The Truth Is Out There… and It’s Made of LEGO

I don’t think too many kids will be rushing to the toy aisle for LEGO’s newest offering, and that’s perfectly okay. The new 1,478-piece LEGO Ideas The X-Files set is aimed squarely at adults who spent the 1990s wondering whether the truth really was out there.

To help launch the set, Gillian Anderson stepped back into the role of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully for a fun promotional video. She investigates a mysterious package that, naturally, turns out to contain the new LEGO set. Anderson described seeing herself transformed into a LEGO minifigure as “surreal and oddly delightful,” putting the experience right up there with appearing on The Simpsons.

The set began life as a fan submission by Brisbane designer Brent Waller through the LEGO Ideas program before becoming an official release. It features Fox Mulder’s famous basement office beneath a creepy forest scene complete with a hovering UFO. LEGO packed the model with details longtime fans will appreciate, including pencils stuck in the ceiling tiles, spilled sunflower seeds on Mulder’s desk, the iconic “I Want to Believe” poster, and plenty of hidden Easter eggs.

One of the biggest attractions is the lineup of eight minifigures. Along with Mulder and Scully, collectors also get Walter Skinner, Alex Krycek, Mr. X, the Cigarette-Smoking Man (listed as Carl Busch on the box), Flukeman, and a classic gray alien. It’s an impressive cast that should make hardcore fans very happy.

Now comes the scary part, and it has nothing to do with aliens. The price is $199.99 USD, or $269.99 CAD. That’s a pretty big chunk of change if you’re paying rent, buying groceries, and trying to keep the lights on. This definitely falls into the “treat yourself” category rather than the “Mom, can I have this?” category.

Then again, today’s kids probably won’t be all that interested anyway. The X-Files originally aired from 1993 to 2002, making this a nostalgia set for Gen X and older millennials rather than a toy aimed at younger builders. LEGO clearly knows exactly who its audience is.

Let’s Talk LEGO Currency

So let’s do a little LEGO math.

At $199.99 USD for 1,478 pieces, each brick works out to about 13.5 cents. In Canada, at $269.99 CAD, you’re paying roughly 18.3 cents per piece.

Maybe that’s the closest thing we have to a LEGO Currency.

If a future LEGO set contains 1,000 pieces and costs around $135 USD, it’s roughly in line with this benchmark. A 2,000-piece set would land somewhere around $270 USD. It’s obviously not a perfect formula. Licensed themes, exclusive minifigures, custom molds, printed pieces, and larger specialty bricks all affect the final price.

Still, price per brick is a fun way to compare sets before opening your wallet. Think of it as LEGO’s version of checking the price per litre at the grocery store. It won’t tell you everything, but it gives you a pretty good idea of whether you’re getting decent value. Maybe “LEGO Currency” should become the unofficial standard collectors use when comparing new releases.

To soften the blow, LEGO is including Scully’s Lab as a Gift With Purchase for anyone who buys the set between August 1 and August 10, while supplies last. Not everyone is thrilled with that decision. Many fans feel such an important scene should have been included in the main set or sold separately instead of being locked behind a limited-time promotion.

LEGO Insiders can pick up the set beginning August 1, with general availability starting August 4.

The truth may still be out there, but one thing is certain. This LEGO set wasn’t designed with kids in mind. It was made for the generation that spent Friday nights watching Mulder and Scully chase monsters, conspiracies, and little green men.

I’ll tell you one thing. When my kids were little and didn’t know any better, those LEGO pieces ended up everywhere. They were under the couch, behind the TV, in the hallway, and somehow even in rooms where nobody had been playing.

Then came those early Sunday mornings. You’re half asleep, shuffling toward the kitchen for that first cup of coffee, when suddenly your bare foot lands on a single LEGO brick. The pain is instant. Forget stepping on a tack. A LEGO brick feels like a tiny plastic knife going straight through your foot. I’m convinced every parent has let out a scream that woke the entire house.

Maybe that’s the one thing this X-Files set doesn’t include. The authentic experience of stepping on a stray LEGO brick at six in the morning. If it did, I’d say the price really would be out of this world. After all, some mysteries are best left unsolved, and one of them is how a tiny piece of plastic can cause so much pain.

Tony M.

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