LEGO London Bus 40953 vs LEGO London Bus 40220

LEGO 40220 London Bus

The first different is actually the box. LEGO released the 40220 set in a Creator Expert themed box featuring a background of London on a predominant blue background.

The 40220 bus design is 4 studs wide compared to the newer 6 studs wide version, which sound small but this allowed LEGO to create a small compact and giftable design with just under 120 parts. It's a great gift or souvenir you could have grabbed at the airport, at a souvenir shop or LEGO store while traveling.

LEGO 40953 London Bus

While the design grasps the essentials of what a London Double Decker Bus looks like in the early days, there is something off about the design and it's not the stickers or the 6-stud width. It's actually related to the windows on the new model. While the bus got bigger, wider and with a lot more parts, the windows haven't changed in size. The same 1x2 transparent bricks are used on the new model, just like the old one. And while it looked proportionate on the 40220 set, the newer model

Also worthy to mention is the price! The original LEGO 40220 London Bus had a median retail price of around 10€. LEGO's new launch price for the 40953 London Bus starts at 19.99€ when it launches on March 1, 2026. A doubling in price, and though you do get more parts, the price no longer falls into a "small gift" category or even a souvenir gift. You could get 2 iconic London Buses for the price of the new one today and honestly, the 40220 would look better.

What do you think?