Despite the fact that I am based in Australia, 2/3 of my readers seem to be from the northern hemisphere. With this in mind, here is a review of a LEGO Store Gift with Purchase – which seems to line up with the northern summer nicely. Unfortunately, it does not look like it will be available Down Under for the time being… 1st July it looks like it will have Australian availability in July too.

If you live north of the equator, it must almost be time for a summer holiday. From July 1st, the gift with purchase really reflects that, with a new summer themed 12 in 1 building set: 40411 Creative Fun 12 in 1

The set will be available in conjunction with purchases over $85US/£85/€85 from the LEGO store from 1st July to the 26th, 2020. Update: in Australia it will be available from 1-9 July, with purchases over $AUD169. Read on to see what’s inside.

The box opens up with a fold up lid, held closed by a couple of tapes. Inside, there are four bags of elements, as well as a small instruction book, outlining the 12 different builds.

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The parts are many and varied, although of note, there are no transparent elements and no wheels. But you can see all we get here:

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There are 23 different colours represented in this set – if you include the teal brick separator.

The parts come in four bags, according to size of the parts.

As I set about the builds for in this set, it became apparent that this is not a Classic set. There is a degree of sophistication within these builds that belies their simplicity. As I continued, I found a number of recurring lessons. Overall, I found this set, and the associated builds were a masterclass in SNOT and going off the grid.

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The first build is a pinapple. Built around a core of SNOT Bricks, this build demonstates the 2 plates required for appropriate spacing between the snot bricks, to allow a plate to be placed over them.

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We build some cherries, with a horizontal hinge acting to provide an organic angle. The watermelon is a little more sophisticated, using bricks with a clip and a plate with bar to convey the angle of the wedge..

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It s not just summer fruits, however. What better to have on a hot day than an ice-cream. Here we see the importance of greebling, to add a little interest to an otherwise blank surface. Admittedly the greebling is a few ‘candy dots’ on the chocolate coating, but greebles none the less.

This little duck is full of charm, and features multiple SNOT bricks, hidden by small arches. I like the way its orange beak breaks up the yellow arches that dominate the shape.

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Our next model moves off the grid in different ways: this sandcastle uses multiple slopes, including the 1×1 with 2×45º slopes. The cool yellow horizontal hinges allow a more organic shape, not fixed at right angles.

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These 2 small boats demonstrate different techniques to have the sails angled. The first merely relies on pivoting the bottom edge of the sail on the stud of a 2×2 offset plate. The other uses a ball joint to allow the sail on a windsurfer to be positioned as needed.

This Flamingo was probably the highlight of the builds: from the water plants, through the legs and extremely creative uses for a ‘trunk’ element, as well as a unikitty tail – both in bright purple – give this build loads of character.

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Continuing with animal theme, we next build up a fish – reinforcing the design of a SNOT core, similar to the pineapple earlier, and then a seahorse. Complete with its own little seascape, is is presented as a series of sub-builds: the tail, body and head. The head takes advantage of several clip-bar connections to get a relatively rounded shape.

For our final build, we have a small parrot: some neat parts usage here uses plates with clips on top as claws, and a ‘finger leaf’ for its tail.

Overall, these are simple builds, not taking more than a couple of minutes each. However, everybuild has something interesting to demonstrate, either on its own, or in conjunction with a subsequent build.

The most important element in the set is, undoubtedly, the brick seperator: each build needs to be pulled apart to build the next, but that’s okay: as I said, they are quick and day builds, and each has something to teach you: SNOT work; building off the grid using clips/bars and hinge elements; greebling; and the benefit of some really neat parts usage.

This box would be great to carry in the car if travelling on short trips during the summer holidays (Please note: the rambling brick does not condone wholesale unrestricted travel during the COVID19 pandemic – but I suspect this set was planned long before). It acts as a nifty storage box for the parts, and is quite compact.

The 40411 Creative Fun 12in1 set continues the in tradition of the Christmas Build Ups, released several years ago. This gift with purchase will be available from July 1-26, with purchases from lego.com or lego stores greater than $85 (USD) £85 or €85, depending on where you are standing. I was a little disappointed to discover that hits set will not be available in Australia at this time, but given that we are just settling into winter, it would feel a little incongruous. Hopefully it will turn up for us some time, at a slightly warmer time of year. ITS July 1 and the set has just gone live in the Australian online store- free with purchases over $169!

I enjoyed working through the builds, and for a builder starting out in their own MOCs, there are some good examples of building techniques to learn from. There is a good variety of elements to work with, and I think there is a lot of potential for other builds within the box. I give the set 3.5/5 Arbitrary Praise Units.

What do you think of this new Gift with Purchase? Will it drive you to make an order from the LEGO Store over summer? Why don’t you leave your comments below, and until next time,

Play Well!

This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes – all opinions are my own. Provision of materials does not ensure a positive review.