theBrickBlogger.com — Sharing the Passion of the LEGO Hobby!

LEGO Store Calendar – December offers

by Thita (admin) on December 5, 2014

We are a few days late talking about the LEGO Store Calendar for December, but since we have talked about various holiday sales and deals recently (see links at the end of this post), I wanted to give our readers a break with some other topics. However I didn’t want to disappoint those either who were looking forward to the December LEGO Store Calendar. 🙂

We have already discussed previously that the free exclusive this month was the 2015 LEGO Wall Calendar, which includes a few coupons and exclusive offers inside, but nothing really special. Kind of sad that this was the best offer LEGO could come up with for December. They should have really switched it with the second offer, which was only valid on Black Friday weekend; the second LEGO Holiday Set. If you wanted this set I hope you had a chance to get it before the offer expired.

One important and helpful notice on the calendar is that if you would like to receive your order by Christmas you should place it no later than December 16th noon EST with Standard Mail. Or if you wait until the last minute, you can request Express Mail and place your order as late as December 22nd noon EST, but expect to pay a lot more for shipping. To give you an idea, a $100 order will ship free with Standard Mail (as LEGO offers free shipping on all orders over $75), but for Express Mail you have to pay. For a $100 that would be $27.95. (YOu can see the full shipping chart here.) So it is much better to place your order as soon as possible, get free shipping, and have your order arrive on time.

The back of the December LEGO Store Calendar has some suggestions for gifts, including stocking-stuffers and gift ideas under $15. You might find these helpful in your shopping. We have talked about some great LEGO sets for the holidays already (see links at the end of this post) and you can also find more detailed suggestions at the Online LEGO Shop.

Then there is also a teaser for the upcoming 2015 LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, The LEGO Movie, and LEGO Disney Princess sets that will be available in January. I’m really looking forward to these as some very nice sets are scheduled for early next year. So don’t spend all your money now, save some for January too!

Based on what we have seen in the past few years, November definitely seems to be the best time to shop for LEGO, especially larger exclusives that are only available directly from LEGO. The Double VIP Points period just can’t be beaten, and in November most sets are still readily available, so you won’t run into your favorite set being out of stock. Last year there was also a Triple VIP Points and free shipping on all orders offer, but that was only for one day, and it was also in November. So this is just something you may want to keep in mind for future years.

I think I’m done talking about holiday shopping for a while and we can get back to other topics. We will however revisit the subject one more time before the end of the year, because LEGO usually runs a significant clearance sale right after Christmas. It is a sale that happens very fast and you have to be on top of it, but you can get some great sets LEGO wants to clear out before the new year. So what do you think? Have you done all your LEGO shopping for the holidays already? Did you find great deals? What was your best find? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

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

{ 15 comments }

LEGO Ideas Birds collection coming soon!

by Thita (admin) on December 4, 2014

in LEGO Exclusives

Last week LEGO officially revealed the #21301 LEGO Ideas Birds set, which is the next official release in the fan submitted LEGO Ideas line. We have talked about this project before (see: LEGO Ideas Update & New Sets Coming!), and now we have a chance to see the set in detail. 🙂

LEGO Ideas Birds was designed by Tom Poulsom (a.k.a. DeTomaso), a British LEGO fan and avid bird watcher. In an interview with the LEGO Ideas team he shares what inspired him to start this project: “The majority of my creations have been replicas of man-made objects (cars, trucks and spaceships) and I wanted to build something different. Creating something to look organic seemed like a nice challenge. I have always loved nature and being a tree surgeon and gardener I get a lot of inspiration from my job. I was digging a vegetable patch one day and during a quick break I noticed a Robin land on my fork handle. This was the inspiration behind “Bobby the Robin”. I built him that evening and enjoyed building this bird so much that I decided to build some of my favorite birds from Europe. Once I had built seven birds I posted one a day on Flickr. They were a hit! I couldn’t believe the attention I received. A follower suggested I add the birds to LEGO Ideas and here I am now with an official LEGO set containing my Idea.”

Tom actually built a whole series of LEGO birds and you can see them all in his flickr gallery at the following links: British LEGO Birds, North American LEGO Birds, Tropical LEGO Birds, and Oceana LEGO Birds. For the #21301 LEGO Ideas Birds sets, LEGO selected three of Tom’s designs from different continents and bundled them into one set. A name-plate has been also added to each bird with the Latin name of the species: the South American Hummingbird (Colibri thalassinus) with a flower, the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), and the North American Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). At least for me the real fun part is that all three birds (not the exact same varieties though) are frequent visitors in our backyard! Blue Jays regularly raid my bird-feeders (but I still love those rascals), American Robins (a bit larger versions of the one featured in this set) come down in big groups when the weather gets cold up North, and although we don’t have the exact same type of hummingbird here, we still have plenty of similar little buzzers visiting our hummingbird feeders.

The #21301 LEGO Ideas Birds set is already listed at the Online LEGO Shop, although it won’t be available for sale until January 1st. But at least you can check out the details. Here is the official description: Put down your binoculars and get closer to nature with these intricate LEGO models of well-known birds! Created by keen gardener and bird enthusiast Thomas Poulsom and selected by LEGO Ideas members, each replica bird hails from a different continent: the Robin from Europe; the Blue Jay from North America; and the Hummingbird from South America. These beautiful and detailed models come with their own presentation stands showing their scientific names, so that you can display your birds for all to enjoy or detach and play as you wish. This set also includes 3 booklets containing lots more information about each of these fascinating species as well as the creator of these amazing models. Blue Jay stands over 7” (18cm) tall on its stand, Hummingbird stands over 5” (15cm) tall on its stand, and Robin stands over 6” (17cm) tall on its stand. 580 pieces. Price: $44.99

I really like the presentation of this set. The box is just so gorgeous, and so different than other LEGO sets. LEGO designers really put some thought into packaging this collection. As I have mentioned previously, I believe this set is going to be very popular not just with LEGO fans, but bird-watchers, and even schools and libraries. Just a fantastic little set that may even open up a whole new direction for LEGO in the future. I’m definitely planning to get this set as soon as it becomes available. And while we are waiting, you can also check out the currently available fan-created LEGO sets at the Online LEGO Shop.

So what do you think? How do you like the LEGO Ideas Birds set? Is this something you are planning to get? Would you like the theme to expand into a series with other birds? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

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

{ 14 comments }

Next Posts Previous Posts

LEGO Store Calendar – December offers

LEGO Ideas Birds collection coming soon!

Get new posts by email: