The LEGO House is the Home of the Brick, and frequent BrickNerd readers will know that we enjoy highlighting the LEGO history and innovation that happens there. For the past while, they have been creating a new LEGO House exclusive set each year. These sets are only available for purchase in Billund, Denmark (with a few exceptions) so they tend to be rare to come by for most LEGO fans.

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the LEGO House, the company created a wonderful tribute to these sets and brought the availability to a new level (nearly worldwide) for those unable to travel to Billund. The first five of these exclusives (including two retired models) were released in miniature form as 40563 Tribute to LEGO House as a Gift With Purchase (GWP) in December 2022.

Today we are going to look at each mini-build LEGO House build compared to the originals and explore some of the ways LEGO has miniaturized sets in the past.

LEGO House

We’ll start with the oldest and most iconic of the five. The striking architecture of the LEGO House has been captured in a wonderful miniature version, recreating the building without a doubt. I’m impressed that both the larger 21037 exclusive version and this miniature version managed to replicate the 21 blocks of the real LEGO House structure.

The blue and yellow stair step portions naturally had to be simplified greatly at the smaller miniature scale but still convey the same idea. The area where the miniature departs from 21037 is that there isn’t as much white (or nearly so) when viewed from the side, but this is certainly an acceptable compromise. It wouldn’t be worth the effort (and cost) to print the various colors on top of tiles needed to achieve the white profile of the walls.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that the LEGO house has been made in miniature. Two other mini versions were created for the LEGO House Fan Pre-Opening on Sept. 22, 2017 and for the LEGO House Grand Opening later that month on Sept. 28. These sets were limited to 600 and 3500 copies respectively.

Both sets feature the same simplistic design using literal blocks to represent the building with different color bases and printed tiles. These sets resemble the LEGO House employee badge design, only with a more significant 3D effect. Nobody will complain about free LEGO sets, but personally, I think the design could have been a little more refined. Maybe they didn’t want these keepsakes to be too nice and impact sales of the wonderful 21037 LEGO House exclusive version!

An even smaller version of the LEGO House was recently brick built by BrickNerd Patron and fellow LEGO fan Wayne Tyler based on a digital model by Ulrik Hansen. I love this example of one AFOL inspiring another!

Tree of Creativity

Standing majestically in the center of the LEGO House stairway is the world’s largest LEGO model, the Tree of Creativity. At over 15 meters high and made from 6,316,611 elements it is extremely impressive. The larger 4000026 LEGO House exclusive set replicated the tree with 836 elements and is 34 cm high.

The miniature version uses only 118 elements and is 10 cm high. I love the micro builds on the tree branches showcasing LEGO sets/themes over the years. The miniature version could have benefited from few more elements to increase the trunk height to help better separate the branches, but it gets the idea across.

Dinosaurs

These builds should be immediately recognizable to anyone who has been to the LEGO House or seen it online. The Masterpiece Gallery is inhabited by three huge dinosaurs that dominate the entire room. The biggest pleasant surprise of the 40563 miniature version was that each dino uses a different construction technique, just like the larger 40366 exclusive set.

This pays homage to the Duplo, System, and Technic construction used to construct the three real dinos. The base of each dino can be rotated to display the varied orientation as seen in the LEGO House or lined up as I have. One improvement might have been to scale back the color palette slightly, just as the size was scaled back, particularly for the Dystem dino. This would provide a slightly more cohesive look as a smaller model.

Wooden Duck

Next up we have another iconic build featuring LEGO history. The miniature version of the 40501 Wooden Duck is very well done, and there is no question about what build it represents. The shape, coloring and even the display stand have been well replicated at the smaller scale.

The only thing missing is the movable duck bill which you say is impossible at this scale, but no! Contrary to what might be expected, if you want that added feature, the design actually has to be smaller!

Here you can see the additive manufacturing version available at the LEGO House late last year. The benefit of creating an element like this is you can add features and movement in the part itself. Here’s a video showing how it works.

There is one more mini duck we need to mention. Stuart Harris, the LEGO House Master Builder (and on the design teams of most of these exclusive sets), occasionally designs themed badges for the LEGO House Play Agents (employees that interact with guests). The badges help celebrate a holiday season or other special event. At least two of these badge designs have been made for the launch of a new LEGO House exclusive set. This cute wooden duck badge was photographed by Promobricks reader Robert N.

Comparing the badge duck to the miniature duck you’ll notice a remarkable similarity. Perhaps now would be a good time to mention that Stuart prepared the sketch models for the 40563 miniatures with the final design prepared by Leonard Bahro.

Moulding Machine

Last up we have the miniature Moulding Machine which replicates the 40502 exclusive set (which in turn replicates the real Moulding Machine in the LEGO House—moulding machine inception!). This is another fine model in miniature form that replicates the feel of the larger set well. My favorite part is that they were able to depict red bricks being moulded, even at the smaller scale.

The Moulding Machine was another model recreated in badge form. I love this photo of a small army of the badges along with the real model. The trained eye will even recognize that they were staged on one of the wooden benches in the LEGO Square portion of the LEGO House.

Apparently, I’m not the only AFOL intrigued by these badge designs. The Moulding Machine badge was reverse-engineered by Tim Hendrich, and high-quality instructions were thankfully created!

Miniature LEGO Models Aren’t New

The LEGO House tributes aren’t the first time LEGO has released miniaturized models of previous sets. The highly successful modular buildings were honored with 10230 Mini Modulars in 2012. This was initially offered for purchase to LEGO VIP members, although I believe it was later offered for sale to anyone. Jamie Berard originally built these mini modular for his own enjoyment and to give to colleagues as gifts, but they were so popular that the idea of making an official LEGO set was soon in the works.

The modular buildings depicted in miniature form (in order of release) were 10182 Cafe Corner, 10190 Market Street, 10185 Green Grocer, 10197 Fire Brigade, and 10211 Grand Emporium.

Sadly, there hasn’t been a follow-on set of other modulars (hint, hint…). But many fans have stepped in to create their own. Search Rebrickable for “mini modular” and you will find hundreds of versions to choose from like these from builder Chris Tromans. The fan trend of building mini-versions has even extended to other large sets from themes like Icons, Ninjago City, and Ideas sets.

(Allow me a moment for a nerdy aside… For many years there has been debate in the AFOL community about whether 10190 Market Street model was “really” a modular. Opponents argued that the design was released under the short-lived Factory branding. But in my mind, the fact that Jamie, aka Mr. Modular, included it in the Mini Modulars should put the question to rest.)

Back On Track

The 2016 Employee Christmas gift 4002016 celebrated LEGO Trains with 50 Years on Track by creating mini versions of six iconic representative trains. Along with brick-built track as bases, the six trains (well, one was a monorail) were lovingly recreated as a tribute.

The trains that were miniaturized were 113 Motorized Train, 726 Western Train, 4558 Metroliner, 6990 Monorail Transport, 10194 Emerald Night, 10254 Winter Holiday Train

Iconic Miniatures

Other last iconic models I’ll mention were released in a diminutive scale in 2018 as part of set 40290 celebrating the 60th anniversary of the LEGO brick. (Has it already been five years since this Gift with Purchase set was offered?!) Each has a black tile border that seems all too common in miniature builds, perhaps to frame the small builds and make them look a little bigger than they are.

The four models recreated in miniature form in the anniversary set were 6399 Airport Shuttle Monorail, 375/6075 Yellow Castle, 6285 Black Seas Barracuda and 497 Galaxy Explorer. (I would speculate that these four sets are among the most photographed by lucky visitors to the LEGO Idea House vault!)

What’s Next?

We hope you have enjoyed this sampling of miniaturized LEGO models. They are a fun way to have a smaller version of sets you maybe couldn’t afford or didn’t have space to display. With so many terrific sets being released now, no doubt some of them will appear in the future in miniature form!

DISCLAIMER: This set was provided to BrickNerd by The LEGO Group. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

What set would you like to see in a miniature form? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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