One of the most unique submissions through the LEGO ideas channel to get approved for an actual production run is Old Fishing Store. The set is beautifully designed with many great techniques and captures the essence of a rustic old fishing store. The set features 2,049 bricks and has a recommended retail price of USD 149.99 / EURO 149.99 / GBP 139.99 and goes on sale today September 1. Being a LEGO ideas set, this means that a LEGO fan and LEGO Ideas member Robert Bontenbal of the Netherlands designed the set and submitted it through the LEGO ideas website. All Ideas submissions then have to go through the process of gathering 10,000 votes from fellow LEGO enthusiasts. Once the 10,000 votes are achieved, the submission goes to The LEGO Group to decide if this is a project they would like to go forward with. The set endured all of that and was approved. A description of Robert’s inspiration and experience is posted below.
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Here’s LEGO’s Official Description:
Find all the gear you need for a fantastic fishing trip at the Old Fishing Store! Walk up the steps from the beach into the shop selling fishing rods, hooks, harpoons, diving equipment, oxygen tanks and much more. Climb the ladder to the top of the watchtower and look through the telescope to enjoy the view. Then relax and read the newspaper in the office. Just make sure the cat or seagulls don’t eat the freshly caught fish hanging outside!
The Old Fishing Store is ideal for display and role-play, this model has 2 removable roofs, an opening back wall in the shop for easy access, 4 minifigures, cat and 3 seagull figures, as well as loads of other cool details and elements to fire up the imagination.
Inspired by a personal passion:
Inspiration for LEGO Ideas projects often come from a very personal place, and Robert’s inspiration to build his Old Fishing Store certainly is no different from this observation. It’s that passion for something familiar that truly shines throughout his set and can be noticed in all the details. Robert elaborates on where this inspiration came from – “Fishing has always been my hobby. From fishing in the Caribbean, where I lived for a while, to fishing in Holland. So you could say that my interest in fishing and my job as an architectural draughtsman came together in this model”.
The inspiration for LEGO Ideas projects often come from a very personal place, and Robert’s inspiration to build his Old Fishing Store certainly is no different from this observation. It’s that passion for something familiar that truly shines throughout his set and can be noticed in all the details. Robert elaborates on where this inspiration came from – “Fishing has always been my hobby. From fishing in the Caribbean, where I lived for a while, to fishing in Holland. So you could say that my interest in fishing and my job as an architectural draughtsman came together in this model”.
He adds that “inspiration is very important, so was finding a theme that could help develop the model. I got my initial inspiration from the LEGO Christmas houses and sea villages. I started by doing some sketching on paper, then created a mood board to determine the details and color schemes. Especially the use of the right colors was important in my design”.
When Robert’s Old Fishing Store was approved for production in the fall of 2016, LEGO designer Adam Grabowski took over the project “to make sure that the model lived up to LEGO quality”. It is often a challenging job to respect someone else’s design whilst altering it to fit LEGO guidelines, but Adam says he “tried to stay very true to the original design. That’s what got 10,000 votes and is what the people want. I didn’t want to change much of the original look and there was no reason to do so”.
Adam puts on the hat of an AFOL and adds, “it was great to be able to bring back certain elements like the seagull, and use others like the lobster, that were only previously available in other sets”.
