Lost for Words: Say hello to LEGO Icons

by Lukas Mack

Lego have made a real push in recent years towards sets for older builders with their ‘18+’ black boxes adorning shelves everywhere. With the accompanying “Adults Welcome” campaign some of these sets have been real hits but with the quiet retiring of the Creator Expert theme in 2020, where to place our vintage Vespas and botanical beauties? Lego’s answer: a new theme called LEGO Icons.  

You can read Lego’s full statement below:

From June 1st, 2022, we will be uniting many of our adult focused LEGO® sets under the name LEGO® Icons to help our adult consumers easily to find new, immersive builds or models that link to their interests and passions, particularly when shopping or browsing online. The name LEGO Icons will span all of our sets designed for older builders that are not already part of an existing LEGO theme such as LEGO® Technic, LEGO® Ideas or LEGO® Architecture.

So what does this really mean? In short, a new theme called Icons will replace Creator Expert to group and unify the growing array of adult oriented sets online (as of June 1^st) and on packaging (as of Jan 1^st 2023). The ‘Icons’ name has been used internally at Lego for some time and with the proliferation of new and diverse sets only expanding, a branding reckoning was inevitable. This is simply Lego cleaning house and making their product range easier to categorise for both consumers and retailers.

For those concerned about current ranges within the Creator Expert line you needn’t fear, modulars have already begun their transition into the “Modular Buildings Collection” in a similar vein to the “Botanical Collection”. And auto lovers don’t fret either; the latest Vespa 125 lacked a Creator Expert moniker likely in anticipation of this new theme.

What this all means is not much really in practical terms. Lego seems to have got a little ahead of themselves or maybe were somehow surprised at the success of their adult sets. In any case, an attempt is being made to wrangle in all these new products that don’t already fit a well-defined theme like Star Wars or Jurassic World.

Having said all this, is ‘Icons’ actually a good fit? Sure, the Titanic is without question the very definition of ‘iconic’, but I’m not so sure about that wonder of the world… “Orchid 10311” (despite being a wonderful set). What future sets made for “passion points”, as Lego marketing refers to general interests, will potentially fall short of the iconic mark? There is a lot of subjectivity here. The point I’m making, arduously, is that by eliminating the Creator Expert theme in favour of Icons, it’s not certain Lego will be making anything that much clearer and the need to add sub-themes or entirely new themes seems just as likely moving forward.

…Or…it’s just a name change and this is all much ado about nothing!