If you shop via official LEGO stores or the Online LEGO Shop, you know that almost every month LEGO includes a free gift with your order. This may be a small set, a special minifigure, a poster, or some other unique item (for example, right now you can get a free Lloyd minifigure, and next month you can get a special LEGO VIP set with qualifying purchases). Sometimes these gifts are only available with purchases from a certain theme (i.e. receive an exclusive Star Wars minifigure with any LEGO Star Wars purchase), and/or your purchase needs to meet a minimum dollar amount before the free gift gets included (i.e. receive a free holiday sets with purchases of $50 or more). During some of the promotions, you can even collect more than one gift item at a time (i.e. you get a free Star Wars minifigure because you ordered Star Wars sets, and you will also get the free holiday set because your total purchase was over $50). Those are some of the best promotions. 🙂
LEGO knows that these promotions are very popular, so they do something special every month. They also advertise these specials ahead of time via the LEGO Store Calendar, email, and the homepage of the Online LEGO Shop. Giving away a nice little free set or unique minifigure can greatly boost direct sales, as many people collect these special promotional items. All in all, the program is a win for LEGO and a win for fans. And now, LEGO is asking the fan community for ideas for future gift-with-purchase sets.
For this survey, all ideas for future gift-with-purchase sets are welcome, and you can share them in the comment section below. I will collect all answers and submit them via the LEGO Ambassador Forum before the deadline, which is November 1st. Below are a few guidelines to keep in mind, directly from LEGO, as you think about ideas.
- Ideas consisting of or containing copies of any existing third-party work or creation or infringements of any third party intellectual property rights will not be eligible for this activity. However, ideas to themes within the current LEGO portfolio are welcome, so LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Super Heroes, and LEGO created IPs such as LEGO Friends, LEGO Nexo Knights, and LEGO Elves, are allowed.
- Ideas consisting of or containing trademarked terms, or names that otherwise constitute infringement of any third party intellectual property right will not be eligible for this activity.
- Ideas should be compatible with the current LEGO system of play. This means that all ideas have to be possible to execute with the current portfolio of bricks and LEGO minifigures.
- Please remember to consider the LEGO brand values. This means; 1.) no politics and political symbols, campaigns, or movements, 2.) no religious references including symbols, buildings, or people, 3.) no sex, nudity, drugs, alcohol or smoking, 4.) no swearing or profanity, 5.) no death, killing, blood, terrorism, horror, or torture, 6.) no first-person shooter video games, 7.) no warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation, or national war memorials, 8.) no large or human-scale weapons or weapon replicas of any kind, including swords, knives, guns, sci-fi or fantasy blasters, etc., 9.) no racism, bullying, or cruelty to real life animals, and 10.) no ideas containing defamatory or degrading elements.
Also, to be clear, a gift-with-purchase set is something that is given out to people who take advantage of a specific promotion that LEGO offers. For this survey, LEGO is specifically looking for gift-with-purchase ideas, which would be popular with the adult LEGO fan community. In other words, LEGO would like to involve and hear from as many adults as possible.
An obvious question that might come up; is there any limits to how big the gift-with-purchase set could be? LEGO’s response to this is that the ideas should not be size-specific at this stage of the survey. Some examples they gave are as follows: futuristic spaceship, prehistoric animals, modular building corner restaurant, flower(s), steam train from 1923, and underwater creatures. As you can see, that’s quite a bit of variety, so at this point just focus on brainstorming ideas, and not worry about final models.
So what do you think? What kind of sets would you like to see in the gift-with-purchase category? More holiday sets? Seasonal sets? Mini models of larger sets? Recreations of retro sets, themes, and minifigures? Or something else? And how do you like the free sets LEGO is giving away now? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! Also, you are welcome to share this page with other LEGO fans, so they can submit their ideas as well. The more the better, so we can flood LEGO with awesome ideas about the freebies they should give us. 😉
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
I would like to see more vignette-style sets. Also a combination of a limited ed. minifig combined with something non-brick (like a poster) would be nice.
3-in-1 or 2-in-1 builds with instructions on how to build each variety of thing. More CMF minifig throwbacks, or minifigs from retired sets. Small vignettes (with or without minifigs).
3-in-1, like Creator sets?
How about sets that can fit together? Like for example, the first holiday set in November can be combined with the second holiday set in December? That’s one idea.
Other than that, I like sets that are related to a big release. Like the flower cart that came out at the same time as one of the modulars. So an extra set that goes well with a larger set.
I agree with KelricEP above. Small sets with alternate instructions would be great. As far as what themes, I think anything that fits with the season or new releases. Lego has been doing well with this. So holiday sets during the holidays, Star Wars set in May, etc. I prefer sets over minifigs, but I understand that minifig collectors may not agree.
I would like to see a small Technic set once in a while. They rarely include Technic in the freebies. It would be a good way for kids who are not familiar with Technic to try them out. It could be included in one of those months that don’t have any other special promotion going on.
Hm… I like that idea. A little Technic set would be great! 😀
I definitely like the complimentary sets as mentioned above. Something that enhances a scene of a different set.
I also enjoy sets that could represent their own theme. Like how we got a Hotdog Stand, Balloon Stand, and Flower stand.
Perhaps exploring LEGO’s past and do a series of LEGO Studios or LEGO Western. I know I was thrilled with the Pirate and Space sets they did that came in a fancy little box.
For more specific suggestions I’d like Brick built Greek monsters. Then maybe expand into other cultural myths.
Another idea is to build a minifigure Garden where tourist and gardner minifigures come with a special plant. This could be anything from shaped topiary to Man Eating Venus Fly traps, to fruit baring trees.
I’d also like a series of exhibits. Think of a county or State fair and you see things like the largest pumpkin, or scale model of your local capitol, or How cranes work. All done to minifigure scale.
I’d also like sets that look like challenges on a game show. So each set may involve a minifigure transporting something in a bucket on their head or peddling a strange bike to raise a thermometer looking thing. It won’t matter if you have one or all, your minifigures can all be contestants!
This is similar to the game show idea, but a series of obsticles like those found in obstacle course challenges. Like those you’d find at a summer camp.
Another idea is to have a series of zoo exhibits. Each set would focus on an animal, its preferred food, and habitat.
Modular style Fun House elements. Anything from a set that builds a silly mirror, to giant inflatable vegetables, to moving floors. Anything you’d find at a funhouse.
The world of art. Sets that recreate famous paintings, sculptures, installations, etc. Then give them a LEGO twist. So you don’t have an exact replica but rather what you’d find in the LEGO Universe as its equivilant.
I’d also like a set of nesting dolls. That would most likely be a single set. Where you make something like three dolls total.
Lots of great ideas here! Thanks for sharing! 😀
I’ve always thoughts something that could be called Lego minifigure Decades. You get the same minifigure but you get for example 4 erosions of him/her. Each minifigure is obviously the same person i.e. Same facial features but he looks different to represent the fashion for each era. So you get to display a series of the same person as he would look in different ages, so A Victorian version of him, then an Edwardian version, then a 1930s version, etc etc.
Also Lego real historical minifigure couples in little themed boxes, so Queen Victoria and Albert, Anthony and Cleopatra, Henry Viii and his 6 wives,
I don’t like to be reminded about my own erosions, but otherwise it might be a good idea…
Nice idea! 😀
I rarely buy enough in one go to get any promotions, but small builds and minifigures could be nice.
My own favorite themes are generally the late 80’s – mid-90’s Space themes…
I just got an e-mail that I was about to lose 4(!) of my VIP points unless I’d be buying something soon… It’s very tempting, but I think I’ll just let them perish…
Your VIP points won’t expire until the end of the year, so you will get at least one other notification, and maybe something will come up between now and then that you like. 🙂
I think having more Star Wars minifigures would be awesome. But have characters like old Luke Skywalker or Chewbacca or Han Solo. Just a minifigure from a certain scene from the movie. Also include a small build with them to create the scene. This would be cool with Superheroes and other Lego lines.
Like a little licensed vignette. Nice idea! 😀
Maybe LEGO can have a fan Appreciation week and you can build or get a free mini fig . If they want to make some money off that ,let’s just say if we ( the fans ) spend $20. dollars or more we get the mini fig for free. It could be a different mini fig each day. Maybe keep it with the themes in that year.
A fan appreciation day would certainly be appreciated. And the $20 threshold is low enough that most people will be able to participate. Good idea. 🙂
There have been some great suggestions so far. I would like to add the notion of grab bags of random interesting pieces, possibly tied to theme, such as City, Space, Star Wars, Superheroes, Elves, Architecture, Bionical, Technic, etc. On that thought, though, a choice of a themed bag, instead of just one predetermined theme that not necessarily everyone would want.
Oh, interesting! I would love something like this! 🙂
Somebody did a grab bag deal at my LEGO store once ,But what this person did was used the parts from the sets that were on display. Just to make more money for the store. But, instead, LEGO wanted the display sets sent back to them and that person got fired. So much for trying something new and try to bring a product to the next level . This person was also excellent to the customers.
Well, there are the customers, and the superiors, and you need to be able to strike a balance in a business enterprise.
Oh… that’s not good… 🙁
True, I think firing a person with an Interesting sales idea is a bit Extreme. Than again I’m not LEGO. So, it is what it is.
I second the Lego versions of famous artwork (only things no longer trademarked)
I’d love cute little mini sets of the architecture sets like a baby louvre or baby buckingham palace etc
Could be a design issue. They’re often hard to make recognizable, even on the current scale.
With so many themes , I can appreciate it is difficult to please everyone. Personally ,I love the exclusive Star Wars Polybags – R2 D2 a few months ago, was a great build. Rather than polybag vehicles, would love to see more film character mini-figures… some of the lesser known ones… or better still … access to some of the exclusive Comicon sets on a limited basis with purchase… first come first served.
Hmmm… the Comic-Con figures. Yes, being able to get them without paying hundreds of dollars would be great!
Amen to the Yay-Men!
Well for the next two weeks, I’ll be house sitting for my uncle and his Internet service isn’t that great so you’ll probably won’t hear from me for a while. It’s a paying job so mo ‘ money equals mo’LEGO sets. So, text you later .
I would like to see more minuture versions of old sets like classic space or lego town sets.
I like the 3-in-1 sets such as the Piggy Bank or the mini builds calender from last year. I feel these are good value and make it worthwhile shopping at Lego.
I liked the traveler small luggage box that was given in North America earlier this year. Unfortunaly this never reached Europe.
I particularly love the Christmas sets, the gingerbread house, the mini train, etc. I always buy during this period due to the offers. I can get the sets elsewhere cheaper to be honest.
As for minifigures, I don’t think they are particularly good value. However I once received an unannounced polybag (when the shop was remodelled) and absolutely loved the offer as it was so unexpected. When I buy beauty products or fragrances, some store always throw in some annouced samples – that is an ideia for the shop@home – it would make everyone feel appreciated.
Yes, unannounced surprised are always nice. LEGO does in fact do that sometimes, like they recently did with the Batcave. I like your example of buying beauty products, and getting some free samples. 🙂
I expect the final model.
What I would like for a promo item is something that is an interesting model, but that also is a useful parts pack.
a mini modular like the bricktober buildings would be great
I really like that idea. LEGO could release a mini version of each modular and give it away as a freebie when the set first becomes available. 🙂