I mentioned in the post announcing the upcoming release of LEGO IDEAS set 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket that this set represents a key factor in one of the earliest fandoms I was part of: I first read Destination Moon in January 1977, during the summer holidays. As the new school year began, I hunted the books down, eventually hunting most of them down through various school libraries over the following years. As I put the rocket together, I was excited by a sense of nostalgia as a childhood memory, now pop-culture icon, came into being on my desk.

I am grateful that the LEGO Group sent this copy of the set over in advance of the release on April 1. This set is based on the moon rocket from TKel86’s LEGO Ideas submission, which also included a gantry. In the design process, the team decided to focus on the rocket, which ties into the two books telling the story of Tintin’s journey to the Moon: Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon. The rocket’s gantry is only a feature in the first of these. However, I might have some parts lying around the house, which I picked up for another project a couple of years ago.

During properation for this review, I had the chance to take part in a round table discussion with designers Jordan Scott and Ellen Bowley – I’ll add their insights as we go along…

In The Box

The set comes with 11 numbered bags, as well as a pair of large conical elements, which will make up the apex of the rocket.

The instruction manual includes an introduction to Tintin, the original fan submission to LEGO IDEAS as well as an explanation of an omission of the gantry.

The Minifigures

The set includes 5 minifigures, as well as a new mould for Snowy.

We have Tintin, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Thompson and Thomson in minifigure form. They are all wearing the iconic orange spacesuits that are seen on the cover of Explorers on the Moon. Snowy exists as a modified dog mold, with an orange body and white head, with a single stud on the back.

The legs have markings where the hard suits have articulating shells, as well as silver printed toes and belt. These markings are missing on the figures’ arms.

The torso has a silver collar, printed front and back, as well as the circumference of the large white light in the centre. There is a row of three larger dials and a smaller central one in sand green. On the rear are two silver printed ports to connector to the oxygen tanks.

The Oxygen tanks are brick built. Attached using a neck bracket, they capture the spirit of the original design, within the confines of the LEGO system. I find myself experiencing an internal debate as to whether the red tile should be on the lower, protruding stud (consistent with its location in the original artwork) or on the upper which, frankly, looks better! Snowy’s oxygen tanks are represented by a pair of dark azure binoculars.

The helmets are the two piece globe element in transparent clear.

Tintin’s face is double sided: a casual, oprimistic smile on one side, and a surprised “Oooo” on the other. His hair piece is a new mould, sporting the his signature upbrushed quiff. The colour is rarely consistent between the books and bright yellowish orange was chosen here, to distinguish it from the colour of the spacesuits.

Captain Haddock has a gruff expression on one side (“I need a drink”) and a smile buried underneath his black beard and mustache on the other (“I love this whisky”) Both Haddock and Tintin carry a two piece radio, with a sticker capturing the in-book design perfectly. (Although, in the book, the radio was worn as a cross body bag).

Professor Calculus wears round spectacles, has raised eyebrows and a bristling mustache. He has a bald cap with black hair around the sides.

Thomson and Thompson have subtly different fact prints – with a stern expression on one side and a smile on the other. One has a slight flair at the bottom of his mustache (Thomson), allowing them to be distinguished from one another. They feature the ‘widows peak’ hair element in lime green. The IP partner was insistent that the only time we see the detectives in their space suits is when they are suffering from the delayed effects of some pills they took in “The Land of the Black Gold”. If they were to carry this to its logical conclusion, the mustaches should be green as well, but this way, there is scope to use the heads in their more traditional costumes. (Black suits and bowler hat) They each carry a 3 module long bar in medium nougat, as an alternative to their usual walking canes.

Jordan Scott, Design Lead for LEGO Ideas had this to say about the minfigure design choices for the set: “Yeah, we we had a lot of conversations, and there was a sort of internal debate on: should we do them in their classic outfits, or should they be in their space suits? And it was almost 50/50 split in the project, where people voted for whichever one, but the IP partner wanted the spacesuits, which was really great, because…it works for both comics. But that came with some challenges, obviously, because then we had the kind of dome bubble as well as Snowy in a space suit, which is a different type of mold than if we were just to do Snowy as a regular dog. So that posed some challenges. The expressions, yeah, were, there was a lot of challenge around them, because they wanted to stay as true as possible to Hergé’s work, which is very stylized. But when it comes to making minifigures, we have a style guide as well, so it was trying to mash the two together without it feeling like we’ve done something unique here. But I think the graphic designer, Anthony, really nailed the expressions… And then we made the new wig for Tintin, because we didn’t have anything that would work for him. So yeah, Tintin’s wig and Snowy are new molds for this, for these characters, and then a couple of color changes for the backpack.

We looked at doing Snowy with a dome as well, but this element is just enormous, almost, is the same size as Snowy. So it didn’t really work. So it was good enough that he’s just in a spacesuit. Because they actually said, if we can’t get him in a space suit, we don’t want him in the set at all. And we were like, we can’t leave Snowy. Oh, he’s like, the sidekick. So we managed to make it work. So that was a lot of a lot of fun to get that one nice.”

So…the decision was made to not set Snowy up with a space helmet: lets do some experiments: first the Fish bowl used on the other characters: this is certainly oversized compared to the dog mould itslef, and if Snowy is not mounted on the display board, he is quite nose heavy. I also tried the ‘bubble’ helmet used for Mysterio: it also exists i the LEGO Icons Aquarium as a bubble, so I subbed it out, and was a little sad to see that it does not leave room for Snowy’s airtanks. I think ‘Helmet Free’ Snowy is probably the right choice.

The Elements

As per usual, the elements have been laid out by the Knoller in Chief…

I surprised at the volume of technical elements when I first looked at the parts inside. There are plenty of ‘Y’ shaped elements – consistent with the rocket’s six blocks of colour going around the model. The curved cone elements, with a diameter of 6 studs and 8 studs respectively are new moulds in this colour.

The sticker sheet is relatively modest, and includes only as few stickers, based directly on graphics from the graphics novel.

Of interest, under ultraviolet light, there appear to be several shapes of white – with a difference between the 2x2x2/3 curved slope and the 1x3x2/3 arch, along with several different shades of bright red… to say nothing of an interesting flare, which was present in both of my large cone elements. That said, none of these differences were clearly visible under white light.

Construction

When the team took their first draft of the model to the IP partner, they learned a few things: not the least of which is that the company managing Hergé’s legacy is incredibly strict with regards to how the IP is handled. The original draft model was off by one sixth of a rotation (checks relative to the fins) and needed to be corrected. This was more than a simple fix.

As we build up the core, there are several things to be mindful of: we are striving for the correct line up of fins and checks. We start with a core based around a ‘Y’ Technic plate

Having built up the core, we completed a layer of alternating red and white panels around the top end of this assembly. There are some hinges here, and we attach a collection of 2×12 plates, which will ultimately taper inwards. This will leave some unsightly gaps between the curved-slope panels, so before we install these panels, we add some infill, matching the colours of the checkerboard pattern.

We also add the infill to the upper most slant, before completing it with more coloured panels.

Next, we start by creating the shape of the fins using a combination of curved slopes and an arch. The Technic pin holes create a pair of reflected triangles, which are in turn firmly pinned into these chunky circular bases that contain far more elements than you might normally expect.

After pinning in the feet, we attach the half cones. We then pin the fins onto the body of the rocket.

After completing this, we attach some strengthening vertical struts, and attach some infill. The bottom of the rocket is finished off with a dish, and the original books are somewhat vague about the actual appearance of the underside.

The capsule is simple enough to complete, with a central viewer, as well as a control panel and view screen applied to a curved panel in sand green.

A sticker provides our heroes’ first view of Earth after they take off. At the roundtable, I asked about creating the designs for the stickers, and the response was simple: “Not really: The IP partner was very particular that the control panels have to look like they do in the comic.”

While several other areas in the rocket are prominent in the books, the interior structure of the model meant that it would be impossible to have more than one area accessible by minifigures, and this scene was considered to be the most iconic to include.

Finally, we close in the cone, with a radio antenna at the very top of the rocket.

And we are done!

Here is the final rocket! I am impressed by its final size and heft.

Inspirations and Additions?

Although the rocket has become a pop-culture icon over the years, I’m sure some people who supported the original Ideas submission will be disappointed that the gantry was not included in the final model. I happened to have a collection of the diagonal girder element in yellow (Design ID 6057489. Bricklink: 64448 – you will need around 50) and 16×16 plates in medium stone grey. A few extra pieces in sand green as well as a few wheels and we have this:

Ordering the pieces through pick-a-brick will be around 70-100AUD – another reason in itself to leave it out of the final model. But if you really want one, it’s not too complicated to put together. I have not built the gantry with full detail, but you can also take inspiration from the original Ideas submission.

While the it is apparent that the rocket has the requisite slope at the top, and towards the bottom, it feels relatively insignificant compared to the source material. It is an intrinsic challenge when using a relatively straight construction medium to achieve the shape. A little wide-angle trickery (to say nothing of some uncreative Photoshopping) allowed me to create this shot, demonstrating the downwards taper a little more clearly.

I would love to see the figures in their ‘normal clothes’ – It feels like an opportunity to produce a GWP or a second set in normal gear. Previous Ideas projects have evolved into other sets previously: Ghostbusters and Back to the Future spring to mind.

Imagine LEGO Icons or Speed Champions style embracing the vehicles of Tintin? Hergé put so many details into those: it could be a great way to introduce a collection of vehicles that would fit in with the modular building street – especially when embracing early 20th century European architectural styles. (even if both these examples are blue…)

Conclusions

I really enjoyed the build -and the final rocket is an impressive display piece. During construction I found some of the angulation to be quite subtle, but the inlays hit the mark to fill the gaps. Overall, the techniques used for achieving the shape are very clever. I do find myself wondering if it was possible to achieve greater inward sloping towards the tail.

The artwork in the main cabin (as well as the minifigures and accessories) captures the style we first saw in the books many decades ago. The control panel is certainly much simpler than that in the

There are always challenges when adapting a closely guarded intellectual property, such as Tintin. The travelers initially look a little odd as minifigures in their printed spacesuits, given how bulky the actual suits were depicted in the books. I appreciate the decision to keep all characters in spacesuits – it makes sense, and works in the context of both Destination Moon AND Explorers on the Moon for most of the cast.

I understand the reasoning, but I would love the slightest excuse to be used to create ‘everyday wear’ minifigures – even just those included in this set. Certainly the scope is open for those who love to customize, not what we have appropriate hair and face prints.

I feel there is adequate fanbase for a more general LEGO Tintin set: Marlinspike hall would be a great location to build, along with a couple of cars from the era, although a large part of the overseas market (ie USA) might not have had the same exposure to Tintin prior to the 21st century.

The gantry would have had the model a little closer to the original submission, as would the inclusion of a ladder. The gantry could certainly act as a launching pad for additional ideas for setting the set up for display: adding in multiple vintage cars in microscale as seen on the cover of Destination Moon. That said, I feel the gantry would have unnecessarily inflated the price and complexity of the set, adding in a side build that is unlikely to be as satisfying as the rocket itself. No other collectable (resin, PVC or otherwise includes the gantry. And what about adding a ladder and the moon rover tank – either at the scale of the rocket or correct for the minifigures. These could also be fun exercises,

I feel obliged to grumble about the final price – particularly in Australia, where Tintin had significant popularity over the decades, but the set is priced higher than most of the world except for Scandinavia and Switzerland! (Our list price converts to around 20% higher than the USA/7% above most of Europe).

Overall, I am happy to give this a set four out of five arbitrary praise units. But I can see there will be some fans who might not like the final set: the exclusion of the gantries, no helmet for Snowy, no ‘everyday clothes’, reduced curves compared to the source material. But as a moon rocket set, it does what it needs.

The stories of Tintin can certainly be accused of showing racial stereotypes, promoting colonialism (especially in the earlier years of the publication), sexism, and many of the other poorly tolerated characteristics of early 20th century literature. Can this be explained away by the fact that Hergé’s stories were serialised in an ultra-conservative magazine, at a time coinciding with the rise of European fascism in the late 1920s and early ’30s?

Many of the subsequent stories are pure adventure stories, devoid of political commentary – a hero and his friends going on a quest to solve a mystery, in a variety of exotic locations which would be completely foreign to the primary target demographic. And as such, might be regarded as a precursor to the stories that shaped the latter days of the century – Star Wars; Indiana Jones …and if you were a LEGO Fan in those days, Johnny Thunder and the Adventurers.

The LEGO Ideas Tintin® Moon Rocket (21367) is available for pre-order from today, and available for immediate purchase from 1^st April 2026. with 1283 pieces and five minifigures, it is priced at $AUD279.99 / £139.99 / €159.99 / $USD159.99 via LEGO.com/Tintin and LEGO Stores.

This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes, all opinions are my own.

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!