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A Lego set designed by Portlander Alex Sahli will hit the market on Aug. 10 (or Aug. 7, if you are a Lego Rewards member).
Sahli, who graduated from Grant High School in 2023 and attends California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo to study computer science, designed an Italian Riviera set inspired by his love of travel. The set—which includes more than 3,000 pieces and retails for $300—was created from a submission Sahli submitted to the Lego Ideas program, where the company reviews fan ideas that gain more than 10,000 supporters through Lego’s website.
The Italian Riviera set is Sahli’s fourth idea to earn a 10K Club Member badge, an online achievement that catches the Lego team’s attention after 10,000 registered users support it. Sahli’s previous 10K badge-holding ideas include a succulent terrarium set, but this is the first set of his that Lego has chosen to manufacture. He began submitting designs to Lego Ideas in 2022, and the Italian Riviera set was selected from 41 competing designs last August.
“When I was a kid, I got a box of Lego bricks, and soon after, I got my first real set,” Sahli said in a statement. “I was hooked.”
Sahli’s designs have shown at Legoland’s Billund Resort in Denmark, as well as its adjoining Lego House. He was inspired by coastal Italian villages along the Ligurian Sea, particularly the Cinque Terre region. The set includes designs for apartment buildings with a ground-floor gelato shop and fish market. Sahli appears as one of the characters included in the set. He’s the one holding the camera.
“All of the vibrant colors, strangely angled buildings, and fun stories you’d find in the Cinque Terre translate so well into Lego, so I’m really happy with the outcome of my set,” Sahli said.
