Multiple specific amends had to be made to 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket in order to gain final approval from the LEGO Ideas' set’s IP partner.
21367 Tintin Moon Rocket will be launching online and in stores next month, representing the 75th set from the theme to date. However, in order to translate Alexis Dos Santos’ fan submission into a finished retail model, the LEGO Ideas designer behind the build first had to make a number of changes in order to pass approval from licensor, Hergé / Tintinimaginatio.
“Alexis' model had four sides and to keep it accurate to the IP, it needed six sides,” explained Master Model Designer Ellen Bowley at a recent Fan Media Days event. “So, six layers of the checkered pattern and that was something that, together with the partner, they wanted it super-accurate – they wanted those six sides.
“Making a six-sided shape with all of the detail, well, the simple detail on the outside, was the big challenge. So, the original model was simpler on the inside and also very cleverly built, but because we needed the six sides, then it got complicated.”
Getting buy-in from IP partner Hergé / Tintinimaginatio also resulted in the LEGO Ideas design team taking a trip to the company’s office in Belgium, in order to more closely collaborate on the licensed set.
“It's a new partner, so that's always interesting and fun to get to work with someone new,” said LEGO Ideas Design Manager Jordan Scott. “We got to go to the [Brussels] studio and talk with them. I don't know how far along it was at that point, but we had some sort of physical model and some prototypes of the minifigures to get their input hands on, so they can see the model in a 3D space.
“You could see how protective they are of Hergé’s work and it's really admirable that they stick to their guns about things like the shaping and the curvature and things that Ellen mentioned. That's obviously very challenging for us, because we're making all these very subtle curves out of very bricky shapes.”
That working partnership resulted in one particular detail of 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket that required some back and forth between the LEGO Ideas team and Hergé / Tintinimaginatio to achieve the desired look for the set.
“There was a really funny bit about the checkered pattern where it was very important that the white and red fell on either side of the fins,” Jordan added. “That's part of the IP, whereas before they were actually rotated. So, we asked Ellen, ‘Oh, is this a problem to change?’ And she said, ‘No, that's fine. That's easy.’ And then we got back to Billund and then Ellen very quickly realised, 'Oh, that's not easy'.
“That’s almost rebuilding the whole core, but we had to do it. So, it was a fun challenge. Things you don't expect to be that challenging turn out to be one of the more challenging parts.”
21367 Tintin Moon Rocket will be blasting off on April 1 priced at £139.99 / $159.99 / €159.99 for 1,283 pieces, with
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