Following up on wonderfully detailed oversized models of vehicular Hollywood royalty like Tim Burton’s Batmobile and Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s Ecto-1, Lego is taking a second lap on the time-travelling DeLorean from the Back to the Future trilogy with a new set that lets fans build all three versions of Doc and Marty’s iconic ride.
Lego’s first attempt to brickify the BttF DeLorean arrived back in 2013 through its burgeoning Cuusoo platform — now known as Lego Ideas — where fans can submit their own builds and other fans can vote for them to become real sets. The original Lego DeLorean was a bit of a disappointment, however, lacking detail and functionality. This time around Lego is doing things right, but version 2.0 comes with a much steeper price tag as a result.
The new model measures in at 14-inches long and 7.5-inches wide, giving Lego’s designers lots of room and stud space to include details like a Flux Capacitor that actually glows thanks to an LED-powered light brick, a Mr. Fusion generator that actually looks like the prop from the films, opening gullwing-style doors, seating for two, highly-detailed printed dashboard elements including the time circuits, and even a case of plutonium and a bright pink hoverboard.
The set also includes Lego minifigure versions of Marty McFly and Doc Emmett Brown sporting futuristic attire from Back to the Future II, although neither figure are properly scaled to the vehicle, and are included as display accessories instead. But the new set’s best feature is that it allows all three versions of the time-travelling DeLorean to be built, although you’ll have to choose which one to go with. The version from the original film with the lightning rod sticking out of the top, the flying version featured in the sequel with folding wheels and a Mr. Fusion generator in the back, or the version from the third film where 1955 Doc Brown had to repair the vehicle using the primitive electronics available at the time.
The new 1,872-piece Back to the Future Time Machine set (Lego goes out of its way to never refer to it as an actual DeLorean) is officially listed on Lego’s website for $US170 ($236), but it won’t be available for purchase until April 1. So you’ll either need a bit of patience to wait out the next two weeks, or a functioning time machine to simply jump ahead to next month.