Whatever happened to these awesome Lego Ideas projects?

Here at That Brick Site, we’re huge fans of Lego’s Ideas programme. It allows Lego creators to create and upload their own, er, ideas, and if they’re well received they’re reviewed by Lego itself. And, if they meet Lego’s approval, the projects can become official Lego sets, available for all to buy.

Every now and then, a Lego Ideas submission catches our eye and we highlight it in TBS’s Lego Ideas Spotlight section. We’ve covered quite a few and we got to wondering, just what became of them? Did any of them become actual Lego sets?

The way Lego Ideas works is that there are several supporter milestones to reach and once you hit 10,000 Lego will consider your idea. Hitting the various milestones below that number earns you more time but if you don’t hit your target your submission expires.

So, come with us as we catch up with these Lego Ideas submissions and find how each of them got on. Did they get Lego’s approval, are they still waiting for their turn or did end up getting the thumbs down? Working from oldest to newest, here’s how they fared.

• Wishing Well – expired.
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – reviewed by Lego but not approved.
• Pac-Man Wall Art – expired.
• Little Leprechaun Village – expired.
• La Placita – expired.
• Toilet – reviewed but not approved.
• Shadow Display Box – expired.
• 1:1 Scale Coral Reef – expired.
• Dutch Windmill – expired.
• NEO GEO MVS 2-Slot Arcade Cabinet – expired.
• Mr. Benn – expired.
• Airport Firetruck Rosenbauer Panther 8×8 – reviewed but not approved.
• Scooby Doo Mystery Machine – reviewed but not approved.
• Nyhavn – Copenhagen, Denmark – reviewed but not approved.
• The Nanny – reviewed but not approved.
• Monsters Inc. Monsters at Work – expired.
• The Dragon Knight’s Harbour – expired.
• Ratchet & Clank – expired.
• The Gramophone – expired.
• Chinatown Double Happiness Archway – expired.
• Aladdin – Friend Like Me – reviewed but not approved.
• Minifigure Gumball Machine – currently being reviewed.
• Golden Clifftop Temple – reviewed but not approved.
• LEGO Friends ‘Heartlake Express’ Passenger Train – expired.
• Suit of Armor – expired.
• Atari 2600 – archived because there was an official set already in the works.
• Wordle – expired.
• No Man’s Sky Sentinel – ongoing.
• Starfield Frontier – ongoing.
• Modular Medieval Inn is a D&D fan’s dream – ongoing.
• Dungeons & Dragons Necromancer’s Crypt – ongoing.

At first glance, that’s an awful lot of expired ideas that didn’t get enough votes. And there were eight sets that got reviewed but weren’t approved. But that’s not the downer it might seem like. There are still 49 other sets that, as of September 2023, are under review.

Yes, we’re disappointed the awesome Lego Toilet didn’t get approval, but we can understand why Lego passed on some of the licensed sets. As excellent as it would be to have a Lego Aladdin Genie sitting on your shelf (not just a minifigure), it’d require approval from both Lego and Disney.

There’s also nothing to stop creators rethinking and resubmitting their designs. So we have our fingers crossed that one day we’ll see their work up on store shelves.