With Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 bringing an emotional finale to the beloved characters of Hawkins, there is a lot of chatter about what the ending could mean for the Vecna, Eleven, and so much more. However, there’s also a LEGO reference in the show that’s not to be overlooked – mild spoilers ahead!
In an emotional moment at Surfer Boy pizza parlour, Will Byers is struggling with his identity and feeling of belonging, so his brother, Johnathan, tries to connect to him using a LEGO memory. Apparently Will had once had a slight accident with a construction minifigure, who he’d named Larry. So, what LEGO set did Will play with? The way Johnathan says it, the minifigure incident occurred before the first season of Stranger Things. Minifigures were only introduced in 1978, so that’s anywhere between then and 1983. Blocks, the LEGO magazine for fans, decided to investigate.
Considering the Duffer brothers grew up on 80s and 90s pop-culture, it’s no surprise that this LEGO reference is totally accurate. There weren’t many types of minifigures during the era Stranger Things is set, but construction minifigures were absolutely around at that time. Johnathan also describes the minifigure perfectly as having “the high viz jacket and removable hat”.
It’s actually the mention of this high viz jacket that is quite important. This element only featured on construction minifigures between 1978-1979, and afterwards was printed more like overalls, which narrows the search down quite a bit. Unfortunately for LEGO geeks, Johnathan doesn’t describe what the minifigure came with, and so we can only speculate as to what set it could have been.
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If Will was a fan of building and roadworks before getting into Dungeons & Dragons, then 670 Mobile Crane could have been the set. It features a little yellow crane, with a working winch mechanism, alongside a minifigure sporting a striped high viz vest. The exact same minifigure also appears in 641 Excavator alongside a tractor and works warning sign. Both of these fit into the construction description.
Moving onto 1979 there are only 3 sets that have construction type minifigures. Starting off with 542 Street Crew, which has two minifigures – one with a printed vest and the other having a high viz jacket. They’re also equipped with LEGO shovels to actually do some work. Then there’s 558 Road Crane, which is exactly the same as 670 because the LEGO Group were re-releasing even back then.
Finally, there’s the smallest set on this list of possibilities and that’s 607 Mini Loader. This is a cute little digger that once again features the right minifigure that Will somehow got up his nose.
Unless the Duffer brothers announce which vintage LEGO set inspired this moment, or if it’s possible to see some bricks in Will’s bedroom from Season 1, then fans can only speculate. However, Larry the minifigure is a fantastic LEGO reference for Stranger Things. With LEGO officially in the show then it would be great to see more official sets based on the series.