Set Review - #40516-1: Everyone is Awesome - 18+

This one is definitely something out of the ordinary for LEGO, but good to see. I’m not going to get into the background of this set, but instead will focus on the set itself. If you need some background, I recommend you check out the designer video here.

#40516-1: Everyone is Awesome was released in the US on 5 June 2021. It contains 346 pieces and 11 minifigs. At $34.99 in the US it works out to $0.101 per piece. This is on average for most sets, but you also need to factor in the 11 minifigures in this set.

The box has the 18+ branding with the set on the front and back at different angles. I thought the set would be a little wider given the size of the box, but the pictures on it accurately depict the size of the set. So don’t be fooled like I was.

The set contains 6 parts bags. The instruction booklet came wrapped in plastic. There were also 4 larger white plates included for the base. You also get a piece separator.

There aren’t logical steps to break up the build so I just picked a few spots to stop and take pictures. To start off, you build the base which is made up of white plates. The two layers of plates is really one and then the bottom is a framework just to hold it up. You then start to build the colored wall at the back of the base.

Continuing on, you add the tiles along with some 1x2 plates to the front of the base and then the back is a mix of 1x3 bricks and then 1x2 bricks along with a larger tan brick.

Here is the set with the back wall continuing to go higher. You can see how they build it up with the tan bricks in the center. The tan bricks also help to keep it structurally sound.

Here’s the full set minus the minifigures. The back wall is cool with the different colored stripes and then the curves at the top.

Here’s the final build with the minifigures along with a few others at different angles.. In my mind, the minifigures are the highlight of the set. I think it’s cool to have so many different ones in just a single color. This opens up a lot of possibilities for future builds or other things you can do. Just searching online has shown a lot of different things people have done in this theme.

I think this set is meant as a desk display piece or something like that. I don’t expect to use it as a display piece and will most likely use it for the minifigures. If you aren’t looking to get this as a display piece, then definitely look to get it for the minifigures. I have yet to see it on sale, but maybe as it gets a bit older, it will come down in price at other retailers. What are your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!

Set Review from the Past - #10226-1: Sopwith Camel

I returned to the US from Germany and received some of my LEGO sets that were in storage. I had some time and re-assembled a few. It’s not my traditional full up review where I show the box and parts bags, but I can show the final (dusty) product.

Set #10226-1: Sopwith Camel was released on 2 June 2021 in the US and it retired on 3 October 2014. It is actually the second version of this biplane with the first one being #3451-1 from 2001. The 2012 version had 883 pieces and retailed for $99.99 in the US. This worked out to $0.113/piece.

First picture is a top view of the model. At the time, the dark green/forest green color wasn’t used as much as it is now (in my opinion) so to have that much green was awesome. The big Royal Air Force roundels on each side of the wings stand out as well.

While this set is larger than minifigure scale, it does have some playability. There is a control stick in the cockpit that is attached to strings. With those controls, you can adjust the ailerons (move stick left/right) and elevator (move stick back/forward). The rudder on the tail is moveable, but must be done by hand.

This set had a few stickers. The set number is the aircraft identifier and then the name “Sopwith” is printed on a sticker on the tail.

The engine looks pretty impressive and the propeller spins (not automatic… you have to do it by hand). The use of the silver colored bricks is pretty cool. I find it interesting that LEGO included the two guns in the front and there wasn’t an uproar. I guess since it is historical, they could get away with it. Maybe like Pirates sets and the cannons on ships?

Here’s another view of the set. It’s a good looking model in my opinion and makes a great display piece along with some functionality. I may be biased as I work in the aerospace world, but I would love to see more like this. I was disappointed that some of the Boeing 737s in the Ideas competition that received 10K votes didn’t make it. We’ll see if the Sopwith returns after 10 years as an 18+ set. If it does, I recommend scooping it up. Not sure how much the old one is on the secondary markets, but my guess is not cheap.

What are your thoughts on this one? Does anyone else own it?

Happy building!

Gartenschau Kaiserslautern - 2021 Visit

Sadly, I had to leave Germany and Europe. It was a blast living there even if part of it ended up being during a pandemic. Thankfully, I made it to the Gartenschau Kaiserslautern one more time before I left and got to see the LEGO display.

The entrance to the park is in a facility that they used to use for ice skating in the winter. Now you pay the entrance fee there, they sell LEGO sets there, and for the first time they have a LEGO display available. This year it was something I had not seen them display before. They built Fritz-Walter-Stadion - home of 1. FC Kaiserslautern or for those of you not familiar, home to their local football club (what Americans refer to as soccer).

Instead of putting a ton of pictures up, you should have the ability to swipe or click on arrows to go through the pictures in the slide show. If it doesn’t work right, let me know.

The next batch of pictures are right as you enter the LEGO display. It includes:
-A case with large scale minifigures with masks and various MOCs
-A large 2x4 red brick (made of ~24,000 bricks), a globe, and a large scale minifigure
-Some LEGO© House exclusives and a brick build LEGO logo
-A close up on the Lego logo
-Numerous Technic car sets
-Two pictures of a European street by Brick-Fans Rhein-Main including a building from the Old City in Budapest (picture #7 if you are counting)
-A display of London Buses, some race cars, some trains, and some MOCs of VW Beetles
-Some close ups of the VW Beetles

I probably should have gotten someone to stand next to this build of the Statue of Liberty to show it’s size. It is 2 meters tall maybe? An impressive build…

The lighting in the display area is not the best for pictures as you can see by these next to. The first one (on the left) is a Minecraft scene. It pours into a US Western scene. The western scene has been around, but the Minecraft portion is new this year from what I can recall.

Some Elves and Castle sets…

The picture I posted of Das Hambacher Schloss doesn’t do it justice. I think the actual castle is the upper left portion of the picture. You can look this one up, but it’s a castle near the city of Neustadt in Germany. In 1832, there was a protest that took place there and it is now considered the birthplace of democracy in Germany. This build is approximately 82,000 pieces and I think I saw it last year too.

Kleinkastell Pohl was a small fort used in Roman times that was located in Germany. Search this one online for more details, but it’s a great re-creation in brick form.

Here’s a pretty impressive Ninjago scene for those of you who are fans of that genre.

The builders merged the Ninjago display into a display of some of the Chinese Festival Theme sets along with a few MOCs. I like how they did this almost seamlessly.

The City scene they have there is always impressive and they evolve the scene every year with changes. You can click through the pictures I took and then go back to some of the previous years to see if you spot any differences.

Another large scale build of an individual LEGO piece.

2 MOCs… the first looks like it is part of a GBC where the robots pass the balls down the line. The other is a fun display of some collectible minifigures. Now sure who or what “TA” is.

The Empire State Building in a much larger scale than the Architecture set.

Here are two more cases with some more great MOCs and sets inside.

Here is a fun brick built rubber duck.

I’ve seen these before, but here’s the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate. You can see more of them from my visit last year.

I don’t remember this one from last year or I didn’t take a picture of it, but here’s a version of the Berlin Wall.

This one was there last year, but here’s Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof (Frankfurt Train Station).

Star Wars and Space were mixed into the same room this year. Instead of individual displays, they had a large display of various space vehicles in the same room. It was hard to pick everything out with all that was on display, but it is definitely an impressive collection. Click through to see below.

I gush over this one ever year, but the Cologne Cathedral build is phenomenal! If you’re going to visit this display, this is the one you have to take some time to check out. It’s very impressive!

Here are some vignettes of super heroes and a few others along with some animals.

A few close ups of the vignettes.

Die Sendung mit der Maus literally translates to “the show with the mouse.” This is a children’s program that has been on in Germany since 1971.

Last up are a few sets where they either added to them, modified them, or changed them completely into something else.

There’s a lot more there, but I didn’t take pictures of everything since some of them are unchanged from previous years. Still great builds, but you can see them in posts of previous visits I made there.

Hope you enjoyed my visits to various places in Europe to show some bricks off. I’ll miss it there, but I hope to go back some day. Hoping the Gartenschau Kaiserslautern will still have a LEGO display to check out when I go.

Bricking at the Library

I’m in the process of moving (again) so it has been a while since I have posted anything. Sorry for the delay. Just a quick one here…

I was at a local library recently and they had some LEGO sets on display. The library had a building club/group for kids to show up and free build. The area set up for this group had a large number of base plates attached to a wall. I counted 7 base plates high by 14 base plates long. That’s an impressive space. You can build long/tall builds that hang off the base plates, but you can make some cool 2-D pictures. Or maybe the challenge is to see how far off the base plates you can build until your build falls off the wall.

Nearby to the building area were some glass display cases with built sets inside. There were two with mainly Architecture themed sets. Most were skyline sets as you can see, but there were a few others as well. I think it was a simple, yet great display. The sets are smaller so you can put the numbers in that you see which I think helps. It also gives people the opportunity to try and identify the buildings and which cities they are from. I know my kiddo tried to pick out which ones she knew.

Next to the two smaller display cases with Architecture sets was a larger case with a bunch of different sets. The top had #10257-1: Carousel. Below it were a mix of Super Hero sets, a Harry Potter set, some BrickHeadz, and at the very bottom it looks like part of #21311-1: Voltron. It’s an eclectic collection, but it works. Hopefully it inspires some of the builders at the club the library holds.

The Library manager’s office had a copy of #31199: Iron Man from the Lego Art line on the wall. I wonder if that person is an AFOL? The manager wasn’t there so I didn’t get to ask.

Does your library have a Lego group? Do they have any sets on display? How did they do it?

Happy building!

Under Water Brick Building (for charity)

Think you are a great builder? You can follow instructions no problem and never make mistakes… What about completing your build underwater? How will you handle floating pieces? Won’t your instructions get soaked through? How do you open the parts bags? I hope there aren’t any stickers!

Check out the video below to learn about Sophie and her build efforts under water for charity.

A Scottish LEGO Designer and a German's Take on LEGO Fan Media Days

A few things to point out that I have not seen displayed across the LEGO Fan Media…

Scottish toy designer Amy Corbett built dream career from Lego - BBC.com

Here’s an article from the BBC. It you’re a big follower of LEGO, you’ll notice that many of the Designer Videos they produce and post on YouTube have mostly male designers. Occasionally, there is a female designer thrown in, but most of the time I don’t see them. The same thing goes for interviews with fan media. I’m not sure if it is just there are fewer female designers at LEGO or what, but I hope to see more female designers explaining sets in the future.

This article highlights Amy Corbett who I think became more widely recognized when she was a part of LEGO Masters Season 1 in the US last year. She is back for Season 2 this year and the BBC gives us some insight to her background beyond just her experience with LEGO Masters. It’s worth the read!

Assembled/Zusammengebaut on YouTube

I have highlighted the team at Zusammengebaut.com before. Led by Andres Lehmann, this blog gives some insight into being a LEGO fan in Germany. While my German is not so good, the power of Google Translate allows me to keep up with them.

Recently, the team participated in the Recognized LEGO Fan Media (RLFM) Days. Normally, I would see this information across multiple channels, but for some reason I only have seen information on their site. There are two videos they have posted so far with interviews with LEGO designers. The first is an interview with Marcos Bessa and Iken (didn’t catch his last name) about the new Harry Potter themed LEGO sets for summer 2021. You can view it here or below. The second is an interview with the LEGO Super Heroes Design team. You can view that one here or below. Enjoy!

BrickLink Designer Program - Round 1

If you haven’t been keeping track, BrickLink is running another AFOL Designer program. This time they are going to take some of the projects from Ideas that reached 10,000 votes, but were not selected for production and try to crowd fund them. There have been a few updates to the program since it kicked off. First off, 5 of the 31 total projects have dropped out bringing us to 26 total. Secondly, BrickLink released some info on 12 May with a change to the program. Instead of one round of crowd funding, there will now be three rounds. Round one will kick off in July, round two in September, and round three in November. The info page lists how they broke the projects up. For each round, the first five projects to reach the goal will get built. So we’ll get 15 sets total versus 13 which is good. The downside is that program will take much longer to see sets.

So with that being said, let’s go through the projects in round 1. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or vote with your wallet starting 1 July 2021 on BrickLink.

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The Castle in the Forest
Designer: povoq (Daniel VAN ZONNEVELD, 37 years old, France)

If I had to predict the first set to gain crowd funding support, I’d have to say it would be this one. This one is just over 1,900 pieces and is inspired by the Forestmen theme from castle. It also includes a few Black Falcon Knight minifigures too along with a few animal figures. With the following behind castle and after seeing the demand for #21325-1: Medieval Blacksmith, I say this one will get made. I’m thinking it’ll be around $200.

You can see the designer video here.

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Sheriff’s Safe with Combination Lock
Designer: Il_Buono (Denmark)

Here is an original idea… a safe with combination lock. The safe can actually be built with a combination to open it. It will also come with printed/stickered tiles which you can put in the brick built book to remind you of the combo. Of course, it is brick built so you can just take take the safe apart too. It also comes with a few other accessories both inside and outside. I think it’s a fun set, but it will only appeal to certain people. I’m not sure it will have the draw of some other sets. It’s at around 550 pieces so I’m guessing maybe $60? We’ll see how this one does.

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LEGO Observatory Mountain View
Designer: ThomasW_BL

Here’s another original idea that fits in with the CITY theme, the projects related to space exploration, and maybe the modulars. This one has some great play features and some fun details inside. Not sure how many pieces this one is so I can’t give a cost estimate. I like this one and hope it gets picked up for crowd funding. We’ll see if everyone else likes it.

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Particle Accelerator
Designer: JKBrickworks

I’ll be honest… I saw this one and was not impressed. And then I watched the video… I didn’t realize that this one had movement. You put the ball in and it keeps it going around the round track. I could see this set appealing to the GBC crowd. It’s pretty fun, but I wonder how the price will be if the motor and battery pack are included. At ~1,500 pieces right now and then throwing in a motor and battery pack. Are we talking a $200 set? Either way, JKBrickworks did an awesome job on this one.

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The Legend of Bionicle
Designer: Sokoda

So I’m not the biggest fan of Bionicle… I will say that there seems to be a large fan base for Bionicle pushing for its return. While this isn’t at the top of my list, there probably is a group out there that would like to see this. While it is not in the original form of Bionicle, a System brick tribute may work. I’ll be curious to see where this one ends up during crowd funding. I’m sure LEGO will as well as it will be a good test run for them as to whether they should do something with Bionicle again.

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Pursuit of Flight
Designer: JKBrickworks

Here’s another entry from JKBrickworks. This one has some mechanical movement, but is turned by hand versus a motor. You can see the video here. The set is expected to be around 500 pieces and will have three different aircraft that you can set on it. I’m hoping this comes in at $40. I think this one will appeal to a wide audience and lends itself to customization either with different aircraft, different genres (Star Wars maybe), or something completely different. I’m looking forward to seeing this one get produced.

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The Great Fishing Boat
Designer: EdouardClo

The history of LEGO doesn’t have a lot of ships if you pull out the CITY versions. There are the Maersk ships, but beyond that this would be another one. This is definitely a display piece with just under 1,500 pieces, but might look great on a dock with #21310-1: Old Fishing Store. I like the ship and think there are some great details, but I’m not sure there will be a fan base for this ship. We’ll have to see what the pricing is and what the final design will be.

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Kakapo
Designer: themfledge

We had a LEGO Ideas birds set a few years back and this is a come back with another detailed bird with a baby bird and a few accessories for fun. I think it’s a cool design, but I’m not really sure what I would do with a bird other than take it apart to use the pieces. That’s just me though. There might be a fan base from the New Zealand area or just bird and wildlife lovers in general. I think this one is a wild card. It could do really well… or not so much…

Set Review - #10278-1: Police Station - 18+ - Modular Buildings Collection

It’s an annual event for LEGO. They announce the modular building in the fall and it comes out in the January timeframe. Or at least that has been the recent way it has worked. This year’s set is a Police Station as the main piece with a small donut shop and news stand on either side. The set contains 2,923 pieces and 5 minifigures. The US retail price is $199.99 which works out to $0.068 per piece. This set came out on 2 January 2021 in the US and went out of stock rather quickly. I wasn’t able to get it until April and am just getting to the review now. Before I do that, here’s the link to the Designer Video if you’re interested.

The box is black with the 18+ graphics. While I like the 18+ graphics, I don’t like the black background. It makes the set seem dark and dreary in my opinion. The front shows the full up set with a logo in the upper left corner stating this set is part of the modular building collection. I like how they’ve finally acknowledged the subtheme in writing and hope it continues.

The back shows the set next to #10270-1: Bookshop. The two look pretty good together and you could easily picture seeing them on a real street. It also has a graphic of the building showing the dimensions of the model and then how the completed build is assembled in sections. On the bottom of the back are a few snap shots of inner details.

The box contains another parts box and then the bags numbered 1, 4 through 9, 13 and 14. Opening the separate box reveals the remaining parts bags. In total, there are 24 parts bags numbered 1 through 14, a grey 32x32 base plate, a grey 16x16 plate, two nougat 8x16 plates, and the instruction booklet. The instruction booklet is wrapped for protection which is prevents damage.

The instruction book contains one page of details about the set and designer.

Really LEGO? Only the best is good enough… except for these pages of instructions. Need to get quality control on these. $199 for smeared instructions. I don’t think so.

So if you missed it, LEGO announced it would be doing away with the black background instructions. Thank goodness. The dark brown pieces are very hard to see. At least the black pieces have white outlines, but the brown ones have black outlines. Unless you have the light just so, you can’t see the pieces!

I thought these computer models of the modular buildings all lined up looked pretty cool. Can you pick out all of the different modulars?

When will they do a re-release of the Green Grocer or Market Street?

Onto the build… Bags one and two assemble the base. While the donut shop starts immediately, the police station has a foundation and is raised up slightly. This allows the inclusion of steps and an attempt for a prisoner to tunnel out of the jail cell using the hidden spoon placed below the cell.

The news stand includes some papers with printed stories related to the set. Thankfully, no stickers!

The third bag almost completes the donut shop featuring a decent display of donuts available. I like the use of the collectible minifigure poseable piece (not sure the official name) to angle the donut display shelves) This bag also includes the donut shop worker with a coffee pot to carry around. Additional details include a water cooler for the police station, and furniture for the jail cell (toilet and bench).

The fourth bag adds in stairs to the police station. A new design is used and I am a fan of the SNOT techniques used. I’m glad it’s not just the big stair piece seen in other sets. A piece of furniture is added along with a window in the back and more of the wall sections. Over to the donut shop, there is a fun front façade with a stripped awning and the donut tiles.

Build five completes the front facade for both the police station and donut shop. The donut shop includes some vines that will eventually go up the whole building. The police station has doors, some lights, a sign and some SNOT work to create the architectural designs. It isn’t overly complicated, but it does look pretty sharp. This bag includes a police officer with a radio.

Bag six finishes up the news stand, the jail cell, the top of the walls for the first level, and adds some shrubs out front of the police station. The sidewalk gets a bench and a street lamp.

The bags numbered seven start the second floor. This floor has a base and then starts to build up the second floor of the police station to include a spot to take pictures of criminals. There is also a small apartment above the donut shop with a bed, dresser, and fire escape. To add to the story, the bed flips up to reveal a hole where the donut thief can try and reach down to get free treats.

The eighth bag continues to build up floor 2 with higher walls, and it just about finishes up the small apartment. There is a door out to the fire escape and then a window with decorations around it and some greenery. The police station side has some windows added in.

Build nine includes another level of steps similar to the previous floor. No railing so be careful on the way up! This floor contains two desks, a small plant, and an investigation map on the wall. Another police officer is included in this bag. This one has some handcuffs.

The tenth bag finishes up the front façade of the police station side. It is similar in design to the first floor only it has windows versus doors and dark blue shades over the windows. The plants that started by the donut shop continue their way up the building on the second floor.

Bag 11 tops off the donut shop and studio apartment. Then then starts the third level of the police station. The plants crawling up the side of the building continue onto the top in this build.

The twelfth bag adds more to the police station with the start of an interrogation room with some sort of recording device on the wall. There is also a small bathroom next to the room. I think this is this first official set with two bathrooms.

Through a door in the hallway leads to an evidence room. There are some gems, tools used by a crook, and a hat. The top of this small room comes off fairly easy for access.

This bag includes the female police chief minifigure sporting her warm beverage mug.

Build 13 finishes off the third floor with the finishing of the front façade. The corners of the police station match the lower floors and then there are columns added between the windows. There is a bird eating a donut on the window sill and there is a window air conditioner for the bathroom. You can’t see it in the picture, but there is also a table and 2 chairs in the interrogation room.

Bag 14 completes the roof. Above the apartment/donut shop is a small water tower. The police station roof has some toping off designs on the front. It includes a new piece that I have not seen before. Brickset.com calls it “Animal Head No. 15.” There is also an antenna which I assume is tied to the police radio system.

Pictured later, but added here is an ad on the side of the building. It’s for the laundromat from #10251-1: Brick Bank. This is a fun little reference to an earlier set. Thankfully, it is printed on and not a sticker.

Before wrapping this review up, there are 5 minifigures in this set. Modular sets used to have the old standard minifigure faces with just 2 dots for eyes and a line for a mouth. I think the facial expressions help to add some detail to the set. The police look stern while the donut shop employee looks pleasant. The last one I didn’t mention is the news stand worker. He comes with a news paper, a small over the shoulder bag, and a cap. He also had a device to try and fish for donuts from the apartment above the shop.

The set is built around a story with the police trying to find the donut thief while the donut thief keeps getting away. It’s a fun addition to the set I guess, but not overly exciting to me. My preference would be to have more bricks put into the building of additional detail into the set over adding bricks to keep up with a storyline. But that’s just my opinion…

To finish things up, here are a few shots of the completed set without the minifigures. You can get a good look at the two 6x6 tiles advertising the laundromat. You can also see the plants growing up the side of the building which is a cool build. Overall it’s a good looking building. It has some good build techniques and I think it mixes in well with some of the previous modulars. There are some good pieces for MOC builders too with a lot of sand green and the light purple-ish color of the donut shop. I will admit that this is not my favorite one that has ever been done, but probably not the worst either. To me, it’s somewhere in the middle.

The price of this one is a penny under $200 so not helpful there, but at least the price per piece isn’t too bad. If you’re into the modulars, look for double VIP point opportunities or cool gift with purchase opportunities. It is hard to get sales on these, so good luck there. I suspect this one will be out for at least another year plus so don’t panic if you haven’t found it in stock when you were looking.

Happy building!

Set Review - #71030 - Looney Tunes - Collectible Minifigures

It’s been a bit since we’ve had a new Collectible Minifigure series and now we have the first licensed series of 2021. This one is based on Looney Tunes with a pending release of a 2021 movie. There are 12 minifigures in this series in line with Series 21. This series cost $4.99 per bag in the US which is in line with previous pricing. This series came out on in the US on 26 April 2021.

Overall, the characters are mostly non-standard with only one having a standard minifigure head. The remaining ones have molded heads. For the most part they look pretty good and like the cartoon characters. If you’re a fan of Looney Tunes, then I recommend them. Or if you’re a completionist and addicted to collecting LEGO minifigures. Otherwise, the almost $5 for a minifigure is still a bit high in my opinion. I found them for $3.95 each locally so I can’t complain.

The only thing interesting about this series is the violence of the characters. It’s interesting that LEGO and their non-violent stance would do this series. Especially with the characters that have various weapons to go after each other. Interesting…

Onto the review…

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Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat are known for going after each other. In this case, Tweety has a large hammer (that can cause the minifigure to tip over if you don’t position it right) and Sylvester has a bat. Tweety is slightly smaller while Sylvester is larger so that works. Sylvester is pretty accurate and I can see where it would be hard for Tweety to be actual size in the LEGO scale.

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Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote are two other enemies with Wile E. going after Road Runner in every sketch. Road Runner is a bit larger in scale than the skinny bird from the cartoon, but it works. I’m not sure what the bowl is that he has with him. Wile E. is pretty accurate and I like the brick built anvil that he has to attempt to drop on Road Runner.

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Petunia Pig… I don’t remember seeing her ever in one of the cartoons. Maybe she’s new? She comes with a teapot and cup. The bag actually comes with two cups.

Porky Pig looks like the cartoon pig with his blue jacket. I like the “that’s all folks” sign.

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Daffy Duck looks pretty accurate and the “rabbit season” sign is fun.

Tasmanian Devil comes with a drum stick and pie. He also has a little spinner plate so you can spin him around like he does when he enters a room. He can also be placed on the usual minifigure stand.

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Marvin the Martian comes with his helmet, eyes peaking out from under the helmet, and his ray gun. I almost missed the little skirt thing in the bag, but it fits right in…

Speedy Gonzales looks pretty accurate and comes with some cheese slopes that are decorated like cheese.

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Last 2 minifigures…

Lola Bunny is… I had to look her up. I guess she’s from the first “Space Jam” movie. I hadn’t heard of her before, but there you go…

Bugs Bunny looks like the classic Bugs. He has the typical carrot that we’re used to seeing him with.

Set Review - #10275-1: Elf Club House - Winter Village - 18+

It’s late April and I’m just reviewing the 2020 Winter Village set… late, yeah I know. It went on sale on 24 September 2020 and quickly sold out and stock levels are just starting to come back. I managed to pick this one locally. It was on sale for $89.95 so I can’t complain. The US retail price is $99.99. With 1,197 pieces, it works out to $0.084/piece.

Let’s dig into the set. The set is branded 18+ with the packaging similar to other 18+ sets. The title is on the front along with the full built set picture. The back shows some details of the set along with the back of the set. One difference with this set is that it lists it on the front as the “Winter Village Collection.” I think this is the first reference we’ve seen in packaging of the Winter Village Theme being an actual theme. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the dark packaging. It doesn’t give off the Christmas cheer and brightness of lights. It looks like the elves live in darkness. Not very merry.

The contents are 11 parts bags with two instruction booklets packaged up with a small sheet of stickers. There are only bags numbered one to five, but each number has at least two bags with number two having three.

Here are the instructions and stickers. There are two instruction booklets. Number one goes with bag one and builds all of the smaller accessories to the set. Number two builds the club house itself. No special features or information about the designer in this one.

Only five stickers for this set so I can’t complain too much. While I’d prefer there to be zero stickers, these add a bit of detail to the set and were fairly easy to attach.

The first set of bags builds a number of items. Elf number one is the only elf to come with a scarf. This elf has only one expression.

Like most other Winter Village themed sets, this one comes with a Christmas tree. Each year it seems it is built slightly different and this year is no exception. I like how this one was done. It’s small, but seems pretty proportional while still capturing what a real tree could look like. The star on top is pretty big, but I can’t complain there. Not bad.

This set also comes with a sleigh and a reindeer to pull it. This is the first time there is a molded reindeer versus a brick built one. It looks pretty good to me. I’m sure these are going for a premium on BrickLink with lots of people looking to build full up teams of reindeer to pull Santa’s sleigh. The sleigh itself is small and can only fit one minifigure with no sack of toys. It also has flames coming out the back.

Additional items are two wrapped gifts, a toy plane, a toy ship, a small piano, and an old school desktop computer. The choice of small gifts are interesting considering some are similar to sets that came out in 2020 and 2021 to include the gift with purchase for Amelia Earhart’s plane, #31109-1: Pirate Ship, and #21323-1: Grand Piano. If you watch the Designer Video, you’ll learn about the computer around the 3:15 mark.

The second build starts the club house. Like most recent builds, it doesn’t use a base plate, but instead uses a bunch of white plates attached together.

The first floor seems a bit small in my opinion. I was expecting it to be a bit larger for the price tag, but maybe my assessment was wrong. The first floor contains a small breakfast eating area with two seats and place settings, a counter with a pitcher and mug, and then a gift wrapping station. The outside is a nougat color mostly. There are three windows and then the door is brick built to fit pretty snuggly while still keeping in mind what you would expect for an elf house. The clock is installed in this build, but more on that later.

The third set of bags assembles the second floor. The outside has a nice window design with brown tiles as accents. The build itself has a lot of sand green for those of you who are fans of that color. There is also a small wreath using the rounded 1x2 plates and some tiles.

Inside is a sleeping area for three elves, a small dresser, a chair, and small table with a light. There is a tile with a sticker above the bed that is a December calendar.

If you watched the designer video earlier or you’ve seen other reviews, you know that you can turn the clock and it causes the bed to tip to the side slightly. Since the elf minifigures are made with the small legs, they do not have stud holes on the backs of their legs so they don’t permanently attach to the bunk beds. Then they all fall out to the floor or the ground floor. Cute? Maybe. Did we really need this? No. Is this an 18+ set or an 8+ set? Or is the intent for families to enjoy this set? My preference would be to spend the extra bricks on details for the set and get away from the play feature. At least that’s what I want out of an 18+ set.

The fourth set of bags adds the roof, some Christmas lights, a small deck with a telescope, a tree out front, and a pole with directional signage (using stickers). I like the roof design and I think the piece usage is fairly simple to achieve some interesting angles for the build.

While not pictured in this review, you install the light brick at the apex of the roof. There is a Technic axle that you put pressure on which hits the light brick. That then lights up the club house. Most Winter Village sets have a light brick and I think it works with this set too.

This bag comes with an elf with a red megaphone. The elf has a smiling face and then a face that looks like he/she is not quite sure about things.

The last set of bags adds a chimney that is the height of the roof. It is added in the back of the building on a hinge so you can fold it in or turn it out. There is a small stocking about halfway up. If you watched the designer video, this chimney includes the waffle machine. You insert the 1x1 round printed tiles into the slot, move the 1x4 tile arm, and a waffle piece falls out onto a pan. Then you can tip the pan out to feed an elf. A clever design for playability, but again, an 18+ set? Maybe LEGO has done their research and the 18+ crowd wants playability in the Winter Village theme over design and build features…

The last elf minifigure is in this set of bags. It has a smile one one side and then the other side has eyes closed and mouth open. Maybe the elf is enjoying waffles or singing, or perhaps laughing.

So that’s it. The pictures below show the full set. It’s not a bad build with some fun techniques, good parts usage, and some good colors. The design isn’t all that thrilling and it seems a bit too much like last year’s Gingerbread House (#10267-1) in that it is a themed house for a group of characters to live in. I think we need to expand the line or call it a day. While it has been a great theme, we seem to be running out of new ideas for different buildings. There have been a few in the fan community via Ideas like a ski lodge or a chalet. We just need LEGO to pick one of these different ideas up.

I’m glad I found the set for $10 off as often these are hard to find on sale. Keep looking or find opportunities to use other methods to get discounts or Gifts with Purchase. If you’re a fan of the Winter Village line and haven’t picked this one up, I wouldn’t be in a huge rush unless you just have to have it for your collection. It was just middle of the road for me.

Happy building!