Tag Archives: Holiday

From New Year’s Day through Christmas, each year is full of holidays celebrated by the diverse cultures of the world — Setsubun in Japan, Halloween in America, and so many more. LEGO builders love to create seasonal models to celebrate these red-letter days.

LEGO Creator 40602 Winter Market Stall Gift with Purchase [Review]

LEGO often makes holiday sets that are available as gifts with purchase in November and December. This holiday season, that will include LEGO Creator 40602 Winter Market Stall. It looks like a toy seller’s stall at a holiday night market, and suggests you create your own additional stalls – or perhaps the night market is a destination for the trolley from 10308 Holiday Main Street, or going even further back, you could add it to the stalls from 10235 Winter Village Market! After initially posting this review, we’ve learned that the set will be available with a minimum purchase of (US $170 | CAN $220 | UK £150), nor when it will be available on the LEGO website. But when is, will it be worth stretching for another stocking stuffer? Let’s put on a pot of hot cocoa and see.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read our full review!

LEGO 40523 Easter Rabbits Display – Bunnies! Buuunnniies! Bun Alert! [Review]

It was only five days into the new year that LEGO revealed this year’s Easter set, 40523 Easter Rabbits Display, and let me tell you, it is adorable. It contains 288 pieces and will be available on February 1st for US $12.99 | CAN $16.99 | UK £11.99. Read on for our review of the building process and finished model.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full review

Prickly pine cones of winter

Even the most experienced squirrel would struggle to break into these pine cones! Skillfully created by Amado Canlas Pinlac, the three pine cones have realistic shapes with a sprinkling of snow upon them. Claw pieces are heavily featured in the builds and portray the segmented sections of the pine cones. Surprisingly, ice-cream parts have been used to represent the pointed tips, which provides the models with an organic look to them. These pine cones could easily be used as Christmas ornaments and would fit in comfortably with other decorations hanging from a tree.

Pine Cones

LEGO Winter Village Collection 10293: Santa’s Visit – Some seriously fun holiday cheer [Review]

I know it’s hard to believe, but we’re already heading in the tail end of 2021. And that means it’s time for LEGO to unveil their yearly addition to the Winter Village Collection. This year there’s no beating around the bush – we get right to the main event. LEGO Winter Village Collection 10293: Santa’s Visit will be available to VIP members starting September 16th, and at LEGO stores starting October 1st, for US $99.99 | CAN $139.99 | UK £79.99, and brings that momentous event to life. But will it be a holiday disaster? Come along as we take a close look at this seasonal offering!

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full hands-on review

When you have to be separated over the holidays

The holiday season has been a tough one this year. The COVID situation in the US means that I can’t be with all the people I care about, and every wintery milestone goes by with a hefty helping of separation. But, thanks to Allyson Gail I can at least share a wry bit of LEGO creativity that makes a good pun out of the whole deal. She’s once again taken the hard-to-repurpose brick separator and turned it into something special. This time it’s a holiday wreath that could easily go toe-to-toe with LEGO’s own offering.

You’d be forgiven if you thought this was just a clever arrangement of parts on a flat surface. But, if you look closely, you can see that all of the separators are actually connected by a hinge plate. That means that this creation can even go on a wall (if you hang it from a standard over-the-door wreath hook). And let’s also take a moment to enjoy the construction on that bow! The smooth lines and curves really play well with the texture of the separators.

My own collection of green brick separators is too small to duplicate this build myself, but maybe I can find some other holiday creation to reverse engineer. I’ll have some time on my hands, after all…

May the cookies be gingerbread, always.

Halloween has barely passed, but holiday themed everything has already arrived in the shops near me. Perhaps the season’s greetings has also prematurely arrived in other spheres as well, such as the LEGO blogosphere! Koen Zwanenburg’s render of a gingerbread LEGO Star Wars dogfight is case in point!

Gingerbread Dogfight

The X-wing starfighter pictured, much like last year’s LEGO employee gift is sweet, but instead of being candy inspired it is the X-wing imagined in the form of gingerbread. The color scheme consists of browns with whites, greys, and some splashes of gum drop and candy cane colors. The TIE fighter on the other hand is a strict snowflake icing and cookie design — no extra sweets for the dark side. Overall, this is a pretty sweet render, and it certainly makes me feel that holiday sense of cheer.

Next LEGO Winter Village set unveiled as 10275 Elf Club House [News]

The holiday season is around the corner, which means it’s time for LEGO to reveal this year’s addition to the Winter Village line, 10275 Elf Club House. The perfect sequel to 2014’s Santa’s Workshop, the Elf Club House includes 1,197 pieces, four minifigures, a reindeer pulling a sleigh, toys, gifts, and a Christmas tree. Earlier today we brought you a full, hands-on review of this brand-new set, but here are the official images and press release, along with an interview with set designer Chris McVeigh.

The set will retail for US $99.99 | UK £84.99 | EU €94.99 starting on September 23rd. The eleventh in the series, 10275 Elf Club House is the third fantastical Winter Village set, joining last years’ 10267 Gingerbread House and 10245 Santa’s Workshop from 2014. Continue reading

LEGO Holiday set 40426 Seasonal Wreath [Review]

Have you heard? Winter is coming. That means it’s time to start thinking about festive decorations built out of LEGO! Let’s take a look at LEGO 40426 – a mysterious 510 piece set that will be released on October 1st. LEGO sent us a review copy, but didn’t provide any additional details, so we don’t yet know prices, or where exactly it’ll be available, or even the official set name. In the meantime, though, we can explore the parts, packaging, and multiple building options that this set has to offer. It sure looks like a wreath, but maybe it’s a Yuletide Frisbee or something.

Click to read the full hands-on review

LEGO Holiday BrickHeadz 40425 Nutcracker [Review]

Here in the U.S. and around the world, the end of the year brings a number of holidays and festivities, and under normal circumstances, a trip to the ballet to see The Nutcracker is a major holiday tradition. Well, in the midst of a global pandemic you will be able to bring a little bit of the Nutcracker home for the holidays. LEGO’s holiday BrickHeadz this year is 40425 Nutcracker. Although LEGO was able to send us an early review copy, we still don’t have the price, but we presume it will be $9.99 like other standalone BrickHeadz. It will be available starting October 1 and has 180 pieces.

Click to read the full hands-on review

Take a vacation anywhere you happen to be

I long for the days of going back to doing the things I enjoyed, like getting kicked out of a Sizzler. Now everyone is kicked out of Sizzler, and it just doesn’t feel special anymore. Remember vacations? That’s when you pack a suitcase and stay at a place that’s likely smaller and not as well-decorated as your own house, but the scenery is better. I loved vacations! Nicolas Carlier proves that you can vacation wherever you happen to be with this delightful LEGO render. Open the suitcase and be engulfed in the soothing sand and surf. You could build a sandcastle, listen to the waves, or tell a crab about all the times you’ve been thrown out of Sizzler. Doing all that while having a full head of hair and totally ripped abs, why that’s just a slice of heaven right there. Boy, I loved vacations!

Holidays from the suitcase

Happy Hamtaro New Year!

Chinese New Year is fast upon us, and this year’s celebrated zodiac animal is the rat. What if another rodent got in on the game, though? Last week’s proposal was the Year of the Guinea Pig. This week, CK Ho suggests the Year of the Hamster. Specifically, this adorable duo represents characters from the hit children’s manga and TV show, Hamtaro. The little red pouches they’re holding likely represent the red packets given out to children during the holiday. That and the kumquat trees are especially festive.

HAMTARO

I’ve never watched the show but enjoy the sculpting of each character. Sausages used as eyebrows allow them to clearly emote, with one looking happy while the other seems a bit nervous. What’s there to worry about when both of you have packets?

HAMTARO

For more LEGO Chinese New Year fun, be sure to check out our reviews of the Chinese New Year Temple Fair and Lion Dance sets.

Make 2020 the Year of the Guinea Pig

Chinese New Year is little more than a week away and, according to the Chinese zodiac, we are entering the Year of the Rat. When it comes to heavenly rodents, Ian Hoy has another cute critter in mind. Of course, I’m talking about the guinea pig! This little guy is beautifully sculpted with angled and curved slopes to capture the adorable chunkiness of domestic itty-bitty piggies. The facial expression is priceless. As for that bit of yellow in his hands, if you thought it might be a morsel of cheese, you would be sadly mistaken. It’s actually yuanbao, a gold ingot that was used as a form of currency in China from the Qin Dynasty through the Qing Dynasty. I wouldn’t mind dropping a few yuanbao myself if it meant this little fellow could join the colorful cast of zodiac animals.

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