LEGO Ideas is an invitation and a challenge; if you can conceive and build something that people love, LEGO will design it, sell it, and even share the profits with you. The process of getting a LEGO Idea to this final stage is protracted and fan-driven by design; it builds a passionate, proactive community of builders, who will also be the first ones purchasing the set when it finally hits shelves.
LEGO's latest Ideas set is Home Alone, a 3955-piece celebration of the 1990 Christmas classic starring Macaulay Culkin. There are 24 separate phases to the build, which are communicated visually and non-verbally via a thick instruction booklet. There are two pages of stickers to add additional, graphic detail; the printed elements on the bricks themselves are few and far between.
There are five LEGO minifigures included in the build–Kevin McCallister, Harry, Marv, Kevin's Mom, and Old Man Marley–and each of them has accessories. Kevin has a bowl of chocolate ice cream, a scarf and hat for when he goes outside, and a sled he can use to slide down the stairs. Old Man Marley has a snow shovel and a garbage can. The two Wet Bandits have matching crowbars, and Harry's knit cap is interchangeable with a police hat–a callback to the first scene of the movie, when Harry infiltrates the McCallister house to do reconnaissance work under the guise of being law enforcement. Upon closer examination, the Harry mini-figure even has a tiny gold tooth.
You begin the build by putting together the Wet Bandits' truck. The roof is modular, which allows you to put Harry and Marv in the driver and passenger seats. There is a container in the back of the truck, where the Wet Bandits keep their stolen goods and valuables.
The Wet Bandits van is an appetizer for the main course: the massive McCallister house itself.
If you've built minifigure-scaled vehicles before, this is no different. The granular detail–the side mirrors, the headlights and blinkers, the tiny steering wheel–have their requisite charm, but they are common elements across multiple builds.
The van is an appetizer for the main course: the massive McCallister house itself, which consists of a basement, first floor, second floor, and attic. Each level is modular and separable; if you're showcasing the set to an admirer, you would need to unstack the floors and let in some light to get the full effect.
Each of the rooms has three layers of storytelling. The first layer is the luxurious McCallister house itself, as it was the morning that Kevin's family left for the airport without him. We see fancy chairs and dining room table. We see the attic with the pullout sofa bed, and odd knick knacks like a random gumball machine, which the family probably bought on a whim, stowed away, and forgot about. We see family pictures on the walls. We see a picture of Buzz's girlfriend in Buzz's room.
Both the interior and exterior of the house are decked in festiveness. Wreaths hang over doorways and from ceiling beams. Christmas lights hang on the bushes in the front yard. The designers even used well-placed white bricks to create the illusion of freshly melted snow,
The second narrative layer is evidence of Kevin's life in the McCallister house, now that he has it all to himself. We see empty pizza boxes on the tables and boxes of macaroni and cheese in the fridge. We see Buzz's tarantula out of its cage, clinging to the wall opposite the stairs. We see the "AHHHHH!!!" aftershave in the soapdish above the bathroom sink. There's a small TV in the kitchen, and it's playing Angels with Filthy Souls, the movie-within-a-movie that Kevin used to trick the pizza delivery boy and the Wet Bandits into thinking he wasn't alone.
The third narrative layer is Kevin's "Battle Plan" to stop the Wet Bandits from robbing the house. The LEGO designers included nearly every single booby trap from the movie. There's toy cars strewn on the living room floor. There's a blowtorch above the rear exit to the home. There's a massive paint can, attached by a string, to the top of the stairs. There's an iron that can drop from the above floor into the basement; The Marv minifigure head is reversible, and has an iron-shaped red imprint on its head.
There's a small TV in the kitchen, and it's playing Angels with Filthy Souls, the movie-within-a-movie that Kevin used to trick the pizza delivery boy and the Wet Bandits into thinking he wasn't alone.
The set includes several interactive elements. In Buzz's room, there is a shelf which collapses when you pull out the rod keeping it up. There's another rod you can push in, which will launch Kevin and his sled down two flights of stairs and into the front yard. There's a series of gears underneath the house, and if you turn them, the train set on the ground floor will move and the record player will spin. This is from an early scene in the movie, where Kevin rigged up the house and casted human-shaped shadows in the windows. One of the set's best stickers is a graphic of a Michael Jordan minifigure, which you attach to the passenger car of the toy train.
It's worth noting that the interactive elements are not designed for extended play. If you completed this set and gave it to a seven-year-old, for example, it wouldn't stay together for very long. The interactive elements are more 'one-and-done' novelties that you can show to a curious onlooker. But it requires patience to reset the shelf or set up the living room in such a cramped space The Home Alone set best functions as a display piece, where you can stage the scenario and freeze frame it on a single moment.
The coolest interactive element is the basement furnace. In the movie, Kevin is frightened by its appearance, and imagines that it is a monster with an open mouth. The set's furnace has a hinged mouth, plus an orange LEGO light brick that creates the impression of fire. There's also a child's treehouse separate from the McCallister house. It's attached by a string to the house's second floor, and you can re-enact the climactic zip line scene at the end of the movie.
It's a whole lot of detail. And the cumulative impact, when the house is completely opened and folded out, is fantastic. Thanks to the abundance of brown and tan colors, the house gives off the impression of woodwork crafting–as if it was something that was fashioned by hand in a Victorian workshop instead of on an assembly line.
LEGO Ideas Home Alone is one of those rare, quality sets that exceeds expectations; both the presentation and the build are more fun and engrossing than one might guess. On one hand, this makes it difficult to find; it is currently sold out on LEGO's official site, and supplies in stores and online retailers are limited. On the other hand, it sets a wonderful precedent–that something this intricately detailed and multi-pieced can be mainstream accessible. And by that thinking, LEGO should feel encouraged to release more sets like this in the months and years ahead.
LEGO Ideas Home Alone, Set #21330, is composed of 3955 pieces and retails for $249.99. It was originally conceived by LEGO fan Alex Storozhuk. It was then refined and designed by LEGO designers Antica Bracanov and Enrique Belmonte Beixer, as well as Graphic Designer Kirsten Bay Nielsen.
Continue reading...
LEGO's latest Ideas set is Home Alone, a 3955-piece celebration of the 1990 Christmas classic starring Macaulay Culkin. There are 24 separate phases to the build, which are communicated visually and non-verbally via a thick instruction booklet. There are two pages of stickers to add additional, graphic detail; the printed elements on the bricks themselves are few and far between.
There are five LEGO minifigures included in the build–Kevin McCallister, Harry, Marv, Kevin's Mom, and Old Man Marley–and each of them has accessories. Kevin has a bowl of chocolate ice cream, a scarf and hat for when he goes outside, and a sled he can use to slide down the stairs. Old Man Marley has a snow shovel and a garbage can. The two Wet Bandits have matching crowbars, and Harry's knit cap is interchangeable with a police hat–a callback to the first scene of the movie, when Harry infiltrates the McCallister house to do reconnaissance work under the guise of being law enforcement. Upon closer examination, the Harry mini-figure even has a tiny gold tooth.
You begin the build by putting together the Wet Bandits' truck. The roof is modular, which allows you to put Harry and Marv in the driver and passenger seats. There is a container in the back of the truck, where the Wet Bandits keep their stolen goods and valuables.
The Wet Bandits van is an appetizer for the main course: the massive McCallister house itself.
If you've built minifigure-scaled vehicles before, this is no different. The granular detail–the side mirrors, the headlights and blinkers, the tiny steering wheel–have their requisite charm, but they are common elements across multiple builds.
The van is an appetizer for the main course: the massive McCallister house itself, which consists of a basement, first floor, second floor, and attic. Each level is modular and separable; if you're showcasing the set to an admirer, you would need to unstack the floors and let in some light to get the full effect.
Each of the rooms has three layers of storytelling. The first layer is the luxurious McCallister house itself, as it was the morning that Kevin's family left for the airport without him. We see fancy chairs and dining room table. We see the attic with the pullout sofa bed, and odd knick knacks like a random gumball machine, which the family probably bought on a whim, stowed away, and forgot about. We see family pictures on the walls. We see a picture of Buzz's girlfriend in Buzz's room.
Both the interior and exterior of the house are decked in festiveness. Wreaths hang over doorways and from ceiling beams. Christmas lights hang on the bushes in the front yard. The designers even used well-placed white bricks to create the illusion of freshly melted snow,
The second narrative layer is evidence of Kevin's life in the McCallister house, now that he has it all to himself. We see empty pizza boxes on the tables and boxes of macaroni and cheese in the fridge. We see Buzz's tarantula out of its cage, clinging to the wall opposite the stairs. We see the "AHHHHH!!!" aftershave in the soapdish above the bathroom sink. There's a small TV in the kitchen, and it's playing Angels with Filthy Souls, the movie-within-a-movie that Kevin used to trick the pizza delivery boy and the Wet Bandits into thinking he wasn't alone.
The third narrative layer is Kevin's "Battle Plan" to stop the Wet Bandits from robbing the house. The LEGO designers included nearly every single booby trap from the movie. There's toy cars strewn on the living room floor. There's a blowtorch above the rear exit to the home. There's a massive paint can, attached by a string, to the top of the stairs. There's an iron that can drop from the above floor into the basement; The Marv minifigure head is reversible, and has an iron-shaped red imprint on its head.
There's a small TV in the kitchen, and it's playing Angels with Filthy Souls, the movie-within-a-movie that Kevin used to trick the pizza delivery boy and the Wet Bandits into thinking he wasn't alone.
The set includes several interactive elements. In Buzz's room, there is a shelf which collapses when you pull out the rod keeping it up. There's another rod you can push in, which will launch Kevin and his sled down two flights of stairs and into the front yard. There's a series of gears underneath the house, and if you turn them, the train set on the ground floor will move and the record player will spin. This is from an early scene in the movie, where Kevin rigged up the house and casted human-shaped shadows in the windows. One of the set's best stickers is a graphic of a Michael Jordan minifigure, which you attach to the passenger car of the toy train.
It's worth noting that the interactive elements are not designed for extended play. If you completed this set and gave it to a seven-year-old, for example, it wouldn't stay together for very long. The interactive elements are more 'one-and-done' novelties that you can show to a curious onlooker. But it requires patience to reset the shelf or set up the living room in such a cramped space The Home Alone set best functions as a display piece, where you can stage the scenario and freeze frame it on a single moment.
The coolest interactive element is the basement furnace. In the movie, Kevin is frightened by its appearance, and imagines that it is a monster with an open mouth. The set's furnace has a hinged mouth, plus an orange LEGO light brick that creates the impression of fire. There's also a child's treehouse separate from the McCallister house. It's attached by a string to the house's second floor, and you can re-enact the climactic zip line scene at the end of the movie.
It's a whole lot of detail. And the cumulative impact, when the house is completely opened and folded out, is fantastic. Thanks to the abundance of brown and tan colors, the house gives off the impression of woodwork crafting–as if it was something that was fashioned by hand in a Victorian workshop instead of on an assembly line.
LEGO Ideas Home Alone is one of those rare, quality sets that exceeds expectations; both the presentation and the build are more fun and engrossing than one might guess. On one hand, this makes it difficult to find; it is currently sold out on LEGO's official site, and supplies in stores and online retailers are limited. On the other hand, it sets a wonderful precedent–that something this intricately detailed and multi-pieced can be mainstream accessible. And by that thinking, LEGO should feel encouraged to release more sets like this in the months and years ahead.
LEGO Ideas Home Alone, Set #21330, is composed of 3955 pieces and retails for $249.99. It was originally conceived by LEGO fan Alex Storozhuk. It was then refined and designed by LEGO designers Antica Bracanov and Enrique Belmonte Beixer, as well as Graphic Designer Kirsten Bay Nielsen.
Continue reading...