seasonal

40587 Easter Basket: Gift With Purchase [Hands On Review]

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There have been some really interesting and desirable Gifts With Purchase (GWP) available with your LEGO Purchases this year. Some have, unfortunately, had required you pay a high price in order to ‘score the prize,’ as it were. Therefore, as we come into the late March purchasing period, it is quite a relief to see a fairly cute Easter-themed GWP available, with a buy-in price of $70USD/70€/£65. The promotion will run from 16th March to 9th April 2023, while stocks last.

I am fortunate to have been sent a pre-release copy of this set by the LEGO Group: Let’s take a look to see if it is worth the effort to make another online purchase this year? Or should you wait?

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40639 Bird’s Nest – Hands On Review

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As I write this, I am almost a week down the track from Brickvention, our local AFOL Networking event. As such, I am still in recovery mode. It remains High summer here: hot days, short nights, with grass drying out and the fire season approaching. But in the northern hemisphere, the days are slowly lengthening, the snow starting to melt, and thoughts are turning to the approaching spring, with new life: plants growing back, and migratory birds returning and setting up home in new nests, with eggs getting laid. And easter is coming, with its festival of coloured eggs, too. As such, I was delighted to see the first images of 40639 Birds’ Nest. I was delighted when I received a preview copy to review.

At 19.99AUD, it is a fairly inexpensive set, but is it the thing to put on display in your living room? Read on to find out.

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Binge Building the LEGO City Advent Calendar 2019- Part 1

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This year, I have felt as though I have been busier than ever. Sometimes when life gets busy, it becomes harder to find a little time to sit down and dedicate regular time to a project.

Just As I am now more likely to binge watch a television program via a streaming service, rather than a weekly viewing commitment, I have decided to take this approach with the LEGO City Advent Calendar this year.

Looking at the box, however, it seems to give us a great idea of what to expect as we open the windows: minifigures, vehicles and other snow based activities. In previous advent calendars, we sometimes see sequential builds develop into a larger structure, or to tell a story – for example, presents under the tree, while the family gather around the fire. Perhaps there are some hints to this as we look at the front cover of the box.

As I proceed with my binge building, I am curious to see whether the daily builds contribute to the build from the previous day, in one long narrative, or if we will see stories with parallel threads, waiting to be drawn together at the last minute? Let us start, by taking a look through door number one.

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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 →

Welcome to the Year of the Dog: 40235

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IMG_9956As the Lunar New Year approaches, our minds turn to the Year of the Dog.  Set 40235 has been available in Australian Myer Stores as a Gift With Purchase for purchases of over $AUD88  This is the fourth set in this series, including last year’s year of the Rooster (40234), 2016’s Year of the Monkey(40207) and 2015’s Year of the Sheep (40148). The Year of the Snake set from 2013 (10250) is of a completely different aesthetic: more of the creator 4 in one build able creatures type of set.  I would not include it in the current series. As well as the LEGO elements and instructions, the set comes with an envelope in which to place a gift of money for the recipient of the set. Continue reading →

Halloween and the horror of overseas travel (40203: Vampire and Bat).

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IMG_2110.jpgThe Rambling Brick Family recently travelled over to Europe during the recent school hollidays, and along the way we visited the LEGO Store in Paris, located at the Forum des Halles.  Now, I find it to be a difficult challenge shopping for LEGO when travelling to Europe:  It becomes a delicate balance between retail prices, Dollar to Euro conversion, easy availability of the set and on flight luggage allowances.

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Sculptures are another great part of the LEGO Store experience.

In France, there was not a lot to gain in purchasing sets at a saving by buying it locally compared to at Australian prices back home, or indeed purchasing sets online.  The prices and exchange rate just about cancelled each other out that week.  So I looked to exclusivity.  What was on the shelves at a reasonable price, that I might not be able to pick up back home?  Would I want to pick it up through shop.lego.com?

There is something to be said for the experience of visiting a LEGO brand store.  We were there in mid September 2016, and virtually every conceivable set was on display: The Disney Castle and New Death Star ( the one only slightly different to the old one) had just appeared in the stores, and were part of the instore display. The Christmas train was being unwrapped and built at the counter. As was Big Ben and just about every other set that would make an Australian AFOL cry out and bemoan the absence of such a retail experience here.  Even the Technic Porsche was on display. Continue reading →