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LEGO MINI Cooper Caravan & more!

by Thita (admin) on September 18, 2014

I ran across the gallery of a German LEGO fan who’s models really impressed me. He goes by the name CustomBricks, and mostly designs LEGO military models. They are excellent and worth checking out. I’m not so much into military stuff, but there are a couple of non-military LEGO designs by CustomBricks that I really liked, and thought to share with you. 🙂

The first one is a the LEGO MINI Cooper Caravan. This is an extension for the recently released #10242 LEGO Creator MINI Cooper. We have talked about this set before and some of the fun conversions people have been doing with it (see links at the end of this post). And I think this caravan is another extremely cute design. It matches the LEGO MINI Cooper in size, color and style, and comes with a fully detailed exterior and interior. The total piece count is 965 (including the hitch), and the dimensions are (W/H/D) 12.1/13.1/23.5 cm. If you have the #10242 LEGO MINI Cooper this may be a fun project to consider. You can see more pictures at CustomBricks’ flickr gallery here, and you can buy the PDF instructions on his website here.

CustomBricks also designed similar extensions to the #10220 LEGO Volkswagen T1 Camper Van; a small, 1-axle caravan, a larger 2-axle caravan, a trailer with a Vespa scooter, a luggage-trailer, and a trailer with boat. The 1-axle caravan is quite similar to the LEGO MINI Cooper version, but with the colors and decors matching the LEGO VW Camper. The 2-axle caravan is practically a palace with everything from a toilet/shower unit, opening doors, opening tailgate and trunk, seats that convert into a bed, roof-awning, sun-loungers, outside table and more! The smaller model is about the same size as the caravan for the LEGO MINI Cooper, and the larger model is (W/H/D): 20.4/13.5/30.5 cm. You can see more pictures at CustomBricks’ flickr gallery here, and you can also buy the PDF building instructions on his website here.

And as I mentioned there are also three smaller trailers for the LEGO VW Camper; one with a scooter (the scooter itself is an excellent design!), then there is a bit larger trailer that can hold a standard LEGO boat, and a luggage-trailer that you can use for holding all kinds of stuff. There are instructions and parts-lists for these as well, if you would like to build one.

I really like custom LEGO sets like these; when someone takes an official LEGO set and makes an extension. It can provide a fun project for others who own the original LEGO set and would like to do something more with it. Not everyone is great at building a LEGO model from scratch – modifications and extensions are a lot easier. Plus it just makes your set so much more unique and special – like so many LEGO fans have these two sets, but how many have a cute little matching trailer attached to it?

CustomBricks provides instructions for many of their models, so if you like them, check them out. And if you don’t have the #10220 LEGO Volkswagen T1 Camper Van, or the #10242 LEGO MINI Cooper, they are available at the Online LEGO Shop.

Shop LEGO Creator Mini Cooper & VW Camper

So what do you think? How do you like these custom LEGO caravans and trailers? Are you planning to build any of them? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

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

LEGO MINI Cooper & Classic Space Fusion
LEGO MINI Cooper Available Now! (+other versions & modifications)
LEGO MINI Cooper Coming Soon! (press-release & designer video)
LEGO Volkswagen Camper Mini in Every Shape & Style!
Feelin’ the Sixties with the LEGO VW Camper!

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LEGO Santa’s Workshop available now!

by Thita (admin) on September 17, 2014

in LEGO Exclusives

The official LEGO holiday set for 2014, the #10245 LEGO Santa’s Workshop is now available for LEGO VIP members! (It will be available for non-VIP members on October 1st). Make sure you are logged into your LEGO VIP account when you visit the Online LEGO Shop, so you can get it early. 🙂

The #10245 LEGO Creator Santa’s Workshop is part of the very popular LEGO Winter Village series that started back in 2009, with one set each holiday season. They are medium-size LEGO sets with sweet Christmas scenes that kind of look like a Thomas Kinkade painting. For a lot of families it has become a tradition to set up the ever-expanding LEGO Winter Village around the Christmas tree. Because LEGO only releases one set a year, they don’t require a huge financial investment or take up a lot of space, and provide lots of family fun for the holidays. So far six sets have been released, and they are listed below for your reference:

#10199 LEGO Winter Toy Shop – released in 2009 – RETIRED
#10216 LEGO Winter Village Bakery – released in 2010 – RETIRED
#10222 LEGO Winter Village Post Office – released in 2011 – RETIRED
#10229 LEGO Winter Village Cottage – released in 2012 – RETIRED
#10235 LEGO Winter Village Market – released in 2013 – AVAILABLE
#10245 LEGO Santa’s Workshop – released in 2014 – AVAILABLE

Going back to the 2014 LEGO Winter Village set, here is the official description of the #10245 LEGO Santa’s Workshop set: Have festive family fun building Santa’s Workshop! Enjoy the magic of Christmas with Santa’s Workshop, a festive addition to the LEGO Winter Village Series! Gather your family around the Christmas tree to build this enchanting winter wonderland. Help the elves make the toys, feed the reindeer and help Santa load up his magical sleigh. Santa’s wife has baked cookies and the clock tower shows it’s nearly time for Santa to deliver the presents—all at the most wonderful time of the year! Includes 6 minifigures: Santa with red gift sack, Mrs. Claus with cookie tray and 4 elves with pointy ears and hats. 883 pieces. Price: $69.99 – SEE MORE PICTURES & BUY HERE

Also, below is the designer video for the #10245 LEGO Creator Santa’s Workshop, so you can see all the sweet details. I have to say I’m very impressed with that sled and I really like the little assembly-line for the elves (is that Benny’s Spaceship the little elf is holding?). Also, I think the reindeer are really cute. I have heard some people mentioning they would have preferred moulded animals, however brick-built creatures are just more LEGO-ish and fun. At least that’s what I think. Although I’m surprised none of them has a red nose.

The LEGO Winter Village sets (as well as the LEGO Christmas Calendars we talked about the other day. (See: 2014 LEGO Advent Calendars & More!), and are usually gone if you wait too close to the holidays. If you are a LEGO VIP member you can get it now, or you can wait until October 1st when it becomes more widely available. The benefit of getting it now is that you will definitely have it before the crowds attack LEGO stores ad the Online LEGO Shop, and the benefit of waiting until October is that you will get a free exclusive holiday set with two more elves and a little workshop for them (plus double VIP points the entire month).

So what do you think? How do you like the LEGO Santa’s Workshop set? Are you planning to get it? Do you collect the LEGO Winter Village series? Feel free to share your own thought and opinion, and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

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

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LEGO MINI Cooper Caravan & more!

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