2015 employee gift set
Posted by Huw,
Someone in Germany is obviously so pleased with their employee gift set this year that they are selling it on eBay already... 4002014 LEGO HUB (whatever that is) Birds is a set of five rather cool looking birds including a duck, robin and eagle.
Rather odd that it should feature such creatures given the impending release of another set of them :-)
I've now learned from Facebook that "These birds are from the countries where the LEGO hub offices are located." A hub recently opened in London, you will recall.
Thanks to Miklos and Benjamin for the news.
0 likes
21 comments on this article
Wow, they are fantastic!
And this is rather goose or swan, not duck
Wow, other than the Duplo eyes those are really nice models. Would love to have them. You're right that the timing is definitely weird. Perhaps it's intended to be a special, exclusive accompaniment to the upcoming Birds set. Or maybe the designer assigned to this set got jealous and wanted to show off how they can make birds, too.
Whatever the case may be, it seems like a little bit of an insider-y poke at Tom and his birds. It would've been better if they stayed out of that territory and let his set shine.
They are 1x1 round tile eyes, are they not?
Yes, they are 1X1 tiles with eye print. I'm not sure why Modok called them "Duplo eyes."
Strange, is it just be, or is this set packed with T-shape bars in black, which they omitted in the Birds set?
They do look cute though, and they may end up higher on my wanted list then the Ideas Birds set, only if they would have been retail and the birds set would be in my real wanted list at all... ;)
That's a very nice gift to employees.. And they look a lot better than the Ideas birds.
Maybe this is the prototype for Ideas: Birds v2? Just like Minecraft spawned a range of follow-ons, could we be seeing an early version here?
My goodness I really want this. Eagles are amazingly awesome , so..
Strange(and very annoying) about the T-bars...
I just thought they looked like the goofy eyes you'd see in a Duplo set. Didn't know "Duplo eyes" was an actual term.
Hmmm. I liked the Lowell Sphere vibe of the Ideas one better than the stylized curves here. No particular interest, for the T-Bars it would be cheaper to buy multiples of The Cave than try to eBay this one.
I'd be more interested in a scan of the instructions than the set as a whole...
Steve
I think these are great, and I'd love to find the instructions (I'm well aware Lego won't offer an official link to them, given the set has a seven-digit set number)! Since this set is not meant to be publically released, I bet it *was* a bit of an insider designer challenge to make something like the Idea Birds, but using rather fewer parts. Doesn't in the least diminish my affection for the larger-scale birds, just as I like having micro-scale versions of sets like the Modulars or the Ferrari FXX as well as the full-scale versions
But pay eBay prices (or even Bricklink ones) for the set? Nope. If I can't find the instructions I'll just have to try reverse-engineering them from pictures, or working out the shapes from scratch. Sure make me wish I worked for Lego, though!
Definitely a swan, @parsom--but what is the bird with the red head and breast and the hooked black beak? And is the tall bird in the back a crane, representing Japan or the Far East?
I should think that would be the 2014 employee gift set, no? Also, unless I'm mistaken, these would seem to be the national birds for the hub countries, not just birds found in them.
From ColdRadio's hint,
Britain - robin
China - red-crowned crane
Singapore - crimson sunbird
Denmark - swan
Unites States - bald eagle
thanks, @tratclif!
There's another set of these on eBay shipping from Kentucky, USA, ( http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=2&toolid=10039&campid=5336533649&item=321614926398&vectorid=229466&lgeo=1 ) if any North American Bricksetters would like to avoid overseas postage...but that auction started at $200 and has already gone up to $350 with another 6+ days to go. I suspect it will make the beautiful put pricey fish set reviewed today look like a reasonable price-per-part ratio by the time the auction's over. You can see excellent pictures of every side of the box, though; useful for those interested in reverse engineering.
@CCC, that was my thought. Lego has a very strong anti-resell policy (from what I've been informed). Maybe employees who recently were let go? Or someone who is allowing a relative to sell the set for them?
I'd buy these over the actual Birds set...
Why must these be so much better than the actually buyable set? These are many times cuter and have lot more pose-ability...
Today I get two Sets - it will be amazing to Build one and save one for later...