LEGO Ideas team reveals reasons for 21349 Tuxedo Cat colour swap

In a new interview, the LEGO Ideas design team reveals why they went in a different direction when it came to the final look of 21349 Tuxedo Cat.

Nestled amongst all of the new LEGO sets being released on June 1, 2024 is a unique model that may well prove to be a big hit with animal lovers. 21349 Tuxedo Cat will be launching on that date, with the LEGO Ideas set available for pre-order right now priced at £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99.

Standing over 32cm tall and constructed from 1,710 pieces, what might be the purr-fect pet build is based on a winning LEGO Ideas submission by Damian Andres. However, the finished 21349 Tuxedo Cat model looks very different from Damian’s successful 10K build, opting instead for a simple black and white colour scheme.

In a recent roundtable interview, the LEGO Ideas design team talked to Brick Fanatics about the challenges they faced when it came to translating the fan model into its final form, revealing why the look of 21349 Tuxedo Cat ultimately went down a different path.

Damian Andres based his original digital design on his own cat, Miro, a Siamese-Birman cross with subtle brown, tan and black elements. LEGO Ideas Design Manager Jordan David Scott talked about why the team ultimately opted instead to go with a black and white version that was also created by Damian as an alternate version of his feline friend.

“We did a lot of research, we got a lot of input from various stakeholders within the LEGO Group and, ultimately, it came down to what (we felt) is one of the most common and popular cats, especially when it comes to colour.”

“Lots of people have black and white cats,” said Jordan, “and those colours seem to go pretty well with (a lot of people’s) decor. We also wanted this to be a really beautiful display model. The black and white colour scheme is very easy to achieve, whereas with a Siamese or Burmese cat, it’s very difficult to get the look (of their fur) with the shades of LEGO bricks that we have. So we decided to go with the tuxedo cat instead.”

The LEGO Ideas design team went on to explain how pleased they are with both the way 21349 Tuxedo Cat is constructed and the final details of the completed model. “For me, there’s a part in the build process where you (assemble) the knees,” said Jordan, “and the way they snap into the model is really satisfying!”

“There’s even a very subtle angle on the front muzzle that really adds a lot of personalisation and personality to the cat. I also think what’s really nice is that Chris (McVeigh – LEGO Ideas’ senior designer) added an alternate jaw and Nathan (Davis – LEGO Ideas’ graphic designer) created (two sets of) eyes. You get a lot of expressions just by changing those or by flipping the eyes upside down. So you can play around with that on your own build, which I think is a lot of fun.”

21349 Tuxedo Cat will arrive online and in stores from June 1, 2024, priced at £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99. You can find out what we thought of the upcoming LEGO Ideas set in our full review here.

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