LEGO Icons Dune set wouldn't be the first brick-built model based on the IP

The rumoured LEGO Icons 10327 Ornithopter looks as if it'll be beaten to store shelves by another brick-built model based on the franchise.

Recent rumours suggest that a LEGO Icons set based around a unique vehicle featured in 2021’s sci-fi epic Dune may be arriving on November 3. An initial report from Promobricks stated that 10327 Ornithopter could potentially be a 1,327-piece build priced at €164.99 and come with four or five minifigure characters.

While details of the rumoured LEGO Icons model remain purely speculative at this stage, another company that creates brick-based products already has its own Dune model in the works. Umbrella Entertainment will be releasing the Frank Herbert’s Dune & Children of Dune Collector’s Edition Blu-ray this October, featuring every episode of the 2000 and 2003 TV miniseries.

The upcoming boxset includes a number of additional goodies, one of which is a 750-piece Shai-Hulad (or sandworm) build constructed with Gobricks by Jeffy-O, a fan creator who has submitted a number of LEGO Ideas designs over the years. Measuring 25cm in length, 11cm deep and 14cm in height, the sandworm is said to be ‘compatible with other leading brick brands’, so we suspect we know which popular construction product is being referred to.

A number of companies have released construction brick products over the years that have been viewed as infringing on the LEGO Group’s copyright, with Tyco Industries being taken to court in the 1980s and Mega Bloks winning a legal challenge in 2010. Likewise, Guangdong Loongon, known for its Lepin building block sub-brand was successfully sued by the LEGO Group in 2016 for taking the company’s designs and creating commercial sets without permission. It's unclear at the moment where Gobricks fits into that wider picture.

The upcoming Frank Herbert’s Dune & Children of Dune Collector’s Edition Blu-ray raises some interesting issues regarding the world of licensing agreements all on its own, however. The TV shows were originally created for the Sci-Fi Channel by a trio of production companies after the rights to Frank Herbert’s original six Dune novels were obtained by executive producer Richard P. Rubinstein.

After an unsuccessful attempt by Paramount Pictures to produce a new adaptation of the series, Legendary Entertainment acquired the Dune film and TV rights in 2016 from The Herbert Limited Partnership, with Denis Villeneuve then signing on as director of the 2021 movie and its sequels. It's those movies to which any LEGO Icons sets (if rumours pan out as expected) will likely be hooked, rather than Frank Herbert's series.

That may explain why these two products would be able to launch within relatively similar timeframes. If the rumours prove true, we're also looking at two totally different models conceptually: one is a microscale diorama, while the other is said to be a minifigure-scale vehicle.

Featured image: Warner Bros. Pictures

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