A Lego version of Caerphilly Castle could be set to hit shelves worldwide – but the campaign needs support from locals and the general public.
Cadw has entered the specially commissioned replica of Wales’ largest castle in to Lego Ideas – where proposals for new Lego sets are considered for official release if they garner enough public support.
The model, created by Lego artist Adeel Zubair of Cardiff-company Little Big Art, features Welsh flags and the series of moats and leaning tower that make the 745-year-old castle so iconic.
The model requires the support of 10,000 users before a panel of Lego experts will decide whether it should go into production.
If successful, it will be the first Welsh Lego kit in the company’s history, but faces stiff competition from entries of Venice, New York City, and Berlin.
Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates, said: “Wales has an incredible history that we are all immensely proud of and Caerphilly Castle is deserving of a spot in the Lego architecture range alongside the Louvre in Paris and Venice’s Rialto bridge.
“I hope that the people of Wales support our bid which could see the model available in LEGO stores the world over – one day we may even see a Welsh collection featuring more of our inspiring sites.”
Andy Morris, owner of Little Big Art, added: “This has been a fantastic and fun project to work with Cadw on.
“The real castle took three years to build, between 1268 and 1271, but we hope you might finish this one a little quicker.
“It is great to think that people the world over could have the chance to create Wales’s largest castle and then hold it in the palm of their hands.”
To support Caerphilly Castle throughout the Lego Ideas process, visit ideas.lego.com/projects/150517.
A really good idea and a great lego model, but please please stop with the ‘iconic’ tag, the Eiffel Tower is iconic, the Taj Mahal is iconic, Sydney Opera House is iconic, the Empire State Building is iconic, The Colosseum is iconic. Caerphilly Castle may well be a lot of things but it is certainly not iconic, very few people outside of Wales, or even Caerphilly would be able to name it if they were shown a picture, it’s spectacular yes, historical yes, impressive yes, striking yes, iconic NO.
And it needs a good clean. How it was in 2001: http://www.visitsouthernwales.com/explore-the-area/caerphilly.aspx
It’s iconic because it introduced concentric castle defences to Britain…
I wonder if LEGo will include the little man who once or twice a week, locates himself inside the Castle, dressed like a military killing machine, armed with a high vilocity rifle,, shooting birds on behalf of the Welsh Assembly (CADWR), and the two men employed to destroy eggs and birds nests around the Castle during the breeding season, all ilegal activity of course, but if the Welsh Assembly dont care why should Lego, in the interests of accuracy.
Perhaps if we’re really lucky they’ll also include a bitter troll.