The weird and wonderful world of Fabuland is given a nostalgic glow-up in the latest LEGO House exclusive set, 40506 LEGO Fabuland Tribute.

There’s nothing quite like Fabuland, and whatever your experience and knowledge of LEGO or the year that you got into the hobby, you’ll have come across one of the big-animal-headed figures from this strange DUPLO-esque theme, you’ll remember your first impression, looked at where it came from, and know exactly what we mean.

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There is a particular fondness among the LEGO community for this theme, which ran from 1979 to 1989, saw the release of just over 100 LEGO sets and featured named characters such as Edward Elephant, Bonnie Bunny, Max Mouse, Mike Monkey and Paulette Poodle. Set up as the theme to transition younger builders over from DUPLO to LEGO bricks, Fabuland created a world of buildings and vehicles built with bigger bricks and almost exclusively based around primary colours.

This was the first theme in LEGO history to introduce ‘storybooks, playing cards, children’s clothing and animated TV series’ geared around enhancing ‘the playing experience through storytelling and role play’ (there was even a vinyl record radio play released in Germany in its first year), and it is still held fondly by a sub-section of LEGO fans to this day.

Notable, vivid LEGO sets aside, that is in no small part thanks to the anthropomorphic figures that populated Fabuland, notable for their exaggerated features and the fact each was based on an animal. These are the subject of the LEGO House’s latest exclusive set, 40506 LEGO Fabuland Tribute.

For collectors and for those who have a particular connection with Fabuland, or a general affinity towards the odd stylings of this one-of-a-kind LEGO theme, the sized-up recreations of four of the main cast from Fabuland will certainly make a set like 40506 LEGO Fabuland Tribute a must-have. The effects that have gone into capturing the characters’ proportions and expressions are very clever and the display stand nicely frames the quartet with appropriate panache. With consideration too to the wider LEGO House exclusives collection, 40506 is a worthy addition.

To be honest, the LEGO House exclusives collection is probably the best place for such a set as this – it’s there if you happen to be in Billund for everything else that that location can offer, but it’s not the sort of set (strong nostalgia or not) that would have you rushing out to Denmark to pick up otherwise, nor would many of us be hugely fussed about if it went on general sale when there are plenty of other, current and more dynamic sets to pick from.

The LEGO Group is smart to position this product as an exclusive to the Home of the Brick, offering a unique pride of place for a set that holds a special place in the hearts of a particular generation of LEGO fans.

For more insight into the special place that Fabuland holds in the LEGO Group's history we recommend watching Matthew's video below.