New instructions, inventories and parts for 2021 sets added
Posted by Huw,
LEGO Customer Services has now published data for 2021 sets: 307 instruction manuals and 119 inventories containing 883 new parts.
Unusually, the inventories are largely complete: often the new parts are left out when they are first published for the January releases, presumably to prevent Bricks and Pieces being swamped with orders for them.
There are some interesting new pieces, including this new bracket in Super Mario sets. Let us know what catches your eye in the comments.
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35 comments on this article
Chowder, STOP! You are bruising the bluenanas!
Oh well now that you've changed the image, my comment isn't going to make any sense.
Part 6321716 immediately caught my eye - exactly a piece I've been wishing for some time. I also like the new Technic panels, all this stuff I've been wanting for ongoing projects.
41005 (Stick Ø 3.2 W. Holder) in white is something Ive been waiting a long time for, so that's pretty exciting, although Im really not a fan of the new softer plastic they're using for that part these days.
And what on earth is 65138? What an interesting new part. Not much use to me in vibrant coral but I imagine it'll see a lot of use in the near future.
Bricks and Peices normall shuts down over the festive period but this year Lego have kept it open which was interesting!
There are a lot of interesting parts giving me a serious case of the wants. The most useful for me, though, based on the kinds of things I usually do would probably be that little 1×2 brown hinge plate. I always want all the teal parts. It's a silly thing. Somehow, I did not realize I could browse through new parts by year and I had no idea there were over 3000 new parts per year and 500 parts at a time show up at a time. That's a great feature. Thanks, Huw!
WAIT WHAT frictionless technic peg in yellow!? They're actually putting out those in new colours!?
@magmafrost, that puzzled me too, particularly as it's only being used in a 4+ set and not in the Technic sets, https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-6331822.
Leia's hair comes up as a new piece... Is it actually? It looks the same to me....
There is one more interesting part, which is not visible on lego.com, hence Huw can not have it in his list. It is visible on page 118 (step 172) here:
https://www.lego.com/cdn/product-assets/product.bi.core.pdf/6355016.pdf
as part of "Ferrari 488 GTE" 42125
It's a new long blade with 3 pin holes to attach it.
Ah, I can see now, it was supposed to be part of the "Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey" 42113 (page 319, step 402). So it's really not new.
It's interesting that some of the new CITY set instruction books cover do not have background graphics, with only plain background. Is that printing error or LEGO intend to make such design??
Now THAT's a sexy bracket.
1x1 brick with axle hole is pretty cool too.
@MCLegoboy said:
"Chowder, STOP! You are bruising the bluenanas!"
Ah Chowder, a really weird and sometimes icky show but it was fun as heck.
I'm keeping an eye on the new cupcake moulds. I like odd elements, so it's pretty interesting
@juggleman said:
"There is one more interesting part, which is not visible on lego.com, hence Huw can not have it in his list. It is visible on page 118 (step 172) here:
https://www.lego.com/cdn/product-assets/product.bi.core.pdf/6355016.pdf
as part of "Ferrari 488 GTE" 42125
It's a new long blade with 3 pin holes to attach it.
Ah, I can see now, it was supposed to be part of the "Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey" 42113 (page 319, step 402). So it's really not new."
It was introduced in lime green in the Sian.
I noticed that brand new parts were showing up in Bricks & Pieces searches, but as out-of-stock and with a price of $0.00. I don't recall seeing that domination for past waves of new sets, but perhaps it is a way to have complete inventories even when the new elements aren't yet available for individual sale.
I didn't know that 65473 is in brown color. I thought it is only in black.
Is there a way to see just new pieces and not old pieces in new colours?
Interesting to see Dots introducing a new Technic part:
https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-6322164
Another Technic part - Technic brick 1x2 with 1x2 plate attached - is introduced in City and SW:
https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-6326478
The biggest change is having neighbouring perpendicular holes in a beam
https://brickset.com/parts/6321716/beam-15-module-w-4-85-hole-no-1
which appear in the new RC buggy. Hopefully, this will appear in other beam lengths. Just not sure why they didn't do this from the start as it would have opened up so many more building techniques.
@MudkipDoom said:
"Is there a way to see just new pieces and not old pieces in new colours?"
Yes, switch to design view at https://brickset.com/parts/year-2021. It will show all printed parts as well as new shapes, though, because they are assigned new design numbers.
I've just built 41449, and I rather like the 3x3 frame w/bow piece for the bay windows.
@MeganL said:
"I've just built 41449, and I rather like the 3x3 frame w/bow piece for the bay windows."
I agree. I watched my daughter build 41449 yesterday. I was a bit jealous that she got those windows. It's an impressive set overall, it might be the best of all the Friends houses.
I remember years ago reading about when Lego was losing money and was trying to do too many things like theme parks and video games. They restructured, sold various aspects of the business and reduced their part count by a lot. It seemed to be viewed as a great thing - Lego focusing on what they do best.
Does Lego become less “Lego” when new parts are constantly created, instead of the challenge of working with existing parts? It’s certainly not a new thought but it’s something I think about.
I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer, and I definitely love the large and extremely detailed sets that we are enjoying these days. It’s more of a philosophical question more than anything.
Regardless, I love the interesting pieces that they are making and they certainly help with building techniques.
new phone print: https://brickset.com/parts/6329698/flat-tile-1x2-no-308
Exo-force robot hand finally available in white: https://brickset.com/parts/6339183/stick-%C3%B8-3-2-w-holder
Interestingly, this printed tile, https://brickset.com/parts/6329664/flat-tile-1x4-no-159 , may be a replacement for https://brickset.com/parts/4215740/flat-tile-1x4-no-28 . Some other prints, including https://brickset.com/parts/4221879/flat-tile-1x2-no-90 , also began being replaced with new versions in late 2020, as this New Elementary article discusses: https://www.newelementary.com/2020/11/lego-pieces-november-20-rebrickable.html.html
And here's the new "1x3 inverted bow" in case anyone missed it: https://brickset.com/parts/6329117/brick-1x3-outside-half-arch-w-cutout
And I know it's already been pointed out by others, but I'm really excited for the 1x1 technic brick with axle hole ( https://brickset.com/parts/6336539/brick-1x1-w-cross-hole ) and 3x3 curved bay window frame ( https://brickset.com/parts/6329420/frame-3x3-w-bow-no-1 ).
@B_Space_Man said:
"Does Lego become less “Lego” when new parts are constantly created, instead of the challenge of working with existing parts? It’s certainly not a new thought but it’s something I think about.
"
This was a big point in Brick by Brick -- but I think the critical thing that the book pointed out was that the parts that were being created were not being subjected to any sort of business review.
"How much would they increase the cost of goods? Who knows!?! Light-up-bricks for everyone!"
At this point Lego's business systems seem to be robust enough to properly price these, leaving us just with the much-more-squishy and evergreen "does too many parts detract from LEGO" question.
I don’t have any immediate uses for the new small bracket, but I rarely have for any of the previous additions. Eventually they get put to use. The new large bracket (3x2-2x2 down) seems a lot less likely to show up in one of my MOCs, as it’s just too big for the things I usually build. I don’t see much else that really grabs my attention at the moment, besides a new color for the standard bike frame.
@MisterBrickster:
Each mold has a Design Number, which we commonly refer to as a part number. Each color that’s produced with that mold gets an Element ID Number (some call it a “Part/Color Combo”, or PCC). If an element goes out of production long enough that they stop stocking spares, the EID is retired, and the next time it appears they will assign it a new one. I’m not really sure why they do this, since they’ve never recycled these numbers, but some elements have gone in and out of production enough times to rack up a small pile of associated EID numbers, like the dark-purple 2x4 brick. This is just another case of a hairstyle that has returned after being absent for maybe a year or longer.
@ambr:
The Technic system started out with bricks, which aren’t compatible with this hole arrangement. When it went to beams, it took years (and some outside advice during NXT development) to start breaking free of the brick Technic mentality. Stuff like this beam and the recent Technic waters aren’t really logical extensions of the brick-based Technic system, so this probably took some new blood with fresh eyes to see how this might be necessary. Even so, it’s not something that should replace regular beams, but merely supplement them. These may be more useful for framing, but the loss of every other hole can make certain gearing combinations impossible.
@B_Space_Man:
Ask yourself this: Are you disappointed by all the parts on this list that aren’t 2x4 bricks? There was a time when you wouldn’t have had much more than that. Maybe some simple windows and wheels, but that’s it.
Where they got in trouble before was that everyone was allowed to make new sets, but many of them rarely got reused even in the same theme, much less by other themes that were busy creating new elements of their own. One of the worst examples I can recall is a pair of trellis arches. They had the same basic profile, though one had deeper connections on the back side. Over 13 years, one of them appeared in a mere seven sets before they replaced it with the other version. Then there’s patio umbrellas. Scala and Belville each have one, and Fabuland got two! They’re all largely incompatible with each other, and you have to wonder why nobody was told to reuse the version that fake before.
CMF gets an unusual amount of leeway on creating new elements, but most of those are peramanently off-limits to other themes. If a designer wants to use one, they have to pitch it to their lead designer on why it would be useful across a broad range of themes (hairstyles are apparently the easiest to get approved). So stuff like surfboards and skis have been adapted into the general part pool, but most of the period warrior weapons and armor have not. And if you exclude all the printed parts, you’ll notice that most of this list is fairly generic shapes, or useful connectors, rather than a variety of new umbrellas.
@BrickTeller said:
"I noticed that brand new parts were showing up in Bricks & Pieces searches, but as out-of-stock and with a price of $0.00. I don't recall seeing that domination for past waves of new sets, but perhaps it is a way to have complete inventories even when the new elements aren't yet available for individual sale. "
That’s been used for some time, at least on B&P in Europe. It’s LEGO’s placeholder. Those parts usually get stock and a price eventually, but not always permanently. As soon as a price/stock appears, you need to pounce. Unfortunately, not all such parts get stocked at the same time, so if there are many different ones you want, you have to pay P&P each time - which is annoying.
@Zander said:
" @BrickTeller said:
"I noticed that brand new parts were showing up in Bricks & Pieces searches, but as out-of-stock and with a price of $0.00. I don't recall seeing that domination for past waves of new sets, but perhaps it is a way to have complete inventories even when the new elements aren't yet available for individual sale. "
That’s been used for some time, at least on B&P in Europe. It’s LEGO’s placeholder. Those parts usually get stock and a price eventually, but not always permanently. As soon as a price/stock appears, you need to pounce. Unfortunately, not all such parts get stocked at the same time, so if there are many different ones you want, you have to pay P&P each time - which is annoying.
"
I noticed this in the USA around June 2020 as well, I was hunting down parts and encountered the Out of Stock at $0.00 at least a dozen times. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these pieces will never be available for purchase and are a permanent placeholder for inventory.
No 40448 yet :|
@Galaxy12_Import said:
" @Zander said:
" @BrickTeller said:
"I noticed that brand new parts were showing up in Bricks & Pieces searches, but as out-of-stock and with a price of $0.00. I don't recall seeing that domination for past waves of new sets, but perhaps it is a way to have complete inventories even when the new elements aren't yet available for individual sale. "
That’s been used for some time, at least on B&P in Europe. It’s LEGO’s placeholder. Those parts usually get stock and a price eventually, but not always permanently. As soon as a price/stock appears, you need to pounce. Unfortunately, not all such parts get stocked at the same time, so if there are many different ones you want, you have to pay P&P each time - which is annoying.
"
I noticed this in the USA around June 2020 as well, I was hunting down parts and encountered the Out of Stock at $0.00 at least a dozen times. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these pieces will never be available for purchase and are a permanent placeholder for inventory."
Parts that aren't up for sale come with a "not for sale" notice - I've only noticed a couple of those, otherwise they don't get listed at all (e.g. IP parts, such as SW MFs)
@Zander said:
" @BrickTeller said:
"I noticed that brand new parts were showing up in Bricks & Pieces searches, but as out-of-stock and with a price of $0.00. I don't recall seeing that domination for past waves of new sets, but perhaps it is a way to have complete inventories even when the new elements aren't yet available for individual sale. "
That’s been used for some time, at least on B&P in Europe. It’s LEGO’s placeholder. Those parts usually get stock and a price eventually, but not always permanently. As soon as a price/stock appears, you need to pounce. Unfortunately, not all such parts get stocked at the same time, so if there are many different ones you want, you have to pay P&P each time - which is annoying.
"
Does anyone know of a useful way to track when parts are made available for purchase on B&P. I honestly don't have the time to check every hour of every day. It seems to me the scalpers are always the first to snag up all the good stuff, and than those parts don't come back in stock (such as the recent reindeer from the Elf Club House set).
@PurpleDave said:
@ambr:
The Technic system started out with bricks, which aren’t compatible with this hole arrangement. When it went to beams, it took years (and some outside advice during NXT development) to start breaking free of the brick Technic mentality. Stuff like this beam and the recent Technic waters aren’t really logical extensions of the brick-based Technic system, so this probably took some new blood with fresh eyes to see how this might be necessary. Even so, it’s not something that should replace regular beams, but merely supplement them. These may be more useful for framing, but the loss of every other hole can make certain gearing combinations impossible.
I was referring to the switch from Technic brick to beam they should have thought about having the holes perpendicular to each other as the aim was to build outwards from say the differential both vertically and horizontally. This is why nearly every instruction starts with the technic beam frame it makes you wonder how they survived without it, and why did the frame come before these new perpendicular beams. As for gearing nearly always only use the odd holes, but now you can do perpendicular gearing more easily.
@ZSchoonover said:
" @Zander said:
" @BrickTeller said:
"I noticed that brand new parts were showing up in Bricks & Pieces searches, but as out-of-stock and with a price of $0.00. I don't recall seeing that domination for past waves of new sets, but perhaps it is a way to have complete inventories even when the new elements aren't yet available for individual sale. "
That’s been used for some time, at least on B&P in Europe. It’s LEGO’s placeholder. Those parts usually get stock and a price eventually, but not always permanently. As soon as a price/stock appears, you need to pounce. Unfortunately, not all such parts get stocked at the same time, so if there are many different ones you want, you have to pay P&P each time - which is annoying.
"
Does anyone know of a useful way to track when parts are made available for purchase on B&P. I honestly don't have the time to check every hour of every day. It seems to me the scalpers are always the first to snag up all the good stuff, and than those parts don't come back in stock (such as the recent reindeer from the Elf Club House set)."
There is a way, if you are a software developer and if you are familiar with web crawling techniques. It is not easy, but it's manageable. How to start? Record all network activities in Google Chrome in the developer window, which happen when you search for a brick. That is the starting point. The rest is just rutine. Sorry this software can not be made public as lego.com would immediatelly ban it or make it much more difficult to web crawl.
@ambr:
But as I said, they did start with the bricks, and the design mentality used for the bricks carried over to the beams. Bricks offered stability that beams couldn't match, and it took designer experience combined with user feedback for them to figure out the weak points in the beam system, and come up with ideas for how to improve it. If they had started with beams right away, maybe they would have figured it out right away.