Lego debuts SMART Play Gateway and reveals new Star Trek, Donkey Kong sets at SDCC 2026

Lego unveiled its interactive SMART Play Gateway and revealed new Star Trek, Donkey Kong and Shrek sets at San Diego Comic-Con on Wednesday, marking one of its biggest toy reveals of 2026.

TL;DR

• Lego opened a SMART Play Gateway at booth 2829, sending fans through portals into a Pokémon Lab or a Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina.
• New sets include a 1,701-piece Star Trek: U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Bridge, a playable 1,367-piece Donkey Kong Arcade and a Shrek minifigures line.
• UK fans can already pre-order the Star Trek set for £159.99; the Donkey Kong Arcade lands 1 August at £149.99.
• The reveals build on Lego SMART Play, a sensor-based building system the company launched earlier this year.

What is the SMART Play Gateway?

Lego unveiled the SMART Play Gateway on Wednesday, 22 July 2026, as its main booth experience at San Diego Comic-Con. Styled as a retro-futuristic departure terminal, the booth sends visitors through glowing portals into two themed destinations, according to Brickset.

The gateway is powered by Lego SMART Play, a building system launched earlier in 2026. Its core piece is the SMART Brick, a 2×4 brick built around more than 20 patented technologies that can read tags and minifigures, sense motion and trigger lights and sound, per PR Newswire.

Beth McKenna, Head of U.S. Marketing at the LEGO Group, said the technology marks a turning point for the brand. “LEGO SMART Play represents the most significant advancement in LEGO play since the Minifigure,” McKenna said. She added that Comic-Con was an ideal venue to show fans what the system can do, according to the company’s release.

Two portals: a Pokémon lab and a Star Wars cantina

Guests who step through the gateway choose between two destinations. One is a life-sized Pokémon Lab, where visitors pick a Poké Ball to reveal Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle and interact with the chosen creature, according to Brickset.

The other route leads to a Mos Eisley Cantina tied to the Lego Star Wars SMART Play set of the same name. Both spaces preview how the SMART Play line will expand beyond its first Star Wars sets, based on Nerdbot’s show-floor coverage.

New sets for collectors: Star Trek, Donkey Kong and Shrek

Alongside the tech showcase, Lego revealed three new physical sets at the show. The Lego Icons Star Trek: U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Bridge (11385) recreates the original series bridge and transporter room for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary. The 1,701-piece set includes eight Starfleet minifigures and features like a rocking captain’s chair and a working transporter effect, according to TrekCore.

The Lego Donkey Kong Arcade (72051) turns the 1981 arcade cabinet into an 18-plus display piece with a working play mechanism. A lever releases barrels one at a time while a joystick and button move Jumpman to jump over them, per The Brick Post.

Rounding out the reveals, the Lego Minifigures Shrek Series (71053) packs 12 characters from the film franchise, including Shrek, Fiona and Puss in Boots, into blind-box minifigures aimed at collectors six and older.

Quick specs: new SDCC 2026 sets

Set	UK price	Release date	Pieces
Star Trek: U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Bridge (11385)	£159.99	1 September 2026 (pre-order open)	1,701
Donkey Kong Arcade (72051)	£149.99	1 August 2026	1,367
Minifigures Shrek Series (71053)	Not yet listed in UK; $4.99 per box (US)	1 September 2026	Boxed, 12 characters

Source: TrekCore, The Brick Post and LEGO Group press materials distributed via PR Newswire.

UK pricing and availability

UK shoppers can already pre-order the Star Trek Bridge set at £159.99 through Lego.com, with general sale starting 1 September, according to GamesRadar. The Donkey Kong Arcade will retail for £149.99 from 1 August, undercutting its US list price once converted.

Why it matters

The SDCC reveals show Lego pursuing two strategies at once: sensor-driven “smart” building aimed at younger fans, and nostalgia-heavy adult sets tied to screen and gaming anniversaries. Pairing a Star Trek anniversary set with a first-generation arcade tribute suggests the company is courting the same grown-up collectors who drove its recent Icons and Super Mario lines, while using SMART Play to test whether interactivity can do for physical bricks what mobile games did for older toy lines.