This year’s LEGO Inside Tour has already been concluded, and though it has been weeks since the last batch of tour participants left the LEGO Group’s headquarters in Billund, their experience during the tour and the things that LEGO has unveiled in the process, is of great significance even for us LEGO fans residing in this corner of the globe.
Since its beginnings in 2005, the LEGO Inside Tour offers a glimpse into the inner workings of the LEGO Group. From their staff and designers’ day-to-day activities, to the daily operations of their production plant where the iconic bricks are made, tour participants get to see a glimpse of how LEGO is devoted and passionate in creating the coolest toy ever created. At the end of the two-day tour, LEGO caps off the experience with a very unique gift that each participant gets to bring home that perfectly sums up the LIT experience.
Each LEGO Inside Tour commemorative gift is unique in itself, with a new one released every year thoughtfully designed under close collaboration with Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, TLG’s current owner and grandson of LEGO founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen. Needless to say, this commemorative gift represents everything that is close to the heart of LEGO as a respected company, and symbolizes TLG’s significant milestones throughout the years.
If you recall, last 2016’s LEGO Inside Tour saw the reveal of the LEGO Truck Show (4000022) as its gift to participants of the tour. The set looks back at LEGO’s marketing efforts back in the late nineties where they opted to go mobile in promoting the LEGO brand among children and adults. More like LEGO’s version of a travelling road show, the LEGO Truck Show has proved to be popular during its heyday, with children excitingly waiting for the famed yellow Volvo truck to appear in their neighborhood. It represented a significant milestone in the life of TLG where the company can get to bring the creative fun of the LEGO brand to kids across the globe.
Each LEGO Inside Tour set, like 2016’s LEGO Truck Show, represents a very important landmark for LEGO. This year, LEGO has invested a great deal in envisioning another very important event in the life of the company. Under the helm of LEGO’s current CEO Bali Padda, the LEGO House – whose construction began in 2014 – is expected to open to the public on September 28, 2017.
Things are gradually taking shape within the LEGO House, with three large-scale, brick-built dinosaur models stealing the scene. However, awesome as these builds are, they are eventually humbled in comparison to the colossal, Tree of Creativity which stands in the middle of LEGO Square. The Tree of Creativity stands at over 15 meters tall and is made mainly of standard brown, black, and green bricks totalling to more than 6.3 million pieces. It represents everything that is important to LEGO, its history, vision and aspirations. Check out the video below courtesy of Beyond the Brick that shows the fine details of the Tree of Creativity and the rest of the cool things inside the LEGO House.
In the midst of LEGO House stands one of the world’s most iconic LEGO models, at over 15m tall and packed full of details and surprises even the most avid LEGO enthusiast cannot fail to be impressed by the Tree of Creativity.
Originally the team had a few more ideas for alternative models, but in the end it was the tree that won because the idea was so strong. The base and roots of the tree represent the LEGO Group foundation in wooden toys and at the very top LEGO minifigure workers are building new branches using a giant crane. Just like LEGO House itself.
The unique LEGO model is built by hand from 6.316.611 standard LEGO bricks and took 24.350 hours to assemble.
2017 is a big year for LEGO, especially when the doors of the LEGO House open to public for the very first time come September 28. It is no wonder then that this year’s LEGO Inside Tour pays a fitting tribute to this magnificent tree, dedicating this year’s LIT commemorative set to this fitting metaphor. The LEGO House Tree of Creativity (4000024) set stands as a reminder of the strong and humble roots of LEGO, and the ever expanding horizon that its leaves and branches reach.
Since only a few blessed souls get to attend the LEGO Inside Tour on a yearly basis, we are thankful to the Brickfinder for sharing the following images for all of us to see and appreciate. These images give us a closer look at the miniature model of the Tree of Creativity of the LEGO House, plus some background information about the set.
Stuart Harris, Senior Experience Designer and overall responsible for the large-scale models that will go into the LEGO House, shares his thoughts about the LEGO Tree of Creativity.
The Tree of Creativity is beautiful in itself, but it is also a metaphor for the LEGO Group. It’s stood the test of time and has grown over many years, which represents the continual growth of the company. The base and roots of the tree represent our foundation in wooden toys and at the very top you’ll see the tree is ‘unfinished’. Minifigure workers can be seen building new branches using the giant crane sitting at the very top, representing the on-going renewal and development of the LEGO Group.
Credit goes to Mr. Robin Yeo and Brickfinder for sharing these images.
What do you think about this year’s LEGO Inside Tour Tree of Creativity set? Do you think LEGO made a right call in choosing this as a commemorative LIT set? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
