40516 Everyone Is Awesome

[williejm]

And for anyone not paying attention, Lego has made great strides to improve the representative balance in its figures and sets in recent years, including 

* gender - more and more ‘standard’ sets have balanced male/female coded figures. Standard CMFs are also pretty balanced now

* ability - wheelchair users, minifig with hearing aid, minifig with assistance dog...

* ethnicity - much better mix and balance of figures in licensed sets recently, with themes like Jurassic World, Superheroes & WW featuring more key and background minifig of colour. 
 

Representation matters.
 

 

[Vindicare]

On 5/18/2021 at 12:06 PM, TheMainBricker said:

It's a nice colourful set, but the very fact that this set won't be allowed to be sold in a lot of countries means that it is a very political set, and one that I think breaks Lego's own rules about political statements. The fact that there will be debate around Lego doing this set means that it's political, I'm really surprised Lego want to go down this route.

When the Pride thing became apparent to me, I had the same thought, so much for not doing political sets...

That’s a very good point that I didn’t even think of reading this thread. This likely won’t be sold in China, unless they can think of some cover story for it. And I don’t know the exposure or popularity of LEGO in the Middle East, but it applies there as well. 

Either way, it’s a pretty neat set idea. I don’t do the whole monochrome thing, but it’s cool to see them all lined up together. 

[Lyichir]

23 minutes ago, Vindicare said:

When the Pride thing became apparent to me, I had the same thought, so much for not doing political sets...

That’s a very good point that I didn’t even think of reading this thread. This likely won’t be sold in China, unless they can think of some cover story for it. And I don’t know the exposure or popularity of LEGO in the Middle East, but it applies there as well. 

Either way, it’s a pretty neat set idea. I don’t do the whole monochrome thing, but it’s cool to see them all lined up together. 

A lot of people are tired of their identities being treated as such a hot-button political issue that they never see identities like theirs represented in their favorite media or hobbies. Better that Lego take a firm stand in favor of diversity and against oppression (an unambiguously positive stance that is 100% in line with their brand values and should not be controversial) than cower from a bigoted worldview that is more and more in decline.

It will be sad if there are markets where this is not allowed to be sold, but I'm glad that didn't keep Lego from releasing this in markets where it will be accepted and could make a difference for people who feel accepted in return.

[icm]

I think it's a pretty neat set for those who are interested in it.  It's definitely more display-oriented than play-oriented, but Lego's new strategic directions of "art, decor, and music" seem to go predominantly for display, and this is clearly "art" or "decor".  But I confess I'd be more interested if, say, all those plain leg and torso assemblies of many colors came with airtanks, and old-style helmets, and had a little spaceship-and-sun printed on the torso ... because Everyone is Awesome, but "everything is cool when you're part of a team."  A Space team :)

[Clone OPatra]

1 hour ago, icm said:

 It's definitely more display-oriented than play-oriented,

On the contrary, it's a glorified minifigure pack - if I get it I'll be playing around with those minifig parts like wild!

A space team would've been great though... maybe the sequel to this set?

[TeriXeri]

13 minutes ago, Clone OPatra said:

On the contrary, it's a glorified minifigure pack - if I get it I'll be playing around with those minifig parts like wild!

That's my main goal with it as well, putting those hairpieces on regular figs, which keeps the initial main build still intact.

 

Maybe later on use the heads, bricks and tiles for builds as well.

And there are some funky torso/leg color combinations, I wont go as far as swapping arms/hands.

 

Edited May 20, 2021 by TeriXeri

[Vindicare]

4 hours ago, Lyichir said:

A lot of people are tired of their identities being treated as such a hot-button political issue that they never see identities like theirs represented in their favorite media or hobbies. Better that Lego take a firm stand in favor of diversity and against oppression (an unambiguously positive stance that is 100% in line with their brand values and should not be controversial) than cower from a bigoted worldview that is more and more in decline.

It will be sad if there are markets where this is not allowed to be sold, but I'm glad that didn't keep Lego from releasing this in markets where it will be accepted and could make a difference for people who feel accepted in return.

Not sure you should say they have a firm stand against oppression, considering they have a plant in China & sets that cater directly to them(which were formerly available to them). But that’s another discussion... I will say, until I read this thread, and we’ll after seeing the leak & taking a good look at it, I did not connect the color placement at all. 

They are represented in media & they certainly are represented in LEGO. Because YOU decide that. There’s zero distinction that X person is straight. You “write” the story being depicted on the box. 

 

This is still a strange stance for LEGO to take. Objective notwithstanding, they’ve shied away from stances many times over. One that sticks in my mind is Jabbas Palace. Some group whined about it & LEGO pulled it. Granted that was almost 19 years ago now, but it sets a precedent. Like the aforementioned Osprey & Crook Hideout. And the halt on police advertising. Although, one could argue by making all of those moves, they are being political...so who really knows.

 

[Clone OPatra]

In case anyone still didn't think this set was being overt about its message:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/20/everyone-is-awesome-lego-launch-first-lgbtq-set

Now I'm just waiting for the AUD price!

[Robert8]

Ok that blue hairpiece looks very interesting. From that angle it looks nothing like Superman's hair

It doesnt look like from the upcoming Seinfield set. Maybe the Marvel CMFs? 

 

Who could it be for?

[PhoenixBuilder]

48 minutes ago, Clone OPatra said:

In case anyone still didn't think this set was being overt about its message:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/20/everyone-is-awesome-lego-launch-first-lgbtq-set

Now I'm just waiting for the AUD price!

I'm chuckling at the mention of drag queens -- I'd been thinking about the set last night, and thought that the more vibrant hair pieces would be perfect wigs! I've been thinking about designing a gay bar for my modular building street, maybe I'll finally do it now 

[danth]

On 5/18/2021 at 5:01 PM, Aanchir said:

• Needless to say, police have also been an extremely divisive, hot-button political issue in a lot of parts of the world lately. Yet, if anything, in most AFOL discussions I've seen, the consensus is that it would be "political" for LEGO not to make police sets. Why is that issue any different from this one?

Because the people complaining about this set have no problem with the police. Something is only "political" if it makes them uncomfortable.

Your example about the police is perfect. If BLM is political, then police sets are also political. Likewise, if sexual orientation is political, then every set ever released with a mom and dad is political. Every licensed set with characters who had a heterosexual love interest is political. 

You can't have it both ways: if gay is political, then straight is political.

Anyone complaining about this being political, but never complained about sets with straight people, is admitting that gay people make them uncomfortable.

On 5/18/2021 at 9:36 PM, BrickBob Studpants said:

People getting offended at an innocuous message like this says more about them then anything else 

Bingo.

On 5/18/2021 at 9:36 PM, BrickBob Studpants said:

And as I’ve brought up in another context before, demanding something to be apolitical is in itself a political stance 

Yep, pretending gay people don't exist is also political.

7 hours ago, icm said:

But I confess I'd be more interested if, say, all those plain leg and torso assemblies of many colors came with airtanks, and old-style helmets, and had a little spaceship-and-sun printed on the torso ... because Everyone is Awesome, but "everything is cool when you're part of a team."  A Space team :)

I see a lot of posts on social media where people line up all their different colored space men, and they usually get a lot of likes/upotes. I also see many that aren't space, just minifigs of some kind. Space or not, people seem to really like monochrome lineups of minifigs. I think this set is going to be popular as heck!

I'd kill for a Space version of this, but Lego seems to really hate us Space fans, so it'll never happen.

2 hours ago, Vindicare said:

They are represented in media & they certainly are represented in LEGO. Because YOU decide that. There’s zero distinction that X person is straight. You “write” the story being depicted on the box.

There are quite a few sets that have obviously heterosexual couples, many times with kids as well. Whatever you "decide", it's quite clear what Lego decided when designing those sets: they intended to depict straight couples. You can decide to ignore it, but the idea that "there’s zero distinction that X person is straight" is simply not true. This goes double for, say, Hermione and Ron minifigures who depict characters in heterosexual relationships.

Edited May 20, 2021 by danth

[FrkW]

1 hour ago, Clone OPatra said:

In case anyone still didn't think this set was being overt about its message:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/20/everyone-is-awesome-lego-launch-first-lgbtq-set

Now I'm just waiting for the AUD price!

“Growing up as an LGBTQ+ kid – being told what I should play with, how I should walk, how I should talk, what I should wear – the message I always got was that somehow I was ‘wrong’,” he said. “Trying to be someone I wasn’t was exhausting. I wish, as a kid, I had looked at the world and thought: ‘This is going to be OK, there’s a place for me’. I wish I’d seen an inclusive statement that said ‘everyone is awesome’.”

This is Legos stance. You can think what you want about it, but it's definitely canon now. 

[Clone OPatra]

I'm surprised he specifically mentions Trafalgar Square, as that was one where a huge homophobic ruckus broke out in the Brickset comments over a 1x1 tile with rainbow print. I thought it was those people reading into it, but it seems intentional after all.

[williejm]

18 minutes ago, Clone OPatra said:

I'm surprised he specifically mentions Trafalgar Square, as that was one where a huge homophobic ruckus broke out in the Brickset comments over a 1x1 tile with rainbow print. I thought it was those people reading into it, but it seems intentional after all.

Imagine losing your s*** over a 1x1 stylised rainbow flag though? 🤪

[street87]

So, its official. LEGO announced the set on their Facebook page. No set number or pcs. count, but official pictures.

[FrkW]

It's up at S@H under coming soon too, 346 pieces. 

[Legochaek]

I wish they had faces

[RichardGoring]

And the designer video with Matthew Ashton is on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC6H15Z8d6w

[Graupensuppe]

Awesome... except for the German set name. It doesn't match the German version of the "Everything is awesome" song, which I assume it's supposed to be a reference to.

And considering the subject some will probably criticize it for using a masculine word form

[Clone OPatra]

$60 in Australia and no chance of a discount! Oh well, there are lots of good parts in this set.

[TeriXeri]

Great to see there are also actually a lot of 1x2 bricks in the build, and not just 2x3 stacks.

Great parts pack for sure

 

[Bainter-ban]

I don’t really get how acknowledging that people should be free to love whoever they want is «political». It’s a fundamental human right and a foundational part of human existence.

[strangely]

4 hours ago, Robert8 said:

Ok that blue hairpiece looks very interesting. From that angle it looks nothing like Superman's hair

It doesnt look like from the upcoming Seinfield set. Maybe the Marvel CMFs? 

 

Who could it be for?

It looks like Steve from Stranger Things.

[Alexandrina]

This is going to be a day one purchase for me. As a trans woman myself I'm more than glad that Lego have decided to recognise people like me officially - but as a fan of Lego, these minifigures are going to be so useful to have. 

[eldiano]

My only question is why lego piece 3626(the mini head) on the bricks and pieces keep being out of stock from all colors, this set just might help me with that and those awesome hair pieces