There's not a lot going on in the world of JKR's Harry Potter lego right now, so I've been exploring lego representations of a few other authors' works, particularly where I feel they might slot in nicely with the lego Wizarding World.
Today the Lego Jane Austen GWP special went live, in honour of the 250th anniversary of her birthday. Sticking with the theme, in the coming days I'll be taking a look at two
Jane Austen MOCs from TJBricks - Barton Cottage from 'Sense and Sensibility' and Pemberley from 'Pride and Prejudice' - which have been submitted to lego Ideas, a platform where fans can vote for sets they like and if they reach 10K votes, lego considers them for production. Personally I think that's an excellent way to get people to engage and a great way to showcase fan creativity. It's free to register, and you can vote for as many designs as you like, and there's never any obligation to purchase if it does get released, so support away to your heart's content! And even if lego decides not to release the set? There's still a chance fans
will - with official lego pieces and everything - via Bricklink. All very cool, even if not always affordable. 😆
One unfortunate drawback to the Ideas projects is they aren't forced to discuss piece counts or keep potential pricing realistic. Another is that lego generally doesn't rework the sets in a significant way, and as a result some of the design choices are more simplistic or, at the other end of the spectrum, senselessly extravagant than they would be were they projects exclusively from lego's eminently capable hands. Some adjustment of expectations is required due to those aspects. Lego is also perfectly aware of the pricing problems, and support of a project increases the chances that
some form of it might see the light of day, so don't let minor quibbles keep you from voting for it, especially as lego remains MOCable. Change at will, my lovelies!
Today I'll be reviewing Barton Cottage...
( Read more... )As a whole,
great job, or I frankly wouldn't bother to niggle. This really gives you a starting point to work with, material to sink your teeth into. Further I'd like to mention the effort they've gone to on social media, reddit, youtube, Jane Austen forums, Ideas subreddits, Classical Lit, Period Dramas, National Trust, etc. interacting with, y'know,
people (I
know, right?) to promote their work, which is a non-trivial part of launching an Ideas campaign, and something in all honesty I can't see myself ever having the energy to do. (No way, no how. 😐) There's even a little commercial (video) that I'm non-trivially jealous of 😆 that they've made for the Pemberley project, which was ... is there a chef's kiss emoji? There should be. 👩🍳💋 Anyway,
phenomenal work all around, and I wish them a boatload of success with it, not the least because I
want this set, naturally... 😉
So if you have a moment and are so inclined, you can help support them here by voting for their project on the lego Ideas site.