Will there be a Hello Kitty set from LEGO: if it were up to Ideas, yes!

It's the start of the year and we can reintroduce you to new designs that have collected 10,000 votes on the LEGO Ideas platform. These sets are not (yet) official, but they do participate in the LEGO Ideas competition to become a real set!

Hello Kitty and the Grinch managed to surprise the community last week (from January 15 to 28, 2024). The two models will enter the first review phase in 2024 as the sixth and seventh entries. Let's take a closer look at the two candidates:

Hello Kitty

Facts about the design
Title: Hello Kitty and friends – 50 years
Fan Designer: Bulldoozer
Days: 575
Minifigures: 5
Number of parts: unknown

Hello Kitty is a fictional character from the Japanese company Sanrio in cat form. The design of the figure, created in 1974, was based on the stumpy tail cat, which is considered a good luck charm. She is an icon of Japanese kawaii culture and one of the world's most recognizable characters ever created.

The LEGO set includes four mini buildings from Sanrio Town: Hello Kitty's Café, Keroppi's Mini-Mart, My Melody's Gift Shop and Badtz-Maru's Arcade.

Each Built opens to reveal a small playset that references other Sanrio characters including Tuxedo Sam, Little Twin Stars, Pompompurin, Chococat, Gudetama, Tiny Chum and many more. The set includes minifigures of Hello Kitty, Badtz-Maru, Keroppi, My Melody, Kuromi and Cinnamoroll. Other mini builds are also included, including the town's welcome sign and fountain, Hello Kitty's tricycle and yellow plane.

So far, no Hello Kitty model has managed to impress LEGO Ideas. Of course, some other anime designs were already convincing. But since Hello Kitty is a big franchise, I imagine there could be interest. But there are already some licensing models through Unico. Would LEGO get the license for it? (who stole Christmas)

Facts about the design
Title: Dr. Seuss's The Grinch
Fan Designer: BenBuilds
Days: 443
Minifigures: 2 + 1 dog

Number of parts: unknown
This Grinch set contains many wonderful details from the 2018 animated film: little Cindy-Lou Who with her smile or Max the dog with antlers secured with a band. The Grinch, dressed in his red Santa suit in his sleigh, is able to steal all the Christmas decorations from Cindy-Lou's house in Whoville.

There is already a Grinch model Dr. Seuss and LEGO managed to convince the Ideas Community. However, this Grinch model is based on the 2018 Grinch animated film. Like Hello Kitty, the Grinch is a licensed model, but could be popular with many as a Christmas set.