Seven LEGO Ideas projects that stand a great chance in the second 2023 review

The second LEGO Ideas 2023 review window has closed, with 49 projects in the running – so here are seven that stand a serious chance of getting the green light to move into production.

LEGO Ideas has just reached its milestone 50th set in 21342 The Insect Collection. That’s a real achievement for the crowdsourced theme – but for creators, it means entering an increasingly saturated market. Finding something that truly has never been done before, as is often Ideas’ remit, is getting more difficult by the year. And it’s why you can unfortunately write off the majority of projects that have just qualified for the second 2023 review.

Modular buildings never make it through review (though could find a second home in the BrickLink Designer Program); the chances of a second train so soon after the upcoming Orient Express seem vanishingly small; and the audience for IPs like Red Dwarf and Schitt’s Creek is probably too niche to warrant an official LEGO set. But nestled among those 49 projects are at least seven that could realistically make it through review and end up on store shelves…

7 – Chameleon

This brick-built creature may steer too closely to 21342 The Insect Collection in format, but by the time it arrives in stores, that brand new release could already be approaching the sunset of its own shelf life. Jimmi-DK’s cute chameleon would also be the most affordable retail LEGO Ideas set in a long time, coming in at just 259 pieces, and has an articulated tail and legs for displaying either on or off its minimalist stand.

6 – Vintage Toaster

We know LEGO Ideas has a soft spot for real-world objects built from bricks – see 21327 Typewriter, 21332 The Globe and so on – but is a toaster really that exciting? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, the charming retro design of dimexart’s Vintage Toaster was clearly enough to convince 10,000 LEGO Ideas fans to propel it to the review stage, and the fact that it’s fully working might just persuade the LEGO Group to give it a shot.

5 – Stilt House

Andrea Lattanzio’s latest 10K project has qualified hot on the heels of the release of his first Ideas set, 21338 A-Frame Cabin, and introduces another odd abode in the Stilt House. It’s just unusual enough that we can see the LEGO Group taking a punt on it (provided it can manufacture trans-blue tiles quickly enough), but would still sit happily on display next to the likes of 21310 Old Fishing Store and 21335 Motorised Lighthouse.

4 – Minifigure Gumball Machine

One of two genuinely fresh ideas in this list – insofar as you can’t really compare them in style, format or subject matter to anything else the LEGO Group has done before – Goosestore’s Minifigure Gumball Machine is billed as a way to display and show off your favourite minifigures. Plenty of thought has clearly gone into the mechanism to release the entombed characters, and we can imagine this being a novel way for the LEGO Ideas team to give us a handful of must-have minifigures, too.

3 – Marine Life 2

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s the ethos by which Brick Dangerous presumably lives, given their Marine Life project is now angling for yet another shot at success (it was initially rejected in the first 2021 review, then lost out to 21343 Viking Village in a Target poll to find a future Ideas set). But the third time could well be the charm for this trio of sea creatures, each of which is displayed in its own bell jar.

2 – Disney Pixar’s Luxo Jr Lamp

We already know the LEGO Group and Disney have a very close relationship, and LEGO Ideas has previously been home to plenty of sets inspired by the House of Mouse’s laundry list of movies and franchises. Why couldn’t the iconic Pixar lamp join that stable of sets? As long as the LEGO Group can figure out a way to make it stand up under its own weight – this digital design isn’t filling us with confidence – it would be a perfect desk accessory.

1 – Working Bicycle

Easily the LEGO Ideas project with the best chance of making it through the second 2023 review, SleepyCow’s Working Bicycle broaches a mode of transport not seen beyond minifigure scale. But from its working drivetrain to its functional brakes and adjustable handlebars, this project packs in an incredible amount of functionality and details, while also presenting something totally unique. What boxes are left to tick? We’ll see you on results announcement day for this one…

Bonus – Taylor Swift's Lover House

An incredible four different versions of Taylor Swift’s Lover House have reached the second 2023 review, so at first glance it seems like a shoe-in for a future LEGO Ideas set. But even these aren’t the first of their kind to rack up 10,000 votes: an earlier design is currently part of the third 2022 review, the results of which we’ll likely learn next month.

If the LEGO Group is intending to follow up 21339 BTS Dynamite with a set for Swifties, it’s probably going to happen before the second 2023 review. (Which also neatly sidesteps the issue of deciding which creator to credit from the four participating in this review phase.)

Every LEGO Ideas project in the second 2023 review

The results of the second 2023 review will be revealed in early 2024, likely around February. Have we missed any projects you think will make the cut? Let us know in the comments.

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