Technics, Fan Culture, Vehicles: Building Bricks at Spielwarenmesse 2026

By Peter Pernsteiner

Whereas in the past Lego and many other building-brick manufacturers targeted almost exclusively children, manufacturers are now increasingly focusing on affluent adults. Licensed products from major brands and blockbuster films are playing an ever more central role. This report from Spielwarenmesse 2026 naturally also features interesting sets for children’s rooms.

Although Revell has been driving plastic model building forward in Germany for 70 years, the company only tackled building bricks last year and presented the 1.2‑metre-long submarine from the classic film “Das Boot” under its new Brick System product family. The success of this 1:56‑scale model - made from 6,483 building bricks - encouraged the company to announce four further adult-oriented sets at Spielwarenmesse 2026. The tilt‑rotor convertiplane Bell‑Boing V‑22 Osprey in 1:25 scale consists of 3,730 parts and has an impressive wingspan of 853 mm. The 57 cm long Spitfire MK.II Aces High in 1:18 scale, made from 2,802 bricks, was created in reference to a historical aircraft from the Battle of Britain, but it will likely be aimed above all at the countless fans of the hard‑rock band Iron Maiden, as it featured both on the 1984 single “Aces High” and was to be thematically linked to the band’s concerts in summer 2026. Cinema fans of Top Gun may be excited by the F‑14A Tomcat building‑brick model, which comprises 2,687 parts and even features movable wings with a span of up to 61 cm. Also announced in Nuremberg was the historic sailing ship Cutty Sark, with an imposing length of 137 cm and more than 5,000 parts. My YouTube-Video can give a small impression of the Revell Brick System. 

Innovative High‑Tech Brick

Market leader Lego showed in Germany for the first time samples of the now‑available Smart Play series. At the heart of this innovative concept is the Lego Smart Brick in the size of a 2x4 stud brick (16 x 32 mm) with a height of just under 18 mm including studs. In addition to color‑changing miniature LEDs and a speaker, the brick houses a Lego‑developed programmable silicon ASIC microchip with integrated sensors and various interfaces. The Smart Brick’s internal battery is charged wirelessly on an inductive charger, similar to modern smartphones. This uses miniature coils that can also detect Smart Tags for a range of play functions. Since multiple coils are placed at different positions within the brick, positional detection is even possible. The Smart Tags are integrated, for example, into flat 2x2 tile bricks and into Minifigures that belong to the playsets. According to Lego, no fewer than 25 patents have been filed for this. With the Smart Bricks, Lego aims to excite both adults and children. They require no internet and no smartphone to operate, but can be managed and updated via Bluetooth using a Smart Assist app on a smartphone while connected to the Lego charger. Marketing started with several base and expansion sets around the Star Wars theme. The base sets of 473 to 962 pieces include one or two Smart Bricks, one to three Smart Minifigures, one to five Smart Tags and a charger. More theme worlds will presumably follow soon.

Brixies has also devised a new tech concept. Here a radio control system offers six proportionally controllable functions and can be individually customized with building bricks. The basic housing is 16x8 studs and two studs high. The first vehicles are a functional PistenBully snow groomer and three tractors. The PistenBully, made from around 3,000 parts, has six motors for the tracks, the blade and more. The model of the Steyr tractor Cervus 6440 consists of 2,200 parts. It has all‑wheel drive with planetary gear and differential. In addition, there is an adjustable top link for attachments at the rear and front, an adjustable implement carrier, and a motorized PTO so that attachments can move. Further tractors announced include the MB trac 1500 and the Claas Axion 9450.

Also a nice idea are the 18 cm high and 14 cm wide Booknook fold‑out houses for the bookshelf. Opened up they are 38 cm wide and contain a imaginatively designed themed world. The sets - on the themes of flower shop, bookstore, fairy‑tale land and sea view - each consist of more than 1,000 parts. Also new is a huge fire station with a hall for four large emergency vehicles. The building consists of 2,338 parts and requires an area of 77 x 26 cm. It is aimed primarily at adult fire‑service fans. The vehicle hall has four operational doors and an attractive interior. The building also features a large illuminated “fire department” sign, and the first floor offers space for crew and training rooms. The separately available emergency vehicles also offer several functional details.

Voluntary Fire Department for the First Time

Thorsten Klahold is targeting children above all with his new Kiddicraft-sets around a police station (799 parts) and a fire station play building (960 parts), which - using included specially printed tile pieces - can alternatively be staged as a volunteer fire brigade. Both sets are designed as fold‑open play houses in which a lot can be done with the included Kiddiz figures. Matching add‑on sets are available at low cost, such as a fire helicopter, an ambulance, an emergency team with a turntable ladder vehicle, a police traffic checkpoint, or a tongue‑in‑cheek “bank robbery.” Creative play ideas are intended to be sparked by a Family Building Box of 629 parts. With the Citadel of the Necromancer from the new Herocraft Dungeons series and corresponding expansion sets, Kiddicraft aims to excite not only children but also fans of the fantasy board‑game scene - apparently a cooperation with the game publisher Pegasus is already underway. Other cooperations using the Kiddiz figures have existed since the beginning of the year with Fischertechnik and Revell. Finally, under the name My First, Kiddicraft presented for the first time a basic box of 60 large bricks for toddlers from 18 months, which are intended to be compatible with the market leader’s Duplo bricks.

Whether OpenBricks sets based on the children’s book and film series “The School of Magical Animals” will really interest only the six‑and‑up age group remains to be seen, because for example the well‑detailed penguin Juri made from 576 parts and the almost 30‑centimetre‑long fox Rabbat are beautiful decorative pieces for a living‑room shelf. For reenacting film scenes, there is the pet shop owner Mister Morrison’s bus and the 256 x 192 mm magical classroom with teacher, blackboard, desk, school benches and minifigures of children and animals. In autumn 2026, large sets such as the Winterstein School of more than 2,500 building bricks will follow. Adults’ imaginations are to be awakened by the new product family “City Designer.” It invites builders to create whole cities based on mini‑modules for streets, rails, rivers, houses and more. This includes tiny cars, locomotives and entire trains with bricks just one stud wide. A prototype of a motorized mini‑railway with 1x3‑stud tiny locomotives and wagons was also shown in Nuremberg. In addition to sets sold directly or via specialist retailers, OpenBricks also offers commissioned building‑brick sets for customers - such as industry companies that want a different kind of promotional gift or fan products for large sports clubs. To demonstrate its capabilities, the company showed, among other things, a prototype model of Olympique Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome made from around 6,500 parts at Spielwarenmesse. More about OpenBricks can be found in this video interview.

Ideas for Football Fans

Football was also a big theme for other building‑brick manufacturers in Nuremberg. Neko Brands presented itself at the show for the first time. The company manufactures licensed sets for and on behalf of Spanish football clubs and amusement parks, among other things. Offerings include team buses, mini stadiums and also large models. One current highlight is the Estadio Barca of FC Barcelona. It consists of 2,236 parts and occupies an area of 40 x 40 cm when built. The roof is easily removable to reveal three tiers of stands in the club’s colours.

Soccerbricks from the Netherlands takes a completely different approach. Instead of licensed, realistic stadiums, the company displayed a variety of fancifully designed football players. These are produced to represent 20 national teams in typical kit colours with the national flag. In summer 2026 they are to be available in two variants - child‑sized sets of around 150 bricks in standard stud size and XL Bricks playsets for toddlers made from about 25 large format bricks compatible with Lego Duplo. The company also offers sets that can be customized for corporate clients - for example in hairstyle, hair color, skin color, facial expression, chant and/or player number.

Bryx Toys markets some roughly 15 x 15 cm mini football stadiums as licensed products, but has also already produced club mascots and team buses. The company, founded in 2023, is expanding the marketing of fan products to other sports, such as the basketball club Alba Berlin, and to iconic yellow buses and trams of the Berlin public transport company BVG. The electric bus consists of 319 parts and the five‑section 683 mm long articulated tram is made from 1,222 parts. It even features 52 individually printed elements such as modern colorful upholstered seats. Matching the range is the Monument Series with well‑known sights in miniature form, like city gates or the Heidelberg skyline. And of course, for a Berlin‑based company, the Brandenburg Gate, the East Side Gallery and the Berlin TV Tower must not be missing. New is also the Berlin Radio Tower at the exhibition grounds, made from 294 parts; its steel lattice prototype celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

Cars, Ships, Motorcycles and More

In addition to buses and trams, Stone Heap also offers construction vehicles, trains, lorries, ships and even the Wuppertal suspension railway. The company began in Austria in 2021 with the design and production of instructions for realistic building‑brick models of real vehicles. This quickly grew into detailed complete sets of vehicles as well as building models, street elements, traffic lights, signs, bus and tram stops or harbour dioramas. Very impressive for the harbour theme is a freely movable container terminal measuring 75 cm wide and 35 cm high, made from 1,583 building bricks. The company, which relocated to Karlsruhe in 2024, showed numerous interesting new sets at Spielwarenmesse and announced that it also planned to start retail distribution during 2026 and was seeking appropriate partners.

At the Double Eagle Industry stand there was not, this time, a real AMG racing car as an eye‑catcher nor any 1:1 vehicles, but the many sporty building‑brick display models from the CaDA brand were nevertheless impressive. Motorcycle fans will be pleased with the anniversary edition of the Suzuki Hayabusa. At 1:6 scale it measures 336 mm in length and consists of 1,043 parts. If you lack shelf space, you can build the machine in 1:12 from 299 parts. Formula 1 fans also had reason to rejoice. The BWT Alpine Team’s 2025 season F1 car comes in blue‑pink livery. The 1:24 model, made from 300 parts, already has a respectable length of 262 mm. Thanks to interchangeable, appropriately printed parts, it can be displayed with either Pierre Gasly or Franco Colapinto as the driver. For adults, the officially licensed Alpine A525 is also available in 1:8 scale from 2,173 parts with an impressive length of 71 cm.

Civilian and Military Vehicles

Polish building‑brick manufacturer Cobi showed in Nuremberg several not‑yet‑finalized prototypes of licensed automotive classics. Sports‑car fans may like the Audi Quattro coming in various variants in 1:35 scale. It will be offered as a classic tuned road car, a motorsport car or a rally racing version and is being prepared either as a standalone vehicle of 148 parts or combined with a racing driver figure plus winners’ podium and trophy as a 230‑part set. The VW Passat and VW Golf will likely evoke memories for many older adults. They come in two colours each as Golf GTI or convertible and also in a police version. The VW Bus family has been expanded with some vehicles from the T3 series, supplementing the T2 generation. The range includes a standard yellow bus, emergency vehicles for fire brigade, Red Cross and police, a winter adventure set and a playset of 232 parts with a T3 camper plus a small mountain peak, climber, bench for a break and a wild boar figure. Numerous 1:12‑scale cars were also presented - along with ships, airplanes and a number of other military vehicles.

Buildarmy from the UK specializes in faithfully reproducing military vehicles in building‑brick form. The company has been active since 2020 and plans to expand its sales activities across Europe this year. Most modern and historical models are in 1:33 scale. There are also matching building models. New, elaborately printed Brick Action figures were presented at Spielwarenmesse; these have much more detailed functional elements than the standard minifigures offered by many manufacturers. They feature combined swivel‑hinge joints at the shoulders and hips and swivel joints for elbows, knees and hands. In addition, the head can be rotated and tilted and the torso can also rotate. The company now intends to significantly expand its Micro Battle range of mini models in scales between 1:80 and 1:90 and, according to its own statements, is currently developing a board game on this basis. The product program is rounded off by elaborate 3D constructions for building models, such as the Coburg town house from over 400 years ago - which, however, requires procuring the necessary 20,580 building bricks oneself. These buildings are complemented by very detailed trees from Buildarmy, consisting of 150 to 589 parts.

Decorative Flowers and Living‑Room Accessories

In addition to trees, many building‑brick manufacturers showed new sets for beautiful, delicate single flowers or whole bouquets at Spielwarenmesse - some in muted tones and others in vibrant summer colours. The Nordic Houseware Group (NHG) also showed a 170 mm long Botanic vase made of transparent plastic with an 80 mm diameter. It complements the longer‑available 190 mm high ceramic vase in the Lego‑brick look. The company, active for 40 years, has been producing decorative large‑format storage boxes with official Lego branding since 2002. A novelty in this area are 25 x 25 cm transport boxes made of transparent plastic or felt‑coated. Both have a removable lid with four giant Lego studs.

About the Author Peter Pernsteiner

Peter Pernsteiner discovered his love for technology journalism while studying electrical engineering and soon afterwards landed a position in the editorial office of a major ICT trade magazine. Since 1994 he has written as a freelance journalist, particularly about technology topics - including for magazines in the model‑railway sector. In 2016 he also started a YouTube channel for technology reports, which now receives international attention.