LEGO® House reveals new LEGO House Exclusive product: 40502 - The Brick Moulding Machine
The newest product in the Limited Edition series of LEGO® House Exclusives is available at the LEGO House Retail Store in Billund, Denmark from this Thursday, March 4, 2021.
Ever since the opening of LEGO House it has been an important milestone for LEGO House to create exclusive products because we believe they add significantly to the experience of visiting LEGO House - the pinnacle LEGO experience.
The first three exclusive products were the LEGO House Architecture set, the LEGO House Tree of Creativity, and the LEGO House Dinosaurs.
One thing is remaking our iconic models in LEGO House into LEGO sets. But since we also want to tie the LEGO Group and not least the LEGO Group history closely to LEGO House it made a lot of sense for us to introduce this new series that we call: The LEGO House Limited Editions. The Wooden Duck is the first item in the series of LEGO House Limited Editions.
We are now happy to announce the latest product in our Limited Edition series – The Brick Moulding Machine!
The Brick Moulding Machine is representing an era in the history of the LEGO Group going from producing toys in wood into plastic. It is the story about putting all efforts into one focus and leaving your core competencies behind to explore the new possibilities and technologies in producing toys with plastic materials.
The first machine arrived in Billund in 1947 and it took up to four people to manually operate one single machine efficiently. Today the LEGO Group has thousands of moulding machines operating all over the world and one LEGO employee can operate 32 machines. The Billund facility alone produces 1,360 LEGO elements each second from these machines.
In LEGO House guests can experience a real-life moulding machine up close. The green machine is identical to the moulding machines found at the LEGO production sites in Denmark, Hungary, Mexico, and China. The difference, however, is that it has a special custom-made mould designed to only contain six bricks. Standard moulds produce many more bricks.
Facts
Did you know?
- The first moulding machine is bought in 1946 after Ole Kirk Kristiansen attended a demonstration of a plastic injection moulding machine at a fair in Copenhagen.
- In 1949 the LEGO Group’s plastics department manufactures various kinds of toys. Among these are the company’s first plastic bricks, which are marketed under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks”.
- On 28 January 1958 at 1:58 pm, the modern LEGO brick is born when a patent for the unique clutch power is secured.
- In 1960 the second-generation owner, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen decided to put all eggs in one basket and purely focus on the LEGO brick.
- A real-life moulding machine can be found in LEGO House where guests can see it up close. It is identical to the ones in other LEGO production sites but is custom made to only produce six bricks at the time and run at a slower pace.
- In the 60s and 70s, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen initiated decommissioned moulds to be cast into the concrete foundations of new factories in Billund to prevent them from falling into wrong hands.
- In the History Collection in LEGO House, you can also find reconstructions of decommissioned moulds hiding in the floor for visitors to see.
Facts about the new limited edition LEGO House box: Brick Moulding Machine.
- The Brick Moulding Machine represents an era in the LEGO Group going from producing wooden toys into plastic toys.
- The main model feature is a sliding injection mould as well as three sliding window access panels and hinged maintenance access doors.
- The 1205-piece model measurements are the following: 7.4” (19 cm) tall, 5.9” (15 cm) deep and 11.4” (29 cm) wide.
- Base comprises printed tiles with the words ‘LEGO® House' and ‘The Brick Moulding Machine’.
- Ideal for fans of LEGO building and collectors of toy memorabilia. Suitable for ages 10 and up.
- Price: 599 DKK.
- This set is only available in LEGO House.
