A LEGO fan designer took his work KNIGHT RIDER: KITT AND THE FLAG MOBILE COMMAND UNIT into the second round of review of LEGO Ideas in 2021, becoming the 22nd entry, and LEGO designers will review these ideas in September. Before that, let's take a closer look at this model.
Designer HenkvdL05 (aka Henk van der Linde) has returned to lego world through his son after nearly two decades at AFK. The epidemic has given the two of them more time to reach LEGO, so Henk discovered many LEGO fan sites. He has been registering for about 10 months on the LEGO Idea platform, and last December we saw the first small pieces that were designed to participate in events or competitions.
He uploaded his first two Idea designs in April 2021 and has been slowly raising votes since then. But his two subsequent IP ideas caused quite a stir, and in addition to the A-Team Dragon Strike Team van, which currently has about 5,000 votes, he also submitted this "Thunderbolt Game" project, which is obviously more in line with the tastes of fans: after 39 days of going online, the ticket-raising task was successfully completed. Such a speed is enough to give us reason to take a closer look at his ideas.
Inspired by Lego's new design, Henk designed an 8-stud-wide version of K.I.T.T., as well as a model of a truck from the matching TV series Game of Thunderbolt. Two cars and four figurines used 2648 parts. Of course, Michael Knight, played by David Hasselhoff in american dramas, is a must. But Henk also thought of other key figures, such as Devon Myers (head of the Foundation), Dr. Bonnie Basto or K.P. Curtis (technical director and mechanic at K.I.T.T.) and Reginald Cornelius III, who drove the truck.
K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Two Thousand) is built with black bricks as in the series. Our first glance, of course, was to take a look at the interior, where Henk took into account all the important details: by reminiscent of the joystick's steering device, the Michael Knight figure could maneuver K.I.T.T. elsewhere, and the display almost perfectly corresponded to the original. Unfortunately, the swivel light bar on the hood may only be a digital draft design, and LEGO may be looking for another solution here. The car sizes given by fan designers are as follows: 8.6 cm wide, 18.7 cm long, 5.1 cm high.
During their missions, K.I.T.T. and Michael Knight sometimes had to rely on the Foundation's mobile devices. The Ranger Industrial Service Operator Station (SEMI) is housed in a truck-pulled trailer that allows K.I.T.T. to enter through the tailgate. You can open the side of the trailer and see the situation inside the mobile garage. Among other things, it is used to repair vehicles or install software updates. The front part is the conference room, which is crammed with various technological objects, and there is a regular lounge.
This trailer is somewhat reminiscent of a LEGO Mechanical 42078 Mark truck and is equipped with a striking radiator grille and a spacious cab. Unfortunately, however, its silvery front is only for the picture effect, because in subsequent pictures the colors have turned gray. So we assume that the lights are also added only for demonstration purposes. The trailer has a width of 11 cm, a length of 71.2 cm and a height of 14.4 cm.
The American tv series Knight Rider, starring David Hasselhoff, is one of the classic American television series of the late 80s and 90s. In this episode, Michael Knight uses his artificially intelligent vehicle (K.I.T.T.) to hunt down criminals. The series was produced from 1982 to 1986 and premiered on NBC on September 26, 1982, with 4 seasons and 90 episodes. After the first few seasons, there are sequels titled Thunderbolt Ranger Squad (1997–1998) and Thunderbolt Ranger 2008 (2007–2008). In addition, the TV series was also made into a movie. Three TV movies were filmed over a period of time – Thunderbolt Ranger 2000, Thunderbolt Ranger 2010 and Thunderbolt Ranger.
I think the combination of K.I.T.T. and the command center is quite successful. As with the plot of the TV series, the truck is just part of it, and Henk has taken into account all the important details. This includes first the cockpit of the K.I.T.T., but also the partitions in the trailer. K.I.T.T.T.'s lounge area and meeting room have plenty of space, and the folding side walls can be switched to presentation mode or game mode. Even if the chrome alloy on the lighting and radiator grille is removed, I find this project very attractive.
Let's try to use The history of Idea to help us make an assessment. You don't have to go back a long time to find the same design of K.I.T.T. In the first round of censorship in 2020, LEGO designers saw the same pieces, but it was clear that they preferred other ideas. For lego sets, Thunderbolt Ranger came in passing — in 2017, LEGO Dimension launched the 71,286-dimensional set of 55 parts: Expansion Pack: Michael Knight.
Two things are very clear when searching for content related to "Thunderbolt Ranger": first, the interest in it seems to be relatively evenly distributed across the globe, and secondly, after the renovation in 2008/2009, its attention has remained at a stable level. However, it's important to know that there's still a huge difference in influence from the TV sitcom Friends or The Big Bang Theory.
Either way, Ideas fans proved they wanted the themed kit, after all, the project took just over a month to get the necessary votes. From Lego's perspective, however, they might wonder if the Thunderbolt Ranger has a broad enough appeal. At this point, it's hard to make an assessment, but still think it's unlikely to be mass-produced.
What is your thought on this idea? Do you like the combination of K.I.T.T. and truck? Feel free to leave your comments.
So far, 22 works have entered the official review stage of the second round of the LEGO Idea platform in 2021, and the other 21 works are: Outer Solar System Explorers, German Traditional Cottage, Gamestop Classic Store, Rusenberger Jaguar 8X8 Airport Fire Truck, Aircraft Engine Workshop, Scooby-Doo Mysterious Machine, Floating Island (Tension Balance), Medieval Harbor, Brick Walking Street, Movable Mini Golf Course, Female Scientists in Front of the Computer, Snow Tavern, Medieval Tavern, Boston Dynamics four-legged robot dog Spot 1:4 power model, bulletproof boy group "Dynamite", makeup clothing store, space shell, A-type forest cabin, lifeguard cabin, movie set, Imperial Island Fort.