Today, as we continue our adventure, I thought I’d briefly consider some sets that money can’t buy. Except on the secondary market. Let’s have a look at some sets that have only been released as Gifts with purchase, but designed to help build up the winter Village.
3300014 Winter Sleigh Ride was released in 2011, along side the Winter Village Cottage, and available as a gift with purchase. It again features a lamp post as well as four minifigures, although one has to wait, as the sleigh only has room for three!
As we continue our investigation of Christmas Holiday LEGO® sets, I thought we would return to Christmas decorations today. Specifically decorations given as a gift with purchase. These almost annual decorations tend to become available as a gift with purchase around early December. I have only obtained one over the years, due to the absence of a local LEGO Brand Retail Store and (until recently) a $200 AUD threshold on free shipping for online orders. That is the toy soldier decoration from 2016.
We are now two thirds of the way through our Advent-ure, where the Rambling Brick is travelling across the years to look at Seasonal Holiday sets that have been released over the years. Today I thought I would look at Holiday Trains. Train Sets have a great appeal for any LEGO Layout, as they add a sense of motion and life to an otherwise static display.
All Aboard!
Now, exactly what constitutes a Holiday Train seems to vary across the years. The First to be released was 10173 Holiday Train, in 2006: years before the conception of the current Winter Village.
We continue our exploration of Holiday sets today with more brickbuilt Santa Claus action.What could be cooler than Santa Claus? How about Santa Claus wearing sunglasses/ski goggles on a snow board, skis and snowmobile!And that’s exactly what you get in their curiosity from 2009: set 40000 Cool Santa Set. With 152 elements, this set allows you to build all three. Continue reading →
I found this set on display in friend’s living room: it’s a great little way to display your love of LEGO at Christmas time.
As we continue our Advent-ure today ( exploring Christmas holiday related sets, as it is the 20th Anniversary of the first LEGO Advent Calendar), I thought we might look at a couple of small vignette sets related to the theme. 40106 Toy Workshop was released as a gift with purchase in 2014. With two elf minifigures and a small, 8×8 stud workshop, with a few microscale builds as toys as well, it is a great example of what can be achieved with a low part count.How great is the detail in the vice, as well as the microscale train engine!
Following on from yesterday’s Christmas Ornaments, I thought I would survey the other sets that used the 2×1 printed white ‘Santa Head’ element. This print is not listed in the LEGO inventories on Brickset, and results in all of these sets appearing to be slightly incomplete in that database.
When it was recently announced that we were getting a forthcoming range of LEGO® sets based on the Overwatch Video Game, I was a little intrigued. A game that I perceived as a shooter becoming a licensed line of LEGO sets? While it may not be entirely my thing, it is a game that has occupied many of my son’s off hours over the last year or so. I thought “Terrific – a chance for us to bond and for me to get to understand this thing a bit better.”
As a newcomer to the world of Overwatch, I found myself confronted with a wide variety of what appeared to be confusing information. I am an AFOL, not an Overwatch Player; and it is from that perspective that I write. I have asked my son, Harry, to provide some commentary on the game and characters, so that we might better understand the sets that are available.
We finally got around to decorating our Christmas tree last night. As we unpacked our decorations we found these great baubles, Holiday Ornaments 852744 from 2009. Released as a set of three, we have several different renditions of Santa Claus: one wielding a sack, another with a present, and finally one on skis! I think we found them when we visited the USA around that time. Based around a printed white brick for Santa’s head, each of these models is subtly different. As a group, they provide an interesting look in our tree.
Congratulations to my friend Frostbricks who gained his 10000 supporters on LEGO Ideas earlier today for his submission ‘Food Stand Diners.’ Initially entered on LEGO Ideas in November 2017, it has taken a little over a year to reach this milestone.
I asked Kale about his thoughts on reaching 10000 supporters:
FrostBricks: Thank-you. Just thank-you. The support it has received is overwhelming, and none of it could have happened without the wonderful support of the community.
What inspired you to build this model?
Frost Bricks: The model was inspired by my love of food.It began with making life size food, in LEGO, that was realistic as possible. Something that could fit on any Foodies mantlepiece. But I also wanted them to feel like they belong in any LEGO city,cos I love minifigs and creating small worlds, which is where the Foodstand aspect comes from; so the merging of those two things really.
Do you have any advice for other builders aspiring to make a successful Ideas submission?
FrostBricks: Just build. Build because you love it. Build because you’re passionate about it. And as you do, always ask “how can I build to my best?” Because the secret is just to practice. To keep on trying. And do do your best in all things. That’s it really. And I know it sounds so simple, that many might disregard it, so I’ll add one thing – keep a record of the things you create, so that you can go back every now and again and see just how far you’ve come. Because success is a ladder, but practice are the steps that help you climb it. And I think that applies to anything worth achieving in life.
Thanks for those words of wisdom, Frostbricks, and I hope the review process treats you well!
You can check out the original LEGO Ideas submission here. This entry will go into the LEGO Review process with recent 10000 club members in the near future, including submissions based on the international space station and Space-X projects.
Today, we continue our Advent-ure: exploring past and present seasonal LEGO® sets released over the years.
Time for something we just have hanging around…
I am preparing to decorate my Christmas Tree. I suspect there might be some LEGO® based decorations to go on it this year. One, we picked up while travelling a few years ago, and was sitting close to the top of our box of decorations: 851358 – Holiday Bauble with White Bricks.
In a day or two, this bauble will be just hanging around…
The name is somewhat of a misnomer: this bauble also contains a selection of transparent clear and transparent light blue bricks, for an appropriately icy effect. Did I mention that it is now summer in Australia?
And that’s exactly what you get in their curiosity from 2009: set 40000 Cool Santa Set. With 152 elements, this set allows you to build all three. 
