LEGO's New E.T. Set Packs 1,226 Pieces and Not a Single Minifigure

A 1,226-Piece E.T. Just Joined the New Arrivals List on LEGO.com

Set 21370 just showed up on the new arrivals list on LEGO.com. It carries 1,226 pieces and belongs to LEGO Ideas and CUUSOO, the theme built from projects fans submitted and voted on before the company turned the best of them into official releases. Our database already tracks 94 sets under that theme, and this one checks in at 1,226 pieces, good for rank 39 on the all time parts list for Ideas.

There is no minifigure in the box. Zero. The set is a display model of the extraterrestrial from the film, not a populated scene with little figures to pose around the build. Worth knowing before you add it to a cart expecting a figure of its human co stars.

2026 has been a busy year for the Ideas line. Our records show ten sets released under the theme this year, and 21370 is one of them. Not the biggest release of the batch, not the smallest either, a genuinely mid sized build that lands right in the middle of where this theme usually operates.

No Minifigures Means This Is a Sculpture, Not a Playset

Builders who buy Ideas sets partly for the little figures that come along with them will find nothing to pose here. What you get instead is a sculptural build: a creature rendered in brick form for a shelf, no stand in cast of characters, no diorama moments, no scene to recreate.

That absence is not a flaw by itself. Plenty of the best regarded Ideas sets are single subject sculptures with nobody standing next to them. But it does narrow who this is for. If part of the appeal of a themed set, for you, is the minifigures that come with it, this particular box has nothing to offer on that front.

It also means the build experience leans entirely on shape, texture and silhouette rather than on little scenes or play features. That is a deliberate trade off in Ideas sets generally, and 21370 sits firmly on the sculpture side of that line.

1,226 Pieces Sits Just Below the Theme's Own Average of 1,279

At 1,226 pieces, the set lands just a shade under the theme's own average of 1,279 pieces across the 94 sets our database tracks for Ideas and CUUSOO. That is close enough to call it a representative, typical size for the line, not an outlier in either direction.

The rank tells a similar story. Thirty ninth out of ninety four by part count puts it comfortably in the upper half of the theme, bigger than the bulk of smaller, cheaper Ideas sets, but nowhere near the handful of enormous builds that define the top of the list. It is a mid pack set in a theme that has both pocket sized tributes and four thousand piece monuments.

Against This Year's Other Ideas Releases, It Lands Solidly Mid-Pack

Stack it against the other releases the theme has had this year and the picture gets more specific. Love Birds, at 750 pieces, is considerably smaller. E.T. runs about 500 pieces ahead of it. Peanuts: Snoopy's Doghouse, at 964 pieces, is also clearly smaller.

Floating Sea Otters, at 1,234 pieces, and La Catrina, at 1,212 pieces, sit essentially level with this set, a handful of pieces apart in either direction, basically interchangeable in build scale and likely in build time too. The Tintin Moon Rocket, at 1,283 pieces, is only a touch ahead of it as well.

The X-Files, at 1,478 pieces, and Orange Cat, at 1,755 pieces, both pull well ahead into noticeably bigger territory. Meanwhile X-Files: Scully's Lab, at 221 pieces, is in another category entirely: a small companion piece rather than a standalone centerpiece build.

So among this year's crop alone, E.T. is neither the one to buy if you want the biggest build on the shelf, nor the cheapest entry point into the theme. It occupies the comfortable middle, alongside Floating Sea Otters and La Catrina, while Orange Cat and The X-Files claim the bigger end.

The Theme's Biggest Builds Make This Look Like a Modest Project

None of the Ideas theme's five biggest builds come anywhere close to this set's scale. River Steamboat tops our database's list at 4,090 pieces, with Home Alone at 3,955, The Botanical Garden at 3,792, Dungeons and Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale at 3,747 and the Grand Piano at 3,662 rounding out the top five. 21370 does not come near that bracket, roughly 2,900 fewer pieces than River Steamboat alone.

Even the next tier down is a big step up from where this set sits. The Tree House (3,037), The Goonies (2,914), The Globe (2,585), Pirates of Barracuda Bay (2,545), The Orient Express Train (2,544), Table Football (2,339), Voltron (2,321), and both Hocus Pocus and The Starry Night (2,316 each) roughly double this set's part count or more.

This is not a shelf centerpiece competing for attention with the theme's record holders, and it was never going to be at this size. It occupies a different, more modest bracket, built for a quicker, more contained project rather than a multi week undertaking.

Fifteen Years Into the Ideas Program, a Film Icon Finally Gets Its Turn

The Ideas and CUUSOO theme has been running since 2011 according to our records, with 2026 releases like this one still arriving fifteen years later. Across that span our database counts 94 sets, averaging 1,279 pieces apiece, with ten new sets landing in 2026 alone, a sign the program is still producing at a steady pace rather than slowing down.

What stands out across those 94 sets is the range of subjects the theme has tackled: comic strips, trains, cartoons, horror franchises, folk art figures, and now a famous film character, all rendered at wildly different scales from small tributes to four thousand piece monuments. E.T. fits that pattern exactly: a recognizable pop culture subject built at a moderate, approachable scale rather than as a flagship.

That variety is really the point of the Ideas line. It is less a theme chasing the single biggest build each year and more a rotating showcase of fan enthusiasm across genres. A moderate sized film tie in sits comfortably in that mix next to the record setting boats and tree houses.

Expect a Few Evenings of Building, Not a Multi-Day Marathon

At 1,226 pieces, this is a build measured in evenings rather than in weekends. It will not demand the multi day commitment of a 4,000 piece River Steamboat, but it is substantial enough to occupy more than a single sitting, especially once you slow down for the sculptural shaping that a subject like this needs.

That makes it a reasonable pick for film fans who want a display piece rather than a playset, for Ideas completists tracking the theme's licensed entries, and for builders who have already got a shelf full of figures and scenes and want something that is purely sculpture for once.

Skip It If You Want Minifigures or the Biggest Build on the Shelf

It is a poor pick if you are shopping for minifigures to add to an existing collection, since there are none here, or if you specifically want the biggest, most attention grabbing build your money can buy inside this theme. Sets like River Steamboat or Home Alone serve that urge far better, at more than three times the part count.

It is also worth skipping if you already own Floating Sea Otters or La Catrina and are looking for a meaningfully different build experience in terms of scale. At essentially the same piece count, assembling this set will likely feel similar in terms of time and effort, even though the subject matter is completely different.

Where We'd Push Back

Our reservations start with that absence of minifigures again: it limits the set to a single use case, a static display piece, with none of the flexibility that comes from being able to mix figures into other collections or scenes. For some collectors that is exactly the point. For others it will feel like a missed opportunity.

The part count, while perfectly respectable, also means this set will not be the standout on a shelf that already holds some of the Ideas theme's bigger pieces. Next to Orange Cat or The X-Files, both released the same year, it will read as the smaller, quieter option, even if the subject is more universally recognizable.

Finally, our database shows this set is not currently on the retiring list, only the new arrivals list. There is no urgency here, no countdown clock pushing you to decide quickly, which is good news for anyone who wants to wait and compare it against whatever else the Ideas theme releases later in the year before committing shelf space to it.

• LEGO Ideas
• LEGO Ideas and CUUSOO
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• 21370
• new LEGO sets 2026