Hands on with all eight LEGO Minecraft January 2026 sets

The LEGO Minecraft January 2026 wave is mostly full of major hits and fan-favourites, except for one big miss for budget-conscious players.

LEGO Minecraft is kicking 2026 off with some wallet-friendly additions packed with new features, but the range misses the mark in its biggest January 2026 release. Thankfully, it’s a rough in the diamonds, rather than the other way round. We’ve gone hands-on with all eight of the new sets to let you know what’s worth your time and money next year…

The smallest of the January 2026 LEGO Minecraft sets is 21583 Steve’s Taiga Adventure, representing one of the coldest biomes in the game with a mostly familiar mix of features. The likes of Steve, the Creeper and the TNT block alone won’t persuade you to pick up the 79-piece set, but at only £8.99 / $9.99 / €9.99, the rest of its contents should be enough to tempt Minecraft enthusiasts into a purchase.

New for 2026 (but not exclusive to this set) is a single-block chest and a fox with the redesigned head. The fox is a major improvement on the previous design, and the chest is sure to be useful in builds beyond Minecraft. With these new pieces in 21583 Steve’s Taiga Adventure for £8.99 / $9.99 / €9.99, the smallest of next year’s LEGO Minecraft sets is worth a look – as long as you’re not planning on picking up almost any of the theme’s other January 2026 releases.

One near-essential LEGO Minecraft 2026 set for any fan of the game in January is 21584 Nether & End Portal Journey. This model packs 192 pieces and three figures into a £12.99 / $14.99 / €14.99 set, representing the rare End and Nether portals as well as a small slice of each dimension.

Considering the number of figures, the new Eye of Ender tile print and the rare nature of both portals in LEGO Minecraft, 21584 Nether & End Portal Journey is arguably the strongest of the January 2026 sets and one of the easiest to afford. Thankfully, the trend of budget-friendly sets will continue for most of the remainder of the wave.

One of LEGO Minecraft’s most whimsical and iconic sets has been remade in 21585 Chicken Farm, but this time with some upgraded functionality that is impressive for a set of this size. The 233-piece build consists of numerous figures, including the new fox and a rare baby zombie, a giant chicken and a small farm model.

Much of the set is reminiscent of 21140 Chicken Coop, but this time the giant chicken has been upgraded with egg and seed-dropping features to keep the chickens fed, while providing the players with those all-important eggs. Add to that the exclusive minifigure and a decent assortment of content overall, and this is another worthwhile LEGO Minecraft January 2026 set to pick up for only £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99.

It hasn’t taken too long for the LEGO Minecraft team to add the Pale Garden biome to the line, and they have done so in the theme’s most monochromatic set so far. This is entirely to the benefit of 21586 The Pale Garden, successfully standing out in a theme packed with bright colours. The more subdued palette of this eerie biome gives 21586 a unique presence beyond its figure selection.

One especially notable feature in 21586 The Pale Garden is the creepy creaking figure, which is intentionally designed to be lopsided (just like in the game). It guards the creaking heart, which can be ejected from the tree in the set’s only play feature. Add to that the unique Mothman minifigure, a Creeper and a skeleton, and this is another fantastic and affordable LEGO Minecraft 2026 release at just £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99. It’s also home to another single-block chest, which is certain to be useful.

Eleven years after the first LEGO Minecraft dungeon model, 21587 Zombie Dungeon takes us back to the desert with a zombie-infested underground and some play functions, all of which are topped with an important new element. The 284-piece model includes a good number of zombie minifigures (many of which can be accumulated by picking up other Minecraft sets) and a single exclusive minifigure. A small slime accompanies the minifigure selection, the likes of which are also common in the theme.

The minifigures mix in with the set’s functions well, such as the falling sand and the spinning wall, the latter of which simulates a zombie spawning in. This functionality isn’t quite enough to make the £24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99 set a must-have, but you’ll change your tune when you see the set’s new mid-level bracket. The 2026 piece appears in green in 21587 Zombie Dungeon, and it’s also available in black in 77256 Time Machine from Back to the Future.

LEGO Minecraft’s new BigFig collection continues in 2026 with 21588 The Fox, following in 21276 The Creeper‘s footsteps with a more adorable build, but with less heart overall. As much as 21588 The Fox has a handful of interesting building techniques and a strong assortment of colours to embellish the in-game animal’s mostly uniform design, it’s not nearly as posable as 21276 The Creeper – unless you want it in one of two specific poses.

For standing and sleeping, 21588 The Fox is excellent (save for the tail not folding in on itself when sleeping), but any other pose you want to pursue won’t be possible thanks to the minuscule range of motion in the head and tail. The functionality for switching the eyes from awake to asleep is excellent, though.

As cute as 21588 The Fox is, it’s lacking inside its body compared to the other currently-available BigFig. What little room there is hasn’t been utilised as effectively as it was in 21276 The Creeper, which hides a figure and an Easter egg inside the head. The fox instead opts for a small reference to the creature’s stomach, which cannot be accessed when the build is finished. It’s just not as appealing as that of the Creeper, or as accessible without majorly dismantling the model. Despite this, 21588 The Fox is still decent for those seeking a giant, cube-like LEGO fox, and its price feels fair.

Following in the footsteps of 21265 The Crafting Table and the rest of the Micro World range is 21589 Mini Biomes. This desk-friendly collection of miniature biome builds is by far the best-executed of the Micro World sets so far, blending form, function and price perfectly. The five-biome model is the first to simulate water and underwater areas, cleverly using transparent elements built on their side to efficiently and effectively achieve this.

The array of miniature figures aligning with each biome is great too, and the fact that these can be displayed on the stand rather than loosely placed on the builds prevents you from losing them accidentally. The best part of this set comes in the form of the background, switching from sunrise to sunset easily. You can also opt to display the chunks together in other forms, depicting a river or lake without taking up too much room on your desk.

£54.99 / $59.99 / €59.99 is a decent price for the 797-piece build, even considering that most of those elements are tiny. The finished model is big enough to justify that cost, and this is a fantastic release for a LEGO Minecraft fan with little available space at home to display their love of the game.

LEGO Minecraft’s January 2026 wave is mostly full of hits, but its one major miss is 21590 Wither Battle. This set is an overall upgrade on the last Wither boss battle build, released in 2016. It switches the Nether Fortress slice for a more whimsical and interesting arena resembling the boss itself.

This build takes up the majority of the 494 pieces and looks good upon first glance. Yet compared to the set’s price of £59.99 / $64.99 / €64.99, it ultimately feels more hollow and empty than it should, prioritising space to pose figures and a single function more than anything else.

On paper, it’s not a bad strategy and fits with the tactics for fighting the Wither in the game by including a lot of space to run around. The functionality to spawn the Wither using the skulls of the Wither Skeletons is excellent and well-thought-out, too, but these don’t help increase the value of this set to £59.99 / $64.99 / €64.99. A few pounds, dollars and euros lower, and this would be another easy recommendation, but instead this is one set to look out for on sale.

These LEGO sets were provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes.

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