Review: 40206 Santa
Posted by MeganL,
This year's seasonals have been met with either love or hate reactions. As we finish the year, how do the Christmas seasonals stack up? Today we will take a look at the first of these, 40206 Santa.
For I think the first time in a review I have done, the box art is almost identical on the front and back of the box. The front has Santa is all his glory, while the back of the box shows Santa in various degrees of close-up, along with a picture of him thinking of the elves in the Elves' Workshop.
There is also a drawing of an ornament on the front of the box with To: and From: lines. Inside the box there are three unnumbered bags and an instruction booklet.
The model starts with building the top of Santa's legs and the bottom of his torso including a shiny gold belt buckle. As his torso is built the arms are added by using the grey ball joints - this would have worked so much better if the ball joints were in white or black as opposed to grey (a common complaint of mine).
While Santa's torso is filled out nicely with red and white bricks, his arms are still spindly with the use of the 1x1 claw pieces for the hands. I think this part of the model looks quite jarring because the arms do not look in proportion to the rest of the body.
Santa is sitting on a sleigh-style easy chair in dark green that has a rather nice roll back and padded arms. Santa's legs and feet are added next.
The head and hat are the last part to be built. Santa has a very jovial expression thanks to some beige cheese slopes allowing for an open mouth smile. I rather like the use of quill feathers as Santa's moustache, while his beard is represented by some 1x2 sloped pieces and a 2x2x2/3 plate with bow. I am of mixed opinions of the beard, mostly around the plate with bow piece - having this in front makes it look almost that Santa has a goatee as opposed to a beard.
I like Santa's face though his nose seems a little preeminent on his face thanks to the use of two 1x1x1/3 brick with arch pieces. I can understand the designer's limitation with parts and all things considered I think his head comes off quite well.
Overall this is a nice sized model to have on display, even if some of the facial features are a little out of proportion.
If you do not have a brick-built Santa or really love seasonals, this is worth picking up, otherwise it might be worth waiting until next year.
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21 comments on this article
I know this set has received a lot of hate, but I really dig the strange style of it.
I think this set fits well with the snowman and reindeer from 2014. Yes, I also have a problem with Lego only making that ball joint piece in LBG, but it doesn't ruin the set for me. Thanks for the great review and look forward to the Elves Workshop set review next.
I don't mind the Christmas sets, I got the Train, 2 of the 24 in 1 Sets and 2 of the Toy Soldier decorations. If you don't wish to use them as a season item, they are great for spare parts!
I really like this model; going to be getting both it and the Elves' Workshop soon. Great review, too, Megan! :-)
A very nice review. Well done Megan.
I dont know who so many peaple are hating these sets!
I think they dont look that creepy or crazy, they look pretty cool
I personally like this set, and the other seasonal sets that TLG put out, but it seems to me, that none of them are ever good enough for the reviewers, there is ALWAYS something that's not right, or the noes is too big, or the face is "scary" Don't get me wrong, I love this site and please keep the reviews coming, but please cut the seasonal sets some slack.
We would cut the seasonal sets some slack if they deserved the slack. The 2014 sets weren't as bad as this year's. However the Santa isn't bad.
I think the best feature of this set is the face/head. Thanks for the really nice review!
I'd have loved it more if he was just a free-standing character, but that face is so fun that it still gets a thumbs up from me.
@ImSpanky, I think the problem is that we've been spoilt the last couple of years. 2015's vignettes were exceptional, http://brickset.com/sets/year-2015/theme-Seasonal , 2014's figures all had a certain charm and cuteness, http://brickset.com/sets/year-2014/theme-Seasonal , but this year's have all been a bit weird.
This model is...somewhat strange, to say the least.
Yep, the arms on this one are awful. Not just for the colour, but for making the overall figure look completely out of proportion. A big head is fine, so long as the body is then consistent to a different scale. This one is all over the place.
Looks amazing. Like the mustache build.
@Huw, Totally agreed this years seasonal sets are quite lacking to what we have gotten in the past.
Eeh I still think its kinda ugly.
I think he's fun--that Thanksgiving pilgrim is a bit odd, but I like this guy.
Good parts set. Like the dark green pieces that come with this one. Not a fan of the design of the set though.
I like it; it's a shame it doesn't seem to be sold in the UK.
I like it, fun little sets, wonder what we will see next year. I think your right Catwrangler as the last few seasonals i have only managed to find on the Lego UK store website(they might be in Lego brand stores but none of those near me!)
I have a diffirent opinion here.. this set looks more artistic than the usual Lego sets. Think of it as a Van Gogh drawing. It does look different but in quite a good way.