LEGO® House Exclusive set review and interview: 40505 LEGO Building Systems

Recently I was lucky enough to attend an online reveal of the latest LEGO® House exclusive set, 40505 LEGO Building Systems, with the opportunity to ask some questions to the set's designers, Stuart Harris (LEGO House Master Builder) and Markus Rollbüller (Senior Designer at The LEGO Group). 

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

40505 LEGO Building Systems
699DKK
1211 parts
Released 1st March 2024, available exclusively from LEGO House in Billund, Denmark.

Historical background

LEGO Building Systems is the fifth set in the series of LEGO House Exclusives, which deal with the history of The LEGO Group. The first was 40501 Wooden Duck released in 2020; a brick-built replica of one of the original wooden pull-along LEGO toys. The following year, 40502 The Brick Moulding Machine covered the change from making wooden toys to injection-moulded plastic bricks. The third set, 40502 Dagny Holm - Master Builder, shows a Miniland-scale Dagny at her workshop desk, surrounded by many examples of the models she built for LEGOLAND in Billund. Last year's set, 40504 A Minifigure Tribute was a large-scale version of the popular pirate character Captain Redbeard. 

This year's set features the 3 main building systems which The LEGO Group has in their portfolio: LEGO® DUPLO®, LEGO System and LEGO® Technic. 

Developing the models

Stuart explained that he made the original sketch models which were refined into the final product by Markus, who has now worked on 4 of the LEGO House Exclusive sets. 

The central model is a microscale version of LEGO Town Plan, representing the LEGO System. Stuart told us that the Town Plan sets of the 1950s and '60s offered unlimited creativity because there was no right or wrong way to arrange them, and so the team thought this was an important set to be represented. 

The first sketch model was far too big and had to be reduced in size to give smaller segments to build up the overall layout. Dark Green "espresso" plates (32828) work very well for trees at this scale. 

The first sketch model representing the DUPLO System was a farm, but it competed with the Town Plan in scale and subject matter, so it was decided that a train may be more appropriate. 

Markus remembers playing with DUPLO, System and Technic bricks when he was a child, but since Stuart's sketch model wasn't a real train, he decided to take a deep dive into the world of DUPLO trains to find the best model to represent. The end product is a hybrid of the first two DUPLO trains, 2700 Freight Train and 2705 Passenger Train, both released in 1983. 

Markus made about 6 sketch models, as the wheels were very difficult to get right at this scale. Various elements were tried including the Gollum ring (11010), and 4-stud SNOT bricks which proved hard to build with – plus Markus really wanted to have yellow axles as this would fit the train's colour scheme perfectly. Sketch model No. 5 was a complicated build which came apart too easily. In the end, 1x1 and 1x2 Technic bricks are used in the chassis with yellow frictionless pins which attach to the (newly recoloured) red wheels. The irony of having to use Technic to represent a DUPLO model is not lost on Markus!

Set 851 Tractor was one of the original ideas to represent the Technic System in the brief. Markus suggested that Stuart make a version of 853 Car Chassis for him to develop further. 

Stuart's first version was build studs-up, and was rather large. Markus decided to flip the build and so this representation is build studs-down, which makes the LEGO elements look more like Technic elements, and also offers the perfect attachment method for the little 1x1 brackets (36840) in yellow which are perfect for the seats. The final model was downsized to fit better with its neighbours in the set.

The rear wall in dark bluish gray with pearl gold accents represents the walls of the History Collection in the basement of LEGO House. The gray offers a neutral background to contrast the various models on display, both in the real exhibition space and this scaled-down version. It also holds a secret...

 Turn the model round and you see 19 nanoscale builds of iconic sets from the back catalogue.

The first arched alcove represents:

• The classic Wooden Duck
• 700 Automatic Binding Bricks
• Wooden Fire Truck
• 651 1:87 Truck (Yellow version)

In the second alcove we have:

• 127 Complete Train With 3 Wagons
• 375 Castle
• LEGO DUPLO 511 Building Set
• LEGO Technic 850 Fork-Lift Truck
• 928 Galaxy Explorer

The third alcove shows:

• LEGO DUPLO 2705 Passenger Train
• 6285 Black Seas Barracuda
• LEGO DUPLO 2655 Farm Set
• LEGO Technic 8480 Space Shuttle
• 9719 Robotics Invention System (LEGO® MINDSTORMS)

The final alcove displays:

• LEGO® BIONICLE® 8534 Tahu and canister
• LEGO® NINJAGO® 70751 Temple of Airjitsu
• LEGO® Ideas 21318 Ideas Tree House
• LEGO Technic 42108 Mobile Crane
• LEGO® Friends 41095 Emma's House
• An empty spot for you to build a favourite set of your own

Parts of note

The set includes a handful of noteworthy elements: 

• 1x Tile 1x8 with 'LEGO Building Systems' print in Black (6471563 | 4162pr) - new and exclusive to this set
• 1x Tile 1x8 with 'LEGO House' print in Black (6320270 | 70696) - also in 2 other LEGO House exclusive sets, 40504 A Minifigure Tribute and 40563 Tribute to LEGO House
• 14x Wheel 11 x 8 with Center Groove in Red (6467942 | 42610) - a recolour unique to this set
• 2x Plant, Flower, Plate Round 1x1 with 5 Petals in Earth Green/Dark Green (6446790 | 24866) - only in 21060 Himeji Castle
• 3x Technic Brick 1x1 with Axle Hole in Medium Nougat (6457557 | 73230) - previously in 43224 King Magnifico's Castle and 43230 Walt Disney Tribute Camera
• 4x Plate 1x1 in Lavender (6099363 | 3024) - appears in 31149 Flowers in Watering Can, 41734 Sea Rescue Boat and 41735 Mobile Tiny House
• 3x Cone 1x1 [Top Groove] in Dark Green (6411591 | 59900) - also in 10325 Alpine Lodge, Himeji Castle and 10308 Holiday Main Street
• 1x Bar 1L with Clip [Cut Edges and One Side Hole] [Full Clip] in Bright Blue/Blue (6439050 | 3484) - seen in 42616 Heartlake City Music Talent Show, 10326 Natural History Museum and the slightly older variant is also in 10313 Wildflower Bouquet

Not pictured:

• 6x Window 1 x 2 x 2 Plane, Single Hole Top and Bottom for Glass in Red (6467937 | 60032) - a new Element ID for an existing element which was last seen once in 2020 in 70436 Phantom Fire Truck 3000 and between 2010-2013 in 6 other sets.

Q&A

New Elementary was one of several RLFM to attend the online reveal. Here are a few more questions asked during the Q&A.

New Elementary: Do you find it difficult to switch between scales when designing sets, since the mindset for microscale is quite different to minifigure scale or even larger?

Markus Rollbüller: I work in minifigure scale during my day job, but when I build for my own pleasure I often choose smaller scales, so I find it easy to switch.

New Elementary: Are there any building techniques that you are particularly proud of?

Markus: Definitely the upside-down car. The tiny sets at the back too – building in nanoscale was very fun. Also, the wheels on the Wooden Fire Truck - the axles use the 2M bar in red with white Technic bushes for the wheels. I hope that you will share any nanoscale builds you make to fill the gap on the shelves!

BrickNerd: How is the subject of the model determined prior to Stuart building the sketch models?

Stuart Harris: I made the Town Plan first and then thought about what else we might want to include to go with it. I also have a road map of several years of LEGO House sets to come, so I know what will be built each year!

BrickNerd: Has there ever been a set that included elements from all three building systems at the same time?

 
Stuart: The very first LEGO DUPLO sets in the 1960s came with 8 LEGO System bricks, and plenty of sets include both LEGO System and LEGO Technic, of course. [Update: 7623 Temple Escape included a DUPLO ball as well as System and Technic].

Closing Thoughts

As a big fan of microscale, the main models and the nanoscale ones on the shelves are delightful little builds which replicate their larger counterparts extremely well at such a small scale. The red, yellow and blue accents given to each building system also echo some of the original colours of LEGO bricks, which is a nice touch.

I was initially disappointed that the "DUPLO" brick on the back wall was actually a LEGO System-built version rather than the real thing. The question as to why it wasn't DUPLO was posed at the Q&A, but never answered directly by the team. Having built the set, I have a hunch as to why.

DUPLO bricks are twice as large in every dimension as System bricks, making a real DUPLO 2x2 brick 4x4 System modules along on each side. However, to maintain the gray back wall for the alcove, and the fact that there are only 3 modules of depth available, a real DUPLO brick would not have fitted as it would have stuck out the back, leaving an unsightly yellow section protruding out of the alcove.

As Markus encouraged us to share our own nanoscale builds, I have chosen to make a tiny version of 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V.  I'm a big space nut, and it was also one of the very first sets I bought myself as I was coming out of my Dark Ages in 2017, finally admitting that I was an AFOL. It meant rearranging the models in the last alcove a little bit, but they all fitted rather nicely in the end.

I think this set is squarely aimed at LEGO nerds like me who love the history of the brick, and as such I hope its intended audience will appreciate the thought and Easter eggs which have gone into every aspect of the design. Even the building instructions contain some fascinating facts about the 3 building systems – as well as mentioning Modulex and Constraction themes! 

Therefore, I don't think the model will be as popular with the general public visiting LEGO House as some of the other iconic sets in the series, such as the Wooden Duck or Minifigure Tribute. 

READ MORE: What are the new LEGO® parts for March 2024?

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