Today’s guest article comes from Paul Hetherington, a builder and brick artist based in Vancouver, Canada.

Mission to the Moon

Thundering Typhoons! Why is Dave, the chief BrickNerd, messaging me nonstop while I’m trying to relax? He promises an exciting new adventure but refuses to divulge any details until I sign a stack of documents. It feels like I’m being interrogated by the ZEPO at a Syldavian security checkpoint as I jump through hoops to complete the NDAs. With all the official paperwork finally in place, Dave lets me in on the brief: Billions of Blistering Barnacles, LEGO is going to the Moon with The Adventures of Tintin in a brand-new LEGO Ideas set release!

The Tintin moon rocket displayed with some of my tintin collectibles

Fittingly, as Tintin prepares for his brick-built return to the Moon, Artemis II is making its own historic journey, reminding us that the dream of lunar adventure is still very much alive. So join me as we climb aboard for a closer inspection of LEGO Ideas 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket and see whether this brick-built voyage is worthy of Professor Calculus himself.

Over the Moon

To say that I’m over the moon with this announcement would be an understatement. I’ve been a fan of Tintin since reading my first adventure at the age of five, and I still have all of my childhood Tintin comic books. My mom and I carefully collected every story available at the time, and over the years I’ve added companion volumes on Hergé and the world of Tintin as they were released.

Living in Canada, there have been limited opportunities to experience Tintin beyond the books themselves, which made a visit to the Tintin Store in London 30 years ago especially memorable. What I remember most vividly was the centerpiece display: a giant model of the famous red-and-white rocket, one of the most enduring images from the series. They even had a comic book display shaped like the rocket itself. All these years later, it is thrilling to see LEGO celebrating Tintin with an official LEGO Ideas release built around that same unforgettable design.

Out of this World Design Collaboration

The cigar-shaped Moon Rocket is not an easy form to recreate gracefully in LEGO, yet this set handles it with remarkable elegance. The original LEGO Ideas submission by Alexis dos Santos was already a strong concept, complete with the gantry, but LEGO designer Ellen Bowley has transformed that sketch model into a refined and sturdy display piece with excellent proportions. For its size, this may be one of the largest LEGO models to achieve such a nearly studless finish, with only 21 visible studs across the entire 1,283-piece set.

The engineering inside is just as impressive as the exterior. A clever network of Technic connections creates a six-sided internal framework that supports the rocket’s outer shell, resulting in an exceptionally smooth surface and a subtle taper that captures the complex curves beautifully.

The new 8-stud-wide cone element is the perfect choice for the nose, while six matching 6-stud-wide cones form the stabilizing legs, giving the whole design a sleek and unified appearance.

One of the most delightful surprises is the inclusion of interior detailing inside the nose cone. The author Hergé actually commissioned a large-scale sectional model of the Moon Rocket so its interior spaces could be accurately illustrated, allowing Bob De Moor to draw each room with precision as the story unfolded. Including a nod to those interior details here is a thoughtful touch, and one that makes the set feel even more connected to its source material.

Minifigures on the Moon

The addition of the Tintin cast of characters in minifigure form is extremely exciting. The original LEGO Ideas submission included only the rocket and gantry, so it was an inspired choice for LEGO to add the characters here. It is also a wise marketing decision, as their inclusion greatly increases the desirability of the set for collectors. As one of those collectors, I am incredibly grateful to see them included.

Having all the characters in their space suits makes for a perfect display alongside the rocket and beautifully captures the look of the Moon adventure itself. As perfect as they are for this set, my one criticism is that every character is limited to their space-suited appearance. That makes it difficult to use them in MOCs based on any of the other 23 Tintin adventures. While the unique Tintin heads can be paired with existing LEGO torsos and legs to create alternate versions of the characters, Snowy is much harder to adapt, as he is permanently molded into his spacesuit. For now, builders will have to rely on one of LEGO’s existing small white dog molds to represent him in other scenes.

At this point, I can only make one plea: a Tintin Collectible Minifigure Series. This set is a wonderful beginning, but there is an entire Tintin universe still waiting to be fleshed out in LEGO form.

Great Snakes

I have been into LEGO even longer than I have been into Tintin, so seeing these two favorite fandoms finally come together feels like a dream come true. Long before this set was announced, I often found echoes of Tintin in LEGO products, even if they were never official collaborations. Three examples come to mind, two of them fairly obscure.

The earliest Tintin-like imagery I have noticed appears on the cover of LEGO’s 1949 traffic game Monipoli. The central figure crossing the street, accompanied by a small white dog running behind him, strongly recalls the look of early Tintin artwork. Another example is LEGO’s 1986 published comic Jim Spaceborn (read the full BrickNerd article about it!), whose cover design and layout feel unmistakably inspired by a Tintin adventure, with a main character who bears more than a passing resemblance to Hergé’s famous reporter.

The most recognizable parallel appears in the 1998 LEGO Adventurers Desert subtheme. The character Sam Sinister bears similarities to Sophocles Sarcophagus, and some of the visual styling evokes Tintin: Cigars of the Pharaoh. Those little echoes have made spotting Tintin influences in LEGO fun over the years, which makes it all the more satisfying to finally have an official Tintin release from LEGO itself.

Destination Moon

The choice of the Moon Rocket to represent the Tintin universe is the logical one. Few images are more instantly recognizable from the series, though there were certainly other iconic possibilities. The Shark Submarine from Red Rackham’s Treasure or a model of Marlinspike Hall would also have made for deeply satisfying sets, and perhaps this release will open the door for more in the future. Fingers crossed.

The biggest challenge may be that Tintin seems to be fading from the limelight, at least in North America. The 2011 film The Adventures of Tintin ultimately did not bring as many new fans into the franchise as many had hoped. From my own experience displaying my Tintin Land of Black Gold MOC at North American conventions, I have noticed that many people are unfamiliar with the stories. That makes this LEGO Ideas release feel especially important, as it may serve as an introduction to Tintin for an entirely new generation.

What makes the Moon Rocket especially fitting is that it represents not only Tintin’s most iconic vehicle, but also one of Hergé’s most visionary achievements.

Explorers on the Moon

Another factor in Tintin’s declining popularity may simply be the passage of time. Hergé created The Adventures of Tintin between 1929 and 1981, and even during his lifetime many of the stories were partially rewritten and redrawn to keep them contemporary. The two Moon Rocket books, however, are among the earliest adventures to remain largely in their original form.

Published in 1951 and 1953, they imagined human space travel nearly two decades before Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon in 1969. After the successful Apollo 11 landing, Hergé reportedly sent Armstrong a drawing showing him opening the door of the Saturn V rocket to find Tintin, Captain Haddock, and Professor Calculus waiting to welcome him.

What makes that achievement even more remarkable is the care with which Hergé prepared for it. As early as 1947, he began researching the possibility of sending Tintin into space, determined to make the science as accurate and believable as possible. Historical records show that he drew inspiration from the German V-2 rocket when designing the Moon Rocket’s distinctive shape and red-and-white checkered pattern. In a curious twist of history, the lead scientist behind the V-2 program later became a central figure in the United States space program, helping make real lunar missions possible.

For children growing up in the 1960s through the 1980s, I would argue that the Tintin Moon Rocket was as powerful a visualization of space travel as LEGO’s 928 Galaxy Explorer was for aspiring builders. Alongside worlds imagined in Star Trek and Star Wars, these stories helped shape how generations dreamed about exploring beyond Earth. Sometimes inspiration begins simply by showing people what might be possible, and few fictional rockets have done that more memorably than Tintin’s.

Acting the Goat

As Captain Haddock would say, I do not think I am acting the goat when I call LEGO Ideas 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket one of my favorite LEGO sets released in recent memory. It certainly helps that I have been personally waiting for a set like this since I was five years old. For me, this release feels like the perfect meeting point of two lifelong passions, and it is hard to imagine a more satisfying way for LEGO to bring Tintin into brick form.

Whether you plan to build it, swoosh it, or simply display it proudly, I highly recommend adding it to your collection, where it is sure to bring a touch of mid-century adventure to any office or living space.

It is wonderful to see The Adventures of Tintin reaching new audiences through this LEGO Ideas release, and I hope it helps spark a resurgence of interest, especially here in North America. This may be one small step for LEGO, but it is one giant leap for Tintin. As Artemis II returns from its own voyage around the Moon on the very day this article was published, it feels especially fitting to celebrate a story that reminded generations to keep looking skyward and imagining what comes next.

LEGO Ideas 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket is available for around $160 US | $210 CA | €160 EU | £140 UK | $280 AU.

DISCLAIMER: This set was provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

What’s your favourite Tin Tin adventure? Comment below!

Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a top patron like Paige Mueller, Rob Klingberg from Brickstuff, John & Joshua Hanlon from Beyond the Brick, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Lukas Kurth from StoneWars, Wayne Tyler, Dan Church, and Roxanne Baxter to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.