Posted By Adam White on Mar 3, 2021 | 3 comments

Since the LEGO® House attraction opened in 2017, it’s been the source of a number of exclusive LEGO House branded products. Beyond the keyrings, mugs and t-shirts, these have included a small range of exclusive sets. The first of which was the LEGO House Architecture set, followed by the Tree of Creativity and then the LEGO House Dinosaurs. Last year a new on-going series of LEGO House exclusive sets were introduced under the LEGO House Limited Edition banner. The first of those sets were The Wooden Duck, which celebrated the roots of the LEGO Group’s beginnings. Before LEGO bricks, the LEGO Group created wooden toys, until a very important milestone in the 1940s. The Injection Moulding Machine changed the course of history for the LEGO Group, making it the perfect subject for the second LEGO House Limited Edition set. Ahead of the set launching tomorrow exclusively from the LEGO House retail store, here’s my review of The Brick Moulding Machine.

LEGO House The Brick Moulding Machine

Set Number: 40502 | Piece Count: 1205 | Measures: 7.4” (19 cm) tall, 5.9” (15 cm) deep and 11.4” (29 cm) wide  | Price: 599DKK | Limited Edition: No 2 | Availablity: LEGO House Exclusive

As well as being found in LEGO production facilities around the world, a brick moulding machine is also located inside the LEGO House in Billund. This produces the 2×4 red LEGO bricks used in the 6 bricks polybags. If you’ve ever visited the attraction you will have seen a lime green machine, which is the inspiration for the latest Limited Edition set.

Just like the real machine, this smaller LEGO version features a number of similar elements. These include sliding doors on either side of the machine, a pair of moulds and a plastic granules hopper amongst others. In order the get the LEGO version of the Moulding Machine to look as close as possible to the real thing, much of it is built in separated sections. Once pieced together the whole set is nice and sturdy. I must admit I didn’t expect this as the doors are simply slid into place, into grooves that look a little like unfinished sections. However, these work perfectly for holding the doors and allowing them to glide open easily enough.

The best feature of the whole set is the brick moulds. These are a very important aspect in the production of all LEGO elements. The mould is precisely crafted to produce the perfect LEGO brick, with plastic granules are superheated to a temperature of about 450°c. These results in a plastic goo, which is then fed into moulds and pressed together. Once the plastic is set, the moulds split apart and you have LEGO bricks. It’s a complex process but one that has been nicely captured in this model. One section of the mould is connected to a simple Technic beam and twisting a knob on the back of the machine causes the moulds to press together. It’s a cool function and follows on from the Wooden Duck, which also featured a motion element.

The whole machine then sits upon a large black display plate. This is a similar style to Wooden Duck, which offers a nice continuity across the sets. This baseplate is also where you’ll find a couple of the exclusive printed elements, these include two 1×8 tiles featuring the name of the set. There’s also a yellow crate connected to the base section, this includes a trio of 2×2 printed tiles, which represent the 6 brick polybags. These will soon come in paper bags, hence the tiles brown colouring.

Overall

I really enjoyed building this set, especially all the working parts. There a surprising amount of building for the central section of the set, where the moulds sit and connect together. I also like how the aesthetics of the base match those of The Wooden Duck, giving the currently small collection of sets a uniform style. The green colouring may seem a little garish but it matches the real machine and to be fair, it makes the set stand out. Just to make it perfectly clear this set will not be offered online from LEGO.com like a few LEGO House sets were last year. It will only be on sale from the LEGO Store found at the LEGO House attraction in Billund, which reopens tomorrow. I understand this could be frustrating for many, especially as travelling is challenging at the moment; however, the set will be around for a while. So once you or someone you know can head to Billund, you’ll be able to pick up the set. I’m thankful to the LEGO House team for supplying a copy of the set to review.

The instruction booklet offers a brief history of injection moulding and the Brick Moulding Machine, which you can read right here. Check out my reviews of the other LEGO House Exclusive sets including The Wooden Duck along with the Tree of Creativity and Dinosaurs.

This set was provided to BricksFanz by LEGO House for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.

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