LEGO Horizon Adventures set is bringing back a unique piece

The next LEGO Horizon set is notable not just for its price and minifigures, but for bringing back a piece after an eight-year absence.

A pair of black six-sided modified plates appear in 77037 Aloy & Varl vs. Shell-Walker & Sawtooth on the Shell-Walker model, where they form the top and bottom of the shell structure. While this piece was visible in official imagery last year, the new behind-the-scenes video has offered a much clearer view of the shell’s construction.

Senior model designer Joseph Kyde explains in the video how the shell comes together, using the six-sided plates to connect the two halves of the shell, but earlier designs looked much different and might not have been nearly as sturdy.

Beyond the increased stability, the use of this six-sided element is more notable than you might expect – it’s been missing from LEGO sets for seven years and eight months. Its last appearance was in 2017’s 60166 Heavy-Duty Rescue Helicopter and 70356 The Stone Colossus of Ultimate Destruction.

Precisely why it’s back now is unclear as such a long absence would have suggested it was retired, had it not been confirmed to reappear in the 2025 set. The video proves that other techniques without this piece were trialled, proving that it must have been brought back for something other than 77037 Aloy & Varl vs. Shell-Walker & Sawtooth.

We’ll have to see where else the six-sided piece appears in future sets, or whether it was brought back solely for the second Horizon model. In the meantime, 77037 Aloy & Varl vs. Shell-Walker & Sawtooth is only days away from being released. You can find out more about the next Horizon set by clicking here.

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