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The results of the first stage of the review of author’s ideas in 2022 as part of the traditional open competition LEGO Ideas hit literally all fans of the «world of cubes». And the point is not so much in determining the specific models that will become the official Lego constructors, but in their number.

For the first time in the history of this competition, the competent jury gave the green light to four works by Lego fans at once. This has never happened before! Until now, specialists and designers, when considering models that received 10,000 votes of support from visitors to the LEGO Ideas website, were limited to selecting only one single author’s project. Moreover, regardless of the total number of author’s ideas that fans liked to design.

This approach of the organizers has long caused justified complaints from ordinary consumers of the products of the Danish company, because a huge mass of very worthy «brick» works turned out to be overboard. Not surprisingly, many of the final reports of previous reviews were accompanied by rather unflattering comments on this subject. Perhaps such a reaction still had an effect on the organizers of the event and they finally decided to listen to the opinions of consumers and significantly expand the number of finalists.

So, in 2023-2024, the following author’s models of fans of the «world of cubes» will receive the status of official Lego sets:

«Eastern Express»

Model «Eastern Express»by Thomas Lyon from Germany.

This model promises to be one of the most interesting projects, especially for fans of technical kits. The buildable toy allows you to build the legendary passenger train, which was operated on the railway networks of the European continent from 1919 to 2009. The model consists of a 241 K 8 locomotive and dining car, modeled after the International Night Wagon Company’s heyday of the 1930s.

«Paloroid OneStep SX-70»

The second of the projects selected by the jury also turns out to be “historical” — it features a copy of the famous camera «Polaroid OneStep SX-70». The author of the model is designer-fan Mark from the American company Minibrick Productions.

Collectors and lovers of retro toys will pay attention to this toy. The «brick» Polaroid OneStep SX-70 will be an almost full-scale model measuring 28.4 cm long, 17.5 cm wide and 7.6 cm high. In addition, it is accompanied by a box of SX-70 film. Also, the camera can be supplemented with a fabric strap.

«Insects»

The third winner of the competition is the project «Insects»by José Maria from Spain. This set will soon transform into an official Lego set. Although it is quite specific and will be of interest, first of all, to entomologists.

The project proposes to collect figurines of five species of insects that live in different countries of our planet.

These are the build models:

• the unique blue morpho butterfly found in Mexico, Central and South America;
• the Hercules beetle from the tropical forests of central South America;
• Mantis — in Europe, Asia and North America;
• ladybug, which comes from East Asia, but was brought to Europe and North America and became for many a kind of talisman for good luck;
• and finally, the figurine of the western honey bee, which is found all over the earth.

It is noteworthy that the Hercules beetle and the blue butterfly Morpho are presented in full size. The remaining insects are depicted much larger so that you can admire them in all details.

«Space Age Tales»

Fourth Idea Contest Winner «Space Age Tales»by Jan Woznica from Poland. His project consists of three separate parts. The first «picture» depicts a purple model of the Big Dipper, the second and third — two 3D images of space distances.

Thus, out of 39 copyright projects submitted for the first review in 2022, four received a “start in life”. The indicator is very high, because it means that more than 11% of the projects considered by the jury will turn into branded Lego constructors. Such a sharp increase in the number of finalists of the idea contest, of course, should affect the increase in activity among the fans of construction, who can offer unique «brick» projects to the Danish company.