- Howdy!
Welcome to the graveyard of failed Lego ideas.
Over the years, many people
have given Lego fully built set ideas
and many of them Lego has made into official sets.
However, Lego has considered some sets proposed
too inappropriate to make.
They might be considered unsuitable
for the younger Lego audience.
Or maybe Lego simply doesn't want their name attached
to the brand in question.
So we're gonna talk about them today.
Let's check out the 10 rejected Lego sets.
And just a heads-up, Lego doesn't always give
a full reason why these sets were rejected.
So if there is no official reason,
I'll do my best to speculate
based on my own research.
But if you know better on a set,
feel free to correct me in the comments.
And obviously, this isn't
a completely exhaustive list.
But I've tried to focus on the sets
that are most relevant to us
and not just random buildings.
Anyway, onto the countdown.
Psyche, number 11.
The Among Us Lego set.
Huh, Lego rejected Among Us?
Really?
It's like the most popular game in the world.
This set easily got its 10,000 supporters.
I suspect if it could have gotten 100,000,
it probably would have.
If you're somehow not familiar with this game,
you might have seen it popping up
in like every Twitch stream on the planet.
Among Us is basically an online party game
that makes for great streaming material
or just a good old fun time with friends.
And well, with everything going on,
I'm always for finding a good time with friends.
I was particularly curious of why they rejected Among Us,
because it's really hard to over-state
how ridiculously huge this game is.
In terms of monthly sales,
this is the most popular game ever.
It's sold over 125 million copies so far
and that's only accounting for PC and mobile.
Anyway, the build itself consists of six crew members,
a ghost and the basic rooms,
including the reactor,
the engine room, and the lobby room.
Nice.
This one seems like an open shop case.
It's like giving Lego a license to print money.
So my best guess is maybe there was a licensing issue.
I just can't see any other reason
Lego would turn their head
when this much money is being shoved in their face.
Maybe gaming company InnerSloth just wanted too much
of a cut for Lego to license this?
I couldn't find any clear-cut reason,
so my best bet is licensing.
And holy, but Jeebus, look at the amount
of comments this thing got.
2055 comments!
This has got to be among the most most popular Lego ideas
in history.
Number 10.
Lego Futurama,
the planet express headquarters.
Dang, this is a beautiful recreation.
They even made minifigures of the planet express crew.
Look how detailed the set is too.
When I see this set, I feel like I'm stepping
into an episode of the show.
The colors feel perfectly suited to Lego too.
But up till now Lego has always rejected Futurama sets.
Although there's no official reason Futurama was rejected,
I do have a speculation.
I remember in Controversial Lego Sets,
we found out that Lego received some controversy
for creating Simpsons Lego.
So maybe it's a similar case here,
maybe Lego Futurama is simply not worth the controversy.
I think there's definitely an argument
to be made that Futurama tends to aim
for an older audience than the Simpsons.
All the Futurama's main characters are adults.
We actually rarely see kids.
And they can certainly guarantee their money
will be returned with the Simpsons
because well, it's the Simpsons.
And for the ninth rejected set,
Lego Shaun of the Dead.
Hey cool, I love this movie.
And the set is a surprisingly accurate Lego version
of the original movie.
The set obviously recreates the characters,
some of the zombies,
and of course the bar that Shaun loves,
the Winchester.
Let's wait for all of this to blow over.
For this one, we actually have the reason
Lego rejected the set.
And frankly, it's pretty clear-cut anyway.
In case you don't know, Shaun of the Dead
is a 2004 zombie comedy horror,
an R-rated zombie comedy horror.
It includes scenes of extreme violence and decapitation.
So, you know, it's not exactly child-friendly Lego material.
- [Narrator] Lego Technic gives you a new challenge.
Four by four--
- Of course, in reality,
actual Lego characters get decapitated all the time.
Their head screws off.
It's a common occurrence for Lego characters
to break apart in many Lego games and shows.
Some people debated Lego's decision in the comments,
posing ideas like, why doesn't Lego just make it
for an 18+ audience?
There's plenty of 16+ sets out there.
Why not make an 18+ set?
There're a lot of Lego adult fans out there,
including myself.
Personally, I think the answer to this question
would be that even though some sets
are specifically designed for 16+ audiences,
they're never based off material
that would be outright traumatic
to a very young audience.
They're generally given their older guidelines
if they consider it too complex for a younger audience.
Like, I can't think of any Lego sets
that use ultra-violent horror.
If you know of any, feel free to let me know in the comments
'cause I'd be really curious.
I mean what would Lego gore even look like?
Wait, that?
Well, I guess that's kind of scary
in a Lego-ey way.
Number eight.
Lego Firefly Serenity.
If you haven't heard of this show and movie,
well, that's actually kind of impressive.
This show is the definition of having
a cult following, myself included.
It was a powerful space western made by Joss Whedon
with so much character in this.
You might have heard of his work
from a long-forgotten obscure movie
known as "Avengers."
It's a real rare find.
Anyway, jokes aside, this series was canceled
a little too early for many people's taste.
It was mainly canceled because of bad time slots
and, of course, because Fox is made up of idiots.
Anyway, that aside, Lego is nice and clear
as to why the set was rejected.
The subject matter.
The subject matter being firefly
was filled with violence, dark themes,
and sexual references.
In other words it was awesome.
But not really suitable for little people's hands.
Even if they're just looking
over their nerdy dad's shoulder at the set.
There's no doubt though that Firefly spaceship
known as Serenity would have been a beautiful Lego model.
I mean, just look at this ship.
It's stunning and looks like
it was practically made to be a Lego model.
But as disappointed as I was,
I do understand Lego's reasoning behind rejecting Firefly.
And for number seven,
the International Space Station.
This one's a bit of a weasel call
because it was both rejected and accepted.
I imagine the world's space agencies
would be delighted to see young minds
taking an interest in the space station.
And there's definitely plenty of adult space fans
out there who would definitely enjoy a Lego space station.
But for the longest time,
the station remained a rejected Lego idea.
But Lego's reason for rejecting it
did make a lot of sense.
The structural integrity was an issue.
You see, the ISS was built, you know, in space
and gravity is not really an issue in space
so if they'd make it extra flimsy
it doesn't really matter.
But with the Lego ISS,
I believe we are mostly building it here on Earth,
where gravity is definitely an issue.
But in the recent 10-year anniversary of Lego Ideas,
they chose the most popular rejected Lego idea
for a second consideration.
And the most popular Lego idea they could reconsider
was the ISS.
So they brought in Lego master and designer
Corvin Stichert.
- [Corvin] Work on how we can maintain
the rotating structure
and keep it so it stays straight
as if it was in zero gravity.
- The original designers Sam and Corvin
figured out a way to stop the space station
from being annihilated by gravity.
And it's wonderful news because this station
is not just an achievement for any country,
but humanity as a whole.
It's kinda like sticking out a big middle finger
to the infinite cosmos and saying,
"Screw you, infinity!
"We are not going without a fight."
Anyway, my only complaint with this set
is despite it being approved,
it's really hard to find.
Pretty much everywhere I looked had zero stock of it.
Even the official Lego website labels it
as "Hard to find."
But it's technically approved now
and technically possible to get.
So hurray for the international space station!
Number six.
Small Yellow.
Hey, Boo, check this out.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
It's so raw.
This is a Lego sculpture known as Yellow.
Really, that's a name?
Okay.
Points to the creator Nathan Sawaya
for keeping his title simple.
The sculpture itself though,
I think, it's anything but simple.
This is actually one of my favorite pieces of artwork.
But I'm not the only fan.
In fact, the original sculpture
had a massive fan in Bill Clinton.
Mr. Clinton later went on to premiere the sculpture
in his presidential library.
The small buildable set Small Yellow
has actually been proposed to Lego twice now.
But for some reason, it's been continually rejected.
Once again I couldn't find Lego giving any official reason.
Maybe the artist Nathan is opposed
to seeing his artwork mass-produced?
No, wait, scratch that.
It appears this idea was literally proposed
by the man himself.
So why wouldn't Lego want to produce this?
My best guess,
we're once again looking at issues
with structural integrity.
As beautiful as this artwork is,
there's no exact instruction manual
into parts of the small yellow.
And I get that because it's art.
It doesn't have any instruction manual.
That's part of what makes it beautiful.
What would the manual say?
"Spill a bunch of yellow blocks out of his chest
"to look like his Lego guts are falling out?"
But I really hope that someday
they do find a way to reproduce this.
Because Yellow remains one of my favorite pieces of art
of all time.
And for number five,
Lego Surf and Rescue.
Huh, this one actually comes from my home country,
Australia.
And frankly, there is a beautiful incentive
behind this one.
It was originally created by Damien
and his 9-year-old son.
The goal of this set was to increase
sun safety awareness.
Because here in Australia,
we're known as the skin cancer capital
of the world for a reason.
Like seriously we're number one in the world
for global cancer rates.
That's not a good achievement,
and most of those cancers are skin cancers.
To this day it remains downright shocking to me
that more people don't wear hats in my country.
Damien MacRae said that all children
should understand the importance of sun protection.
He believed Lego had the chance
to be a powerful messenger in this.
And it's worth mentioning,
the home of Lego, Denmark,
is number four in the world on skin cancer rates.
So surely they also have a personal investment
in this message as well as Australia.
I was trying to figure out why this was rejected though
as it comfortably got its 10,000 votes
on Lego Ideas website.
And while researching, I noticed
that my friend Just2Good
has reviewed an official surfer rescue set.
And the first thing I noticed
was the costumes were a bit more modest
than the Australian versions.
I wonder if that's part of the reason
they passed on this one?
Is it just a bit too much bare skin
shown on this Lego set?
Anyway, I think it's important to mention
that the author, Damien,
had stage four melanoma skin cancer.
He mentioned in the last post I could find of him
that the doctors say the outlook is grim.
To Damien's family, my deepest respects go to you
and Damian for helping raise skin cancer awareness.
I hope my video might at least help raise
a little more awareness of skin cancer
and this beautiful Lego set.
- That takes a lot of time out of your life
that you could be dedicating to living your life,
spend your time with your family.
- And for number four,
the Fall Guys Lego set.
While Fall Guys isn't as big as Among Us,
well, pretty much nothing in gaming is.
In case you don't know, Fall Guys
is a massively multiplayer party game.
You race to go through an obstacle course
often in a very humorous fashion.
And frankly, this set looks really colorful and vibrant.
It really stands out.
It feels like a match made in heaven,
but strangely, Lego rejected Fall Guys.
The set was called the Ultimate Knockout Course.
It seemed to be a short, simple obstacle race course,
similar to the game would have.
For this set, I do have a reasonable theory
as to why it was rejected.
You see, in August 2020,
Fall Guys peaked in popularity
with over 150,000 concurrent players on Steam.
However, as of 2021,
it averages six to 10,000 concurrent players.
With such a sharp drop in interest,
Lego probably thinks Fall Guys is going to get
less popular rather than more.
And the six to 10,000 player base
probably isn't quite enough to justify a full Lego set.
That being said, this is still obviously
a huge amount of players
and a very active community.
And in my free time, I personally still really enjoy
a few Fall Guys games.
And the third rejected Lego set is
Lego Zelda.
I know, right?
Why would they possibly pass up Zelda?
It's a massively well-known gaming franchise
that has been going strongly for 35 years now.
I don't think there's many gaming companies in history
that could say they were going strongly for 35 years.
And I imagine Nintendo would be a game for it.
I mean we've got Lego Mario.
Over the years, many users have been so enamored
with the Lego Zelda idea
that they've already endeavored to make their own versions.
So why not make an official one?
Well, interestingly,
I could actually find a reason this time.
When this set was proposed, as you can imagine,
it easily got its 10,000 supporters.
But in the end, Lego said they rejected the idea
not because of the content itself,
but apparently because the molds were too complex.
And looking at these endless complex trinkets link carries,
well, I can kind of get it.
This might be one of the few cases
where one having too many accessories
was actually a disadvantage to have survived.
But surely this can't be the only reason.
Why not just give him the master sword then?
It's quite clear that many fans
would just be happy to have a Lego set at all.
- [Lego Figure] Yeah!
- It really puzzles me that in the 35 years
Zelda has been around,
it has never had an approved Lego set.
If you have any thoughts why this might be,
feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
I'd love to know.
Number two.
Lego Adventure Time.
Oh, come on, Lego.
Why not Adventure Time?
I'm a fan too, and the show still has
a big enough following in 2020
to warrant a movie.
And its bizarre themes and unique world
feel like a really interesting fit for a Lego set.
As you might expect, it very easily
got 10,000 supporters.
In fact, Lego themself said they weren't able
to keep up with the speed of supporters coming in.
So what actually caused this decision?
Well, my guess is because there was already
technically a character-only set for Adventure Time?
But we don't get any of the beautiful world or scenery,
just a couple of character blocks.
This idea proposed Finn and Jake's treehouse as a set
and it looks gorgeous as a Lego set.
But frankly, just about anything from the land of Ooo
would look artistic and beautiful as a Lego set.
It's Adventure Time.
Visual aesthetic is kind of its thing.
Anyway, it's a real shame to see
we only got some tiny model figures of the characters
rather than any actual sets from the vast,
beautiful Adventure Time world.
And for the number one rejected Lego set,
Anatomini.
- [Girl] Anatomini!
- An upscaled figure that splits in two
to reveal his inside organs.
This is a freaking awesome set.
And it's educational too!
When I happened upon this set,
it was part of what inspired me to try this list.
I was just fascinated by it.
The author is Stephan Nicks from the Netherlands.
- My name is Stephan Nicks,
and this is Anatomini.
He's on Lego Ideas.
- [Narrator] And he's long since had the goal
of offering this anatomical education tool
to Lego fans around the world.
And our buddy Anatomini has gotten a lot of buzz.
He's even been showcased in Lego World.
- [Man] Nice!
- [Narrator] Even Brickset.com dedicated an article
to discussing this beautiful set.
I felt like there was nothing but good, earnest intentions
behind this Lego set.
Kids and schools can build up his bones and organs,
brick by brick, to better understand
our own human bodies.
- [Man] Stomach, spine,
liver, galllbladder,
appendix.
- So I actually feel like kind of a jerk
saying why I think this set was rejected.
Why would Anatomini be rejected?
Well, once again, there was no specific reason.
But I think a very likely reason
it was rejected is we're essentially looking
at well, an inside-out human in Lego form.
And sure we get to teach kids about the gallbladder
and transverse colon.
But Jeebus, look at this guy!
Anatomini creates a sort of Lego uncanny valley,
where I think I'm looking at something Lego,
yet something feels very slightly off
that is deeply disturbing my subconscious.
Stephan's objective was to design a realistic,
but fun-looking skeleton.
And well, it definitely looks realistic.
But last time the doctors did an MRI
and echocardiogram on my innards,
I can't say the images that came back
were exactly fun.
Amazing and horrifyingly fascinating sure,
but not exactly fun.
Sure I, like you,
am 86 billion neuron,
one quadrillion synapse,
unfathomable mass of mystery and intrigue.
But obviously I find myself
a bit more attractive from the outside.
I guess I'm just shallow like that.
Or maybe Anatomini was rejected
due to the sheer complexity of the build?
At 2128 bricks,
Anatomini is a challenging and complex build.
Maybe he was considered a little too complex
for elementary schools?
Though there are certainly plenty of young builders
our there who would definitely prove me wrong on that.
But what an idea!
You can build all the basic human organs
out of Lego bricks and then shove them into Anatomini.
In fact, the newest model lets you remove
all the organs and start plastic surgery.
Ehh.
Now wait a minute, that was actually good.
Oh right 'cause I borrowed it from the author.
Thanks, Stephan!
- [Stephan] Plastic surgery will never be the same.
- But anyway, while I personally
would love to see Anatomini made,
I can understand Lego thinking
he might scare a few young children.
And with that, I thank you for joining me
on this tour through the creative,
brilliant minds of the Lego community.
Next to Spongebob, Lego is becoming my new passion
for top lists.
So if you have any Lego videos
you'd like to see personally,
feel free to let me know in the comments below.
And as always, thanks for watching!
And we'll see you next time.