May 29, 2023

Third 2021 LEGO® Ideas Review

The Third 2021 LEGO® Ideas Review stage is complete. From September 2021 to January 10th, 2022 fans made their choice from a massive list of ongoing submissions. In total 36 projects have made it through to the next round with the necessary 10,000 votes. Since early 2020 the number of submissions reaching 10K in votes has increased. This is the second-highest total to date, but still well below the mind-boggling total of 57 projects that reached 10,000 supporters in the First 2021 Review. Despite the stellar increase in projects making the criteria, there are still only 1 or 2 selected per round. So the potential for disappointment and missed opportunities increases as well. It’s a bummer, but part of the game.

The usual suspects

There’s quite a few awesome projects in here. I’m always impressed with how creative the AFOL community is. By now, I think many a designer has figured out some key factors to getting through on votes:

  1. Find a pop culture property celebrating an anniversary
  2. Recreate a household object
  3. Everyone loves Modulars
  4. Pirates, spaceships and castles are your friends

Sadly these rules don’t fully apply once the final selections are made. The only sure-fire rule is DON’T DESIGN A MODULAR BUILDING. So far none have been selected (unless you count the Old Fishing Store). Which is a shame as there have some spectacular projects. However it makes sense given The LEGO® Group’s success with them as a theme. But you need only look at the recent releases such as Seinfeld, Home Alone, Typewriter and Grand Piano to see how the pattern holds 😉

We’re still waiting on the release of a few Ideas sets including Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night, The Earth Globe and The Motorized Lighthouse. The 2nd 2021 Results should be announced in February.

1. Land Ahoy by Ralf Ranghaal

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

2. Great Coral Reef by kris_kelvin

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

3. Hyrule Castle 30th Anniversary by BrickGallery

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

4. Terrariums by Galaxy333

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

5. Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Avatar Returns by ky-e

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

6. Clockwork Solar System by ChrisOrchard & BrentWaller

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

7. The Dojo by SpaceBrick54

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

8. Hocus Pocus: The Sanderson Sister’ Cottage – Updated by TheAmbrinator

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

9. Naruto: Ichiraku Ramen Shop – 20th Anniversary by DadiTwins

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

10. Motorized Johnny 5 by RJ BrickBuilds

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

11. James Webb Space Telesceop (JWST) by tonysmyuncle

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

12. The LEGO Emergency Box by SzegoBalint16

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

13. LEGO Rubik’s Cube (Working) by puzzLEGO1

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

14 Brooklyn Nine Nine: 99th Precinct by BenFankhauser

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

15. Steampunk Explorers by Castor-Troy & Max Brich

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

16. Moominhouse ムーミン屋敷 by Bonefoot

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

17. Castle Outpost by xXgGhostXx

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

18. Downtown Records by HarrisBricks

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

19. Orchid by JamesZHAN

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

20. Soyuz Rocket by The Half Blood Baron

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

21. LEGO Ghibli by yop1172.

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

22. Baba Yaga by Artem Biziaev

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

23. The Meeting Point by Lepralego

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

24. Pirate Tavern by Revan New

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

25. The Riverside Scholars by Hanwasyellowfirst

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

26. Union Pacific “Big Boy” by Lassehfl

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

27. Magic Bookends by Brick Dangerous

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

28. Asterix the Gaul by Ganpat the Celt

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

29. Stargate by CaptainMutant

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

30. McDonald’s Franchise 1955-1969 by adammark

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

31. The Three Investigators – The Headquarters by Valkon

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

32. NASA SR 71 Blackbird by BrickerBeard

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

33. Gremlins by bulldoozer

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

34. Sheriff’s Office – Wild West by llucky

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

35. It’s a Wonderful LEGO Life by twrt0es

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

36. The Garden and Greenhouse by kris_kelvin

©2022 The LEGO® Group.

Time to play the waiting game

I absolutely LOVE Brooklyn 99 and Hocus Pocus and see those having some potential. But again, there’s been so many TV & Film properties made into sets, that I wouldn’t mind a switch up. That being said – Team 99 all the way! My top 2 picks however are THE MAGIC BOOKENDS and the SHERIFF’S OFFICE. The bookends definitely seem like a prime LEGO® aesthetic, and there’s just enough interactive play to stand a chance. Make a creative diorama with a famous work and some minfigures and you’ve got a winner. And I love the look of the Sheriff’s Office. It’s reminiscent of The Medieval Blacksmith (a personal favourite set), and the Wild West theme has not been done in quite some time. Good luck to all the projects!

But what do you guys think? Did you vote in this latest round of projects? Did your picks make it through? And of the 36 projects, which one(s) are you rooting for the most? Please comment below and let us know. Thanks for reading and as always, keep on brickin’. 🧱

-Frank

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