Lego is considering making a number of new sets suggested by fans, including ones based on video games "Animal Crossing " and "Fall Guys."- Fans can submit their designs online for the Lego Ideas scheme, and other users vote on their favorites. Lego then reviews the most popular designs.
- The review process can take several months – and the Lego team has 35 new sets to assess.
"Animal Crossing," "Fall Guys," and "Avatar: The Last Airbender" could be the next big Lego sets.
The Danish toy giant is reviewing 35 fan-designed sets for its Lego Ideas project, which allows users to propose their own designs and vote for ones they like.
The best can become real Lego products. Successful ideas to come through the scheme since its 2011 launch include sets for "Friends," "Ghostbusters," and NASA.
The latest batch of ideas range from TV show-inspired sets to a Vincent Van Gogh painting and a fast food outlet.
The set inspired by "Animal Crossing," Nintendo's hit video game, comes with a Lego version of Nook's Cranny, the in-game shop, as well as figures of the entrepreneurial raccoons Timmy and Tommy. The inside of the shop is fairly plain, but it includes a cash register and pickaxe alongside a plaque with the store's logo.
The brightly-colored set for "Fall Guys," a smash-hit indie game released this summer, combines elements from the game's obstacle courses and includes six figures wearing pirate, pineapple, and unicorn outfits.
Other sets are based on "Ratatouille," Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" books, "Night at the Museum," "Community", and the Bangladesh National Parliament.
Lego hasn't said when it will decide which sets to make, but the review process usually takes several months — and production takes even longer.
To propose an idea, users design a new set with physical bricks or software and submit it to the Lego Ideas website. Other fans view these and vote for their favorites – and when a design has 10,000 supporters, Lego's designers and product managers officially review it for production. This includes building concept models, and assessing both its safety and "fit" with the Lego brand.
Lego assesses products periodically throughout the year, and in the latest batch, from May to September, 35 products reached the 10,000 goal — the highest total so far.
Lego is increasingly collaborating with other brands and franchises. The plastic brick company is known for its sets featuring "Star Wars," "Harry Potter," and Disney characters — and earlier this month it teased a collaboration with denim brand Levi's on its Instagram account, though it didn't reveal any details.
Last month, Lego unveiled its collaboration with Swedish furniture giant IKEA – a series of white storage boxes known as Bygglek.