Lego X-Files (21369) Review: Proof We Need More Fan-Made MOCs - Forbes
However, the Lego X-Files (21369) proves its partnerships have been around for much longer. The only thing that counts against the LEGO X-Files build is the build between the final four bags. Perhaps the Lego X-Files’ biggest strength is its quarter-shaped presentation.
The Lego Group’s renewed commitment to fandoms with its 2026 Lego Editions range, which has already secured collaborations with Formula 1, the FIFA World Cup, and Olivia Rodrigo, has been consistently strong so far. However, the Lego X-Files (21369) proves its partnerships have been around for much longer.
After finally building the Lego X-Files (21369) set, you’ll finally understand why Gillian Anderson — Dana Scully herself — was so enamored with it. It sets a new high bar for Lego’s diorama-style escapades, but also underlines the strengths and inventiveness of its fan builders.
The Lego X-Files (21369) set is the brainchild of serially commissioned creator Brent “WetWired” Waller. He has plenty of “My Own Creations” (MOCs) to his name already, including official pieces for Ghostbusters and Seinfeld, but he’s one of many incredibly capable people who have a clear passion to recreate the things that are close to their hearts. The Lego Group, to its credit, refines them with decades of experience, then releases them under its Lego Ideas collection.
Still, after this Lego X-Files set, it feels like the company needs to expand its contributor-led Ideas line-up. Since 2014, 79 fan-proposed sets have been released, at a rate of around seven a year. That number is steadily growing, with seven released so far in 2026, and 12 in the pipeline for the coming 18 months.
The Danish powerhouse has become prolific with its own products in the last five years; the Lego Group released over 1,000 sets in 2025 alone, a far cry from the 400 or so it dropped in 2001. And yet, last year, there were only 10 MOCs, accounting for less than 0.1% of 2025’s menu, despite brilliance from The Goonies (21363), Disney Pixar Luxo Jr. (21357), and the Evolution of STEM (21355).
While we can all appreciate the delicate balance of business and fan engagement (and, to an extent, fan service), it feels like now’s the time for fans to get more opportunities and incentives to create more — especially given just how brilliantly the Lego X-Files (21369) set turned out. You only have to be a passive fan of the brand to know its dedicated MOC community can always surprise you.
Pieces: 1,478 RRP: $199.99 (£179.99; €199.99) Minifigures: Eight (Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, Mr X, Alex Krycek, Carl Busch, The Flukeman, and a grey alien)
The 21369 build is — in a rather fitting way, given the source material — quite an anomaly. In real life, it’s smaller, more lightweight, and more compact than you’d expect, given its 1,478 pieces. Yet it’s also a remarkably detailed creation, and one that doesn’t miss a trick when recreating Mulder and Scully’s unforgettable office.
It might be the most fun I’ve had with Lego since the Game Boy (72046), where sheer ingenuity is front and center throughout its element-packed early experience. Its final act may be one of the most repetitive sections you’ll endure in a modern set, but it all pays off in the end.
There are 12 bags and eight simple stickers; six are for 2x2 tiles, while there are also single 3x2 and 2x1 decals. Being completely honest, I don’t understand why these exist in the set, as there are other pre-printed tiles in all of these sizes elsewhere in the set.
Credit where credit’s due: the sticker designs are inspired, specifically the Lego minifigure head imprinted on the Moon. This seamless blend of Lego bricks and themes is just perfect, without making a mockery of the wider idea.
Dana Scully is the first thing you build, as she should be. The first bag sets up the quarter shape, giving you a sense of scale immediately: petite, but solid. From here, details almost immediately begin to emerge from bag two, as tables and cabinetry take shape in weird and wonderful ways.
Bookshelves, glass cupboards (built in reverse), posters, and general ephemera are strewn across the build without littering it — controlled chaos at its finest. Before you know it, you’re adding a globe (a brilliantly printed minifigure head), a box filled with loose tubes, and tiny tiles. The number of duplicate pieces left after these early bags proves just how detailed it is.
The angled basement window, in particular, is an inspired bit of technical mastery, as are the pair of handles on the sides, reserved for the Flukeman and Alex Krycek, who are technically out of the picture, but always feel like a looming presence. My personal favorite section is the square box for the pencils in the ceiling; it’s the perfect detail, even if it’s one you never really see, unless you have a high shelf.
As you hit bags seven and eight, you’re rewarded with big pieces again, developing the “roof” and fauna. There’s a lovely hidden detail in the platform, where a car discovers a UFO (I’m a sucker for these — a real “only you know,” moment). The topside grass decor is a little repetitive, but it serves a good purpose: hiding the mechanics of the later build, and the instructions offer a rare bird’s-eye-view diagram to help out.
The only thing that counts against the LEGO X-Files build is the build between the final four bags. Even though the final finish looks absolutely superb, and the steps to get there couldn’t have gone any other way, it’s a real slog.
Between bags 9 and 10, you make five fiddly trees, stacking downward-dropping leaves onto one another and off hooks. They’re uncomfortable to build, and one ambitious or all-too-quick connection can send something pinging off under your couch. Yet once they’re built, they look pretty damn good, and satisfyingly snap into their places.
Bags 11 and 12 aren’t much better, as you build the triangular UFO. As you’ll predict, it’s just building the same patterns three times, but it comes together much quicker than even a couple of the trees you get dragged through. The only real drawback is how the UFO isn’t fixed — it teeters on the clear post, spinning with the slightest movement, so you have to be very careful when you move it.
Perhaps the Lego X-Files’ biggest strength is its quarter-shaped presentation. It fits snugly in the corner of any shelf, though you’ll want it to, as its rear isn’t the prettiest (though we don’t quite have a 2025 Death Star finish on this one…). The delightful bonus is how the triangular craft sits nicely in a corner.
A few buyers might feel a little peeved by the smallness of Lego X-Files (21369) for its lofty $200 price tag, but it really hits home for anyone who loved The X-Files — whether on and off, or full-blown obsession. Brent Waller’s love shines through, as does the Lego designers’ finesse. We just need more of this collaboration, because there are so many IPs worth exploring — especially now that Lego is open to spookier, more adult-appropriate shows like this.