Interview with Matthew Ashton and Diego Sancho, designers of 10291 Queer Eye - The Fab 5 Loft
Posted by CapnRex101,
Before the announcement of 10291 Queer Eye - The Fab 5 Loft, Brickset and other Fan Media had an opportunity to ask questions of Matthew Ashton and Diego Sancho, the model and graphic designers, respectively.
Brickset: 10291 Queer Eye - The Fab 5 Loft is the latest in an incredibly diverse selection of LEGO sets produced within the last two years, exploring countless different subjects. Is the intent to attract an equally diverse group of people to LEGO, with different interests?
Matthew: Exactly. We recognise that the audience for Queer Eye is probably quite different to the established LEGO fan base. For example, women are an important demographic for Queer Eye and we would love to improve the interaction between women and LEGO. There are plenty of people who have given no thought to LEGO since childhood and products covering different interest areas can reignite that passion.
We are also fortunate to have a passionate fan base already, who might have enjoyed LEGO throughout their lifetime. Developing sets which expand the fan base further benefits everyone!
Diego, did you experience particular pressure when designing minifigures depicting real people, rather than fictional characters?
Diego: It was definitely a challenge because we have never tried to recreate a real person with modern fashions in minifigure form. Matthew and I worked well together though and there is plenty of reference material for different outfits, which makes things easier. There absolutely was the pressure or wondering what the Queer Eye team would think, but they were very pleased!
Matthew: They were delighted and there was no feedback questioning why we had chosen certain outfits, or why their minifigures looked a particular way! Diego was really respectful of the team and we tried to capture specific quirks too. Antoni, for instance, has a tendency to curl his lip when talking or smiling, so we recreated that nuance on the minifigure. We wanted to reflect who they are as people, beyond their appearances alone.
The instructions reveal a particularly close collaboration with the Queer Eye team. Are so close collaborations unusual for LEGO?
Matthew: The development process was unusual in some respects, especially with Bobby's contributions because he is a designer by trade. He returned to LEGO during lockdown and he was incredibly passionate about the collaboration. Bobby contributed reference material and was able to identify details for inclusion that were not necessarily apparent from watching the show.
Establishing the layout was quite difficult here and Bobby's perspective was invaluable there, allowing us to include different areas for each minifigure and capturing details from the series. From there, Diego and I could finalise the design and produce something consistent with other LEGO sets.
Makeover programmes sometimes have negative associations. Queer Eye avoids such problems, but were potential negative connotations a concern during development?
Matthew: Obviously, the fan base for Queer Eye will understand the nature of the series, and how positive it is. However, we have prepared some marketing material which we hope will promote the positive focus of the show to LEGO fans more generally. On that level, I think we are in a good place.
Also, the modern interior design and contemporary fashions might attract people more interested in that side of things, rather than Queer Eye specifically. Of course, this may open questions about LEGO representing other reality shows and that is highly unlikely. Queer Eye is so special and ties nicely with what we want to stand for, as a brand.
You can read more commentary from Matthew and Diego on Jay's Brick Blog. Thanks also to DrKatBuilds, TrickyBricks and BrickBanter for their contributions.
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46 comments on this article
I'm troubled with LEGO's hypocrisy of late.
We stand for LGBT rights - but at the same time we will not sell the "Everyone is Awesome" in China anymore, same with upcoming Queer Eye probably.
We do not sell military vehicles like the evil Osprey - even though we have sold multiple retro, modern and futuristic war-related sets. Still boggles my mind how they went through partnership with the real manufacturer, design and manufacture process only to realize it's a military vehicle when it was ready to hit the shelves.
Only the best is good enough - too bad the newer bricks are noticeably worse quality than ones from 80s and 90s, brittle torsos, inconsistent coloring, slightly transparent bricks and bad print quality.
As much as I like LEGO, I'm not so sure about the direction it's all heading, seems to me profit is their number one concern nowadays.
I see a finger hovering over the lock button!
@djcbs said:
""If you were concerned about "representation", you wouldn't keep insulting over 2 billion Christians every year by completely ignoring the meaning of Christmas and making your sets all about a fictional fat man who works for Coca-Cola."
Lego don’t do any sets involving religion, so of course they don’t do the christian part of Christmas.
Santa also preexists Coke painting him red
I agree it's slightly disappointing that the answers come across as quite corporate, but I'm not sure what else you would expect. It's not as if a business is likely to ever come out and say "We're releasing this product because we think a lot of people will buy it and we like money" or "Sometimes we release products that interest us as designers, and support causes we believe in, and anyone who is upset by the fact this set represents, and so might appeal to, an LGBT+ audience **edited by moderator for language**"
Happy to say that second one for them though.
^
Never, good sir! I refuse to grow up! Won't do it! Nah!
I may be able to summon enough maturity to keep my comments in these sections civil...maybe...no promises...but grow up? Not ever, I tells ya! Never!
Am I allowed to say I never heard about this TV show ? Think it is a not so special set, just another variation of the Seinfeld and Friends sets.
@Snaz said:
"Before the inevitable opinion war, GROW UP. You don't need to argue with strangers on the internet over a toy. "
This
I’ll try to stay out of my social beliefs as much as I can but I just want to clear some things up.
- They still display Everyone is Awesome on the Chinese LEGO.com, idk if you can buy it off of there but the LGBTQIA+ imagery and message is still intact. The belief that China is homophobic (at least in regards to censorship) is a bit of a fallacy, they don’t censor gay scenes there, at least not in Rise of Skywalker (they did in Singapore). Proof that you can still view EIA on China LEGO.com: https://www.lego.com/zh-cn/product/everyone-is-awesome-40516
- I live in a very Christian area as far as SoCal goes and nobody has a problem with Santa Claus, granted they also put up nativity decorations but the point is they don’t hate Santa. I hate how Christmas has become just another “buy stuff” holiday but I wouldn’t say LEGO is insulting Christians whatsoever.
- I do find it strange (perhaps queer) that women would be the main audience of Queer Eye given that the Fab Five are only attracted to other men but I’m sure they’re telling the truth. It’s a pretty common joke that straight men are attracted to lesbian scenes in media so the reverse could be true, as well. This isn’t even bringing in non-binary folks.
- I’m not sure how LEGO is pandering to SJWs just by acknowledging that gay people exist. This isn’t a LEGO Antifa set or anything, LGBTQIA+ people aren’t inherently political— from what I’ve seen, a lot of them are just trying to live their lives. The asexual gender-fluid kid at my school with LGBTQIA+ stickers on their backpack is also against the vaccine. The kid who brought a trans flag to school doesn’t care about politics. There’s another trans kid who is an SJW. People of any sexuality or identity can have any stance for any reason.
Other than that, I’m just gonna sit out of this, I’d say I’m expecting a conflict but it could end without a flame war, idk. Again, I don’t wanna get involved but I’ll just say that I was happily reading this article while listening to a church livestream in my mom’s room— you can be Christian and pro-LGBTQIA+, these aren’t mutually exclusive.
^^ Your comment has crossed the line. It's LEGO, not legos!
Such talk will result in being banned ;-)
"seems to me profit is their number one concern" well, perhaps. I'm afraid the Revolution didn't happen so we're stuck with capitalism for a bit longer, sorry about that.
Lego are the most successful manufacturer in this field and produce a lot of stuff and hence a lot of profit. If they were orientated towards maximising profit at all costs they wouldn't make fairly niche products like this- although they would make military stuff.
The Winter Festival isn't Christmas any more. I'm happy about that: religion is, I'm afraid, very divisive and we're better off leaving religion to religious people.
Representing religious subjects would be discriminatory and so would NOT representing LGBT folk.
I'm being divisive myself, aren't I? It's not an "LBGT Show"- it's a show which (I understand) features LGBT people. Or, possibly just G people. None of my business, really.
Lego, feel free to keep ripping off us poor gullible customers- as long as you do it for good stuff we like to get- sometimes you hit one of my niches very nicely
@ALEGOMan said:
"Many great Ideas sets getting shoved away for sets that push agendas."
Unless Sonic the Hedgehog and Home Alone have hidden agendas that I'm not aware of, have you uhhh
actually looked at an Ideas set from the past several years
@ALEGOMan said:
"This set has made me boycott lego eternally, I refuse to buy another product from them again, and you are right in saying that the quality has decreased, mainly because of the China factories that opened, try getting a set with mostly white pieces, they're totally different shades of yellow/white, and the stickers are awful, printed bricks are wonky, reddish brown/dark red bricks break constantly and reading this article just made me really think about it. Many great Ideas sets getting shoved away for sets that push agendas. It will be a hard adjustment, hard to resist buying new sets, but i have enough and i'm happy with that, I have to move on now."
^_^ And please if you do stick around after all, I would advise you to change your nick to ALEGOPerson.
@ALEGOMan said:
"This set has made me boycott lego eternally,"
This isn't an airport. You don't need to announce your departure.
Bye Felicia.
No one seems to recognize that the reason for the Queer Eye set is not one person pushing an agenda, but instead Lego recognizing that the values which Queer Eye espouses line up very closely with Legos own values. That's why the set makes sense.
If those values offend or upset you, then by all means, don't buy Lego. You won't be missed.
@NissanZ32 said:
"
We do not sell military vehicles like the evil Osprey - even though we have sold multiple retro, modern and futuristic war-related sets. Still boggles my mind how they went through partnership with the real manufacturer, design and manufacture process only to realize it's a military vehicle when it was ready to hit the shelves.
"
Real reason was the gearbox grinding all t8 gears. Faulty model, that's all.
the comments are a dumpster fire.
@Snaz said:
"Before the inevitable opinion war, GROW UP. You don't need to argue with strangers on the internet over a toy. "
I don't wanna grow up,
I'm a LEGO kid...
they got a million toys at
the Lego store that I can play with!
I don't wanna grow up,
I'm a LEGO kid...
they got the best for so much
less (or more), it'll really flip your lid!
From bricks to trains to video games,
it's the biggest toy store
there is!
Gee whiz!
I don't wanna grow up,
cause maybe if I did,
I couldn't be a LEGO kid!
;)
What Lego should do is use their muscle on the **moderator edited for language** and say, hey if you're going to be bigoted and not sell LGBT sets, then we'll pull out our product from your market.
BUT, they won't because for ALL the 'moral's and inclusiveness, it all gets trumped by the dollar.
Same happened with the NBA. They pulled out of one state over a bathroom bill because of 'morals' and moved their allstar game to another state YET, still does business in China.
They're all hypocrites to their so called morals. They play both sides of the coin in hopes the masses don't notice.
@M_longer said:
"Real reason was the gearbox grinding all t8 gears. Faulty model, that's all.
"
Wait. The LEGO version of the Osprey was defective? That's a commitment to realism!
The last paragraph of Matthew's first answer is essentially "we don't expect all of our traditional fan base to want to buy this, but that's what we expected". I don't think there is any hypocrisy in releasing this product. It isn't depicting anything remotely sexual, and no child looking at the finished model would see anything other than an interior and some men in it (unless they were already fans of the show).
I think the point about women being part of the target audience for this product is that makeover shows and feel good TV tends to appeal more to women (I might be wrong about that but that's my guess). I would imagine they have some information on the audience demographics from the company that makes the show.
This is a good interview! Matthew Ashton is one of my favorite designers (he was the mind behind Unikitty, my favorite character from The Lego Movie), but his leadership role sometimes makes his impact less directly visible in Lego's product portfolio than other designers. So it's great when he gets to spend time on a passion project like this. Diego has also come onto my radar because of his fantastic design work on the numerous and varied decorations for the Dots theme—if you haven't checked out his Instagram ( @diegoisadesigner), you can see some lovely high-resolution images of both his Lego and non-Lego creative work there.
But as much as I like the interview, I hate the kind of "passive bigotry" that's already manifested in these comments, and the AFOL community needs to learn to recognize it for what it is. Sure, the people here might not have said they hate gays in as many words... but they sure get awfully upset about a set that includes them, complain about Lego's "hypocrisy" (as if being LGBT-positive and not depicting real-world military or religious iconography are remotely incompatible stances to take), and even manage to roll in totally unrelated complaints about product quality or a perceived lack of the kinds of sets they want. Anything to send a clear message of anger and discontent without explicitly saying anything that could get them banned or their comments deleted.
The impact of these kinds of comments is that people who DO like sets like these, or want to see more diverse representation in Lego, are subjected to ranting and raving that lets them know that their perspectives are unwelcome. Is it any wonder that the Lego fan community is so overwhelmingly white, male, and straight?
I'm not sure what the ultimate solution to these issues in the community are. Shutting down discussions for toxicity is clearly not the answer—it allows regressive attitudes to have a "victory" by letting them make any discussion of diversity and progress in Lego too toxic to continue. I'm also not sure deleting negative comments outright solves the issue either, since it can give the false impression that the community is healthier than it is and that the people who call out toxic attitudes are the ones sowing discord. I think the best solution I've seen has been when sites take a clear and unambiguous editorial stance to not just be "neutral" but to actively support values like diversity, including vocally challenging the voices who would stand against that. But I'm not sure whether Brickset is there yet...
@Lyichir said:
"I'm not sure what the ultimate solution to these issues in the community are. Shutting down discussions for toxicity is clearly not the answer—it allows regressive attitudes to have a "victory" by letting them make any discussion of diversity and progress in Lego too toxic to continue. "
The solution I've seen that works best is to delete the comments and, after a warning to clean up their act, to ban repeat jerks.
@Huw said:
"^^ Your comment has crossed the line. It's LEGO, not legos!
Such talk will result in being banned ;-)"
Especially from someone who has the UK as their location.
That aside, the only comment I have to make regarding this set (given I dislike all reality shows) is I wish the designer was a massive Only Fools and Horses fan as well and could force through a set of the Trotters living room.
@PubliusMaximum said:
" @Lyichir said:
"I'm not sure what the ultimate solution to these issues in the community are. Shutting down discussions for toxicity is clearly not the answer—it allows regressive attitudes to have a "victory" by letting them make any discussion of diversity and progress in Lego too toxic to continue. "
The solution I've seen that works best is to delete the comments and, after a warning to clean up their act, to ban repeat jerks. "
...or you don't actually ban them. Let them post until their fingers are sore...but you hide their comments from the world so that nobody has to read the toxic garbage. They have no idea they're banned so they won't make a big stink and won't go and sign up with yet another account...they'll just keep posting into the void.
^ We have that weapon in our arsenal and use it when needed.
I thought this article was a bit short, I could have done with more actual details. Luckily, the link to Jay's Brick Blog provides some more information.
Well, to start with the set: I'm probably not the target audience. It looks okay, and the prints are nice.
I can understand TLG wanting to make money, and I hope that they will allow themselves to produce whatever they like, without everything needing to be of the highest profitability.
The "Everyone is awesome set" is a good set and a good statement. Bravo! The Osprey could have been nice, and I think TLG should have taken a stronger stance there. No reason to cancel it. It may be difficult, I understand. The Las Vegas set also wasn't an easy one.
But now we don't get any sets in Architecture like Fallingwater or Farnsworth House. Only the most famous buildings. Nice, but it would be nicer if there were some more niche in there.
^
Anyone ever notice how nice and niche are only a letter apart?
Coincidinky? Don't think so...
I'm going up to my room to ponder on that!
@ShinyBidoof said:
"I wish the designer was a massive Only Fools and Horses fan as well and could force through a set of the Trotters living room."
Indeed! Especially with the sad loss of Boycie today.
@Lyichir said:
"I think the best solution I've seen has been when sites take a clear and unambiguous editorial stance to not just be "neutral" but to actively support values like diversity, including vocally challenging the voices who would stand against that. But I'm not sure whether Brickset is there yet..."
This whole comment is probably the most well written and valuable this site has had in a while!
‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ as they say.
I have seen a lot of “I’ve never seen this show” comments, but if you have Netflix, it’s worth checking out an episode. It really is feel good - and anyone can watch it. Certainly I’ve got a lot of lifestyle and clothing tips from it.
@ShinyBidoof said:
" @Huw said:
"^^ Your comment has crossed the line. It's LEGO, not legos!
Such talk will result in being banned ;-)"
Especially from someone who has the UK as their location.
That aside, the only comment I have to make regarding this set (given I dislike all reality shows) is I wish the designer was a massive Only Fools and Horses fan as well and could force through a set of the Trotters living room."
I've tried to watch that show. They use so much slang, I never know what's going on.
@ALEGOMan said:
"This set has made me boycott lego eternally, I refuse to buy another product from them again, and you are right in saying that the quality has decreased, mainly because of the China factories that opened, try getting a set with mostly white pieces, they're totally different shades of yellow/white, and the stickers are awful, printed bricks are wonky, reddish brown/dark red bricks break constantly and reading this article just made me really think about it. Many great Ideas sets getting shoved away for sets that push agendas. It will be a hard adjustment, hard to resist buying new sets, but i have enough and i'm happy with that, I have to move on now."
Wait, this set in particular made you boycott Lego? What was it about the other hundred new sets that came out this year that you were ok with? Why THIS particular set?
In response to the first comment has the quality really decreased? I'm well aware of the cursed brittle brown and dark red parts but I think a tiny bit of color inconsistency is acceptable, I think the quality has been fantastic the past 2 years or so, at least the few sets I've gotten in this period have been really good, though I've noticed some parts have uglier gate marks now but those usually aren't a problem as most can be hidden.
In regards to this set all I can say is the interior details are really cute but I'll never like the sitcom/tv show/whatever sets, a stranded interior space makes for an odd thing to display even though it objectively doesn't look bad and for playability I doubt majority of the target audience bother doing that beyond posing the minifigs to recreate their favorite scenes.
Feeling like a soldier walking through no-mans land here, these comments are pretty dangerous!
In all seriousness Jesus Christ this is chaos. To think the original post was an interview with the designer of a niche set….
Will we ever get a church, mosque, synagogue or at least something similar at one point? For inclusivity’s sake?
@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"Will we ever get a church, mosque, synagogue or at least something similar at one point? For inclusivity’s sake?"
I believe LEGO has a policy where they won’t make anything religious. For example a Notre Dame will probably never be released since it is a Cathedral.
Interior Tv scenes from shows are not for me,I guess they have their fans and that is good,but i dont think there are too many. Its more an advertisment for giant studios.
Maybe I'm blind, but I don't understand which "agenda" they're "pushing" with this set.... It's a set based on a TV show with LGBTQ orientation. I don't get the fuss here in comment-town.
@elangab said:
"Maybe I'm blind, but I don't understand which "agenda" they're "pushing" with this set.... It's a set based on a TV show with LGBTQ orientation. I don't get the fuss here in comment-town."
From what I get out of all this commenting is that with this set more than others TLG has indeed tackled a sensitive issue. Even though the show might just be looked at as a light, youngish, comical and carefree sitcom not different from other 20-30ish shows, it is LGBT related. You (and I, along with many other Brickset members) definitely do not "get the fuss", mainly because perhaps we accept life with its different facets and perhaps we think diversity is an asset.
But as you can see, not all of us think so. The "fuss" is generated by the fear of change. Even though LEGO certainly does not need any support from us other than buying their products, it is certainly taking a direction by making choices.
So we can say toys are just toys, let kids (and adults) play with them without asking ourself too many questions; or then again in a toy there might be something else, like a social message sent to kids and adults alike, and the more peace-oriented, inclusion-oriented they are, the better, a win-win deal for the new generations playing with smart toys. The main issue here, however, is that when a LEGO set stops being just a toy and when it starts being a message conveyor, the community - any community - will have some of its members starting to get nervous about it. Because change can be uncomfortable and scary for many people.
@tfcrafter said:
" @ALEGOMan said:
"This set has made me boycott lego eternally, I refuse to buy another product from them again, and you are right in saying that the quality has decreased, mainly because of the China factories that opened, try getting a set with mostly white pieces, they're totally different shades of yellow/white, and the stickers are awful, printed bricks are wonky, reddish brown/dark red bricks break constantly and reading this article just made me really think about it. Many great Ideas sets getting shoved away for sets that push agendas. It will be a hard adjustment, hard to resist buying new sets, but i have enough and i'm happy with that, I have to move on now."
Wait, this set in particular made you boycott Lego? What was it about the other hundred new sets that came out this year that you were ok with? Why THIS particular set?"
Presumably because it’s gay. Which is a very silly reason to stop buying LEGO, isn’t it?
Hey, isn’t TLG still a family owned business and as such can make it’s own business and PR decisions?
As a Christian Conservative Male this set does not offend me. It gives me hope that TLG is loosening it’s belt on more sets that are inclusive towards me and other people like me. Sure there are advent calendars and pseudo Easter sets, but I’d like the see the Architecture line tackle a Cathedral, Church, Synagogue, Temple etc. TLG group can skip trying to capture a specific religious person and focus on the structures. There are some awesome building designs that would be great to be made out of LEGO elements. How would they capture a flying buttress?
There has been a lot of talk about the Osprey and it upset some people because it had a presence beyond a civil role. I’m sure Mike Psiaki created 31039 because it is only reflective of other civil aircraft that people use for personal flights. Sure it’s an imaginary aircraft and it by no way reflects a real military aircraft??? Really???
If TLG can make this set based on real life people and it can make imaginary aircraft, it could make an imaginary church that real people may or may not attend. And as they want to attract a legitimate audience of consumers that would not normally take interest in LEGO, why could it not make sets based on religious structures?
Doing so would be totally within the scope of the responses included here by Matthew and Diego in their Q&A.
@legoDad42 said:
"What Lego should do is use their muscle on the **moderator edited for language** and say, hey if you're going to be bigoted and not sell LGBT sets, then we'll pull out our product from your market.
BUT, they won't because for ALL the 'moral's and inclusiveness, it all gets trumped by the dollar.
Same happened with the NBA. They pulled out of one state over a bathroom bill because of 'morals' and moved their allstar game to another state YET, still does business in China.
They're all hypocrites to their so called morals. They play both sides of the coin in hopes the masses don't notice."
@ALEGOMan said:
"This set has made me boycott lego eternally, I refuse to buy another product from them again, and you are right in saying that the quality has decreased, mainly because of the China factories that opened, try getting a set with mostly white pieces, they're totally different shades of yellow/white, and the stickers are awful, printed bricks are wonky, reddish brown/dark red bricks break constantly and reading this article just made me really think about it. Many great Ideas sets getting shoved away for sets that push agendas. It will be a hard adjustment, hard to resist buying new sets, but i have enough and i'm happy with that, I have to move on now."
What do you mean you have enough? You can’t possibly keep all those sets you already own, you need to burn them! When John Lennon stated that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, people didn’t just boycott the Beatles, they burned all their albums. Wait… didn’t Lego create Beatles sets? Shouldn’t you have boycotted and burned your Lego years ago? Come on, how can you ever look at another Han Solo and Chewie minifigure again without thinking about how much time they spend with each other on the Falcon, you don’t really think that all they do is play chess all day? Even in Solo, Rio Durant discusses sleeping with a Wookiee. Not to mention, that line Han says to Leia about how she could use a good kiss.
Now go ahead and burn your Lego. Or are you too afraid that you might “feel the bern”?
@alfred_the_buttler said:
" @ALEGOMan said:
"This set has made me boycott lego eternally, I refuse to buy another product from them again, and you are right in saying that the quality has decreased, mainly because of the China factories that opened, try getting a set with mostly white pieces, they're totally different shades of yellow/white, and the stickers are awful, printed bricks are wonky, reddish brown/dark red bricks break constantly and reading this article just made me really think about it. Many great Ideas sets getting shoved away for sets that push agendas. It will be a hard adjustment, hard to resist buying new sets, but i have enough and i'm happy with that, I have to move on now."
What do you mean you have enough? You can’t possibly keep all those sets you already own, you need to burn them! When John Lennon stated that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, people didn’t just boycott the Beatles, they burned all their albums. Wait… didn’t Lego create Beatles sets? Shouldn’t you have boycotted and burned your Lego years ago? Come on, how can you ever look at another Han Solo and Chewie minifigure again without thinking about how much time they spend with each other on the Falcon, you don’t really think that all they do is play chess all day? Even in Solo, Rio Durant discusses sleeping with a Wookiee. Not to mention, that line Han says to Leia about how she could use a good kiss.
Now go ahead and burn your Lego. Or are you too afraid that you might “feel the bern”?"
Your comment is just fantastic!
On the other hand I never thought that there are so many Brickset members with so many unresolved issues with their mothers. And by that I mean all the closed mind haters.
Nobody cares about a set based on an unknown show... What a waste, there are so many great series out there which would have deserved it instead :-(
Not sure what the point of this question was: "Did you experience particular pressure when designing minifigures depicting real people, rather than fictional characters?"
Even if characters like Owen Grady, Tony Stark and Hermione Granger are completely fictional the designers still need to capture the likeness of the actor/actress. It is no different than the Queer Eye figures in that regard.
@Guyon2002 said:
"Not sure what the point of this question was: "Did you experience particular pressure when designing minifigures depicting real people, rather than fictional characters?"
Even if characters like Owen Grady, Tony Stark and Hermione Granger are completely fictional the designers still need to capture the likeness of the actor/actress. It is no different than the Queer Eye figures in that regard."
The cast of Queer Eye was involved in the minifigures' development and provided direct feedback, which is unusual.