We recently had a chat with the dream team of Mark and Darren Hallbury about their passion for Danger Mouse and their recent submission to LEGO Ideas.

Here's some of what we discussed.

“Good grief, Penfold, shush look at this a Lego Ideas Danger Mouse submission”
 
Hello there and welcome to our Lego Ideas submission based the iconic 80’s British cartoon Danger Mouse from the legendry creative duo of Mark Hall & Brian Cosgrove formerly known as Cosgrove Hall Films. Danger Mouse aired for six years from 1981 – 1987 before receiving a reboot and makeover in 2015 gaining a whole new generation of followers. The TV show in its original 6-year airing was nominated on no less than 11 occasions at the BAFTA Awards – British Academy of Film & Television Arts.
 
Danger Mouse and Penfold was at the heart of our teatime after school TV viewing, out-witting their archenemy Baron Silas Greenback and his ever-faithful henchman Stiletto while under instruction from the legendry and stiff upper lipped Colonel’K.
 
Having aired originally in 1981, the TV show celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021, so with this in mind and our love for cartoons from our childhood, we decided that we would celebrate and attempt to recreate all the classic characters, vehicles and an iconic location:
 

• Danger Mouse – The world’s greatest secret agent there ever was.
• Ernest Penfold – The timid bespectacled hamster and reluctant sidekick.
• Baron Silas Greenback – A life of crime since having his bike stolen as a child.
• Stiletto Mafiosa – The Italian speaking incompetent henchman.
• Colonel’K – The absently minded chinchilla with a tendency to ramble.

 

• Danger Car (MK III) – With an alternative build into the Flying Danger Car.
• Frog’s Head Hopper – With an alternative build into a streamlined flying version.
• Head Quarters - Colonel'Ks office playset.

 
This Lego Ideas build contains 1200+ pieces, allowing you to build and as always play some epic Danger Mouse adventure’s or simply have it as a classic display piece. It consists of five mini figures, two vehicles and an office.

 
Challenges:
We firstly had to decide on the scale and if we wanted to include the Frog’s Head Hopper and because of the enormity of the the Hopper in comparison to the Danger Car we felt best that we stayed with mini figure scale then came the hard part like any other mini figure scale build is including or excluding the smaller details like dashboard and centre console in the car.  Then we had to go about designing and learning how to do custom decals (which we later had to omit from the submitted design to Lego as classed as custom parts and not allowed).  We have also customised mini figures again same Lego rules applied and were classed as customised thus not allowed in submission.  None of this stopped us, we went with Stud.io and yet again another obstacle we used both a Mickey Mouse Head and a Lego – Friends body to create Danger Mouse for real however these parts were not available in Stud.io.  Having the ability to build this submission set for real we could take liberties and go custom, which would emphasise to the general public when they see it exactly how it could be completely possible with current pieces and not require any new moulds so no hacksaws or gluing involved lol.  So now we have the set built and customised with a paint job including custom decals that we can take around the UK throughout 2022 at various Lego shows.
 
Dreams:
We want this to become a Lego Ideas set as we have seen other iterations on Lego Ideas but they are older and the choice of pieces back then was very limited and now with the huge range of parts it has made it possible and we think we have done it justice and also not of the previous Lego Ideas submissions have ever included the Frog’s head Hopper, 5 mini figures or looked at having alternative builds which we have done so hopefully we can follow hot on the tails of sets like Flintstone, Back to the future and Sonic the Hedgehog.
 
Lego Ideas submission link: HERE

If you'd like to see the actual build itself then check out the list of upcoming events HERE

Part of our mission is to help children get access to LEGO to help them play and learn.

We sometimes do this via donations of playbricks to various community organisations.

Today we were proud to help Bracken Lane Primary School in Retford, UK get their in school LEGO club off the ground with a donation of playbricks.

Pictured:  Kevin Hyatt, Treasurer Sheffield LUG and Miss Abbot, Teacher Bracken Lane School.

We recently had a chat with Ben Alder, the creator of the LEGO Ideas Winnie the Pooh set about his latest project and here's what he had to say


My most recent Lego project has been to create a Farm. I have a young family and we love going to local farms and I thought that making our own Lego one would be fun!


I made the little truck a while back and have now expanded the theme into a larger farm build.


My favourite part to create, was the barn as it posed a number of challenges. I really wanted a working hoist, but my initial ideas just didn’t look right. I also found it interesting trying to create such a large curved roof. I also really enjoyed designing the rear of the truck as it folds out to allow the rear crate to be lowered to the floor.

 
Deciding on what animals to put in was tricky as I would love to add all the farm animals, but I’ve always loved the cow mould so that one had to be added. My kids love to feed there Nanny’s chickens so they had to be added. Another addition I would love to add is a duck pond as feeding the ducks is another favourite past time of ours.


My whole family is Lego mad so each of the figures is a representation of us in Lego.


My farm is now on Lego ideas with the hope that one day it might reach the magic 10k.
 
LEGO IDEAS - Farm Life
 
Thank you
 
Ben