Grand Central Station is one of New York City’s most iconic landmarks. People, both locals and tourists, are allured by its sweeping Beaux-Arts style architecture, but also what it represents—it’s a gateway to the busy heart of the city. Moved by this, LEGO builder Maria Kalaoglou, better known as Mind the Brick, recreated the famous station with LEGO bricks. The Grand Central Station set she built was then posted to the LEGO Ideas platform, where it now has enough support to be reviewed by LEGO and could become a real official set backed by the company.
The model is tremendously detailed, as the builder captured the grandeur of both the façade and the ornate interior. Built on a 48″ x 40″ base, the set boasts the locale’s charming features, such as vintage floor tiles, street lamps, and a glistening ticket booth. The imaginative creation even has the fore-thought for a genuine rush-hour scene—so the commuter’s rush is accented with food stalls, luggage carts, brooms, and even a banana peel discarded on the tracks. While Kalaoglou says that there is an abundance of LEGO train models, there is not that much variety when it comes to train station sets. This set hopes to fill that void.
The builder knows Grand Central Station wouldn’t be as exciting without the thousands of people that commute and work there every day. That’s why their version includes an eclectic cast of 11 minifigures, plus a cat and a baby, each with their own story. There’s Joe the ticket seller, Susan and her child on her way to Paris, Helen the postwoman, Hercules the detective, janitor Old John, and others, reminding us that what truly makes a station come alive is the people.
The Grand Central Station LEGO set is fully modular, allowing builders to remove the ceiling to appreciate the buzz inside, play around the platform, and playfully picture people rushing in from the street. “We tried to imprint all the fuzz and stories that may take place in a train station,” writes Kalaoglou. “It is a train station with endless possibilities of play.”
The model recently achieved the 10,000 supporters it needed on the LEGO Ideas platform to be taken into consideration by LEGO itself. This means the company will now examine the proposal and look into turning it into an official LEGO set that could later be purchased by fans around the world. “Now, it’s time to sit back, relax, and patiently wait for the LEGO Ideas review results. It’ll take a couple of months, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for the next big adventure!”
LEGO will review the Grand Central Station set in May, and announce the result in the project page, so make sure to check back then.
Grand Central Station was recreated with LEGO bricks by skilled builder Maria Kalaoglou, aka Mind The Brick.
The model is tremendously detailed, as the builder captured the grandeur of both the façade and the ornate interior.
This set captures the everyday excitement of thousands of people that commute and work at the iconic NYC landmark. It even includes an eclectic cast of 11 minifigures.
The Grand Central Station LEGO set is fully modular, allowing builders to remove the ceiling to appreciate the buzz inside.
“We tried to imprint all the fuzz and stories that may take place in a train station,” writes Mind The Brick. “It is a train station with endless possibilities of play.”
It now has enough support to be reviewed by LEGO and could become an official set backed by the company.
Mind the Brick: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
All images via LEGO Ideas.
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