July has been an exciting month in the LEGO world, with the debut of the new 6,000-piece Hogwarts Castle, the release of the 007 Aston Martin DB5 , SDCC kits and more. The latest fan-made kit from LEGO Ideas, Voltron, is only a week or so away from getting its wide-scale release as well, but today we’ll be turning our attention to other builds from the crowd-funding campaign that are still vying to become real kits.
While LEGO Ideas is filled with eye-catching builds, only those that manage to lock in 10,000 supporters have the chance to make their way into fans’ collections. Once a build does in fact collect the necessary support, a team of LEGO designers and other representatives from the company decide on if it fits the current lineup of kits and can be converted into a full-blown set. So many in the past have made it through the ropes, but you’ll find our favorite models from this month down below.
Kakapo |
One of the first notable Ideas kits, the LEGO Bird Project, debuted back in 2015 to a warm welcome. Given its success, builders have been trying to expand the lineup of LEGO’s feathery offering with additional brick-built birds. With 3,400 supporters so far, builder FlancrestEnterprises has tried their hand at recreating the Kakapo, a flightless parrot from New Zealand. The build is in a similar scale to the previously released birds and stacks up to over 470 pieces. It’s got over 550 days left to amass the remaining 6,600 supporters. So while the Kakapo itself can’t fly, there’s still plenty of time for this build to take flight.
Traction Engine |
While it has been a fantastic time to be a LEGO fan if you’re into City or Sci-Fi themes, those who are more partial to more historic builds have been left in the dust. Bricked1980 hopes to mix things up a bit with their Workhorse Traction Engine kit. The now 400-piece build brings the steam-powered traction engine into LEGO form alongside minifigures and other accessories. This kit would give LEGO the kickstart they needed to build out its lineup of more old-timey kits, should it lock in the remaining 9,000 supporters.
Rolls-Royce Jet Engine |
This month we were also lucky enough to see one of the next contenders to become a bonafide LEGO set thanks to already locking in the required 10,000 supporters. DanCodd‘s fantastic recreation of the Rolls-Royce Jet Engine incorporates a surprising amount of detail through utilizing both standard System and Technic bricks in this scaled-down sculpture.
While the real-life version of the engine clocks in at over 15-feet long, this brick-built model is only around two-feet long and is comprised of over 20,000 pieces. It’s unlikely we’ll see LEGO adopt this build in its current form as a real set, but this is as great a proof-of-concept as they come.
Get a glimpse at June’s noteworthy LEGO Ideas kits
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