It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and a beautiful day for a LEGO brick neighbor. A superfan named Matt Smith designed a Mister Rogers LEGO set prototype that caught wind on the LEGO Ideas platform, where users can pitch their own creations. After a few months, the Mister Rogers and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe set has finally gotten the 10,000 votes it needs to be reviewed by a board and considered for production.
The designer settled for a 1,968-piece set in honor of the show's original premiere in 1968, and describes it as a “beautiful and fun building experience for children and adults alike.” While the set features some of Mister Rogers' most famous friends and props, it's also detailed enough to include some easter eggs from certain episodes for fans to spot.
The Mister Rogers LEGO set truly pays homage to the whimsical and inspiring nature of the show. One of the most interesting features is the famous red trolley, which, with the turn of a crank, moves through the walls and around to the back of the set where the Neighborhood of Make-Believe awaits. Besides Mister Rogers, the set features minifigures for some beloved characters, such as François Clemmons, Betty Aberlin, Mr. McFeely, King Friday, Henrietta, X the Owl, and Daniel Tiger.
For Smith, the inspiration came from rewatching Mr. Rogers after he became a dad in 2019. When the pandemic hit a year later, building LEGO sets became one his family's favorite past times. “After I'd been, you know, kind of building sets and collecting figures for a while, you know, my wife and I had started revisiting the show…and it was like, you know, it'd be really great to try to do something with Mr. Rogers in LEGO form,” he told WTAE. “It could be really creative and fulfilling.”
Now that the support threshold has been met, it's now up to LEGO to make this endearing set come true. Since the world could always use more of Mister Rogers' wisdom, one can only hope his words reach new audiences with this set. “It's not just a TV show,” Smith says. “It is an invitation into a space where you can be kind to everyone and they can be kind to you.” As such, Mister Rogers' neighborhood could be coming to your home soon.
To stay update on the set’s progress, visit the project's page on the LEGO Ideas website.
A superfan named Matt Smith designed a Mister Rogers LEGO set prototype that caught wind in the LEGO Ideas platform.
The Mister Rogers and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe set has finally gotten the 10,000 votes it needs to be reviewed by a board and considered for production.
The designer settled for a 1,968-piece set in honor the show's original premiere in 1968.
Besides Mister Rogers, the set features minifigures of some beloved characters, such as François Clemmons, Betty Aberlin, Mr. McFeely, King Friday, Henrietta, X the Owl, and Daniel Tiger.
One of the most interesting features is the famous red trolley, which is operated with a crank to move it through the walls and around to the back of the set where the Neighborhood of Make-Believe awaits.
Now that the support threshold has been met, it's up to LEGO to make this endearing set a purchasable set.
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h/t: [WTAE]
All images via LEGO.
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