Mattel Brick Shop Builds a 3,509-Piece, 1:1 Original Xbox — With a Working Duke Controller
Mattel has announced a 3,509-piece, true-to-scale brick recreation of the original Xbox console and its famously bulky 'Duke' controller, scheduled for release on 1 October 2026 and priced at US$329.99 / £295 (Polygon; IGN).
The set marks the 25th anniversary of Microsoft's Xbox, which launched in 2001. It is the second Xbox console to be built in brick form — Mattel's previous brand Mega sold a 1,342-piece Xbox 360 set with working lights and a removable hard drive (VGC).
This time the scope is larger, and stranger. The 1:1 build is not a static model: pressing the buttons on the brick Duke controller triggers flashing lights and hidden diorama scenes from three launch-era games — Halo: Combat Evolved, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Psychonauts — each paired with its in-game soundtrack. A hidden button combination unlocks an exclusive lighting sequence. Three removable dioramas based on those same titles sit inside the console shell (VGC).
The set comes from Mattel Brick Shop, a line Mattel launched in 2025 as its answer to Lego's adult-collector sets. The bricks use the same connecting-stud system as Lego, making them cross-compatible. Until this Xbox project, Brick Shop had focused on oversized Hot Wheels car models (VGC).
Mattel is pairing the console with a second Xbox-themed release: a 1:22 scale Halo UNSC M12 Warthog, a 935-piece set at US$76 / £70 that includes metal wheel covers and a matching 1:64 metal toy car, also arriving in October (VGC).
The console set is recommended for builders aged 17 and up, according to Mattel's announcement. Ted Wu, Mattel's global head of vehicles and building sets, oversees the line.
What makes the set stand out is the interactivity. Most adult-oriented brick models are display pieces — detailed, but meant to sit on a shelf. This one asks you to pick up a chunky brick controller, press a button and watch a small diorama light up to a soundtrack you might remember from a basement TV in 2001. The hidden button combination is a nod to the cheat codes that defined that era of gaming.
For collectors, the Warthog offers a smaller entry point, and the cross-compatibility with Lego means existing collections can be mixed in. Whether Brick Shop can carve space in a market Lego has long dominated is a question the October launch will begin to answer.
