Everything You Always Wondered About How LEGO Designs Actually Get Approved and Made

It took Marc Corfmat many failing yet popular designs before he finally found one that Lego agreed to mass produce. As a Lego enthusiast, he and his brother had been submitting multiple concept sets through The Lego Ideas Program for years. Many of them reached the minimum required 10,000 upvotes to be considered by Lego, but were never made. Until their nostalgic design for a 70s era Polaroid camera.

A fascinating article from The Verge details what happened next and answers many questions I have long wondered about how Lego sets actually get made. From the innovative method the company uses to force their designers to minimize custom pieces by a sort of internal ranking system to the extensive testing that even baked sets in an oven to simulate them sitting outside in the sun in hot climates, the process is exactly as difficult and methodical as you might expect.