LEGO Art 31203 World Map officially revealed

The LEGO Group has officially unveiled the latest addition to its Art range in 31203 World Map, which is the first set to break the 10,000-piece barrier.

Coming in at a whopping 11,695 parts in total, 31203 World Map – as its name suggests – builds into a colourful and eye-catching rendition of our entire planet. It departs from previous LEGO Art mosaics, however, by using both tiles and plates to create a distinct depth between the oceans and the various landmasses, which are also separated by their use of colour.

The map’s oceans employ a variety of vivid hues to reflect bathymetric mapping of the seafloor’s depths – or whatever pattern you choose, as the instructions encourage builders to go off-piste – while the landmasses are recreated in pure white, allowing you to mark specific locations (such as those you’ve visited, or plan to visit) using customisable brick-built pins.

That feature ties into how the LEGO Group is selling 31203 World Map, which has apparently been designed to combat the cabin fever most of us are feeling after a year of being shut in by the pandemic.

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“We know that our adult fans love to travel, but many haven’t been able to do so for over a year now,” said Fiorella Groves, Creative Lead for LEGO Art. “We thought that there was no better way of helping explore the world while relaxing in the comfort of their home than by allowing them to build, rebuild, plan and reminisce through building.

“We hope 31203 World Map will inspire new adventures in some, and help others relive and celebrate wonderful travel memories from the past.”

The customisation options in 31203 World Map also move beyond the colours of the oceans and into how the continents are arranged. We’re not talking about literally shifting tectonic plates to drop South America underneath Africa, but rather unclipping the three vertical sections of the map to place whichever continent you prefer front and centre.

In that regard, this is a global set with a global focus, and that’s a theme carried through to the accompanying soundtrack. Just as with previous Art sets, 31203 World Map includes a podcast to listen to while assembling the model – and as you’d expect given the theming, this one features stories from plenty of travel experts.

Among those is Torbjørn C. Pedersen, the first person to visit every country in a single, unbroken journey (without flying!), and Syazwani Baumgartner, a blogger who’s travelled to some of the world’s most remote locations.

31203 World Map will launch at LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores on June 1 for £229.99 / $249.99 / €249.99, before hitting third-party retailers on August 1. You can check out our verdict on the biggest LEGO set to date by clicking here, or head here for a full gallery of official images.

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Author Profile

Chris Wharfe
I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

Chris Wharfe

I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

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