Review: 40506 LEGO Fabuland Tribute
Posted by Huw,
Fabuland is fondly remembered by those who were kids in the 1980s so a set paying homage to the theme is perhaps long overdue given that they are now in their 40s.
40506 LEGO Fabuland Tribute does just that, but fans of the anthropomorphic world hoping to get hold of it will need to make a pilgrimage to the LEGO House in Billund, Denmark, to do so.
Summary
40506 LEGO Fabuland Tribute, 1,026 pieces.
A well-executed and heartfelt tribute to a much-loved theme
- Interesting selection of characters and heads
- A wonderful souvenir of a day at the LEGO House
- Base accounts for the bulk of the pieces and price
- Constructing the bodies is repetitive
- Acquisition requires a trip to Denmark or a resellers markup
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The set is the sixth in the series of numbered LEGO House exclusive sets which are released at yearly intervals.
Like the others, this one includes an extravagant display base which, in this case, accounts for the lion's share of the ABS in the set.
The tree and the four figures -- Edward Elephant, Joe Crow, Dr Lucy Lamb and Clive Crocodile -- are loosely mounted on rotating bases, thus enabling them to be arranged as you please.
Three of the four figures are playing instruments found in the original Fabuland sets -- accordion, drums and tuba -- while Edward conducts them.
Instructions are provided in five manuals, one for each character and one for the base, thus facilitating concurrent building with family or friends should you wish.
The tree matches the design of the single-piece one that appeared in many of the original sets
The green 'scenery' sits on top of a large black rectangular base that looks larger than it needs to be, but the extra room at the front is required to make space for the printed tiles that are a common feature of sets in the series.
The four figures can be removed from the base and played with or displayed separately.
The figures' bodies are all constructed in the same way. Articulation is achieved using click-hinges on the hips, bars-and-clips on the shoulders, and a small ball joint for the neck.
Edward Elephant
The male pachyderm is holding a stickered book, probably containing the music score, and a baton. He's attired in a red top, as he was in two of the original retail sets. His ears are hinged, as is his trunk, although moving it down results in an unsightly gap at the top of it.
Joe Crow, AKA Charlie Crow
The corvid was a fairly rare figure, appearing in just two sets in this guise with a red flying helmet. His yellow-painted beak inevitably became scratched over time, but that won't be a problem with this version.
The original Fabuland drum was fixed to the figure using a clip around the neck, as seen in 3631 The Fabuland Big Band. That has been cosmetically replicated here, although it's actually attached to the studs on the torso.
Dr Lucy Lamb
The female ruminant was Fabuland's doctor who appeared in seven of the original sets. Here she's playing a tuba which closely resembles the one that can also be seen on the box of 3631 The Fabuland Big Band.
Her textured woolly head has been made using a mixture of 1x1 plates and tiles.
Clive Crocodile
Finally, we come to my favourite of the four, the semiaquatic reptile Clive. I think the head, with prominent front teeth and organic texturing, looks excellent. The original figure came in two variants: the more common one had a printed bow-tie but, understandably, that has not been replicated here.
Clive did not play the accordion in the original sets: in fact I don't think any of these characters played any instruments in them, but I don't suppose that matters.
Verdict
Fabuland came after my time as a kid so I have no particular attachment to the theme, although I can appreciate this set for what it is: a heartfelt and well-executed tribute to a much-loved theme, one that is arguably long overdue.
Those that do, such as Richard over at The Rambling Brick, who cried when he first saw it, will find a lot to like and reminisce over here, and will probably enjoy making heads for the other characters to match these.
It's not my favourite of LEGO House exclusive sets (that would be 40502 The Brick Moulding Machine) but it's up there with the best of them, and it's definitely worth planning a trip to the House this year to acquire it.
The 1,026 piece set will cost 649DKK (£72 / $91 / €87) when released on March 1st.
102 likes
47 comments on this article
The Fabuland conspiracy..... won't stop!!
I, too, cried the second time I saw this set.
Please, please, someone make it stop. ><
-Base accounts for the bulk of the pieces and price
You need to put that more often
This has 'Don't Hug Me I'm Scared' vibes...
Ugly, clunky, nightmare fuel, need I say more.
@brick_beard said:
"This has 'Don't Hug Me I'm Scared' vibes..."
It's the crow isn't it, I immediately thought of Duck as well
Lucy Lamb is simply adorbs.
Is it just me or does the crow look part-crow, part-penguin?
@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"Is it just me or does the crow look part-crow, part-penguin?"
Strung-out Dreadflipper?!
Still not sold on this set. As a kid I have played a lot with Fabuland even when I only had a few of the smallest sets myself. And I still think it was a great theme that with minimal changes could still be sold today. But this set just doesn't click with me. The figures were only part of what defined Fabuland , I'd say the vehichles and buildings were just as important. Clearly they couldn't have put that all in one set, but as it is now it just feels lacking. They could (and should) have done so much more with this.
Add in the price and the problematic availability, and it's kinda a sad tribute most people will never know about.
@StyleCounselor said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"Is it just me or does the crow look part-crow, part-penguin?"
Strung-out Dreadflipper?!"
Of course. Why else would he have minifigure heads on sticks?
Reminds me of the stage at Chuck E. Cheese.
Unfortunately I don’t think this works as a set at all. The Fabuland tribute we got in 90 Years of Play was much more effective than this.
@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"Is it just me or does the crow look part-crow, part-penguin?"
I thought it was a penguin…
Looks more like Five Nights at Freddy’s
That's some rather extreme colour variation in the crocodile's head, how can't that be considered a minus?
@StyleCounselor said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"Is it just me or does the crow look part-crow, part-penguin?"
Strung-out Dreadflipper?!"
He failed in his attempts to destroy Lego City and Heartlake City, and now he's taken on the guise of a crow to attack Fabuland. Run away! Run away from the flippered Antarctic terror!
“The black bird was a fairly rare figure,”
“The corvid” surely to maintain editorial style…
@MonsterFighter said:
"“The black bird was a fairly rare figure,”
“The corvid” surely to maintain editorial style…"
Thank you :)
You could srgue the tree is the fifth character here, as the piece was only used in Fabuland. Yes, there wäre a lot more, but this one is so iconic!
Meh
Thanks for the review.
I grew up with Fabuland and I think this set is a good tribute. Price wise it's not worth the effort for me.
I think the base would be more fitting if it was only the green part and maybe a green plate with yellow letters for the name. Although if they left out the black section I'm sure others would complain.
I think the stickered book is a small tribute to the Fabuland manuals. Storybooks that show you how to build the sets. Perhaps they should have made one for this set. A way for it to stand out and make it more desirable to own.
I wonder what the sentence,
'An wonderful souvenir of a day at the LEGO House'
really started life as.
Atrocious, Excruciating, Insufferable, Obnoxious or Unfortunate.... surely not!
@sjr60 said:
"
I wonder what the sentence,
'An wonderful souvenir of a day at the LEGO House'
really started life as.
Atrocious, Excruciating, Insufferable, Obnoxious or Unfortunate.... surely not!"
Being written with a British English (that's not actually a redundancy) dialect, you could perhaps include Horrific.
Like I said in the other article, while I did have a couple of Fabuland sets as a kid, they never saw much use. I was much more into Classic Space and Town sets back then.
Therefore while I appreciate the effort and intention, this set is just not for me.
@tne328 said:
" @sjr60 said:
"
I wonder what the sentence,
'An wonderful souvenir of a day at the LEGO House'
really started life as.
Atrocious, Excruciating, Insufferable, Obnoxious or Unfortunate.... surely not!"
Being written with a British English (that's not actually a redundancy) dialect, you could perhaps include Horrific."
No, a superlative I use too often...
I'ld prefer the original figures. They are probably alot cheaper at the after market (Better looking, too).
I'll grab a copy when I'm passing through Billund this summer, but if I weren't already going for other reasons I am not sure I would buy this one.
Lucy Lamb remains unforgiven for saddling my most played with set, the Fire Station 347-1 with the 'also know as' name of 'Lucy Lamb And Charlie Cat Visit Doctor Dog' just for having a similar set number!
Horrifying.
These bases are getting out of hand.
Could at least the second, green, base have been omitted for a vehicle, structure, or prints?
Facepalm
I only got to go to the Lego House my first time in December '24 and had a great time, got the Duck, the architecture set, minifigure tribute/pirate. When I learned I'd be there again this coming September, I got excited about what the 2025 exclusive would be...but never having any Fabuland sets, there's no emotional attachment, so this is one that I'll skip. It'll free up room in the luggage for something else.
"Finally Team, don't forget the number on the box. You know these mugs will buy anything if they think it's part of a series"
I do kinda like the way these characters are built. I wonder how easy it would be to adapt the design for minifigure characters... tweak it to have a bit more poseability than these do, brick-build some details onto their torsos, come up with a different head design...
Result: some brick-built minifigures who aren't nearly as big as e.g. the Redbeard tribute but still capture the concept...?
Hm. Something I might think about, anyway!
-
@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"Is it just me or does the crow look part-crow, part-penguin?"
I definitely thought that too when I first saw the set. I think it's the strap of the drum, makes it look like he has a penguin's white chest.
The photo of the figures without the base shows perfectly that this base is not needed at all. And it takes so many pieces to build. What a lazy way to achieve desired piece count.
This set is overhated.
I'm sorry, but does anyone see a certain historical figure's moustache when they look at the sheep's nose? Let's say Charlie Chalplin. Yeah.
Wow! It takes real skills to turn the beautiful Fabuland into something this ugly!
@huw
" in this case, accounts for the lion's share of the ABS in the set. "
Is it only me or what that a subtle paw at a potentially missing figure. I thought that was rather brilliant.
@huw
Hi Huw, can you tell me the size of the box please? as it hasn't been added to the set page yet.
Thanks.
@brickwich said:
"I'm sorry, but does anyone see a certain historical figure's moustache when they look at the sheep's nose? Let's say Charlie Chalplin. Yeah."
Undoubtedly! As a lamb, Lucy would also likely be vegetarian ;)
I loved Fabuland as a kid and still have some of the figures on display but this just does not do it for me. Maybe it's the eyes? Fabuland had very specific eye printing that doesn't translate well to the current selection of eye tiles. And I've always associated Fabuland with primary yellows, reds and blues, with very cosy colour combinations. The black and green looks so strangely sterile in comparison.
Huw, i think you are missing a pro here. Because i think the characters are still very good and fun to play with.
In a Fabuland set-up, but also in a city set-up if you ask me.
And i would use the tree as the tribute piece (with a reduced base of course)
@Miwa said:
" @huw
Hi Huw, can you tell me the size of the box please? as it hasn't been added to the set page yet.
Thanks."
38x26x9cm
Thanks Huw, much appreciated :)
I'm not the intended market for this set. I understand a lot of people are happy for this, but I'm personally going to pass.
@Huw said:
" @Miwa said:
" @huw
Hi Huw, can you tell me the size of the box please? as it hasn't been added to the set page yet.
Thanks."
38x26x9cm"
And how much is empty space?
@jkb said: "And how much is empty space?"
If it follows the usual Lego standards, about 45%. In my experience, if I have two sets of nearly the same size, they both fits easily in the box of the largest. If, OTOH, I have two of the same set, it gets *just* a bit too tight to have both in one box.
Por qué el cocodrilo no tiene los colmillos blancos?