For us, it’ll probably stay on the shelf. But LEGO know what they’re doing, and in targeting 42204 at the 9+ age bracket they’ll likely sell every one they can make. And that – considering said consumers were born fourteen years after the car’s appearance in the first ‘Fast & Furious’ movie – says everything about the appeal, and hype, of an orange Toyota Supra Mk4. Even if the reality doesn’t match it.

LEGO Technic 42206 Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 F1 Car | Set Preview

Following our huge preview of the all new LEGO Formula 1 range, encompassing all ten teams and spanning themes from Duplo to Technic, there’s one more Formula 1 set that escaped the reveal. This is the brand new LEGO Technic 42206 Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 F1 Car!

Yes, like Red Bull evading the Formula 1 budget cap, or their team principal dodging responsibility for sexual misconduct, this new flagship Technic Formula 1 set eluded last week’s reveal. Although perhaps LEGO were waiting until Max Verstappen had wrapped up the Drivers’ World Championship for more clout.

Whatever, 42206 joins the equally-sized 42207 Ferrari SF-24 F1 Car previously previewed, and brings Verstappen’s title-winning F1 car to the Technic range. Like the Ferrari, the new Red Bull RB20 is aimed at ages 18+ and features a working V6 engine with spinning MGU-H unit, a two-speed gearbox, steering, suspension, operational rear-wing DRS, replica (although equal-width) Pirelli slicks, and a billion stickers.

Much like the real Red Bull F1 Team, the new 42206 set manages some trick accountancy too, costing the same €229.99 / $229.99 / £199.99 as its Ferrari counterpart, but with three-hundred more parts (although we’re not sure where they’ve all gone). How’s that for attention to the back-story! Thus if price-per-part is your thing, 42206 is the better value of the two 2025 Technic Formula 1 flagships.

You’ll be able to get your hands on the new LEGO Technic 42206 Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 F1 Car when it races into stores in March 2025, joining the rest of an expansive LEGO Formula 1 line-up.

LEGO Formula 1 2025 | Set Previews

LEGO have long dabbled in officially-licensed Formula 1 sets. Tie ups with Scuderia Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and others in recent years have strengthened the collaboration, but today we have an announcement on a whole different scale. Partnering with Formula 1 itself, as well as all ten individual teams within it, we can reveal no fewer than thirty-one new Formula 1 licensed sets, spanning Duplo, City, Speed Champions, Technic, Icons, and even pocket-money Collectables (as per the Minifigure Series). This is the brand new LEGO Formula 1 2025 line-up, and it’s massive!

LEGO Technic 42207 | Ferrari SF-24 F1 Racing Car

We kick off the new 2025 Formula 1 line-up with the largest set in the range, the Technic 42207 Ferrari SF-24 F1 Racing Car.

Constructed from over 1,300 pieces and aimed at ages 18+ (thereby making it acceptable for dads to buy one), 42207 recreates Ferrari’s occasionally-winning 2024 racing car with authentic livery decals, replica printed (but inaccurately equal-width) Pirelli tyres, working steering, all-wheel suspension, a V6 engine with a spinning MGU-H unit, functional rear-wing DRS, and a two-speed gearbox.

Despite being a six gears short of the real deal, the rest of the specs look pretty good, and you can get your hands on 42207 for the not inconsiderable sum of €229.99 / $229.99 / £199.99 when it races into stores in March 2025.

LEGO Icons 10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell

From a car near-ish to the front of today’s Formula 1 grid to the one absolutely at the front of it some 32 years ago, this is the brand new LEGO Icons 10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell set.

Also aimed at ages 18+ because, you know, the whole dad thing, the new 10353 set brings one of the greatest moustaches in racing history to the LEGO Formula 1 line-up. Oh, and the utterly dominant Williams Racing FW14B.

Recreated from almost 800 pieces, 10353 brings the legendary Williams-Renault FW14B to life with working steering, a detailed (although static) replica of the V10 engine that powered it, authentic (and – hurrah! – staggered width) Goodyear slicks, plus some wonderfully accurate period decals. Except the tobacco ones of course.

It also includes a definitely-not-to-scale approximation of the man who drove it to the 1992 World Championship, which frankly feels like a missed opportunity. Imagine how good the brick-built moustache could be if Mansell was scaled appropriately.

Missed moustache maximisation aside, the LEGO Icons 10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell set looks to be a decent addition, joining the Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna set already on sale, and correcting that set’s equal-width tyre flaw. Expect 10353 to cost €79.99 / $79.99 / £69.99 when it arrives in March 2025, which seems like rather a lot. But then Mansell’s moustache probably needs license all of its own.

LEGO Speed Champions 77242 Ferrari SF-24 F1 Race Car / 77243 Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 F1 Race Car / 77244 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS W15 F1 Race Car / 77245 Aston Martin Aramco F1 AMR24 Race Car / 77246 Cash App VCARB 01 F1 Race Car77247 KICK Sauber F1 Team C44 Race Car / 77248 BWT Alpine F1 Team A524 Race Car / 77249 Williams Racing FW46 F1 Race Car / 77250 MoneyGram Haas F1 Team VF-24 Race Car / 77251 McLaren MCL38 F1 Team Race Car

Lego Speed Champions Formula 1 2025

Yes, every single team on the 2025 Formula 1 grid will be available in LEGO Speed Champions form!

Averaging around 260 pieces, each 2025 Speed Champions Formula 1 Race Car set does a pretty good job of replicating its real world counterpart, with unique mini-figure drivers, accurate sponsorship liveries (recreated via a lot of stickers), and decent effort made to reflect the subtle nuances in design between the teams.

Each will cost around $27 / €27 / £21, with all aimed at ages 10+ and perfectly placed for the pocket-money demographic. Except – weirdly – the cars wearing Red Bull branding, which quietly state an age of 18+. If ever there was proof needed that energy drinks are bad for you…

All ten of the new Speed Champions Formula 1 sets look like they’ll be an enormous hit (we might even buy ourselves the 77245 Aston Martin Aramco F1 AMR24 Race Car, if just to recreate various acts of Lance Stroll stupidity in the office), and you’ll be able to get your hands on each of them from March of next year.

And that’s not all! For LEGO fans under ten, a further twelve 29-piece Formula 1 collectible sets and six Formula 1 City sets, encompassing all ten teams, will launch in January 2025, plus for really young builders there’s even a Formula 1 Duplo set joining the line-up too.

It’s perhaps the post comprehensive licensing partnership LEGO have delivered yet, and with Formula 1 teams and the stupid sponsorship branding that accompanies them (Cash App VCARB being the current most egregious example) changing so regularly, there’ll be no shortage of new liveries and teams to keep the LEGO Formula 1 line-up perpetually fresh.

LEGO Icons 10335 The Endurance | Set Preview

The LEGO Icons range has brought some spectacular real-world vehicles to the hands of LEGO fans. The Corvette, Countach, Camaro, Concorde, and many more besides have been recreated brilliantly in brick form to date, but we didn’t expect the next set in the Icons range to be a 1912 Norwegian three-masted schooner. And nor for it to be quite so wonderful. This is the LEGO Icons 10335 Endurance.

Now lying at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, the ‘Endurance’ carried Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of twenty-seven to the edge of Antarctica in 1915, where the ship became trapped in pack ice and was slowly crushed.

Neither Shackleton nor his crew were lost in the sinking, surviving an incredible feat of, well… endurance, to make it to Elephant Island in three of the ship’s small boats in April of 1916, before Shackleton braved the open ocean once again to reach South Georgia and raise a rescue party.

Recreating the ship at the heart of the amazing Antarctic survival story, the brand new 10335 set is constructed from over 3,000 pieces, includes ten sails and rigging, and an intricate multi-level deck with stairs, cabins, a steam engine, an operational rudder, and the Endurance’s four detachable lifeboats (three of which made that astonishing journey in 1916).

Costing £229.99 / €269.99/ $269.99, the new LEGO Icons 10335 The Endurance is certainly a set aimed at adult collectors rather than children or casual fans, but it just might be LEGO’s most beautifully executed replica yet. It reaches stores at the end of November 2024, some 108 years after the crew of the Endurance were finally rescued from a remote island in the Southern Ocean.

LEGO Technic Mercedes-Benz G 500 Professional Line | Set Preview

The Lego Car Blog Towers is surrounded by Mercedes-Benz G-Wagens. And none of them look like this. This is the brand new 42177 Technic Mercedes-Benz G 500 PROFESSIONAL Line!

Available from today, LEGO’s latest 18+ set brings one of the world’s most iconic, and douchiest, 4x4s to the Technic range.

Constructed from 2,891 pieces, 42177 is one of the largest officially-licensed car sets yet, and is packed with working functions. These include a six-cylinder engine, all-wheel suspension, all-wheel-drive with two working diff-locks, functioning steering, a D-N-R gearbox with high/low transfer, opening doors, tailgate and hood, new off-road tyres, and a host of off-roady accessories.

It also looks properly accurate, no doubt helped by the G-Class’s breeze-block proportions, with some subtle stickerage to enhance the realism.

So why doesn’t it look like any of the actual G-Wagens that surround our office? Because it isn’t a matt-black private-plated AMG G 63. And for that alone, we love it.

The new LEGO Technic 42177 Mercedes-Benz G 500 PROFESSIONAL Line is available now, and you can get your hands on the only six-cylinder not-black G-Class we’ve ever seen for £220/$250.

LEGO Technic 42172 McLaren P1 | Set Preview

LEGO’s long-standing relationship with McLaren has borne all manner of models over the years, from classic Formula 1 cars to Extreme-E racers, and life-size replicas to Speed Champions miniatures. This though, has instantly become our favourite LEGO McLaren collaboration to date; it’s the brand new 42172 Technic McLaren P1.

Part of LEGO’s flagship Ultimate Collector Series, the new 42172 set recreates McLaren’s iconic P1 supercar in a huge 1:8 scale from a whopping 3,893 pieces, many of which make their debut on this set.

These new parts include never-before-seen curved wheel-arch panels, lovely gunmetal wheels, and the utilisation of flame yellow, with the resulting model looking wonderfully accurate to the mighty 900bhp decade-old supercar.

Underneath that well executed exterior are a V8 engine linked to a 7-speed transmission, all-wheel independent suspension, opening butterfly doors (which required an all-new mechanism), working steering, and deployable rear wing.

There’s also a serious level of attention to detail, both within the engine bay and interior, making 42172 one of the few sets to carry the ’18+’ age stamp that we can well believe.

The brand new LEGO Technic 42172 McLaren P1 set will be available to purchase exclusively from LEGO online/stores from August 1st 2024, carrying a price-tag to match the set’s enormous scale. Expect to pay £389.99 / $449.99 / €449.99, with each set including a unique serial number that unlocks bonus content, and even your non-LEGO-fan friends to want it.

LEGO Icons 10338 Transformers Bumblebee | Set Preview

TLCB Elves have lost their tiny little minds today, because everyone’s favourite Transformer will soon be available as an official LEGO set; this is the brand new LEGO Icons 10338 Transformers Bumblebee!

Constructed from 950 pieces and matching the scale of the previously revealed Creator 10302 Optimus Prime set, 10338 adopts the new ‘Icons’ marketing, meaning a black box and an 18+ target age, which has nothing to do with build complexity and everything to do with the acceptability for dads to purchase one.

That said, the model is reasonably complicated, being able to – according to the box – ‘convert’ (if only there was another word for when something changes into something else…) from car to robot via some clever hinges, section rotations, and limb extensions.

Said car is not the Chevrolet Camaro from the Michael Bay-era Bumblebee however, and nor is it a Volkswagen Beetle as per the G1 cartoon, although it does have a loose passing resemblance. Instead it’s a slightly sad-looking caricature of something trying to be vaguely ’50s (a Nissan Figaro sprung to our minds), presumably for licensing reasons, although of course LEGO do have a license with both Chevrolet and Volkswagen, which feels like a missed opportunity.

Still, a giant transforming car-robot is always welcome, and you can get your hands on the new 10338 Transformers Bumblebee set from July 1st for around $90 / £90. And, thanks to the black box, even if you’re a 40-something dad.

LEGO Icons 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole | Set Preview

The Walkman, the Rubik’s Cube, Breakdancing, the Synthesiser, Big Hair, and Cocaine could all all lay claim to being the most 1980s thing. Here at TLCB however, we think it could well be a white Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quatrovalvole.

The Countach was actually born a decade earlier, but by the ’80s had morphed into an outrageous caricature of itself, perfectly encapsulating the Decade of Excess.

It’s also perhaps the most Lamborghini of Lamborghinis, and therefore the ideal choice to recreate in LEGO form. On sale from next month, LEGO have done just that, with the brand new Icons 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole.

Constructed from just over 1,500 pieces, the new set includes the Countach’s scissor doors, V12 engine, deep-dish wheels (although we’re not quite sure the rear tyres on the real thing were twice as wide as the fronts), a detailed interior, plus opening front trunk and engine cover, and – to our eyes – it looks absolutely terrific!

Sales begin via lego.com next month, when you can get your hands on the new 10337 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quatrovalvole set for around $180 / £160. Rubik’s Cube and Cocaine optional.

My Other Piece of Construction Equipment…

LEGO’s brand new 60420 Construction Excavator set is undoubtedly their best City-themed excavator to date. Launched today and aimed at ages 8+, the set features over 600 pieces, with a huge posable boom arm, 360° slowing superstructure, and a pair of brick-built Technic tracks. It also wears Technic price-tag though, costing a very un-City-like $55 / £50.

Fortunately however, previous bloggee Marek Markiewicz (aka M_longer) has doubled 60420’s value-for-money by turning it into a 2-in-1 set, having somehow designed and published a superb bulldozer alternate complete with building instructions on the day of the set’s release.

There’s a working blade and rear ripper, plus a removable cab, and you can find all the images as well as the link the building instructions for Marek’s brilliant bulldozer B-Model via both Flickr and Bricksafe. Take a look via the links above to double your 60420’s potential.

When Two Worlds Bolide

Say what you like about the Transformers movie franchise – that the plot is nonsense, that everything blows up, that any female protagonists are over-sexualised to the point of absurdity, that there’s constant unchecked military glorification – but they do know how to pick their cars. Well, General Motors do, seeing as they paid millions for their products to be so blatantly featured.

Still, rather than a shiny new GM offering, Bumblebee instead transformed out of the decaying hulk of a ’77 Camaro in the 2007 blockbuster. He was even more attainable in the G1 cartoons, being hidden inside a Volkswagen Beetle. And we like that. A giant alien robot that’s, well… down to earth.

Not so today though, as the mute Autobot has decided to transform from a W16-engined, track-only hypercar costing $4 million. Flickr’s Dyen’s Creations is his maker, repurposing the pieces from his 42151 Bugatti Bolide set to create his Bumblebee B-Model.

There’s more of the Autobot alternate to see at Dyen’s ‘LEGO 42151 – BUMBLEBEE TRANSFORMER’ album, and you can take a look at the least accessible giant alien robot via the link above.

LEGO Technic 42175 Volvo FMX Truck & EC230 Electric Excavator | Set Preview

Following our preview earlier this month of the brand new H2 2024 LEGO Technic sets you may have been wondering where the promised fourth real-world vehicle was. Well today can we reveal all, starting – as the more eagle-eyed reader will have spotted – with the new 42175 Volvo FMX Truck & EC230 Electric Excavator not being one real-world vehicle at all, but two.

Following a long tradition of truck-with-trailer-and-vehicular-load Technic sets, 42175 ushers Volvo’s off-road FMX truck and electric EC230 tracked excavator into the Technic line-up, bringing pneumatics back in the process.

Aimed at ages 10+ and constructed from 2,274 pieces, 42175 features working steering, a tilting cab, and a six-cylinder engine on the truck, fold-down ramps on the trailer, and a 360° slewing superstructure and a two-stage pneumatically-operated bucket arm on the excavator.

There’s also a ‘charging station’ that can be lifted off the trailer by the excavator for when it needs some more electricity, which we can only assume in real-life would be a giant battery or – more ironically – a diesel generator. Either way it looks a bit pointless within the set, doing precisely nothing whatsoever.

The three other components (truck, trailer, excavator) look sufficiently playable however, if a little under-endowed aesthetically for the £170 / $200 asking price. This is particularly true for the excavator’s bucket arm, which uses two small buckets to create one of the correct size. If this approach isn’t to support a B-Model, it’s a bit of a corner cut.

Still, 42175 could be a worthwhile addition to the 2024 Technic line up, and you’ll be able to get your hands on it when it reaches stores in August of this year.

Speed Champions H2 2024 | Set Previews

It’s that time of year again, when a crack team of Elven ‘volunteers’ are implanted into the LEGO Company’s HQ to uncover their latest sets. The return of the survivors heralds the arrival of three brand new Speed Champions sets for H2 2024, bringing even more real world cars to bedroom floors this summer! Read on to find out which cars are set to join to the 2024 Speed Champions line-up!

76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT

Well, ‘Real world’ cars… except for this one.

Playstation’s ‘Gran Turismo’ series has deployed concepts alongside production cars for some years. Despite having the freedom to design literally anything, these ‘Vision GT’ cars all look rather similar, and the Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT (clearly taking inspiration from a certain moronically-named Ferrari) follows the same route, being both wildly conceptual, and also insipidly paint-by-numbers.

It’s not exactly our first choice for a new Lamborghini Speed Champions set then, and the resultant 230-piece 76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT does little to change that. A funky colour and a new mini-figure torso aren’t enough to swing the balance; our £21/$27 will be spent on a rather better Speed Champions LamborghiniLego 76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT

76924 Mercedes-AMG G63 & SL63

Are you a wealthy Londoner with no imagination? Now you can build your vanity-plated black Mercedes-AMG G 63 in LEGO form! The new-for-2024 76924 Mercedes-AMG G 63 & Mercedes-AMG SL 63 set recreates London’s default 4×4 choice brilliantly, and throws in a neat SL 63 too.

Two appropriately douchebaggy mini-figures, limited well-deployed decals, and some wonderfully accurate detailing on the G 63 in particular ensure 76924 is an excellent addition to the Speed Champions line. Expect to pay around £45/$50 for the dual-model 808-piece set when it arrives in stores in June, and half of Chelsea to own a copy immediately. 

76925 Aston Martin F1 Safety Car & AMR23

The final addition to the 2024 Speed Champions line-up brings two more Aston Martins to the range, each of which played a starring role in the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The new 76925 Aston Martin F1 Safety Car & AMR23 set recreates F1-legend Fernando Alonso’s podium-placing AMR23 racing car (and that of his decidedly unlegendary, non-podium placing team mate), complete with authentic decals, replica Pirelli tyres, and a rather inexact colour.

The Aston Martin F1 Safety Car – often necessitated by Alonso’s aforementioned incompetent team mate – joins it, with a light bar, accurate be-sticked interior control panel, and the same loose approximation of the real car’s hue.

Aimed at ages 9+, expect 564 pieces, two mini-figures, and a £45/$50 price-tag when 76925 arrives in stores next month.

Three new sets, five new cars, and even more choice in LEGO’s fantastic Speed Champions range. All three sets will be available from June 1st 2024, and you can check out the sets that were added to the Speed Champions range at the start of the year by clicking here.