Lego Icons
LEGO Icons is a series of LEGO construction toys aimed at a demographic of adolescents and adults. Beginning in 2000 without an established logo or icon, LEGO Icons features models such as aircraft, sculptures, and world buildings, selling as exclusives with numerous specialized elements and complex building techniques. Icons is considered a challenge to both the target audience and LEGO designers. All Icons sets are classified into specified sub-themes; however, the entirety of Icons is classified as a sub-theme of LEGO Creator.
Overview
Background
Advanced LEGO models began being featured in the mid-1980s under the LEGO Model Team subtheme and were discontinued in 1999. Future advanced models received packaging without a logo and sold as LEGO exclusives, beginning with the Statue of Liberty set in 2000. In this timeframe, multiple subthemes were released, such as the Modular Buildings Collection, a series of resident, retail, and restaurant buildings introduced in 2007; and the Winter Village Collection, a series of winter-holiday themed models, sometimes delving into deep fiction, introduced in 2009.LEGO Creator Expert
In 2013, advanced models were officially classified as under LEGO Creator Expert, a sub-theme of LEGO Creator, and received their own logo, beginning with 10233 Horizon Express. This established theme of advanced models was considered to help shape LEGO Creator Expert’s reputation for unorthodox techniques and distant design from typical models, with some old exclusives receiving updated packaging and being merged into the newly created sub-theme.Branding transition
On May 13, 2020, The LEGO Group announced that they would retire the LEGO Creator Expert branding and replace it with “18+” to make it easier for adults to see which sets are meant for their age range. The LEGO Creator Expert theme remained, but boxes do not feature the logo and instead sport an all-black design.On May 30, 2022, The LEGO Group announced the LEGO Creator Expert theme would be rebranded as LEGO Icons in June 2022, in order to avoid confussion of other themes that begins introduced 18+ sets begins in this year, with new packaging debuting on January 1, 2023.
Sub-themes
Even though most sub-themes are not official and are rather classified by the majority of the LEGO community, some, such as the Modular Buildings Collection, are officially classified and recognized by The LEGO Group.Modular Buildings Collection
In April 2007, The LEGO Group released 10182 Café Corner, the first modular building in the nearly 20-year-old collection. It included 2,056 pieces, and differed from the modular buildings released later in that its interior was empty. The set was followed by 10185 Green Grocer in 2008, now both the interior and the exterior detailed. The collection continued then with 10197 Fire Brigade in 2009, 10210 Grand Emporium in 2010, 10218 Pet Shop in 2011, 10224 Town Hall in 2012, 10232 Palace Cinema in 2013, 10243 Parisian Restaurant in 2014, 10246 Detective’s Office in 2015, 10251 Brick Bank in 2016, and 10255 Assembly Square, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the collection. These sets included minifigures with classic smiling face.The modular building of 2018, 10260 Downtown Diner, included modern minifigure faces for the first time. It was followed by 10264 Corner Garage, 10270 Bookshop, 10278 Police Station, 10297 Boutique Hotel, 10312 Jazz Club, 10326 Natural History Museum, and 10350 Tudor Corner.
There are several patterns in the release of the sets:
- The first one, 10182 Café Corner, was a corner building, while 10185 Green Grocer and 10197 Fire Brigade were both not. The pattern that a corner building is followed by two non-corner ones has been mantained for all sets released since 2007.
- Nearly all of the modulars are built on 32×32 baseplates, except for 10255 Assembly Square and 10326 Natural History Museum, which are built on a 32×32 and a 16×32 baseplate.
- 10218 Pet Shop and 10270 Bookshop both consist of two separate buildings on 16×32 baseplates.
Since 2022, gifts with purchase are also releasing for the buildings: 40532 Vintage Taxi for 2022, 40586 Moving Truck for 2023, 40681 Retro Food Truck for 2024, and 40757 Corner Kiosk for 2025.
Fairground Collection
On July 1, 2009, The LEGO Group released 10196 Grand Carousel, a 3,263-piece set; in 2014, 10244 Fairground Mixer followed it with a more refined design language, and was not built on a baseplate. On June 1, 2015, 10247 Ferris Wheel launched; 10257 Carousel was the next one on June 1, 2017. The largest one yet, 10261 Roller Coaster, was released on June 1, 2018, including 4,124 pieces.The Fairground Collection name was used officially for the first time in 10273 Haunted House in June 2020, retroactively including the previous sets Later on, 10273 Haunted House was launched in June 2020, with 10303 Loop Coaster releasing in July and 10303 Loop Coaster in July 2022.
All sets offer the builder the option to use additional LEGO Power Functions or LEGO Powered UP elements to enhance the playability of the set such as automation, music, and sound effects.
Winter Village Collection
In October 2009, 10199 Winter Toy Shop was released, establishing an annual sub-theme of the exclusive sets. 10216 Winter Village Bakery launched in 2010, followed by 10222 Winter Village Post Office in 2011, 10229 Winter Village Cottage in 2012, and 10235 Winter Village Market in 2013. The LEGO Group offered something new with 10245 Santa’s Workshop, released on October 1, 2014. In 2015, they re-released the first set as 10249 Winter Toy Shop. 10254 Winter Holiday Train, the reiteration of 10173 Holiday Train, launched on October 1, 2016, with 10259 Winter Village Station following it on October 1, 2017. The set of 2018 was 10263 Winter Village Fire Station, and, in 2019, 10267 Gingerbread House was released for the 10th anniversary of the collection. 10275 Elf Club House, released on October 1, 2020, was a fantasy-themed set again, after 10245 Santa’s Workshop in 2014.The Winter Village Collection set for 2021 was 10293 Santa’s Visit, which was similar to 10229 Winter Village Cottage from 2012. 10308 Holiday Main Street launched on October 7, 2022, and was the largest set at that time; 10325 Alpine Lodge broke the record in 2023, and is still has the highest piece count among Winter Village Collection sets. On October 4, 2024, 10339 Santa’s Post Office was released.
Botanical Collection
The Botanical Collection started in January 2021 with two sets, 10280 Flower Bouquet and 10281 Bonsai Tree. The third one was 10289 Bird of Paradise in June 2021. These were followed by 10309 Succulents and 10311 Orchid in 2022; the sets for 2023 were 10313 Wildflower Bouquet and 10314 Dried Flower Centerpiece. On December 1, 2023, 10329 Tiny Plants was released, with 10328 Bouquet of Roses launched one month later, on January 1, 2024. Two additional sets were released in August 2024: 10368 Chrysanthemum and 10369 Plum Blossom, and in October 2024, 10340 Wreath and 10370 Poinsettia also launched.In November 2024, it was announced that the Botanical Collection would be spun off into its own line called Botanicals, with previous sets rebranded to the new line. The first official Botanicals set to not feature an 18+ age rating would be 10347 Petite Sunny Bouquet in May 2025.
Castle System
In August 2022, 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle was released among other 90 Years of Play sets, celebrating the 90th anniversary of The LEGO Group. That summer, 40567 Forest Hideout also launched as a gift with purchase.The next similar set, 10332 Medieval Town Square, arrived on March 4, 2024, although with a normal packaging design that most of the LEGO Icons sets use.
Space System
On August 1, 2022, 10497 Galaxy Explorer, an 1,254-piece classic space set was launched, followed by a gift with purchase, 40580 Blacktron Cruiser, in January 2023.Yet another one, 10355 Blacktron Renegade, was released on January 4, 2025, but with the standard packaging design for LEGO Icons sets.