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…