Review: LEGO 40563 Tribute to the LEGO House GWP

November 16, 2022 | 7

Shortly after the official reveal of 40563 Tribute to LEGO House, I’m very excited to be able to share my review of the upcoming LEGO gift with purchase, that will be part of LEGO’s VIP Weekend 2022, a precursor to the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.

40563 Tribute to LEGO House is a charming ode to The LEGO House, known as the Home of the Brick, a sort of interactive play museum that’s dedicated to LEGO, located in the heart of Billund, Denmark.

40563 Tribute to LEGO House Redemption Details

40563 Tribute to LEGO House will be a gift with purchase (GWP) and will be available from LEGO.com when you spend US$250 / AU$309 / €250 / £250. LEGO VIPs will get exclusive access to the GWP from 19-20 November, before a wider release from 25-28 November 2022.

It’s a really high purchase threshold, which is going to annoy a lot of people BUT.. as you’ll find out in my review, it’s a really good gift with purchase, especially if you’ve visited The LEGO House.

Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set for this review!

40563 Tribute to the LEGO House

Name: Tribute to the LEGO House
Set Number: 40563
Pieces: 583
Price: N/A
Exclusive to: LEGO.com / LEGO Stores
Theme: Gift with Purchase
LEGO Designers: TBD
Release Date: 19-20 November 2022
Purchase Threshold: US$250 / €250/ £250 / AU$309

The LEGO House is famous for its massive brick-built models, as well as being the “home of the brick”. Outside of being a literal “play temple” of LEGO, it’s also known for the exclusive sets that you can only purchase at the LEGO Store, at the LEGO House, which are in itself based on things that you see/experience at The LEGO House.

40563 Tribute to the LEGO House is a micro-homage to The LEGO House, and is a really great celebration of all the above, as well as a cute mini version of all the previous LEGO House exclusive sets.

The piece count is quite high for a GWP at 583 pieces, but keep in mind that many of these are quite small, but they do add up, and you do get quite a significant bunch of stuff, and at its core, it’s a clever way to get your hands on some LEGO House builds without having to actually visit Billund.

Here’s a look at some other angles of the box, which has a similar design to LEGO House exclusives.

The instructions manual has some really nice photos and descriptions of each micro model, which is helpful if you’ve never visited.

The first model you put together is this lovely mini version of The LEGO House. It really feels like a LEGO Architecture set, and while the build is simple, I love the spectrum of colours for the roof and different zones of The LEGO House, which actually does look like that from above as it’s meant to literally look like it was built out of LEGO bricks.

Despite the simplistic nature of the build, there are some really clever techniques used, such as offset bricks, and having visited The LEGO House, I love very specific angles that are captured really well in this scale, such as the blue steps which you can climb and hang out on.

Another really nice bonus is that the set has no stickers, so all the name tiles are printed which is a welcome touch.

Next up, you build the Tree of Creativity, which is a major fixture within The LEGO House, and is a lovely micro model, perhaps one of my favourites out of the 5.

The Tree of Creativity occupies the central core of The LEGO House, and when you’re there, you climb up the stairs to get to the Masterpiece Gallery, and when I was there, I was astounded at the sheer size of it. It’s literally a tree-sized LEGO model.

On each branch and clump of leaves are LEGO Dioramas, featuring specific themes grouped together, and as you’re at different levels, you can properly enjoy and see what sets are on each leaf.

Here’s a look at the printed tile, which looks great nestled amongst green blossoms.

Here’s a look at the Tree from the back, where there is a little house and office/apartment building, as well as a yellow crane above it.

The crane is to signify that the Tree of Creativity is under construction, and they’re always adding to it.

A really nice touch, for fans of vintage LEGO Castle is this tiny Yellow Castle on one of the branches!

And yes, there is an actual Yellow Castle on the tree, alongside some dragons!

Here’s a look at the 3 Dinosaurs that occupy the Masterpiece Gallery, which you get to after you ascend the stairs around the Tree of Creativity. They each have white pedestals that can be swivelled, and are placed on a long base.

The three dinosaurs are each made of Duplo (red), LEGO (green), and Technic (yellow), representing the 3 major themes that make up the LEGO system of play.

Here’s a look at the printed tile.

The Dinosaurs are pretty fun representations, which I appreciate isn’t the easiest to capture at this scale, and I love the clip hands and the way their heads are constructed.

You can of course, adjust the orientation, which is ideal as the Dinosaurs all face in different directions in the gallery.

I’ve seen photos of the Dinosaurs at The LEGO House plenty of times, but visiting them in person and realising just how they tower over you, and all the intricate and fun details built into them (they’re screaming because they’re stepping on bricks!) was quite the experience, and building these 3 micro models did bring back some fond memories of being there.

Next of course is the iconic Wooden Duck, which is modelled after 40501 The Wooden Duck, one of the very first non-limited LEGO House Exclusives, which you can find at the LEGO Store there.

The vibrant colours are captured really nicely here, and I really like the silhouette as well as the wheels.

Here’s the Duck looks like from the side, and a better look at its beak, which unfortunately doesn’t open and close when pulling it!

A ring on a string is built, and it does have working wheels, so you can pull it along just like the original.

And here’s a look at the printed Tile, as well as the underside, which has 2 grooves to fasten it in place.

Of course, getting to see an actual Wooden Duck in the History section, which is an awesome museum dedicated to The LEGO Group’s history was the highlight of my visit there. It’s so surreal and powerful seeing the humble Wooden Duck in the flesh.

And last but not least is the Brick Moulding Machine, a big lime green machine that sits in the foyer of The LEGO House, just outside The LEGO Store.

Some people head to it first, and some people end their journeys there, but I have to say that it’s a darn good micro model of the machine there.

The Brick Moulding Machine was the 2nd numbered LEGO House Exclusive (after The Wooden Duck which was #1), and I have to say that after visiting The LEGO House I finally get it.

The model might seem boring, as it’s quite a garish lime green industrial machine, but I love that the designer included some really specific callouts here, such as the bucket, and crate in the corner.

And those red tiles are actually meant to represent LEGO bricks being birthed by the machine.

Here’s a look at the Brick Moulding Machine at The LEGO House, and yes, it’s constantly running, creating 2×4 red bricks that get packaged into polybags, all live and in front of you.

And yes, there’s a bucket and a section where you can collect the polybags with bricks, which is a really cool souvenir that you can take home.

I love that they included the bucket. It’s one of those really obscure and specific details that really only makes sense if you’ve been to The LEGO House, or look at photos and realise that there’s an actual bucket there.

What I liked:

• Love that this is a selection of micro models
• A wonderful tribute to the LEGO House’s most recognisable experiences
• Really fun and varied build, especially as you’re building 5 mini dioramas
• Great to display with the full-sized LEGO House exclusive sets

What I didn’t like: 

• The GWP threshold is outrageously high
• No LEGO House minifigure

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The LEGO House is a wonderful, heartfelt and larger than life experience that most LEGO fans should strive to aim for and visit once in their lives.

Having finally visited in September this year, I totally understand the appeal of the LEGO House exclusive sets, and why these 5 micro models were selected as they represent the typical journey through The LEGO House, and are some of the most memorable experiences.

The builds are fun, and having 5 models to build, even if you’re building with really small elements, it did feel like a substantial build, especially considering that this is a gift with purchase.

For LEGO fans that can’t or have not had a chance to make the journey to Billund, this seems like a more than-decent consolation if you’ve missed out on the LEGO House exclusive sets.

Unfortunately, all the good vibes and positive associations do kind of evaporate when you factor in the GWP purchase threshold. It being priced at US$250 / AU$309 / £250 significantly curtails the ability for most LEGO fans to get to experience this set, which is a shame because 2022 is the 5th Birthday of The LEGO House.

I cannot imagine why the purchase threshold is so high – actually I can because LEGO do want to incentivise purchases during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period, but did they really have to go that high? This means that you’ll need to shell out for a BIG set, and with so many big disappointing sets like 76210 Hulkbuster, there’s a severe lack of huge sets that will qualify for this threshold.

On the plus side, if you were planning on getting the newly announced 10307 Eiffel Tower, it most certainly will get you over the line. That and if you’ve been eyeing a really big purchase to treat yourself (or your kids for Christmas), you could get over the threshold.

Unfortunately, the stupendously high purchase threshold does leave a very sour taste on what should be a celebration and tribute to The LEGO House.

Rating and score: 3/5 ★★★✰✰

Build [3] – Fun and varied, especially if you enjoy micro-scale models.
Real Value [1] – It’s a decent GWP but the high purchase threshold makes this feel like exceptionally poor value
Innovation [3] – Not a lot of innovative techniques or builds, but I like the idea of bundling these micro models together, and the concept of the set
Coolness [4] – If you’ve visited The LEGO House, this set will certainly resonate more with you
Keepability [4] – A great souvenir, and memento of The LEGO House. Or a reminder to visit

40563 Tribute to LEGO House will be a gift with purchase (GWP) and will be available from LEGO.com when you spend US$250 / AU$309 / €250 / £250. LEGO VIPs will get exclusive access to the GWP from 19-20 November, before a wider release from 25-28 November 2022.

Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set over for an early review!

What do you think of Tribute to the LEGO House and the incredibly high redemption threshold?

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