LEGO Pokémon’s SMART Charizard was ‘redesigned a hundred times’

Two of the designers behind this year’s LEGO Pokémon SMART Play sets have revealed how super-active kids led to one model being rebuilt time and again.

The LEGO Pokémon theme will be adding 15 all-new builds later this year, with most of those sets featuring interactive SMART Play features. Ahead of the models being released on August 1, two members of the design team that created the brick-built critters have discussed just how the next wave of characters came to be.

LEGO Group Designers Siddharth Muthyala and Mike Anderson recently chatted to Nerdist about the upcoming LEGO Pokémon SMART Play sets, revealing why certain fan-favourites were chosen over others and the value of getting kids involved with essential product testing.

“Each time we build a prototype or a new model, we take it to children and get feedback,” Siddharth explained. “It’s not so much testing and researching, it’s more like co-creation. We take a Pokémon and we ask, ‘What stories do you tell with Squirtle?’ And we bring that feedback into play sets that we design. So, it’s been a process of checking in with kids, the fans, and having them tell their stories of how they would play with each Pokémon and trying to bring that to life.”

“The kids are like, ‘I want to decide that,’" Mike added. “So, we wanted to make this open play experience where it’s the kids that make their journey. It’s them who are controlling the narrative, the story. Do they start battle and then go training or do they do training first and then battle? It’s really focusing on how they are playing with it, what are the stories they have in their heads, and how can we then bring that to life with the SMART Brick and these sets.”

Choosing which of the many Pokémon to transform into LEGO sets with SMART Play functionality could have been a daunting challenge, but the designers were able to tap into essential resources in order to select which characters would be the right fit.

“We have an amazing partnership with Qualcomm One Company International,” said Siddharth. “The company has a lot of data and insights on which Pokémon that fans love. Over a couple of years, each time we brought kids in to play, we also had a little questionnaire and asked about their favourites. At the point when we had over a hundred children coming in, patterns began to emerge and then we started choosing from there.”

“We also want a line-up where there’s something for everyone together,” Mike elaborated. “We wanted to represent the universe. Pokémon are different types and sizes. There are some that can fly, others that can walk, some that can hover. So, we were trying to create a line-up where when you start combining them, it feels complete.”

The testing phase for the new LEGO Pokémon SMART Play sets also opened up the design team’s eyes as to what was possible with the models, with a young audience presenting the creatives with vital feedback along the way.

“I remember when we brought Jigglypuff into the room,” said Mike, “kids were like, ‘Okay, now I need all the Pokémon!’ They started singing and they would lie them down to sleep. So, they take the story with them into the playroom and then they play it out. It really showed that each character sort of has a universe on its own and the kids tapped into the different aspects of it.”

“We developed a battle system,” Siddharth said. “There’s a lot of fun strategy in there with how you attack and defend. Children were standing up and super-active and we didn’t expect that. The Pokémon would sometimes break. So, we would have to go back and redesign them. 

"Charizard was redesigned maybe a hundred times to make sure it’s still fun even when it breaks, and you can put it back together really quickly, but also we didn’t want it to break as much. So, we’ve designed all the Pokémon so that they are easy to hold and play with.”

You’ll be able to get your hands on all 15 new LEGO Pokémon sets when they launch on August 1, 2026.

LEGO Pokémon 2026 sets

Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO using our affiliate links. Thanks!