Insert coin, win a potential LEGO Ideas set… or not

The latest LEGO Ideas project to reach the review stage is a working claw machine, complete with minifigures and mini-builds as prizes – but its timing couldn’t be worse.

As a general rule, LEGO Ideas rarely repeats concepts, which is pretty astounding given it’s well on its way to its 60th unique set. That’s great for variety, but less great for LEGO Ideas user 2A2A, whose Claw Machine has just surpassed 10,000 votes only days after the LEGO Group approved Rob Vangansewinkel’s Minifigure Prize Machine. While that model recreates a gumball machine rather than a claw machine, the general idea is pretty much the same.

That doesn’t bode well for the Claw Machine in the second 2024 review, the qualifying period for which has just started (and will run through to September 2). Never say never, though – LEGO Ideas has pumped out a few sitcom sets at this point, for example, so why couldn’t we get an entire arcade of prize machines? If nothing else, it’s a great excuse to give us new and exclusive minifigures.

This model is pretty impressive for its functionality too, using two motors hidden in the base to replicate the mechanism of a real-life claw machine. And while 2A2A says they’re still working on the claw-drop function – another potential barrier to the project’s success – the coin slot is compatible with classic chrome gold LEGO coins, so points for that at least.

The Claw Machine kicks off this review phase, but more projects will surely soon follow. Vaicko’s Wallace & Gromit build is only a handful of votes away from 10K at this point…

LEGO Ideas projects in the second 2024 review

Number	LEGO Ideas project	LEGO Ideas user	Date qualified
1	Claw Machine	2A2A	May 8, 2024

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