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Best LEGO sets – Christmas shopping guide

If you have a LEGO fan in your family, you know what they want for Christmas; more LEGO! That was an easy answer. LEGO has been an incredibly creative and educational hobby for children, teens and adults for several generations. But which LEGO set to get? That question is more difficult to answer. Of course the best way to find out is to ask for a LEGO wish-list. However in many families Christmas is about surprise gifts, not about fulfilling orders. So which are the best LEGO sets this year? Let’s take a look and find out what LEGO sets to shop for! 🙂

LEGO Holiday Shopping

Shopping for LEGO fans is actually quite easy. It is not like buying a sweater; if you get the size, style or color wrong, it is all wrong. When it comes to LEGO to know what is on the recipient’s LEGO wish-list is a bonus, but even if you don’t know, with LEGO you can’t go wrong; there is no such thing as a bad LEGO set. For a LEGO fan any LEGO set will be greatly appreciated. Even if you accidentally buy a duplicate of something they already have, they will love to get the extra parts for free-building! 😀

Chritsmas LEGO Shopping LEGO Stocking Stuffers

The only thing to look out for is making sure you are not buying a “clone-brand” instead of LEGO. There are many companies making inferior quality products that are imitating the LEGO brand, hoping that uninformed parents and grandparents will accidentally pick those up instead of genuine LEGO. In fact, they go as far as imitating the color-scheme and box design of real LEGO sets, and their products are often placed in the same isle right next to LEGO! Many LEGO fans despise these brands and would be quite disappointed. The only thing you need to do in this regard is check the box for either the LEGO or DUPLO logo (DUPLO are larger bricks for children under 3 years of age). These are the only two brands LEGO makes. Of course LEGO has sub-themes like LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Super Heroes, LEGO Technic, LEGO Friends, etc., but you will always see the red square LEGO logo displayed on the box.

LEGO Winter Village Holiday Set

So now that you can relax and know that all LEGO is good LEGO (as long as it is real LEGO), let’s look at what is available this year that you might consider getting for the LEGO fan in your family or for your LEGO-crazed friends. Below you will find helpful links to recommended products.

THE BEST LEGO SETS FOR FAMILIES: “The family that builds together stays together.” For many people LEGO is a family affair. This is especially true where the parents also grew up with LEGO and they appreciate the educational and creative aspects of LEGO, along with the family bonding experience. If you are Christmas shopping for a family like this, you probably already know what aspect of LEGO they are into; perhaps they have a giant LEGO City layout in the basement, or LEGO Star Wars sets all over the living room, or a huge LEGO castle is taking up their dining-room table, or they set up a LEGO village and train around the Christmas tree every year. If your budget allows it, I would recommend getting a larger LEGO set for this family that everyone can enjoy. Good candidates are:

Shop for LEGO Christmas Sets for Families

THE BEST LEGO SETS FOR BOYS: If you know their wish-list, or the LEGO theme they like to build, get something that would fit that. For a lot of boys LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Chima, or LEGO Ninjago is the rage, so any set within that theme would make a great Christmas gift. Also, the LEGO Creator line is excellent for kids who like to build and design on their own. These sets are mostly priced in the $10-$50 range, so they are quite affordable:

Shop for LEGO Christmas Sets for Boys

THE BEST LEGO SETS FOR GIRLS: LEGO started a brand new theme just for girls called LEGO Friends. If you are Christmas shopping for a girl who is already into LEGO Friends, you can’t go wrong with any of the currently available sets. There is a great selection available in the $10-$50 range. Please note though that not all girls are into LEGO Friends. Some prefer the more traditional LEGO themes. If you know what they like, get something from their favorite LEGO theme, or you might still want to surprise the with a LEGO Friends sets as they come with many interesting colors and accessories not available in other LEGO sets. Girls also tend to like the LEGO Creator houses and other sets that are not centered on conflict:

Shop for LEGO Christmas Sets for Girls

THE BEST LEGO SETS FOR TEENS: LEGO shopping for teens is a bit more challenging (I guess shopping for anything for teenagers is challenging). First of all, make sure they are still into LEGO. Even kids who have been building with LEGO all their life, once they hit their teens other pursuits will likely take up their interest. However this is not true for all teens; many of them will continue the LEGO hobby, and in fact take it much more seriously with designing their own LEGO creations with astounding skill and creativity. This in fact can lead them to a future career in architecture, engineering, design, robotics, art, programming, or even landing a job at LEGO. If the teen you are shopping for is on their way out of the LEGO hobby I would suggest one of the excellent LEGO books available from No Starch Press that may rekindle their interest, or if they are still deeply involved with LEGO there are many LEGO sets specifically designed for teens. Good candidates are:

Shop for LEGO Christmas Sets for Teens

THE BEST LEGO SETS FOR ADULTS: As more than one generation grew up with LEGO and continued the hobby in their adulthood, it became obvious that LEGO is not just a childhood toy, but can become a lifetime hobby. The many adult LEGO fan-sites, blogs and forums with thousands of members, and LEGO conventions all over the world, are a testimony of the thriving adult LEGO fan community. LEGO has responded to their adult fan-base by releasing LEGO sets specifically targeting adults. These are usually very large sets with complex building techniques and intricate details – things that would be too overwhelming for a child to build or pay attention to. Adult oriented LEGO sets are more expensive too, in the $100-$400 range, however there are also smaller sets that adults would appreciate:

Shop for LEGO Christmas Sets for AFOLs

THE BEST LEGO SETS FOR GRANDPARENTS: Yes, LEGO has been around long enough that there are fans of the brand who are grandparents themselves. And grandparents deserve gifts too! Especially if they are fun grandparents who are into LEGO! They would likely appreciate the same LEGO sets as adults, but there is also something else I would recommend for them; LEGO books. Older LEGO fans have likely seen it all, built it all, even have it all, but they can still get inspiration from LEGO books that share amazing LEGO creations or delves into LEGO’s long history:

Shop for LEGO Christmas Modular Buildings

THE BEST LEGO SETS FOR CO-WORKERS: You may be working with someone who is a LEGO-nut. Perhaps you have not seen their whole LEGO collection and know exactly what LEGO theme they are into, but you can get them something funny and LEGO related that fits in the office:

Shop for LEGO Christmas Set for Friends

THE BEST LEGO SETS FOR YOUR BOSS: Yes, your boss may be into LEGO too! Or perhaps you are the one who is known as the LEGO geek, and you want to surprise your boss with something from your hobby:

Shop for LEGO Christmas Sets for Your Boss

THE BEST SMALL LEGO SETS (UNDER $10): If your budget is small but would still like to surprise a LEGO fan, or you are just looking for LEGO stocking-stuffers here are some ideas:

Shop for LEGO Christmas Sets Under $10

THE BEST LARGE LEGO SETS (OVER $100): These are the best of the best LEGO sets, mostly recommended for teen and adult builders, although some younger kids may like them too. If money is not an issue, any LEGO fan would be very happy with these sets. Here are the best of the currently available large LEGO sets:

Shop for the Best LEGO Christmas Sets

Again, as I have mentioned, there is no such a thing as a bad LEGO set, and LEGO fans would appreciate any gift that would enhance their hobby. These are just some guidelines, in case you don’t know where to start. I hope it helps out in your Christmas LEGO shopping! Also, if you have your own suggestions, feel free to share in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

{ 19 comments… add one }
  • Fikko3107 November 18, 2013, 10:18 AM

    It’s killing me softly that I can’t buy any of the new Seasonal Polybags. Especially that Thanksgiving Feast! I hope an acquaintance is going to America soon…

    • HP November 18, 2013, 10:49 AM

      But you have a friend in the Philippines 😀 . Contact me for this polybag of your dreams.

      • admin November 18, 2013, 11:50 AM

        That’s really nice of you! 🙂

        • Fikko3107 November 19, 2013, 12:20 AM

          I don’t plan to pay inflated, Shrewd-Capitalist-Asian-Prices. Anyways, getting them from the real source is much more fun!

          • admin November 19, 2013, 10:30 AM

            I think HP was just trying to help you out. 😉

  • benny November 18, 2013, 10:45 AM

    this has give ME ideas to put on MY list, not buy for others (im the only FOL in my family). about Christmas I got the star wars advent calendar late September early august because of how hard it was to get around this time last year. my friends say that they think Christmas lego stuff is a waste of money, but then they have never got anything

    that highway speedster looks good, I have never seen it so it may not be out here in England, also what date is the new ninjago sets out I cant find them on the site. also I got my lego club mag a few days ago it had some pics of upcoming sets. a new gorilla striker looking thing and what I think is star wars imperial battle pack, looks like royal guards and a black one that my star wars knowledge tells me is a shadow trooper

    • ~EliteBrick~ November 18, 2013, 11:42 AM

      The Black “Figures” in the Battle packs are actually Death Star Gunners.

    • admin November 18, 2013, 11:49 AM

      Benny, we just talked about the Ninjago sets the other day: http://thebrickblogger.com/2013/10/lego-ninjago-2014-sets-more-images/. You can always find the latest updates in the Ninjago section. They are already available in some stores, and they should be on LEGO’s website on the 1st of December. 😉

    • Chi-bacca November 18, 2013, 1:23 PM

      Benny, we do have the highway speedster here in England I got it when it came out as it looked cool (it is 😀 ) and about that Star Wars thing…. This should help 😀 http://youtu.be/684UW2Ix5lw

      • NinjaMelissa November 18, 2013, 9:20 PM

        The sets release date is around December 1st, from what Shop LEGO said awhile back. All 7 Ninjago sets are on my Christmas list for this year!!

        • LK2 November 19, 2013, 8:59 AM

          Admin, I’m goin to right a post about 70726 Destructoid…. Do you think this OK?

          • admin November 19, 2013, 10:29 AM

            Good idea, but I don’t know if I can sqeeze in a post just about one set before the end of the year. The schedule is really tight right now and since the sets are going to be officially released at the beginning of December I will be publishing a post about that anyway. I could just add the Destructoid to that article. Thanks for asking! 🙂

            • LK2 November 19, 2013, 12:43 PM

              Okay then. Just to let you guys know that pictures of the set have been revealed by Brickshelf user GRogall.

  • Steve November 18, 2013, 11:45 AM

    There’s always too much to choose from!! Want it all!
    For some great personalised LEGO®, hop over to fab-bricks.com, great personalised minifigs, key chains etc…even a personalised minifig bauble, and like us on Facebook too and you can get 10% discount by entering the code ‘keepintouch’ at checkout. 🙂

  • Rusty Patti November 18, 2013, 11:48 AM

    I only buy LEGO as gifts for all the kids in my life – currently 14. Only 2 of them were into LEGO before I started doing this. Now they all look forward to opening the presents from me.

    Thanks for pointing out that not all girls like the Friends line. I’ve only bought Olivia’s Tree House and Inventor Studio for the girls. The first thing they did with Olivia’s Tree House was fortify and weaponize it and invite Katniss up.

    They hate that the Friends figs can’t sit or swap bodies with the rest of their minifigs. So they take the hair from the Friends figures since that does work with minifigs and then ditch the Friends figs.

    • admin November 18, 2013, 12:13 PM

      LOL! Sounds like your girls are awesome and know exactly what they want! Good thing about LEGO is that you can do all those swapping and interchanging without much effort. I would love to see Olivia’s fortified tree-house! That sounds really fun! 😛

      • ninja of stealth November 19, 2013, 12:47 PM

        yeah! I agree with your daughters! 😀

  • ninja of stealth November 18, 2013, 12:38 PM

    yep, this is a pretty accurate list if I do say so myself! 😉

  • Adelle July 23, 2014, 1:38 PM

    I had NO IDEA there was a Christmas Village set! Best. Day. Ever. 🙂

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