31216 Keith Haring - Dancing Figures revealed!

It's beautiful, but I have no idea where I'd put it. :-)

£21/$24 for each figure, which appear to be constructed of a number of plates, seems pricey.

Will buy with the inevitable price reduction.

I think these are brilliant. But where's Orville?

Oh. Not Harris...

Nice enough looking set. I wish the LEGO Art series focused more on 3D sculptures rather than 2D wall art though.

When I first saw this I was quite tempted, but that was until I learned that the figures were going to be separate as opposed to one print. I'm not sure you'd want to place them apart from each other, they work best together.

I get Lego think it's a good idea to make building a socialable exercise, but it is having the drawback of making those who build alone feel that they're doing something wrong. It's not always good to try and influence introverts into being sociable. It should be their choice.

I think 2 of these dancing figures may have undiagnosed medical conditions.

My mother who was mid-20s in 1990 (when the artist died) recognized the art from back in the day, but not the artist name. I myself am in my early-30's, and had never heard of either before today. It was simply before my time and in a field I don't specifically know much about: Art.
I mean, I enjoy Don McLean's song "Vincent" and the Vincent and the Doctor is one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes and I get a few other artists, (love me some art deco!) but that's it. Am I an uncultured swine? Maybe in other's eyes, but I don't think so.
Can I name most Beatles songs and a large number of one-hit-wonders of the '60s within one or two notes? Yes, ask my family. Can I rattle on about steam locomotives in movies / TV and general older railroad minutia for like hours at a time? Yep, ask anyone who knows me.
But art? I understand some of it. The rest has me scratching my head so much to the point I probably would accidentally cause bleeding....

@MegaBlocks said:
" @lemish34 said:
"I consider myself quite cultured, and interested in art as a medium.
I’ve literally never seen these “famous motifs”, nor heard of the artist!"

Yes, I was exactly this when Lego did a niche painting of a lady called Mona by some artist I'd never heard of."

Well, it’s not like every piece of art can be as famous as The Great Wave…

@AustinPowers:
The LOVE art has been featured on postage stamps in the US, which is where I knew it from, but several copies have been installed around the world. And they’re _huge_!

@Aanchir:
Well, I don’t think we’re likely to see a LEGO set replicating the cover of Nirvana’s iconic 90’s album, Nevermind.

@MegaBlocks said:
" @Videofronta said:
"I'm literally shocked at how many people don't know this artist. Or maybe I'm just too knowledgeable about art?"

You're dealing with AFOLs and niche stuff like some random Anime series will be well known here, but any sort of cultural thing that falls outside of the realm of geek culture (sci-fi, anime, fantasy and superheroes) will be unheard of."

Pretty much this. When it comes to artists, some here might have only heard of the likes of Frida Khalo because she featured on a Simpsons episode, but won't have heard of 'Under the wave of Kanagawa' which @PurpleDave mentions despite it being very well known and literally on Japanese bank notes.

@PurpleDave said:
" @AustinPowers:
The LOVE art has been featured on postage stamps in the US, which is where I knew it from, but several copies have been installed around the world. And they’re _huge_!"
Well, the postage stamps might explain a lot. Then again, I can't even remember the year when I last used an actual postage stamp.
I used to collect them decades ago, and I had many pen friends. But these days, electronic communication has killed the need for writing letters.

I had found out about the oversized LOVE sculptures in the comments section of the set review, but had not seen any yet in real life.

Keith Haring otoh we even had as a subject in school in art lessons, right next to Andy Warhol and other pop art artists.
And the motif was on clothing, rucksacks, stickers, even graffiti on train carriages or house walls.

As every art Lego piece-" cool" but "why?"at the same time

Showing the original next to the Lego version makes the choice of light pink look especially wrong. They have 2 colours that would have looked better and they went for third best because it's cheaper than recolouring parts for a $120 set. Unbelievable.

Modern art.

@Lordmoral said:
"Modern art."

I know. It's awesome.

@lordofdragonss said:
"As every art Lego piece-" cool" but "why?"at the same time"

SO true bro

I hate to be negative, but I am really not liking this.

Well, I’m of a certain age so I know Keith Haring's work well. I’ve just had shelves put up and these would fit in nicely.

@MisterBrickster said:
"The Four Horsemen of the Lego Press Release:

* The "I don't like/want/understand/relate to this so it shouldn't exist" guy.
* The "I'll buy it on clearance as a parts pack" guy, who experts now believe is the same as the first guy but more passive-aggressive.
* The guy who futilely tries to engage with the first two guys.
* Me, posting the same joke I posted last time and hoping no one remembers. "

I not only remember it, I remember pointing out that you forgot the "Why has Lego Star Wars gone so far downhill" guy, who we know as @StyleCounselor. Although after a quick google to find the article in question (https://brickset.com/article/116089/2025-speed-champions-city-and-more-f1-sets-revealed!), I notice that you've changed some of the horsemen.

Quite cool! Very iconic figures, and captured in Lego form very well! I particularly like the motion lines, a small but very important detail.

That said, this is one of those sets I think could do a lot better had it been a few smaller and much cheaper sets. I mean, why not 5 sets of €25 each? I would be much more tempted to pick those up one or two at a time, and they would also be perfect as gifts. But €120 is well above my impulse buy limit when it comes to Lego.

@AdultsAreTalking said:
" @lemish34 said:
"I consider myself quite cultured, and interested in art as a medium.
I’ve literally never seen these “famous motifs”, nor heard of the artist!"

You can't be that cultured then, like at all, he's a very influential queer artist. "

Yes, he's a very influential gay artist that achieved mainstream appeal (as seen with this set).

@MegaBlocks said:
" @AdultsAreTalking said:
" @lemish34 said:
"I consider myself quite cultured, and interested in art as a medium.
I’ve literally never seen these “famous motifs”, nor heard of the artist!"

You can't be that cultured then, like at all, he's a very influential queer artist. "

Yes, he's a very influential gay artist that achieved mainstream appeal (as seen with this set)."

Lol! That’s right. In fact Keith is so well respected he’s considered an ‘Honorary Straight’.

LEGO really needs a more vvibrant magenta color, that pink is NOT a match

Not against sets like this, my preference is that Lego provide sets which are interesting and engaging as a building toy/construction set. So many sets over the last few years suggest they are moving towards lifestyle products which are bland builds but cater for those who want display items which don't engage as a build and better products could be made as display options. Happy for people who like this, sure it's a clever design but surely these could exist as single moulded plastic pieces and not Lego.

This looks fantastic, these shapes in Lego are impressive

@MisterBrickster said:
"The Four Horsemen of the Lego Press Release:

* The "I don't like/want/understand/relate to this so it shouldn't exist" guy.
* The "I'll buy it on clearance as a parts pack" guy, who experts now believe is the same as the first guy but more passive-aggressive.
* The guy who futilely tries to engage with the first two guys.
* Me, posting the same joke I posted last time and hoping no one remembers. "

You're forgetting the "This particular niche is MY niche and anybody who doesn't get it is an idiot" guy. Which is just about everybody on here, to a varying degree.

Ok, yes, it's important, representational, iconic art.

But, can we address the elephant in the room?

These figures just aren't very good at dancing! ;)

Why does every “special” set have to be expensive? I’m gonna sound like a boomer, but I miss sets like the exo-suit 21109, the Delorean 21103 or WALL-E 21303

@Block_n_Roll said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"The Four Horsemen of the Lego Press Release:

* The "I don't like/want/understand/relate to this so it shouldn't exist" guy.
* The "I'll buy it on clearance as a parts pack" guy, who experts now believe is the same as the first guy but more passive-aggressive.
* The guy who futilely tries to engage with the first two guys.
* Me, posting the same joke I posted last time and hoping no one remembers. "

You're forgetting the "This particular niche is MY niche and anybody who doesn't get it is an idiot" guy. Which is just about everybody on here, to a varying degree."

That doesn’t add up to four

@WemWem:
So, funny thing is, once an artist is established on your radar, you can start picking up on their style whenever you run across it. We see it within the AFOL community. I've been told by some people that they can recognize which cars I've built because I have a consistent style, and I've found the same to be true about cars built by other builders. I once started reading a web comic and the artwork seemed eerily familiar. When I checked who the artist was, I immediately knew where I'd seen his art before (Ramon Perez did a bunch of card art for the Legends of the Five Rings CCG, and I'd made a point of collecting all of them). This is an artist who has not been on my radar, and was not taught to me in any class (probably doesn't help that the only art I've studied since his death was part of a behemoth two-semester, 8+7 credit college course called Golden Age Greece). And yes, it is partly about your culture bubble. It makes you more likely to have encountered this artwork before, and for it to hold special meaning for you.

@AdultsAreTalking:
Now, see, that's how you drive people away from your standpoint. Even if a person is X, that doesn't mean they're obsessed with X culture. And if a person isn't, it's even less likely that they will be. To me, this looks too much like ad copy, probably because (as has been pointed out) it has been merchandised so heavily, but without any context to identify the source.

@classicstylecastle:
Ah, so just about a year and a half ago, I caught a couple songs on cycle at a show we do in November, and when I looked them up on YouTube, they came from what might be one of those albums. I would not have made the connection myself, but I can definitely see the resemblance now.

@GrizBe:
So, the reason why I cited The Great Wave is because, after the set was announced, I found out that it's the most widely reproduced piece of art in the world, which I'd previously assumed would be the Mona Lisa (which I think may be the most _recognized_ painting in the world). But since TGWOK was an entire run of woodblock prints, there are possibly as many as 100 surviving "originals" of that image alone (not to mention all the other images in the associated series), with dozens of museums around the world owning one or more copies. It kinda makes sense, knowing that. I've got it on a bookmark, as well as one of the other pieces from that series. A friend of mine got a wooden puzzle of it when he was living in Japan (unfortunately, he couldn't find another copy to send to me).

@AustinPowers:
Postage stamps, plus my mother's taste, plus possibly the fact that she briefly worked in a US Post Office. I had no idea there was even one sculpture, nevermind a whole bunch of them worldwide, but the stamp appealed to my mom, so those were the ones she picked one time. Me, I got about ten sheets of the Batman Forever Stamps a number of years ago, and I'm still (slowly) working my way through them.

@StyleCounselor:
Tauntaun. Can't criticize a thing if you can't even spell it right. Taunton is a town in England. Though, now that I think about it, a mashup of Taunton Castle and Tauntauns could be amusing as heck (anyone wants to run with that, the idea is up for grabs).

@PurpleDave said:
" @WemWem :
So, funny thing is, once an artist is established on your radar, you can start picking up on their style whenever you run across it. We see it within the AFOL community. I've been told by some people that they can recognize which cars I've built because I have a consistent style, and I've found the same to be true about cars built by other builders. I once started reading a web comic and the artwork seemed eerily familiar. When I checked who the artist was, I immediately knew where I'd seen his art before (Ramon Perez did a bunch of card art for the Legends of the Five Rings CCG, and I'd made a point of collecting all of them). This is an artist who has not been on my radar, and was not taught to me in any class (probably doesn't help that the only art I've studied since his death was part of a behemoth two-semester, 8+7 credit college course called Golden Age Greece). And yes, it is partly about your culture bubble. It makes you more likely to have encountered this artwork before, and for it to hold special meaning for you.

@AdultsAreTalking :
Now, see, that's how you drive people away from your standpoint. Even if a person is X, that doesn't mean they're obsessed with X culture. And if a person isn't, it's even less likely that they will be. To me, this looks too much like ad copy, probably because (as has been pointed out) it has been merchandised so heavily, but without any context to identify the source.

@classicstylecastle :
Ah, so just about a year and a half ago, I caught a couple songs on cycle at a show we do in November, and when I looked them up on YouTube, they came from what might be one of those albums. I would not have made the connection myself, but I can definitely see the resemblance now.

@GrizBe :
So, the reason why I cited The Great Wave is because, after the set was announced, I found out that it's the most widely reproduced piece of art in the world, which I'd previously assumed would be the Mona Lisa (which I think may be the most _recognized_ painting in the world). But since TGWOK was an entire run of woodblock prints, there are possibly as many as 100 surviving "originals" of that image alone (not to mention all the other images in the associated series), with dozens of museums around the world owning one or more copies. It kinda makes sense, knowing that. I've got it on a bookmark, as well as one of the other pieces from that series. A friend of mine got a wooden puzzle of it when he was living in Japan (unfortunately, he couldn't find another copy to send to me).

@AustinPowers :
Postage stamps, plus my mother's taste, plus possibly the fact that she briefly worked in a US Post Office. I had no idea there was even one sculpture, nevermind a whole bunch of them worldwide, but the stamp appealed to my mom, so those were the ones she picked one time. Me, I got about ten sheets of the Batman Forever Stamps a number of years ago, and I'm still (slowly) working my way through them.

@StyleCounselor :
Tauntaun. Can't criticize a thing if you can't even spell it right. Taunton is a town in England. Though, now that I think about it, a mashup of Taunton Castle and Tauntauns could be amusing as heck (anyone wants to run with that, the idea is up for grabs)."

Yeah, my editing lately has been the pits- misspellings, forgotten words, botched phrasing, relying on AI. I really need to be better. Of course, maybe we should just chalk it up to youthful indiscretion. ;)

@daniellesa said:
"When I first saw this I was quite tempted, but that was until I learned that the figures were going to be separate as opposed to one print. I'm not sure you'd want to place them apart from each other, they work best together.

I get Lego think it's a good idea to make building a socialable exercise, but it is having the drawback of making those who build alone feel that they're doing something wrong. It's not always good to try and influence introverts into being sociable. It should be their choice."

Been a fan of Keith Haring since highschool.
So great to see this!
Definitely will pick up and now I can use this as a template to attempt other Haring designs.
Maybe a Lego Crack Is Wack can be achieved.
Radiant Baby and Barking Dog definitely can be created.

Just wish they matched the colors better.
The shaping is great but magenta is needed for that fourth figure.
Maybe the blue looks off too.

I was excited when I first heard the rumor. Got more excited when I saw the leak. I actually like that they made them individual, even though it would’ve made more sense together on a white background. I can’t wait.

@StyleCounselor said:
"Yeah, my editing lately has been the pits- misspellings, forgotten words, botched phrasing, relying on AI. I really need to be better. Of course, maybe we should just chalk it up to youthful indiscretion. ;)"

Don't you think you should have stopped playing that card a few decades ago?

...you know, has anyone ever made a brickfilm of these figures finding their Way Out/Exit? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tvtclEYnko0

I'm usually not into the art sets but this one is REALLY cool.

I'm usually not into the art sets but this one is REALLY cool.

Wow, this is amazing! I've seen different forms of Dancing Figures around the world and used as illustrations. They're pretty iconic, but have been so normalized you barely notice when you see them.
But what gets me is how well these shapes have been reproduced by Lego pieces! I especially couldn't believe the motion lines at first glance, until I looked closer and saw the scale.
Of course, I couldn't buy this. It doesn't mean anything to me, and I have no place to put it. My hundred dollars have higher priorities.

@sop said:
" @Block_n_Roll said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"The Four Horsemen of the Lego Press Release:

* The "I don't like/want/understand/relate to this so it shouldn't exist" guy.
* The "I'll buy it on clearance as a parts pack" guy, who experts now believe is the same as the first guy but more passive-aggressive.
* The guy who futilely tries to engage with the first two guys.
* Me, posting the same joke I posted last time and hoping no one remembers. "

You're forgetting the "This particular niche is MY niche and anybody who doesn't get it is an idiot" guy. Which is just about everybody on here, to a varying degree."

That doesn’t add up to four
"

I didn't say it did. But I thought that saying "You need to have a fifth horseman" was unnecessary and that people would get it without further explanation. Clearly I was wrong.

@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @CDM said:
" @lemish34 said:
"I consider myself quite cultured, and interested in art as a medium.
I’ve literally never seen these “famous motifs”, nor heard of the artist!"

He was extremely influential as an artist in the 80s, specifically street art, as well as an activist. Instantly recognizable in American culture, I would assume elsewhere also."

I'm an average American, and I had absolutely no clue what I'm looking at, and had to look it up. Unless you know the artist's work, or were around when he was popular, you probably will never have heard of this and be like 'okay?'. It's not like it's a Andy Warhol pop-art painting, the copies-everywhere LOVE sculpture, a well-loved classic like Starry Night, or even an ancient sculpture that people faintly recognize as Greek or Roman.

I'm not trying to diss the work or artist, but I really don't see this selling much."

I consider myself relatively uncultured, and have no interest whatsoever in art as a medium, but have still heard of these, and seen pictures of them, although I couldn't tell you the artist's name. I think it looks awesome, but I agree with @CDM that it's not on the same level as the Starry Night or Andy Warhol. I see this set as below those sorts of sets but still above 31214 (which it is obviously meant for the same sort of audience as).
It's fun, in the visitors saying "no way *that*'s made of Lego" sort of fun, but I won't be getting it."

If everyone else is throwing their experiences in…

I in the UK and was heavily into art in the 80, and spent 2 years at art college in the early 90’s and never heard of him or seen these figures before.

I guess it’s one of those niche things, that if you were exposed to them they are memorable. But for a lot of us, it’s a surprise that Lego have chose. It as an art set.

I think it depends on if you´re interested in street art or not, if you are, Haring is an absolute cornerstone as the many, many museum and art gallery exibitions over the years has shown.
No Haring, no Banksy.

His artwork has become quite ubiquitous, obviously his estate have gone quite heavy on the licensing, but I suppose it is a democratic form of art.

What I do question (and I still cannot either understand the price or the piece count) is whether there is a market for a £105/$120 set when the usual merchandise is around £20 for a t-shirt, with casual art fans. The set looks good and is a very good recreation of the artwork.

The Van Gogh sets are quite detailed and intricate, I wonder whether the casual observer will bulk at the price for a seemingly flat and basic set?

I expect to see discounts on the set, but then again the majority of Lego Art sets are discounted quite regularly.

@MegaBlocks said:
"His artwork has become quite ubiquitous, obviously his estate have gone quite heavy on the licensing, but I suppose it is a democratic form of art.

What I do question (and I still cannot either understand the price or the piece count) is whether there is a market for a £105/$120 set when the usual merchandise is around £20 for a t-shirt, with casual art fans. The set looks good and is a very good recreation of the artwork.

The Van Gogh sets are quite detailed and intricate, I wonder whether the casual observer will bulk at the price for a seemingly flat and basic set?

I expect to see discounts on the set, but then again the majority of Lego Art sets are discounted quite regularly."

Yeah, I hink the price includes a lot of licensing fees, something that doesn't come with the Van Gogh-sets.
I personally prefer the simplicity of the Haring-set, the Van Gogh sets looks too much like reproductions you could find at any street market, although the parts use is phenomenal of course. The intricacy of the paintings gets lost in their lego version in a way that is not the case regarding the Haring set, there are no details, just brilliantly designed simplicity and therefore I think it will be a set that sells really good.

@PurpleDave said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"Yeah, my editing lately has been the pits- misspellings, forgotten words, botched phrasing, relying on AI. I really need to be better. Of course, maybe we should just chalk it up to youthful indiscretion. ;)"

Don't you think you should have stopped playing that card a few decades ago?"

That card will always come up in the deck... from time to time.

I don't consider myself that well versed in modern and contemporary art, but this is one of the few cases I know both the artist and the art. Looking at 20th century artists, I do know plently of names but wouldn't recognize their work, and I do know plenty of works of art but wouldn't know who made it (like that Love-sculture....). But actually connecting the two? In that regard I'd say for me Haring is in the select company of artists like Warhol, Mondriaan, Dali and Picassso, maybe just a few more that don't pop to mind.

I guarantee that everyone in this thread who says they've "never heard of" Haring has seen his art before and just didn't know who he was. I only learned about him relatively recently as a queer adult, but I'd certainly seen his designs countless times over the years.

I showed this to my wife and she said "that makes me happy," and that's good enough for me! :3

Haring was a gay man, and died at a time "queer" was an offensive word to describe a gay person and used as a form of abuse. Many gay people who grew up in the 20th century consider queer to be a derogatory term.

@StyleCounselor said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"Yeah, my editing lately has been the pits- misspellings, forgotten words, botched phrasing, relying on AI. I really need to be better. Of course, maybe we should just chalk it up to youthful indiscretion. ;)"

Don't you think you should have stopped playing that card a few decades ago?"

That card will always come up in the deck... from time to time. "

The question is not really WHEN but kaWHY?

@Minifig_Jez said:
"I in the UK and was heavily into art in the 80, and spent 2 years at art college in the early 90’s and never heard of him or seen these figures before.

I guess it’s one of those niche things, that if you were exposed to them they are memorable. But for a lot of us, it’s a surprise that Lego have chose. It as an art set. "

I had never heard of the artist, and had no conscious experience with his art, but it’s so suited to the format that you could probably convince people that the painting was based on the LEGO set, rather than the other way around. Throw in the social aspect, and obvious shifts in priorities in Billund over the past decade, and this one seems more inevitable than surprising. And even if it doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest, it turned out really well.

@Lamarider:
And I’m not someone who follows street art. Banksy was the only street artist I could name, and the only two pieces I could cite are the girl with the balloon and the one that shredded itself right after it was won at auction.

@MegaBlocks:
Well, think of it this way. For $20 you can get a shirt that you can wear one day per week. For six times that, you can get a piece of art that you can display seven days per week. That’s like one free day every week.

@StyleCounselor:
Now, is that the full color Joker, or the B/W one?

It's really impressive how much they really do just look like the 2D figures somehow existing in 3D space.

Keith Harring! Dope! So weird to read that there are people that never have heard of him or seen his work.
I think the set is perfect. The figures look superb, and i think that if K.H. Was still alive he would have loved it as well. I thought that his view on art was that it also had to be easy to obtain by everybody and not only the rich (although lego could be seen for the rich nowadays).

@MegaBlocks said:
"Haring was a gay man, and died at a time "queer" was an offensive word to describe a gay person and used as a form of abuse. Many gay people who grew up in the 20th century consider queer to be a derogatory term."

Queer was already being reclaimed before his death, by people of his generation. I doubt he was unaware of it considering his strong links to activist circles.

Love this! Although I appreciate that Keith Harring's death was very premature (from HIV/AIDS as others have mentioned), still I am very surprised that so many folks in the USA don't recognize these iconic graffiti figures from the 80s and 90s. As an artist in New York, he is associated with the USA, but actually he was very popular in Europe and created murals and artworks in the Netherlands, Germany, and many other countries

@LumiWhitmayne said:
"I guarantee that everyone in this thread who says they've "never heard of" Haring has seen his art before and just didn't know who he was. I only learned about him relatively recently as a queer adult, but I'd certainly seen his designs countless times over the years.

I showed this to my wife and she said "that makes me happy," and that's good enough for me! :3"

Yeah, before this article posted, I don't know that I'd ever heard the name, but I've definitely seen his figures in various places.

@DrGenie said:
"Love this! Although I appreciate that Keith Harring's death was very premature (from HIV/AIDS as others have mentioned), still I am very surprised that so many folks in the USA don't recognize these iconic graffiti figures from the 80s and 90s. As an artist in New York, he is associated with the USA, but actually he was very popular in Europe and created murals and artworks in the Netherlands, Germany, and many other countries"

While they may not agree, there’s a _LOT_ of the US that’s not NYC, or beholden to them. There was no public internet at the time. And until Magic Johnson announced that he was also infected, HIV/AIDS was rather taboo as a disease associated very specifically with gay men. He just died at a time when mainstream media wouldn’t have made a big deal about it, and people outside of certain circles wouldn’t have heard about him otherwise.

@wyldrunner said:
"I'm happy that I will be saving a lot of money this year because of the direction Lego is going. It's helping me to kick the habit!"
What direction would you prefer, that isn't being covered?

I think it's quite wonderful that this kit will introduce him and his work to new people.

@wyldrunner said:
" @sjr60 said:
" @wyldrunner said:
"I'm happy that I will be saving a lot of money this year because of the direction Lego is going. It's helping me to kick the habit!"
What direction would you prefer, that isn't being covered?"

I'm open to many directions, but the sets released overall this year, across themes, have been less compelling to me than in the past. It's not a bad thing. It's a bit of a relief in fact."
Lol... Enjoy your numerous upcoming set purchases!

Just the thought of a universe in which I would feel compelled to buy mor than, say, 10% of all sets Lego releases....the horror....the horror.

@Hiratha said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"Haring was a gay man, and died at a time "queer" was an offensive word to describe a gay person and used as a form of abuse. Many gay people who grew up in the 20th century consider queer to be a derogatory term."

Queer was already being reclaimed before his death, by people of his generation. I doubt he was unaware of it considering his strong links to activist circles.
"

He died in 1990, it is a real stretch to say the word was already "reclaimed" then. It was still an offensive term in the 2000s, and many gay people still find it offensive today.

@Djhorn said:
" @Somnium said:
"The niche of the niche of the niche. Waste of resources. "

what are you even talking about? just because you are not personally aware of something does not mean it doesn't have appeal.

Keith Haring's estate has done collaborations with dozens/hundreds of major brands through the years and they would not continue doing so if his work did not have enduring appeal.

This is one that feels like a natural fit and I'm honestly surprised it has not happened sooner. "

100% this. Well said.
Because the set doesn't appeal to me, for example, doesn't mean there isn't thousands of people who will love it. It's great to have a lot of variety in Lego's catalog.

@MegaBlocks said:
" @Hiratha said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"Haring was a gay man, and died at a time "queer" was an offensive word to describe a gay person and used as a form of abuse. Many gay people who grew up in the 20th century consider queer to be a derogatory term."

Queer was already being reclaimed before his death, by people of his generation. I doubt he was unaware of it considering his strong links to activist circles.
"

He died in 1990, it is a real stretch to say the word was already "reclaimed" then. It was still an offensive term in the 2000s, and many gay people still find it offensive today."

queer was reclaimed as far back as the 80s. if you personally have a problem with the term that's your prerogative, but me and all of my fellow queer friends use it, and it is literally part of the LGTBQIA+ acronym.

This Art set is amazing and a day 1 purchase for me. And an example of Lego not pandering to political views on LGBT representation …….shame they didn’t take the same political approach with Jabba’s Palace!!!
Having said that, anyone who doesn’t know Keith Haring is entitled to their opinion, but when huge fashion retailers like Primark do a capsule collection of his prints on T-shirts/Sweats and socks etc and they sell out in a matter of days is evidence that he is still relevant today as he ever was.
I saw a young lad with his mother in a supermarket a few months ago and he was wearing a Keith Haring print hoodie, he was about 12 years of age…..go figure!!!

@fakejsf said:
"queer was reclaimed as far back as the 80s. if you personally have a problem with the term that's your prerogative, but me and all of my fellow queer friends use it, and it is literally part of the LGTBQIA+ acronym."

One of my friends from college, who is also in that acronym, still finds it highly offensive. His uncle, who was one of the few family members he was close to, was gay, and had that term used in a pejorative manner against him, and…stuff happened. So it still carries a lot of dark, personal baggage for him, no matter if every other person on the planet agrees that it’s an inoffensive term. If you want to use it, there’s nothing wrong with that, but if he doesn’t want to hear it uttered in his presence, it’s not your place to tell him he’s wrong.

@obiron17:
They didn’t do anything with Jabba’s Palace. One guy complained, they told him it was retiring that year, and said guy crowed about taking down the evil giant. It was _always_ going to retire at some point, and the timing looks pretty standard in my book, so there’s nothing to indicate that they caved to his demands rather than simply informing him of the existing product lifespan schedule.

These are absolutely cute, love them! I love the Lego art series. I wish I could buy all of them! One of my favorite murals in my city is by Keith Haring.

Hmm...
Dancing Figures or Mario Kart on May 15th....
Both excellent.
Decisions, Decisions!

@PurpleDave said:
" @yellowcastle said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"Yeah, my editing lately has been the pits- misspellings, forgotten words, botched phrasing, relying on AI. I really need to be better. Of course, maybe we should just chalk it up to youthful indiscretion. ;)"

Don't you think you should have stopped playing that card a few decades ago?"

That card will always come up in the deck... from time to time. "

The question is not really WHEN but kaWHY?"

Now, is that the full color Joker, or the B/W one?"

Definitely full-color and always (wuzzup fellow young people). ;)

@PurpleDave said:
" @fakejsf said:
"queer was reclaimed as far back as the 80s. if you personally have a problem with the term that's your prerogative, but me and all of my fellow queer friends use it, and it is literally part of the LGTBQIA+ acronym."

One of my friends from college, who is also in that acronym, still finds it highly offensive. His uncle, who was one of the few family members he was close to, was gay, and had that term used in a pejorative manner against him, and…stuff happened. So it still carries a lot of dark, personal baggage for him, no matter if every other person on the planet agrees that it’s an inoffensive term. If you want to use it, there’s nothing wrong with that, but if he doesn’t want to hear it uttered in his presence, it’s not your place to tell him he’s wrong."

Yes, very true. I think the people very happy to use the term "queer" are those who haven't had to live through the years of bigotry where it was a term commonly heard during homophobic assaults.

@AlfredHitchcock said:
"Keith Haring is VERY well known in the broader art community in the western world. While I certainly understand that many people may still not have heard of him, I think it's best to do a minimum amount of research before spouting off about how obscure this subject is or how poorly it will fare in the marketplace. This goes for ANY product that LEGO introduces. "

My thoughts exactly! And not only in America btw, when I talk about Keith Haring in my classes, the children might not have heard about the artist, but they’ve all seen those figures! So I’d say it’s still VERY relavant!

@PurpleDave said:
" @obiron17 :
They didn’t do anything with Jabba’s Palace. One guy complained, they told him it was retiring that year, and said guy crowed about taking down the evil giant. It was _always_ going to retire at some point, and the timing looks pretty standard in my book, so there’s nothing to indicate that they caved to his demands rather than simply informing him of the existing product lifespan schedule."

Not entirely correct, some SW sets have ran for nearly 8 years. And, when Boba Fetts palace was released it was ridiculously short of its roof and a stupidly short stumpy tower. And Jabba’s palace hasn’t been remade since. A source of rich material, from a very popular section of the SW films, isn’t being remade??? Would be interesting to see how long it takes TLG to do another Jabba’s Palace and you and I can compare notes on just how long that will be.

@MegaBlocks said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @fakejsf said:
"queer was reclaimed as far back as the 80s. if you personally have a problem with the term that's your prerogative, but me and all of my fellow queer friends use it, and it is literally part of the LGTBQIA+ acronym."

One of my friends from college, who is also in that acronym, still finds it highly offensive. His uncle, who was one of the few family members he was close to, was gay, and had that term used in a pejorative manner against him, and…stuff happened. So it still carries a lot of dark, personal baggage for him, no matter if every other person on the planet agrees that it’s an inoffensive term. If you want to use it, there’s nothing wrong with that, but if he doesn’t want to hear it uttered in his presence, it’s not your place to tell him he’s wrong."

Yes, very true. I think the people very happy to use the term "queer" are those who haven't had to live through the years of bigotry where it was a term commonly heard during homophobic assaults."

In my experience, it's been quite the opposite. The only people I've seen argue against reclaiming the word "queer" have been sheltered, discourse-poisoned Tumblr teens. My wife was bullied, beaten up, and called every slur under the sun as a kid, and she's proud to call herself queer today.

@MegaBlocks:
Age doesn't really have anything to do with it. Go back far enough, and it was universally an insult, but at some point an individual who had only experienced it that way decided they'd had enough and chose to start reclaiming it. And years later, someone can just as easily put the word back to its original use, and it can be just as traumatic, because it's about the experience, not the word.

@LumiWhitmayne:
And yes, even after it has been reclaimed, someone else can come along and fashion a prison of their own making, and give the word back all of its original power. The world has become littered with echo chamber societies who embrace self-propogating fears and choose to wall themselves off from the larger world because they're convinced the worst is inevitable. And they're right, because they subject themselves to it every single day.

@obiron17:
The UCS Sail Barge is only the fifth set to feature Jabba in 26 years. Three have been the Sail Barge, and the other two have been his throne room. It's not like an X-Wing, where there's always one on the shelf (which is one of the main reasons some non-UCS sets have run that long). The second one was designed to interface with the only Rancor pit they've ever released, which is probably the only reason they actually incorporated the look of the exterior. The first one certainly didn't even hint at it, so it's not like Boba Fett's throne room was really expected to include the exterior either.

@MegaBlocks said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @fakejsf said:
"queer was reclaimed as far back as the 80s. if you personally have a problem with the term that's your prerogative, but me and all of my fellow queer friends use it, and it is literally part of the LGTBQIA+ acronym."

One of my friends from college, who is also in that acronym, still finds it highly offensive. His uncle, who was one of the few family members he was close to, was gay, and had that term used in a pejorative manner against him, and…stuff happened. So it still carries a lot of dark, personal baggage for him, no matter if every other person on the planet agrees that it’s an inoffensive term. If you want to use it, there’s nothing wrong with that, but if he doesn’t want to hear it uttered in his presence, it’s not your place to tell him he’s wrong."

Yes, very true. I think the people very happy to use the term "queer" are those who haven't had to live through the years of bigotry where it was a term commonly heard during homophobic assaults."

That only makes sense if you ignore how time works. Queer was first reclaimed in the 80s and the movement to do so gained even more momentum in the 90s. It wasn’t today’s twenty-something’s time-travelling back to do it - it was the exact same people you’re claiming would never like the sound of it.

It also requires ignoring how “gay” was so thoroughly poisoned as a slur and a word that there had to be mass media campaigns to try and get people to stop using it as an all-purpose “that sucks” term. You think no-one had it yelled at them during violent abuse? No-one had lesbian yelled at them? You’d be wrong.

All our words are slurs, because the problem people have with us has never been the words, it’s been *us*. You can put them aside in sadness and in trauma, or you can reclaim them with pride and shove it back in everyone’s faces that actually, yeah, you are gay, or queer, or a lesbian, and you’re happy about that actually. You’re proud.

Either one is fine on a personal level. We can’t help what burns us too much to hold. But what isn’t fine is trying to sanctimoniously tell off people in the community for using one of the ones *you* don’t like as if they must have never suffered so much as a cruel word and are being naïve ignorant little inconsiderate babies if they disagree with you.

The people who first reclaimed it are in their fifties and sixties! They aren’t children.

@LumiWhitmayne said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @fakejsf said:
"queer was reclaimed as far back as the 80s. if you personally have a problem with the term that's your prerogative, but me and all of my fellow queer friends use it, and it is literally part of the LGTBQIA+ acronym."

One of my friends from college, who is also in that acronym, still finds it highly offensive. His uncle, who was one of the few family members he was close to, was gay, and had that term used in a pejorative manner against him, and…stuff happened. So it still carries a lot of dark, personal baggage for him, no matter if every other person on the planet agrees that it’s an inoffensive term. If you want to use it, there’s nothing wrong with that, but if he doesn’t want to hear it uttered in his presence, it’s not your place to tell him he’s wrong."

Yes, very true. I think the people very happy to use the term "queer" are those who haven't had to live through the years of bigotry where it was a term commonly heard during homophobic assaults."

In my experience, it's been quite the opposite. The only people I've seen argue against reclaiming the word "queer" have been sheltered, discourse-poisoned Tumblr teens. My wife was bullied, beaten up, and called every slur under the sun as a kid, and she's proud to call herself queer today."

To be fair to the teens, it’s as much or more because TERFs - knowing that queer having validity as an umbrella term harms their goal of forcing trans people out of community and solidarity - went on a deliberate campaign to try and intentionally fool them with puritanical nonsense as it is any organic movement, and I have hope that most of the teens will grow out of it. Even if they are extremely irritating in the mean time.

@AdultsAreTalking said:
" @lemish34 said:
"I consider myself quite cultured, and interested in art as a medium.
I’ve literally never seen these “famous motifs”, nor heard of the artist!"

You can't be that cultured then, like at all, he's a very influential queer artist. "

Well, I’m not queer, and I live in Australia.
I was also born in the early-80’s, and lived much of the 80’s in Southeast Asia, so I don’t imagine American pop art was too popular there at the time!

I’ve also been to at least a hundred art galleries and museums in Australia, America and elsewhere, and don’t recall seeing these motifs or hearing about this artist at all.

@CDM said:
" @lemish34 said:
"I consider myself quite cultured, and interested in art as a medium.
I’ve literally never seen these “famous motifs”, nor heard of the artist!"

He was extremely influential as an artist in the 80s, specifically street art, as well as an activist. Instantly recognizable in American culture, I would assume elsewhere also."

Never assume.
It makes an ASS out of U and ME!
??

Also, it astonishes me that there’s around 350 pieces per dancing figure! (Including stand).
That’s at least double what each looks like, from the box art!

@lemish34 said:
" @AdultsAreTalking said:
" @lemish34 said:
"I consider myself quite cultured, and interested in art as a medium.
I’ve literally never seen these “famous motifs”, nor heard of the artist!"

You can't be that cultured then, like at all, he's a very influential queer artist. "

Well, I’m not queer, and I live in Australia.
I was also born in the early-80’s, and lived much of the 80’s in Southeast Asia, so I don’t imagine American pop art was too popular there at the time!

I’ve also been to at least a hundred art galleries and museums in Australia, America and elsewhere, and don’t recall seeing these motifs or hearing about this artist at all."

Keith Haring was invited to visit Australia in 1984 and, as well as participating in several art & fashion events, painted a mural in Melbourne that still exists and is protected as a Heritage site. There was also a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 1996/1997, and a Haring/Basquiat joint exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2019-2020, so I think that demonstrates a degree of contemporary and enduring popularity that extends to Australia.

There’s no shame in not knowing an artist, none whatsoever, but equally an individual not knowing something doesn’t really say anything about whether it’s generally known or not. It only really means they might eventually get to be one of xkcd’s Lucky Ten Thousand.

The performative bafflement in brickset comments is always so funny. Haring has been licensed so much that he’s ubiquitous as a brand: I have Sally Hansen / Keith Haring nail polish. My friend’s toddler has a Haring tracksuit. And if you’ve taken art history you’d know that there is a false divide between monetization and expression: art has always been about shameless self-promotion.

Dunno about claimed or reclaimed. Loved 'Quare Bungle Rye' by the 'Dubliners' in the sixties, when it just meant unusual!

@Hiratha:
My friend's issue isn't so much with the word as it is with the repercussions that followed. He doesn't begrudge the use of it, but he doesn't want to be there to experience it for intensely personal reasons. I don't use it myself, partly out of respect for his history, and partly because it still feels like an insult to me. It's one thing to reclaim a word that belongs to you, but it's not as simple when it doesn't.

And in my experience, pre-internet, the closer to the fringe you got, the more likely you were to end up becoming an island alone. For those who grew up with the internet, though, from an early age, they were able to seek out those who share the same beliefs, to the point where they could even seek out those who were in 100% agreement with them on all things. Consequently, they were removed from conflicting viewpoints that force them to examine and defend their own beliefs. Over time, subjecting yourself to this sort of echo chamber mentality always seems to result in feeling like you're in line with the majority, and that you have a moderate stance, when neither is remotely true. I've seen this happen with friends, family, and coworkers, from both ends of the political spectrum. I've also seen way too much "fight fire with fire" mentality when it comes to political and social issues. And I've seen too many instances of thought-police who are just kids who haven't lived long enough to know the full story before telling everyone else what's what. But that's where you wind up when you live in an echo chamber. I don't believe for a minute that this is a situation caused from outside. For one thing, I've seen a lot of offensive words get hurled at the trans community, but never that one.

@lemish34 said:
"Also, it astonishes me that there’s around 350 pieces per dancing figure! (Including stand).
That’s at least double what each looks like, from the box art!"

It's not the size of the figures, but the thickness. The front image consists of a colored shape surrounded by a black line of uniform width. There's no way for the black outline to connect to the shape it surrounds except by adding layers behind it. Simply creating strength is going to require a minimum of two additional layers, and I'd probably add at least one more. Making those layers without disrupting the shape created by the outline is going to really complicate things and drive the piece count up.

@PurpleDave

I was responding specifically to a comment about Tumblr teens, and we do know for a fact that that TERF Tumblr campaign both exists and is the source of those teenagers getting weird ideas. It isn’t because TERFs want to insult trans people with specific words: it’s because they want to dismantle the whole idea of solidarity between different letters of the acronym, and queer, as a non-specific umbrella term, makes that harder for them. (Plus, they’re not all that keen on bisexual & asexual people either, and bisexual people in particular have gravitated towards queer.)

But as it happens, I have seen trans people insulted with it - just not by TERFs specifically.

When I saw a first picture of this, I didn't thought it was real. The more often I look at it, the more I appreciate the artwork. I like the unique, organic shapes!

@mmillers said:
"The performative bafflement in brickset comments is always so funny. Haring has been licensed so much that he’s ubiquitous as a brand: I have Sally Hansen / Keith Haring nail polish. My friend’s toddler has a Haring tracksuit."

That sword cuts both ways, though. Again, if you don't run in certain circles, there's no reason you would have heard his name. Where I grew up, we didn't have celebrated street artists. We just had the lowest form of graffiti, which was treated as vandalism. If there were any street murals, awareness of them would have been very localized. The only art history I can recall being taught focused on ancient Greece, the European Renaissance, or pre-WWII 20th century. Modern art wasn't considered significant enough to teach in K-12, and in college you wouldn't have been forced to take a course on modern art unless you were an art major.

I grew up in a small resort town. We were hours away from any major center for the arts. That I am aware of, we had no real connection to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The next town over had a large gay community, which I expect drew most of them away from all of the surrounding communities. There's simply no reason that this artist would have become famous in that town, because there was no personal connection. If an adult from the western world says they've never heard of the Mona Lisa, it's fair to raise an eyebrow, but it appears from the comments here that, depending on your personal background, Haring is either highly famous, or a complete unknown, and that his artwork is far more well known than his name.

"And if you’ve taken art history you’d know that there is a false divide between monetization and expression: art has always been about shameless self-promotion."

Ah, but there is still a sharp divide between amateur and professional. A professional who puts on a gallery show expects/hopes to sell everything that's on display by the time the show wraps up, and probably even get new commissions. I'm on the other end of that spectrum. I put my stuff on display to show it to other people, yes, but I've turned down any attempts to buy one of my creations, without even discussing what price anyone would be willing to pay. When I've created something for someone else, there's always been a personal element, and I can still count on one hand the number of other people who own an original piece of my design that didn't involve theft.

@Slave2lego said:
"I started at ‘WTF’ moved swiftly through ‘meh’ tip toed past ‘too pricey’ just about to arrive at ‘cool AF I’m getting it’"

Better change your name to Boba’s(or Jango if you prefer) Starfighter2Lego. Don’t want TLG to see your name & get upset.

@PurpleDave said:
" @MegaBlocks:
Age doesn't really have anything to do with it. Go back far enough, and it was universally an insult, but at some point an individual who had only experienced it that way decided they'd had enough and chose to start reclaiming it. And years later, someone can just as easily put the word back to its original use, and it can be just as traumatic, because it's about the experience, not the word.

@LumiWhitmayne:
And yes, even after it has been reclaimed, someone else can come along and fashion a prison of their own making, and give the word back all of its original power. The world has become littered with echo chamber societies who embrace self-propogating fears and choose to wall themselves off from the larger world because they're convinced the worst is inevitable. And they're right, because they subject themselves to it every single day.

@obiron17:
The UCS Sail Barge is only the fifth set to feature Jabba in 26 years. Three have been the Sail Barge, and the other two have been his throne room. It's not like an X-Wing, where there's always one on the shelf (which is one of the main reasons some non-UCS sets have run that long). The second one was designed to interface with the only Rancor pit they've ever released, which is probably the only reason they actually incorporated the look of the exterior. The first one certainly didn't even hint at it, so it's not like Boba Fett's throne room was really expected to include the exterior either."

Boba Fett’s throne room has enough exterior detail…a front entrance with plenty of detail and play actions included, a ‘curved’ exterior (including a snake/worm accessory). That’s hardly a take on not expecting an exterior. And why was a tower included if it wasn’t meant to represent the building in some way and not just a ‘Throne Room’??
The roof is cut short at the dome, and for a reason. TLG have pandered to a demographic and don’t want to stand their ground on it and produce a detailed Jabba’s palace in the same vein as Mos Eisley Cantina set.
As I said, let’s see how long it takes for us to see another Jabba’s palace…….

@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @CDM said:
" @lemish34 said:
"I consider myself quite cultured, and interested in art as a medium.
I’ve literally never seen these “famous motifs”, nor heard of the artist!"

He was extremely influential as an artist in the 80s, specifically street art, as well as an activist. Instantly recognizable in American culture, I would assume elsewhere also."

I'm an average American, and I had absolutely no clue what I'm looking at, and had to look it up. Unless you know the artist's work, or were around when he was popular, you probably will never have heard of this and be like 'okay?'. It's not like it's a Andy Warhol pop-art painting, the copies-everywhere LOVE sculpture, a well-loved classic like Starry Night, or even an ancient sculpture that people faintly recognize as Greek or Roman.

I'm not trying to diss the work or artist, but I really don't see this selling much."

I consider myself relatively uncultured, and have no interest whatsoever in art as a medium, but have still heard of these, and seen pictures of them, although I couldn't tell you the artist's name. I think it looks awesome, but I agree with @CDM that it's not on the same level as the Starry Night or Andy Warhol. I see this set as below those sorts of sets but still above 31214 (which it is obviously meant for the same sort of audience as).
It's fun, in the visitors saying "no way *that*'s made of Lego" sort of fun, but I won't be getting it."

Interesting to see there are self-proclaimed 'cultured' people here who have no clue about one of pop art's most influential figures. You really don't need to be an art buff to have encountered his work -- we probably all did at some point, even if it is unknowingly. I especially enjoy his artwork every year at Yuletide, because he painted the cover for the famous MTV charity album A Very Special Christmas.

Anyway, good to see Haring's work getting the LEGO treatment. Looks awesome.

@Hiratha said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @fakejsf said:
"queer was reclaimed as far back as the 80s. if you personally have a problem with the term that's your prerogative, but me and all of my fellow queer friends use it, and it is literally part of the LGTBQIA+ acronym."

One of my friends from college, who is also in that acronym, still finds it highly offensive. His uncle, who was one of the few family members he was close to, was gay, and had that term used in a pejorative manner against him, and…stuff happened. So it still carries a lot of dark, personal baggage for him, no matter if every other person on the planet agrees that it’s an inoffensive term. If you want to use it, there’s nothing wrong with that, but if he doesn’t want to hear it uttered in his presence, it’s not your place to tell him he’s wrong."

Yes, very true. I think the people very happy to use the term "queer" are those who haven't had to live through the years of bigotry where it was a term commonly heard during homophobic assaults."

That only makes sense if you ignore how time works. Queer was first reclaimed in the 80s and the movement to do so gained even more momentum in the 90s. It wasn’t today’s twenty-something’s time-travelling back to do it - it was the exact same people you’re claiming would never like the sound of it.

It also requires ignoring how “gay” was so thoroughly poisoned as a slur and a word that there had to be mass media campaigns to try and get people to stop using it as an all-purpose “that sucks” term. You think no-one had it yelled at them during violent abuse? No-one had lesbian yelled at them? You’d be wrong.

All our words are slurs, because the problem people have with us has never been the words, it’s been *us*. You can put them aside in sadness and in trauma, or you can reclaim them with pride and shove it back in everyone’s faces that actually, yeah, you are gay, or queer, or a lesbian, and you’re happy about that actually. You’re proud.

Either one is fine on a personal level. We can’t help what burns us too much to hold. But what isn’t fine is trying to sanctimoniously tell off people in the community for using one of the ones *you* don’t like as if they must have never suffered so much as a cruel word and are being naïve ignorant little inconsiderate babies if they disagree with you.

The people who first reclaimed it are in their fifties and sixties! They aren’t children. "

Very well put! Thank you!

And I especially appreciate this:
"All our words are slurs, because the problem people have with us has never been the words, it’s been *us*."

@GeneralJSmith said:
"Why does every “special” set have to be expensive? I’m gonna sound like a boomer, but I miss sets like the exo-suit 21109, the Delorean 21103 or WALL-E 21303"

Price is based on the cost of the elements included (along with licensing, and who knows how much that is). With this particular set, I truly doubt that they could have made the piece count appreciably lower. In order to so perfectly replicate the original images, it looks like this is the smallest scale they could go with.