LEGO Factory Playset LEGO Ideas Project Review

Overview
This project gives a little bit of insight into the process of making the LEGO sets we all know and love. Designed by KovJonas99, this is a LEGO Factory based off of LEGO Headquarters in Billund, Denmark, although slightly simplified due to being built on a much smaller scale. The building is divided into three areas each showing a different aspect of what The LEGO Group (TLG) does. These are: the Welcome Center (customer service), the Design Office (product design), and the Factory (product manufacturing).

Appeals of this Project
This LEGO Factory Playset appeals to me in many ways. First of all, it is very aesthetically appealing from the exterior. The use of the light bluish and dark bluish gray along with the tan as the primary colors brings a realistic feel to the building, there are different colors inserted to emphasize detailing around the windows, and the green grass brightens up the scene a bit. I really like the layout of the building, how it is not just rectangular, but places more emphasis on the center as it protrudes forward slightly, and the little details on the roof and outside (the Danish flag, LEGO sign, bike racks, bricks, and silos) make it very believable that this really is the factory at LEGO Headquarters. I appreciate how this structure was designed so the roof can be removed from each building, allowing for easy playability and how each section of the factory can be separated into its own vignette.

Moving inside the building there is a welcome center with a smiling LEGO employee ready to welcome you to the LEGO factory and show you around. First we take a trip to the designer's office and see a couple of LEGO designers hard at work imagining and building a future LEGO set. There is really nice detail in this room, from the geometry of the walls to the drawers that are full of LEGO pieces for the designers to use, to the table, chair and potted plant. Yet, even with all of this detail the room is not overcrowded, but has a sense of openness to it.

Traveling to the other side of the factory, we have the opportunity to see an injection molding machine in action. For those who may not be familiar with how LEGO pieces are made, let me give you a brief overview. Little plastic pellets start out in a hopper, travel through the machine as they melt due to heat and increasing pressure, and then are injected into a mold that has the reverse shape of the LEGO piece. After the plastic has cooled, it is then ejected from the mold and collected to be packaged into LEGO sets. In the factory portion, we see an injection molding machine that captures the details pertaining to many of these aspects very well, from the hopper to a mold that actually moves.

Areas for Improvement
There is really only one thing that I think I would add (and this only comes after thinking long and hard!). That is to include some sort of cart, maybe 2495c01 or a brick-built cart to move the crates of LEGO pieces around after they are full. Otherwise, this is an extremely well designed and presented project that I think deserves to be an official LEGO set.

Conclusion
From the first glance to a much closer inspection this is a very solid project that would make a great addition for any fan of LEGO no matter how young or old. I believe this project has a very good chance to pass the Official LEGO Ideas Review process and become a set if it reaches 10,000 supporters. To see more pictures and offer your support, you can click here to visit this project on LEGO Ideas.

Photos used and review completed with the permission of KovJonas99.