Pac-Man Arcade LEGO Set Recreates Retro Gaming Glory With A Clever Crank
If you are of a certain age, it is almost guaranteed that you played Pac-Man in the arcade at some point—and probably quite a bit of it, too. Pac-Man was a fever that swept the nation in early 1980s, and millions of people put hundreds of millions of quarters into the machines across the US. There was even a hit song, appropriately titled "Pac-Man Fever"—although your writer prefers the Aphex Twin tribute.
The set is bigger than you would think from looking at the pictures. In fact, it's so big that you might think it were actually a playable Pac-Man tabletop game. Sadly, it isn't—but you can pretend that it is by working the little crank on the side that makes the objects inside the mechanical maze move around.
You can also open the back of the system to reveal a storage compartment, which LEGO suggests using for the included micro-sized version of the set that comes complete with a 1980s-styled minifigure, a gumball machine, and what looks to be a trash can or possibly a change machine—essential artifacts for any 1980s arcade.
It's a fun collaboration especially considering that Toru Iwatani (the creator of Pac-Man) says that the bright yellow color of Pac-Man was actually inspired by a yellow LEGO brick. In that sense, it seems strangely appropriate to honor the legacy of the 43-year-old game with such a detailed LEGO kit.
Of course, being that this is a collector's item, it doesn't come cheap: you're looking at $269.99 US dollars for the 2651-piece set. If you're not a fan of Pac-Man, LEGO would doubtlessly like you to know that it has two previous releases in its "Icons" line-up: the Atari 2600 VCS as well as the Nintendo NES—complete with game pad, game pak, and an old CRT TV simulating Super Mario Bros.
