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Queen Throws Its Support Behind a Breakthru-Inspired LEGO Set
By Emily Petsko
A fan-made, motorized LEGO set that pays homage to the Queen song "Breakthru" just made its own breakthrough, so to speak. As WROR in Massachusetts reports, a LEGO version of the train that appeared in the 1989 music video—complete with minifigures of Freddie Mercury and the gang—has received a thumbs up from the band.
The official Queen Instagram page posted a photo of the LEGO-ized “Miracle Express” and urged fans to support the project on LEGO Ideas, where it currently has more than 2000 backers. Once a design reaches 10,000 supporters, it enters the review stage, at which point it can potentially be approved and mass-produced by LEGO. The online Ideas platform is how the Beatles-inspired Yellow Submarine set got produced in 2016.
The Breakthru set was created by Adam Hickey, an actor and creative writer from the UK (not to mention a big Queen fan). “'Breakthru' has always been one of my favorite Queen videos and songs,” Hickey tells Mental Floss. “I felt that the Queen Miracle Express is as iconic as the Yellow Submarine is for The Beatles.”
Hickey built the set from scratch using pieces he borrowed from various LEGO sets, as well as a few pieces he ordered specifically for the engine. Figuring out how to make the train move was one of the trickiest parts.
“It was the first time I had ever made a model from scratch which uses motors, so I had to do a lot of research about how to use them, including how to have the train move around corners without derailing, which meant rebuilding my model,” Hickey says. “The pistons, in particular, were incredibly difficult to build.”
Hickey has also been responding to feedback from fans, and plans to give Brian May's minifigure a slight hairdo makeover, per one person’s suggestion. There are five minifigures in total, including one of actress Debbie Lang, who appeared as the masked woman in the music video.
Check out some of the photos below, and visit the LEGO Ideas website to support the project. For more LEGO Ideas designs that have made it into production, explore the LEGO Shop.
[h/t WROR]