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Last year, LEGO fan Jason Allemann (a.k.a. JK Brickworks) designed a motorized base that expanded the #10245 LEGO Creator Santa’s Workshop set to animate Santa’s sleigh and the four reindeer pulling it (see: LEGO Winter Village Additions & Modifications). At that time, Jason only provided instructions for the core mechanics, as he figured others would use whatever white slopes and tiles they had to add the snow effects. However, he received many requests to provide instructions for the entire model, including the snowy base, so he recently made those available as well. In addition, this year Jason decided to expand the scene to include eight reindeer, and he included alternate instructions for a larger base to accommodate them all.

One of the highlights of the #10245 LEGO Creator Santa’s Workshop – the 2014 addition to the LEGO Winter Village Collection – is Santa’s sleigh pulled by four brick-built and very cute reindeer. Some LEGO fans have the sleigh driving through their Winter Village delivering presents, while others place the sleight on the rooftops, so Santa can fly through the sky for an even more magical effect. Jason’s idea of motorizing the sleigh to make it look like the reindeer are running and the sleigh is moving has become a very popular customization option as well. We talked about this model last year, but for your convenience, I’m including the video again below. You can find the parts-list and instructions here: MOTORIZED SLEIGH & REINDEER INSTRUCTIONS

Once you motorize the sleigh and the reindeer, you can incorporate them in your current LEGO Winter Village landscape for a seamless setup, or you can follow Jason’s instructions for a custom base that can be placed anywhere in your layout. Parts-list, instructions, and some helpful building tips for both the four reindeer and eight reindeer versions of the base can be found here: SLEIGH & REINDEER BASE INSTRUCTIONS

Jason also put together a really well-edited video showing how he customized the set and his previous setup to accommodate eight reindeer. You can watch it below. The video also works well as building instructions for the model that can follow along with – you just have to stop it every now and then to catch up with the steps.

Setting up the LEGO Winter Village collection has been a favorite pastime for many families around the holiday season. The #10245 LEGO Creator Santa’s Workshop from 2014 is no longer available from LEGO directly, but if you don’t have it already, you can still find it on secondary marketplaces like eBay. Here are the current listings: SANTA’S WORKSHOP ON EBAY. The #10249 LEGO Creator Winter Toy Shop from 2015, the #10254 LEGO Creator Winter Holiday Train from 2016, and the newly released #10259 LEGO Creator Winter Village Station are all available under the LEGO Creator section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? Do you collect the LEGO Winter Village series? And do you have Santa’s Workshop? How do you display it in your layout? Are you considering motorizing it, or have you done it already? 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:

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LEGO Ideas Tron: Legacy set coming & more!

I haven’t had room to post this yet due to all the holiday shopping news, specials, and new releases, but the next LEGO Ideas set was announced a few days ago at the LEGO Ideas blog. Below are the submissions that were up for review during this period, as well as details about the chosen model, and some other related news. 🙂

Over the past several months, the LEGO Ideas review board has carefully reviewed the 11 projects that reached 10,000 supporters between January and May 2017 – the first review qualification period of 2017. The project that was selected to become the next official LEGO set is the Tron: Legacy Light Cycle by Tom & Drew a.k.a. BrickBros UK. If you’d like to learn more about Tom & Drew and their model, make sure to check out their LEGO Ideas 10K Club Interview at the LEGO Ideas blog. The LEGO Ideas team is still working out the final product design, pricing and availably for the LEGO Tron: Legacy Light Cycle set, so check back on LEGO Ideas in 2018 for more details. Watch the video-announcement below.

It is interesting to note that Tom & Drew actually designed and submitted to LEGO Ideas two versions of the Tron cycle from the Tron: Legacy film. Sam Flynn’s cycle with the translucent-blue pieces is the one that reached 10k supporters and was chosen to be the next LEGO Ideas set. Rinzler’s cycle with translucent-orange pieces is a somewhat modified model, and never made it past 1000 supporters. I think it would be awesome if LEGO would release both bikes in the same set – after all, there has to be a race going on between them! I don’t know if this is going to happen, but I’m crossing my fingers. I really liked both the film, and the brother’s LEGO version of the Tron cycles.

Part of the LEGO Ideas review board announcement also mentioned the Surf Rescue project by Damien and Aiden MacRae: “We are humbled knowing Damien and Aiden wished to use LEGO bricks to express their important and personal message about surf and sun safety. Their story inspired us to share their message with many LEGO fans worldwide through LEGO.com. Following the intensive LEGO Ideas review, we have however decided not to turn their Surf Rescue project into an official LEGO Ideas set. Despite this, we have offered to work with Damien and Aiden on some special projects to share their story and message. We will announce more about potential initiatives if they become a reality.”

The announcement also mentioned that the next batch of LEGO Ideas projects is already under review, and the results will be announced in early 2018. You can see the models above. Also, while it is not mentioned at this time, remember that the LEGO Ideas Ship-In-A-Bottle – The Flagship Leviathan, and the LEGO Ideas Voltron – Defender of the Universe are also on their way to be released (see: LEGO Ideas Ship-In-A-Bottle & Voltron). And for the currently available sets originally submitted by LEGO fans, visit the LEGO Ideas section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Ideas Tron: Legacy Cycle? Is this a set you are looking forward to? And what do you think of the other projects that made it to 10k votes in this and the upcoming review periods? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

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

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