LEGO designer explains biggest change in upcoming LEGO Ideas set

One key change in 21346 Family Tree opens up much more room for creativity in the LEGO Ideas set – including a Star Wars tie-in that the fan designer is keen to build.

Most LEGO Ideas sets go through at least a few changes in their journey from fan design to real-life set and 21346 Family Tree is no different. While the original fan-made design from Ivan Guerrero featured minifigures heavily on the ‘photos’ hanging from its branches, the final version of the set making its way onto shelves in February has a lot more variety available.

21346 Family Tree includes a wide range of accessories to decorate the tree, as well as a unique ‘Our Family’ nameplate and seasonal tree foliage, bird figures, birdhouses, a toy plane, a kite, and much more to bring the tree to life. Speaking at a roundtable about the upcoming set, LEGO Ideas designer Laura Perron explained the reason for the change.

“We wanted this set to be as wide-reaching and inclusive as possible to many different families,” she said. “We had a lot of discussions regarding what family means to people. For some people, it’s blood relatives, while for others it’s found families, or chosen families, or pets, or friends.

“With the minifigures, we felt we didn’t want to limit that by just having two or four minifigures. Instead, we focused on what is the scene that we can set, what are all of the accessories that we can provide (such as all of the different flower colours), so that you can really customize the set to reflect what family means to you. You can always add your own minifigures or pet figures or whatever you like, into that.”

Indeed, that flexibility allows for some truly creative builds. For example, Ivan himself has big plans for his copy of the model based on a galaxy far, far away.

“One of the things I want to do with my copy is make it a Star Wars-themed family tree!” Ivan explained. “For instance, I’d add in Darth Vader and Amidala at the base, then Luke, Leia and the droids all around too.”

You could arguably include Rey in the family tree, as well as Kylo Ren, Han Solo, and Chewie. The ethos of 21346 Family Tree is that family is whatever you make of it, much like Rey’s controversial statement at the end of Episode 9. The versatility of the set lends itself well to alternative interpretations of family, so it’s well worth getting creative with who and what you hang from your version. Whether that’s the blended Star Wars family tree, the found family of the MCU, your own friends and family, or something entirely different, is completely up to you.

LEGO Ideas 21346 Family Tree is available to pre-order now for £79.99 / $79.99 / €89.99 and will ship from February 1.

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