Preview: 40222 Christmas Build-Up
Posted by Huw,
The gift-with-purchase in the US and Canada until the 25th of October is 40222 Christmas Build-Up. LEGO has kindly sent me one to review but rather than review it all now and spoil the surprise in December, I will just make you aware of what an excellent set it is so that you can secure one while the offer is still on.
This is particularly important at the moment because the product page at shop.LEGO.com does not have an image of the set so you might not even know what it is. (Update: it's there now)
It is effectively a 24-in-1 Creator set comprising 250-pieces and instructions to make twenty-four mini Christmas related models.
The box is much like that used for Architecture and Ideas sets: high quality and with a top flap. This is most welcome for a free set!
There are two manuals containing the building steps for the 24 models.
250-parts sounds a lot but as you can see many of them are small.
The models are numbered 1 to 24 so I think it's safe to assume that the intention is that you build one each day in December in the run up to Christmas. Every day starts with a picture of yesterday's model and the brick separator to make it clear that you need to take it apart before building today's model.
Should you not wish to do that you may well have the required parts in your collection to enable you to build them all simultaneously: they are all pretty common -- here is the inventory.
Overall then, it is a fantastic set that I would have no hesitation in buying if it was sold separately. Being able to get it free makes it even better!
40222 Christmas Build-Up is free with purchases over $99 until the 25th of October from shop.LEGO.com. It's 'a $19.99 value' as you like to say in the USA, which I think means it is worth $19.99 :-)
It will be available later in the month in the UK and Europe. I will remind you at the time.
Please use these links to place your order: USA | Canada. Thank you!
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33 comments on this article
Pretty sweet. I believe this will be available in the UK in November, but I'll probably try to keep my powder dry in anticipation of the Santa Snow Globe in (I'm assuming) December.
So can you only have one model built at a time? Or is it a few models at a time?
^ Probably a few: clearly the reindeer and tree shown on the box are not going to use the same parts, for example.
Ooh, the little hearth is so cute! I have a Christmas present to pick up later in October, so all being well I will be able to get this freebie.
Looks great, I wonder what the required spend in the U.K. will be - £75?
As I stated here, http://brickset.com/article/23755/caterham-7-available-now-october-offers-at-lego-com:
40222 Holiday Countdown Calendar free with orders over €65/£60 from 23rd October – 20th November.
If you don't want to spend $99, you can also order it alone for $19.99 (search for set 40222, then you can add it to your cart without needing to add $99 worth of merchandise to make it appear.) I was caught up on my want list and didn't want to spend $99, so this was a great option for me that I was happy to see offered. This will make a great addition to the 3 advent calendars that I already purchased. Now all four of us in my house can build something new each day instead of trading off the 3 advent calendars!
I am totally getting this set :) ;)
This is a great idea for a promotional gift. It promotes not only Lego but the idea behind it, too. To built and rebuilt time and over again. It will inspire many people to build their own little creations. I like it very much.
This set was totally unasked for--I planned on buying the christmas train regardless, but what a terrific little bonus! And really a great idea on Lego's part--a free box of spare parts, with 24 different models to give young builders ideas!
And to those looking for an excuse to spend $99, that's what the Christmas train costs, just sayin'... (but be warned, if you use some VIP points it'll drop the price below the threshold so you'll have to throw something else in, too. I went with the Dimensions A-Team. I don't even play Dimensions, but who can say no to such 80's TV goodness?)
In my order it was called Lego Christmas build up.
The colours reminds me of Space Police II.
Hopefully they'll still have it in the Nashville LEGO store on the 16th. Otherwise I'll have to buy it online. :)
Thanks for the heads up.
@ra226, The VIP points shouldn't count against the total when it comes to these kind of promotions. I ordered the new Christmas train and got this set added on, even though I applied $10 VIP credit.
But I'll only earn new VIP points on the actual money I spent (179 points instead of 199) because I applied the VIP credit.
Wow, that's a lot more parts than I expected.
Wait! It's October! I need to pick up the Holiday Train on Double VIP points and get this as well! =)
Can't decide wheter to buy the VW beetle and get this or London bus, either way I am waiting for double VIP points. OR I could buy the Caterham too and get both of these GWP... hmm my bank account is gonna cry :D
@rnsrobot: I just did exactly that, and got free shipping, too.
@Yo_Duh: I tried searching for it, but I can't find it. Was this only a temporary option? I would prefer not having to shell out over $99 to get this.
Huw, I've got a hunch: is this set designed by Mel Caddick?
Looking through all the models (I downloaded the instructions), I am reminded of her brick-built seasonal animals and the Toys R Us "Bricktober" range.
Not according to her list on Facebook...
I'm Crossing All My Fingers I Get This To Keep Sealed
Thanks for the pictures--just enough to pique my curiosity, but not spoil the holiday-season fun! I've never thought the recent regular Advent calendars were good value for money (the ones four or five years ago were the really great ones!) but this really has me excited. I wonder how many simultaneous models can be made from two copies of the set!
Official Image is available; not sure how Huw's scripts extracts them
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=oSv/vWYkQIY&subid=&offerid=115554.1&type=10&tmpid=2294&RD_PARM1=https%3a%2f%2fshop.lego.com%2fen-US%2fLEGO-Christmas-Build-Up-40222
shaase, thanks for the link. I'm still not seeing any option to buy it though... :(
Picked this up with my Winter Holiday Train!
@ScoBo really? I thought I read in the order that it wouldn't apply... but it was late that night. Oh well, would have ordered A-Team regardless :)
Sounds like a lot of us did just that--picked up the Holiday Train, got 2x VIP, free shipping, and free Christmas Build--score!
So disappointing this is not available down under. Once again we're overlooked!!! Considering the poor advent calendar sets on sale this year, this would have been a very welcome change.
I had a rant on LEGO AU Facebook page about a lot of the inequities of being in Oz. They kindle responded acknowledging my frustration but all they could do was refer me to customer service to find out what deal might be on. SIGH
Don't we Aussies usually get these freebies at the same time as UK/Europe? I know we don't get notified in advance (such as with a store calendar), which would be rather helpful, but otherwise I think we get pretty much the same deals?
When Aussies purchase from Lego online we get it from the Europe warehouse (same as EU/UK) according to the salespeople with whom I have spoken at Lego, hence why we get the same (most of the time) deals as they do, so I just use their store calendar.
So White Dove is absolutely correct - in these cases we are not overlooked, just need to consider the warehouse from which our Lego is currently being delivered (this may eventually change with the factory in China).
I'd rather have the santa snow globe I'm holding off buying big Big Ben to get it.
So it's London Bus at the moment which is not too bad, does anyone know or summise whether the above will be applied from November?