LEGO Ideas Backlog
Posted by Huw,
It's been a busy few months for Ideas releases, what with 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, 21361 Gremlins: Gizmo, 21362 Mineral Collection, and 21363 The Goonies hitting the shelves since September.
The backlog is still considerable, though, with six projects added to it a fortnight ago when the first period of 2025 results were announced. It's likely that the resultant sets will be available in time for Christmas next year.
I thought it might be useful therefore to publish updated lists of what's still to come, both projects that passed review and those that have won competitions.
Passed review
| Project | Review period | Approved | Likely release period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Otter | 2nd 2024 | Mar 2025 | Q1 2026 |
| Snoopy | 2nd 2024 | Mar 2025 | Q1 2026 |
| Godzilla | 3rd 2024 | Jun 2025 | Q2 2026 |
| Tintin | 3rd 2024 | Jun 2025 | Q2 2026 |
| Power Rangers | 1st 2025 | Oct 2025 | Q4 2026 |
| La Catrina | 1st 2025 | Oct 2025 | Q4 2026 |
| Smurf Village | 1st 2025 | Oct 2025 | Q4 2026 |
| Ramen | 1st 2025 | Oct 2025 | Q4 2026 |
| ET | 1st 2025 | Oct 2025 | Q4 2026 |
| Downton Abbey | 1st 2025 | Oct 2025 | Q4 2026 |
Competition winners
| Project | Competition | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Love Birds | Build from the Heart | Feb 2025 |
| Sea Serpent | A Twist of Nostalgia | May 2025 |
| Wallace & Gromit | 90s Throwback | June 2025 |
| The X-Files | 90s Throwback | June 2025 |
| Build, Paint and Play! | Build Your Hobby | Sept 2025 |
| Vintage Sewing Machine | Timeless Creations | Sept 2025 |
The current competition is design a vendor cart. The winning entry will be turned into a GWP, probably sometime in 2027 at this rate!
Which ones are you looking forward to?
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37 comments on this article
I'm looking forward to what they will make of Godzilla, and how much pain it will cause in my wallet...
And I hope the X-Files will be fun and cool, let's see if the truth is out there when it arrives!
I’ll definitely be buying Tintin and Wallace and Gromit. Interested to see how they handle Godzilla as well!
I'd honestly forgotten most of these got approved. Probably mainly because they didn't appeal to me personally. Only one I'm looking forward to is the X-files one, which I hope they don't change much from the actual submission.
Really they should stop calling it Lego Ideas and call it what it has become: Lego IPs. 7 out of 10 are IPs. There is no Ideas involved just people hoping to cash in on the 1% if their IP set gets chosen
Sea Otter! Get outta my dreams and into my cart.
I'm really looking forward to the competition sets mainly, X Files, Wallace and Gromit, Build, Paint and Play, and Vintage Sewing Machine.
As for the others, only Downton and La Catrina and only if they look good.
Godzilla and Megazord are the two I am most excited about. Let's hope they are under 200€ each.
I only want X files.
I want the love birds tree, don't care for the birds itself. :)
I’m hoping The X-Files set comes out as soon as possible. One of my favourite shows growing up. It will be a dream come true to have official LEGO Mulder and Scully minifigures in a set.
Godzilla, Power Rangers/Super Sentai...all I need to complete the lineup of my fave tokusatsu is a Kamen Rider set!
I've never watched an episode of X-Files in my life, but that set is an absolute work of art.
The ones I'm most interested in are
Wallace & Gromit
Vintage Sewing Machine
Build, Paint and Play!
I wouldn't go quite as far as saying that I'm actually 'looking forward to', since the final results can be much better or worse than the ideas, so 'wait and see' avoids disappointments!
Need Godzilla and the X-Files ASAP
I really hope the Camping Trip finds its way out of the parking lot. I had my order of the Offroad Adventure and Sequoia Tree Trail cancelled because of some error in accounting so my rural corner really needs it…
Power Rangers day 1. Sea Serpent i hope isnt just a GWP. Maybe Tintin depending on price.
I just hope we get a good Tintin minifigure out of this!
You forgot the "parked" sets (credit to bouwsteentjes for the list)
LEGO Ideas Camping Trip
LEGO Ideas Daft Punk Concert
LEGO Ideas Golden Girls
LEGO Ideas The Old Man and the Sea
Looking forwark to "sea serpent" and "Build, Paint and Play"
Assuming none of the following are horribly defaced, I will most definitely get: X-Files, Tintin and Build, Paint and Play (assuming grey spaceman parts and another spaceman not white - the proposed one was blue).
I will wait and see for Snoopy and Wallace and gromit.
I assume the sea serpent will be a GWP and I have enough on my buy list to make sure I will get it in due time.
I think that the turnaround time is getting a bit too long. Tastes change over time, what seems like a highly desirable item when it's announced eventually become 'meh' after 18 months - maybe it's just me...
I am *beyond* excited for th X-Files one. Other than that, only the Otter is of interest—Godzilla and Snoopy are maybes, depending on final execution. Sea Serpent is fun and might make for a worthwhile GWP.
@HOBBES said:
"I think that the turnaround time is getting a bit too long. Tastes change over time, what seems like a highly desirable item when it's announced eventually become 'meh' after 18 months - maybe it's just me..."
Turnaround is roughly one year, not one and a half. The last six from the main list should hit around Christmas next year, but the first two should be announced and street dated before spring.
@shaase said:
"Really they should stop calling it Lego Ideas and call it what it has become: Lego IPs. 7 out of 10 are IPs. There is no Ideas involved just people hoping to cash in on the 1% if their IP set gets chosen"
They have a specific rule that prevents existing too many IPs from getting released. It's just that the non-IP ones (such as 21358) got made into finished sets before the IP ones did.
@watcher21 said:"You forgot the "parked" sets (credit to bouwsteentjes for the list)
LEGO Ideas Camping Trip
LEGO Ideas Daft Punk Concert
LEGO Ideas Golden Girls
LEGO Ideas The Old Man and the Sea"
Since those are in the parking lot, there's no way of knowing when they'll become sets. In fact, it's not even guaranteed that they'll become sets at all.
@PurpleDave said:
" @HOBBES said:
"I think that the turnaround time is getting a bit too long. Tastes change over time, what seems like a highly desirable item when it's announced eventually become 'meh' after 18 months - maybe it's just me..."
Turnaround is roughly one year, not one and a half. The last six from the main list should hit around Christmas next year, but the first two should be announced and street dated before spring."
Let's hope.
The associated GWP backlog must be huge too.
@namekuji said:
"The associated GWP backlog must be huge too."
Those are easy for LEGO. All they have to do is snip some portion out of the set while keeping the set at the same RRP. :o)
Just give me X-Files. I'm rewatching it at the moment.
Anyway, it's sad how many of these "ideas" are just some IP.
And I just noticed that many other commenters agree with me on both points...
@TheOtherMike said:
" @shaase said:
"Really they should stop calling it Lego Ideas and call it what it has become: Lego IPs. 7 out of 10 are IPs. There is no Ideas involved just people hoping to cash in on the 1% if their IP set gets chosen"
They have a specific rule that prevents existing too many IPs from getting released. It's just that the non-IP ones (such as 21358) got made into finished sets before the IP ones did."
The rule I’d read direct from someone on the Ideas design team was that they limit IP projects to no more than 50% of approved sets. So if they make an IP set, they have to make a non-IP set to balance it out, but they could make two non-IP and zero IP and it would be fine. And for several years, if you looked up the Wikipedia article, IP sets were tracked in one color and non-IP in a different color, and it made it real way to scan down the list and confirm that yes, they had nearly a 1:1 ratio over the years. Until they didn’t.
It got thrown out of whack in favor of IP a few years ago, and I remember digging through the list to see if I could figure out what happened, but unfortunately I don’t remember if I solved the variance or not. The only likely culprit I could identify was contests. A contest produces one winner, and only one winner. Some contests are restricted to, or at least heavily favor IP. Others are open to all comers. And I can’t remember if they’ve done any where IP was banned. But if there contests are subject to that same rule, how do you enforce it? Alternating between IP-only and IP-banned contests would ensure they stay equal over time, but the instant you add open contests where either could win, you might favor IP over non-IP, and eventually have to tell your contest judges that they aren’t allowed to pick an IP project because too many have won. What happens if a member of the team accidentally mentions this at a convention? Pretty sure lawsuits happen, is what. If the posted rules say it’s open to all subject matter, and a rule is imposed after the fact (and secretly) to restrict the pool of potential winners, that’s actionable the instant you can find proof. So, either you have to make sure the at no more than 50% of contests even allow IP projects to win, or you have to exclude contests from the equation, or you have to be willing to balance out contests results through regular periodic reviews. That last one should mean that IP is less favored in regular reviews, but I don’t think that was the case. But while Wikipedia does a great job of identifying IP vs non-IP, it’s harder to track regular vs contest.
I'm really looking forward to Tintin! Tintin is probably the first IDEAS IP I've actually cared about enough to buy the set (other IPs have been interesting at times).
I just hope that as others said the minifigures are good and also that they make more than just the rocket.
It will be very interesting how they do it:
A bunch of microscale builds?
Three minifigure scale but separate builds? (eg yellow seaplane, red Willys jeep, shark submarine)?
Marlinspike Hall with minibuilds?
Downton Abbey is the other Im very interested in. By which I mean I have zero interest in the IP itself (I know nothing about the characters other than recognising a couple of actors like Maggie Smith).
But as various people said the project actually has the oppurtunity to appeal to quite a broad range of people:
History fans, Building/Town/City fans, Castle fans, Downton Abbey fans, general Lego fans etc.
Like Tintin I'm very curious as to how they will make the set. I like the way the fan submission is at the moment I think it's good.
But Lego may decide to do a Hogwarts Castle situation with a microscale full Downton Abbey and then just a small display with certain key characters.
Or a smaller or larger minifigure scale building?
I do hope the build is at least in some way minifigure scale because one of the things myself and others really appreciated about the project was all the cool minibuilds for furniture and rooms generally which we dont see often in lego, especially historical settings.
I'd like to hear from fans of Downton Abbey what characters they think Lego will narrow it down to.
I would assume the Lord played by Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith's character would be obvious inclusions. Personally I just want more suits and dresses for my minifigures, some maids would be good as their uniform could potentially work for historical nurses
(this is a stretch but it's possible lego could even reuse said hypothetical maid/nurse uniforms for a 2027 Modular Hospital which would be awesome)
@Brickchap:
Well, if they do a Hogwarts situation, there you go. You’ve got your Maggie Smith minifig.
@Brickchap said:"Personally I just want more suits and dresses for my minifigures, some maids would be good as their uniform could potentially work for historical nurses"
I'd love more historical suits, too. And a maid minifigure would be right up my alley. I'm reminded of when I maid, I mean made a maid superheroine in the Lego Incredibles video game.
Only Godzilla and X-Files look remotely interesting to me. I am expecting them to be altered to the point of not wanting them any more. These "ideas" are not really interesting to me otherwise. LEGO has gotten too greedy.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Brickchap:
Well, if they do a Hogwarts situation, there you go. You’ve got your Maggie Smith minifig."
No, that wouldnt do because we want a detailed historical building build. I did also say I dont care about, and know nothing about, the characters.
In my opinion a microscale build would lose a lot of the appeal to different target markets.
I actually prefer Snoopy in minifigure scale. You know with it's famous red house, Woodstock hanging around, Charlie and Lucy playing baseball, Schroder playing his piano, and such. Come to think of it with all it's characters and builds, Peanuts would make a great Advent Calender set.
As for Tintin, I don't think we need the whole ramp, it will just balloon the cost. I'ld rather have a micro scale moon tank, than a ramp that serves no purpose.
@Brickchap said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Brickchap:
Well, if they do a Hogwarts situation, there you go. You’ve got your Maggie Smith minifig."
No, that wouldnt do because we want a detailed historical building build. I did also say I dont care about, and know nothing about, the characters.
In my opinion a microscale build would lose a lot of the appeal to different target markets. "
I was referring to McGonagall, who was also played by Maggie Smith. Anyways, a guy in my LUG already built a massive nine-baseplate MOC, and really only cares about any minifigs that come with the set.
@Lego_lord:
And I have built a minifig-scale Snoopy on his doghouse. Couldn’t figure out how to make the head until I realized I could hide it under an aviator helmet, so he’s flying against the Red Baron. Never figured out a solution for Woodstock, so I should really start thinking about that again.
@Lego_lord said:
"I actually prefer Snoopy in minifigure scale. You know with it's famous red house, Woodstock hanging around, Charlie and Lucy playing baseball, Schroder playing his piano, and such. Come to think of it with all it's characters and builds, Peanuts would make a great Advent Calender set.
As for Tintin, I don't think we need the whole ramp, it will just balloon the cost. I'ld rather have a micro scale moon tank, than a ramp that serves no purpose.
"
RE: Tintin. Fair point. I do agree the moon tank should be included.
Maybe they will make a BIG rocket and each level opens to reveal a vignette for different stories? (not saying Id want that but it's probable)
@PurpleDave Ah okay, I missed the joke/reference, my bad.
Can't wait for Snoopy and Woodstock!
@Modeltrainman said:
"Can't wait for Snoopy and Woodstock! "
I was kinda hoping for a minifig scale Peanuts set, I'll still get it though.