40562 Creator 3 in 1: Mystic Witch: Gift With Purchase 14-31st October

It’s a funny time of the year: the Christmas/Holiday season sets have been announced, but the Gifts with Purchase are a bit unpredictable until we enter November: We went with early October purchases to secure the Gift with Purchase Ideas Set ‘Ray the Castaway’ and then out of nowhere… This Happens.

The 40562 Mystic Witch set is a Creator 3-in-1 set that will be available as a gift with purchase in the second half of October 2022 (there might even be a day or two of overlap with double GWP Points if you are really clever). In Australia, the purchase threshold is $165 AUD (or $USD100/€100/£100 ROTW): Perfect if you are looking at 10308 – The Holiday Main Street in time for the holidays- or another copy of 10497 Galaxy Explorer because it is an awesome set!

I was fortunate to be sent a copy to look at: will it be enough to trigger purchases during the latter half of October, before the Christmas GWPs start to appear, and indeed before Black Friday in November? Let’s take a look!

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Add Life to LEGO City with Creator 3in1: 31131 Downtown Noodle Shop [Rambling Review]

Earlier in the year, I spent some time looking at LEGO City, and how things were different to the LEGO Town of old. In part, that is because there are fewer buildings that are not garages, police stations, fire stations, or crime scenes, compared to the olden days. Houses, cafes and other businesses: LEGO Friends has had them for years, and we have started to see a shift in the nature of LEGO City in 2022: a new school and a green grocers are amongst this year’s new additions. But, of course, for the better part of a decade or more, additional houses and businesses have been appearing in the Creator 3in1 range, giving us lots of additional buildings to flesh out our town. I was therefore excited when the possibility to review some of this year’s creator 3in1 sets came my way. Recently, we looked at the Viking Ship and Midgard Serpent. Today, I would like to present 31131 Noodle Shop. This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group, but all opinions are my own. These sets will be release in Australia and Europe on June 1st, and August 1st in North America. The set has 569 pieces and will retail for 69.99AUD/44.99 USD/44.99€/£39.99

The noodle shop draws in a number of colours that have been in short supply, except in expensive sets – light nougat and olive green, and demonstrates a variety of building techniques and ornamentation – perfect for developing your MOC skills, while adding any nature of businesses to your town. As well as a noodle shop and apartment, there is a games arcade and also a cafe/apartment/bicycle repair workshop.

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The Vikings Are Back: 31132 Viking Ship and Midgard Serpent [Rambling Review]

In recent years, Creator 3in1 seems to be used to revive a classic theme where there are no current plans to revive it: We can look to the 31109 Pirate Ship from 2020, or last year’s 31120 Medieval Castle as examples of this. In 2022, we can look forward to 31132 Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent. I have been fortunate to have received a copy of this set from the LEGO Group to present to you today.

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It’s Out of This World: Creator 3 in 1 31115 Space Mining Mech [Review]

I recently reviewed the upcoming LEGO® Creator 3in1 set 31116: Safari Wildlife Tree House, due for release on March 1 2021. Another Creator 3in1 set due for for release on that date is the 31115: Space Mining Mech.

The set has three alternate builds, all based around space exploration, and particularly mineral surveying/collection.

This Creator 3in1 set has 321 parts, and will retail for $AUD32.99/ £24.99 /USD24.99 and €24.99. As such, it looks like particularly reasonable value for Australians, where, after currency conversion, we seem to have the best value compared to these major currencies. So should we exploit this relative bargain and buy many? Read on for my thoughts.

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