Yesterday, the LEGO Ideas team unveiled their results from the second 2019 review results and they’ve announced that Ben Alder’s Winnie the Pooh set and Clemens Fiedler’s Medieval Blacksmith have made the cut and will be turned into LEGO Ideas sets!
The Medieval Blacksmith should delight Castle fans, especially those who have been very vocal about bringing back the theme.
To me, it’s an undeniable homage to 3739 Blacksmith Shop, with the blue roof and Tudor architecture.
The LEGO Ideas project looks amazing, and I think this will perform very strongly especially to fill in the LEGO Castle-gap that fans have been yearning for.
Winnie the Pooh is the most interesting decision for me – mostly because it’s a fun, kid-centric, parent-approved IP, but also because of the political controversy that surrounds the titular rotund yellow bear.
In case you didn’t know, China, specifically its leader Xi Jinping has a massive problem with Winnie the Pooh.
Pooh is “banned” in China, mostly because of memes that have circulated depicting Xi as Winnie the Pooh, which has annoyed him (what a snowflake) so he’s pretty much slapped a ban on all things Winnie the Pooh in China.
Since the early 2010s, LEGO have flagged China as an absolute priority to fuel their global growth, and have done a LOT to court the Chinese market, such as releasing Chinese New Year sets, and opening a massive flagship store in Shanghai.
Releasing a LEGO Winnie the Pooh set is a risky, risky move that COULD anger the Chinese Community Party (CCP), so the fact that they even greenlit this is surprising.
Then again, as a global Danish company, kudos to LEGO for not kowtowing to any potential pressure from China and sticking to their guns.
I can’t wait for both sets and think they’ll do really well, especially if they get the minifigures right for Winnie the Pooh.
Are you happy with the results? It’s a shame that the UCS Space Shuttle Atlantis didn’t make it but with the International Space Station, I think LEGO are pretty set for Space and NASA-themed sets for awhile.
Mark P says
I had my fingers crossed for either the blacksmith or the history museum. The museum was a long shot, since it would be automatically the best modular ever, but over the moon about the blacksmith!
The other one? Oh, just another typical Lego cashgrab? Good on them, hope it keeps the lights on. ?
Jay says
I thought the Seven Dwarfs would make it, but pretty happy about the Blacksmith given the lack of any decent Castle sets in the last few years!
Cashgrabs are good – they subsidise the riskier sets and releases that LEGO does!
Andy says
Personally I’m gutted about the Thunderbird 2 model.
Gerry Anderson was a huge part of my childhood, Thunderbirds in particular and although this model was based on the newer TV series, it still has the aesthetic of the classic Thunderbird 2.
Having said that, the designer has responded to the decision with his plans for the Classic Thunderbirds lineup, and so maybe the whole collection might be more appealing rather than the single TB2 model (which was always my favourite)
Out of the two, I’ll be interested to watch the progress of the blacksmith. Not sure it’s a purchase for me, but it does look pretty good.
Paul Castle says
How awesome would it be if Gerry Anderson as a whole was licensed for a fresh new Lego range? All those potential vehicle / ship models, minifigs, playsets, and plenty of scope for an Advent calendar…
Maybe getting the license was the problem, as these things can be tricky.
Andy says
Indeed! I’d definitely be up for a complete Thunderbirds range, and even Stingray 🙂
I agree, I wonder if licencing might have been an issue – not that Lego has any shortage of licences or worries about entering into such deals, but maybe this one was too much for a single “ideas” set.
Jay says
Thunderbirds are cool, but really quite niche despite being a relatively popular for a lot of people. If there was some sort of Netflix reboot, then I could see LEGO take on the project.
E says
Just letting you know Winnie the Pooh is not banned in China. The film Christopher Robin has its released cancelled however there is still a ton of Winnie the Pooh merchandise for sale in Disney stores and at Shanghai Disneyland, not to mention the Winnie the Pooh rise being extremely popular there.
Jay says
Ah, thanks for the clarification. Seems like there’s quite a bit of conflicting information around, and quite a number of reputable news sites have said it’s been banned. We’ll see for sure if LEGO will actually release this set there.
sabreshears says
I was really rooting for the Seven Dwarves’ house. I like Pooh, but thought the detail in the Dwarves’ house was exceptionally good. Of course costs, licensing and marketing could have made it un-affordable.
Thanks for the info on Pooh in China. I didn’t know that story.
Jay says
Same here, I really liked the Dwarf House as it had a lot more personality. The Poof minifigures should be good, but hopefully this means LEGO have a Snow White cottage in the works in the near future!
Angela says
My son and I are extremely disappointed we didnt get the Haunted Mansion for the 50th anniversary. It’s the most popular ride at Dusney so I think it would have sold very well, especially if they included the Hatbox Ghost, Constance, 3 Hitchhikers, and Madame Leota.
Jay says
Yeah, that was a bummer. If LEGO are doing another large-scale Disneyland themed set, I’d love for them to do a massive Haunted Mansion set. Hopefully it’s in the cards as I missed out on the previous Haunted House set!
Paul Castle says
Just a thought, I would love to see some tubs of Castle themed bricks and wall pieces in the Classic range. I probably have a soft spot for the range because of my name, btw!
Jay says
Oh 100%. It’s about time they brought back a PROPER, hopefully AFOL-calibre Castle theme. Or Pirates. I just want more great Pirate sets.
Paul Castle says
I can see me buying both these sets, as Winnie the Pooh is a lifelong love, and the castle sets from the mid eighties (The Black Knight’s Castle was my main birthday present when I was eight, back in 1985) were a major interest of mine and I have started buying a few on eBay, starting with the Yellow Castle which a friend had.
Fiona says
These are both brilliant sets, can’t wait!
Matt says
Let’s just hope they actually include the goat, can’t believe few people have mentioned it yet!!
Only released in 1 set previously and worth a fortune.
Jay says
That’s actually insane that goats are worth AU$50 on Bricklink! I just checked and I’m floored.
Hopefully this gives them a reason to bring it back.
Jay says
Yes!