LEGO Ideas 21376 Orange Cat is a purr-fect companion to
We're getting closer to the March 1 release date of 21376 Orange Cat, which takes the design of 21349 Tuxedo Cat and applies a new colour scheme, as well as other changes and upgrades to the first LEGO feline. This idea of recolouring and designing the 2024 cat creation meant that the design team had a few guidelines to keep in mind.
One of these guidelines concerned the upgrades and changes being made to the original design. The aim was for the second LEGO Ideas cat to be equally abstract, leaving out details which fans have found ways to include in 21349 Tuxedo Cat. Since the release of LEGO Ideas 21349 Tuxedo Cat, fans have found ways to add whiskers to the model, prompting the question of whether such a feature was considered for the second LEGO Ideas cat in a recent roundtable.
"When we went into this project, we were looking at keeping it very close to the original tuxedo cat, and that also meant using the same level of abstraction," explained designer Chris McVeigh to LEGO fan media, including Brick Fanatics.
"So like with the tuxedo cat, we chose not to represent the whiskers, because we felt that any element such as that would draw attention to itself and distract from the overall aesthetic of the cat. It wasn't something that we considered."
As the example from StawiamKlocki demonstrates, additional whiskers improve the overall accuracy of the cat, but they're ultimately too visible compared to real whiskers and end up distracting from the otherwise smooth appearance.
While this is one example of where the designers had to limit themselves while designing 21376 Orange Cat, other guidelines they set for themselves only served to expand the creative possibilities when the two cats are combined.
"So even if there is a section of 21376 Orange Cat that has slightly different part usage, it's still largely compatible. I don't think that there is too much about it that is that different that you couldn't use it," said Chris.
"But you could take the front legs off the orange cat and put the black legs on it," added LEGO Ideas Creative Lead Jordan David Scott. "You can swap the heads, more or less. You can swap the legs or the tails."
"It's great, because if you have the tuxedo cat now, you can make a calico or a tortoiseshell cat," said Jordan earlier in the roundtable. "So you can kind of mix and match all the parts, because they are largely the same, which is really cute."
Each of the LEGO Ideas cats costs £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 each (except in Australia, where 21376 Orange Cat is less expensive), and you can see just how similar the builds are in our recent review. 21349 Tuxedo Cat is available now, and 21376 Orange Cat launches on March 1, 2026.
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