Comparing LEGO Ideas Twilight House to the original fan design

LEGO Ideas 21354 Twilight: The Cullen House has been officially revealed – but what’s changed since the original fan design?

21354 Twilight: The Cullen House was originally designed by fan designer Nick Micheels, also known as LobsterThermidor on LEGO Ideas, but has since been tweaked by professional LEGO designers. It’s typical to see some changes in LEGO Ideas sets, based on any number of factors from cost, potential new prints, quality control, and more.

On the face of it, 21354 Twilight: The Cullen House has stayed fairly close to Nick’s original idea – but that doesn’t mean it’s free from changes. Notably, there are almost 1,000 fewer bricks in the build, so what’s changed from the LEGO Ideas project to the final set? Let’s take a closer look.

Light up the house

The most obvious change is an overall brightening of the set. The dark brown of the wood in the original design has changed to dark orange, while the black elements have changed to light grey. The trees outside have also been switched to a lighter shade of green, with more variety of leaves and foliage elements making the whole set appear brighter.

Those colour changes altogether make for a more open, vibrant build, closer to what the house looks like in real life. While in the films, it’s often raining with a moody blue-green filter over the top, the real house is built in a bright wood that matches the dark orange colour very closely. It’s therefore a welcome change that, although it does make the set look a little more childish, it also brings it closer to reality.

A more detailed interior

Heading into the interior, there are still three levels of rooms packed with the same references from the original fan design. The major changes are simply more accessories and different colours for the rooms, once again adding to the varied colour palette of 21354 Twilight: The Cullen House as a whole.

It also looks like the interior of the original project featured smooth plates for floors rather than studded elements. Having studs offers more flexibility on how to pose your minifigures, making it easier to recreate iconic scenes from the movies. Seeing as the LEGO Ideas set still features lift-away floors to allow access to the interior, that’s a smart way to offer greater flexibility for play and display.

A major minifigure boost

Nick’s original submission featured just four minifigures – Bella, Edward, Jacob, and Carlisle – but we’ve got an expanded cast of seven characters in the final design, adding Charlie, Alice, and Rosalie to the mix. That’s far from a full cast – we’re still missing Esme, Jasper, and Emmett from the Cullen family alone – but it does include a sparkly alternate face for Edward as if he’s in the sun.

Perhaps thankfully also missing is a baby element for Renesemee, whose controversial appearance in the movies has been the subject of widespread jokes ever since. Seeing that semi-cursed CGI baby face in LEGO form would perhaps be a step in the wrong direction.

The minifigures in general have very similar face prints, at least in the version most prominently seen in the photos. The vampire have vampire-eyed alternate faces which helps break it up, but there’s not the same differences as we had in the original fan design.

Jacob gets a redesign

There are seven minifigures but eight characters included, with Jacob appearing in his wolf form. He’s had the same brightening glow-up as the house, with his coat lightening to match the russet fur he has on-screen. There’s also a new printed eye element that gives him a slightly cartoonish look, rather than the blank face of the original design. There are no white teeth elements in the final side-build either, as well as less defined paws.

All in all, it feels like all of the key details have remained from the original fan design, with tweaks focusing on details like Jacob’s paws and interior accessories that make the set feel a little more juvenile and basic overall. Nonetheless, the extra minifigures are a welcome addition and are some clever character choices to recreate a wide variety of scenes from the movies.

LEGO Ideas 21354 Twilight: The Cullen House is available to pre-order now for £189.99 / $219.99 / €219.99 ahead of its launch on February 1.

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