Review: 40604 Christmas Decor Set

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40604 Christmas Decor Set is one of two gifts-with-purchase that are available at LEGO.com at the moment. To acquire it you'll need to spend over £65 / $70 / €70.

They were designed by Chris McVeigh, who published a couple of books and a website containing similar designs before he was hired by LEGO.

Summary

40604 Christmas Decor Set, 182 pieces.

Three attractive baubles to brighten up your Christmas tree

  • Much better than cheap plastic ones
  • None

The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.

The set contains three baubles of the same design in different colours. The black ring is a relatively new piece that will make it easy to hang them on your Christmas tree.

They are cleverly constructed around a square SNOT core, to which four identical assembles are attached.

And that's just about all I can write about them other than, as a fan of Chris' earlier designs, I think it's an attractive set and a great gift-with-purchase, so get it while you can!

32 comments on this article

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By in Netherlands,

You see no cons... But have you tried to hang them on a tree? Because they weigh way more than the cheap plastic alternatives....

I have to say I am not overwhelmed by the design, but I would be interested to know how they look like in a tree and if that practically works out!

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By in United Kingdom,

Brilliant GWPs. Let the festivities begin.
Deck the halls and dangle your balls....

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By in Germany,

@Dropje008 said:
"You see no cons... But have you tried to hang them on a tree? Because they weigh way more than the cheap plastic alternatives...."

Totally agree with the weight concerns!

I'm not trying to hate on the latest Brickset reviews, but they start have basically never have any serious cons anymore. Just like the latest Piranha Plant review for example didn't mention the very heavy weight of the head, which in my opinion is a very big con, even if an unavoidable one. Because of this it's impossible to pose the plant facing up, like in its very first game-appearance.

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By in United Kingdom,

My tree is not up yet so I've not actually been able to test them!

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By in Belgium,

The sound of the rehash mill is clearly sounding:
41129

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By in United Kingdom,

I must admit my first thought was they must be hollow or they'd be far too heavy to hang on a tree.

There is a reason baubles are made of cheap plastic!

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By in United Kingdom,

@Huw said:
"My tree is not up yet so I've not actuallly been able to test them!"

As it should be

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By in Netherlands,

@Crasha said:
" @Dropje008 said:
I'm not trying to hate on the latest Brickset reviews, but they start have basically never have any serious cons anymore."


I agree. If there are no specific issues addressed in the summary, I tend to gloss over the text quickly and just look at the images, and then read some of the comments, where cons typically are called out pretty quickly.

Seeing the baubles hang on a Christmas tree would definitely be beneficial to this review. As it is, it's barely more than a product description.

Pros: If these fall, at least you'd be able to put them back together.
Cons: You'd have to spend a heck of a lot more money to get these than the cheap plastic ones.

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By in United States,

When is the lego fortnite article gonna come out?

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By in Sweden,

This would've been so much better if it'd included a blue bauble as well, then you could've made four multi-coloured baubles with a different colour on each side, or four two-toned baubles. The packaging even highlights this colour swapping, but with three baubles it's always going to be uneven.

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By in France,

I find these kind of meh actually

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By in United Kingdom,

@R1_Drift said:
"When is the lego fortnite article gonna come out?"

You mean the one we published weeks ago?

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By in United Kingdom,

I can't see the weight being any problem with a real Christmas tree. Maybe with a grotty artificial tinsel thing!

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By in United Kingdom,

@Huw said:
" @R1_Drift said:
"When is the lego fortnite article gonna come out?"

You mean the one we published weeks ago?"


There's new news

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By in United States,

“ They were designed by Chris McVeigh, who published a couple of books and a website containing similar designs before he was hired by LEGO.”

I made some of these years ago. They were indeed heavy! I liked them, but quickly gravitated to the smaller ones he published due to the weight and practicality of hanging them on a tree.

I use an artificial tree, so I should be okay with the new GWP. But it might be a struggle for those using a live tree.

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By in United States,

@Huw said:
" @R1_Drift said:
"When is the lego fortnite article gonna come out?"

You mean the one we published weeks ago?"


No, the lego minifigs that were in the new fortnite live event. Maybe you can analyze it to see what minifigs we could have in the future?

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By in Australia,

They look like more trouble than their worth. Nothing worse than having heavy balls.

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By in United Kingdom,

I built this set for Huw, and I found it quite repetitive as you have to build the same assembly 12 times. However, I suppose it’s not designed as an interesting build but for decorative purposes. The tree will be going up very soon, so we will try them out then. I don’t expect them to stay on there as they won’t match the colour scheme lol.

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By in Germany,

Real Christmas baubles are made of glass not of plastic!

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By in Germany,

@sjr60 said:
"Brilliant GWPs. Let the festivities begin.
Deck the halls and dangle your balls...."

Best comment ever!

Greatest time of the year, when everyone gets to dangle their balls - for the enjoyment of the entire family ;-)

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By in United Kingdom,

@sjr60 said:
"Brilliant GWPs. Let the festivities begin.
Deck the halls and dangle your balls...."


I'd rather not, thank you very much

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By in Canada,

We put them on the tree today and it hold well, not heavy and not falling (we have a 'fake' tree, not an organic one)

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By in United Kingdom,

@elangab said:
"We put them on the tree today and it hold well, not heavy and not falling (we have a 'fake' tree, not an organic one)"
Excellent.

Highlights Comments Section number 1 rule.
Moan first, check the facts later (or not at all)!

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By in United Kingdom,

These are lovely. I was lucky enough years ago to meet Tommy Williamson, who showed me his Millennium Falcon bauble. These will certainly look good alongside. Thank you for sharing.

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By in United Kingdom,

@Huw said:
" @R1_Drift said:
"When is the lego fortnite article gonna come out?"

You mean the one we published weeks ago?"


Probably the one that appeared two hours after this one.

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By in United Kingdom,

Extreme pedantry time.

I don't understand the piece count.

The set consists of three identical baubles and presumably doesn't include a brick separator and spares aren't counted so why isn't the piece count a multiple of 3?

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By in United Kingdom,

@The_Lard_Of_Fear said:
"Extreme pedantry time.

I don't understand the piece count.

The set consists of three identical baubles and presumably doesn't include a brick separator and spares aren't counted so why isn't the piece count a multiple of 3?"

At a guess there must be a part that isn't available in all sizes in all colours so a substitute had to be used (but I can't be bothered to try and work out which part) or it could just be wrong!

In fact, for starters, the slopes that are 2 pieces in green are one piece red!

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By in United Kingdom,

Thanks, that explains it. I hadn't noticed the green slopes were 1x1s.

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By in Canada,

I've waited for Chris to design a Christmas GWP like this. I've built most of his pre-LEGO employment holiday ornaments over the years. They decorate my house every Xmas.

I urge people to look at his web site and enjoy some of his creations. The 2017 Pendant and the Robe series were especially nice, nicef than this batch in my personal opinion. I hope TLC gives him another batch batch of ornaments to design next year.

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By in United States,

@Huw:
No mention of the “alt build” on the back of the box? It’s like the least altiest of all time, but it’s still a different build. And considering I ended up with two copies of the set, I’m kinda planning to do one in each style.

@Watsonite said:
"The sound of the rehash mill is clearly sounding:
41129 "


A hot dog cart?

@Graysmith:
My take on it was you just swap the L/R panels from red to yellow, from yellow to green, and from green to red. All would be split evenly between two colors, in all three possible 50/50 color combinations.

@UProbeck:
I prefer the LEGO clamshell baubles, where you can build a tiny MOC to go inside.

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By in United States,

@jsutton said:
"These are lovely. I was lucky enough years ago to meet Tommy Williamson, who showed me his Millennium Falcon bauble. These will certainly look good alongside. Thank you for sharing."

I’m not familiar with this, and not having any luck finding it online.

@gylman:
Speaking of links:

https://www.chrismcveigh.com/cm/building_guides_-_holiday_2018.html

There are tabs at the top of the list to switch which year’s assortment you’re looking at, for those who aren’t familiar.

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