Hi I came across this interview with a Sydney Opera House commercial partnerships manager, and he mentioned working with TLG on an Opera House lego set bigger than the Taj Mahal.

Extract from interview:

"For example Lego who we are now working with to create a Sydney Opera House set. They’ve recently completed the Taj Mahal, which I believe is a 6000-piece Lego set, and they believe this could be bigger."

Could this be the set after Tower Bridge?

Any Australians here with more news about this? I'm quite excited at the idea of a Sydney Opera House set cause the distinctive curves should be fun to re-create in Lego.

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If this turns out to be real (which it certainly sounds like right now), this is tremendous news! Although something bigger than the Taj Mahal will most definitely be out of my budget range, it sounds like a big treat for the lucky ones who get it. I know that there was some discussion about making an Architecture set of it, but this seems to be much more. Oh, and I love the idea of a speed-building contest!

Thanks for the promising news.

That does sound promising.

Capturing the complex curves of the original will certainly be a challenge.

Thanks for the news!

Thanks for this news!

Oh my, sounds like it may be a very big set in that case.

Will be interesting to see how they will manage all the angles in it.

Plates, plates and some more plates??

Wonderful news!

Ever since I saw the Taj Mahal set I've had the Opera House on my mind, trying to think of the best way to get the curved sails looking right. I think I can have a shot at it, I just need a bit more hose and a few thousand white road sign clip-on triangles. I have two.

I can't wait to see how they do it.

Although Star Wars is my main thing I sure like these large sets for AFOL's. Can't wait for the first pics. (oh great find btw)

Edited July 26, 201014 yr by OneSnowTrooper

Legoland California (USA) has this model of the Sydney Opera House. The rumored new model can't be THIS big, can it?

Now this is interesting news. I guess it might be in next years line up, but then what next after it ?

I'm a conformist! !

If this is true, that would be GREAT.

Its about time Australia got a look-in when it comes to these real-world monument sets and the Opera House is the most recognizable Aussie icon. The only other thing I could think of that would be recognizable would be to follow on from Tower Bridge and do the Sydney Harbor Bridge (out of black technic naturally)

Very interesting indeed. If this becomes big news, I'm sure Lego will send out their secret police after this guy for spilling the beans too early

So Lego has been working on this for at least 3 years and now they are almost getting ready to release it as 10234 later this year.

Looks like a very difficult build..... I hope that it won't have a bazillion SNOT techniques....

Man I would love to buy this (bigger than the Taj Mahal!), but sounds well out of my price range. I may save for it just because I am 'Strayan!

I do not know why but maybe I will be the only one that never understood this extra big sets of real buildings/objects...maybe if it was something fictonal, hmm, as LEGO HIstorian wrote: it looks really complicated and time consuming (but OK< on the other hand I know there are people that like exactly that: building one set for days - hope I do not sound rude)

I do not know why but maybe I will be the only one that never understood this extra big sets of real buildings/objects...maybe if it was something fictonal, hmm, as LEGO HIstorian wrote: it looks really complicated and time consuming (but OK< on the other hand I know there are people that like exactly that: building one set for days - hope I do not sound rude)

No, you don't sound rude at all.

Interestingly, my opinion is completely contrary to yours. I think that TLG deliberately makes such big sets of real buildings as they are simply more recognisable than fictional buildings and thus more appealing to a wider range of AFOLs. And I prefer it this way, assembling it over the course of few days.

I do not know why but maybe I will be the only one that never understood this extra big sets of real buildings/objects...maybe if it was something fictonal, hmm, as LEGO HIstorian wrote: it looks really complicated and time consuming (but OK< on the other hand I know there are people that like exactly that: building one set for days - hope I do not sound rude)

I don't think it's a rude comment all. I think the big/premium price D2C AFOL stuff is really just a question of marketing and personal taste. Some people love mini-figs, some like playability, others want media tie-ins/licensed themes, etc. For me, I savor a big build and the subject matter is secondary. I find building big kits relaxing. I picked up the Taj Mahal because I thought it would be fun and interesting to build (which it was) and it's been gathering dust ever since. I'll likely do the same with the opera house. If they were to release a 6000 piece castle (be it Neuschwanstien (real) or Hogwarts (fictional) ) I'd happy start saving my pennies and pick one up.

Big builds certainly aren't for everyone (and when I was a kid I could never even dream of being able to afford half the things TLG markets these days) but I'm glad that every couple of years they do come out with sets like the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and Tower Bridge - or on the fictional side of things, the Death Star, UCS Falcon and Super Star Destroyer. There's just something terribly satisfying about watching a big, seemingly monolithic model grow out of small parts that you just don't get from smaller, immediate gratification/short attention span kits - not that there's anything wrong with smaller, reasonably priced kits, it's just a different experience.

There will be a Lego set unveiling at Brickworld Chicago on Friday, June 14 at 8:00 CDT (June 15, 01:00 GMT). Considering that the Ewok Village was just shown, I would guess that Lego now will announce the Sydney Opera House. The large AFOL "Creator Expert" sets are my favorite series next to the modular buildings. And since 5% of their fanbase accounts for 20% of sales, I wouldn't expect Lego to stop producing these huge sets anytime soon.

Can't wait for this one. Haven't been into Lego that long so I've missed all of the large buildings except for Tower Bridge. Hope they are thinking about the Chrysler building in NYC or the Kremlin as future subjects. I can just picture a 6000+ piece Chrysler building in all of tis Art Deco glory towering above my now complete modular city.