Newton’s Cradles have long been staples on office desks, their five steel balls transferring motion in a satisfying chain of collisions. Most versions eventually lose their rhythm as energy dissipates through air resistance, sound, heat, and slight changes in the shape of the balls during impact. A recent project changes the outcome by adding a small, precisely timed push that replaces those losses. The result looks like the classic toy yet keeps swinging for hours on battery power alone.
Builders who follow space sets have another strong option arriving soon from the LEGO Icons line. Set 11382 comprises a detailed model of the Hubble Space Telescope, which rewards meticulous building and makes an excellent display piece once completed. This 1,252-piece kit is intended for adults and costs $139.99. It will be released on August 1st, with the finished model measuring over 12.5 inches tall, 15 inches long, and 15 inches wide with the aperture door open.
Collaboration between LEGO and Koenigsegg built a vehicle that turns heads for all the right reasons. The two companies created a full-scale version of the Sadair’s Spear using LEGO Technic pieces, and the finished machine drives under its own power on real roads and courses.
Builders who pick up set 77256, priced at $22.39 (was $28), get a compact LEGO Speed Champions model that covers key looks from the first two Back to the Future films without needing extra purchases. The 357-piece count keeps the finished car at roughly six and a half inches long, a scale that sits comfortably alongside other vehicles in the same line for display or light play.
Builders have long wanted LEGO models that do more than sit on a shelf. This new Icons release answers with a brick-built pinball machine that delivers real gameplay through nothing but springs, levers, and clever construction. Announced today, the LEGO Icons Arcade Pinball Machine (set 11374) contains 2,274 pieces and forms a compact tabletop cabinet. It stands over 9.5 inches tall, stretches 15 inches long, and measures 11 inches wide. The price sits at $229.99, with LEGO Insiders gaining early access starting July 1 and everyone else able to order from July 4.
William Gruber tuned pianos and organs for a living in Portland, Oregon, yet he kept returning to one question in his spare time. How could someone bring the depth of real scenes to ordinary people without the heavy, expensive viewers that had dominated stereo photography since the 1800s? A moment spent cleaning his revolver supplied the missing piece.
Remote control aviation often centers on small drones that anyone can pick up and fly in a park. Levi Wagner of Team Sky Aces RC took a completely different path. He built a machine that sits in another category entirely. His remote-controlled F-14 Tomcat fighter jet measures 3.7 meters (12 feet) long. Empty it weighs 48 kilograms (106 pounds), but load it with 12 liters of jet fuel plus smoke oil and the weight rises sharply.
Diorama111 released a fresh build just days ago that shows what happens when extreme miniaturization meets real remote control hardware. He started with an ordinary KATO 1/150 scale Toyota ProBox, the kind of plastic model that sits on N-gauge train layouts or display shelves. Most builders stop at painting and weathering. He kept going until the little van could roll under its own power, steer on command, and light up properly in both directions.
LEGO has unveiled its largest building set, Architecture Sagrada Família. Set 21065 contains 12,060 pieces for a model that is more than two feet tall when completed. Standing over 24 inches tall, 18.5 inches wide, and 15 inches deep, the finished piece stands out on any shelf or table. Its scale is around 1:280 of the actual basilica in Barcelona.
LEGO has teamed up with The Pokemon Company for a fresh wave of sets that add real-time reactions to classic construction play. Twelve new SMART Play sets go on pre-order today and reach stores August 1, 2026. The line mixes brick-built Pokemon figures with a special hub brick that reads tags hidden in the models and responds with lights and sounds tailored to whatever scene a builder creates.