Italian media helps LEGO Ideas landmark hit 10K in near-record time
A LEGO model of a Sicilian landmark has rocketed to 10,000 votes on LEGO Ideas in just one week, all thanks to support from Italian media.
Here’s a lesson in reaching the review stage on LEGO Ideas: get the weight of your local and national media behind you. That’s exactly what aspiring fan designer Giovanni Mirulla did for his build of U Liotru, the ‘elephant fountain’ located in the Sicilian city of Catania, and it’s meant the project has passed 10,000 votes within a week of being submitted to the crowdsourcing platform.
“The set is a great choice for LEGO collectors who are passionate about Italian history and culture, as well as for residents of Catania, city of the Sicily region, who want to have a piece of their favourite city in their LEGO collection,” Mirulla wrote on the project page. The build recreates every aspect of the real-world landmark, from its ornate base and obelisk to its iconic basalt elephant.
The fountain is the source of various legends – including one that reckons the elephant was forged from the lava of Mount Etna by a mischievous magician – but mostly stands as a symbol of good luck for Catania. It’s also been the city’s official symbol since 1239, so there’s some real history attached to it – which may explain why it’s enjoyed such a groundswell of support.
“I’m glad many liked the idea and it got to everyone in a short time,” Mirulla added in the comments, citing the influence of Italian media including La Sicilia and Meridio News. “Let’s hope for the production of the set, but regardless I hope it was a good showcase to relaunch Sicily, not just Catania!”
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The LEGO Ideas review board must now decide – as part of the first 2023 review – whether to produce U Liotru as an official LEGO set. But even with its raucous support, the LEGO Group may ultimately deem that the project is just a little too obscure (or region-specific) to succeed in global markets. We’ll find out for sure later this year. For now, here’s a round-up of every LEGO Ideas project in this review.
Every LEGO Ideas project in the first 2023 review
Number | LEGO Ideas project | LEGO Ideas user | Date qualified |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Dr. Seuss and LEGO | LegoFan_506 | January 2, 2023 |
2 | Sweet Honey | RobertVII | January 4, 2023 |
3 | The Botanical Garden | Goannas | January 9, 2023 |
4 | The Crown – A Piece of History | Piraten | January 12, 2023 |
5 | Stargate SG1: Embarkation Room | Starbrick_SG1 | January 12, 2023 |
6 | Roscosmos Soyuz MS Spacecraft | Tom_Brick | January 15, 2023 |
7 | Motorized Howl’s Moving Castle | ericlego321 | January 16, 2023 |
8 | The Stargate | Captain Mutant | January 16, 2023 |
9 | Medieval Seaside Market | bricks_fan_uy | January 17, 2023 |
10 | Brick Boulevard | Bricky_Brick | January 19, 2023 |
11 | Retro Comic Store | LEGOverwatch | January 22, 2023 |
12 | Shrek’s Swamp – 20th Anniversary | The Real Ashnflash | January 22, 2023 |
13 | Baby Green Sea Turtle – Kinetic | QuaintWolf082 | January 23, 2023 |
14 | Humpback Whale | Les Briques de Loïc | January 25, 2023 |
15 | Shrek’s Swamp | danielbradleyy | January 26, 2023 |
16 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine: 99th Precinct | Ben Fankhauser | January 27, 2023 |
17 | LED Lamp | Castor-Troy and Max Brich | January 28, 2023 |
18 | Bricks Coffee | UTAMARU_BRICK8 | January 28, 2023 |
19 | Ogel Creek Saw Mill | Krackenator4 | January 31, 2023 |
20 | Hollow Knight: Forgotten Crossroad | Ben Osborne | February 1, 2023 |
21 | LEGO Godzilla | Matthew Esposito | February 2, 2023 |
22 | Claus Toys | Pablo Sánchez Jiménez | February 2, 2023 |
23 | Twilight: Cullen House | LobsterThermidor | February 4, 2023 |
24 | Where’s Wally/Waldo? | Iyan Ha | February 4, 2023 |
25 | V.&T.R.R. #12, GENOA | SgJess | February 9, 2023 |
26 | River Side Lodge | terauma | February 14, 2023 |
27 | CATAN – The Game | Christoph Ruge | February 15, 2023 |
28 | Daft Punk – The Robots | eliot.obrien | February 15, 2023 |
29 | Monsters Inc: The Door to Monstropolis | HollyonFilm | February 18, 2023 |
30 | Iljinai Family House | Rock the Brick | February 19, 2023 |
31 | Multi-Tool | Tall Guy Bricks | February 19, 2023 |
32 | Portal 2 Quantum Tunneling Device. The “Portal Gun” | Hooded-Blaze | February 20, 2023 |
33 | LEGOLAND Train Station | Mind the Bricks and Patgeo | February 25, 2023 |
34 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Marcos Garavelli | February 27, 2023 |
35 | Amethyst Geode | gman13579 | March 3, 2023 |
36 | The Scream | Spacemanship | March 5, 2023 |
37 | U Liotru – Elephant Fountain – Catania | Giovanni Mirulla | March 6, 2023 |
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