LEGO designer created his own Jaws Orca model years ago

The LEGO Ideas team behind 21350 Jaws has revealed that a fellow set designer had already created his own brick-built version of the Orca years ago.

LEGO Ideas 21350 Jaws is finally due to surface next month, with the 1,497-piece set priced at £129.99 / $149.99 / €149.99. Based on Steven Spielberg’s 1975 summer blockbuster and fan designer Jonny Campbell’s winning submission, the 18+ model will be available exclusively for Insiders from August 3, with a wider release from August 6.

The LEGO Ideas model includes a brick-built version of the Orca and Bruce the shark, a display base with printed tiles and unique minifigures of Chief Brody, Hooper and Quint. However, while 21350 Jaws will certainly be the first officially licensed LEGO set based on the iconic film, it’s not the first to have been created by a LEGO designer and then shared with the world.

In a recent roundtable interview, Brick Fanatics had the chance to chat with the LEGO Ideas design team regarding 21350 Jaws. During the discussion, the team was asked if the potential for a LEGO Jaws set had been floating around for a while internally and various iterations of a sharp-toothed predator had indeed been spotted.

“There are people who have built sharks,” said design manager Jordan David Scott, “because LEGO Creator makes sharks and things like that as well. So there have been sketch models of sharks.”

When it came to the Orca itself though, the LEGO Ideas design team revealed that a brick-built recreation of Quint’s boat had in fact already been created by a fellow member of staff. “Adam Grabowski, who is a [senior LEGO] designer, is quite a big fan of Jaws. His version is out there online from years ago and I think there’s a copy of that on his desk,” explained senior designer Ollie Gregory.

Adam Grabowski (aka Misterzumbi) has worked at the LEGO Group for a number of years on a wide range of theme’s including Batman, City, Marvel, Technic and more. The senior LEGO designer was most recently behind the likes of 76274 Batman with the Batmobile vs. Harley Quinn and Mr. Freeze and 76281 X-Men X-Jet.

Adam’s design for a LEGO Orca model can be found right here from back in 2023, although the post mentions that the build had been completed six years before. What’s surprising is that the design of the boat is strikingly quite similar to the finished 21350 Jaws set, although there are a number of differences between the two models.

For starter’s, Adam’s version lacks a brick-built shark and instead uses an existing model. Likewise, the minifigures of Chief Brody, Hooper and Quint have been constructed from pieces that would have been available at the time, instead of the unique printed and dual-moulded elements found in 21350 Jaws.

While the upcoming LEGO Ideas model has its own display base with printed tiles, Adam’s version sees the boat floating on silver pieces that are attached to a simple brown stand. There’s no recreation of water or waves to be seen and the entire bottom of the Orca’s hull can be admired in full.

Still, the fact that there are so many similarities between the pair of LEGO Jaws builds is quite striking and may well have played some small part in the creation of 21350 Jaws, even if the LEGO Ideas team wasn’t consciously aware of it.

21350 Jaws will be launching for Insiders members from August 3, with everyone else able to grab the model from August 6. The LEGO Ideas set is priced at £129.99 in the UK, $149.99 in the US and €149.99 in Europe.

For more information on 21350 Jaws, be sure to check out our full review of the set right here.

Featured image: Adam Grabowski

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