Christmas Promo Set Reviews - Gingerbread House (40139) and Christmas Train (40138)

If you are one who celebrates Christmas, then Merry Christmas to you!  I was at Target on 23 December and walked through the toy area.  It was mobbed (as to be expected) and the LEGO aisle looked like a war zone.  There were only a handful of sets left and many people were walking around talking about LEGO.  I hope you have purchased the LEGO you needed to ahead of time and weren't stuck somewhere like the picked through Target that I was at.  

The LEGO Company usually does a lot of promotions around Christmas time and also has some Christmas themed sets.  They traditionally have Advent calendars (City, Star Wars, and Friends), some decorations made out of LEGO, and continuations to the LEGO Winter Village theme.  LEGO Shop at Home has also had a number of promotions to include free shipping on all orders, double VIP points, and what I'm going to talk about today, the free Christmas promotional sets.  I'm not sure when it's started, but LEGO has released 2 sets a year that come free if your purchase more than a certain dollar amount (usually $99).  The first is available around October and the next one becomes available around Thanksgiving time.

This year there were 2 sets.  The first was set 40138, the Christmas Train.  It was available from 13 October to 13 November 2015.  The set has 233 pieces.  Here are some pictures of the box.

The box just has pictures of the set on the front and back.  The front of the box says that it's a 2015 Limited Edition set.

The set contains 4 LEGO parts bags and an instruction booklet.  There are no stickers (thankfully) and the bags aren't numbered.  With 233 parts, not having numbers isn't an issue as it was easy to find the parts needed to build the set.

Here is the final version of the set.  It is simple, yet rather detailed.  There is an engine, a car with various Christmas treats (cookies, packages, a candy cane, a lollipop, and a few other goodies), and then a caboose.  There is also a sign and tree that can go along the train's route.

Overall, this is a great set.  You can't beat the price... free... well you have to buy other stuff, but if you time your purchases knowing that this will be coming, then you're not upset about it.  While being small, the set contains a lot of great parts.  I enjoy building with the dark green color and the gold colored pieces are good too.  Plus as a town and train fan, I've found that I can never have enough landscaping pieces so an extra tree piece is good with me.  It also has a number of small pieces that are extra for the set that you can use elsewhere if you plan to keep this train together.

The next set is the Gingerbread House (40139).  It has 277 pieces and as mentioned it was available around Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday for purchases of $99 or more.  

The Gingerbread House box looks similar to the Train box.  Just a simple picture of the set with the 2015 Limited Edition marking on it.

The contents are similar to the train set as well.  There are for parts bags, an instruction booklet, and then a 2 x 12 white plate external to the bags.  

And here's the final design with front, side, and back pictures.  Despite being very small, the designers did a great job putting details in to make it look like a real gingerbread house.  Like the train, there are some great pieces in this set.  The brick textured pieces included are great and some of the candy colored pieces can also be useful with other builds.  Like the train set, there are a number of small pieces leftover for other uses if you want to keep this set together.

Overall, it's another great set.  With only 277 pieces, the designers did a good job cramming in detail with a small number of pieces.  Like the train, it's a great piece to add to your Winter Village or to have up around your house as a Christmas decoration.  

If you want to get one of these, you have to look on the secondary market.  I'm not sure what the prices on Amazon.com or EBay are, but Bricklink lists the average selling price for the train as $30.83 and $36.04 for the Gingerbread house.  I have one of each available, but I they are currently not for sale on my site yet as I'm focused on minifigures for now.

Let me know what you think of these sets in the comments section.

"It all started with a big..." Set Review - The Big Bang Theory - #21302

Released on 2 August 2015, The Big Bang Theory is one of the LEGO Ideas sets for 2015.  With 484 pieces, it captures the famous living room of Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter along with the 7 main characters.  The set costs $59.99 in the US, which puts it at around 12.4 cents per piece.  This makes it a little pricier, but if I had to guess, it's probably from licensing costs.  I've had the set for a while and have finally taken the time to put it together, take some pictures, and give a review.  Unless you live by a LEGO brand store, it's probably too late to get it for Christmas, but if you are expecting some gift certificates to LEGO, then maybe you'll want to add it to your list.  

Like many of the LEGO Ideas sets, the box is similar.  Instead of opening on the sides like most, it opens up on the top. The front of the box shows the completed set and all figures.  The back of the box shows some close up views as well as close ups on the 7 characters.

The contents include an instruction booklet that talks about the show, the show's characters, the designers of the set, and includes the instructions for the set.  There are 2 bags labeled "1" and 2 bags labeled "2."  It also includes some dark tan base plates and a small sticker page with only 2 stickers.

The first set of bags contains the main shell of the room, part of the book shelf, Bernadette Rostenkowski, Amy Farrah Fowler, and Howard Wolowitz, Cinnamon (I had to look up Raj's dog's name), a few extra pieces, and a piece separator.  Here are a few close up pictures.

The second set of bags contains the furniture, the other shelf, a lot of the details of items that decorate the apartment, and Penny, Raj Koothrappali, Sheldon Cooper, and Leonard Hofstadter.  Besides numerous books on the shelves, there are some globe looking objects, figurines, a DNA strand, a few white boards, and some other decorations.  The next time I watch the show, I'll have to pay better attention to the items to see how close the designer got.  

The completed set is above.  The one piece I did not add in were some of the kitchen utensils to include some forks for the crew to have their takeout Chinese food.

Here's a closer view of the gang.  I'll have to pay attention to the rug next time I watch to see how accurate it is.  You can also see the green lantern, a rocket, and a few other items.  The build itself is nothing too elaborate with mostly basic techniques used to capture the details.  There are some great bricks in this set to include the brick textured pieces and some of the pieces in that make up the decoration details.  

Here are some pictures of the minifigures.  As well as some front and back shots.  Bernadette and Amy have their pants painted or maybe they are skirts.  I'm not sure which I prefer, the painted on skirts or some of the sets where there are separate "cloth skirt pieces" that you have to attach.  The only character I think isn't quite accurate is Penny.  I'm not sure if it's her hair or her outfit, but it doesn't represent Penny very well in my opinion.  The rest of the gang looks pretty good.  All of the characters have 2 facial expressions.  I only show one in the pictures.  

Overall, my opinion is mixed.  I'm a big fan of "The Big Bang Theory" show and think the set is a great representation of Sheldon's and Leonard's living room area.  I think the minifigures are great too.  There are 7 in the set and for the most part, they look a lot like the characters on the show.  On the other side, the set is a bit pricey and the build is not very exciting.  While the details are there, but it doesn't use a lot of intricate building techniques.  I recommend this set for those that are big fans of the show and would think it's cool to have the set to go with it.  Other than that, many LEGO fans would not enjoy this set for the build itself.  It does have some good pieces in it, but I'm not sure it's worth it to spend $60 for those parts.

The Bricks for Bricks store is open.  I'm still working on perfecting it so that why there hasn't been a ton of posts on it.  You'll see some minifigures from "The Big Bang Theory" set in there if you are just looking for the minifigures.

A Fix for WALL-E

If you read my post from Friday (11 Dec) you saw that I purchased LEGO's WALL-E set and I mentioned how the head swivels very easily.  LEGO had been working on a fix, but I hadn't heard what the timeline would be for it.  Well the good news is I e-mailed LEGO Shop at Home customer service and mentioned that I purchased the WALL-E set before the fix was implemented.  The response I got back was that they had sent me the new parts and instructions and I should receive it in 7-10 business days.  SCORE!  No cost to me either so another bonus.  

So once the package arrives, I'll post some info on the fix with pictures.

Set Review - Rey's Speeder - 75099

For Star Wars fans, the wait is finally over.  "The Force Awakens" opens this week in theaters.  For those of you who have been paying attention, the marketing for the movie started quite awhile ago.  As LEGO fans, that has meant that there are a number of new sets and minifigures available out already.  With a lot of the details of the movie not released yet, we're not 100% sure of what they all are, but there are some fun new sets and minifigures out there.

The first one I purchased to add to the store is Rey's Speeder which is set number 75099.  It was $19.99 at LEGO.com and I'm sure it's available through Amazon and other stores.  There are 193 pieces which works out to 10.4 cents per piece.  It's a little pricey, but most Star Wars sets are a bit more than others because of LEGO having to pay the licensing fees.  

Here are pictures of the front and back of the box.

The set contains 2 bag of bricks labeled 1 and 2.  It has the instruction book and then a sheet of stickers as well (I have to work on taking better pictures).

The first bag includes minifigure Unkar's Thug.  Like most sets, it includes a few extra parts of the small variety.  The completed first bag picture is below.

Here's a picture of the final completed set.

There are a number of extra parts.  Rey comes with a hair piece or she can wear the helmet.  One of the trailers shows her wearing it and also shows her walking with the... is it a staff?  Or a weapon of some sort?  I guess we'll find out.  

Not having seen the movie, I don't know how accurate the design is, but it looks pretty cool.  If you're a Star Wars fan, this set might be one to consider.  I'll be selling the minifigs and the speeder in my store so if you're looking for them, let me know.  

Set Review - WALL-E - 21303

Well it's about time that I got a chance to build some more.  As you can see by the title, I assembled WALL-E which is set number 21303.  WALL-E is part of the LEGO Ideas program where fans build sets and submit them onto the site.  Then other fans can vote on them.  If a design received 10,000 votes, the LEGO Ideas team will review the set to see if they will consider it for production.

WALL-E was picked up as a 2015 set and released on 25 September 2015.  It costs $59.99 in the US and contains 677 pieces.  That works out to $0.088 per piece so around the average.  Here are a few pictures of the front and back of the box.

Like many of the previous LEGO Ideas sets, this set comes with a thick instruction book that starts with some information about the designer and the set itself.  

The set contains 9 bags along with the instructions.  The bags are not numbered like some sets are so you have to open them all and build at once.  One of the bags contains just the treads to WALL-E's tracks.  The set also contains an orange piece separator.  

The build itself was not overly challenging, but my guess is some younger children would need some help with some of the parts that are a bit more challenging to put together.  I built the set over a few nights of free time.  I completed through #38 in the instructions after my first night.

You can see most of the main part of WALL-E's structure here and the start to the door that he opens to crush garbage into blocks.  After the second night I had a good chunk of it done minus an eye and his hands.

After my third night of building, I finished the set.  Here are some pictures of the final product.

Overall, I think the design is well done.  They did a great job capturing the design of WALL-E.  Having the plant is a nice touch.  It always amazes me how people can use LEGO to construct things that look very close to the real thing.

One note is the design of the head.  The swivel is rather loose and it doesn't stay in one place.  LEGO has come up with a new design for the swivel.  It includes some additional pieces and new instructions.  If you bought the set early on, you can find the instructions and some details here.  I e-mailed LEGO customer service to ask about how I can get the new pieces and instructions.  I will do another post once I get an answer.  In the meantime, from reading the various LEGO fan sites, it looks like if you buy WALL-E now, you will get the upgraded design.  If anyone has purchased it recently, let me know.

Should you buy this set?  In my opinion a lot depends on whether you are a fan of WALL-E or not.  Those that don't know the movie or didn't enjoy it may not enjoy having this set.  As a fan of the movie, I thought it was great and am glad I got it.  The price is about on par with other sets on a price per piece ratio so not too bad.  The build is very creative and if you want to take WALL-E apart, there are some great pieces to build other designs with.  I'm sure a lot could be done with the tracks.  Another bonus to the design, there was no sticker book.  All of the pieces that would have stickers are printed onto the parts themselves.  

If you got this set and have built it, please let us know what you think in the comments area. I'm curious to hear what other fans have thought.

It's a Ferrari! - Set Review - Ferrari F40 - #10248

I finally got some time to build.  WOOHOO!  I had 4 sets waiting for me.  The list includes Wall-E, The Big Bang Theory, Simpsons Kiwk-E-Mart, and the F40 Ferrari.  My first choice of build was the Ferrari and I definitely think it was a great choice, but I'll get into that later.

The F40 Ferrari (#10248) was released in 2015 under the LEGO Creator Expert line.  The age range says 14+ on the container.  It contains 1,158 pieces (I'll trust he box, I didn't count) so quite a few.  The price in the US is $99.99 so that works out to be $0.086 per piece so not too bad when it comes to LEGO.  No minifigures are included, but that was fine for me.  It also includes a piece separator to help you take it apart or help fix mistakes you may make (yes I did make some).  

Here are pictures of what the container looks like.  It is a decent size, but there wasn't a lot of open space on the inside.

Here are the contents of the container.  Four bags labeled "1" and four bags labeled "2" with a large instruction book (over 100 pages) and a small sheet of stickers.

The instructions were in a bag, but not with a cardboard piece to keep them from bending like in some of the larger sets.  The instructions weren't bent in my container so I can't complain.  The stickers were flat too.

Onto the bags labeled number 1.  I'll be the first to admit that I made some mistakes in this build.  I'm not sure if I was rushing or just that it was challenging.  It wasn't anything that I couldn't fix, but I definitely think the age range listed on the container is spot on.  Younger children can build this, but will most likely need an adult to help them out (which isn't a bad thing).  Here are a few pictures of the results from the first set of bags.  Lots of SNOT (Studs Not On Top) techniques, use of Technic style pieces, and some very creative building techniques.

The bags labeled #2 were next.  I was thankful that there weren't a ton of stickers.  Most of them were of the Ferrari logo, but a few of the pieces were printed on to save the hassle.  I am not a fan of stickers, because I never seem to put them on right.  The stickers I placed on look okay, but you can definitely see they are stickers versus printed on pieces.  More creative building techniques in #2 and some amazing building techniques I haven't used in the past.  The tires and rims were great too.  I'm not sure if they have been used in a previous set, but they definitely help make the model in my opinion.  Here are some pictures of the finished product.  Note that you can open the doors, the hood, and the trunk to see the engine.  I'll admit I've never been close enough to a Ferrari to inspect it to see how realistic the engine looks, but I think it's impressive.

Overall, this was a great build.  It was challenging with some great use of building techniques to create a final item.  The vehicle is very sleek.  I'm impressed at how the designers were able to create such a streamlined model using just LEGO pieces.  I will probably never own a real Ferrari... for one, too expensive for me and two, I have never learned how to drive stick shift and don't want to learn on a Ferrari.  However for $99.99, plus tax, I am okay with owning a model of one.  The build was enjoyable and it comes with a lot of great pieces if I don't want to keep the car together.  It's a great LEGO model for an adult, teen, or for a younger kid to tag team with an adult.  

If you want to buy it, I recommend going straight through LEGO through their website or a physical store.  You can find them online, but they are all marked up much higher over the retail price.  Amazon.com lists the cheapest one at $142 today.  Sign up for the VIP program and if you time it right, you can get a free item with it or whatever they are offering.  Also, the price will get you free shipping so that'll save you some too.

Let me know if you get it or if you have one.  I'm curious to see what you think.

Set Review - LEGO Creative Supplement - #10693

Thanks to some great friends, I received a LEGO set as a gift.  It was set number 10693, the LEGO Creative Supplement.  

It got a little damaged in shipping, but the contents inside are still good.  There are 303 pieces inside and they are displayed on the back of the container.

As you can see there are a wide variety of colors in this set as well as types of pieces.  It's not just bricks, but slopes, cylinders, some SNOT (studs not on top) parts, and a few other fun pieces.  There are even a few translucent parts in the mix.  The set includes a brick separator as well and a few 1 x 1 eye tiles.  Other than that, the set does not include any other tiles or plates.

The inside contains 3 bags of bricks and a booklet of some various designs you can build.  

So why would you want a bunch of random bricks?  To build whatever you want with them, that's why!  You can use just the pieces in the set to build or you can add them to your other sets and designs to build whatever you want.  

The set is $19.99 for 303 pieces.  That's a little over $0.06 a piece.  In terms of price, it's a pretty good deal if you look at price per piece.

Is this a good set to buy?  It depends on who is buying it.  A LEGO fan who builds to the limits of the bricks he/she owns will love this set for the added parts.  A child who is used to sets with instructions and minifigures may not appreciate this set.  So it all depends.  If you're looking to get me a set, I like it!

Set Review - Roaring Power - Creator - #31024

In the late 1990s, the LEGO Company wasn't where it is today.  In my opinion, the focus was not on building and construction, but on sets with that could be quickly assembled so you could play with them.  Many of the sets had big clunky pieces called BURPs or Big, Ugly Rock Pieces.  It's where they made larger pieces that you could use to assemble sets versus the smaller bricks that are more often used today.  I can remember at the time that one of my younger cousins took the time to write the LEGO Company a letter to let them know how disappointed he was in the sets.  While he enjoyed playing with the sets, he really enjoyed the building aspect.  

The LEGO Company's answer, or at least I think it's their answer to my cousin, was to start the Creator line.  In 2001, the first sets were released that focused more on the building and less on themes.  This line has continued since then and has included houses, vehicles, animals, robots, and various other items.  Many of the sets include instructions for 3 different builds out of the parts included with the set.  So if you just want to build fun sets, this is one of the ways to go.

I have purchased a few of these in the past and I recently decided to buy another one.  Set number 31024 came out in 2014.  It comes with 374 pieces and retails from the LEGO Company for $29.99.  At around $0.08 per piece, that isn't too bad of a deal considering sets typically average around $0.10 per piece.  You can probably search around different retailers to see if anyone is running a sale and get it cheaper than retail price.

The main set shown on the container is a sports car.  It uses a majority of the 374 pieces included in the set and the designers did a pretty good job using the pieces on hand to create a sleek looking vehicle despite all of the LEGO studs.  It also uses a lot of SNOT techniques or Studs Not On Top.  So instead of stacking bricks on top of each other, there are clever ways used to create the sleekness.  It says ages 8 to 12, but younger, inexperienced builders may need the help of a parent with this set.

The next design included is a seaplane.  This build uses approximately half of the pieces in the set and was not at detailed as the sports car.  

The last design included is a T-Rex looking creature.  It uses approximately 3/4 of the included pieces and uses some interesting building techniques to ensure that the legs, arm, and mouth all move.  

Overall, the 3 designs are all pretty detailed and use some different techniques to help expand your building horizons.  If you are looking to just build, then this set or the other Creator sets are the way to go.  Plus, 3 is not the limit in this set.  With 374 pieces, there are plenty of other things you can try.  So if you have this set or plan to get this set soon, enjoy and keep building!

Set Review - Detective's Office - #10246 (part 1)

Once a year, since 2007, the LEGO company has released a modular building.  You can see the full list here.  They are typically made up of around 2,000 pieces and are full of different building techniques and styles.  The 2015 set is the Detective Office.  It includes a detective office, pool hall, and barber shop.  While these sets are rather pricey, $159.99 this year, with over 2,262 pieces it makes it worth it.  It has taken me a while to build this set, but once I'm finished, I'll post a picture.

(Read part 2 here)

Set Review - Santa's Workshop - #10245

It's March and Christmas came a little late.  For a number of years now, LEGO has been producing a Winter Village theme.  They introduce a Christmas themed set in the October time frame and it typically remains on sale for a two year period.  I try to order the year's set around Christmas time, but by the time I got to it this year, it had sold out.  This year's set, Santa's Workshop, was on back order for quite a while.  It took over a month for this set to show up after I ordered it.  Lesson learned... if you want it for Christmas time, then order it sooner or wait for the summer time when no one is thinking of Christmas LEGO sets.  

I built the set over a weekend.  It's a creative build with some different building techniques, some interesting pieces, and a 6 minifigures.  I was also pleased that LEGO worked to get rid of the number of stickers you had to apply.  Some of the pieces had details printed on (the reindeer backs for one).  Overall it was a good set to build and will make a great addition to the other LEGO Winter Village sets.