Affordable LEGO Ideas sets are on the way via these 9 Test Lab designs!

January 13, 2023 | 3

LEGO Ideas have announced the results of the LEGO Ideas Test Lab challenge, an invite-only challenge that’s a collaboration with LEGO’s Pick a Brick service.

Nine designs have been selected, and will be available from the Pick and Build section on LEGO.com in the coming weeks. Two out of the nine sets, Sugar Skull and Christmas Sock will be released later in 2023, to coincide with Christmas and Day of the Dead.

It’s good that the LEGO Ideas team has finally realised that the price of sets within the team have skyrocketed. As it looks like these sets are relatively basic, without any specialised parts, it should hopefully keep the prices of these down, and make for interesting fan-designed builds.

I’m a self-confessed Pick a Brick addict, so I’ll definitely be picking these up, and can’t wait to see what the final models look like!

Cyber Explorers by Beto_Builds

In this design, I tried to bring together some of what I enjoy the most in life: research, discovering new things and places, and… pets! The characters represent two cybernetic explorers who study and analyze an unknown planet. Both are very well articulated, so they can adopt different positions. They can also be improved with equipment or tools, and even transform into other figures. The pet robot can be easily rebuilt into another type of cyber companions, such as a flying one!

Plant Your Garden by Mind The Brick

As our target group for this challenge was a younger audience and family time-oriented, I wanted to create something that children would have fun building and at the same time learn how plants sprout and blossom, and how vegetables grow and ripen. Finally, I wanted the outcome to be aesthetically pleasing to the rest of the adult family.

Market Stall – Fit For Any City by Boom Brickz

My design is of 3 small Market Stalls, that consist of tables to display the goods for sale at the Market and a couple of crates with more goodies. I wanted to make something that could be placed into anybody’s LEGO City no matter how big or small, modern or medieval and that can even have additional items added to customize your own market, imagine a fish market or some nice bread for sale. I always love going to my local Market and thought this would be something nice to be able to have your Minifigures set up in.

Double-Sided Billboard or Frame by MiniBricks74279

A tall and proud canvas for creative expression. Can be personalized with a message, a vibrant mosaic, or a stunning photograph. While brainstorming ideas for this project I was drawn to the glamour and grandeur of Hollywood. I envisioned creating a set of towering letters, each one being decorated with eye-catching details. However, despite my best efforts, this concept was met with problems. I explored different possibilities and a new idea began to take shape in my mind, the double-sided billboard.

Wacky Fish by JBBrickFanatic

These wacky fish give kids and adults the ability to have their very own aquariums at home! Each fish can be divided into 3 unique segments: a head, a middle, and a tail. Swap these around to make new and exciting fish for maximum creativity. Also included are a wacky crab and a coral reef. I used to live on a tropical island and seeing brightly colored fish always put a smile on my face. I hope these fish bring smiles to the faces of others!

Modular Motors by nasa105

As a kid, LEGO vehicles were one of my favorite building activities. The thrilling experience of creating a super cool race car is like no other, but many times I was so eager to build intricate details that I overlooked the chassis and it easily fell apart. What if a lightweight chassis existed, designed with both strength and modular compatibility in mind? This led to Modular Motors, vehicles with customizable chassis designed to turbocharge your creativity.

Greenhouse Vignette by ThatOneGuy_Steve

I knew I wanted to build a small structure, and a greenhouse seemed like a fun challenge of how to fit as many windows as possible. The color variety of the plant pieces and masonry bricks made me think of the four seasons, so I went with a color palette for each that seemed most appropriate. It was so fun to come up with differences for each season’s greenhouse, such as the frozen pond for winter, or the pumpkin patch for autumn. I can’t wait to see how others make the greenhouse their own!

Christmas Sock by BrickStability

This set recreates the classic Christmas sock to hang above the fireplace. I chose Santa Claus as the main decoration, but with a few more pieces everyone can customize their own stocking, inserting snowballs, an ice crystal, or an elk. The stocking is available in red or green. For this design, I was inspired by this when I was a child and I used to decorate the house for Christmas with my family. I thought it would be nice to recreate that atmosphere by building decorations altogether, with LEGO bricks!

* Will first be available later in 2023.

Sugar Skull by yop1172.

Sugar skulls are a typical sweet and an ornament in the Day of the Dead Altars, the most iconic festivity in my country, these sweets are characterized by their sweet taste and colorful appearance, and being this my favorite season of the year, I decided to build my own interpretation of them using LEGO bricks. This model is a perfect opportunity to live the experience of decorating your own little skull with so many possibilities taking into account all the LEGO pieces that exist.

* Will first be available later in 2023.

What do you think of these LEGO Ideas Test Lab designs? Do you think you’ll pick them up?

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