LEGO has unveiled the Tintin Moon Rocket, the first official set based on Hergé‘s classic comic series The Adventures of Tintin. Taking specific inspiration from the 1953-1954 volumes Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon, the 1,283-piece release allows fans to create a 19.25 inch replica of the rocket ship from the story, and includes minifigures of Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Thompson, and Thomson (who have green hair as a result of the Formula 14 drug they consumed in an earlier entry.)
The set was designed by Portuguese fan Alexis Dos Santos (LEGO Ideas username: TKel86), who submitted it via the LEGO Ideas platform. “Creating the Tintin Moon Rocket has been an incredible journey,” they say. “I wanted to capture the spirit of Tintin’s iconic rocket in a way that celebrates both its engineering elegance and its place in pop culture. Recreating its curvature and connecting the three floors pushed my creativity, and seeing it finally come together with all the minifigures in their space suits has been incredibly rewarding. I hope the build sparks the same sense of imagination and adventure that inspired me from the very beginning.”
Created in 1929, Tintin follows the adventures of the titular young reporter, his dog Snowy, and his friends. It ran for 23 albums (plus an unfinished one published posthumously), and has been adapted into two animated series, as well as several films, including Steven Spielberg‘s 2011 release The Secret of the Unicorn. On the toy front, the series had previously received a range of sets from LEGO’s Japanese rival Nanoblocks, while Spielberg’s movie got tie-in sets from Britain’s Meccano.
The Tintin Moon Rocket is now available to pre-order ahead of its release on Wednesday, April 1. It will retail for $159.99, and arrive in stores two months before another LEGO set based on a non-Marvel/DC comic, Snoopy’s Doghouse, which is similarly the company’s first official Peanuts release. In the meantime, you can check out more photos below, and on LEGO’s website.
