Notable new parts

86996 1x1x2/3 is a winner - great to get a replacement for my least favourite assembly.
I'd be interested if the loop on 77813 is a standard 3.18 bar.

No idea what I'd use them for, but as always am coveting many of these new parts.

I found this one rather remarking:
https://brickset.com/parts/6365692/plate-1x3-w-vert-3-2-no-1

Love the squirrels! They are great addition to my animal collection. Just picked up a few picnic sets to get them plus some acorns :)

Why is the 2x2x2/3 plate so unsettling?

That half peg with friction is a godsend to us bionicle fans, shocked we didn't get this years ago.

*Jaw dropping sounds*

@mavndad said:
"Love the squirrels! Also a dark orange horse! And sea turtle! Any other animals?"
The sea turtle is a recolour, not a new mould, though it is cool.
Not in boxed sets, but in Series 22 CMFs, there are new foal and toucan moulds. The existing husky gets a slight recolour in the same series. And there’s new print for a mushroom creature (myconid) though it’s debatable whether that even qualifies as a fantasy animal.

86996 looks like a megablock part. And 80015 looks fragile.

Yes, cats make the best pets.

@MandaPanda742 said:
"Love the squirrels! They are great addition to my animal collection. Just picked up a few picnic sets to get them plus some acorns :)"

Woah, woah, woah... I love cats too, but since when are they the best pets? What kind of biased news is this?? ;)

@sir_vasco said:
"Why is the 2x2x2/3 plate so unsettling?"

Because of the hollow stud?

I've been wanting a 1x1 plate with hole to match the 1x1 round plate with hole for a while... Curious why they decided to make 86996 before making a plate.

@Zander said:
" @mavndad said:
"Love the squirrels! Also a dark orange horse! And sea turtle! Any other animals?"
The sea turtle is a recolour, not a new mould, though it is cool.
Not in boxed sets, but in Series 22 CMFs, there are new foal and toucan moulds. The existing husky gets a slight recolour in the same series. And there’s new print for a mushroom creature (myconid) though it’s debatable whether that even qualifies as a fantasy animal."

Thanks. I forgot about the Foal update as well!

86996 a stack of two 1x1 plates as a part. Why? It looks cursed, like something a rival company would make, not Lego.

86876 was this really needed? Especially when we get a friction pin with stud anyway. This feels like the designers got into a specific problem one time and just decided to create a new part for it just because they could.

Squirrels can only mean one thing…

Squirrel Girl and Tippy-Toe!

Most interested bin 80796 BRICK 1X2X2, W/ 8 KNOBS.

Might be very niche, but I've could have used a part like this, coincidentally to connect roller coaster track back to back just like in the set it comes from.

Hope it shows up in a solid colour soon.

Lots of nice parts here!

89678 is a nice part that's used well in Technic sets for small details connected by only one stud when you don't want them to swivel freely—something that should be especially useful for exterior details like vehicle badges, gas caps, or hood ornaments. You might assume that it renders 86876 unnecessary, but 86876 has other advantages—for one, it's not color locked like the Technic pin probably is, but in addition to that the subtle differences in height between the holes in Technic bricks and bricks with side studs makes 86876 much more useful for System builds where you don't want a slight offset that could get in the way of connecting to other parts.

The squirrels and kittens are lovely additions to the Lego animal kingdom! Like @MutoidMan, I can only hope we get a Squirrel Girl at some point in the Marvel theme.

80015 is a great part as well, very useful for locking rounded corners. Previously if you had a 4x4 rounded corner, the only easy ways to connect it to adjacent walls required you to either use regular bricks or plates (and thus create an unsightly seam) or to use the 6x6 plate with rounded corner (which forces you to have a "ceiling" over the rounded wall, which isn't always ideal). This should be especially useful for modular-style builds with separable floors.

86996 seems very useful, not just for the convenience of not having to stack 1x1 plates and align the corners (a potential frustration point in fine-detail builds) but also for being the rare 1x1 square part with a through hole. The through hole also makes it so that it will be harder to confuse for its taller and shorter siblings. Its two-plate height will also likely pair well with SNOT bricks—for instance, pairing it with the 1x1 "dalek" brick with four side studs will allow for a quick and easy construction that gives you two studs of height with connections on all four sides and a hole all the way through.

86876 : BRICK 1X2 W/ 1 KNOB, the 'illegal' technique of using a 1x2 Technic brick and a 4274 CONNECTOR PEG W. KNOB is used in 10264 : Corner Garage, I thought it was dodgy!

86996 : PLATE 1X1X2/3, I agree it seems over the top and something that a cheap rival company would make, but it will certainly speed up building and having to align 1x1 plates. But it could make instructions even harder to follow. I can also see it being useful in some SNOT and complex assemblies, like brick-built lettering.

Also for when you need to finish a column with a hollow stud, e.g around windows and doors, before using a large piece on top as a 'lintel' to lock it all together. You could use a 1x1 plate with this on top. I have had to use a 1x1 technic brick with hole, rotated 90 degrees before now.

I can see the brown squirrels being replaced by the greys eventually.

I want to make a giant squirrel-piloted mech for some reason.

@DoonsterBuildsLego said:
"86996 1x1x2/3 is a winner - great to get a replacement for my least favourite assembly.
I'd be interested if the loop on 77813 is a standard 3.18 bar. "

I have some of 77813 (got them this morning) and as Huw says, it's quite a bit smaller. The element is also slightly higher than 2 plates high, and the charms have no way to connect them to other Lego parts.

@PixelTheDragon said:
"I want to make a giant squirrel-piloted mech for some reason. "

In one of the Lego Marvel games, Squirrel Girl has a great looking squirrel mech. Not sure if it is buildable IRL, but it would make a great starting point. With the endless number of Super Hero mechs, I wouldn't be surprised if it became an actual set soon :)

I love cats so the kitten mold is an automatic winner, I hope they’ll have it in less expensive sets eventually. I hope they do the bigger cat in black eventually, I’ll be able to represent mine that way. Although he is very small so maybe the kitten mold will do…

@MLF said:
" @PixelTheDragon said:
"I want to make a giant squirrel-piloted mech for some reason. "

In one of the Lego Marvel games, Squirrel Girl has a great looking squirrel mech. Not sure if it is buildable IRL, but it would make a great starting point. With the endless number of Super Hero mechs, I wouldn't be surprised if it became an actual set soon :)"

I do have a Squirrel Girl custom.
This must be a sign.

@Paperballpark said:
" @DoonsterBuildsLego said:
"86996 1x1x2/3 is a winner - great to get a replacement for my least favourite assembly.
I'd be interested if the loop on 77813 is a standard 3.18 bar. "

I have some of 77813 (got them this morning) and as Huw says, it's quite a bit smaller. The element is also slightly higher than 2 plates high, and the charms have no way to connect them to other Lego parts."

Out of curiosity I wonder if the charms are maybe compatible with 53551 (the Bionicle/Hero Factory chain link) which had a similar-looking connection: https://brickset.com/parts/design-53551

@Trigger_ said:
"I love cats so the kitten mold is an automatic winner, I hope they’ll have it in less expensive sets eventually. I hope they do the bigger cat in black eventually, I’ll be able to represent mine that way. Although he is very small so maybe the kitten mold will do…"

They released the black cat with the Halloween themed CMF series, along side the witch I believe

Is the double plate stack going to be a brick or a plate in Bricklink land? Interesting how they'll classify it.

This is a small thing but can we talk about referring to these pins as "half"? They're not. 32002 is half. These guys are closer to a quarter (not 100% sure if they're exactly a quarter, or exactly a stud, or if there's a difference)

@TheMikeStrikesBack said:
"I have literally never needed a half pin with friction, so I'm surprised to hear how excited people are for it. It's not a bad piece by any means though. I can't say the same for that 1x1x2/3 plate... that may be the most unnecessary piece I've seen LEGO create in quite some time."

Funnily enough I've often needed it to do exactly the job 86876 is doing

Kind of ironic that we get 89678: 4.85 BUSH FRICTION W/ KNOB and 86876: BRICK 1X2 W/ 1 KNOB at the same time after waiting all those years! Let's hope 89678 will be available in some more discrete colour as well, such as black or dark grey. Hopefully not impossible seeing as the frictionless version is available in bright blue and light grey.

80015: PLATE 5X5, 1/4 CIRCLE, W/ CUT OUT will be very useful, now let's hope for a new curved 3x3 plate to match it.

I would also have preferred a standard 1x1 plate with hole instead of that 2/3 version.

Woah! New parts right out of the gate, what are the chances they will be impossible to get from Bricks & Pieces?

@TheMikeStrikesBack said:
"I have literally never needed a half pin with friction, so I'm surprised to hear how excited people are for it. It's not a bad piece by any means though. I can't say the same for that 1x1x2/3 plate... that may be the most unnecessary piece I've seen LEGO create in quite some time."

It's not super common but when it happens it's really annoying. My son just built 31120 Medieval Castle as a gift and the shield that hangs above the gate will simply not stay straight. It then reminded me of the same issue with 7187 Escape from the Dragon's Prison. Which is funny because I don't own many castle sets.

@Galaxy12_Import said:
"Woah! New parts right out of the gate, what are the chances they will be impossible to get from Bricks & Pieces?"

Ive been buying new parts as they come out on B&P for about two or three years now, and my experience so far is that they're usually all available within a month of release. They get added to the search results before any stock is actually available, I suspect, which is why they'll always show as "out of stock" for a while before becoming available.

I've heard about widespread stock problems with animal molds in particular (because people buy them all up in huge quantities), but I cant speak to that as I dont buy those. I've had no problems with more standard pieces though after just waiting a few weeks.

Take a look at: https://brickset.com/parts/6365679/flex-joint-female-w-dia-4-85-snap

I looked up the instructions of the evil monkey mech to see what it's used for. It mates with https://brickset.com/parts/design-44224 and two https://brickset.com/parts/design-47455 to make a shoulder joint.

New interesting part 80796, 2 sides 6370565: BRICK 1X2X2, W/ 8 KNOBS, and 79987 6365692: PLATE, 1X3, W/ VERT. 3.2, NO. 1

@B_Space_Man said:
" @TheMikeStrikesBack said:
"I have literally never needed a half pin with friction, so I'm surprised to hear how excited people are for it. It's not a bad piece by any means though. I can't say the same for that 1x1x2/3 plate... that may be the most unnecessary piece I've seen LEGO create in quite some time."

It's not super common but when it happens it's really annoying. My son just built 31120 Medieval Castle as a gift and the shield that hangs above the gate will simply not stay straight. It then reminded me of the same issue with 7187 Escape from the Dragon's Prison. Which is funny because I don't own many castle sets.

"

Good point! I also had 7187 and remember that being a problem. So, I have literally only once needed a half pin with friction :)

89678: 4.85 BUSH FRICTION W/ KNOB Even regardless of added friction, getting this piece in red adds a heap of new mocing opportunities

67989, 98480, 98481: SQUIRRELS These fellas have been appearing in LEGO videogames for ages now. About time we got a physical release!

Is this the first time the car mudguard part 50745 appears in light bley?
I could have sworn it appeared in that color before but apparently not.
Always good when parts I can use for cars appear in new colors. (now we just need the car roof 52031 in dark azure please :)

Liking the new vibrant yellow and I like that its already available in such a large range of parts.

@magmafrost said:
" @Galaxy12_Import said:
"Woah! New parts right out of the gate, what are the chances they will be impossible to get from Bricks & Pieces?"

I've heard about widespread stock problems with animal molds in particular (because people buy them all up in huge quantities), but I cant speak to that as I dont buy those. I've had no problems with more standard pieces though after just waiting a few weeks."
I can attest to that. I’ve been trying to get the elephant’s body part through B&P since it first appeared in sets 6 months ago. I check the B&P site almost every day. Still nothing. I’m starting to think the folks at LEGO don’t like me.

@Lyichir:
On my LEGO Store (a giant, red, 2x4 brick that fills two 32x32 baseplates), I used an idea I’d had for a giant picture window that I think is 10 studs wide. To build the window frame, I used a bunch of those Travis bricks, separated by pairs of 1x1 plates, so I could build sideways on both the interior and exterior. It proved so fragile I ended up swapping them out for 1x1 round plates w/ hollow studs just so I could thread flex tube through the entire stack to hold them together. If this is truly a hollow stud, they would work perfectly in that application.

@PixelTheDragon:
I’ve been wanting to make one, but the lack of a squirrel that doesn’t look like a Happy Tree Friends character is one of the main reasons I haven’t even started.

@magmafrost:
I suspect it came from the fact that they started out with 2L pins that people just called “pins”. Yes, pins should be classified as 1L, 1.5L, 2L, and 3L to match how axles are named, but good luck getting everyone to switch at this point.

@TheMikeStrikesBack:
I actually have a use for friction half-pins on my Bionicle Scout Troopers, to hold their ankle holsters upright. But not in red.

@jonwil:
This is the regular fender, which is the oldest of that style. There’s one that sits shorter, one that’s a wider, truck-style design, a tiny one, a bulkier one from Speed Champions, and a shorter version of that one. Of those, only the truck fender and regular Speed Champions fenders have shipped in light-bley. This one has appeared in flat-silver five times between 2015-2017, but mostly they’ve stuck to dark-bley.

@Huw, there's an error in your article where you say, "Cats are of course the best pets". I believe you either meant to say "RABBITS are of course the best pets" or "Cats are of course NOT the best pets".

@Huw " Cats are of course the best pets "

This is why we love your website.

Lol - They produced a 2 stud high 1x1 plate and did not use it in 21331 Sonic The Hedgehog