Lego's new Pokémon card set ideas are so good, we need 'em all

Lego fans have until June to vote between Mew, Gyarados, Arceus, Rowlet, and Joltik

New Lego Pokémon sets are coming, including (at least) one based on the Pokémon Trading Card Game, thanks to the fan-driven Lego Ideas program.

The premise for Lego Ideas is that fans submit original brick sets, and the world votes on which one Lego should produce. In late May, Lego fans have to pick between five possible sets designed to look like 3D Pokémon cards. The possible cards depict fan favorites like Gyarados, legendaries such as Mew and Arceus, a single starter (Rowlet), and, for some reason, Joltik. Not to be a hater, though, because even the ordinary electric arachnid card packs pure heat.

The five finalists, whittled down from 756 entries, are now live. Each Lego Pokémon card includes a short message from its ideator that details the creation process. "The head of Gyarados took me an entire week to make," writes CreativeDynamicBuilder, who says the entire build is composed of 1,262 Lego bricks.

"Gyarados is partially 2D and 3D, with his head being 3D, and his neck slowly transitions to 2D to give off the impression that he's coming out of the card."

The Mew Lego set, which includes the legendary Pokémon's obligatory bubbles, actually comes with an alternate, open-eyed look for the monster.

"The landscape takes inspiration from various routes from the main-series games as I was trying to evoke the sense of exploration synonymous with the franchise," writes designer IsleOh.

The vote will be open until June 11. Whoever wins will have their set reviewed by the enigmatic Lego Review Board. There's no guarantee the most popular card will become an actual Lego set, but given how excellent all the entries are — and the public's current Pokémon mania — this might work in the contestant's favor. The Lego page states that the board judges things like originality and coolness, whether the details feel inspired, and how well the entry makes use of its brick components.

Lego teamed up with The Pokémon Company to release the first official Lego Pokémon sets earlier this year, which included builds based on Pikachu, Eevee, and a massive 6,838-piece set featuring Kanto natives Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. More Lego Pokémon sets are expected to arrive later this year.

Should the Lego Pokémon TCG set go into production, the creator will get credit for it as well as 1% of the total net sales of the product. Everyone else in the running will get five Lego sets just for participating. Honestly, boo. Make 'em all, Lego!