There were some strong opinions regarding our previous post about 71016 Kwik-E-Mart, and we thought it would be a good idea to clarify our position and address some of the criticisms.
The image provided may be fake
This is entirely possible, but unfortunately not something we are in a position to check; LEGO won’t confirm if that is an official leak. We should have made it more clear in the original article that this was a possibility. Even if this is a legitimate leak, the image is clearly marked as “preliminary”. These preliminary images very rarely represent the final complete model, but do give a sense of the overall concept of a model.
It doesn’t look very good
A considerable amount of the feedback that we have read simply says that this set does not look very good. Some even saying that there is no way it could be a real model based on it’s appearance. The Kwik-E-Mart is not a visually impressive structure in the show; it is drawn to be an average convenience store. The pictured set ticks off all of the features we can expect in the final model: glass doors, Kwik-E-Mart sign, brown angled roof, payphones.
We strongly suspect that the final model is going to look quite bland from the outside. This is actually a common criticism levelled at The Simpsons House set too. A lot of the appeal of The Simpsons House was it’s internal play features. Until we get final details we simply don’t know how good this set is.
Way too expensive
Unfortunately due to the way we worded the original article some people didn’t notice the most interesting part of the leak; $349.99 released in August/September. Those who did notice the price think that this is too high. It would appear however that this information is correct. Based on our previous post a Toys R Us employee confirmed that their system has a set called “Simpson’s 2015” priced at $329.99 and released in August.
That is a LEGO Ideas submission
After posting a few people sent us a link to this LEGO Ideas submission; https://ideas.lego.com/projects/58196
It would appear that the image in our previous article does match this one. It seems strange that LEGO would be using an Ideas image as the preliminary image for a set, but we don’t believe it to be outside the realm of possibility. If the LEGO Ideas image is close enough to the final model it would save time to use it. The other possibility is that the document was produced by a LEGO representative, and didn’t come from LEGO themselves. A LEGO rep could very easily have come across the Ideas submission and believed it close enough to show to retail clients.
What we do know
While the image we posted may be fake, there are a few points we can be reasonably confident of
- The next LEGO Simpsons set will be the Kwik-E-Mart
- It should appear at retail in August/September
- The price will most likely be $329.99 – $349.99
While I don’t doubt a Kwik-E-Mart is a plausible set idea, if there’s not a further basis to believe this I’d be super sceptical on the specific model design especially. It is very unlike Lego to put any photo of a not-close-to-final model on any material that might get out. The only examples I can think of leaked shots of models that weren’t final related to final details of minifigs or stickers. They basically don’t seem to put something before a camera until the design is locked down.
I also can’t imagine them using an Ideas set that is still actively gathering support as the basis for their model. Why would they do this? The scenario of them using it to save time in preliminary marketing creates so many legal issues – notwithstanding Lego’s strong disclaimers around the program – that I consider it extremely unlikely. They would know they would be basically obliged to compensate the original submitter if it became clear they had used the Ideas set as the basis for theirs, and they would never do that before a formal review process.
There is a fair bit of evidence that the Kwik-E-Mart is going to be the next Simpsons set. I’m fairly confident of that.
The price and release information also seems to be confirmed, according to the Toys R Us info.
The only thing we aren’t sure about is the image.
From an outside perspective it does seem incredibly odd that the LEGO Ideas image would be used, but there are ways to explain this.
I believe that LEGO will generally reject an Ideas product based on an existing license, so (while unlikely) it’s possible that they reached out to the creator of that project to collaborate on a final set. We don’t know if any behind the scenes discussions have taken place.
The relationship between LEGO Ideas and products can be uncertain; It is strongly rumoured that there will be a UCS Helicarrier set released this year, and there is a Helicarrier set in review https://ideas.lego.com/projects/63951
It would make more sense for LEGO to release that set as a Superheroes branded exclusive, rather than an Ideas set.
As mentioned in the article, this leak also may not have come from LEGO; it could be a LEGO rep who printed something up to show to retailers.
Hopefully we have some more solid information soon. There are rumours of a VIP pre-release at the end of April, so we won’t have to wait too long.
The ideas process will inevitably see alignment with sets they would do independently in their licenses – a few in their top 50-60 are things I bet Lego would have at least thought about (eg there’s a DKR “Bat” in there, classic batmobile, Frozen castle, etc).
If the UCS helicarrier was on the agenda anyway, an ideas submission has probably complicated their thought process a little in terms of heading off the perception of stealing a design (even though legally they’d be well covered). Given the quality of their in-house design – which I think has improved about 300% over the last fifteen years I’ve been back in the hobby – they’d need something pretty special to reach out to an Ideas submitter for design inspiration, and I don’t see that with the Kwik-e-Mart.
(Also, random thought, having just looked through the Ideas gathering support page again: I want one of ssorg’s DC3 sets *so bad*.)
I can’t helping feeling this seems like a bit of a weird thing for anyone to get upset about. In the spirit of restoring balance here is a funny exchange from a slightly older Simpsons episode I came across the other day, which I believe predates the Lego episode. Lisa runs into a Lego..I mean Blocko, representative in store while choosing a set:
Lisa: I kinda want to create my own thing. Do you sell any just plain sets?
Blocko: No. We do all the imagining for you.
Lisa: Well I’ll just buy one of these and build something different.
Blocko: You do, and you’d better build yourself a lawyer
🙂
Found the video! Very funny scene.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/si-mocs/6711260131/
Thanks Michael, but now all I can think about is how perfect it would be for lego to make a Simpsons ‘ Blocko Store’ set 🙂
This one looks a bit more realistic
http://www.groovebricks.com/lego-the-simpsons-kwik-e-mart-71016-leaked-image/