Review: 40574 LEGO Store
Posted by Huw,
LEGO has been producing models of brand stores since 2012. Some have been available as a gift with purchase at store opening events and others have been sold in the stores and at LEGO.com.
The latest, 40574 LEGO Brand Store, released next month, is one of the latter.
Summary
40574 LEGO Brand Store, 541 pieces.
£30.99 / $36.99 / €36.99 | 5.7p/6.8c/6.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Interesting but inessential model of a LEGO brand store
- Designed for play rather than display
- A great souvenir of a trip to a brand store
- Missing a store employee minifigure
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Two sticker sheets are provided, one with colourful and distinctive graphics that I assume form part of the design of newer stores, and one which includes 23 stickers representing LEGO sets that are applied to 1x2 tiles. Note the presence of Ideas and Technic sets among them.
The set comes with two minifigures, a mother and son. The most interesting element among them is the woman's vibrant coral legs, which are new this year and have only appeared in one set until now.
They are obviously both visitors to the shop, so it's unfortunate that there isn't a third store employee figure to serve them when they arrive.
The two-storey building has some attractive architectural flourishes, such as the finials and doorway surrounds
The side walls of the ground floor are hinged which allows them to be folded out to make a wider shopfront.
This then allows access to the interior, which includes all the usual features found in models of LEGO stores: sets on shelves, pick-a-brick wall, display models in the windows and the counter.
One very bizarre aspect of the shop is that the first floor is accessible only by ladder!
The ground floor can be converted from a square...
...to a longer building which gives better access to the interior
One of the windows has a couple of animal body stickers behind which customers can stand for a photo-op.
The top floor features more merchandise on one wall, a minifigure factory on the other, and models of a locomotive and castle in the windows. I think the round thing in the model is a building table.
The set has been designed for play rather than realism, although there are a few attractive decorative embellishments, and everything you'd expect to find in a brand store is present and correct. I think this is the first model of one to include a minifigure factory, even if it is only a sticker.
It's a shame there isn't a store employee figure and that it hasn't been designed to match the recent Creator 3-in-1 buildings.
It's hardly an essential purchase, but it would make a good souvenir of a trip to a brand store: something that many of us take for granted but which is still a big deal for some.
The 541-piece set will be priced at £30.99 / $36.99 / €32.99 when available at LEGO.com on August 1st
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46 comments on this article
What's the 1x3 double jumper there for? Why are those the only studs on the floor? Why is the rest of the floor completely tiled over?
Everything else looks good. Note that it isn't truly a square as it is only 14 studs deep compared to 16 wide. You can see how the sides aren't flush with the storefront when opened fully — those are only 6 studs deep.
Looks good, but somewhat incomplete... I may get several!
P.S. @Huw Great interview on Brick Bucks and thanks for all your efforts with the best site on the internet!
https://youtu.be/fuhtKGO29Yo
The stickers seems to correlate to real Lego sets... but some I don't recognize. Wonder if what appears to be City / Creator house sets are coming out in 2023?
The city one looks like a revamp of 8403 from 2010...
it really is strange that this and at least one other of the most recent versions of the brand store sets does not include a store employee figure, especially since those figures have been produced in the past.
@CCC said:
"A negative not mentioned in the summary pane for me would be the stickers. 40 stickers for 540 parts. So on average you need to apply a sticker to every 13th / 14th part. Another big negative is the lack of a roof. You can still have playability with a roof.
And who designed the sticker sheet .....10 11 12 14 13 15 16 17 ..."
I agree with the lack of roof being a negative factor for me. This seems to be a troubling trend in many of the new City and Friends sets. I know it is relatively easy to add roofs to most sets, but I wonder why Lego has seemingly decided to omit them.
@LegoSonicBoy said:
"What's the 1x3 double jumper there for? Why are those the only studs on the floor? "
The non-existent store-employee!
@Murdoch17 said:
"The stickers seems to correlate to real Lego sets... but some I don't recognize. Wonder if what appears to be City / Creator house sets are coming out in 2023?"
Hoping the stream train model is hint at a future set also.
@CCC said:
"A negative not mentioned in the summary pane for me would be the stickers...
And who designed the sticker sheet .....10 11 12 14 13 15 16 17 ..."
Yes, the order is a bit wierd. The number of stickers didn't bother me too much as they are all easily applied to rectangular pieces.
Will Brickset be reviewing the Loop Coaster?
While the LEGO sets themselves are stickers, at least they are on tiles, instead of on part of the bricks in the wall in some other LEGO Store sets/vignetttes. ( 40359: LEGO Store Picture Frame)
@SuperMatt said:
"Will Brickset be reviewing the Loop Coaster?"
Yes, that's still on @CapnRex101's to-do list.
I'll probably pop for this one as I am a bit of a sucker for LEGO store sets. But it REALLy needed a 3rd minifigure representing a store employee. Cost seems a tad high for what you get IMHO. I do think with a bit of easy work that this can be incorporated easily into a town/city layout and makes for a unique building/business. Good review, Huw, and thanks!
I have never been to a Lego brand store.
"PICK A BRICK" sticker seems an odd choice, I thought the official name was still "Pick & Build"?
@Ian_S said:
""PICK A BRICK" sticker seems an odd choice, I thought the official name was still "Pick & Build"?"
Always known it as Pick A Brick (PAB).
I believe "Pick and Build", a sub-section of Pick A Brick, came about when LEGO created instructions and provided bricks on the wall to build specific items like small vehicles and animals. Some stores still used this "Pick and Build" signage on part of the PAB wall. Perhaps it's a regional thing as well?
I know it's just a sticker, but I might have to get a sticker sheet just to go with my 21320.
Could that be a recreation of the soon to be open and first ever brand store in Ireland on Dublin’s Grafton Street???
Looks great for anyone who wants to add a Lego shop to their Hogwarts display.
I'm a sucker for collecting Lego pieces that are supposed to represent Lego sets (bricks or tiles). So I guess I have to buy this one :)
The fact that there's an obvious place for a store employee to stand makes me wonder if we'll get a polybag with an employee minifig as a gwp/vip points reward/90th anniversary event.
I used the Lego Store to buy the Lego Store, for the clearest of choices require the strongest of wallets.
I need it but, why doesn't it has a LEGO employee minifigure?
I'm thankful for LEGO releasing all of these sets I don't want. Maybe, juuuust maybe, my wallet can take a break for a bit.
As for the set, I can understand the play value. And likely if I had a kid interested in LEGO and knew of the nuances of a LEGO store, I'd be more inclined to get it. Considering my kid is a teenager and the closest store is over 3 hours away, I'm not too keen on it.
wow, an employee is still missing, like in 40305 ... TLG, why you don't hire someone?
However, 40305 was better... it had a ROOF!!
£30 is just too high for a small building. There's just too much I'd rather spend it on in the local LEGO store to consider it
Man. Those layoffs at LEGO bled into the toys themselves.
So....many....stickers.....
Little funfact: did you know that this set is the exact same size as the 40305 if you exclude the hinged parts of the new one, the roof of the old one and the small exterior details on both? Nevertheless, excluding the abscence of roof, in my opinion 40574 seems to be a direct upgrade of 40305.
It seems you need more time to attach the stickers than build the set this time! ^___^
Nice (no so) little set, though.
Strange that they've used the yellow passenger train set just in time for it to retire/be replaced.
I don't mind the lack of a store employee (got enough minifigures to act as one already) but I DO mind the lack of a roof. That's the biggest negative to me and I'm surprised it wasn't listed as a negative for this set review. I have several of the previous Lego store sets and there's nothing in this that makes me want to get it even at the decent price. I'd just end up having to buy extra bricks to add a roof anyway.
Does it need an employee if it's a self scan store? With the amount of police presence in Lego City? With the unemployment rate of Lego City citizens?
@pazza_inter said:
"wow, an employee is still missing, like in 40305 ... TLG, why you don't hire someone?
However, 40305 was better... it had a ROOF!!"
There was an LEGO employee torso in 31105 : Townhouse Toy Store and 40359 : LEGO Store Picture Frame.
Now there's one in the new 10303 : Loop Coaster but as a set that's a LOT higher priced, so Pick a Brick is a better option
The lack of a roof doesn't bother me, as the only Lego store set I have, 40178, doesn't even have four walls! (Although it does have a Lego store employee.)
@CCC said:
" @Huw said:
" @CCC said:
"A negative not mentioned in the summary pane for me would be the stickers...
And who designed the sticker sheet .....10 11 12 14 13 15 16 17 ..."
Yes, the order is a bit wierd. The number of stickers didn't bother me too much as they are all easily applied to rectangular pieces.
"
I can understand that for an adult building it, but for a kid they might want help. When my kids were younger they always wanted help putting on stickers, even on 2x4 tiles.
"
I buy a lot of bulk used Lego and see firsthand that stickers can be a real challenge for most kids. 4+ sets tend to be expensive, but at least they stick with printed pieces.
I'm not terribly into mini building sets like this, but it looks fun for the intended audience. As annoying as the stickers are, it's cool that there are 23 for different sets mixed in. (The review mentioned 19; is that just a typo or only applying to those that go on the wall and not the counters?)
I mentioned this before and will again... how do you as a huge corporation arrive at a price of 37 dollars US for a random little set? Like in reality for the content it should be 20. Lego would make it 30. Inflategate 35. But no, we must have TWO extra dollars per set. LMAO. What are we doing Lego?????
I don't like it. The building has no roof, and the two fold-out sections just seem so strange. Not only do those parts not have a roof, but they lack walls. And those sticker sheets are absurd and offensive.
Hard pass from me.
Yay! Finally. A new sticker set!!... Also, there's some plastic interlocking pieces that come with it. Hmm...
@briandrewz86 said:
"I have never been to a Lego brand store."
Ack! I don't think I could live there... ;)
This is probably the worst Lego store to date. Firstly, no employee or even a civilian who could act as an employee.
Second, no roof and a random ladder (they would have been much better off not including any specific access like they normally do, unless they had added stairs which I wouldn't expect).
Third, there's nothing special or interesting about the interior, which is also filled with random Rebuild the World nonsense.
But one of my main problems or queries with this set is actually the architecture. The tan, white and yellow just don't look right together. I think they were going for a modern Lego store inside an old building. That's fine in principle, but their execution here is atrocious. The Lego Store in City Square had a similar idea but looked heaps better. This looks like a half finished MOC where the builder is trying different architecture styles to see how they look.
Huw is right to point out this set is more for play than display, but my question to Lego is; Where's the play?
The only thing you can actually 'do' in the entire store is put a minifig near one of the animal cutouts. You can't even have the mum and kid come in and buy something because there's no store employees. What are they supposed to do, take the sets without paying? (Also known as stealing).
@ScholtzTKO said:
"I mentioned this before and will again... how do you as a huge corporation arrive at a price of 37 dollars US for a random little set? Like in reality for the content it should be 20. Lego would make it 30. Inflategate 35. But no, we must have TWO extra dollars per set. LMAO. What are we doing Lego?????"
If nothing else, those extra 2 dollars can help you meet the increasingly oppressive GWP thresholds.
@pazza_inter said:
"wow, an employee is still missing, like in 40305 ... TLG, why you don't hire someone?
However, 40305 was better... it had a ROOF!!"
inflation...
Thanks for the review, Huw.
You know what would be awesome?
A comparison of ALL the buildable LEGO Stores released over the past decade or so, in an attempt to find the best, and perhaps a top-3!
Thanks in advance!
:)
@ScholtzTKO said:
"I mentioned this before and will again... how do you as a huge corporation arrive at a price of 37 dollars US for a random little set? Like in reality for the content it should be 20. Lego would make it 30. Inflategate 35. But no, we must have TWO extra dollars per set. LMAO. What are we doing Lego?????"
Ferraris don't pay for themselves
I prefer the previous 40305, as I don't really get what the pictures on the stickers have to do with making a mini-fig, and maybe $25 seemed about the right price level.