LEGO didn’t expect the power of cat lovers to go this far
One LEGO cat’s viral success paved the way for the next, to the surprise of everyone behind the scenes at the LEGO Group.
It’s always hard to predict the reaction to any LEGO set, but the viral response to 2024’s LEGO Ideas 21349 Tuxedo Cat took even those who worked on the set by surprise. Cat lovers were enchanted, LEGO fans were intrigued, and even real-life cats got their paws stuck into the fun.
The LEGO Group certainly leaned into the virality of 21349 Tuxedo Cat’s launch with its marketing approach, and now is capitalising on the success of the first with an update on the popular concept: 21376 Orange Cat.
“We never planned to make two in the beginning,” explained LEGO Ideas Design Manager Jordan Scott while speaking to LEGO Fan Media at a recent roundtable interview. “At LEGO Ideas, we typically do everything once. We want to do things first, and then other teams might follow up with sequel products, like we did 21319 Central Perk, then Icons did 10292 Apartment Building.
“It was a big surprise for us, just how viral 21349 Tuxedo Cat went when it was released,” he continued. “It has been really successful, and it’s been shown and shared everywhere, which is great. It also lends itself to looking a lot like Cataclaws (the LEGO Group’s festive cat mascot), so there was a lot of hype around it, especially at Christmas and things.
“When we got the request for another cat, we were like: yeah, why not? It would be really cool to have another one, give 21349 Tuxedo Cat a friend. It happened very organically.”
That request actually came through from Target, making it a retailer exclusive to the US brand outside of LEGO Stores in the US. Being a first for the LEGO Group as a brand, it presented an exciting new experience to the designer of both the LEGO Ideas sets, Chris McVeigh.
“I was super excited, even though it was never planned,” Chris said during the same roundtable. “As a model designer, sometimes you wonder about going back to a model you’ve already designed or if you could change the colour, if you could do something different with it. It’s something we don’t really get to do at the LEGO Group, so when I found out that I would get the chance to revisit 21349 Tuxedo Cat, I was super excited – probably too excited.”
Although the LEGO Group doesn’t share details on its sales numbers for any sets, the social media virality of 21349 Tuxedo Cat surely translated into commercial success as well, with Jordan noting that it has been ‘very successful’.
“It’s been very popular,” he said. As well as Target’s request, Jordan noted that fans were also calling for an orange cat to join the black one. “We saw a lot of popularity, especially with orange cats being well requested.
“As Chris said, you can revisit the design and optimise it a little bit more. When 21349 Tuxedo Cat came out, we included two different colours of eyes, and a lot of people were wishing for green eyes. Well, orange cats typically have green eyes, so then we could do green eyes on this one. Now you have four colours that you can swap between both of the cats. Everyone was very excited about making those small adjustments.”
LEGO Ideas 21349 Tuxedo Cat is available to buy now around the world, while 21376 Orange Cat is available to pre-order ahead of its launch on March 1, 2026.
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