LEGO Smart Brick officially unveiled at Consumer Electronics Show 2026

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A LEGO Smart Brick emitting colorful lights, with a LEGO minifigure and a charging tag in the background, showcased during the CES 2026 event.

After months of rumor and speculation, LEGO® SMART Play™, an Integrated Smart Brick and Minifigure system has been revealed at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. The first sets to include this technology will be in the LEGO STAR WARS range, and are due for release in March. This Press release has dropped just as I am getting started on a normal work day: I will probably post again about known knowns and known unknowns later in the week. But in short, this is a way to enhance the way trhat kids play with their bricks and Minifigures.

I have always been intrigued by the ways in which LEGO has worked to combine technology with play, from the first ‘Stop signal’ that I owned with my childhood trainset through Life of George, Boost, Vidiyo, and Super Mario. Some have been hits, some misses, but ways of enhancing play are constantly under investigation by the research teams at LEGO.

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Is that you Eris? 71512 Crocodile Submarine review

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A LEGO set featuring a crocodile submarine with a large head and bright colors, accompanied by a purple character wielding a bow and black creatures with pink claws.

Branko continues his reviews of the latest LEGO Dreamzzz Sets, and finds the ‘B’ on this one strangely familiar. In many different ways!

When LEGO gifted this set for review my eye was immediately drawn to the alternate build on the back of the box; the eagle. There is quite a lot to see in this set before we get to that point, so join me while I share my opinion on this set, and highlight several references and associations this set conjures.

A vibrant LEGO set featuring a blue and yellow eagle-themed robot with intricate details and an additional smaller black and purple figure, surrounded by several small spider-like creatures.

For example, is Logan the dreamworld manifestation of Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon? Does this mean Dreamzzz may become a licensed series after all, or does it still qualify as a story theme (read my essay on that here)? How does Eris the eagle tie into all of this?

This set was gifted by LEGO but all opinions are our own. 71512 Crocodile Submarine comes in with 1107pieces as the second largest and the second cheapest set in the Dreamzzz 2026 line for AU$109.99/£59.99/$69.99/€69.99

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71508 Fox Guardian Mech (or could it be a flying fox?) [review]

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Image of the LEGO set '71508 Fox Guardian Mech' featuring a green mech with a fox-like design, holding translucent green swords, with two minifigures in front.

Green and gold, favourite national colours in Australia, but I think my appreciation for this set has little to do with that. 71508 Fox Guardian Mech is the second smallest set released in the new Dreamzzz wave, coming in at 883 pieces for AU$129.99/£69.99/US$79.99/€79.99. As I mentioned before, these sets are not small or cheap, but they are good!

The official name of this set it ‘Fox Guardian Mech’ and I typically associate the word ‘Mech’ with a large robot occupied by a pilot (like a Jaeger in Pacific Rim, or powered armor like in Avatar). LEGO is partially to blame for this, with so many sets labelled ‘Mech’ containing piloted robots. Ninjago in particular has been releasing mechs with someone driving them. Coming back to this set; this fox does NOT contain a set for someone to drive it so it almost deserves a different qualification. Also, the alternative build could equaly qualify as a Fox Guardian, so should the name perhaps just be Fox Guardian?

LEGO gifted one of these guardians for use to review, so join me as we present our own opinion on this set, and explore what it has to offer.

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42220 Monster Jam Sparkle Smash: Is a Unicorn a Monster? [review]

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A colorful unicorn-themed monster truck with glittery decorations, showcasing large wheels and a playful design.

A sparkling unicorn-themed monster truck. I know that the word ‘monster’ in this name refers to the truck, not the theme of the decorations, but I am just used to monster trucks having appearances that match the loud, powerful, anything-but-subtle destruction and mayhem they can cause.

Does this mean, perhaps, I should reconsider my understanding of unicorns? After all, Unikitty is not known to be the most stable and coherent entities in the LEGO universe; perhaps unicorns like a bit of roar and thunder? I still do not know, but I can say that I don’t mind this style of Monster Truck.

LEGO gifted us a copy of 42220 Monster Jam™ Sparkle Smash™, one of the new Monster trucks to be released in January 2026. The set contains 243 pieces and retails for AU$44.99/£24.99/US$34.99/€29.99.

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Nightmare Scorpion Digger 71513, an issue with construction [review]

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LEGO set featuring the Nightmare Scorpion Digger 71513 with mini-figures, a crystal, and spiders, highlighted with colorful pieces.

Branko woke up from a dream wondering if Construction Equipment was on the way out. He couldn’t get back to sleep until he came up with the answer…

In January 2026 LEGO will release another wave of Dreamzzz sets and the balance between ‘dream’ and ‘nightmare’ seems solidly to have swung towards ‘Dream’. There is only 1 set out of 5 in the wave that is considered a nightmare, and it is the smallest of the lot at that. Cue “Nightmare Scorpion Digger 71513”, coming in at 505 pieces for AU$79.99/£44.99/US$49.99/€49.99. This is not a small set, it’s just the smallest of the lot (read more on that here).

The sets in this series are all associated with animals, and some machinery, but it struck me that this particular one is very strongly related to construction equipment. In recent years fans of Technic have been complaining a bit about a reduction of the number of construction equipment sets, so this left me wondering. Has construction gotten into bad books? Is digging holes no longer considered cool?

Join me as we have a quick look to see if Technic fans are objectively correct in their gripe, and then we will cheerfully ignore that and have a look at how construction equipment is used to create this particular nightmare creature.

This set was generously gifted by LEGO, but the expressed opinions are my own.

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Botanicals Interview and Review III: 11508 Daisies

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A bouquet of LEGO flowers including daisies and lavender displayed in a round glass vase on a wooden shelf, with text overlay featuring the title '11508 Daisies Review' and a promotional note about Theo Bonner.

Its time for the third part of our interview with Thoe Bonner. If you have missed out on the previous parts, you can catch up with them in our review for the 11501 Tulip Bouquet and the 11504 Peace Lily. Before taking a look at the 11508 Daisies, one of the 9-plus sets in the latest Botanical wave, Theo and I talk about the new colours to be found in the January Releases as well as the importance of Storytelling, even in sets that might not have an obvious narrative.

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Botanicals Interview and Review II: 11503 Peace Lily

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A LEGO model of the 11504 Peace Lily, featuring green leaves and white flowers, displayed on a wooden shelf with a plain background.

Earlier in the month I was visiting Denmark, and had the opportunity to visit the LEGO Campus and have a conversation with LEGO Botanicals senior designer, Theo Bonner. In part one, we discussed recolours and the rationale behind new elements being developed in the Botanical theme. Last time, we spoke recolours and the introduction of new elements in Botanical sets.

Today, we discuss the flowerpot design in the 11503 Peace Lily, the fan base for LEGO Botanicals, designing 18+ sets for builders who have never built a LEGO set in their lives before and discover something what LEGO Star Wars and Botanicals have in common.

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Tiger! Shark! Tank! – 71515 [review]

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A colorful LEGO set featuring the Tiger Shark Tank from Dreamzzz, showcasing a large shark with various attachments and accessories, along with minifigures and crystal creatures.

Branko’s been thinking a lot about Dreamzzz lately. Here is his first formal review for the wave:

I imagine the brainstorm sessions for the latest wave of Dreamzzz sets went something like this. Get a group of children in a room as ask them what they like. They all start shouting and words get thrown onto a whiteboard “Tigers! Knights! Tanks! Diggers! Sharks! Swords! Dinosaurs!” with a subdued “classic space” or “classic castle” mumbled by an aging adult LEGO fan in the back of the room. All that remained was to group these terms together and you end up with something like this Tiger Shark Tank.

A colorful LEGO set depicting the Tiger Shark Tank, featuring a tiger-striped shark front and tank tracks, showcasing intricate design and various LEGO elements.

This set ticks the boxes of having buzzwords, or clickbait, to make sure to appeal to as many sensibilities as possible. Not only is there a shark, and a tiger mixed, there is a reference to Black Falcon castle, another to Pirates and then there is a tank. The only thing to widen the appeal more was to add Space to the mix, but Mr Oz has done that plenty in previous iterations of Dreamzzz.

A LEGO minifigure with white hair and glasses, wearing a blue torso with a planet graphic.

71515 Tiger Shark Tank contains 1548 pieces and retails for AU$229.99/£129.99/$139.99/€139.99. Follow me to read why you want this set.

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Botanical Insights: Interview and Review – 11501 Tulip Bouquet

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A vibrant display of a LEGO Tulip Bouquet set, featuring colorful tulip flowers in various shades, arranged in a clear glass vase on a wooden surface. The image includes text indicating a review of the set and mentions an interview with designer Theo Bonner.
A smiling person with glasses and a beard, wearing a plaid shirt, is seated against a backdrop of textured fabric and tree-themed artwork.
Theo Bonner, Senior Designer, LEGO Botanicals

In December, 2025 I had the good fortune to visit LEGO Campus in Billund, Denmark. While there, I had the chance to talk with Theo Bonner – One of the Senior Designers working on LEGO’s Botanicals Theme. During the 45 minutes that we spoke, we covered a variety of topics including the challenges of flowerpots, new colours, storytelling the Botanicals consumer base, storytelling and the lack of Spinjitzu in Botanical sets.

Today, in the first of our four reviews of upcoming Botanical releases, we will take a look at the 11501 Tulip Bouquet, and in our interview extract, we talk about the challenges of recolouring certain elements, the new curved slope element and its connection to a space theme from around the turn of the century.

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It’s a matter of torque – 42219 Monster Jam Grave Digger [review]

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LEGO Technic monster truck model of the 42219 Monster Jam Grave Digger with a blue and black design featuring flames and monster-themed stickers.

Since 2021 LEGO has released 10 small Technic monster trucks, linked to Monster Jam. LEGO generously sent us the latest pair to be released in January so we can share our own opinion on them.

Monster Trucks are unusual vehicles that you hope never to encounter on the road; they are designed to smash, jump flip and do other stunts that you do not typically want to associate with partaking in traffic. My expectation for a Monster Truck set is therefore in a similar vein; I expect this to provide some simple fun and smiles; something that triggers play.

I admit that I did not know what “Monster Jam” was (I thought a computer game) but courtesy of Wikipedia:

Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour operated by Feld Entertainment. The series began in 1992, and is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association. Events are primarily held in North America, with some additional events in other countries. Although individual event formats can vary greatly based on the “intermission” entertainment, the main attraction is always the racing, two-wheel skills competition, and freestyle competitions by monster trucks.

From this I deduce that the set on review today, 42219 Monster Jam™ Grave Digger™ Fire and Ice contains the ™ symbol (twice!) for a reason and relates to a real vehicle. The set comes with 263 pieces for AU$44.99/£24.99/US$34.99/€29.99.

Come have a look at what we can learn about torque, power and acceleration for a Monster Truck. Oh, and we will also have a look at what this particular LEGO set has to offer.

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