Holiday gift guide: under $25
Posted by Huw,
Thanks to everyone who's submitted material for our holiday gift guide. I've not been replying individually but rest assured it is being received.
Tomorrow the Brickset staff will make their choices in the under $25 category, then on Sunday we'll move on to the $25-$50 price bracket.
First, though, Dr. Demagorgon picks a popular Star Wars set, then arselus chooses a couple for our consideration:
75267 Mandalorian Battle Pack is perfect for any child, Star Wars fan, or child at heart who still lives in his or her mother's basement! I love this set so much that I bought it twice. It’s wonderful for many reasons.
It features four exclusive and highly popular Mandalorians who have contrasting blue, green, grey and brown helmets and armour that are only available in this set. Also, at £12.99 / $14.99 / 14.61€ it falls well below the $25 range.
The speeder is very swooshable and this set is the first recent one I’ve seen in a long time to feature rangefinders and other equipment. Moreover, unlike a more recent, pricier, Star Wars Battlepack (cough, cough 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers cough, cough) this set is not on backorder for like a bazillion years.
While I do admit that the rubble model included is useless on its own (it doesn’t even provide great cover for the figures!) and at .15 cents a part, this set doesn’t have a great price per piece, but almost everyone I know loves it nonetheless. Now that this set has been out for a while, it might even be possible to find it on sale. All in all, this makes an excellent stocking stuffer.
Over to arselus:
75265 T-16 Skyhopper vs Bantha Microfighters is an excellent treat for any Star Wars fan.
The builds themselves are interesting and unique. The Bantha and Tusken raider are a classic staple of 1977's Star Wars.
The T-16 Skyhopper and pilot add a nice touch of lore, as the ship most famously known from Luke's model, and his stories of hunting womp rats.
The set is also a great add-on to 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina.
75976 Wrecking Ball is a 2019 release but still work mentioning because for under $25 it introduces a fun and unique build, with a unique "minifigure" that will be a treat for Overwatch fans, sci-fi fans, and LEGO fans in general.
Highly recommended for a fun and one-of-kind build.
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15 comments on this article
I've been waiting for the Mandalorian Battle Pack to show up in one of these articles
I thought the Wrecking Ball was dead and buried in terms of being retired/ going OOS but apparently I was wrong. The Overwatch offering isn’t exactly substantial right now - the two slightly newer sets only. Good set though.
@The_Rancor said:
"I thought the Wrecking Ball was dead and buried in terms of being retired/ going OOS but apparently I was wrong. The Overwatch offering isn’t exactly substantial right now - the two slightly newer sets only. Good set though."
In my review I missed that on Lego.com back orders ship in January, though other retailers have it in stock, e.g. https://amzn.to/2I88LIe
The Mandalorian Battle Pack is useful if you are looking for more friendly figures to battle against the numerous stormtroopers that regularly appear in larger sets, with lots of fun using the six blasters . The price per figure is also reasonable with the speeder, where you could remake the rubble as a display stand for the speeder? I also like the Bantha and Tusken raider, but not sure about the T-16 Skyhopper, as would prefer the size to be more mid-way between this version and 75081. Similar to the rest of 'Overwatch', the Wrecking Ball is lost on me although I assume if it closed into a bowling bowl that would be impressive.
On the LEGO website I noticed the 501st legion says it’s on backorder and “will ship in 60 days” but I ordered it and it totally says it shipped with the rest of my order. I’m hoping it shows up with my keychain ;)
@ambr said:
"The Mandalorian Battle Pack is useful if you are looking for more friendly figures to battle against the numerous stormtroopers that regularly appear in larger sets, with lots of fun using the six blasters . The price per figure is also reasonable with the speeder, where you could remake the rubble as a display stand for the speeder?"
That's a really good and clever idea for the rubble.
Got 75267 on day 1, love these mandalorian minifigs!
I knew the Mando Battle Pack would show up. Only downside was the lack of Baby Yoda, but I guess you can’t have everything.
Any Ninjago sets?
^ I don't think it would make sense if Baby Yoda showed up in that set
@ambr said:
" Similar to the rest of 'Overwatch', the Wrecking Ball is lost on me although I assume if it closed into a bowling bowl that would be impressive."
If it did very accurate to the game, haha
@Royweeezy said:
"On the LEGO website I noticed the 501st legion says it’s on backorder and “will ship in 60 days” but I ordered it and it totally says it shipped with the rest of my order. I’m hoping it shows up with my keychain ;)"
Same
Mandalorian battlepack is beautiful, great figures. I think I can build a mode colorful speeder with my spares, we'll see.
The Mandalorian battle pack is a great set for the minifigures, and I’m glad I have it. However, the speeder doesn’t make much sense in this set in terms of the tv show. It was included in the Death Watch battle pack and simply recolored here. That said, I don’t know what else could have been included as the Mandalorian as are in hiding and really only have their armor. I suppose the forge could have been included, but this set does not include the Armorer. That said, anyone who loves the show will love having this set making it a great gift.
For under $10-
Gotta' go with the any of the Friends Play Cubes. Very cute small little dioramas that fit perfectly in any pocket. Very nice little play settings and great parts and accessories.
Any of the Super Mario Character Packs. Great parts and if you're a gamer/Nintendo/Super-Mario fan they're nice little display pieces. And if you're not into the characters, the parts are excellent and many useful.