The Adventures of Tintin began life as a comic strip in various French newspaper supplements before the young Belgian journalist’s adventures became a series of 24 comic albums. Since Tintin’s adventures were first published in the 1920s, they have been translated into many languages and adapted into an animated cartoon series and a film directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. Tintin’s recent outing has been via a LEGO® Ideas set inspired by Fan Designer Tkel86’s design. It was chosen to become a LEGO Ideas set in June 2025, after being one of the first sets to be placed in the LEGO Ideas Parking Lot. As you can see from the original fan model below, the final set has seen some changes, but how does it compare to the source material? Here’s how the recently released LEGO Ideas set compares to Hergé’s source material, which in this case is two of the Tintin comic albums, Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon, published in the 1950s.
Destination Moon was published in 1953 and saw Tintin and his friends prepare to visit the Moon. One of the most iconic images from the story was the rocket used to travel to the Moon. Hergé took inspiration from early science fiction stories and the real world. The rocket’s unique colour scheme was inspired by a similar checkered pattern used by NASA. It helped to show how rockets moved during takeoff.
In the nose of the rocket is a small control room. This has a distinctive look in the Tintin stories. It certainly has a retro feel of early sci-fi adventures. It’s neatly recreated in the LEGO Ideas set with a mix of sand-green elements and stickered pieces, albeit on a much smaller scale. The rocket nose can be detached from the body to access the control pod.
Long before the first Moon landings, early inspirations for how humankind would travel the stars were much more fanciful. This is clearly shown by the spacesuits worn by Tintin, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus, along with Detectives Thomson and Thompson, not forgetting Snowy. The set’s minifigures do an excellent job of replicating the orange spacesuits worn in the books, even if they all use the same torsos and legs. They do include a set of brick-built space packs, a unique animal figure for Snowy and a new hairpiece for Tintin.
As with many of the LEGO Ideas sets, this does a great job of capturing the magic of the source material. Although it differs from the original fan model, the choice to ditch the launch tower in favour of including minifigures and Snowy was a great one. The LEGO Ideas Tintin Moon Rocket set is available now, and you can read the two Tintin comic novels which have inspired it, Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon, via the Tintin app and all good book retailers.
