Just as Sonic Mania itself is a fan labor of love made official, Toastergrl’s Sonic Mania LEGO design continues its trek towards becoming an officially licensed LEGO set. Today, 2020’s first period of LEGO Ideas crowd support ends, and Toastergrl’s design was among an unprecedented 26 designs to reach the 10,000 supporters needed for official consideration. LEGO Ideas will announce their final determinations this Fall.
The roughly 700-brick design features a classic take on the Lego Dimensions Sonic minifig facing off against brick-built Dr. Eggman with his Egg Robot mech and Hard Boiled Heavies, all complimenting several iconic Green Hill Zone level features.
The path for a LEGO Ideas design to become an official set is a long and difficult one, with only three to five approved each year. After achieving the required 10,000 supporters on ideas.lego.com, candidates must go through an internal review process to assess the feasibility and appropriateness of the project. Competition will be especially tight this year, as the number of successfully supported candidates is more than double compared to previous evaluation periods. Other licensed and unlicensed projects being considered include a 17th century-styled train station, the Gemini spacecraft, a micro-scale recreation of 4th century Rome, a 15 inch (39 cm) tall functional globe, the garden from Untitled Goose Game, a detailed model of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, an articulated model of The Iron Giant, and the Planet Express office and ship from Futurama.
Details and additional renders of the design can be found on its LEGO Ideas page, and in TSS’s March 2019 interview with Toastergrl. With some luck, hope, and enthusiasm, perhaps we shall see Sonic Mania alongside other brilliant fan developed LEGO creations in 2021.
Fingers crossed that this gets approved and we start seeing it on shelves before long! I imagine a lot of collectors and kids are going to go nuts over this.
You’d think as it’s Sonic’s 30th anniversary next year they’d wanna celebrate by cashing in on it.
Sega might, they don’t seem…particularly tight-gripped on licensing Sonic out. However, that doesn’t mean Lego themselves will be interested. If I were to make an educated guess, there would be three approvals announced this fall: First would either be one of the spacecrafts or the globe. Second would be one of the unlicensed buildings or scenes, like the forest castle, garden house, bowling alley, or waterfall. And third would be one licensed set among The Iron Giant, KITT, or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
This isn’t to say the Sonic set’s chances are bad. It’s bolstered by Lego having worked with Sega in the past with Lego Dimensions. It’s merely that there are a LOT of strong candidates this year. When you think about who would be into and purchase these really detailed, intricate, and potentially expensive sets, it’s going to be people who love engineering, science, and model building. This Sonic Mania set looks like an aesthetic and complexity level that could reasonably already exist and be sold to kids, which I mean as a compliment, it’s rad. But I’m not entirely sure that sells it as a Lego Ideas set.
I stumbled upon this on Lego Ideas what seems like a million years ago. So glad it’s getting approved!!! <3
In consideration for being approved.
Seeing as Lego Sonic has already been a thing for awhile (Lego Dimensions) this could work in that Sonic Mania set’s favor.
If only there was a Tails minifig it’d be perfect.