The LEGO designers behind the new X-Files set have revealed how and why they landed on Scully’s Lab as a gift-with-purchase.
40896 The X-Files: Scully’s Lab is free with all purchases of 21369 The X-Files from August 1 to 10, or while stocks last. It’s the latest in a long, long line of set-specific GWPs, and while the decision to create one for the larger X-Files set wasn’t down to the Ideas team – LEGO Ideas Design Manager Jordan Scott says ‘we have another team that works on that’ – they did have the final say on what it would be.
“They look at the portfolio and see what would be a good set for having one,” Jordan tells Brick Fanatics and other fan media in a roundtable interview. “That's when we get involved, and then they're asking: ‘What could you make for a GWP?’ We sat down as a team and were trying to think of what could make sense for it.
“What could we add in? What was something that we could actually execute really easily? And then, is there an opportunity to get an exclusive figure or something like that? And that's why we went with Scully's lab.”
The final gift-with-purchase consists of 221 pieces and references Dana Scully’s role as a forensic pathologist in The X-Files. Gillian Anderson’s character joins the FBI straight out of medical school and regularly performs autopsies on victims and monsters across the series. Her lab as depicted here is a small but detailed 12x14-stud vignette, following a format established by 40891 Stranger Things: WSQK Radio Station.
“I was asking [21369 The X-Files designer Chris McVeigh] a lot about what would make a good small model, and I think at that point the Stranger Things one had come out,” Jordan recalls. “That was also really popular with the little radio station, and seemed to fit that nice footprint. Being able to get another copy of Scully's wig was also cool, and then being able to do her with her lab equipment just made sense.”
40896 The X-Files: Scully’s Lab includes only one minifigure, but it’s a very good one: Scully in a lab coat and gloves, complete with a new double-sided face print that features lab goggles on one side. As Jordan mentions, she’s also sporting the same brand new hairpiece introduced for 21369 The X-Files. But there was more to this minifigure than just getting a new head and torso into the mix.
“When we talk about The X-Files, she was such a prominent character in the women's STEM field, so being able to show Scully in her more medical attire, and focus on that was something that we really wanted to put in,” Jordan adds. “I don't know if there's anything else we considered for that.”
The team didn’t mention any other possible ideas for an X-Files GWP on the call, although there are doubtless plenty – whether in reference to specific episodes, such as Tooms, or even the spin-off series The Lone Gunmen. But for graphic designer Anna Godsk, 40896 The X-Files: Scully’s Lab fills in a piece of the X-Files puzzle that’s only briefly acknowledged in 21369 The X-Files by way of a microscope in Mulder’s office.
“This way, we also get the spookiness from Mulder and his office, and then we get the more scientific and rational thinking from Scully,” Anna says. “So it's nice to have both parts of their personalities come out in two different sets.”
Designer Chris McVeigh was responsible for bringing the lab GWP to life alongside transforming fan designer Brent Waller’s contest-winning X-Files design into a retail set. As mentioned in our review of the free gift, there’s a clear through line between the two sets, particularly in the way the cabinets come together – echoing the intricate design of the shelves in Mulder’s office.
“I have elaborate drawings of how the lab itself gets laid out, and then choosing which specific corner to focus on that would make the best visual – with a little bit of LEGO abstraction, of course,” Chris says of the design process. The finished model includes an operating table, an overhead lamp, a desk with a microscope, a small table with a dish, various canisters and beakers, a sink and two filled cabinets.
There are also two walls – one with a floor-to-ceiling window and glass door – a fully tiled floor and two stairs leading up to the exit. These are small touches, but together they make for a detailed vignette that works really nicely on display and – at least for Brent – marks a satisfying thematic companion for 21369 The X-Files.
“I wasn't even aware there was a GWP, but the fun of it for me was just seeing [Scully] in her expertise and having her own little space, because her doing autopsies was featured multiple times throughout the show,” he says. “It's just as iconic as the forest scene.”
40896 The X-Files: Scully’s Lab can be yours from August 1 when purchasing 21369 The X-Files for £179.99 / $199.99 / €199.99. Check out our reviews of the main set and the GWP in the meantime through the links below:
21369 The X-Files review
40896 The X-Files: Scully's Lab review
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