LEGO DREAMZzz may be on the way out, but the LEGO Group has seemingly found a way to repurpose one of its minifigure designs for the upcoming Pokémon sets.
Licensed LEGO themes are no stranger to reused heads. Just ask Black Widow, Jyn Erso, Elizabeth Swann, Joyce Byers, Narcissa Malfoy, Padmé Amidala, Vicki Vale, Sue Storm, Rachel Green, Zora Bennett, Jane Foster and Mera: after all, every single one of those characters shares the same double-sided head. Or the perennial supporting actor who’s featured as Commander Praji and at least 29 other background characters.
But for 72154 Iconic Trainer Moments Poké Ball, the LEGO Group has apparently concocted a brand new way to repurpose existing designs. As spotted by Dawo, the Picnicker minifigure in the 2,386-piece LEGO Pokémon set appears to use the same double-sided face print as Izzie from the LEGO DREAMZzz range.
What’s different about this example is that the LEGO Group has pasted Izzie’s expressions on to a light nougat head, but left behind the O.G. LEGO character’s sparkly details. Her cheerier expression with closed eyes seems to be mirrored, at least from these images, but otherwise this still represents a quick graphic design shortcut for the Picnicker.
Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. As samquinn502 points out, this is a generic, non-playable character rather than a specific person, so it’s not quite as egregious as reusing the same face for seemingly every female actor in Hollywood. Other replies to Dawo include ‘billion dollar company budget issue moment’ and ‘of all the issues I have seen raised about the Pokémon sets, this is the most non-issue’. So, there are fans in both camps.
Either way, it’s not often we see specific designs reappropriated in this way, largely because it still requires a brand new piece (as opposed to just reusing an existing element). But it’s presumably saved the LEGO Group a little time and effort in designing an entirely new face print, so it’ll be interesting to see whether more instances like this crop up further down the line.
72154 Iconic Trainer Moments Poké Ball launches October 1 for £229.99 / $299.99 / €259.99. It’s available to pre-order at LEGO.com now.
The most recent LEGO DREAMZzz wave dropped in January and we've heard nothing about a summer assortment, while rumours are swirling that it's wrapping up this year...
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