Lunar New Year is right around the corner. If you’re looking for some fun ways to celebrate the Year of the Wood Snake, LEGO’s got you covered! With 10 different sets to choose from, you can find the perfect Lunar New Year gift for anyone on your list.
The highlight of the collection has to be the Trotting Lantern. A 1,295 brick build designed for ages 9 and up, it’s a wonderful piece of engineering that balances beauty and play in a way that honours the traditions of the holiday.
The lantern is also designed to be an inspiring pretend-play toy for imaginative kids. The top of the lantern is removable for easy access to the top tier (also removable), which folds out to reveal 3 festive scenes featuring a buildable food stall, decorations stall and a shadow theater. The set also includes 5 minifigures – 2 adults, 2 children and a character in a Year of the Snake costume – for role-play fun.
We had a chance to talk to the designer of the Trotting Lantern, Niels Mølgård Frederiksen, about why it’s important to have diversity in our toy aisles, his journey to becoming a LEGO Designer and the LEGO Ideas projects he’d like to help bring to life.
Josh Wallen: The Trotting Lantern is part of LEGO Group’s commitment to celebrating the Lunar New Year with the community; why is it so important for there to be cultural diversity in our toy aisles?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: The LEGO Group is deeply committed to celebrating Lunar New Year and fostering a sense of community through play. The LEGO Spring Festival Trotting Lantern set, along with the other Lunar New Year sets, is a way to bring people together, whether through family-building experiences or as a way to share in the joy of the season. By creating a set that appeals to both collectors and younger builders, we hope to encourage everyone to explore the stories and traditions associated with the festival. This set is not just a toy – it’s a way to connect with family, create memories, and learn about a significant cultural celebration.
For me, the fact that the sets we design are used by parents and grandparents to pass on valuable knowledge of cultural traditions and celebrations is dear to my heart. Before joining the LEGO Group, I worked as a teacher, so seeing the LEGO Spring Festival designs contribute this added value and importance has been an extremely gratifying experience. It’s not just about creating a product; it’s about contributing to the preservation and celebration of cultural heritage. Knowing that our designs help families connect and learn about significant cultural events makes this work incredibly rewarding and why it’s important to have cultural diversity in our toy aisles.
Josh Wallen: Once you’ve decided to make the Trotting Lantern as a LEGO set, what does the design process look like?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: At the LEGO Group, we take great care in ensuring that the cultural elements in sets like the Spring Festival Trotting Lantern are both accurate and respectful. The design process for this set involved extensive research into the Lunar New Year customs and traditions, working alongside experts and consultants who helped guide the cultural accuracy. My role in this process was to translate these traditions into an engaging and imaginative building experience, ensuring that the set honoured the spirit of the celebration while remaining fun and accessible to LEGO builders of all ages. The inclusion of specific festive scenes and symbols, like the food stall and the shadow theater, are designed to reflect real aspects of the Spring Festival, adding to the authenticity and celebration of this important cultural event.
Josh Wallen: Can you personally build the Trotting Lantern without a build manual?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: I think I could manage most of it, but there are probably 4-5 areas where there’s a high chance I might make a mistake. It’s a fun challenge, though!
Josh Wallen: LEGO sets have evolved considerably over the years and come in a number of shapes and sizes. How often does designing a set require new tooling for unique bricks to be created?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: It varies a lot from theme to theme. For example, IP themes like Star Wars™ or Harry Potter™ often require the development of specific elements to accurately recreate certain characters, locations, or vehicles. Similarly, themes like Spring Festival and Monkie Kid necessitate the creation of unique elements to capture the culturally specific aesthetics of the sets.
Josh Wallen: How did you find yourself working at the LEGO Group?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: Being a Danish-born kid in the 1980s meant that playing with LEGO bricks was practically embedded into my DNA. But my journey to becoming a LEGO designer is a tale of almost 15 years of trials, challenges, and taking various routes before finally landing the job in November 2013.
My entire life, I’ve been building plastic model kits of cars, various planes, but mostly Sci-Fi related models such as Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and of course, Star Wars. I was part of a model building club in my hometown, and when one of my fellow modelers, Henrik, landed a position as a LEGO Designer in 1998, I started dreaming of becoming one as well.
A funny side story to that is when Henrik got the job, I told him that if I ever became a LEGO Designer, I would pitch LEGO Star Wars. On Henrik’s very first working day, he was tasked with working on LEGO Star Wars™ models, and he ended up designing the first Ultimate Collector Series (UCS) models—but he couldn’t tell me!
After high school, I studied Digital Design and Communication and worked in various companies as a web developer. I then switched to teaching web design for four years before finally landing my dream job in November 2013.
I would say that it was more my model building skills and playful spirit that opened the door than my degree in Digital Design. However, I have relied a lot on my knowledge from past studies and work experiences, as well as my experiences as a teacher. My model building skills and working with storytelling in my models also played a significant role. It took me a bit longer to land the job, but it seems it was all part of the bigger plan.
Josh Wallen: Do you have a specific area of expertise within the LEGO Group? Or do you prefer working within a specific genre of LEGO sets: Botanicals, Bionicle, Icons, etc?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: My main expertise and experience are within the LEGO System Bricks. This is probably because it’s what I played with as a kid, but also because it allows me to combine a good mixture of building and “sculpting” nice details, while also incorporating a lot of play starters and storytelling.
Josh Wallen: What was your favourite LEGO set before you started working for the LEGO Group?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: As a kid, I was really captivated by the Classic LEGO Space sets. One of my all-time favourites has to be the LEGO Space Blacktron, specifically the 6987: Message Intercept Base. It’s such an iconic set, and I actually had the pleasure of rebuilding it not too long ago. The nostalgia and joy it brought back were incredible!
Josh Wallen: What is your favourite LEGO set that you had a hand in designing?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: That is truly a tough one to answer. It’s like having to pick your favourite child!
I have many favourites for various reasons. The LEGO Star Wars™ Rey’s Speeder™ will always have a very special and sacred place in my heart. The same goes for the LEGO Star Wars™ Boba Fett™ Helmet. The LEGO Family Reunion Celebration really let me play with architecture, aesthetics, and tons of good play. Lastly, but not least, getting to design the LEGO Campus set—an employee gift when we opened the new LEGO Campus—allowed me to indulge my passion for architecture.
Josh Wallen: In terms of LEGO sets, do you have a dream project that you hope to take from your imagination to store shelves one day?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: Given my role as an Associate Creative Lead, I’d say that I live out my dream every day by helping the designers in my team create their dream projects. However, if I were to pinpoint an absolute dream project, it ties a bit into the next question.
Josh Wallen: I love that the LEGO Group encourages fans to submit set designs. Is there a particular LEGO Ideas submission that stands out to you? Are there any that you wanted to see get created that didn’t make the cut?
Niels Mølgård Frederiksen: I still remember going to the movies back in 1997 and being completely blown away by Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element. It was love at first sight, and the movie has followed me ever since. I even own a bit of original props from the movie. There have been some amazing The Fifth Element-related submissions on LEGO Ideas that I would love to see go through. If they did, I’d happily volunteer to be part of the team that brings them from the LEGO Ideas submission to the final product.