This LEGO Godzilla Skeleton Set Has Movable Limbs and Jaw, Built From LEGO’s Dinosaur Fossils Kit

Godzilla has spent seven decades stomping through movie theaters, but only recently has he stomped his way into an actual LEGO box. Builder Matthew Esposito’s Monsterverse-inspired Godzilla cleared the 10,000 vote threshold on LEGO Ideas and got the official nod from LEGO’s review team in 2025, meaning a real retail set is somewhere on the horizon. It is, by any measure, a long overdue arrival for one of pop culture’s most enduring monsters.

Across 35 plus film appearances, Godzilla has been a metaphor for nuclear anxiety, a wrestling opponent for King Kong, and an occasional force for good against even worse monsters. What he has rarely been is dead long enough to leave a skeleton behind. That oversight has now been corrected, and fittingly, it happened not through an official LEGO release but through the kind of scrappy fan ingenuity that keeps this hobby interesting, a build that arrives just as his living, roaring counterpart prepares for brick immortality of his own.

Designer: LaurensPosthuma

Unlike our usual LEGO Ideas coverage that proposes completely new bricksets, this one actually repurposes an existing set. It’s an alternate build for LEGO’s own Dinosaur Fossils set (21320), meaning every one of its 477 pieces comes straight out of a box most AFOLs already have on a shelf. Swap the T-Rex, Triceratops, and Pteranodon skeletons for this hunched, roaring Godzilla, and suddenly a paleontology playset becomes a kaiju shrine. No new molds, no rare parts hunt, just clever reassignment of an existing inventory into something the original designers never imagined.

Godzilla stands roughly 37 centimeters long, 12 centimeters wide, and 27 centimeters tall, anchored to a stable 10 by 12 stud base that keeps his hunched, forward-leaning stance from tipping over under the weight of that long, curling tail (a tail that, fittingly, needs its own separate support post, exactly like the fossil kit’s original dinosaurs). The head, arms, and tail are all fully articulated, letting you pose him mid-roar, mid-swipe, or crouched and ready to pounce. My favorite detail, though, is the jaw. It actually opens and closes, and paired with that jagged double row of teeth, it turns a static display piece into something you want to keep fidgeting with long after the build is done.

LaurensPosthuma built the instructions using Stud.io, LEGO’s official digital design software, and packaged them as a downloadable PDF rather than a physical retail kit, which is how most fossil-kit alt-builds make their way to fellow builders. “The feedback has been amazing and I love doing more skeletons,” the designer notes, a line that suggests this won’t be the last monster to get the bare-bones treatment.

There is something genuinely satisfying about a build like this landing in the same year Esposito’s fleshed-out Godzilla is being greenlit for retail shelves. One version gives you the King of Monsters in full menacing color, the other gives you what’s presumably left of him after a rough night in Tokyo Bay. Together they would make an absurdly good display duo, assuming LEGO ever decides an official skeleton variant is worth the tooling. Until then, this one is available now as PDF instructions for €6.50, buildable entirely from parts you already own if Dinosaur Fossils is sitting in your collection.

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LEGO Icons Hubble Space Telescope: A Build for Space Lovers

Those of a certain generation grew up in an era where space travel and discoveries were fascinating topics. A lot of young boys and girls dreamed of becoming astronauts and going into space to make amazing discoveries. While there were probably some who eventually did (or at least worked on it in some capacity), most of us stayed on Earth and just consumed various news and pop culture content that made us live vicariously through them. The fascination with space may have waned for some, but there are still those who love anything space-related, especially after the recent success of the Artemis mission.

If you’re one of those who still dream of Moon landings or deep-space explorations, this newest build from LEGO will be the next thing to add to your collection. The LEGO Icons Hubble Space Telescope is an upcoming build meant for grown-ups (18+). It has 1,252 pieces, so it might be a bit intimidating for younger space lovers, but adults will definitely have fun putting together this version of the legendary telescope and displaying it proudly on their shelves alongside other space-related memorabilia.

Designer: LEGO

Before diving into the details of the set, it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate what makes this subject matter so special. The real Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, completely changed the way humanity sees the universe. It helped scientists determine that the universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old, discovered two of Pluto’s moons, and captured some of the most breathtaking images of deep space ever seen. These photos have since become some of the most iconic in human history. It’s one of the greatest scientific instruments ever built, and now you can have your very own version of it sitting right on your desk.

Once you finish putting together this build, you’ll have a finished model that stands 12.5 inches tall, making it a bold and impressive display piece that captures the real telescope’s iconic silhouette with remarkable detail. You’ll be able to reposition the solar arrays and antennas for a dynamic display to complement whatever other cool pieces you might have on your shelf or display table. It also comes with an opening aperture door that mimics the real Hubble Telescope’s mechanism, adding a satisfying interactive element to the finished build. The level of care put into the design is evident from every angle, and this is clearly a set that was built with true fans in mind.

The instrument bay is also pretty detailed, giving you a peek into the inner workings, at least the LEGO version of it. You will also get a NASA astronaut minifigure, included primarily for scale representation, which adds a nice layer of storytelling and authenticity to the display. It also comes with a display stand and an informative plaque, so your finished showpiece is more than just decorative. It’s a genuine conversation starter.

The LEGO Icons Hubble Space Telescope (Set #11382) is set to release on August 1, 2026, and will retail for $139.99 USD (£119.99 GBP / €129.99 EUR / $229.99 AUD). For a 1,252-piece, display-quality set, it sits at a very reasonable price point, especially considering how striking the finished model looks. Whether you’re treating yourself or looking for the perfect gift for the space lover in your life, this is one build that checks all the right boxes.

Space may feel like a distant dream for most of us, but LEGO has always had a wonderful way of bringing those dreams a little closer to home. The Hubble Space Telescope set is more than just a building project. It’s a tribute to one of humanity’s greatest scientific achievements, packaged in a way that’s accessible, engaging, and genuinely beautiful to display. Whether you’re a seasoned LEGO collector, a science enthusiast, or just someone who has always gazed up at the night sky with a sense of wonder, this is one build that truly has it all. Mark your calendars for August 1, 2026, and make sure it’s at the top of your wishlist.

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A LEGO Fan Recreated Gustav Klimt’s Iconic Artwork ‘The Kiss,’ Gold Studs and All

At the start of the twentieth century, a group of Austrian artists got tired of the stuffy academic painting establishment in Vienna and broke away to form their own movement. They called it the Secession, and their unofficial leader was Gustav Klimt, a man with a gold fixation and a habit of scandalizing polite society with erotically charged, symbol-heavy paintings. The Kiss, finished in 1908, became the movement’s defining image, a couple locked in an embrace inside a cocoon of gold ornament.

More than a century later, that same image has found an unlikely new medium. Builder CYM-Create_Your_Mind has translated Klimt’s masterpiece into a LEGO mosaic spanning 44 by 44 stud compartments, deliberately built as a perfect square to honor the artist’s own preference for square canvases, right down to a detachable minifigure of Klimt himself sitting in a chair beside the piece.

Designer: CYM-Create_Your_Mind

Klimt painted most of his major works on square canvases, a stubborn formal choice that gave his compositions a strange, almost claustrophobic intimacy. The original Kiss measures 180 by 180 centimeters, and CYM-Create_Your_Mind has mirrored that exact ratio in brick form, using pearl gold pieces across the entire background to chase the effect of real gold leaf, since Klimt was known widely enough as the Painter of Gold that his contemporaries used the nickname as a compliment and an accusation in equal measure. Getting that shimmer right in LEGO, a material with all the metallic subtlety of a cereal box, is a genuinely tricky bit of engineering, and the built up layers of gold tiles and plates manage to catch light in a way flat mosaics usually cannot.

The figures share an uncanny similarity, which is rare considering LEGO tends to abstract details – here the details really aren’t lost as much as they’ve been caricatured in brick. The man’s robe is rendered in a strict, angular pattern of black rectangles, while the woman’s dress dissolves into circles and floral bursts, a distinction Klimt used deliberately to separate masculine and feminine visual language within the same golden shroud. Around 2,850 pieces went into achieving that contrast, and the level of facial detail, from the woman’s tilted head to the man’s mostly hidden profile, holds up remarkably well at mosaic resolution, which is where most brick portraits tend to fall apart into mush. My favorite touch is the tiny tile bearing a copy of Klimt’s actual signature, tucked quietly beside the figures the way it appears in the original painting, a small detail that turns a tribute into something closer to a facsimile.

CYM-Create_Your_Mind added a separate, removable minifigure of Klimt himself, seated in a chair beside his own creation. The reasoning, as the designer explains it, comes from an image of the painter sitting quietly in his studio, a symbolic gesture toward an artist who was famously private and rarely photographed working. It is a small addition that adds a layer of narrative to what could have otherwise been a straightforward wall piece.

The project is currently sitting at 759 supporters on LEGO Ideas, with 527 days left on the clock to reach the 5,000 needed to trigger an official review. Klimt fans, art history nerds, and anyone who has ever walked past a poster print of this painting in a dorm room hallway without really looking at it now have a good excuse to look twice. You can head to the LEGO Ideas page and cast your vote.

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LEGO’s Boba Fett Is Finally the 16-Inch Monument Fans Deserve

Boba Fett has always been one of those characters who punches far above his screen time. He barely speaks. He barely moves. He’s in Return of the Jedi for what feels like fifteen minutes before unceremoniously falling into a giant sand pit. And yet, for decades, he has occupied some kind of untouchable throne in the Star Wars universe. People love him. Collectors obsess over him. T-shirts, statues, Funko Pops, limited-edition helmets, you name it. And now, LEGO has given him the monument he probably always deserved.

Set 75455, simply titled Boba Fett, is a 1,544-piece buildable display figure that stands over 16 inches tall and releases on August 1, 2026, for $169.99. It’s part of LEGO’s growing line of adult-oriented collectible builds, rated 18+, and designed to sit on your shelf and make people stop and stare. Which, knowing Boba Fett’s track record, feels entirely appropriate.

Designer: LEGO

I’ll be upfront: I am a sucker for LEGO’s collector sets when they get it right, and this one looks like they really got it right. The model is based on Boba Fett’s appearance in Return of the Jedi, which means the classic Mandalorian armor in all its battle-worn, weathered green glory. The attention to detail is immediately obvious. There’s the helmet with its swiveling rangefinder, the jetpack on his back, the blaster in hand, and then the detail that genuinely surprised me: a real fabric cape. Not a printed piece, not a molded brick approximation. An actual woven fabric cape. That single design choice signals that LEGO was serious about this one, and it lifts the whole build from a clever display piece into something that feels almost premium.

The figure stands on a display base styled after the sands of Tatooine, which grounds the whole thing visually and gives it that diorama quality that collectors genuinely appreciate. The head and arms are poseable, so you can adjust him into different stances, which adds a nice layer of personality to what is otherwise a static display piece. It’s a small feature on paper, but it makes a real difference when you’re placing it on a shelf and trying to decide whether Boba should look like he’s about to shoot someone or simply surveying the room with quiet menace. Both are valid.

The set also includes a new Boba Fett minifigure, this time in his Episode 6 look complete with a cape. It doesn’t change the core experience, but it’s the kind of detail that longtime fans will absolutely notice and appreciate. LEGO didn’t have to include it, which makes its presence feel intentional rather than filler.

At $169.99, this sits comfortably in what I’d call the “considered purchase” category. It’s not an impulse buy, but it’s also not asking you to take out a loan. For 1,544 pieces and the level of finishing involved, including that fabric cape, the poseable figure, and the Tatooine display base, it feels like fair pricing. LEGO’s adult collector line has trained us to expect a certain standard, and 75455 appears to meet it without overshooting the budget into luxury territory.

What makes this particularly interesting from a design standpoint is how LEGO continues to push the language of what a “LEGO set” can look like. This isn’t a spaceship or a modular building. It’s essentially a sculptural figure built from interlocking bricks, meant to be admired the same way you’d admire a well-crafted statue or a limited art piece. LEGO has been quietly building (no pun intended) a vocabulary for this format over the past few years, with character figures like C-3PO and K-2SO paving the way. Boba Fett feels like the line reaching a new level of confidence.

If you’re a Star Wars fan, a collector, or just someone who appreciates when a brand commits to doing something with genuine craft, this set is hard to ignore. It releases August 1, 2026, and given how Boba Fett tends to sell out, I wouldn’t wait too long to decide.

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This Leaked $300 LEGO Poké Ball Is the Most Ambitious Pokémon Set Yet, and It Opens Into an Entire World

Polly Pocket understood something most toys missed. The magic was never the doll, it was the reveal, that little hinged compact snapping open to expose a bedroom, a beach, or a ballroom shrunk down to thumbnail scale. You held an ordinary object in your palm, and then it unfolded into somewhere you wanted to live. Kids in the nineties were obsessed, and the format quietly seeped into everything since, from music boxes to those tiny terrarium necklaces that keep showing up on my feed. The appeal is ancient and reliable. A sealed shell always feels like it might be hiding a whole world, and cracking it open rewards you every time.

Somebody at LEGO has finally applied that exact logic to a Poké Ball, and the images doing the rounds suggest it was worth the wait. I want to be upfront here, because this one has not been officially announced. It surfaced through leaked imagery via the r/Legoleak community, catalogued as set 72154 and titled “Iconic Trainer Moments: Poké Ball.” What the pictures show is a sealed red-and-white sphere that splits cleanly at its equator, the top dome cradling Professor Oak’s laboratory and the lower bowl opening onto a grassy battle clearing where a Pikachu squares off against an Eevee. One object, two folded worlds, and a build that finally makes the Poké Ball do the thing it always promised.

Designer: LEGO

The two halves are arranged with proper storytelling logic, which is my favourite thing about it. The top dome is where every journey starts, Oak’s lab rendered in warm yellow brickwork with three starter Poké Balls lined up on a white counter and the professor himself standing ready to ruin your afternoon with an impossible choice. The lower bowl is the payoff, an actual battle mid-scene on a bed of bright green, with your trainer on one raised platform and a rival in a green cap on the other. Open it top to bottom and you are basically replaying the opening arc of the first game in cross-section.

Down in the lower bowl, the battlefield is built on a raised green platform with rounded studs standing in for grass tufts, tiny red flowers dotting the field, and enough negative space around it that the two minifigures genuinely feel like they are facing off across an arena. The first-ever LEGO Pokémon set to feature actual minifigures, this one has Red in his signature cap and red jacket, Professor Oak in his lab coat with a swoop of grey hair, and a Picnicker in green, alongside brick-built Pikachu and Eevee figures that surfaced in earlier leaks.

The whole thing reportedly runs to 2,343 pieces, though the leaks quibble between 2,339 and 2,386, the sort of pre-announcement wobble that usually settles by launch. That sphere is clearly doing a lot of the structural lifting, given how much of the count never makes it into the diorama you actually want to stare at.

LEGO has not confirmed any of this yet, so treat the details as pencil rather than ink, but the noise points to a first of October release at a fairly hefty $299.99, which would make it one of the priciest Pokémon sets yet. It was apparently pushed back from an August date over production issues, while the rest of the summer wave held firm. My one wish, assuming the reveal lands as expected, is a satisfying, deliberate hinge on that equator seam, because a build like this lives or dies on how good the open-and-close reveal feels in the hand. Get that right, and it is an easy centrepiece.

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LEGO Just Built the E.T. Every 80s Kid Always Wanted

If you’re of a certain age or generation, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is probably part of your childhood (or adulthood). It’s one of the most popular sci-fi movies to this day, and E.T. itself is one of the most beloved aliens in movie history. There has been renewed interest in it lately because director Steven Spielberg went back to his alien roots with his latest movie, Disclosure. So now is probably the perfect time to release a new LEGO build featuring our favorite big-eyed extra-terrestrial who just wants to phone home.

What started out as a fan-born creation from LEGO Ideas is now produced by LEGO. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (21370) is a 1,226-piece alien figure designed primarily for adults, though there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying the build alongside your kids. It is a highly posable figure and comes with iconic accessories to help you re-live some of the classic scenes from the movie, or come up with your own scenes to let out your inner alien creativity. In other words, it truly is a set that the whole family can enjoy together.

Designer: LEGO

After you’ve finished building your very own E.T., you will be able to move its head up and down and even rotate it 360 degrees. You can also open and close its mouth and adjust its arms, wrists, and fingers, moving it whichever way you like. And of course, how can we not have that iconic forefinger pointing pose? There’s also a switch at the back for the light brick so you can make E.T.’s heart glow, just like in the movie.

The details of this build are particularly interesting, as you can see the wrinkles all over his body, and he has those distinctively long and spindly arms. Even the face is remarkably expressive, thanks to the clever use of offset curves and the printed eyes. The set also comes with a pot of sunflowers so you can recreate some of the most iconic scenes, including the tearjerking moment of him returning to his home planet, holding the pot as a fond remembrance of his time on Earth.

When it comes to size, this figure is no small feat. The finished build stands over 9.5 inches (24 cm) tall, 8.5 inches (21 cm) wide, and 6 inches (15 cm) deep, making it an impressive centerpiece worthy of any shelf, bookcase, or display cabinet. With 1,226 pieces packaged across nine bags and a 142-page instruction manual, the building experience itself is just as rewarding as the finished product. LEGO also offers step-by-step 3D building instructions through the LEGO Builder app, where you can zoom in, rotate the model, and track your progress as you go. Whether you’re a seasoned brick builder or a complete first-timer, the process is designed to be immersive, enjoyable, and surprisingly therapeutic.

What makes this set even more special is its origin story. Like all LEGO Ideas sets, this one started as a fan submission, dreamed up by a passionate LEGO enthusiast, voted on by the global community, and then brought to life by the LEGO design team. That community-driven journey gives this set an extra layer of heart, which feels incredibly fitting for a tribute to one of cinema’s most emotional characters. And since E.T. hasn’t appeared in LEGO form since 2016, this release is a long-awaited celebration that collectors absolutely won’t want to miss.

Whether you’re a lifelong E.T. fan, an avid LEGO collector, or simply searching for a meaningful and nostalgic gift for yourself or a loved one, the LEGO Ideas E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (21370) is worth every penny of its $139.99 price tag. It’s part toy, part art piece, and all heart, quite literally given that glowing chest. This is the kind of set that doesn’t just sit on a shelf; it sparks conversations, brings back cherished memories, and reminds you why you fell in love with that little alien all those years ago. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (21370) launches on August 1, 2026. Don’t miss your chance to finally bring him home.

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KPop Demon Hunters’ First LEGO Set Is the Duo We Didn’t Expect

It’s been months since LEGO first announced that they were releasing KPop Demon Hunters sets, but we haven’t heard anything new, until now. The first of what we assume will be multiple sets will finally be arriving this summer, and surprisingly, it doesn’t feature the main characters of the animated global hit. Instead, the spotlight goes to two breakout characters that fans absolutely loved, even though they didn’t have a single spoken line: the magical tiger and his loyal bird companion.

The Derpy Tiger and Sussie Bird set brings the beloved “pets” to LEGO life, letting kids and grown-ups alike assemble their favorite animated duo. It’s been about a year since Netflix released the surprise hit that captured the hearts and playlists of fans everywhere, so it’s only fitting that we’re finally getting the first build. While plenty of fans were hoping for Huntrix- or Saja Boys-focused sets, this one is undeniably adorable and will be a treat for both devoted KPop Demon Hunters fans and lovers of eye-catching LEGO builds in general.

Designer: LEGO

This build is recommended for kids 9 and above, which naturally includes the passionate adult fan base the movie has earned. With 825 pieces, it’s a manageable build that won’t overwhelm beginners while still offering enough complexity to keep experienced builders engaged. For Derpy Tiger, you can choose between two different expressions: have him sport his signature goofy grin or let him deliver a love note on his tongue, just like he did when passing important messages between Rumi and Jinu. The build also features several movable parts, including Derpy’s head, legs, and paws, as well as the magpie’s rotating neck and posable feet, so you can truly bring the characters’ personalities to life and pose them exactly the way you like. For those who prefer digital instructions, the set is also compatible with the LEGO Builder app, where you can zoom in, rotate in 3D, and track your progress as you go.

You also get a handful of accessories to help recreate some of the most iconic scenes featuring the two magical animals. The set includes two love notes and the flowerpot that triggered Derpy’s now-legendary OCD moment as it kept tipping over, a detail that will immediately bring a smile to any devoted fan’s face. These accessories can be tucked away in a hidden compartment inside Derpy’s head, a charming little Easter egg for builders to discover. The set measures over 8.5 in. (21 cm) high, 6 in. (15 cm) long, and 6 in. (15 cm) wide, and that’s with Sussie perched right on top of Derpy’s head, exactly where you’d expect to find her in the movie anyway.

Priced at $69.99, the Derpy Tiger and Sussie Bird set is available for pre-order now and is set to ship starting August 1, 2026. For a build packed with this much detail and charm, the price feels more than reasonable, especially when you factor in the movie-accurate accessories and the dual-expression feature that gives the set real replay value. Just note that LEGO has placed a limit of 3 per household on this one, which only adds to its collectible appeal. Whether you’re picking it up for a young fan in your life or treating yourself to a piece of KPop Demon Hunters history, this set delivers on both the play and display front.

As the very first LEGO set from the KPop Demon Hunters line, it also signals exciting things to come. If this is how LEGO is kicking things off, with fan-favorite side characters, clever hidden details, and a display-worthy design, then future sets are going to be worth every bit of the wait. Here’s hoping that a Huntrix or Saja Boys set is already in the works, because if the demand for this one is any indication, the KPop Demon Hunters x LEGO collaboration is only just getting started. Consider this your sign to go ahead and hit that pre-order button.

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Olivia Rodrigo’s New LEGO Collection Hides Loads of Easter Eggs, Just Like Her Music Videos

Heartbreak made Olivia Rodrigo famous, then rage made her interesting. SOUR arrived as a teenage gut-punch of betrayal and longing, all trembling ballads and bedroom devastation. GUTS answered it two years later with distortion pedals and a sneer, the sound of someone who had cried enough and picked up an electric guitar instead. The whiplash between those two modes is the most compelling thing about her, and any tribute worth its salt has to hold both at once.

The new LEGO Editions Olivia Rodrigo collection gets that completely. Across five collectible sets, the range swings from soft to loud and back again, and the flagship Dual Guitar build (43031) literally splits the difference, fusing an acoustic and an electric into one 1,228-piece object that opens to reveal hidden stage scenes inside. It is a collection that understood the assignment was always about duality, right down to the minifigures and their two faces. And like the best Rodrigo music videos, every set is salted with easter eggs you are meant to hunt down, the kind of buried references the Livies will be freeze-framing and cataloguing for weeks.

Designer: LEGO Group (Amy Corbett – Senior Design Manager)

That duality is a genuine milestone too, because Rodrigo becomes the first musician in history to receive multiple dedicated LEGO sets in one go, arriving with five new minifigures modeled on her most recognizable stage looks. The detail I keep grinning at is that every one of those minifigs carries two different facial expressions, so you can flip a single character between the wide-eyed ballad version and the snarling festival version depending on which Olivia the scene calls for. Amy Corbett led the design direction and worked directly with Rodrigo to refine each element, and that collaboration shows in how much of the collection is built around slow discovery rather than instant payoff.

The clearest proof of that is a clever piece of industrial sleight-of-hand in the LEGO Botanicals Flower Bouquet (11507). Rodrigo is the first partner LEGO has ever let personalize one of its Botanicals sets, and rather than a generic posy, the 400-piece arrangement is built around a striking purple flower assembled out of electric guitars, with further floral nods to her Filipino heritage threaded through the petals. It is the kind of part-repurposing that makes a designer grin, taking an instrument silhouette and coaxing it into a botanical form. Look closely and you will find a tiny visitor buzzing around the stems, which is exactly the sort of easter egg the Livies will lose their minds over.

The Concert Moon (43029) is the showstopper for me, a 670-piece recreation of that viral GUTS tour moment where Olivia drifts above the crowd on a giant glowing moon. What elevates it past a static diorama is the engineering tucked behind the spectacle, with hidden drawers and picture holders worked into the body of the thing, so the prop that floated over a stadium doubles as a tiny functional curio on your shelf.

The Dual Guitar (43031) earns its flagship billing the longer you sit with it, because the headline trick from up top, an acoustic and an electric fused into one 1,228-piece instrument, turns out to be only half of it. The body opens to reveal hidden stage scenes, backstage details, and secret storage compartments waiting to be decoded, one side soft and dreamy, the other ready to make some noise. From there the range dials down with the Vinyl (43028), which compresses her career into a 360-piece brick-built record display salted with callbacks and fresh clues hinting at what is still to come. And the Secret Storage (43030) closes things out, gathering her signature symbols into one 1,085-piece collectible, the red festival-tour guitar, the GUTS megaphone, a notebook pulled from those handwritten SOUR lyric books, each prop hiding a compartment that keeps it doing double duty.

So much of this collection is mechanism disguised as merchandise. A pop-star tie-in could so easily have been five pretty busts and a logo, but Corbett and her team kept asking what each object could do, which is why you get faces that swap, drawers that slide, guitars that open, and a moon that hides its own secrets. Pitched at ages nine to fourteen but plainly aimed at the adult collectors who grew up alongside this music, the sets read as display pieces with a puzzle-box heart.

The collection launches globally on August 1, 2026, at LEGO.com, LEGO stores, and selected retailers, with the Dual Guitar, Concert Moon, and Flower Bouquet already up for pre-order. Prices run from a friendly 34.99 USD for the Vinyl to 119.99 USD for the Dual Guitar, which feels fair for what is essentially a working brick instrument. If I had one wish, it would be a single playable string on that Dual Guitar, some tiny Technic mechanism that lets it twang just once. Give me that, and this goes from a great tie-in to an instant classic.

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LEGO’s $229 Pinball Machine Is Part Toy, Part Time Machine

LEGO has been on quite a streak lately with its adult-targeted Icons sets, and the latest one might just be its most interesting flex yet: a fully playable, tabletop-sized arcade pinball machine built entirely from 2,274 bricks.

Set number 11374, simply called the Arcade Pinball Machine, does exactly what you hope it does. It plays. Featuring a spring-powered launcher, dual flippers, and spinning bumpers, this is not a decorative replica meant to sit quietly on a shelf while you admire it from a distance. LEGO clearly wanted you to actually use it, and that ambition alone is worth paying attention to.

Designer: LEGO

The machine is space-themed, pulling from LEGO’s beloved Classic Space universe. The scoreboard reads “MISSION SPACE” with a bold nod to the set number itself, and two minifigures are included: a classic pale blue astronaut and the now-iconic baby astronaut, affectionately known among fans as the “space baby.” The classic spaceman minifigure also doubles as the score counter, physically moving in increments as the ball hits its targets. It’s a clever, tactile detail that completely elevates the overall playability and gives the set a mechanical personality you don’t expect.

Visually, it leans into the aesthetic of vintage tabletop pinball toys from the 70s through the 90s, those smaller home versions that captured the spirit of full arcade cabinets without the industrial footprint. The color palette is vibrant, the proportions feel deliberate, and the whole thing comes across as a genuinely considered design object rather than a novelty. The space theme gives it a clear visual identity rather than leaning on generic retro graphics, which is a choice that pays off. LEGO has been getting better at threading that needle between toy and collectible, and this set lives comfortably in that space.

Whether it fully sticks the landing is another question entirely. Some early reviewers have noted that the experience, while mechanically impressive, feels a little thin over time. The playfield doesn’t have the layered complexity of a real pinball machine, which is understandable given the constraints of building with interlocking bricks, but it does raise the question of whether the set is more satisfying to build than it is to play. Personally, I think that’s fine. Most of us buying something like this are not expecting to replace a real pinball machine. We’re buying the idea of one, the memory of one, the quiet joy of having something tactile and slightly ridiculous sitting on a desk.

And at that, this set delivers. The engineering required to make a functional pinball machine out of LEGO bricks is genuinely impressive. Getting the ball physics right, the flipper tension, the bumper response, all within the rigidity of interlocking plastic pieces, is not a trivial design problem. The team clearly cared about getting the mechanics to work, not just to look the part, and that commitment shows in the final product.

Priced at $229.99 USD, with a July 4, 2026 release date and early access for LEGO Insiders starting July 1, it sits comfortably in the range that LEGO has been targeting for its collector-grade sets. Whether that price feels justified will depend entirely on what you value. If you’re a Classic Space fan, the minifigures alone might tip the scales. If you’re a design nerd, the engineering story makes it worth considering. And if you’re somewhere in between, well, a playable LEGO pinball machine on your desk is a pretty specific kind of conversation starter that most people don’t see coming.

The LEGO Icons line has always understood that nostalgia is a serious market. People want objects that connect them to something, that make a room feel like it belongs to someone with a point of view. A space-themed pinball machine built entirely from bricks hits that note cleanly. It’s retro without being lazy about it. It’s playful without being juvenile. It is, in the best possible way, deeply unnecessary, and that’s exactly what makes it worth wanting.

The post LEGO’s $229 Pinball Machine Is Part Toy, Part Time Machine first appeared on Yanko Design.

Life-sized LEGO Koenigsegg Sadair’s Spear shatters speed records for brick-built cars

Last year, Koenigsegg Saidair’s Spear, driven by the brand’s official test driver, set the record in the reverse-course configuration of the Goodwood Hill course. Now the Swedish hypercar manufacturer has brought the laurels back with a life-sized LEGO Saidair Spear to break the record for the fastest brick-built car in the reverse configuration of the circuit.

The elusive hypercar limited to just 30 production units has got the 1:1 replica in LEGO form, courtesy of the Danish toy maker, who have impressed everyone with its life-sized version of the real cars. The one-off creation is built under the Ultimate Car Concept Series, which has seen the likes of Bugatti Chiron and Ferrari Monza SP1. This driveable LEGO Saidair’s Spear celebrates the release of the 1:8 LEGO Technic set of the hypercar consisting of intricate 4,104 pieces, which is ultimately for the 23.2 inches long, 5.9 inches tall, and 11.0 inches wide hypercar for display on the wall.

Designer: LEGO Group

Breaking the previous record of 31 mph set by the LEGO McLaren P1, the intimidating hypercar trundled at 69 mph, the winding course known for its unforgiving drivability. Much like the LEGO Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider which is powered by a naturally aspirated V12 engine, this has a piston-style V8 engine mated to a nine-speed sequential gearbox. That said the powerful engine is too much for the hypercar, so it gets a rear wheel-powered electric motor that thrusts it forward. Keeping the element of automotive engineering going, the car has a paddle-mounted steering wheel, Triplex suspension for the front and rear, and a cool rotary display showing the selected gear. It even gets the working Ghost mode that the real version touts. In this setting, activated with a button, the hypercar’s rear body section lifts up, those dihedral synchro-helix doors swing out automatically, and the mirrors retract flat.

The form factor is nothing short of jaw-dropping in deep black hue, as the full-size Koenigsegg is made up of 327,000 Lego Technic elements, taking up 9,400 man hours to carefully put together. According to LEGO, the highly detailed car took around 18 months to create, with some LEGO elements created specifically for the project. The all-black finish of the car was hard to achieve as the makers had to figure out crafting the connectors and bodywork. Underneath the car is a metal chassis and an FIA-certified roll cage to complete the details. Non LEGO elements on the car include the Koenigsegg carbon wheels wrapped in Pirelli tyres and motorsports grade disc brakes with the Technic callipers.

The four-wheeler weighs 1,800 kg in total, out of which 1,200 kg is just the dry engine weight. To make things interesting, the creation is loaded with easter eggs. As per Lego’s design lead Lubor Zelinka, who got in conversation with Top Gear, “Parts of the front headlights are little canopies from Star Wars ships. The rear lights use house or train windows. The brake lights are emergency lights from police vehicles. We’ve used part of a wheel arch for a curved section of exhaust, and there’s another wheel arch from our C8 Corvette set on the brake callipers.”

Although this LEGO hypercar isn’t going to be anyone’s play toy, no matter how much money you have, it can still be seen for real when it sets out for a global promotional tour.

The post Life-sized LEGO Koenigsegg Sadair’s Spear shatters speed records for brick-built cars first appeared on Yanko Design.