40059- Santa's Sleigh

This is a concept that's been done more than a few times, but seemed worth buying to me this year since last year's version had only a model Santa and I preferred to have real minifigures.  This set comes with Santa and an elf, a sleigh, a model reindeer, and three presents.  Accessories include a walkie-talkie, a wand, and a letter.

40058- Decorating the Tree

I've been crazy for this Seasonal set since I first saw images of it months ago.  In this polybag, we get two minifigures (one with short legs), a model tree, a stepladder, four presents, and a tiny model train.  There is also a surprising amount of extra pieces for a $7.99 set.

850656- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Raphael Key Chain

 I've never really seen the show, or have much of a concept of the characters, but turtles who are ninjas and are especially adorable in Lego form greatly appeal to me.  Apparently this is Raphael, but I chose him because I thought he had the best keychain facial expression.  He comes attached to a short chained key ring, to which is also attached a small chain with a Lego logo'd piece.

850507- Spider-Man Key Chain

This was my first Lego keychain and I had intended to  remove the chain and screw from this and all Lego keychains I got so that I could buy characters I liked without having to get costly or unappealing sets.  With the help of some youtube videos, I decided that I would be able to remove the keychain part without too much difficulty, but that proved wrong.  My poor Spidey got a little dinged during my attempts with various pliers.  Maybe removal is possible with pliers, but I recommend a soldering iron.  The keychain he comes on is a simple short chain and ring.

5001623- Jor-El

 This polybag minifigure was available on lego.com free with qualifying purchase during June 2013.  Initially (and until three minutes ago), I thought Kal-El was Superman's father's name, so I dubbed Jor-El Superman's uncle.  However, Kal-El is Superman and Jor-El is Superman's daddy.  Don't ask why he's wearing a Superman costume.  I like some superheroes, but knowing that the comic book world is full of complex backstories, multiple resurrections, and alternate universes, I tend to stay way from that mess.  He's a cute Superman-type figure without having to buy a set, let's leave it at that.

4842- Hogwarts Castle

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and ever since the Harry Potter sets came out in 2001, I wanted a Hogwarts Castle.  So, I'm happy I was able to snag this final version of the full castle before The Lego Group retired it.  There are ten different minifigures included and the castle is composed of four sections that can be joined together in variety of ways.  See below for several alternate pictures.











The rooms/areas in the castle are: Vanishing Cabinet, Library, Astronomy Tower, Owlery, Slytherin Common Room, Statue, Gryffindor Common Room, The Great Hall, Dumbledore's Office with moving staircase on the lower level, and Sorting Hat.

5002889- DK's Batman Visual Dictionary

I never liked any of the Batman sets enough to purchase, but I was happy to buy this book since I'm always interested in pictures of cute sets and love the Batman minifigure that came with it.  As typical in the DK Lego licensed-theme books, the front cover is a thick cardboard containing an exclusive minifigure.  So, the book may seem twice as long as they actually are, but all the DK Lego books I've gotten have never disappointed.

5613- Firefighter

This little city-themed box set is in the same year and series as 5610- Builder.  A cute little way to bulk up my fire crew with plenty of accessories.  See below for an image of the back of the box.

The set comes with a fireman in a hat, a small fire construction, a fire hydrant, and a wall with accessories including a fire extinguisher, a black axe, a chainsaw, and a handheld circular saw (forgive me for not knowing proper saw terminology).  See below for an image of the back of the wall.

30261- Tonto's Campfire

I wanted this nice little polypag mostly for the Tonto figure.  Little did I know that I'd be getting another set with him in it (79107- Comanche Camp) or that he would be released as a keychain figure, which can easily be turned into a normal figure with the aid of a soldering iron.

This set comes with Tonto, his tomahawk, and the campfire construction.

3061- City Park Cafe

I'm not too fond of the flamboyancy of the Friends sets in general, but it's not too common to see these everyday life sets in the City theme, so this was really welcome.  Compared to normal sets of this size though, this was a bit simplistic to put together.  Lots of stickers are used and you can see the sheet below.  The mini-dolls in this set are of Andrea and Marie (not pictured).  Andrea is wearing a pink top and a pink skirt.  Marie has a orange top and a light blue skirt.  See below for an image of the back of the box.

This set comes with a cafe and small outdoor area.  Inside the cafe is a table and seating area, condiment table, sink, oven, full set of kitchenware, milkshake machine, pie display case, and cash register.  The outdoor area features many flowers, a small table with two stools, and food.

3933- Olivia's Invention Workshop

What drew me to this set was that is has a nice science theme.  I'm really happy that while the Friends theme is targeted at girls, it explores all kind of different interests people may have.  It's daily life without having to be police or fire.












This set features the mini-doll Olivia.  She's not pictured here, but is wearing an orange-yellow tanktop and lime green cropped pants.  Included in the set is a table with a Lego model microscope, flask, and seat; a model robot with remote control; a shelf unit with bottles; a printed blackboard; and a workstation with drawers, tool wheel, and model clamp mechanism.

3936- Emma's Fashion Design Studio

This set always seemed to be in limited supply, and taking a look at all the accessories, it's no wonder why.  More on that, but first note that while Emma is not pictured, she is wearing a purple tanktop and a dark blue skirt.  See the back of box image below to get a better look at her.












This set comes with a small table and stool with a sandwich and Lego laptop, a printed design board and stand, four drawers with four bolts of cloth and hairbrush, a larger work table with stepladder and lamp, flower cluster, mp3 player, mug, camera, and printed measuring tape.

3939- Mia's Bedroom

I was pretty psyched to see a more domestic setting like this in the Friends series.  This set is works fairly well, scale-size for normal Lego minifigures.













This set is made up of three main parts: bed with side table, table with radio, and a drumset.  The mini-doll Mia is not pictured but she is wearing a white halter top and a pink skirt.  Is anyone else really excited to have a proper Lego drumset?

4191- Captain's Cabin

I primarily bought this set because I wanted Pirates set with Captain Jack, since he is so awesome.  So, this set accomplished that and have me a handful of interesting pieces to use on other projects.  See below for back of box picture (and many other pictures).

41011- Stephanie's Soccer Practice

I'll not complain about the overuse of purposely "girly" coloured bricks in this Friends set, as it's not really too bad.  I actually got two of these sets since it only comes with one goal post and a proper footie game needs two, really.











Set comes with goalpost, sideline/bench area, obstacle training area, and a mechanism to set the ball in motion.  See below for back of box image.

41002- Emma's Karate Class

I was excited to see this set, as I'm a fan of martial arts and the set seemed to have a lot of nice elements.  As with all Friends sets, there are lots of pastel bricks and the scale doesn't quite fit normal Lego minifigures and I will always complain about both, but it's still a decent set overall.  See below for back of box image.


This is my second set with Emma, the other being 3936- Emma's Fashion Design Studio from 2012.  However, since I don't like the Friends mini-dolls, both of my Emma's remain mostly packaged and put away.  Hence no picture of her.  I do know that she is wearing a white karate outfit, with cropped pants, and what appears to be a black belt and a light purple flower printed on her torso.  The lavender bow she comes with matches the printed flower.

40052- Springtime Scene

I wasn't going to get this little set, but I was at the Chicago Watertower Place branch and they were just sitting by the register... In the future, I would like to have a small area set up with seasonal Lego scenes, so this is a good start for spring.  Plus, I can always use more tree models for my animations.

79000- Riddles for the Ring

I'm a fan of well-developed low price licensed sets, and this one fits the bill.  Representing a well-known scene in The Hobbit, this set includes Gollum and Bilbo minifigures, a boat, and an interesting cave/rock construction with special placement for the Ring.

5610- Builder

I absolutely love small sets like these.  Generally a fantastic price point and good playability.  A nice way to fill in the gaps in your Lego City (or any other theme) or build on things you already have.  For example, this little guy will give my small construction outfit a little more oomph.

In this set, we have our construction worker (builder) minifigure, his little cement mixer, and a few pieces of cement.  The figure is in a nearly all orange jumpsuit, with the hint of a blue shirt underneath and grey gloves. His torso print also features silver striping, a zipper, two breast pockets, and a pen sticking out of one of the pockets.  He comes sporting a red construction helmet.

The Padawan Menace- Young Han Solo

This little Star Wars guy came with the Blu-ray version of  the 22 minute animation The Padawan Menace.  As he is a licensed character, he is flesh coloured.  Little Han sports mini light-brown legs, a  wrinkled white shirt print on his torso, swoopy dark brown hair, and a fitting smug Han Solo expression.  Adorable.

71000- Minifigures Series 9

I've been trying to cut back on my Lego purchases and only desired about two of this series, but have now wound up with 10 of these collectible minifigures.  Most of these were obtained through feeling packets at the Lego shop at Chicago Watertower Place.  This was my first time there and I was happy to see that there was a big bin of mystery packets to choose from and being among my fellow Lego fans, I didn't feel odd standing there rifling through them, though I was the only one doing so at the time.  Sadly during that trip, I wasn't able to get the one figure I wanted (Battle Mech), and I had to eventually order that online.  The Chicken Suit Guy kept popping up quite a bit though, even though I don't think it was suppose to be a common figure.  Scroll to Additional Images to the bottom for a view of the back of the leaflet and loads of other alternate views of the figures.

8803- Minifigures Series 3

Like the other early series', I got interested too late and the only way to purchase any figures was online.  There are a couple more I would have tried to pick up if I could have, like the Tribal Chief and Elf, but I think my cost efficient picks of the Hula Dancer and Baseball Player was worth it.

40010- Santa with Sleigh Building Set

Hello Father Christmas, how nice to see you!  This cute little holiday model comes with a Santa, a reindeer, sleigh, and two presents.













Mr. Kringle is a rather adorable model and sports a full belly, hat, and a waving arm.  Simple, but well designed and recognizable.  He fits perfectly in the cab of the sleigh, but can easily be detached for other play functions.

41019- Turtle's Little Oasis

Both this set and the series idea in general are fantastic.  Some of the Friends animals seem way too big for me to incorporate in regular Lego life, but the concept that this little animal is now placed only in the context of his happy little home somehow makes the animal seem more realistic.  Turtles are one of my favorite animals, so I was overjoyed to have a genuine Lego turtle and a nice little home for him.  Yes, him.  Although provided with a purple bow, a hole in Mr. Turtle's head for said bow, and the knowledge that the Friends theme is aimed at girls, my turtle is a dude.

3300014- Limited Edition Christmas Set 2012 (Brick Friday)

This is my first Holiday season as an adult Lego fan, so I was really happy to find out that Lego offers a special exclusive set free with qualifying purchases on Black Friday (known to us Lego fans as Brick Friday).  As a Lego VIP Member, I was glad to have the chance to get this set before Black Friday.  I'm very impressed with the little set as it is a great wintry scene.