Now, I am not particularly ornithologically inclined. So while I can recognise today’s build as a couple of birds, I am hard pressed to pick the actual species. Each bird is made of eight pieces, making today’s build amongst the simplest that we have seen in this particular series. With two days to go, and only one more model revealed on the box art, I am left wondering what is in store. It’s beginning to feel a bit exciting. 
Play well.
REALLY building up to Christmas
So… you know Christmas is on the way when Santa’s sleigh starts to get a mention. Today’s model is a sleigh, with a few Christmas presents on. But there is no one to pull it.
With around 27 pieces, there is no doubt as to what this represents.
Noone to pull it you say? What about yesterday’s dragon… minus an eye because we needed the light bright green plate for the present?
Play well.
Building up to terror!
Our Christmas buildup continues today with a dragon. Or lizard man. Both are cool.
Great use of SNOT bricks, red cheese and green plates, to say nothing of the cone and mixel eyes, means that this character is just about perfect.
He compares pretty favourably with the lizard mascot figure from the collectable minifigures: 
This build does many things right in many different ways. I give it 5 out of 5 arbitrary praise units.
Play well
Moving Along with the Christmas Build Up
During the holidays, people like to move around to catch up with their friends and family. They may use boats (day 1); airplanes (day 7); Trains (day 16) or some form of road based vehicular transport, which is how I interpret today’s build.
Using round 1×1 plats as wheels, a transparent cheese slope and plate for the windows, you know you are really moving with this one!
Play Well
#SameBatTimeAusNZ
THE LEGO Batman movie looks like it could be the best Batman movie to be released in 25 years. It is extremely disappointing that the Australasian release date has been pushed back to the end of March: forty eight days behind much of the rest of the world.
On top of this, Village Roadshow, one of the film’s production partners and distributer in Australia, have won an injunction in the Australian Federal Court to require all Aussie internet service providers to block the Pirate Bay and a number of other torrent/ movie streaming sites of dubious legitimacy by the end of January 2017.
Just in time to prevent early pirated copies of The LEGO Batman movie from being illegally downloaded by enthusiastic people, desperate to see the new film before all the spoilers spill into the internet over the next FORTYEIGHT days before the Australasian release!
In 2014 at a forum on Digital Piracy,the Co-CEO of Village Roadshow Graham Burke, spoke of the mistake made when The LEGO Movie was released after a two month wait, costing Village Roadshow around five million dollars. He spoke of a desire to bring Australian release dates in line with US release dates and that it was not right to delay release of this Australian produced film ( animated at Animal Logic in Sydney) in Australia.
Animal Logic are also responsible for Animating the LEGO Batman Movie.
This does not appear to be a concern on this occasion however!
This court decision is staunchly defending the rights of the distributors and content creators. I have no issue with this. However, I wonder if they will be able to get an injunction to block online spoilers from reaching Australia?
A number of the Australian LEGO blogs and Instagrammers have launched #SameBatTimeAusNZ as a social media tag to raise awareness and pressure Village Roadshow into reducing the delay between International and the Australian release dates.
Tag your social media posts… post images… be civil.
#SameBatTimeAusNZ is not about piracy. It is about globalised distribution, the opportunity to enjoy the film before online spoilers flood the online environment and corporate honesty.
Let Village Roadshow know that we are unimpressed with the decision to delay the release of The LEGO Batman movie for 48 days after the international release.
Play Well.
Gaining Character While Building Up
Day Eighteen has a nineteen 
piece build which goes where none of the builds in this set have gone before.
I see a child, with a beanie on, blonde pigtails in a skirt, with what appear to be impractical shoes for snow play. A great brick built figure, this is elegant in its simplicity!
This is a whole new style of build for the set, and I wonder if we will see a few more before Christmas arrives.
Play Well!
Build Up In The Mountains
As our journey through 40222 Christmas build up continues, it is probably inevitable that some models got a little similar. I initially thought I was rebuilding the bridge from the 14th, however this is on fact a very different building. A castle on a mountaintop perhaps.
There are towers of differing heights, a rocky, winding road (mmmmm….rocky road), and a few trees around the foothills. So many details in a 4×4 base. Another great micro scale build.
Play Well
Building Up While Scaling Down
This is the third green and black steam train produced by the LEGO Group as part of a set over the last few years. Each has a different scale:
The first is Emerald Express(31015), a creator three in one set from 2014. With six wheels and a green and red, almost Christmas like colour scheme, you may be forgiven for thinking it was intended to be a prototype for the holiday train. One of the alternative builds is for a carriage in similar livery.
Our next train to consider is the Holiday train from 2016. This minifigure scale train is transporting a Christmas tree that spins as the train moves.
Based on the color scheme, I presume that our micro build of the day is a micro scale version of the Emerald Express. Rather than a coal filled tender however, it appears to be transporting a couple of Christmas trees. Once again reminding us of the Holiday train.
This is a fantastic micro representation of a couple of trains presented in other scales in recent years. It’s simplicity is refreshing and you exactly what is supposed to be… which, after some of the brick built animals, is a little refreshing.
Play well!
Building Up a Solid Concept in Creature Construction
Today we have another brick built creature. I am going to make the call, and declare it a cat …or a brushtail possum. But I don’t think it really matters. If there is one thing that the Christmas buildup 40222 has reminded me, it is that there is a need to use your imagination when building with bricks. Lego city and minifigure scale is all very well when you have your creatures, pets and animals predefined with an independent mold, but to put things together from scratch, and to interpret what others have built takes a little imagination. Through the creatures that we have brick built with this set, we have seen a number of different techniques for building animal faces, years, posture, legs and tails. I love the way that the eyes position here makes you think the cat(possum?) has a great big grin on its face!
Play well.
Trimming the tree II
Attention!
Toy soldiers seem to have their own place in the mythic surrounding the magic of Christmas, from tales of toys coming to life to the nutcracker suite.
This Toy Soldier (5004420) appeared as a Gift with Purchase in November 2016 in various jurisdictions. With 34 pieces, he also has a small blue bag, secured with a gold ribbon for our soldier to retire to during the off season.
This is another example of Mixel eye tiles adding great character to the figure. I also love the use of the modified plate with 2 bars as a moustache!
There is limited pose-ability in the arm. I am fond of the official LEGO Gold String included!
Another quick and easy build, which is what you need during the frantic period that defines family tree decorating.
For a simple and effective design, as well as relevance to the Christmas theme, I give this build a score of 5 out of 5 arbitrary praise units.
Play well