LEGO Ideas Italian Riviera includes a surprising LEGO City cameo

There's a surprising cameo from a LEGO City character to be found in the upcoming LEGO Ideas 21359 Italian Riviera's minifigure line-up.

The LEGO Ideas theme will be gaining yet another fan-designed creation next month when 21359 Italian Riviera launches. The 3,251-piece model is based on Alex Sahli’s winning 10K submission and features a slice of Mediterranean life, one that’s accompanied by a boosted line-up of 10 minifigures.

It’s those same characters that were one of the topics of discussion during a recent roundtable interview that included Brick Fanatics. The LEGO Ideas design team behind 21359 Italian Riviera talked about how the set's minifigure selection increased by four, where their inspiration was drawn from and the revelation of a surprise LEGO City cameo.

“We had a bit of a brainstorm with both Thea and the other graphic designer, Aga, who couldn't be here today,” explained Creative Lead Jordan Scott. “She also worked on the [set] because she lived in Italy for 20 years. So, you know, we had the experts, and then it was just to balance the stories.”

One of the key considerations when it came to 21359 Italian Riviera’s minifigures is just what roles each of the characters would play in the LEGO Ideas set.

“So we needed someone for each of the stores,” said Jordan, "and then we need people to make it feel like it's bustling. But we also wanted a diverse range of age and gender. That's why we talked about our grandmother and grandson, or maybe a grandfather and granddaughter. Then there's the younger people that live in the building upstairs, the gelato shop owner, the fishermen, and my favourite is the fashionable older gentleman. Just the new torso is really cool."

21359 Italian Riviera also offered the design team the chance to link up two different existing LEGO themes, including a minifigure who appeared in both 60367 Passenger Airplane and 60380 Downtown.

"But then a small tie in to LEGO City is the food critic. So she's visiting as a tourist to kind of review the gelato shop. And then, of course, we added Alex as well as a minifigure, because it kind of tied the whole story together, taking photos and things.”

LEGO Insiders members will be able to add 21359 Italian Riviera to their collections from August 7, as well as 5009422 Italian Market Van from August 7 to 14, plus an A5 notebook reward from August 7 for 1,500 points. The LEGO Ideas set will receive a wider launch from August 10, with the model priced at £249.99 / $299.99 / €279.99.

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