The spirit of a classic LEGO System set of yesteryear lives on in 2025, thanks to the upcoming LEGO Icons 10360 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
Aviation aficionados and space fans got their first look at 10360 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft earlier this week, with the 2,417-piece set due to take off from LEGO.com and LEGO Stores next week. The upcoming LEGO Icons build includes models of both a Boeing 747 and NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise, which can be combined together or displayed separately.
In a recent roundtable interview with Brick Fanatics and other fan media, the LEGO Icons design team discussed how the upcoming set came about. With a whopping 28 different LEGO space shuttles having been released over the years, the drive to create something new ultimately led to the team to look to the past for some inspiration.
6544 Shuttle Transcon 2 was launched in 1995, with the 313-piece LEGO System set including a 747 jet, a space shuttle and multiple minfigures. The model was the second largest release from the LEGO Launch Command theme of the 1990s and could also be rebuilt as other craft.
“We’re fans of that one,” said Senior designer Anderson Ward Grubb. “I will tell you that was not only with us in spirit as we designed [10360 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft], but the very first time we spoke to NASA about this, I ended the call by showing them a picture of that set from way back when.”
“There was another designer here, Huang Deng, who was a massive help on this project. He figured out most of the technical engineering inside of this new set and helped me polish it,” said Anderson.
“He has that [original] model and brought it in. It was sitting with us while we were working on this one and keeping our spirits up. We remembered thinking we were breaking new ground, but LEGO has done fun things like this before.”
Speaking of ‘fun’, the LEGO Icons design team almost took their appreciation for 6544 Shuttle Transcon 2 one step too far, by combining the old model with the new build.
“There was a brief moment when I was looking for any way to be able to also mount that set to the Boeing 747,” Anderson joked, “so that you could have one on top of the other, but it didn’t end up in it!”
10360 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will be available exclusively for LEGO Insiders from May 15, while everyone else can fly away with the model from May 18. The LEGO Icons set will be priced at £199.99 / $229.99 / €229.99 and you can find out more about the build in our review here.
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