Category: LEGO Ideas

LEGO and trains are as unbeatable as combinations come. For years and even decades LEGO has given model railroad enthusiasts plenty of brick-built locomotive goodness. Add Power Function options and the experience can get just as good as “traditional” model railroads. Themes like LEGO City have given collectors some pretty awesome train sets already. But there are more locomotive types and models out there. Some fans have gone on LEGO Ideas to propose these new builds. Already the current Second 2022 Review Stage has several product ideas in that vein. This new certified 10K-supported submission’s a bit different from them.

How so? It’s because this one’s alive, sort of. Ideas member KaijuBuildz gives us his super-accurate depiction of the world’s most famous tank engine with a face. Yep, Thomas from “Thomas and Friends” didn’t seem to have much problem earning its 10,000 supporters for review.

The dimensions of the plucky blue tank engine in LEGO-brick form are uncannily spot on. You’d think it was taken from the set of the original “model live-action” “Thomas and Friends” series.

He’s also minifigure-scale to fit a minifig of the Fat Controller, Sir Topham Hatt, in his cabin. Thomas comes with four facial-expression tiles and an alternative, realistic smokebox.

Whether one’s a fan of the original “Railway Series” books by Rev. Awdry, or the various TV series adaptations since, they’ll surely love this submission. KaijuBuildz’ Thomas the Tank Engine comes with a display stand, though he can also go on standard LEGO rails. He’s just too small for Power Functions, but a mechanism will allow the wheels to turn freely. This is a standout product idea for LEGO Ideas Second 2022 Review. As one who’s watched “Thomas”, this writer hopes the reviewers like it.

And from a confirmed upcoming official LEGO Ideas set, we go to a hopeful product idea ready for review. The Ideas platform’s long been an avenue for builders to propose new film-themed aspiring sets. Take this product idea courtesy of member CARLIERTI. It’s based on a modestly popular film franchise from then-20^th Century Fox: “Night at the Museum” starring Ben Stiller. The premise of a watchman at the NY Museum of Natural History encountering museum exhibits coming alive during nighttime was a hit with general audiences, warranting a film trilogy. And just as the franchise is gearing for an animated revival, we get this submission.

CARLIERTI’s “Night at the Museum: Re-Open the Doors” is a product idea well-deserving of his 10K Club cred. Just one look at the images will tell anyone why this LEGO Ideas submission just got 10,000 supporters. It recreates in brick form the main entryway to the Museum of Natural History, initially compact but spreading open.

The prominent exhibits are right where “Night” fans would remember them, from the globe to the T-Rex. Central to the setting, we have Larry the watchman, his boss McPhee the curator, and the humanoid mannequin displays. Teddy Roosevelt, Sacagawea, the Mummy of Pharaoh Ahkmenrah and many others populate this scene.

There were enough “Night at the Museum” fans on LEGO Ideas to push this submission for the Second 2022 Review. Now it’s in the Review team’s court to see if it becomes an official set among the many already-existing contenders. Still, Disney+ is premiering the animated film “Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again” sometime this year. Maybe it’ll be enough to revitalize franchise awareness and make this set a worthwhile tie-in. We shall see.

Name, on short notice, popular animal characters from the most globally recognizable US syndicated comic strips. Chances are the top critters will be a dog (beagle, specifically) and a cat. The latter will most definitely be “Garfield”, the fat lazy yet lovable tabby created by Jim Davis. He loves lasagna, sleeps every chance he gets, dreads Mondays and squishes spiders on sight. His animated series are hits, his live-action adaptations less so. And fans love him enough to make “Garfield” merchandise sell like hotcakes. LEGO might join in on the merchandising bandwagon, if this fully-supported LEGO Ideas submission passes review.

Yang Yang, a LEGO Ideas 10-K Club Member, has another product idea to reach the magical 10,000 supporters. His latest submission to make review is Jim Davis’ “Garfield” in his natural habitat. Rather, make it two natural habitats in one. First, we have Garfield on an armchair, phone on one side, popcorn and remote in his hands. Pose him in front of a TV and he’ll fit in. Alternatively, the chair is transformable, becoming his box bed to sleep in. Either way, this cat smiles his self-satisfied grin as he sits or snoozes in comfort.

With LEGO Ideas Second 2022 Review getting really crowded, attaching a licensed IP to a submission seems might improve success chances. Problem is, there are quite the number of pop-culture product ideas in this batch too. This Garfield 2-in-1 build by Yang Yang will be in for a great run for recognition. We at The Brick Show look forward to success.

While no longer a headlining theme for LEGO, medieval knights and castles remain a definitive look for the brand. No surprise then that a castle numbers among the 90^th Anniversary sets coming out this year. The Icons Lion Knights Castle (10305) certainly looks impressive since its official reveal at LEGO Con 2022. Nostalgic LEGO builders must be waiting for its official launch next week, August 8. While not deliberate, LEGO Ideas Review stages also abound with castles and medieval buildings. Any lucky submission could one day join Lion Knights Castle to make a medieval LEGO setting. Just like this one.

Ideas member PeterKeith presents us a product idea that would look good next to Lion Knights Castle (10305). Of course, it still needs to pass review. But at least it already accumulated the needed 10-K supporters to join the Second 2022 Review Stage.

Medieval Watchtower looks like a LEGO-building study on space conservation. How compact can you make the building and still provide enough room for minifigures? A knight (and his horse) plus three tower guardsmen can certainly make themselves at home here.

The watchtower boasts a stable, armory, living quarters and a ladder to the ramparts. There’s even a storage shelf under the sloping roof. Now that’s some detail.

Given the number of thematically-similar castle/medieval submissions on LEGO Ideas, maybe LEGO could try to review the Castle theme. A limited run to test the waters might not hurt. The Ideas Lion Knights Castle (10305) could make a good start. In the meantime, we wish PeterKeith luck with his submission on LEGO Ideas Second 2022 Review. He’ll need it too with the massive playing field already in place right here.

If you’ve watched “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” as a kid in 1989, you probably wondered about something. About that temple of the Holy Grail in the Canyon of the Crescent Moon. As you watched more movies over the years and decades, that location must’ve popped up several times more. “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation”, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, you name it. Such is the lasting appeal of Petra, a ruined ancient city in Jordan, the Middle East. Elaborate building facades carved into a sandstone rockface have a way of staying in the mind. Perhaps that’s what inspired this latest 10K-supported submission on LEGO Ideas.

It can be heady stuff for a LEGO Ideas member to have a product idea get full support for the first time. Member thepredisent only has one build in his entire page, entitled “The Treasury – Petra”. As stated, this submission depicts one photogenic structure in the ancient city. 19^th-Century Bedouins have named this building Al-Khazneh (“treasury”) due to it looking like it held treasures. Petra archaeologists would tell you this is actually a mausoleum. What does matter is the impressive decorative design of the edifice. It certainly has weathered erosion, tourism and film crews well.

If passed by LEGO Ideas review, The Treasury – Petra may well be relegated for mere display. Still, it might serve as an epic background if you happen to have LEGO Indiana Jones sets. There are some new ones speculated to come in the future. With this, one can re-enact “The Last Crusade” on an epic brick-built level. But first, thepredisent’s product idea must impress among the other submissions for LEGO Ideas Second 2022 Review Stage.

If at first it doesn’t succeed, try again. So, if you’re a LEGO Ideas member and your submission fails getting support or passing review, don’t quit. Trying to determine which of the many product ideas on the platform are rehashes is a futile exercise. For instance, this new 10K-supported entry to the Second 2022 Review Stage…isn’t all-new. It previously got into the Second 2021 Review Stage late last year. Obviously, it failed to pass muster that time. But now the creator has refurbished the concept and presented it again. The fact that it maxed-support again proves there’s great potential here.

For another shot at official LEGO set-hood, here’s “The A-Team: I Love It When a Plan Comes Together”. So confident is creator MOCturnal at this build that it looks unchanged from its previous review campaign. We’re not surprised. That modified black GMC van from the legendary 1980s TV series never looked so awesome in brick-form. MOCturnal (formerly HenkvdL05) based the design on LEGO’s since-2020 8-stud width standard for vehicle sets. This has worked great for vehicles both compact enough but still be properly-scaled for minifigures. As you can see, we’re recycling images from the original submission; it’s the same anyway.

To recap, this “A-Team” van product idea has the titular A-Team foursome as minifigures, plus gear. The van also has various equipment at back, behind the seats. There’s really not much more to add. We certainly hope MOCturnal has better prospects for his creation in LEGO Ideas Second 2022 Review Stage. It counts as the 33^rd entry for this batch of ideas due for review.

We spoke of this some time ago, and we’ve determined to make a start of it now. Our readers at The Brick Show might have noticed a lack of reports on LEGO Ideas Second 2022 Review Stage. Indeed, a multitude of brilliant submissions have gained 10,000 supporters apiece since late last month. We apologize for those tuning in to these features and will make up for it now. This will be the first of several Ideas-Review updates to get everything back up to speed. They’ll be much shorter since we’re covering several product ideas, but we hope you enjoy anyway.

Escape Game: Carter’s Secret

By BRICK PROJECT

A nice thematic house build, this tricked-out domicile is the venue for an intense challenge. Can Toms and Oria manage to get through the funhouse of quirky engineer Carter under the 1-hour time limit? How would you fare?

Fishing in Muddy Waters

By Ralf Ranghaal

Not heavy on interactivity, but it makes for a neat display piece. The complex details of the towers and even the muddy river-water will draw artsy builders in.

Eletrico de Lisboa

By Ezequiel Alabaça

This product idea is a loving tribute to the old tramway system of Lisbon, Portugal. This build immortalizes Lisbon’s line 28, providing a picturesque Portuguese image to any LEGO City set you add this to. The tram’s pantograph and trolley pole are articulated. In terms of location accuracy, there’s even a pickpocket minifig included!

Which of these sets will make it through the LEGO Ideas Second 2022 Review? It’s still far off to tell.

If you hang around the LEGO Ideas webpage you know there’s a massive amount of aspiring sets there. Predicting which ones will succeed feels like a fool’s errand. Those product ideas even have to muster supporters on the platform to be considered for review. While many LEGO news services do take note of these hopefuls once in a while, they can’t always keep track. So sometimes their predicted 10-K support passers flame out or others take quite long to reach that milestone. Why, late last year we featured a helicopter product idea with 3-K-plus supporters but just over a month left to hit 10 grand. What happened to it anyway?

Well, funny that. The Sikorsky S-70 Firehawk by Slekk024 has officially gathered the necessary support for review. If you’ll recall, this build depicts a firefighting version of the Sikorsky S-70 as currently used by Cal Fire. With some 3,000 pieces one can assemble the Firehawk and a portion of California forest fire to extinguish. The set has firefighter minifigures as well to man the mechanisms of the chopper. During its support-gathering stage the product idea received endorsements on social media from Sikorsky and Cal Fire. At last their promotional efforts have come through for Slekk024.

This is the latest addition to LEGO Ideas Second 2022 Review Stage. And we’re sure you’re wondering: where are the rest of the 10-K supported updates? Well, we’re going to try and backtrack through those lucky submissions in the future.