The Cardiff man and his son are collecting supporters to ensure his Welsh lady will be available to buy one day
CARDIFF dad Ian Drew has designed his own Welsh-themed Lego character and submitted it to the company in the hopes it will be made into an official figure.
The civil servant designed a Brickheadz character to look like a Welsh lady in traditional dress after playing with his 10-year-old son.
Brickheadz are brick-built figures that come in a range of characters from pets to Disney heroes and all follow a similar style.
Mr Drew and his son from Llandaff North are long-time Lego fans.
“I regularly take my son in to the Lego shop in Cardiff and we go in so regularly they greet us by name now,” he said.
Mr Drew had the idea after realising the only Welsh themed Lego component was a bunch of daffodils.
“It was always a childhood dream of mine to be a Lego designer. The idea of playing for your job is a dream. I was a big Lego fan as a kid and I still am,” he said.
When designing the Welsh lady, Mr Drew focused on the black hat and lace apron.
“I thought about what elements made up the traditional Welsh costume. The most distinctive feature is the hat. That stands out the most and makes it recognisably Welsh.”
He posted a photo online to mark St David’s Day.
“It was really well received. People even said they wanted one themselves,” he said.
Mr Drew submitted it to the Lego ideas website in the hope it would be adopted, but the design was rejected because it referenced St David’s Day which Lego considers a religious festival.
“I took the rejection but then kept on sharing it online. I thought ‘they’ve done Lego for Chinese New Year so why not for Wales?’.”
Mr Drew submitted his design again at the start of February 2023, removing any reference to St David’s Day and it was approved to go to the next stage.
The whole process from design to creation can take two years.
Mr Drew was given two months to reach 100 supporters but achieved that milestone in just two days. He now has a year to reach 1,000 supporters but after gaining 930 votes in two weeks he is confident he will succeed.
After that, Lego asks that designers collect 5,000 supporters after 18 months and 10,000 after two years.
Mr Drew said: “I’ve still got a long way to go before Lego will even consider it. But we would love to smash that target way before the two years.
“With Welsh people and people of Welsh heritage around the world I am hopeful”.
“Just the idea of walking into a Lego shop and it being available to buy would be incredible.”
To support Ian Drew’s Welsh lady design sign up here.
