Two new Lego Ideas sets on the way

The Lego Ideas have team have announced the outcome of the first 2014 review period, and decided two of the six projects that got to the ten-thousand mark will be going into production, with another two still under consideration.

The two sets that have made it already are The Big Bang Theory, and the Lego Bird Project. The two sets both still being considered are both based on Doctor Who (fingers crossed they make it later). Here's the announcement video:



Continue after the jump for a look at the projects that will become these two new sets:

The proposed The Big Bang Theory set features the main area of Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, with all the main characters, Leonard, Penny, Sheldon, Amy, Howard, Bernadette, and Raj (with his dog Cinnamon). There are also lots of props and set dressing reflecting the scientific and geeky interests of the characters, including Sheldon's whiteboard, a rocket for Howard, and a miniaturised version of the Lego Death Star.

I was quite surprised to see this set get through. While not really featuring anything "inappropriate" for children, I'd imagine the audience for The Big Bang Theory to be somewhat older than Lego normally goes for. So I guess they are targeting the same geek market that evidently worked well enough for the Back to the Future and Ghostbusters sets (and indeed all the sciencey sets Ideas has generated), and of course banking on the current popularity of the still-in-production series.

Given that assumed target market I wonder if the set as proposed might be a little big for a casual Big Bang Theory fan, that might not otherwise be buying Lego (ok, there's probably a decent amount of crossover there, but still...). I would anticipate therefore that this set might shrink. The most radical approach might be to remove most of the room; you could still have the main sofa area, and accommodate all the little props proposed, by retaining the bookcase as wall of sorts. Alternatively, many other The Big Bang Theory product lines focus just on the male characters - Seven minifigures is quite a tall order, but I really hope Lego don't go in that direction; it wouldn't reflect the state of the show now, in which the female characters are just as central as the male, nor would it help Lego's perennial issues of gender representation!

The bird project, is pretty unique both as Lego ideas set, and even Lego in general, in that it models its subjects at pretty much 1:1 scale. Is is also the first set from ideas that isn't based on some sort of human endeavour, this project is all about nature.

Numerous species were proposed in the course of the project, but eventually three were selected before getting to the review stage, representing an international aviary. Those are a European robin, a North American blue jay, and a tropical violet-eared humming bird.

I really hope that Lego opt to follow the selection of the creator and produce all three in one set (as they did with the Research Institute), which would make a lovely colourful Creator-style set.

You should check out the creator, Thomas Poulsom's, Flickr galleries to see some of the other bird species he has modelled. You'll find numerous species from Britain, North America, the tropics, and Oceania.