Most “everything releasing in August” roundups try to cover eighty-plus sets across twenty-two themes in one go, which mostly just proves LEGO has a warehouse. We’re not doing that. This week’s real story: three LEGO Ideas sets landed on the same day, which almost never happens. Here’s what’s actually worth your shelf space from August 1-10, 2026.
🛸 Three Ideas Sets, One Launch Day: Why That’s Actually Rare
LEGO Ideas sets normally release on a staggered schedule, one every month or two, since each goes through its own review and marketing cycle. This week broke that pattern: 21369 The X-Files, 21370 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and 21372 La Catrina all launched together on 1 August.
21369 The X-Files is the headline: 1,478 pieces, $199.99, exclusive to LEGO.com and LEGO Stores, with eight minifigures including Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Krycek, the Flukeman, and a grey alien. The build pairs Mulder’s underground office with a forest and hovering UFO above. It went live for Insiders on 1 August and opened to everyone on 4 August.
21370 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial goes the opposite direction: 1,226 pieces, no minifigures, just a brick-built E.T. with a light-brick chest and printed eye pieces, priced at $139.99.
21372 La Catrina rounds out the trio at 1,212 pieces, $139.99, an 18+ Day of the Dead display piece standing roughly 43cm tall. We covered La Catrina’s original reveal a couple of weeks back, and it’s one of the better sculptural Ideas builds this year.
If you’re only buying one: X-Files is the pop-culture win, E.T. is the cleaner display build, and La Catrina won’t look like everyone else’s Kallax.
The GWP that matters: buy 21369 between 1-10 August and LEGO throws in 40896 Scully’s Lab free, a 221-piece add-on with its own Dana Scully minifigure (reversible head, with and without goggles). It isn’t sold separately, so this is a while-supplies-last window, not an ongoing offer.
🧢 Pokémon SMART Play Keeps Expanding, With Its Own GWP Window
LEGO’s Pokémon SMART Play line picked up new sets this month, following on from the SMART Play sets going official back in July. Spend $130 or more on Pokémon SMART Play sets between 1-10 August and you’ll get 40887 Ditto as Squirtle: Movie Night free, while stocks last. It runs in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, France, and Poland, so check your region’s threshold rather than assuming the US figure applies everywhere.
🧱 The Quiet Theme: 22 Themes, and a Lot of 18+ Sets Hiding in Plain Sight
Beyond the Ideas trio, August’s wave spans roughly 22 different LEGO themes and packs in an unusually high number of 18+ sets mixed into otherwise mainstream lines, not just the usual Icons and Botanicals suspects. If it feels like adult-targeted sets are creeping into themes that didn’t used to have them, that instinct is correct this month.
⚙️ Quick Hits
- Pick a Brick refresh: roughly 100 new individual pieces landed this week, including new-generation LEGO monorail parts: coloured track, a chassis element, and transparent chassis pieces. Confirmed live in the UK and EU first; give it a few more days if you’re in the US.
- US catch-up wave: several sets that launched elsewhere in June, including new Ninjago, City, and Friends releases, only reached US shelves as of 1 August. If you’ve been eyeing something UK or EU fans posted back then, this is your chance.
Three Ideas sets on one day doesn’t happen often. Which is getting your money first: X-Files, E.T., or La Catrina? For more on how GWP windows and Ideas review milestones have tracked this summer, see our June GWP deadlines roundup.
