Just lately, I made myself a promise: I might not buy any more Lego for no less than a yr. That plan has rapidly been foiled. Lego’s first-ever Peanuts set is simply too good, too iconic, too stunning (plus, my son loves Snoopy and Woodstock.) This excellent brick rendition—with the traditional crimson doghouse and even the campfire and marshmallows to toast—is simply too cool move up.
Lego’s habit to licensed mental property—the corporate now sells 25 IP-based themes out of 45 complete, usually burying the open-ended, creativity-first units that constructed the model—is still a problem, however this Snoopy’s Doghouse set proves precisely why these licenses work so terribly properly to burn your bank card.
The magnetism of that straightforward beagle silhouette, mixed with Lego’s three-dimensional engineering and the bricks’ intrinsic enticing energy, is an ideal components to trash all my monetary constraints. Plus, Charles M. Schulz created one thing so visually sturdy, clear, and emotionally direct that translating it into 964 plastic bricks feels much less like exploitation and extra like homage.
Snoopy debuted on October 4, 1950, simply two days after Peanuts launched, and he spent a long time evolving from a pet shuffling on 4 legs into the anthropomorphic dreamer who sleeps on high of his doghouse and imagines himself because the “Crimson Baron,” a World Battle I flying ace. Schulz primarily based him on Spike, his childhood black-and-white blended breed who was unusually clever and will perceive about 50 phrases.
The title Snoopy got here from Schulz’s mom, who as soon as advised it as title for a future household canine. (Enjoyable notice: Schulz had thought of Sniffy earlier than remembering her recommendation). Over 75 years, Snoopy turned greater than Charlie Brown’s pet—he turned a car for fantasy, taking part in shortstop on Charlie Brown’s baseball staff, typing novels because the “World Well-known Writer,” and strutting round as “Joe Cool.” He ascended the cultural ladder sufficient that even NASA adopted him as a mascot, naming the Apollo 10 lunar and command modules after him and creating the Silver Snoopy Award for astronaut achievement in 1968.
Woodstock, the small yellow chicken who first appeared in 1966 however wasn’t named till June 22, 1970, cemented Snoopy’s standing as a personality who operated in his personal emotional universe. Schulz named Snoopy’s avian pal after the 1969 Woodstock Music Competition, whose emblem featured a chicken perched on a guitar. The origin story is pure Schulz sentiment: A mom chicken constructed a nest on Snoopy’s stomach, then deserted it, leaving Snoopy to boost the hatchlings—considered one of whom turned Woodstock. Schulz by no means specified Woodstock’s species (followers guess canary or goldfinch), and he as soon as drew a strip the place Snoopy gave up making an attempt to establish him.
Like many people, Atlanta-based designer Robert Becker is a die-hard fan of the characters, so he spent a couple of yr growing the idea earlier than submitting it to Lego Concepts, the Danish firm’s program that accepts designs made by anybody who indicators up for an account and submits a construct. Submissions get thought of for mass manufacturing after they obtain 10,000 votes by different Concepts members. That’s when they might get approval by an organization committee to be refined by Lego’s own designers in a long collaborative process.
“This set has a lot character,” Monica Pedersen, marketing director on the Lego Group, says within the set’s press launch. “We have been delighted that the Snoopy Campfire product concept acquired over 10,000 votes on the Lego Concepts platform.” I’m glad, too, Monica.
At 964 items and a $90 price ticket, the set additionally hits the Lego complexity-affordability-granularity candy spot, unlike many of the huge sets the corporate has produced prior to now few years. Snoopy legs and neck are adjustable, letting you pose him and Woodstock in a number of show positions. The crimson doghouse opens to disclose a typewriter inside, which you’ll transfer anyplace. And the campfire scene—which may also be hidden inside Snoopy’s residence—is ready in opposition to a starry sky backdrop. The set is already available for preorder; it is going to be bought in shops beginning June 1.
And sure, my child and I will probably be counting the times until it ships to us.
