IKEA and the LEGO Group introduce BYGGLEK

The picture with the minifig stealing a banana had tricked me for a second. Well done! I also love the picture with the rocket. I might get a box just for decorative reasons. For a storage solution, I'll wait for the XXXXXXL version.

I'm just excited to see something new entering the market. Storage that is LEGO too.

Maybe not useful for storage but in a large moc where filler is needed.

The storage doesn't do it for me but if the LEGO set becomes available here in Australia I would buy one just because I am a huge fan of both LEGO and IKEA :)

@one_wag said:
"Maybe not useful for storage but in a large moc where filler is needed. "

true AFOL right here

ok but what about the instructions for the set, surely they should look like IKEA instructions, of course they’d be harder to follow but it would be hilarious.

I actually like it despite the size. I generally store and display my Lego with help of IKEA products like KALLAX and Algot and I am happy to see the collaboration. I hope this storage system will grow and we will see something compatible with KALLAX for even better storage.

I think it’s quite a neat (no pun intended) collaboration. If we had some, I would expect to see all my family use them at some point, whether it is tidying away random pieces or making models in them with a limited amount of pieces.

As for the AFOLs, there isn’t much value except watching your kids grow and develop using plastic bricks. To me, that’s a pretty incredible thing (of course, I’m a TFOL so some of my opinions may be out of place). For the AFOL, it’s take it or leave it. Instead of expecting better, maybe we should embrace how lucky we are to be able to afford these bricks and take what we are given in this instance? It won’t attract all AFOLs and, before everyone responds in the comments, it isn’t like normal sets. It’s been designed specifically for kids and the main target audience has always been kids. It’s been designed by two successful companies to try and help kids play and not make too much of a mess and to please their parents. If you don’t want it then don’t spoil it for kids. Please don’t go on about how they should’ve made something ‘better’. They may be just “plastic boxes” to you, but they could be completely different to someone smaller.

Overall, I think that this is a very good achievement, although I’m not sure it’ll sell too well, seeing as not many kids actually go to IKEA (the biggest draw is the meatballs!). It definitely opens a door of possibility where it might not have been otherwise.

Please remember, this is all my opinion.

As the boxes are basically huge system bricks, has there been any info on the dimensions, i.e. do the boxes conform to the standard 2x4x1 brick system in that they are something like 22x32x10 (judging by one of the pictures here) bricks?

I'm disappointed, I was hoping for some IKEA themed or inspired sets. This storage concept seems to be rather pointless to me.

Am I the only one expecting something "cheap anc chic" to display minifigs?

To be honest I was expecting Trofast furniture with "built in" baseplates but oh, well, the earthly prices of those boxes will compel me to buy at least one just to evaluate its usefulness

These are XXL Dots boxes. Decorate! :-D

How do you pronounce BYGGLEK?

This is even more exciting than I imagined it would be, judging from those photos! (I know not all the bricks that make the dragon or rocket ship are included.)

I may grab the set of smaller boxes to play around with, though I'm not yet sure what I'll put in them if not 40357 BYGGLEK itself or a similar curated selection of LEGO bricks. I don't think LEGO ever intended for BYGGLEK or these first products to be targeted at AFOLs, but I do hope the collaboration doesn't stop here.

@AustinPowers said:
"As the boxes are basically huge system bricks, has there been any info on the dimensions, i.e. do the boxes conform to the standard 2x4x1 brick system in that they are something like 22x32x10 (judging by one of the pictures here) bricks? "
Fortunately, Lukas from StoneWars was able to purchase and review them:

https://www.stonewars.net/review/ikea-x-lego-bygglek-boxes-review (English)
https://www.stonewars.de/reviews/ikea-x-lego-bygglek-boxen (German)

All the storage boxes conform to the system; their dimensions are listed in the reviews. But they can't be stacked connected like LEGO bricks.

@namekuji said:
"How do you pronounce BYGGLEK?"
Apparently IKEA doesn't want us to know or care:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOc1BvCEo00

Heh, "big leak" sounds about right though.

When I heard of the collaboration I was really hoping for some display cabinets for the modular buildings. This is rather disappointing.

I LIKEA these!

I have a modded Hidden Side set that I would like to display higher than it currently is. One or two of the smaller boxes would be perfect for that and I will get them if they are not too expensive or difficult to obtain.

I don't understand why they didn't go for a sorting/organiser solution (or at least have inserts for these to achieve that).

@ Slobrojoe:
I don’t understand how you can excuse this lazyness. Plastic boxes is something Lego was able to sell and produce for decades now, it didn’t need a partnership with Ikea and selling a new kind of box or drawer every 4-6 years isn’t so great as it makes additions to existing box or drawer collections harder when the style changes in just a few years and previous styles are being discontinued.

Maybe it’s hard to think creatively about this for you and other fans here as it isn’t your job and you rely too strongly on Legos creativity to give you input but when I think of Ikea I think of furniture and then I am reminded that Lego once made a play table with a huge studded baseplate in the middle (I think like 100x50 studs) around 2004 or something. The thing cost like 200 or 300€ which was ludicrous for the size, so when Lego partners with Ikea I would have expected a cheaper, similar product to become available. That would at least have had something to do with play.

It seems Lego only does partnerships with other brands in desperate bids to stay relevant instead of actually using the given brand to create something meaningful and unique that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Just like the Mario sets that are 1:1 copies of a line of off brand plastic block toys Nintendo licensed around 2012.

@Judge_Fudge

No offence meant to you or anyone else, but this negativity about LEGO is really putting an otherwise great LEGO sure down quite a few pegs.

I’m not “excusing” the product, merely ‘accepting’ it. There is a difference; excusing is implying that there is something completely wrong with the product (which there isn’t) and that you are defending it irrationally. What I’m doing is accepting: there are admittedly some small things that could be improved in the product and some preferable alternatives, but I’m recognising it for what it IS, not what it ISN’T. All companies will go through a stage where they make or sell a product that the target and previous buyers aren’t impressed with. This is the same with LEGO. It’s a lose-lose situation: if they don’t make anything, the customers will be miffed and annoyed; if they make something, it’s not going to appeal to everyone and there potentially could be a lot of negative feedback.

Let me go through some things:

LEGO’s primary target audience: kids
BYGGLEK product target audience: kids
Price: reasonably inexpensive

All these factors point to the answer: KIDS! They are the ones who are meant to buy it and therefore enjoy it. If it was a giant LEGO table like you suggested, KIDS wouldn’t be able to afford it and not all parents are AFOLs (believe it or not) and won’t be able to or want to spend the money on a big table with a few thousand studs in the middle and the kids who want it most likely won’t be able to afford a £/$/€200 play table. This product is a cheap, lightweight, small solution to compact play.

The thing is that LEGO doesn’t make things with specific individuals in mind. You (plural) need to accept that it wasn’t made for YOU in particular, like you take or leave the product.

Sorry for those bystanders, it wasn’t meant to be a rant...

@Judge_Fudge
Slobrojoe's comments are much more thoughtful and in line with Lego's creative values than your personal attacks. Your idea of "creative" is "cheaper version of product that already exists?"

You don't have to like the products, you don't have to respect them, but I don't think it's too much to respect the people who make them, and you absolutely should show some respect to other commenters.

In my experience, I find that the fans who demonstrate the least consistency with Lego's values are the ones who are most likely to accuse an idea of being lazy or not innovative. In my opinion, the issue is less about Lego's commitment to its culture and more that those self-described fans fundamentally don't understand their culture.

I don't think IKEA was ever going to sell anything that would be made specifically for AFOLs (like a 4000 piece LEGO set to build an IKEA store model for example). That's too niche for a company that specialises in volume and mass appeal.

I'm looking forward to seeing what AFOLs do with these boxes. Someone will have some really creative ways to use them. I'm thinking that it could maybe make a fun challenge to build an apartment inside a medium box (like the apartments IKEA set up in their store, showing what you can fit into a very small area).

@Slobrojoe said:

"All these factors point to the answer: KIDS! They are the ones who are meant to buy it and therefore enjoy it. If it was a giant LEGO table like you suggested, KIDS wouldn’t be able to afford it and not all parents are AFOLs (believe it or not) and won’t be able to or want to spend the money on a big table with a few thousand studs in the middle and the kids who want it most likely won’t be able to afford a £/$/€200 play table. This product is a cheap, lightweight, small solution to compact play.

The thing is that LEGO doesn’t make things with specific individuals in mind. You (plural) need to accept that it wasn’t made for YOU in particular, like you take or leave the product."

You just said what I have wanted to say forever. I see more and more negativity on every post, as if some people seem to think LEGO cannot do anything right. I'm just happy they even make sets targeted towards older people nowadays.

^ For those without Google Translate, the first syllable of Bygglek sounds like the first syllable of the English word ‘bugle’ and rhymes with ‘fugue’, and the second is pronounced like ‘lec’ in {lec}ture or e{lec}tric.

@Dude45 said:
" @amekuji : BYGGLEK means play by building/construction game. BYGG = build, LEK = play. For pronounciation, go to Google translate, select Swedish and just enter the word, click the speaker icon, it gets it right."
That's great! Thanks for sharing.

@Paperdaisy said:
"I don't think IKEA was ever going to sell anything that would be made specifically for AFOLs (like a 4000 piece LEGO set to build an IKEA store model for example). That's too niche for a company that specialises in volume and mass appeal.

I'm looking forward to seeing what AFOLs do with these boxes. Someone will have some really creative ways to use them. I'm thinking that it could maybe make a fun challenge to build an apartment inside a medium box (like the apartments IKEA set up in their store, showing what you can fit into a very small area)."
Yeah, I found it bizarre how so many people were having very AFOL-specific expectations when there was never a single mention of "adult fans of LEGO" in any of the press releases they've issued about the collaboration to date. The focus has very clearly always been on the play dynamic between parents and children.

Parents want to organize and store. Kids want to play. How do LEGO and IKEA marry both perspectives? By making the storage part of the play. Enter BYGGLEK. It's as simple as that!

This inexplicable inability to see from the perspective of people other than adult fans seems to be common across all adult fandoms of kid/family-targeted media too. Not that all adult fans can't temper their expectations, avoid personal attacks and strong language (using "passion" as an excuse to do so), use perspective or be objective, but it sure as hell is extremely common and oh so tiresome for the rest of us who can and have to put up with them. They tend to be the most vocal (again, so-called "passionate") ones too, so it keeps fandoms painted in a bad light for the general public and also for the rest of us.