LEGO designer says Golden Retriever Puppy was a 'huge step' for him

The LEGO Group's lead designer on 11384 Golden Retriever Puppy says the set was a huge step for him as a model designer.

LEGO Model Designer Gus McLaren has shared that he was the lead designer on LEGO Icons 11384 Golden Retriever Puppy, marking the third official LEGO set he's designed for the LEGO Group. He took on the role in 2023, after winning LEGO Masters Australia in 2021.

"I am very excited to finally be able to reveal the latest LEGO set that I was lead designer on: 11384 Golden Retriever Puppy!" Gus wrote on Instagram. "This model was a huge step for me as a model designer at the LEGO Group, I learnt so much about what is possible with the LEGO system."

11384 Golden Retriever Puppy is certainly quite different from the sets Gus has worked on before, LEGO Star Wars 75386 Paz Vizsla and Moff Gideon Battle and LEGO Icons 10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell. Both of those had much smaller piece counts and relied less on organic shapes.

Gus's latest set, however, is all about natural shapes, recreating a live animal – something that is notoriously tricky with LEGO bricks. We've had our fair share of uncanny valley buildable figures and animals, but 11384 Golden Retriever Puppy somehow captures that fluffy fur look out of hard LEGO bricks.

Gus also thanked his colleagues at the LEGO Group, including the LEGO Icons team and graphic designer Crisy Dyment, for their work and support on 11384 Golden Retriever Puppy.

"This set would not have been possible without the help of the Icons team led by Jamie Berard and specifically Andy Grubb, Charlotte Neidhardt, and Nikolaj Rasmussen," he wrote. "They stayed with me through the whole design process and allowed me to find my way to design it within the LEGO system. A special shout-out to Crisy Dyment for her always awesome work on the graphics!"

LEGO Icons 11384 Golden Retriever Puppy is available to pre-order now ahead of its launch on February 1, retailing at £129.99 in the UK, $139.99 in the US, and from €139.99 in Europe.

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