The AFOLs Guide to Overwatch #2[75971 Hanzo vs. Genji]

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It’s been a busy time of year! Recently, we looked at the smallest of the new LEGO®sets in the new Overwatch theme: Tracer Vs. Widowmaker. I was not up on the lore behind the story, so I invited my son Harry to provide some background commentary, to help bring me up to speed.  If you are trying to understand the underlying stories, it might help you too. As we continue to explore the world of Overwatch, in the context of the soon to be released LEGO sets, today I am taking a look at the the second set, 75971 Hanzo vs Genji. Hopefully, Harry is able to help all of us…

With 197 pieces, and costing $AUD39.99, this is a relatively expensive set, with elements costing roughly 20 cents each.  We will continue look at the value of these sets as we move along through the range.

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The Rambling Brick’s Adventure #19

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Yesterday, I struggled to work out the nature of the the decoration that was unwrapped in yesterday’s Friend’s Advent Calendar, and an astute reader pointed out that his daughter felt it was a micro version of the 40139 Gingerbread House released in 2015. Having had that pointed out to me, I cannot unsee that version of the truth. So today, I thought I’d have a quick look at some of the gingerbread houses that have been produced as seasonal sets over the years.

According to Wikipedia, baking gingerbread was exclusively the domain of specialised gingerbread bakers, except at Easter and Christmas times, when anybody was allowed to bake it! Ginger bread houses became a popular construction in Germany during the early 1800s after the publication of the Brother’s Grimm’s Hansel and Gretel, where the witch’s candied house became the centrepiece of the story. Some food historians claim they were already popular at the time, and the the Brothers were writing about something they had regularly seen.

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The Rambling Brick’s Advent-ure #18

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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!

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The Rambling Brick’s Advent-ure #17

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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.

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The Rambling Brick’s Advent-ure #16

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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.

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The Rambling Brick’s Advent-ure #15

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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 →

The Rambling Brick’s Advent-ure #14

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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!

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The Rambling Brick’s Advent-ure #13

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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.

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An AFOL’s Guide to Overwatch I: Tracer vs. Widowmaker [75970]

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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.

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The Rambling Brick’s Advent-ure #12

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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.

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