Michael Crider
Ever since the first LEGO Star Wars sets started flying off store shelves, LEGO has been all about getting licensed partners for its building toys. According to a short teaser on LEGO’s Twitter feed, Nintendo is its latest corporate buddy, with legendary mascot Mario slated for some cross-brand synergy.
The video doesn’t explicitly mention any Super Mario-themed sets, though those are easy enough to imagine. It’s a short pan up on what looks like a Mario-themed Minifig (the little brick people included in almost every LEGO set). What’s interesting is that it looks like there are tiny LED screens embedded in Mario’s shirt and face, with the the latter showing the series’ iconic “?” block marker.
“It’s-a me, LEGO Mario!”
Stay tuned… #LEGO #LEGOSuperMario #Nintendo pic.twitter.com/kSoboRFX2q— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) March 10, 2020
It isn’t clear whether we can expect a full range of Super Mario LEGO sets or just a few licensed toys with Mario’s likeness. Sets seem likely. If you look closely at the end of the short clip, you can see that Mario is standing on LEGO bricks patterned after the brick stage elements from the 2D games.
In either case it wouldn’t be a first for the company: LEGO has made video game sets based on Minecraft, Overwatch, and Portal 2 (if you count the short-lived Dimensions line). It’s even faintly possible that we could see LEGO and Mario cross over in video game format, since Warner Bros. has published dozens of LEGO-branded video games and Mario has crossed over in games from SEGA and Ubisoft before.
We should hear more concrete news in the next few weeks.
