Fans of the LEGO Ideas community want to see a detective-themed piece, and this issue has been solved. Sherlock Holmes – 221B Baker Street received enough votes to be the 16th candidate to enter the first round of review for the 2022 LEGO Ideas platform. Lego officials will evaluate this work in detail in May this year, and today we will present you with more details of this work.
This Sherlock Holmes home was designed by DreamBricks (aka Luigi) from Italy. In his short introduction, he describes himself as a committed Lego fan and moc builder. He joined the LEGO Ideas platform in April 2021, and the piece was submitted shortly before Christmas.
The people on the Ideas platform showed great enthusiasm for the work, casting its first batch of 1,000 votes within a week. In mid-January 2022, Baker Street was over half-ticketed, and 58 days later, Luigi was successfully joined the "10K Members' Club".
Sherlock Holmes's fictional address in London, 221B Baker Street, became the design template. On an area of 16×32 studs, Luigi built the home of the famous detective master with 2200 parts. In addition to Sherlock and his assistant Dr. Watson, Mrs. Hudson and the great rival Moriarty also had a figure appear, so there were 4 figures in total.
Let's take a look at the inside of Detective Headquarters. The design of the first floor is more practical. Upon entering, we stood in a small reception area. In a neighboring room, the detectives set up a study, next to a kitchen. There is a staircase leading to the second floor with a large fireplace inside. At the open flame, Sherlock and Dr. Watson can communicate their keen thought processes and try to solve the case through combination methods.
When there is not enough thinking, the two will go to the third floor. There is a whole laboratory where a lot of experiments can be carried out, and in addition to that we can find formal offices, although having a familiar conversation with the customer in front of the fireplace may have a more pleasant atmosphere.
This model was built into a cross-sectional shape, which means that the back is open and invites you to go inside and play. You can easily dismantle the various floors and smoothly reach every corner of the building. Another small highlight, Luigi provided Sherlock and Dr. Watson with a carriage that investigators could use to comfortably work in London. When you examine the site carefully, polish your eyes. Fan designers also placed some Easter eggs. Can you spot them?
Sherlock Holmes's story was first published in 1887 by the British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle, who was a full-time doctor at the time of his first publication, chose the British capital as a backdrop. The address at 221B Baker Street did not exist at the time, but was created around 1930. At the time, Doyle was concerned about the structure of detective stories, most of which were accidentally solved or did not give a reason at all. In contrast, his protagonist impressed with his extremely strong analytical skills, innovative investigative methods, and clear logic, which today we call forensic science.
Frequent short stories soon became a huge burden on Doyle. In order to get out of this situation, he asked for higher rewards, but these were based on success. So the pressure became so great that in 1893 Doyle decided to let the protagonist die in the story "The Last Question". The author wrote in his diary: "If I hadn't killed him, he would have killed me." ”
It wasn't until 1901 that Doyle realized the importance of Holmes and decided to bring his hero back to life. The great success of The Hound of the Baskervilles and the publishing house prompted Doyle to write more stories. By 1927, the author had written a total of 4 novels and 56 short stories, thus also providing templates for various plays, films, but also boards and computer games.
In fact, personally, this design did not impress us much, do not know why, it does not feel like it has completely burst into flames, although the fan designer has added a lot of details and hidden some Easter eggs in it. The decoration of the floor is very good, and it also fully reflects the working environment of the two detectives. The choice of the doll is sufficient for the playability of the model, and with the addition of the carriage, the detective's adventure is easy to integrate into Lego City.
Now let's evaluate the detective work, and first review the archives of the Idea platform. In the archives we found that in the fall review of 2013, there was already an attempt to contribute the first Idea set to Sherlock Holmes, the master detective. Unfortunately, the official Idea team rejected the idea.
In Lego's main category, detective themes have not yet been included. Searching for "Sherlock Holmes" as a keyword also doesn't get an answer, but you'll see the LEGO 10246 Detective Agency, which also found a detective in the 2011 Collector's Figure Series 5, but beyond that, there's nothing more.
The story of Holmes is famous all over the world, and there is a market demand. Many theatrical and cinematic productions have guaranteed interest in this master detective from all over the world. For LEGO Idea, the sales potential of the set should be sufficient, at least about 50% more access to traffic compared to the TV sitcom "Seinfeld" (which has become an Idea set).
However, the use of copyright may have problems, such as we know that there are already licensed products in China, and we are not sure whether LEGO can still win the worldwide license.
In terms of playability and rich detail, the design is remarkable, and the sales market should also have good potential. For LEGO itself, the current model design is very close to the Street View series. Given the possible IP licensing issues, we don't think it's very likely to be produced as an official package.
So far, 16 works have entered the first round of review of the 2022 LEGO Ideas platform, and the other 15 works are the Boeing 747 cockpit, Lego insects, the Polar Express 20th Anniversary, the Mach patrol car, Santa's hut, the library, the Space Age Story, the classic cat clock, the steampunk airship, the mini city model: London Underground, the LEGO toilet, the Le Gaola, the Wild West Mining District, the legendary Concorde, the Forester Secret Inn.