The latest Lego Ideas review is live - and while another new project has been approved for release as a real, official Lego set through the process - unfortunately another Zelda set has fallen at this, the final hurdle. The set in question is titled ‘Hyrule Castle 30th Anniversary’, and was a pretty stunning-looking recreation of the version of the iconic castle found in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It also contained Lego minifigures of Link, Zelda, and a Bokoblin, as well as brick-built figures of Ganon, Koroks, and Guardians. Link even has his Paraglider and Master Cycle, the latter of which was introduced in a BOTW DLC. If you’re unfamiliar with Lego Ideas, it’s a neat little platform the Lego Group runs where Lego fans can submit their own set designs. Any set that gains the support of 10,000 Lego Ideas users gets put to a panel of Lego designers within the company, who then debate and dissect the sets. Some, if approved by Lego and any third party rights holders, will then go on to become a real set. Lego Ideas has become a major sub-brand for Lego in recent years, and has delivered a mixture of original and licensed sets. Releases based on Ghostbusters, The Flintstones, TRON, Home Alone, Doctor Who, Sesame Street made their way to store shelves via the Ideas program. In the world of video games, the excellent recent Lego Sonic the Hedgehog playset was the result of the Ideas program, as was the very first Lego Minecraft set. In Minecraft’s case, a single Ideas set led to a complete range of Minecraft-branded building sets, a theme still thriving to this day. No such luck for Zelda, however. This is the latest in a string of Zelda Ideas submission rejections - another excellent Hyrule Castle (this one based off the N64 version) was rejected just 9 months ago, alongside sets based on Metroid, Animal Crossing, and Among Us. Sets can be rejected from Lego Ideas for a variety of reasons. It could be that Nintendo said no to a Zelda collaboration, but with the Mario tie-up going from strength-to-strength, one wonders how likely that is. Factors such as build stability, safety, and playability are also considered. It could be that Lego simply doesn’t see the market for the set - or it could clash with a project already in development at Lego HQ. That last bit wouldn’t necessarily mean there’s a Zelda set in the works, by the way - but, for instance, Lego has a huge Castle set releasing next month to mark the company’s 90th anniversary, which might overlap a bit with any Hyrule Castle, licensing be damned. Despite this, Lego keeps doubling down on its connection to gaming. The toymaker recently had its first collaboration with Sony for a Horizon: Forbidden West themed release, and Lego Mario keeps going from strength-to-strength having added Luigi and Peach as playable figures. Collectors also have a new release to look forward to: a huge-scale Lego Bowser, complete with impressive articulation. Over on Lego Ideas, meanwhile, Zelda and gaming fans keep plugging away. Currently in search of enough support to go to the Lego team for review is a giant brick-built Link and a mini diorama of Link’s Awakening’s Koholint Island, among others. Elsewhere in gaming, Ideas currently has a slew of gaming sets searching for support, including ones based on Pac-Man, Metroid Dread, Portal, Cuphead, and Star Fox, to name a few. There’s also more generic gaming-related sets including a ‘playable’ Space Invaders arcade cabinet, and life-sized Lego versions of the PS2 console and PS5. In the tabletop world, there’s an impressive playable Lego version of Settlers of Catan. If you want to make any of these projects a reality, you can do so by signing up and supporting them on Lego Ideas - and pray they won’t be rejected Hyrule Castle was. It’s a long shot, but it’s better than nothing, right?
