For the devoted Abbey aficionado, the makeshift Lego set is sure to impress.NICK BRIGGS/The Associated Press
Although it's arriving a tad late for Christmas, an enterprising toy enthusiast has created the perfect gift for any Downton Abbey fan: A Lego version of the Edwardian soap's famous Yorkshire estate replete with detailed replicas of the primary cast – right down to the lowliest servant.
The Daily Mail reports on the unofficial and one-of-a-kind set created by Rochester, N.Y., resident Eric Stevens, an avid fan of the revered BBC drama series.
"I looked to see if anyone had created Downton Abbey Lego while watching last year," Stevens said. "I couldn't find any other ones, so I decided to build it myself as a gift for my girlfriend, who also loves the show."
Besides constructing a detailed version of Downton Abbey's famous Yorkshire estate (which itself was based on the real-life Highclere Castle in West Berkshire), Stevens hand-crafted the various members of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants out of plastic pieces from other official Lego sets, including those inspired by The Prince of Persia, Harry Potter and Star Wars.
"The design took about 15 hours altogether, and about four hours to actually put it together," Stevens said.
For the devoted Abbey aficionado, the makeshift Lego set is sure to impress. All the privileged principals are there. The Earl and Countess of Grantham, the winsome Lady Mary Crawley, rakish heir Matthew Crawley and the pampered Lady Sybil.
"For the men, I used some of the alternate costumes," admitted Stevens in an interview with Mashable, "rather than repeat the same tuxedo."
On the servant front, the set includes tiny versions of Carson the butler, kitchen maid Daisy and the footman William Mason.
But for all of Stevens's efforts, there is one female character conspicuous in her absence: Anna Bates, Lady Mary's loyal maid and the wife of Mr. Bates. Stevens says she was simply too visually similar to Lady Sybil, so she was dropped from the set.
Even in the toy world, the ruling class come first.