Note: I started writing this a while back when the 2022 LEGO Ideas review results first came out. I was initially planning on reviewing all 71 submissions and posting it all in one go. I’m now realizing that would take a long time so instead I’m just going to update this page as I go.

With the third 2022 LEGO Ideas review results now out, we can shift our focus to the upcoming 2023 review. There’s a total of 71 submissions for the first 2023 LEGO Ideas review, and I’m going to go over all of them and try and single out which ones I think have a shot at becoming approved into a real LEGO product. I’m going to try and be as objective as I can, not taking into biases such as my own opinion

Starting off we have DR. SEUSS AND LEGO by LegoFan_506. This one has a pretty good chance. Dr. Seuss is a cultural icon and the submission has a lot of intricate builds in it, adding lots of detail. However, I feel like there are more exciting submissions later down the line so I wouldn’t count on it.

SWEET HONEY by RobertVII is a really cool diorama type build showing the whole honey making process. Very educational and fun, but doesn’t have a lot of display value. The main honeycomb build, while very creative, is likely to be repetitive so I’m not sure if LEGO is too jazzed about using up an Ideas slot for this submission.

THE BOTANICAL GARDEN by Goannas89 is most likely a no-go since there’s already a very similar looking LEGO Friends botanical garden coming out this summer. They are definitely by no means the same thing but I think LEGO wouldn’t want two similar competing sets. 

THE CROWN – A PIECE OF HISTORY by Piraten has a very MOC type quality to it. Which is to say, a very high quality build, but not a product viable one. It’s very cool to look at but it makes heavy use of really small and intricate pieces. Historically not super well received. The use of a mainly metallic colored body would also drive the price up by a lot. The set would probably not be well received. I don’t think this submission will be chosen.

STARGATE SG1 : EMBARKATION ROOM by Starbrick_SG1 gives us our first Stargate themed submission in this review (one of two). I am not familiar with the Stargate franchise nor am I aware of how popular it is. LEGO might simply not choose this submission due to reasons relating to cultural relevancy. It’s not always worth it to try and get the licensing rights. 

ROSCOSMOS SOYUZ MS SPACECRAFT by Tom_Brick is likely not to get picked. LEGO seems to be saving real life space themed sets for their Icons line of products from this point forward (the Apollo Saturn V and International Space Station were Ideas sets but the recent submissions like the JWST got rejected). There’s also complications and international tensions with Russia in general that might throw a wrench in things.

MOTORIZED HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by ericlego321 is a hard sell since as far as I can tell, Japanese studios, Ghibli especially, are very protective of their IP. LEGO might think it’s not worth the hassle to try and secure the licensing rights to this. Historically there hasn’t been any anime IP in LEGO yet. 

THE STARGATE by Captain Mutant, our second Stargate submission, maybe proving me wrong about how popular Stargate is. Jury’s still out on this one.

MEDIEVAL SEASIDE MARKET by bricks_fan_uy has potential. It would fit in nicely with the Medieval Blacksmith Ideas set from a few years back, making one of the few somewhat continuity relating Ideas sets. 

BRICK BOULEVARD by Bricky_Brick would be a great addition to the Modular building collection. The only problem is… LEGO has never approved a modular Ideas set before (no, 10190: Market Street does not count, shush). The closest we’ve gotten is the Sesame Street corner, which wasn’t actually a modular compatible set without modification. I’d figure if a modular set did get approved, it would have to be a novel concept beyond generic buildings. I don’t mean generic as in the build itself is uninteresting, but I think the submission would need to have some unique idea that LEGO themselves won’t use. Something like a library or restaurant would be something LEGO has either already done or will do. 

The same can be said about RETRO COMIC STORE by LEGOverwatch. Which appears to be at least inspired by the idea of the modular buildings series. 

SHREK’S SWAMP – 20TH ANNIVERSARY by The Real Ashnflash is now our second Shrek’s swamp to reach 10k votes. The first one being SHREK’S SWAMP by danielbradleyy. This is going to be tricky. Chances are, neither submissions are going to be chosen since they’re so similar, it will be hard for LEGO to justify which one they actually base their official set on. But this only proves the fans’ bloodthirst for an official LEGO Shrek set. Because spoiler alert: there’s a third Shrek’s Swamp submission that has reached 10k. This submission will likely appear in the next LEGO Ideas Review session. Third time’s the charm?

BABY GREEN SEA TURTLE – KINETIC by QuaintWolf082 is yet another example of fans trying to hammer an concept into the heads of the people at LEGO. SEA TURTLE by LEGOverwatch was a very similar turtle build that was reject a while back. It’s unlikely this attempt to get an official turtle build will fare any better. 

HUMPBACK WHALE by Les Briques de Loïc is a really cool display piece but the recent negative reception to the Batcave shadowbox means LEGO is probably unlikely to try for another one of these box shaped straight brick builds. 

Outside of The Office and Parks and Rec, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE: 99TH PRECINCT by BenFankhauser might be the most popular mainstream sitcom in recent years. This Ideas submission has the potential to have just as much attention to detail as The Office Ideas set from a while back. This definitely has a strong chance of getting approved. 

LED LAMP by Castor-Troy and Max Brich is an example of an otherwise really cool MOC, buuuut, it falls within the realm of being not really based on any recognizable or iconic thing and at the same time not generic enough. Because lamps come in soooo many shapes and forms. If there was to be a LEGO lamp set it would have to stand out in some way.

BRICKS COFFEE by UTAMARU_BRICK8 is just like some of the other modular building submissions mentioned earlier. It has a really high chance of getting picked only if LEGO is willing to give us an IDEAS modular set. One point that it does have against it is that modular sets usually have more than one central building that the set focusses on.