LEGO(R) Park Rangers help raise money, in search of home

LEGO(R)-style Park Rangers Steve and Anna, Acadia Centennial calendar and other gift ideas from eParks(R) help raise money for national parks. (See sidebar about eParks(R) links in this blog, as well as for 15% discount code where applicable.)

Look what came in the mail from eParks®, the online store of America’s National Parks:

Park Rangers Steve and Anna, made of LEGO® and LEGO®-compatible parts, an Acadia Centennial calendar, and a few other items, all of which we purchased, to help raise funds for Acadia and other national parks.

If you haven’t finished your holiday shopping yet, and have a national park fan on your list, there are plenty of ideas you can get from eParks®, Acadia Centennial Partners, or the National Park Foundation. Purchases made through any of those organizations, or of officially licensed Centennial products like the LEGO(R)-style Rangers or Acadia Centennial calendar, help support parks.

But one thing you can’t buy yet: A LEGO® National Park set for the 2016 National Park Service Centennial Limited Edition Park Rangers to call home.

No LEGO(R) set to call home for Park Rangers Steve and Anna yet. eParks(R) is offering a special price of $25 if you buy 2 Park Ranger minifigurines, and may also include a pair of miniature binoculars and flashlight that fit into the Ranger’s hands. While supplies last. Total of 6 minifigurines in the limited collection, but no Ranger Jan or Jim, or minicamera.

One real-life Park Ranger, going by the moniker of LegoRanger16, is trying to change that. In March, he launched a project on the LEGO® ideas site, and is trying to get 10,000 votes in favor of National Park Service Centennial vignettes he’s created. So far, he’s got just over 7,900 supporters.

Even though there’s no connection between the 2016 National Park Service Centennial Limited Edition Park Rangers, eParks® or LegoRanger16’s project, Rangers Steve and Anna came with a flyer asking for votes in favor of the National Park Service Centennial vignettes. The flyer even included the Web site for the proposed LEGO(R) project.

Where will LEGO(R)-style Rangers Steve and Anna call home next?

In a Facebook message, LegoRanger16 told us when he saw the Park Rangers available through eParks®, he had to buy one. “I was very surprised to see the advertisement for my proposed set come in the mail with the Park Ranger.” He figures that means Eastern National, the nonprofit that runs eParks® and National Park visitor centers, to help raise funds for parks, is “excited by the idea of selling LEGO® sets.”

Acadia would be represented by this LEGO(R) Cobblestone Bridge, if the proposed National Park Service Centennial project gets approved. (Image courtesy of LegoRanger16)

So far, LegoRanger16 has designed 18 possible National Park vignettes, including one of Cobblestone Bridge in Acadia. If LEGO® approves the idea, he said he hopes at least 4 of the 18 vignettes will be produced and sold.

Whether or not LEGO® approves, and whether or not the set would be an officially licensed National Park Service Centennial product or sold by Eastern National, there’s certainly a lot of support for the project. We’ve seen the National Parks Conservation Association and other park fans share the project on Facebook.

If you want to view the project, check it out here. You need to create a free account through the LEGO(R) ideas Web site if you want to vote.

Until there’s an official National Park LEGO(R) set to call home, see where else Rangers Steve and Anna, and the 4 other minifigurines in the limited edition collection, may find themselves, as dreamed up by Acadia on My Mind.

Or, perhaps, wherever a Ranger hangs his or her flat hat is home?

Will Rangers Steve and Anna be celebrating the Acadia Centennial by catching a sunrise over Schoodic? (Acadia Centennial calendar by Bob Thayer. At least 5% of gross revenues from sale of calendar, as an official Acadia Centennial Partners product, goes to support Acadia.)

Will Rangers Steve and Anna find themselves in Yosemite? The National Parks Edition of Monopoly (R) helps raise funds for the National Park Foundation and is available on Amazon.com and eParks(R). (See sidebar about affiliated partners’ links in this blog.)

May the Force be with Rangers Steve and Anna, wherever in the galaxy they may roam!

What’s the significance of July 8, 2016? Rangers Steve and Anna know! (Acadia Centennial Calendar by Bob Thayer)

Rangers Steve and Anna look at home among the game pieces for the National Parks Edition of Monopoly(R). The board game helps raise funds for the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit supporting the National Park Service. You can buy it on eParks(R) or Amazon.com. (See sidebar about affiliated partners’ links in this blog.)

Before Ranger Steve got unboxed. We purchased Rangers Steve and Anna on eParks(R). Total of 6 different minifigurines in the limited edition collection, with Rangers Mark, David, Kathy and Susan rounding out the set. (See sidebar about eParks(R) links in this blog, as well as for coupon code for 15% discount where applicable.)