Getting the colour balance just right for 21362 Mineral Collection was a key hurdle to overcome during the development of the LEGO Ideas set.
The LEGO Ideas theme will expand once again next month when 21362 Mineral Collection launches on October 1, 2025. The fan-designed model consists of 880 pieces and includes brick-built versions of six sparkling rocks such as golden pyrite, purple amethyst, tangerine quartz and more, as originally submitted by Dario del Frate.
One of the biggest challenges to overcome when it came time to create 21362 Mineral Collection was how to balance the colours required for the model, a topic discussed by the LEGO Ideas team in a recent interview on LEGO.com.
“I had very little awareness of minerals,” explained Design Manager Jordan Scott, “but I enjoy visiting the collections in museums whenever I can. I tried to research each mineral; how it grows, what iconic properties it has, colour variations, etc, to really grasp how distinct each one is.
“When we saw the original submission, we were really taken aback by how well [Dario] managed to capture the intricate details and colours of each of the minerals. His second submission, which was the one we focused on, included an elegant display stand which really elevated the minerals to a new level. You could really imagine what it would look like in your home.”
Despite those striking first impressions, plenty of work was still required by the LEGO Ideas team in order to capture the specific colours, shapes and opacity of each mineral before the finished version of
“Each of the minerals required a slightly different approach,” said Jordan. “It was a challenge to figure out how they would all come together cohesively while also being structurally stable, accurate in colour and shape, and fun to build.
“We had to figure out the right colours to layer on each other to create new subtle tones. The Tourmaline proved difficult to build without creating a new brick, so we did, and it has so many uses beyond this product that it’s a fascinating piece to bring to our portfolio.”
Those changes resulted in a slight reworking of Dario’s 10K model, but they were a shift in colour balance that helped bring out the vibrant visual appeal of the brick-built rocks in 21362 Mineral Collection.
“Comparing these minerals to Dario’s original submission, we changed one completely and tweaked the others,” Jordan elaborated. “Dario had tourmaline, but it was a very black and white build which wouldn’t stand out as much on our black packaging, so we wanted to bring some more colour and went with watermelon tourmaline, which has this beautiful gradient of pink to green.
“As we then had a green tone covered, we decided to switch out emerald for fluorite to allow for a bluer tone to stand out, and fluorite was one of the minerals that could be almost entirely transparent. Layering the teals and purples under the transparent blue made for a beautiful tone, while some new angular bricks made for a dynamic shape.”
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