LEGOs and video games both became playroom staples in the 1980s. So it just makes sense for LEGO to release a buildable brick model of the iconic Atari 2600 video game console.
LEGO announced details of the new set on Tuesday. In addition to the classic black and faux wood-grain console – the four-switch VCS/2600 model, which slides open to reveal a "a pop-up scene from an 80’s gaming room" – the kit also includes a model joystick controller that moves just like the original, as well as three video game cartridges in brick format: Asteroids, Adventure, and Centipede.
"I recall spending hours and hours in front of the TV, absolutely amazed that I could play arcade games in my own home," set designer Chris McVeigh said in a release about the kit. "This is why it has been such an incredible experience to bring two icons together, Atari and LEGO, in this awesome set."The new Atari set goes on sale August 1 with a suggested price of $240. It clocks in at just under – you guessed it – 2,600 pieces.
"We hope that building this classic console takes you back to those halcyon days when a handful of pixels meant a world of adventure."By the late 1980s, the 2600 was supplanted by Nintendo’s NES console, which itself was brickified by LEGO last year.Fans of the TV show ‘The Office’ can now build their own version of Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch, complete with many Easter eggs from the series. LEGO announced the 1,164-piece tribute set last week.