Why did LEGO start with Star Trek: The Next Generation?

The first LEGO Star Trek set is starting with The Next Generation as opposed to the original series, and the designers have offered insight as to why.

Our first LEGO Star Trek set is just over a couple of weeks away, kicking off the long-awaited collaboration with 1987's The Next Generation instead of 1966's original series. While this series' version of the enterprise and its characters is still iconic, starting LEGO Star Trek with the first series would make more sense chronologically, and for the fact that the original series turns 60 years old next year.

Ultimately, 10356 USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D is based on The Next Generation, and the model's designers at LEGO Fan Media Days 2025 offered an explanation as to why they've started with this series instead of the original.

"I think that was on the table, but I think we wanted to start with something a little closer to our current times," responded model designer Hans Burkhard Schlömer to Brickset's Chris and shared by Solid Brix Studios.

"We're not in charge of what is getting selected in the general LEGO portfolio," expanded graphic designer Crystal Marie Fontan. "In my personal opinion, I think this Enterprise really resonates with my age group – millennials – and it's kind of like a commemoration of, we had the original series in the '60s and then The Next Generation came in the '80s, so it's like the next generation, literally. I think that this really is an iconic first start for voyaging into the unknown."

The shaping of The Next Generation's Enterprise also presents both more of a challenge to capture the curves, yet offers a sturdier foundation for the designers to build upon while holding up the saucer section safely. It's overall a more reliable design structurally to capture compared to the original Enterprise, though potentially not quite as iconic.

Both designers tease that they would like to see more LEGO Star Trek, so an original series model is possibly still on the table now that the collaboration is underway. For now, there's just 10356 USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, and the shuttlepod gift-with-purchase.

LEGO Icons 10356 USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D will be available to buy from November 28, 2025, retailing at £349.99 in the UK, $399.99 in the US, and from €379.99 in Europe.  40768 Type-15 Shuttlepod will be available exclusively with the purchase of the set from November 28 to December 1, or while stocks last.

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