Lego has a ton of dedicated fans, and some of those fans design new sets for the company. They don’t all get made, but some of them do… provided their creators can prove that at least 10,000 folks are interested in the design. One of the newest of these is a Functional Lego Telescope — which seems to be its actual title.
And, as custom-but-possibly-retail-ready builds go, it’s rather impressive. The brick-made telescope is currently listed on the Danish company’s Product Ideas portal. It has secured around 8,000 supporters since it launched. Just two thousand to go, then?
Scope out that Lego
The Lego project is impressive in a few ways. For starters, the 600-or-so-piece build features a functional tripod. Builders can orient the scope in any direction and at any angle you’d get from any other vintage telescope. There’s another ‘functional’ in there, too. (Potential) owners can actually peer through the included eyepiece and see… something.
But not through the plastic objective lens. It would take considerably more intricacy to pull that one off. A Fresnel lens, of the sort commonly used in VR equipment, might make that possible. But not in this case. There’s a rather more interesting solution, involving a few custom pieces and one of Lego’s light bricks.
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The back end of the telescope clips off, where one of four interchangeable discs can be placed. Reassemble, press the light block button, and there’s an actual view through the rear of the telescope. It won’t show your bedroom or living room, but it will display one of several themed scenes related to the company’s previous products. It’s quite elegant, really.
Just a little more support, and the telescope idea could wind up listed in the company’s Ideas range. It shouldn’t be too difficult — the concept has about 500 days to make up the remaining interested parties.
