LEGO Icons team looked to Super Mario for the Enterprise’s engines

Existing LEGO pieces for new models often come from the strangest of places, such as 10356 USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D’s Donkey Kong-inspired engines.

The LEGO Icons theme will set out to explore strange new worlds later this month, when 10356 USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D launches on November 28. The 3,600-piece model is the first-ever LEGO Star Trek set, depicting Starfleet’s flagship in all of its brick-built glory.

As with any new LEGO build in development, the LEGO Icons design team utilised a selection of existing pieces in order to create the unique shape of 10356 USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, even going so far as to find the perfect engine elements thanks to another licensed theme.

During a recent LEGO Fan Media Days event, designer Hans Burkhard Schlömer mentioned a number of repurposed elements that are in 10356 USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, including a 5×8 slope plate that previously popped up in the likes of this year’s 75433 Jango Fett’s Starship in sand green, with a grey version of the same part used to create the vessel’s rounded saucer section.

However, when it came to constructing the LEGO Enterprise’s distinctive wrap nacelles, the design team turned to LEGO Super Mario. The front of each nacelle boasts striking trans-red 1×4 elements to achieve the looks of the ship’s Bussard Ramscoops, collector arrays that gather interstellar hydrogen for use in the vessel’s power generation and propulsion systems.

The curved slopes were introduced in two LEGO Super Mario sets that debuted in 2023, 71424 Donkey Kong’s Tree House and 71425 Diddy Kong’s Mine Cart Ride, specifically to create the distinctive look of DK’s simian mouth.

The good news is that the clever use of two of those pieces combined together seems to have made for a perfect match for 10356 USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D’s Bussard Ramscoops, which are then complimented by dark azure plates and trans-light blue tiles to recreate the ship’s warp field grilles.

Obviously, it’s not the first time that existing pieces from another LEGO theme have been used in another set, but sometimes the perfect element already exists, this time resulting in what looks to be a spot-on interpretation of the iconic Star Trek ship’s signature engines.

10356 USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D will be released on November 28 priced at £349.99 in the UK, $399.99 in the US and €379.99 in Europe. Insiders members who purchase the LEGO Icons set will also receive a free 40768 Type-15 Shuttlepod GWP from November 28 to December 1, while stocks last.

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