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Discovering Easter eggs in LEGO sets

(Written by E. B. – Eabs3)

If you have been involved in the LEGO hobby for a while, you may have noticed that LEGO likes to include Easter eggs in their sets. Easter eggs are unexpected and usually undocumented small details that LEGO designers add as an insider joke or little surprise for the pleasure of their most dedicated fans. They are usually not noticed by general shoppers, but only those who really pay attention. 🙂

Some sets include Easter eggs related to the topic of the set. For example, the #76057 LEGO Super Heroes Spider-Man Web Warriors Ultimate Bridge Battle includes a stickered tile over the arch of the bridge with the year Spider-Man was first introduced (1962) in issue #15 of the comic book Amazing Fantasy. Another good example is the recently released #21309 LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V, where the number of parts included in the set matches the year of the first Apollo launch (1969).

Some Easter eggs in LEGO sets refer to LEGO’s own history. A wonderful example is the #70317 LEGO Nexo Knights The Fortrex. The front gate features two numbers 375-6075. This is a reference to one of the most iconic early LEGO sets, the #375/#6075 LEGO Yellow Castle.

Other Easter eggs are more subtle and are harder to identify. When I recently built the #76083 LEGO Super Heroes Spider-Man Beware the Vulture set, I noticed that the license plate number was AC-JR10. It is known in the LEGO fan community that LEGO designers like to hide their initials in the sets they work on, so I was curious to see if the license plate matches the name of the designer.

Brickset.com has a really neat feature, where you can check the sets a particular LEGO designer worked on. Some of the lists are maintained by the designers themselves, and others are updated by the community (if it is known who is the designer).

After some searching in the Brickset Featured Bricklists for designers, I discovered that the #76083 LEGO Super Heroes Spider-Man Beware of the Vulture set was designed by Justin Ramsden, and thus the JR in the license plate number. And I also found out that AC are the initials of LEGO graphic designer Adam Corbally.

LEGO City sets with vehicles also commonly have the initials of the designers hidden on license plates. If you look at the Brickset Featured Bricklist for Pierre Normandin, you will see his initials on a number of LEGO City vehicles, like the #60107 LEGO City Fire Ladder Truck pictured above.

You can go through all the other Featured Bricklists, and see if you notice the initials of any of the designers. You will probably find them hidden somewhere in the sets they worked on.

What do you think? Have you noticed any Easter eggs in the LEGO sets you own? Feel free to share your own finds in the comment section below! Also, I’m a TFOL (Teen-Fan-of-LEGO), and this is my first post at theBrickBlogger. I run my own blog called KeyToTheBrick.WordPress.com. Feel free to stop by and feedback is welcome! 😉

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{ 32 comments… add one }
  • Håkan June 13, 2017, 10:40 AM

    The Marvel sets often contain Marvel-related easter eggs, as well.

    The Ultimate Bridge Battle has some graffiti with the text “P.P. + G.S” in a heart, referencing Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy (who actually was killed, being thrown off the same bridge by Green Goblin), and some other graffiti with the text “Thwip” which is the trademarked in-house sound of Spidey’s webshooters.

    • Eabs3 June 13, 2017, 10:58 AM

      Brickset actually points those out in there review. It is very interesting. It is one of my favorite things about Lego. They pay close attention to detail.

      • admin June 13, 2017, 2:02 PM

        Exactly! Even though they already have a winning system, they go the extra mile to add interesting little details like that most people won’t even notice. That’s dedication.

    • Eabs3 June 13, 2017, 11:08 AM

      Brickset pointed those out in their review. It is very interesting. I love how Lego pays attention to the details.

      • Håkan June 13, 2017, 11:09 AM

        Yeah, that’s where I found out about them…

    • admin June 13, 2017, 2:01 PM

      Interesting! 😀

  • DavidH June 13, 2017, 11:26 AM

    Two other ones are the modular buildings Town Hall and Fire Brigade. Both have dates from lego’s history. 1891 is the birth year of the founder, and 1932 is when he started the company.

    • E MC. June 13, 2017, 12:07 PM

      I love that… Including their history i their sets. It adds a really nice touch.

  • Hogun the Grim June 13, 2017, 11:28 AM

    I recently built the Ghostbusters Firehouse, and seeing the “R.I.P. H.R.” Easter egg was really touching. I also enjoyed the fact that the sticker of the map of Manhattan reveals the location of the original Hook & Ladder 8 building.

    However, my favorite Easter eggs (if they can be considered that) are the Collectible Minifigures turned into monsters. For example, the werewolf from CMF series 15 is actually the lumberjack from series five, and the skateboarder from series 1 later becomes the zombie skateboarder included with the “I Love That Minifigure” book.

    • E MC. June 13, 2017, 12:06 PM

      I never noticed that. In fact, many Minifigures with numbers or letters from the CMF are Easter Eggs!

    • admin June 13, 2017, 2:04 PM

      Yes, those are definitely Easter eggs! Even the fact that the Collectible minifigs usually get a pair later could be considered an Easter egg. 🙂

  • Sith015 June 13, 2017, 11:29 AM

    I knew about the license plates, but never noticed those numbers on the Fortrex! Really cool!

    • E MC. June 13, 2017, 12:09 PM

      Neither did I until just recently!

  • TomTom June 13, 2017, 11:32 AM

    These are really interesting. I wonder if there is a database of all the easter eggs somewhere. It could be a great feature to add to Brickset. Is there a way to contact them?

    • E MC. June 13, 2017, 12:09 PM

      Yes, actually. I believe on the the menu they have a contact section. You have to go to “More” to get to it.

      • Håkan June 13, 2017, 1:18 PM

        If you’re a member, you could create a listing. Although some of them are quite obscure, and some would be debatable whether they really are easter eggs…

    • admin June 13, 2017, 2:06 PM

      You can set up your own Bricklist on Brickset and add whatever sets you want. So, for example, you can make a Bricklist with all Easter eggs, or break them down by Easter egg types; hidden dates, hidden initials, minifig references, etc. You can even make notes on each set you are adding, and then share your list publicly (or keep it private).

  • Diamond655 June 13, 2017, 12:34 PM

    I can just imagine them tinkering with the Saturn V to try to get that piece count just right.

    “Do you think we can rebuild this part in a way that reduces the piece count by around 5 pieces or so and still have it look good?”

    “Not really, but we could also fiddle with the bottom a bit to get it.”

    “Sounds good to me.”

    • BLProductions June 13, 2017, 12:59 PM

      There was an article on Brickset about that recently. Apparently the final design came out to 1973 pieces, and so they just replaced some smaller pieces with fewer larger pieces: https://brickset.com/article/28363/secrets-of-the-saturn-v
      It’s astounding that it came out so perfectly by coincidence. 🙂

      • admin June 13, 2017, 2:08 PM

        I was just about to link to that article when I read the comment. It is very interesting. There are also a few extra places in the set they had a chance to chance to change out the parts, but I guess it was easier to just work with the stands. Yeah, it’s amazing that the part-count was so close! 😀

  • BLProductions June 13, 2017, 12:55 PM

    Nice article; it’s well-written and interesting. Easter eggs are always cool to see, although somehow I usually miss them until someone here or on Brickset points them out…. As such, I hadn’t noticed the one on the Fortrex before.
    Super Heroes sets contain the most easter eggs, I think, more than even City. The plane in #76075 has the initials of the designers on its sides, for example. I think sometimes designers’ birthdays are put onto license plates as well, although I can’t immediately recall an example.
    I wonder (thinking about yesterday’s post), does the M-OC Droid from #75185 Tracker I count as an easter egg? Or is it just a pun?

    • Håkan June 13, 2017, 1:17 PM

      I think so. It’s not a pun, really.

    • Eabs3 June 13, 2017, 1:45 PM

      Interesting. Understandable, since Freemakers is a Lego thing.

    • Eabs3 June 13, 2017, 1:56 PM

      Also, I didn’t see the Wonder Woman plane one. I am adding more and more Easter Eggs to my brain files. 😉

      • admin June 13, 2017, 2:10 PM

        You might want to start a Bricklist on Brickset. That way you can share your brain files with others as well. 🙄

  • Julien June 15, 2017, 3:13 AM

    Another one is in the DO 10246, the name AL’s was the name of the Jamie Berard’s grandfather (Albert).
    In the Parisian restaurant too at the entry there is a tile “Chez Albert”, same reason that the previous set.
    On the terrasse of this set there is a CHEZ designed Under the tables with some tile.
    In the Brickbank set 10251 the tile 2×4 in the hand of the woman has got the signature of Jamie Berard…
    One more, on the exterior ground floor of the cafe corner 10182 we can see written with some tiles CAFE Under the tables….
    I’ve got some many easter eggs, the listing is very long…

    • Håkan June 15, 2017, 5:09 AM

      Are the texts “Chez” and “Cafe” really easter eggs? They’re pretty self-explanatory, and related to their respective sets.

      • admin June 15, 2017, 11:40 AM

        Maybe not Easter eggs, but I would say that they are very nice surprises when you first build the set. It’s always fun to find interesting details like that as you build, even when they are obvious.

    • admin June 15, 2017, 11:34 AM

      That’s really sweet about Jamie’s grandpa. I didn’t know that. And yes, those and Jamie’s signature are definitely Easter eggs. The names spelled out with plates are a nice surprise, although that my not be strictly Easter eggs, because they are pretty obvious.

    • E MC. June 16, 2017, 11:36 AM

      Those are really interesting. I knew about Chez, but none of the rest!

  • Becky R December 21, 2017, 7:16 PM

    Easter eggs, and the many small details LEGO includes are so much fun. I saw a (used) Indiana Jones set once, some sort of Egyptian tomb. Among the blocks with hieroglyphics, one pictured R2-D2 & C3PO!
    (I wish I had bought it when I had the chance.)

    • admin December 21, 2017, 10:50 PM

      Oh, yes! I remember those hidden R2-D2 and C-3PO graphics! 😀

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