LEGO wheelchair making the news

I just want to know why the preliminary figure has fleshie hands now :)

Ah yes, the expected brouhaha from mainstream media.

Yep, I read it here first! Proud to be a member of the best Lego fan website and community!

The wheelchair is an intricate looking mould, it's nice that they made it as a new mould rather than build it out of pieces. Makes it more realistic.

It seems just as likely that LEGO was preparing for an eventual Professor X minifigure in a set to be released parallel to X-Men Apocalypse (like the 76022 Sentinel set released close to Days of Future Past)...

The Wheelchair was likely in development before the campaign.

It is not particularly highlighting disabilities. We've had dogs used as guide dogs before in Lego form and having a Lego Wheelchair is not new given it was done before with the Lego Duplo 'Community People Set'

Granted this is the first Lego minifigure scale wheelchair (that I'm aware of) Its a nice piece, but Lego really didn't need to. I have friends with disabilities and they'd much prefer not to be reminded of them when playing with toys. Some of them who enjoy Lego, sure, they may like having a figure that could replicate themselves.

"In fact it's a wonder it is not making a bigger (or any) deal out of it."

Making a big deal out of it would seem like the intention to include the wheelchair was solely promotional or being used for publicity. By not commenting about it they are allowing it to be acknowledged without drawing excessive attention to it.

Here's another piece on the wheelchair: http://popcultureuncovered.com/2016/01/28/lego-takes-a-step-towards-inclusion-for-people-with-disabilities/

and the little baby minifigure is also a great addition to City, very welcome!!!

I am more excited about the new Lego baby! how come no one is talking about it?

Super excited for a new wheelchair piece, but also excited for that hot dog bun piece I see in the background of this picture. Definitely getting this when it comes out.

With the new baby and wheelchair I wonder if a $200 LEGO City Hospital is in the works?

I'm not sure that LEGO made the wheelchair just because of that campaign. I think the media just want something to talk about.

Ridiculous. There's nothing here to suggest it's specifically intended to represent disabled persons. Lots of people get injured and need the aid of a wheelchair to get around while they are in early stages of recovery. Hospital and emergency vehicle sets have been released in the past, and this set looks to compliment such city settings with appropriate civilians.

With LEGO by design, there has always been the capability to brick-build a wheelchair from existing parts. To say it's embarrassingly overdue is grossly overstated and shows no imagination on the part of the reviewer.

The new mold looks nice and helps streamline building a wheelchair, but it's yet again another specialized piece that moves away from the original intention of LEGO and wasn't that necessary. Hopefully the rear push bars and bicycle tires are separate pieces like the smaller front wheels with axle.

British media gets on my tits more and more. They treat every day like a slow news day and they trawl up all sorts of nonsense rather than actually reporting on the news. The BBC News website still has main headlines from 2-3 days ago. There are world events happening all the time, wars going on, famine, genocide, elections, scientific advancements, all sorts of things they could write about to generally increase the country's knowledge. But no, they concentrate on things like "Beckham's son congratulates mother on fashion show" and "iPhone sales are slowing" - and the BBC is probably the most worthy of British mainstream news outlets. The UK's media has sunk to the lowest common denominator - as determined by Murdoch's Sun and Dacre's Daily Mail. If a story doesn't involve a celebrity then it only stands half a chance of being published.

Lego making a plastic wheelchair should not be headline news. I'm sorry but it just shouldn't. For one thing they're assuming its a victory for a public campaign without actually checking whether that's the case, secondly they're using a third-party source they presumably have no idea is trustworthy, and last of all this is product advertising. Not news.

I offer my PRAISE to the LEGO GROUP for this! In my X-Men on MOCpages I was sure to include Professor Xavier in his WHEELCHAIR as well as Barbara Gordon as the ORACLE in her wheelchair also on MOCpages because these two comic book characters have been role models for kids and young adults in wheelchairs for years! I applaud those who made this decision, next step a cane, a blind mini and a head with a hearing aid! Maybe even a mini with an artificial limb - so if LEGO reads this comment, I hope I inspired them!

I think the wheelchair is my favorite piece from the entire toy fair. I didn't assume like the press that it was a disabled person but rather I envisioned the pieces as a functional component of everyday living. But if it sells newspapers then let the hoots begin...

Just Lego stealing from ideas again https://ideas.lego.com/projects/19418

Joking BTW

There was a (brickbuilt) wheelchair in set 363 Hospital (1975,) so nothing new at all i'd say.

Unclip those skate-wheels, flip it back and clip on some horse reign piping... could be a chariot conversion in there.

Collective media: Finally, a wheel chair!
AFOLs: Finally, a hot dog bun!

Well done LEGO!

I like the new piece, but the politically correct media is getting WAY to happy about this.

OMG. This is NOT a big deal. LEGO IS NOT REAL LIFE. Have you ever seen a town full of firemen, policeman and crooks, without any civilians?! It's cool that there's a wheelchair now, but please stop this, stupic mainstream media.

@darkstonegrey: You seem to be unaware of how hard it is to make a wheelchair in LEGO that can realistically function with a minifigure. Do a Google image search for "LEGO wheelchair" and you'll see lots of wheelchairs that either require separating the occupant's legs from their body, make the occupant tower over an ordinary standing minifigure, can't fit through ordinary four-stud-wide doorframes, or any combination of the above. None of these is an optimal solution.

What's more, it's crazy to say that it "moves away from the original intention of LEGO". Would you say that about the LEGO bicycle (introduced in 1985) or the LEGO horse (introduced in 1984)? Because this is no more specialized and no less necessary than either of those parts was. I don't think you'll find a lot of people who would agree that LEGO hasn't been true to their original intention in over thirty years.

Maybe this is not as big a milestone as some news outlets make it out to be. It is not the first disabled minifigure (any pirate minifigure with a peg-leg or hook would surely qualify), or the first LEGO wheelchair (there are wheelchairs in Duplo and in the old pre-minifigure set 363). But it's still definitely a milestone, and not an inconsequential one.

I also think it's great that the wheelchair is appearing in a non-hospital setting and with a non-elderly figure, to show that the use of a wheelchair is not limited to elderly or unhealthy people.

Like the first poster said, I'm more interested in the minfig's mismatched hands.

I'm happy for people who are happy for the wheelchair mold. However, I don't care much personally. That it makes a headline... okay? But why does it do this in so many newspapers?! Is it that important to know?

According to their logic, the baby carriage being held by a male minifig makes lego should make headlines too on lego 'finally' showing a 'modern family'.

As others have noted, it has always been possible to make one yourself. I've seen many wheelchair mocs before. Do they get aplouded for their ingenious designs (seriously, those designs are amazing!). In fact, I remember wheelchairs for homemaker figures from that era!

If this is such a big deal, then where are all the disabled person toys of every other brand of toy on the market? I don't see hasbro or megablocks or any other making new toys to fit this "mold". And as a person with a disability who grew up with Lego I never once considered that they should change the pieces to match what i was dealing with. Toys, Lego especially are about imagination. Do you see any news stories about the fact that the international space station doesn't have disability options for kids who want to be astronauts but couldn't?

I agree with others that the set was probably in development well before all the fuss .
Personally I think that TLG are heading towards making a hospital environment like the police and fire themes. You already have the Ambulance Plane 60116 out at the moment (Complete with stretcher ), now a set with a wheel chair. Will make a nice change to add to City environments with something new.

@willobee498 - nice one, made me actually LOL.

I was confused too, I don't think the ToyLikeMe thing had anything to do with it. Didn't hear about it until I saw the articles.

Why are they making such a big deal as if Lego is supporting the disabled or whatnot. Can't a Lego figure in a wheelchair ever just be a Lego figure in a wheel chair?

@Aanchir
I've always preferred brick-built solutions over specialized molds. Can't do much else with a molded bicycle or horse, whereas brick-built gives you many options to re-use the pieces.

A brick-built bicycle, horse or wheelchair might not be optimal, but it's the challenge and satisfaction to come up with a solution yourself with what you have to work with. And I see no problem inserting a part between the torso and legs to accomplish a seated position that integrates the minifigure with the chair - again all part of the intended imaginative building process.

You're twisting my words. I didn't state that LEGO hasn't been true to their original intention; I meant that single mold parts are too specialized and move away from the modular brick built flexibility that LEGO originally intended.

That sweatshirt torso has only appeared once so far in Jurassic World set Indominus Rex Breakout. That line uses flesh-colored hands on the torsos, so it's likely that for the trade show they just used the production torso and didn't bother replacing the hands with yellow ones. I expect the released set will remedy that.

The box for the set, which appears in some photos, shows the minifigure in the wheelchair with yellow hands

@MrMouth1117 : minifigs with artificial limbs : many pirate captains, the cyborg in alien conquest, doctor Rodney Rathbone, Jack McHammer, space villain, red harrington, rizzo, razar, djinn nadakhan, doctor inferno, fire arm, claw dette...

It's an outrage that in all the years that minifigures have existed, there's never been one that's deaf. Not a single one. Outrageous!

Seriously, the new baby is cool.

As for the reason why Lego is not making a big deal out if this: Lego probably understands this better than 100% of mainstream media outlets. Just like actual disabled people; they didn't want to make a big deal of it.

Although this may be the first minifigure scale LEGO wheelchair its not the first for TLG. They have been making them for years. My kids introduced me to LEGO and back when we were playing with Duplo we didn't think much about a LEGO wheel chair.

http://brickset.com/sets/5695-1/Doctor-s-Clinic

Far more excited about the hot dog bun, to be honest.

I'm wondering if we might see a modular hospital in 2017. Think about it, now we have a wheelchair and a baby in this set, plus crutches from Minifigures series 15, and the modulars have a tendency of showcasing the newest parts.

@Scarilian and anyone else who might know- is there a particular set, or sets, that contain a dog element (or brick built dog) that is specifically intended to represent a guide-dog? I've been trying to locate any on Lego wiki's but not having any luck.

Between the upcoming wheelchair and the recently released crutches and head bandage (Minifigure Series 15 Clumsy Guy) I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the 2017 Modular Building to be a Hospital.

So there's going to be a set called Fun at the Park that comes with the guy in the wheelchair?

@JusJeff It isn't just that there is a wheel chair, but rather who is in the wheel chair. People are happy to see it isn't an elderly, or injured person. It's a regular teenager/young adult.

(of course you can put any character you want in the wheel chairs, but don't forget mainstream media also recently whined that Lego lacks the creativity it once had; not the wisest folks.)

Ahh... And I thought lego was the only ne thing politically correct media could touch...

@Zander, the fact that minifigures DONT HAVE EARS is sort of prohibitive to making a figure representing a deaf... I would hardly call it unbeleivable...

Why should LEGO-or anybody- make a big deal out of it? Sure, it's a nice thing to represent those who cannot walk, but it's a quiet insert into civilian life. I appreciate it, but I think it's another slow news day for people who want to talk about LEGO.

Everyone is going crazy over the wheelchair and I want the baby! My daughter will love that!
I wonder if the numerous Ideas submissions with wheelchairs had anything to do with it?

@darkstonegrey - "...but it's yet again another specialized piece that moves away from the original intention of LEGO and wasn't that necessary."

"...I meant that single mold parts are too specialized and move away from the modular brick built flexibility that LEGO originally intended."

I have a hard time understanding your logic on this. Things change. They get better. Such is life. Lego still makes regular bricks but the molded parts add a whole new level of the functionality and play-ability of the entire Lego system.

I would hope you only buy/build with older Basic sets with no molded items to keep to TLG's original intention. :/

"Things change. They get better."

And sometimes, things get worse as well. Like you said, such is life.

People overreact to everything. They also gave us crutches. A hospital theme is due so...

Also Professor X

These people are idiots looking for attention.

I don't think Lego should make a big deal out of it. They should roll out the inclusive figures and act like it's no big deal. Because if they did make a big deal out of it, it would be like they were tooting their own horn about it and acting egotistical and Lego really isn't like that.

Lego quietly added more and more women figures to all their themes. We never saw Lego scream out "SEE! SEE! We are doing as everyone asked and not only making Friends lines but adding women characters to other themes as well! Now shut up feminists!"

Ugh that Gizmodo title is embarrassing. I'm so sick of these smug, self-righteous internet hacks trying to guilt us into their religion of projecting pity onto anyone who's not perfect. It's so gross and hypocritical.

That said, it is nice to finally have a LEGO wheelchair, if only because they're kind of bulky and annoying to build in the brick.

"I suspect we will never know unless LEGO issues a press release. In fact it's a wonder it is not making a bigger (or any) deal out of it."

I think it's fine that they're not. After all, they don't NEED to.

We have always had the option to make our own wheelchairs or anything be more like we are in real life within the brick system of LEGO. This is non-news to folks who have designed some of their own.

But I am always happy to see a decent spotlight on LEGO.

Lego is making this minifig in wheel-chair, and Barbie just announced new body types for their dolls. Good times for toys and diversity!

Hey guys, i know how to cure this minifigure from his injuries.

Simply remove from chair and bend legs into standing position. XD

NOTE (nice to see a wheelchair though, good for MOCS)

I'm so glad that Lego aren't making a big deal of it. By just including a wheelchair in the set they are saying enough. They don't need to come out with a press release saying 'look how wonderful and inclusive we are!'.

@Chucknorrisiskick: I think he was joking.

Weird, i know several disabled kids who are into LEGO, and, imagine that, what they really want is Ninjas, Dragons and Spaceships. Just like all the other kids. Way to make everything political... This makes me kinda angry.

@pagani88, And you would be right.

I was parodying the clamour from some quarters for greater "inclusion" and the media's propensity for making a big deal out of nothing. As many have pointed out above, you can brick build a wheelchair (albeit one that doesn't look as good/function as well), not all wheelchair users are permanently disabled and there has been a brick built wheelchair in a set before. If you wanted to have paraplegics in your MOCs, you always could and if you wanted to pretend that some or all of your minifigs were deaf, you could do that too.

@Chucknorrisiskick, On a point of information: there have been minifigs with ears. The Collectible Minifigure Elf, Holiday Elf, Goblin and Tiger Lady had visible ears as do some versions of the Green Goblin, most LotR/Hobbit goblins/orcs and elves, and quite a few Chima minifigs. I've probably forgotten some.

@xboxtravis7992
"I just want to know why the preliminary figure has fleshie hands now :)"

He's got vitiligo, clearly. vitiligolikeme makeahugedealoutofeverysocial"issue" hashtagactivism

I really wish these sorts of "movements" would proceed with any sort of grace, but they're so blunt and condescending, making them even more heavy-handed than an after-school special.

It's a LEGO wheelchair. Calm down, mainstream media...

I'm more interested in the baby minifig myself.

@suckerpunch83
Yet it's perfectly logical for you to believe change equates to better?
I prefer brick built solutions, but that doesn't limit me to what sets I acquire. I'll end up with some specialized parts that will just be more difficult to find other uses for. The more useful parts will get plenty of re-use within the modular building system LEGO intended.

BTW I've got a nice bridge leading into my LEGO town under which I'll be sure to add brick-built versions of you and Aanchir.

There has always been the potential to build your own wheel chair out of existing parts. This is a great new piece, and I am glad for the positive press. But gizmodo is way off in their assessments.

I really don't get why the media's raving over a LEGO wheelchair. Sure it's good to represent disabled people, but if the wheelchair was brick built, I highly doubt the media would be onto it as much.

Personally I'm more interested in all the new minifigure prints, the baby mold, the fact that they included a brick built stroller in a City set, and the baby bottle mold, which I'm not familiar with.

I think the funniest thing is that Gizmodo says that the wheelchair is 'embarrassingly overdue'. Like, seriously, LEGO made a wheelchair in 1975. I personally think that a lot of people who are disabled, would prefer to imagine themselves as perfectly "normal" (for lack of better word) in the toy realm.

Disabled people's views on this vary considerably, as I'd expect of any other large group of people. Personally, this disabled person is delighted, both because it looks well designed and because I believe that visible representation matters a lot.

The inclusion of a wheelchair doesn't stop disabled kids or adults imagining ourselves as able-bodied if/when we want to, or from directing our building/playing along lines where disability (or lack thereof) is irrelevant - but it's a hell of a lot more practical to build realistic towns and cities if I don't have to reinvent the wheel(chair) every time by brickbuilding my own - just like with bicycles and horses (thanks, @Aanchir; that's an excellent point).

I also don't see people criticising the park set's other innovation - yes, presumably people have been improvising LEGO babies using heads and cylinders for decades, but it's great to have an official minifig baby and, as with the wheelchair, I hope there'll be more (if TLG are planning a hospital set as some of you theorised, we know for sure that it can have a maternity unit!). I also think we'll still see people brickbuilding their own babies. Innovation doesn't die just because you get a pre-made piece, but it's very nice to have it.

As for all the frustration at the mainstream media's assumptions that campaigning led to the new wheelchair - I don't expect them to be as knowledgeable about TLG's lead times and design process as the average AFOL... any more than I expect able-bodied people to be intimately savvy with decades' worth of disability politics and culture and to realise that we moved beyond "acknowledging disability exists does not equal pity or fixation" some time ago.

@catwrangler: I'm happy about having a wheelchair piece, and it is extremely welcome and a great edition to the growing collection of molds, but is it seriously worth raving about it all over the media? Even if the media isn't as knowledgeable as AFOLs, they are paid to do research and report, so they should at least do some research before out right accusing LEGO of something.

And representing disabled people is great, and I'm certainly a fan of creating new molds to represent things that simply cannot be done perfectly with bricks, but if the media is going to get so hyped about a wheelchair, they might as well do the same with the new baby mold.

Simply my opinion though. I love the wheelchair, but the fact that the media is getting this excited about it, is honestly kind of dumb.

EDIT: (This is mostly amied towards the media, even though it's not like they'll read this): What if a LEGO wheelchair, is just a LEGO wheelchair, not "a step towards cultural equalness? As Matt89190 said, the fact that the Toyslikeme campaign is taking credit for it is ridiculous. It's more likely that LEGO simply had a meeting and some guy suggested that they make a wheelchair mold.

Needs power functions...

I don't know how bad news is in the UK, but the news media here in the U.S. overreacts to things like this all the time. NPR just picked up on it, and we'll be hearing about this story for a long time...

But I actually don't mind this time. It's drawing attention to LEGO, and while it seems trivial, LEGO sales are always a good thing.

@Matt89190 l: Oh, I know that feeling, you spend a bunch of time typing out a massive rant that you're really proud of and then you delete it accidentally.

Anyhow; exactly. Anyone could say that the baby mold is promoting age neutrality, but it's just a baby mold, all LEGO's doing is making a new mold.

Lord, every time I venture into the comments I lose more and more respect for the AFOL community. Just MENTIONS of the word "diversity" and all these guys named "Darth________" lining up to spew venom like a pack of Trump supporters.

"FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS THEY ARE JUST TOYS.... by the way Kylo Ren's shuttle is NOT screen accurate..... Lego please release updated version for $200~ or I will boycott u....."

^

Good point, lol

@Werbals: How in the world does Kylo Den's Command Shuttle fit into a wheelchair discussion?

Is it a pretty cool new piece? Yeah, and it fits in well with other similar "vehicles" like motorbikes, speeders, etc. where it makes more sense and looks better to use a new mold to for the vehicle than to build it from existing parts.

That said, it's insane how the media is spinning this. What's both hilarious and disturbing is the mindset that if you're not deliberately inclusive, you're the devil incarnate.

There're nothing wrong with LEGO creating pieces to represent certain things, but what we have here are people claiming a massive victory for a "disenfranchised minority" by making a plastic wheelchair.

But, I guess this is just reiterating what's already been said. Best of luck to everyone who's going to collect them up for X-Men and hospital MOCs. :P

EDIT: Besides, there really is nothing to indicate that he's necessarily disabled. Maybe he broke his leg and is still healing.

One of the beauties of Lego is it can be what ever you want. If he is permanently disabled, great! If he just broke his leg or something, great! Just like a child could assume that the kid has cancer because he has a beanie hat and he lost his hair because of his sickness. Or maybe its just a cold day. It can be what ever you want it to be and that has always been Lego's philosophy.

The point is for parents to teach their children lessons about life and how to treat others with respect and kindness no matter their outward appetences, not bowing to petitions and being politically correct.

@Galactic Bricks: Exactly, but the media is making it look like the opposite...

@Werbals: How is criticizing the Instrumentalisation of this topic by media and activists "spewing venom like a pack of Trump supporters"?

@darkstonegrey I was referring to Lego with that point. If Lego had never changed anything over the years and stayed with just basic bricks it would be nowhere near where it is today.

And if you are putting me under that bridge at least build me a fire. I'm sure it's awfully cold in your town.