Review: 624210 LEGO House 6 Bricks
Posted by Huw,
As I mentioned last week, MeganL and I were privileged to be able to attend the LEGO House fan pre-opening event last Friday, ahead of the official opening this Thursday.
It was a fantastic day in a fantastic place and we'll write up our experiences and thoughts later this week once Megan is back in the US and over her jet-lag.
For now, though, I will review the 'parting gift' given to visitors: 624210 LEGO House 6 Bricks, a polybag containing bricks that are moulded and packed on-site.
It's a set of almost infinite possibilities and it could be the only set you ever need. Here's why...
Packaging, parts and instructions
It's packed in a standard polybag and if you've ever wondered how they are filled and sealed you'll be able to see for yourself.
Inside the bag are 6 2x4 red bricks, but no instructions. To get those you offer your RFID-enabled wristband to a reader (more on which in our next article) which prints a personalised credit card showing one of the 915,103,765 possible combinations of combining six 2x4 bricks.
It's said that everyone receives a unique card (that is, until the billionth visitor...) which suggests that the system has calculated every combination and numbered them, which if so is quite a feat. Of course it could just be random...
There's also a code on the card (removed from the photo) that can be entered into the new LEGO House app for IOS and Android (more on which later) to retrieve the instructions.
The back of the card is quite cool too...
Construction
It doesn't take long to snap the pieces together in the pattern shown, and indeed you may well have the parts in your collection already to avoid having to open the bag.
It's not the most robust construction and probably wouldn't pass inspection by LEGO's design department.
Verdict
It looks like a simple enough set, doesn't it, but it's one with almost infinite possibilities and could therefore be the only set you need ever own.
Let's assume that putting the above model together takes 10 seconds. Thus, to construct all of the nearly 1 billion combinations will take you about 152 million minutes, or 290 years. If you start now you can hand the project down to your children, you grandchildren and their kids too...
Getting yourself to the House to obtain one of these will avoid the need to buy a UCS Millennium Falcon or any other set for that matter and will provide years and years of building possibilities!
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29 comments on this article
Love it. What a fantastic souvenir.
This is the simplest, but neatest set I’ve ever seen. XD
Amazing idea!
LOL! I must say, all that idea of the bricks being moulded and packaged there on site and the instruction cards stuff is incredibly fun and interesting, not to mention educational. Well played Lego!
PS as for the combo number, it could be that the number itself encode the building in some way, so they just get a random (never issued before) number and the software calculate the combo.
PPS i wonder if some inappropriate combos are possible with those pieces (like sexual or offensive shapes) and if Lego considered it :D
I wonder if the calculated number of combintation required every brick to be connected to each other using at least 2 studs? If they allowed single stud connections then the bricks could rotate, meaning litterally infinate numbers of shapes.
These pages make for interesting reading about how the number was calculated:
http://www.math.ku.dk/~eilers/lego.html
http://mentalfloss.com/article/92127/how-many-combinations-are-possible-using-6-lego-bricks
Aww, I have a Super Limited Edition white backside card! ;-)
It's a really neat idea, and the fact the bags are produced right in front of you is really cool. If you want, you can follow your bricks and grab the exact bag you saw being molded.
If any offensive shapes would be possible, it'd be a chance of, say, 10 in 915,103,765. Maybe that is enough to make TLG care, but that would mean someone would have had to look at 915,103,765 mockups!
Idea: Get a UCS MF after all - and use the dozens of small extra parts to decorate the six 2x4 bricks. Even more possibilities! :D
I'd prefer this in lime green.
^ My guess is that since they're all red at the moment, some future "Special Edition" version(s) will be other colours.
I want to see a picture of each combo in the Brickset database...
"Almost infinite". What a mind-bending concept! Lego knows no bounds. Or almost no bounds.
I want one!
Since there are 915,103,765 possibilities, does each person get their own unique instructions?
I'm going to hold out for the UCS 12-brick version of this.
Fun Fact:
Your personal combination is available just after you checkin, and have your wristband.
You just need the Wristband Code & the ticket code (on the PDF from your booking)
Add your visit in the App, and download the content available. Yes, ones you leave the building, the combination is the one printed on the card.
PS: You can re-check your visit more than ones to download new things you did after the last time you downloaded content. For now, though, it seems as if you can't re-download content more than the one time for each item.
It'd be interesting to see how these bricks would shape up against LEGO's meticulous quality testing. Since they're produced on-site, what would happen if a batch produced defective bricks?
I thought, bricks are also moulded in the Legoland parks. Or am I wrong?
Without instruction booklet? I will pass on this one.
Sooooo...what does it cost to tour the Lego House and is there a joint one day ticket for Legoland Billund? Sounds like a lot of folks are going to revisit Billund just to see the House. Maybe LEGO can put together a package with flight from many European cities and a one or two day pass to both the House and the Park. Way to go, TLG!
Wow, the card is very cool. Will definitely have to get one of these if I ever visit the LEGO House. Thanks for the review!
Definitely better then the MF! Can't wait for Sunday to get mine.
Even though I don't have these particular pieces I have my own 6, 2x4 red bricks. Whats the difference?
Huw, I've just got to know - I assume you did NOT open your polybag - correct? :-)
^ Its seals are intact :)
Huw, you really should open it. The bricks feel really nice, different from the PAB bricks :)
An app with instructions to put 6 bricks together??? Isn't it obvious from the picture on the card how to join them? I must be missing the point.
These Lego House polybags are fantastic and it would definitely add to the experience to see the bricks getting bagged up in from of your very eyes. Why not spread the knowledge of the endless possibilities with unique combinations for every visitor?
Beside shapes construed to look rude, what about the issue with weaker structures? There are going to be some combinations supported by only one stud on the edges I'd expect. Huw's combo was actually quite a nice one.
Perhaps we should add the cards to the Brickset database to see how many we get before Huw needs another new server!
Great idea showing people how the bricks are made though.