
Background information
Become a Lego designer
by Ramon Schneider
Three times a year, Lego reviews the design drafts of fans. In the current review, 39 product ideas were examined, four of which will be implemented in the coming weeks and months.
Unlike most Lego sets, Lego Ideas models are not designed by Lego itself, but by fans. You can submit your own set at ideas.lego.com. If you reach 10,000 votes from the community, your design will be reviewed by Lego. I explained exactly how this works in a post
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Over the past four months, Lego's review committee has evaluated 39 such product ideas from fans. From these, four sets are now being implemented and will thus soon be available as Lego sets. At the moment, however, they are still in development at Lego. It has not yet been communicated when exactly they will be launched on the market.
The first fan set that Lego will bring to fruition are five different insects: a butterfly, a Hercules beetle, a ladybird, a honeybee and a praying mantis. The examining committee particularly praised the successful selection of colours and shapes. They are so well captured that everything appears to be cast in one piece and the individual Lego bricks are hardly visible. The design is by a Spaniard named José Maria. You can read a detailed interview with him here.
The second set to go on sale soon is the Orient Express. It is the first train to be implemented in the Lego Ideas range. According to the description on the Ideas page by fan designer Thomas Lajon, the train will have a little less than 3000 parts. Lego justifies the decision by saying, "Thomas has put a lot of love into the details: from the locomotive to the coal car to the dining car, it's a perfect tribute to a legendary train. It's a special privilege to bring this creation to life with Lego bricks."
For an in-depth interview with fan designer Thomas, see here.
The third set is by Polish fan Jan Woźnica and is called "Tales Of The Space Age". It contains three different images from outer space with the names: Ursa Major, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Probe and Prelude to the Lithobraking. Lego itself is very fond of the motifs, as the breathtaking sci-fi scenes exude both action and serenity. Moreover, according to Lego, it is impressive that you can build impressive models even with few bricks. Lego also did an interview with Jan, which you can read here.
The fourth and final design that Lego will launch as a set is the Polaroid OneStep SX-70, and the homage to this iconic camera comes from a fan named Marc who lives in California where he studies mechanical engineering. The wheel on the side of the camera can be used to eject the picture. However, the model only imitates the camera. You won't be able to take actual photos with it. Find out how Marc came up with the idea and what hurdles he had to overcome when designing the set in the interview with him.
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Lego is currently in the process of finalising the product designs, pricing and production run of these four sets. So the models may still vary a little visually from the photos. There are already 51 more projects to choose from for the next review by the board of examiners. Lego will communicate which of these will be implemented at the beginning of 2023.
Riding my motorbike makes me feel free, fishing brings out my inner hunter, using my camera gets me creative. I make my money messing around with toys all day.