LEGO Toothless was always going to be chibi, not cinematic

LEGO Icons 10375 Toothless's appearance may have come as a surprise to fans who expected a more realistic model – here's how it came about.

10375 Toothless has long since been rumoured, giving fans a lot of time to imagine what they might want to see from the brick-built dragon. However, the final look didn't appear to be in line with what a lot of people expected, leaning into a cutesy, chibi style, rather than a recreation of what we see on screens.

Brick Fanatics was able to ask LEGO Icons designer and self-confessed How To Train Your Dragon fan Jae Won Lee about how this design choice came about.

"LEGO Toothless was always planned as a cute and chibi-style set from the beginning," explained Jae. "As a designer, I had concerns about whether this style would be suited to the adult lineup for Icons, but there are three reasons why I kept this style.

"First of all, 10375 Toothless is more of a display model than a play set. The main focus was to design a small model that can sit anywhere: on a shelf, on a desk – anywhere. The second reason is that this is a building experience, first and foremost.

"The final reason is that this style and size will reach out to existing LEGO fans, as well as newcomers to LEGO. The most important thing for the designer is to try to satisfy current and future fans of LEGO at the same time."

Another frequent question about 10375 Toothless is: Where is Hiccup? While the LEGO Icons set includes a saddle perched on his back, as well as the prosthetic (therefore definitely capturing him in his Hiccup era), the rider is nowhere to be seen. Jae confirmed to Brick Fanatics that a minifigure was never in the cars for this set.

"As a LEGO fan myself, I always hope a new set will include a special minifigure, but a minifigure Hiccup was not considered at the beginning," said Jae. "We just decided to focus on Toothless, Toothless, Toothless."

10375 Toothless doesn't stand alone on his adorably chubby little feet, however. He comes after several well-received buildable characters that lean into an animated style (although admittedly a style that those characters are known for having on screen).

The upcoming LEGO Icons set wouldn't look out of place on a shelf next to builds like 43247 Young Simba the Lion King and 43269 101 Dalmatians, and is indeed built to a similar height and style as 43249 Stitch and 43257 Angel. The former stands 20cm tall and the latter at 25cm, while 10375 Toothless is 16cm.

"Stitch was quite nice and really successful," observed Jae. "The set has a very good design and is a very good size, so it was a useful benchmark for 10375 Toothless. When we considered having the set at the same size as 43249 Stitch, we thought it would be fun to display both together on a shelf or desk.

"Both we and our IP partners really liked that option, which led to the similar sizes of the two sets. LEGO sets at this size and in this style are quite tempting for new customers."

LEGO Icons 10375 Toothless is available to pre-order now for £59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99, ahead of its release on July 1.

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