The best pieces in LEGO Minecraft's January 2026 sets

LEGO Minecraft's first 2026 wave will appeal mostly to fans of the game, but there's plenty for other enthusiasts to love through prints and pieces.

The eight LEGO Minecraft sets launching on January 1, 2026, received (mostly) high praise in our early review of the full selection. While building these models, we spotted a few specific prints and entirely new pieces that will appeal to the masses beyond Minecraft's player base. Most of these parts come in the wave's most affordable sets, to boot.

From remade printed tiles to a weapon that has an ideal culinary application, here are some of the best pieces and prints in LEGO Minecraft's January 2026 sets that will be useful to fans beyond the theme. This includes examples of where you can use them in your collection.

Eyes of Ender

LEGO Minecraft's Eyes of Ender are back after a brief appearance in two of 2016's sets, now with a more accurate and understated appearance, still on a 1x1 square tile as opposed to something circular. This updated print is rounder than before, yet still pixelated. The minor design update means it can now work excellently as eerie floor decoration.

The black printing at the corners of the tile allows it to flow well with black elements, and pairing it with an eye-centric minifigure such as DREAMZzz's Nightmare King creates a suitably spooky vignette. You can find 12 (and one spare) of these printed tiles in 21584 Nether & End Portal Journey. That set only costs £12.99 / $14.99 / €14.99, just in case these pieces don't appear on Pick a Brick next year.

Green Minecraft seeds and hazmat torso

The main minifigure in 21587 Zombie Dungeon is essentially a Minecraft version of Series 4's Hazmat Guy, but while the head is cuboid in nature, the torso doesn't look bad at all when paired with a standard minifigure head. For those who missed out on the 2011 minifigure, this torso and the orange legs are near-perfect replacements. Add an orange helmet with a visor to them, and a stand-in Hazmat Guy will be yours.

Whether you have the 2011 minifigure or not, this torso can also pair well with the new Minecraft seed print, now appearing in green instead of brown as it was in 2018.

This second attempt at LEGO Minecraft seeds is more colourful, but is still printed on a transparent tile. That makes them a good addition to a hospital scene, explaining why staff need to be equipped in Hazmat suits while treating the patient. You can find the hazmat torso in 21587 Zombie Dungeon for £24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99, and three of the seeds in 21585 Chicken Farm for £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99.

2 x 2 chest

Arguably, the most exciting new piece in the 2026 sets for Minecraft and LEGO fans alike is the single-block chest, taking up a 2x2 stud space and made up of two new elements. This is the latest addition to the LEGO Group's line of hinged containers and comes in 21583 Steve's Taiga Adventure for £8.99 / $9.99 / €9.99, 21586 The Pale Garden for £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99, 21587 Zombie Dungeon at £24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99, and 21590 Wither Battle for £59.99 / $64.99 / €64.99.

The application of these smaller chest pieces is near limitless, but the first use that comes to mind is adding treasure to the end of thinner corridors in castles or dungeons. The small chest can open up without needing additional room at the back, thanks to the flat top. It will also be a good replacement for the 2x2x2 container element that debuted back in 1990, commonly used on its side for freezers.

The Mothman minifigure

Another of the new LEGO Minecraft 2026 minifigures will find some use beyond the theme, at least until (or if) there's a better replacement in the future. LEGO Fortnite has embraced minifigures following its 2024 debut, covering just a fraction of the game's numerous characters and outfits. One that recently debuted in-game is a Mothman outfit, based on the cryptid from folklore.

The outfit has an existing LEGO Style, utilising a unique element, which makes it less likely to appear in LEGO Fortnite sets in the near future. Thankfully, LEGO Minecraft's Mothman is a suitable stand-in for this outfit for LEGO fans who frequently use it in-game. The Mothman minifigure is available in 21586 The Pale Garden for £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99.

The Minecraft mace

LEGO pizza shops and stalls have previously made use of oars to scoop freshly-made pizzas out of the oven, but the flat part of this tool isn't quite wide enough to cover the base of a LEGO pizza. That's where LEGO Minecraft comes in with its new mace element. The piece debuts next year and comes in 21587 Zombie Dungeon for £24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99, and 21590 Wither Battle for £59.99 / $64.99 / €64.99.

Aside from being pixelated, this mace piece works wonderfully as a Pizza peel, properly holding a 2x2 LEGO pizza. This element is less likely to come to Pick a Brick next year since it is based on a specific licence, but it's not hard to pick one up in the Minecraft sets, ready to upgrade the likes of 10312 Jazz Club.

Mini desert temple tower

Also good for upgrading part of a LEGO modular building is the desert temple tower print from 21589 Mini Biomes. The £54.99 / $59.99 / €59.99 set doesn't have too many printed pieces thanks to its chosen scale, but this specific 1x1 brick variant is likely to be useful for upgrading an exhibit in 10326 Natural History Museum.

The tower print works well as part of ancient pottery or as additional detailing on a larger, light brown building. It's a simple decoration, but one that can be used widely across various themes and contexts, despite the pixel-like nature of the design.

Mid-level bracket

LEGO Minecraft's greatest addition in 2026 can be found in 21587 Zombie Dungeon in the form of a mid-level bracket. This joins the other bracket elements, featuring the plate connection at the top or bottom of the pieces. Anyone requiring a mid-level connection previously would need to integrate the anti-stud mid-level bracket or use a combination of the two-stud bracket pieces. The latter would consequently come with a taller plate connection point when combined.

The application of this element is as vast as the anti-stud version, which appears in 558 sets. There's little to no doubt that this piece will be welcomed by the community of custom LEGO model makers worldwide when it launches next year. It can be found in two 2026 sets so far, those being 21587 Zombie Dungeon in green and 77256 Time Machine from Back to the Future in black.

The pieces and printed parts in this feature launch in the eight new LEGO Minecraft 2026 sets on January 1, most of which are available to pre-order now. Don't forget that there are double points during the LEGO Insiders Weekend on November 22 and 23, too.

LEGO Minecraft 2026 sets

These LEGO Minecraft 2026 sets and the pieces showcased in this feature were provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes.

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