Merry Christmas! - Set Review - #40338-1: Christmas Tree

Every year before Christmas, LEGO has put out some special edition holiday themed sets that are typically free with a purchase of up to a specific amount. This year one of them was #40338-1: Christmas Tree. It contains 392 pieces and right now you have to look for them on the secondary market as they are not available anymore.

The box front shows the full set while the back shows that the model is a bit over 8.5 inches high, it spins, and you can remove some of the pieces on the bottom.

The set contains 2 parts bags and an instruction booklet.

The first bag builds the base of the tree and the bottom layer branches. You can see the Technic parts sticking up. The tree is stationary while the bottom part with the trains rotates. It also contains 3 gift boxes that can be displayed at the base of the tree.

The final build… The branches are complete. The top of the tree is attached to the base and rotates the base. The bottom 3/4 of the tree or so is stationary. You can see in the pictures that there are 2 “trains” at the base of the tree. One is blue and one is yellow.

Overall this was a good build. I built this one with my 5-year old and it went okay. I had to help some, but she managed to put it together. We had fun and maybe we’ll leave this one out as a decoration for a few weeks.

What were your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!

Set Review - #71025-1: Series 19 Collectible Minifigures - How to Buy These Things

Okay, so you’re not even thinking about Series 19 anymore. They were released back on the 1st of September 2019 and the new series is about to be released in a few days. So why post a review of this series now when they are sold out on LEGO.com? Well this set of 16 minifigures retailed for $3.99 per pack in the US. The next set coming out in a few days is going to be $4.99 per pack. What?!?!?! They were originally $2.99 per pack. The $1 increase… okay. But $5 a minifigure? My wallet can’t justify that.

How can you get around these prices? Well, our friends at the big retailers like Amazon.com have been running discounts. Amazon.com sold Series 19 minifigures for $2.99 throughout its shelf life. The original limit was around 30 minifigures. During the Cyber Monday rush, the minifigures were at a limit of 3 on Amazon.com so that doesn’t help much. We’ll see if that sticks. Meanwhile on LEGO Shop @ Home, the minifigures were discounted to $3.19 each on Black Friday and with double VIP points, that wasn’t so bad.

So what’s the take away? Buying these things on the release date is going to continue to be expensive and not worth it. LEGO and its major retailers understand that and will continue to run sales to move inventory. With the ceiling about to be $4.99/pack, I expect the discounts to change so they can bring in more profit.

The bottom line…

LEGO, without a discount, I will no longer be buying the collectible minifigures. So expect more late set reviews from me as I wait to pick them up on clearance.

What are your thoughts? Will you buy at the new high price or will you wait for sales?

Oh… the set review… I thought series 19 was great. I prefer the original series versus the licensed themes so this one was great. Some of them weren’t my favorite of all time, but I think they are trying to appear to a large audience base and this series did the trick. My pictures are below…

Happy building!

Programmer

Rugby Player

Bear Costume Guy

Jungle Explorer

Gardener

Galactic Bounty Hunter

Fright Knight

Dog Sitter

Fox Costume Girl

Video Game Champ

Mummy Queen

Shower Guy

Mountain Biker

Monkey King

Pizza Costume Guy

Fire Fighter

Set Review - #75957-1: The Knight Bus - Harry Potter

Here’s another 2019 released Harry Potter set. This one is the Knight Bus from the book “The Prisoner of Azkaban.” This set was released on 1 July 2019 in the US and retails for $39.99. It contains 403 pieces and has 3 minifigures. This makes the set run at $0.099/piece. I picked the set up at a 20% off discount through Amazon.com in the US. As of today (mid-December 2019), the set is still 20% off.

This is not the first LEGO version of this set. Previous versions are (links to Brickset.com):
#4866-1 (2011)
#4755-1 (2004)

It’s interesting to see how the set has evolved through the years. Let’s dig into version 3…

It’s the standard box with the full set on the front and the back showing the play features.

The set contains 3 parts bags, an instruction booklet, and a small sticker sheet.

The first bag starts off the first level of the bus. I like the purple color and the abundance of purple pieces. If anything, the purple pieces can be used for other MOCs as I know they don’t show up in a ton of sets. This bag contains Harry, the Knight Bus conductor, and the shrunken head with the Jamaican accent (in the movie). It also includes Harry’s trunk and then 2 printed 1x2 tiles. One is a letter and the other is a… um… I’m not sure. Potter fans, help me out here!

Bag two finishes the first layer and builds the second layer. There are a lot more purple pieces to include more window frames which could be good in a future building MOC or passenger train MOCs. Given the scale, I think the chandelier was done well and I like how it is movable as portrayed in the movie. Some of the stickers get applied here. They are for the most part larger and I don’t mind them as they add some key details to the set while keeping the price down versus printed parts. The right side of the bus is built with a hinge so that you can open it up for play access. While I’m not a huge fan of this, I see why they did this versus having the second layer removable so you can get to the first layer. I don’t think it would make as much sense with the chandelier located where it is and the low amount of details on the second layer (one seat).

The final bag finishes the bus off. I includes the driver (Ernie) as the last minifigure. It also finishes off the third level of the bus. Lastly, you build one of the beds. Re-watching the movie clip where the Knight Bus is shown shows that there are 3 beds on the first level which move around as the bus drives. One of the beds has someone sleeping in it in the movie. The set only contains one bed for scale and the designers built it so that it can move around some in one direction so that’s good.

This bag contains a 2x2 printed tile for the Daily Prophet newspaper. Beyond that, the third level does not contain much detail, but I don’t recall seeing on the top in the movie so it might not matter although it does seem like wasted space in the set.

The third level disconnects from the lower part of the bus and then it has a top that comes off too for access.

The minifigures are Ernie (the driver), Stan (the conductor), and Harry). I think they did a good job capturing all three and I think Ernie’s look matches the movie character rather well.

Here’s the final set. Too be honest, I wasn’t overly impressed with this set. I like the purple parts and I think they did a good job with the minifigures, but that’s about it. The shape of the bus looks better than older versions, but it still looks like they could have done a bit more with details on the top layer and maybe a door to get on the bus.

I recommend only getting this set if you can get it on sale and if you’re a big Potter fan. Or maybe if you want the purple pieces for a MOC. Otherwise, there isn’t too much overly exciting here.

What are your thoughts?

Happy building!

Set Review - #21042-1: Statue of Liberty - Architecture

It has been a while since I reviewed an Architecture set.. #21042-1: Statue of Liberty was not even on my radar as a set I would be interested in. I stumbled across a review on the site Brick Architect by Tom Alphin and he persuaded me to give it a shot. The set was released in the US back on 2 June 2018. It goes for $119.99 in the US, but I found it locally for ~$90 so I can’t complain. The set contains 1,685 pieces so it works out to be $0.071/piece. Many of the pieces are smaller so this may be the reason for the lower price per piece ratio. Check around for discounts on this set or other details. Target has run a $10 off $50 or more LEGO purchase a few times and a few other places have discounted it as well. I have yet to see Amazon.com or Walmart put it on discount.

The front of the box shows the set while the back of the box shows the set next to a picture of the actual statue. It also gives the dimensions of the set.

Inside the box is a quote from Charles B. Rangel. I had to look up who that was so don’t feel bad if you have no clue either. He’s a politician from New York who served in the US House of Representatives from 1971 to 2017.

The contents of the set are an instruction booklet, three Technic elements, and 10 parts bags labeled one through five with two bags each.

The first bag builds the base of the model and starts the base of the statue. Like most Architecture sets, the base has black tiles around the outer edge with one of the tiles containing the printed name of the set.

The detailing uses a variety of textured pieces as well as some SNOT techniques. I like the design so far and am glad the designer included some colored pieces for the insides to help with piece placement.

The second set of bags continues with the base of the statue. If you’re not a fan of repetitive builds, then this set is not for you. Pretty much everything you do is “X4” in the instructions for each side. This didn’t bother me much as I get that the base of the model is a square and is the same on each side.

The third set of bags completes the base. Overall, I like the base and how it is constructed. It is solid, yet detailed and I think it captures the actual structure rather well.

This part of the build adds in the Technic parts. These parts help keep the statue sturdy and prevent it from getting toppled right over if you knock it too hard. You probably could get away without this piece, but I think it’s good to add in.

The fourth set of bags starts on the statue itself. You make a transition from the light tan color pieces to the green-ish colored pieces (what is the real color name?). The build starts with an inner structure that allows you to build most of the statue using SNOT.

I found working with the green color rather challenging. Selecting the right slope type piece was a challenge for me as three of them look very similar and it wasn’t always obvious which angle the instructions called for. I figured it out in the end, but it did involve re-building a few sections once I realized I build sections wrong.

I used to have a better place to take pictures and I haven’t replaced it after moving to Germany. I’ll get there…

Here’s the final model. Overall, I like it. I think the designers did a great job capturing the likeness of the statue in brick form. The build was challenging, yet fun for me and if you don’t like the model, the parts available for other MOCs are great in my opinion.

Some fans did not like the face and how it is just a tile. If you do an internet search, you can find a number of posts where people designed an actual face. JK Brickworks did a re-design of the face. It’s fairly simple and does not require a ton of extra pieces. The link includes a video where he shows you what he did. I’m okay with the face as designed, but I may try the re-design at some point.

In the end, I’m glad I purchased this set (and found it at a discount). I enjoyed the build and I like the final product. I’m not sure how much longer LEGO will keep it on the shelf, but it didn’t get caught in the latest round of set retirements for 2019 so there is still time to pick it up if you’re interested.

What are your thoughts?

Happy building!

Set Review - #75965-1: The Rise of Voldemort - Harry Potter

Here’s another one of 2019’s Harry Potter sets. It’s number 75965-1: The Rise of Voldemort. It contains 184 pieces and 6 minifigures. The set retails in the US for $19.99 which works out to $0.109/piece. It was released in the US on 2 August 2019 and was discounted on Amazon.com for 20% off a few weeks ago as of the writing of this post.

The front shows the set with the characters animated. The back shows some of the play features to include how you can have Voldemort appear out of the grave and how Harry can grab the port key.

The set contains 2 parts bags, and instruction booklet, and a sticker sheet. Thankfully the sticker sheet is small with only 2 stickers.

This set seems to be another minifigure pack. The 4 main minifigures are (from left to right) Voldemort with a white wand, a Death Eater with a Mask on Peter Pettigrew in human form (who has 2 facial expressions), and Harry Potter in his Tournament Uniform (he has 2 facial expressions as well).

Brickset says there are 2 additional minifigures. One is the grave statue above Tom Riddle’s grave. The second is a small baby. The grave statue plays a part as they use it to hold down Harry, but I don’t recall a baby in the movie (and I didn’t read the book). Overall, it’s a decent collection for those looking to collect Harry Potter minifigures.

The set is pretty simple to put together. It starts with the center portion with the grave stone. Then it builds the left and right sides. In terms of detail, this set doesn’t have a lot to it. I like the use of a few plant pieces and brown plant pieces, but beyond that it is pretty bland (which is to be expected for a 184 piece set I guess). In terms of pieces for other MOCs, I like the pot piece, but after looking it up you can find it in 35 other sets so it’s not really rare. The port key is a small part of the set, but I like the build with the 1x1 translucent blue brick inside of the… um… not sure what it is called. Brickset calls it an assembly piece. Either way, I’m a fan of how that was build.

Overall, it’s not a bad set although a little violent for kids with Peter Pettigrew’s knife and the statue’s weapon type thing. It’s a rather dark set for a 7-year old in my opinion.

If you’re a Potter fan and you want the minifigures, definitely pick this set up on sale. Otherwise, I didn’t think this one was worth it even with the 20% discount I had from Amazon.com. What are your thoughts?

Set Review - #21318-1: Tree House - LEGO Ideas

How are we on the 26th LEGO Ideas set already? Crazy!

#21318-1: Tree House was released in the US on 2 August 2019. It retails for $199.99 in the US and contains 3,036 pieces along with 4 minifigures. The price per piece works out to be $0.066/piece, which is decent. I had a gift card to use so it helped along with the double VIP points I earned. I read a few reviews on this one ahead of time with some mixed opinions, but I was excited to give it my own review.

The box is quite large with the front showing the full set in the summer mode along with a small picture of the autumn mode. It also highlights the sustainable plastics used on the plant pieces. The back highlights some of the details, shows how you can remove the roofs of each of the rooms, and shows the tree house in the autumn.

The box contains 16 part bags and then another box with part bags in it. The full set contains 19 numbered bags. There are two bags numbered 1 and then one bag each through number 19. There are 5 bags each for the summer leaves and autumn leaves. The instruction book is wrapped in plastic to prevent damage.

The instruction book has 431 pages total. Like other Ideas sets, this one has some information about the fan designer and the LEGO designer.

I won’t show pictures of all the steps, but the build kicks off with the base and the Technic pieces that support the main structure of the tree. I like how the base is not just a large base plate, but is instead built up using various pieces. For building purposes, there is a stream and a few other pieces that help you differentiate which side is which. This helps later on as you are trying to determine which parts of the tree go where.

As you can see, the first bag includes a brick separator as well as the first of 4 minifigures.

I included shots of the instructions along with the build so you can see where its at and how the set is assembled. The set starts with an inner structure that connects to the initial Technic structure. Then the outer “bark” of the tree is installed on the outside. I can’t tell if I’d prefer the “bark” to be tiles or plates. I think the plates work… tiles might look too smooth. Although you could get the contours of bark using various tiles and slope pieces. Just a thought… I’m okay with how it was designed so far.

As the build continues, the tree trunk gets taller. The “branches” where the parts of the tree house get installed. They aren’t very realistic looking, but once the structures go on top, it doesn’t really matter. I like how the tree has a few details such as the sawed off branch shown by the 2x2 round printed tile and the bird house with the bird outside.

Each of the tree house structures takes two parts bags to build. Considering the length of the build, I cut those pictures out and just included the finished product. The first one you build is a “master bedroom” with a bed, dresser, and some decorations. The second one is a bathroom with a toilet, sink, and tub. Each room is set up so it fits on the “branch” and then has an attachment on the top for the roof. Both builds are pretty similar, but have some differences to help them stand out. I like the color scheme and how the build makes it still look natural like in color to fit on the tree.

The bathroom has a pulley system attached so you can haul stuff up to the tree house. Not sure how you get to the stuff, but it’s a cool idea. I also like how the bathroom has a water storage tank. Maybe the pulley is used to bring water up for the bathroom?

The last structure is a kid’s room with bunk beds. It is connected to the other structure with a rope like bridge.

Next up are the roofs. They are all pretty similar, but have slight differences to make sure they fit onto the main structure. The dark blue color is a great choice in my opinion.

Next up, you finish off the tree trunk. It’s not exactly a smooth transition to smaller branches, but we’ll take it. Instead there are a number of attachment pieces for connecting branches to be built later.

After that, you build a stairway up to the tree house. I’m glad they didn’t just use one of those large stair pieces, but instead constructed stairs in the color scheme and included twists in the stairs. A few of the tiles have printing on them to add to the detail that they are made of wood.

The build includes an outdoor kitchen at the bottom of the tree with a fire pit and cooking pot, a table with chairs, and some food and drink options. Additionally there are 4 minifigures I displayed here. There is a male and female adult and then two kids. They all look like they have their woodland gear with my favorite being the girl’s vest. Additionally, the girl sports one of the hat pieces with hair attached which I am a fan of. It is a little more realistic than just the hat and lipstick to show it is a girl/woman.

The last 3 bags of the set are all parts for the branches. The build instructions give you the option of building with the green and dark green or yellow and lighter brownish type pieces. I chose to build with the green, but the build is the same with the other colors. Or you could be really crazy and mix the green and yellow to have an early autumn type tree. The branch pieces are not exactly the best designed in my opinion, but I think the greenery hides them well enough so they don’t stand out. Note that it will take a bit of time to switch out the colors. The green pieces are attached well so they don’t just fall off which is a good thing.

Overall, I was really impressed by this set. For one it is something completely different that has never been done before. You could fit this into a woodland/forest scene really well. I’m hoping to see some good modifications from the fan community of this set.

This set is at the $200 point, but I found it to be worth it. There are a lot of pieces and the colors and piece options are great for other MOCs if you want to take this one apart. More importantly, if my NLS gets a vote, I was told we’d make space in the house to display this one as she really liked this one. Bonus! That didn’t happen after the Millennium Falcon was built so I’ll take this one as a win as otherwise my bricks are confined to a specific space in the house that is out of the way and that’s it.

What are your thoughts on this one?

Some overall pictures are below.

Set Review - #75945-1: Expecto Patronum - Harry Potter

We’re into the second year of Harry Potter sets that started in 2018 and here is another one I built for a review. #75945-1: Expector Patronum was released on 1 July 2019. It’s cost is $19.99 and contains 121 pieces and 4 minifigures. It works out to $0.165/piece. This is a bit high in my opinion, but I purchased the set at 20% off on Amazon.com in the US. This is still a bit high, but better. I suspect at the end of this set’s life, it will be in the 30% to 40% discount range.

Here is the box. The front shows the set while the back shows the “action” features.

The set contains 4 parts bags, an instruction booklet, a package with the patronum, and the capes for the dementors.

Here’s the build… at such a small set, there isn’t much to it. There are 2 “trees” that aren’t very exciting. In fact, they are pretty lame. Other than having some green branches, they don’t look much like trees at all. Having seen the movie, I get what they are trying to portray, but what is the point of this set? Is it just a minifigure pack?

Here are the minifigures. The Dementors are pretty cool looking and might be one of the reasons to pick up the set. Harry has mid-size legs. Not the non-movable kid legs and not the full size legs either. Sirius has his prison uniform. They both have dual sided faces. Harry has a wand.

The other reason to get this set is the Patronum which is a deer (watch the movie or read the book if you want to know more). It’s a translucent blue deer and has sparkles inside. The set includes a 1x2 brick, a 1x2 plate, and then a round saucer type piece in the same consistency. If you are looking for pieces like this, then it might be worth it to get the set. I highly recommend picking this set up at a discount. Look for more than 20% off if possible. You might have to wait until this time next year for bigger discounts, but it might be worth the wait.

What are your thoughts?

Set Review - #75958-1: Beauxbatons' Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts™ - The Wizarding World - Harry Potter

The first new wave of Harry Potter sets arrived last year (2018) and now in 2019 we have a second wave. They have been out for a bit, but my preference is to wait until they go on sale. This set, #75958-1: Beauxbatons' Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts™, was released in the US on 2 August 2019. It contains 430 pieces and retails for $49.99 in the US. It works out to $0.116/piece which is a bit on the steep side in my opinion.

This set depicts characters from the fourth book “Harry Potter and the Goblet of FIre.” Beauxbatons is a French wizarding school and the school arrives for the Tri-Wizard’s tournament in the carriage this set depicts (yes, I had to Google all that).

The box shows the full set on the front, the minifigures on the bottom left of the front and the characters from the movie on the top right. The back shows some of the different play features of the set.

The set contains three parts bags, an instruction booklet, and a small sticker sheet. Bag 1 contains a piece separator.

The first bag begins to build the carriage. I like how the designers achieved the angles on the front and back. I also like the light blue color and I think it goes well with the brown and gold brick colors. Beauxbatons was never shown in the movies, but this would make for a good MOC. A French style chateau with brown, light blue, gold, and the tan-ish color would look cool.

The second bag almost finishes the carriage. The second picture shows how one side of the carriage lifts up. I assume this was done for playability as you can get to the minifigures more easily versus removing the roof. While I’m not a fan of stickers, I do think they add to the set with the gold design on the light blue pieces.

This set comes with 4 minifigures and no it does not come with the base plates from the collectible minifigure series. I added them just to help the minifigures lay flat for the picture.

From left to right there is:

Rubeus Hagrid - This is a taller minifigure. To achieve the height, the torso is bigger, but the legs are the kid version legs. His arms are connected to the torso by a Technic like attachment.

Madame Maxime - She is the tall head of the school. I don’t recall how much taller she is over Hagrid in the movie, but I think they got it right with this minifigure.

Gabrielle Delacour and Fleur Delacour - These are two sisters attending Beauxbatons. Fleur (older and the taller minifigure) was a part of the Tri-Wizards tournament and her sister Gabrielle (smaller minifigurte) plays a big part in one of the challenges in the book/movie.

Overall, I think it is a good mix of minifigures for the set. Only 2 of the girls are really named and the rest are extras as far as I know, so I’m not sure what good it would have done to add more of the girls in. Especially since you can only make the carriage so big.

The third bag finishes up the build. The carriage has a top which needs to be removed before you can flip up the side. Additionally, it adds the wheels. The front axle rotates so it adds some playability. Additionally, there is a chest with tea cups to go with a table inside with a tea pot.

I’m sure the Harry Potter world has an official name, but I’ll call them winged horses. They are attached to the carriage via a somewhat bulky looking hitch. I’m not sure how I would redesign this part, but to me this part doesn’t match the elegance they tried to achieve on the carriage.

My final thoughts on this set… if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, then don’t bother unless there are specific parts you want from this set. If you are a Harry Potter fan, then it’s a good addition to the collection. You get some good minifigures and the designers did a decent job depicting the scene given the scale they used. I definitely recommend getting the set at a discount. Check amazon.com, Walmart, and Target for the deals they are offering. I think the full retail price is a bit steep.

Keep building!

Set Review - #60234-1: People Pack - Fun Fair - CITY

This is the fourth year LEGO has released a People Pack for the CITY theme. We started with #60134-1: Fun at the Park, then #60153-1: Fun at the Beach, and then #60202-1: Outdoor Adventures. Next up is this set, #60234-1: Fun Fair. It has 183 pieces and 14 minifigures. It retails in the US for $39.99 which works out to be $0.219/piece or $2.85/minifigure. The release date was 2 Aug 19, but I waited for it to hit 20% off on Amazon.com. If you wait further, the discount should increase. #60202-1: Outdoor Adventures is around 30% off at the time of this post and the previous sets have done the same on Amazon.com close to retirement.

Onto the review…

It has the standard box layout with the front showing the full set and the back showing some play features.

The set contains 2 parts bags and an instruction manual. It feels light to me. A quick comparison:

Fun Fair - 183 pieces - 14 minifigures
Outdoor Adventure - 164 pieces - 15 minifigures
Fun at the Beach - 169 pieces - 15 minifigures
Fun in the Park - 157 pieces - 15 minifigures

You’re getting more pieces, but one fewer minifigure. A lot of the pieces are small so I’m not sure if you’re really gaining more with the additional pieces. I wonder if it was a conscious decision to do this or just how the set got designed?

Here is what the first bag builds:

-A ring toss game where minifigures can attempt to throw rings onto a duck The table with the ducks spins. I like the little duck part and I think they could go well in a pond type scene.
-A game where you have to hit a target with a shooter to get it to fall down. There are 3 plates connected with Technic pins that have a 2x2 round tile with a target print on them. The minifigure can then use a shooter similar to those found on Star Wars sets to try and knock them down. The shooter will actually knock them down, you just have to keep track of the 1x1 round plate.
-A clown on stilts.
-A face painting station with a small table filled with 1x1 tiles for the different colors. of paint.

The minifigures include (top to bottom and left to right):
-A boy minifigure with a propeller cap (awesome!) and Benny the Spaceman shirt.
-A female minifigure with a pink shirt and white pants, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
-A male minifigure with a dark blue and red striped plaid shirt and green-ish colored pants (not sure of the official color name).
-A mullet touting man with goatee and rock-n-roll tank top. Spot on for some of the county fairs I have been to around the US.
-A minifigure on stilts with a giant purple top hat and holding a balloon animal to give away.
-A face painter with some paint spots on her overalls. The set showed up with 2 brushes.
-A girl who looks excited to have a tiger design painted on her face.
-Another girl. We let her hold the purple teddy bear that I guess she won as a prize.

Overall the first bag has a good variety of minifigures which can be used in a fair scene or elsewhere in your CITY.

Bag 2 has 6 minifigures and 5 have food. One is playing a game of strength where you hit the spot with a hammer to drive up the part. In this case, a Technic piece drives up a 1x2 brick with rail attached up a larger rail to hit the bell. The only other build is the bike for selling ice cream. It’s a cool build, but a bit big. The minifigure needs a step ladder to get into the ice cream case. Not sure how to scale it back down to make it more to scale though.

The remainder of the minifigures includes (left to right, top to bottom):
-A female minifigure who is the ice cream vendor. Her hair is attached to her hat and I don’t recall ever seeing that shirt before.
-A male minifigure in a jacket holding a giant hot dog.
-A female minifigure in a jacket with a shirt underneath
-An older male minifigure in a workout suit with gray receding hair who bought some ice cream
-An older female in a purple workout suit with a coffee cup. I like that she has glasses and white hair.
-A younger male with a popsicle. This one is blue versus the standard green one I have seen in other sets.

Here are all of the parts of the set. I like the theme and I think they go well with some of the existing Creator Expert sets (Carousel, Roller Coaster, etc.) and some of the Creator 3-in-1 sets as well. I like some of the non-standard minifigures and the builds are pretty creative with the moving parts. If you’re going to pick this set up, I definitely recommend getting it on sale. I think $39.99 retail in the US is too high. It’s around 20% off now and will probably move to closer to 30% next year when it is getting ready to retire.

What are your thoughts?

Happy building!

Set Review - #40305-1: LEGO® Brand Store

Set #40305-1: LEGO® Brand Store was originally released as a Brand Store exclusive set. I mentioned it in my store reviews here and here. Well its status has changed and as of 4 September 2019, it is available on LEGO Shop @ Home in the US. I had to search for it by number as I couldn’t find it on any of the drop down categories. Has anyone else found it there?

The set itself has 362 pieces and 2 minifigures. In the US it is $24.99 ($0.069/piece) and in Germany where I picked it up it’s 24.99€ (0.069€/piece). So a better deal in the states depending on how much sales tax you pay. For those of you keeping track, it’s been available in Germany since 2 June 18 according to Brickset.com.

Onto the set…

Unlike most set boxes, this one is very generic with a yellow background. It just has the LEGO logo, but no other details beyond the shadow of a city. The front shows the set and the back goes into some details on the set.

The contents are 4 numbered parts bags, a fifth parts bag with no number, the instruction booklet, and a small sticker sheet. My sticker sheet had an error on it. One of the boxes had a duplicate box sticker attached below it. Nothing a pair of scissors could not solve, but I have never seen an error on a sticker sheet in a set.

Onto the build… bags 1 and 2 are required for the first section of instructions. This builds the first floor of the shop. Externally, the front entrance door is offset from the store front by a stud. It has a flag outside, minimal decoration above the door, and sadly a sticker for the LEGO logo versus a printed tile (I was hoping it would be printed). On the inside you have some sets for sale on the wall, a bin with nothing in it, a small MOC on display in the front window, a cash register, and what I assume is the pick a brick wall. Nothing overly amazing about this build other than I like how they were able to build this to minifigure scale and capture some of the details.

Bags 3 and 4 finish the set off. The front has some simple decoration, but still some nice details. There is some coloring and texture, 2 flags, awnings over the windows, and then the edge of the roof has a simple, yet nice design. Inside you have more sets on the wall, some MOCs in the window (a fire truck and I’m not sure what the other one is). There is what appears to be a build-a-minifigure station and then a shield in a bin which I’m not sure what it represents in a Brand Store. As you can see from the last picture, the top of the store has a yellow 2x4 brick design. This is a fun detail and I’m not sure if it actually exists on any actual Brand Stores out there.

The set comes with two minifigures. One is a child with a red baseball cap on. I assume it is a male, but in theory it could be a female with short hair covered by the cap. The other is an adult male. He’s got a Hawaiian style shirt on and looks pretty chill with a goatee and wavy hair. You can figure out whether the adult is a worker, parent, or an AFOL.

The set does not come with a Brand Store worker which I see as a downside. I do have one from a previous free set with purchase, but it would have been great to get one with this set. I know the design exists, but it probably has to do with wanting the set cost to remain at its current level. I’m not sure how much adding in another minifigure would skew the price.

Here are pictures of the full set. Its design reminds me of the Creator 3-in-1 type buildings with a front and no back half. In my mind, these buildings are good for builders like me who are not good a coming up with MOCs on their own. I can take what was started and build the back half. Maybe include some stairs so you can actually get to the upstairs in the store?

Overall it’s a fun set. The pricing isn’t bad and they have captured a Brand Store well given the scale. As mentioned, a store worker minifigure would have been preferred in the set. As an AFOL, it is not a challenging build, but the box states ages 8+ which lines up with the difficulty.

What are your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!