There’s a specific time line of events that led up to this post about LEGO Stranger Things being real. The first thing that happened was that sometime during the second half of April, an email was sent out about a midnight reveal at the LEGO store in Leicester Square. There is also a facebook post announcing the event. I didn’t think too much about it, thinking it was another James Bond type of reveal and ended up deleting the email.
The second LEGO Stranger Things event that happened was the above image being sent to me through various channels. It kind of looked like the thumbnail image you see when you’re browsing the themes over at the LEGO site. But those thumbnail images don’t use the LEGO logo above the theme name so I questioned it’s authenticity. I mean, the two CG minifigs look pretty legitimate. So I questioned whether or not it was real and never really made a connection between it and to the email from before.
The third event was the following video being sent to me:
Seems pretty darn convincing to me!
There’s a lot to respond to in the video but let’s stick to the main point which is evidence pointing towards a possible LEGO Stranger Things set/theme. The video connected the two dots between the first two incidents above. That overlay of Will’s face over the image paperclipped to the folder in the photo had me more than convinced.
But the fourth event that put the nail in the coffin was the following image posted on the Stranger Things subreddit:
If this is a hoax someone went to great lengths to make it look real.
Now, going off on a slight tangent, I have some thoughts about what was said in the video:
- I wholeheartedly agree with the question about what age group LEGO is marketed towards. We’ve always been told it’s a child’s toy but with sets in the range of hundreds of dollars becoming a norm, it’s hard to buy that argument anymore. It started with Star Wars and the Ultimate Collector Series. And since then we’ve seen larger sets with higher price points come from all sorts of themes, licensed or not. Price tag aside, some of the licensed themes appear to be geared towards adults as only adults would be familiar with the source material (Flintstones, Scooby Doo, some Dimensions packs, etc). I think nostalgia plays a heavy role with some of those including some Ideas projects. I have no problems LEGO creating sets for adults but let’s just be honest about it and not use the kid excuse as a convenient way to hide behind a questionable decision.
- LEGO uses the suggested age as a parameter for who this set is geared for. I’m not sure I’ve seen a starting age higher than 12, so seeing a 16+ there is noteworthy in and of itself. Maybe this isn’t enough and a separate adult-oriented branding should be made. Duplo has always been for toddlers and very young builders. System came after that. The 4+ line was a way to bridge the gap between the two. Technic is in a category of its own because of the element library. Perhaps now its time to create a new category/brand/line of sets specifically geared towards adults.
- I don’t know what the issue with Scott Pilgrim is. LEGO won’t even allow the project to be posted. Twice.
- I do acknowledge that the video creator started the video by saying, “So back when my Scott Pilgrim submission got rejected for the second time…” It may explain his intentions at blowing the lid off of the reveal, but it doesn’t necessarily invalidate his reasoning. He has some solid points about how the Stranger Things set flies in the face of the rules outlined by LEGO Ideas, namely rule #6 from the LEGO Ideas submission guidelines page: “6. Death, killing, blood, terrorism, horror, or torture”. I get that Ideas is a different platform from their D2C market (I’m assuming the Stranger Things set is a D2C set based on the size and scope) but its existence is contradictory to the guidelines that we are all familiar with and is sending a mixed message.
I’m guessing someone at LEGO really likes Stranger Things, and wanted to make a set. Or someone at Stranger Things really likes LEGO and wanted a set made. It could have been both. And if a profit is to be made, rules will be bent. Sadly, that is a fact of life and it appears that it is being applied here.
Of course, this could all be a super elaborate hoax but I’m willing to bet my Vader Bust set that it isn’t. May 15th is the date of the midnight reveal. We’ll find out more by then. And if The LEGO Group requests that the above image be removed, then they’ve played their hand and just proved it is indeed real.
