They did it. They finally made a Lego Tintin rocket. Fans the world over are rejoicing. I’m one of those fans, and I am thrilled that two of my childhood joys have been smushed together (with much care and planning, I imagine).
I will gladly pay the R3,200 for the Lego Tintin Moon Rocket when it turns up locally next month. It’s currently up for pre-order and already listed as ‘Hard to Find’. It’s frankly astounding that there hasn’t been a tie-up sooner between such iconic brands, both so beloved by children (and adults). Some of my happiest memories involve reading Tintin (and Asterix) and playing with Lego. As they say in the classics, kaching, kaching.
This set needs no introduction
I remember reading Titin with such glee as a kid, especially Destination Moon and its sequel, Explorers on the Moon. Over the years, I have collected some great Tintin memorabilia.
Just looking around my study, I can see seven smaller Tintin rockets made of wood, one of which I carried back from the DRC myself. I have delightful carved wooden figurines of Tintin, Captain Haddock, and Professor Calculus in their moon suits and a great carved statue from Tintin and the Broken Ear.
It goes without saying that I desperately want (no, need) the Tintin Lego rocket to expand this modest collection, although it is likely to live on my desk with the 17cm rubber rocket I bought from the charming Tintin Shop in Barcelona.
I also recently came across two delightful spin-offs of the Tintin oeuvre. They are small coffee table books about “Professor Calculus, Science’s Forgotten Genius” and an A-to-Z of Captain Haddock’s insults, some of which are decidedly erudite. It’s appropriately called Blistering Barnacles. Both are R350 on Amazon’s local store.
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While we’re oversharing, I have a three-metre wooden Tintin rocket that never quite made it into my house and still stands by the front door.
Another great spinoff is the awesome Tintin T-shirt adaptations by Inner City Ink, a design studio and screen-printing business based in Victoria Yards. I have several of them, and like the clever reworking of Tintin in Cape Town the most.
I notice as my eight-year-old son and I popped into the Lego Store in Sandton City, that they have made a Project Hail Mary set (R2,200) based on the unbelievably good book of the same name by Andy Weir that has been made into a Hollywood blockbuster. This film hasn’t even opened, but it’s done a tie-up with Lego, while there is a range already for Netflix’s Wednesday TV series.
They know we geeks will want to own the Hail Mary set – which, of course, I do. But not before I nab that Tintin rocket set.
