LEGO Santa’s Front Yard Set (40484): Possible Black Friday GWP Revealed

We’re counting the days until LEGO’s Black Friday VIP weekend deals this November. And of course, that means waiting for the 15th of the month when LEGO would make its official announcement. Keeping the details out of the November 2021 store calendar must make for more suspense, perhaps. Already we have some clue as to what to expect, such as a new LEGO Star Wars UCS set. We learned that from a leak, and now LEGO Store in Australia may have revealed another Black Friday deal, a gift-with-purchase set in the likes of the LEGO Santa’s Front Yard (40484).

What we have here is called Santa’s Front Yard (40484). A neat Yuletide-themed mini-set, its 317 pieces make it just big to be a GWP. Similarities to LEGO Harry Potter Gryffindor Dorms (40452) can also be seen in having a wall backdrop. The included buildable reindeer is also quite adorable. We’ll probably know more about this set this mid-November.

LEGO Santa’s Front Yard (40484)

374 pieces | Gift-with-purchase set valued at $19.99 

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Celebrate the winter season with the LEGO® building kit Santa’s Front Yard (40484). It’s an icy, moonlit night in Santa’s front yard, where an attentive elf is feeding a cute reindeer by the cold, clear stream with a carrot. This delightful scenery includes a snow-covered North Pole shield and trees, as well as a hand lantern for the elf. An inspiring gift for children aged 9 and over and festive building fun for LEGO fans of all ages.

  • LEGO® Santa’s Front Yard (40484) includes an elven minifigure, a reindeer, and an icy, moonlit environment with a stream, snow-covered trees, and the North Pole shield, as well as a hand lantern and a carrot element.
  • With this 317-part construction kit, the Christmas spirit comes up. Festive fun for children aged 9 and over and LEGO® building fun for the whole family.
  • The LEGO® Santa’s Front Yard set measures over 3.5 in. (10 cm) high, 4.5 in. (12 cm) wide and 3.5 in. (9 cm) deep.

WATCH: LEGO Titanic Designer Video is the Longest Yet Made

When one mentions the word (or name) Titanic, the context has always been of sheer size. Almost anybody could rattle off the story of the doomed passenger liner that hit an iceberg in 1912. The Titanic was the biggest ship afloat at the time. And well over a century after it sank, LEGO released a massive set for it. Even scaled down, the LEGO Titanic (10294) really makes its size come across. It had to be huge so that builders and viewers could make the details out. In reference to the idea of hugeness, its corresponding LEGO Titanic designer video is appropriately lengthy.

LEGO set designer videos are on average around 5 minutes long. For this LEGO Titanic designer video, however, we get treated to a nine-minute presentation of the massive build. No other set video released until now has gone that long. LEGO designer Mark Psiaki explains the minutiae of how the design teams recreated Titanic in LEGO. Intercut with his monologue is a mini-documentary on the actual ship. This part is narrated by Andrew Skinner from the SeaCity Museum of Southampton, UK. That was the port city where Titanic departed on its maiden, and only, voyage. LEGO designers rarely have non-LEGO guests in designer vids. But this is a Titanic set, after all.

Some of the details touched upon by Psiaki about 10294 include the accessory US flag. As a sample, he notes the flag only has 46 stars (only 46 States in 1912). He also points out how the mini-flag’s plastic foil material. They could print the design on one side and it shows mirrored in the other. All these interesting tidbits would surely get deep-pocketed collectors interested in LEGO Titanic (10294). They’ll have to contend with it being temporarily out-of-stock though.

Here’s a First Look at the 2022 LEGO Seasonal Chinese New Year Sets

And now we come to our last item as shown by LEGO at the 4th China International Import Expo. We got reveals for an original LEGO theme and more for a licensed IP. But consider “when” we are now on the calendar. Most of the upcoming set reveals at present will launch early next year. That places them roughly in the timeframe before the celebration of Chinese New Year. The fact that the reveals were made at a Chinese import expo only becomes more appropriate. It makes perfect sense for the newest 2022 LEGO Seasonal Chinese New Year sets to make their debut there.

Brickset gives us the rundown on not one, but two 2022 LEGO Seasonal Chinese New Year sets. Preceding sets in this seasonal line went to the hilt in terms of intricate Chinese decorative design. The upcoming ones are beautiful successors to the series, as you’ll definitely agree based on these images:

Lunar New Year Traditions (80108)

2022 LEGO Seasonal Chinese New Year Sets

Capture the excitement of Lunar New Year family traditions with this colorful LEGO® toy building set (80108) for ages 8 and up. It features 6 brick-built scenes that are packed with authentic details, and each portrays different festive activities, including food shopping, making good-luck decorations, visiting family and exchanging ‘Hongbao’ red envelopes. There are separate building instructions for each of the detailed scenes so the whole family can build together, and the modules can be arranged in multiple ways to create a unique display.

Lunar New Year Ice Festival (80109)

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Get in the mood for celebration with this LEGO® Lunar New Year Ice Festival building set (80109) for ages 8 and up. It features a highly detailed winter scene with a brick-built frozen lake, equipment rental shop, sweet potato vendor’s cart, photo booth, chun ice sculpture, vending machine, penguin-shaped sled, ski slope, snow-capped tree and more.

 

Expect these seasonal LEGO Chinese New Year sets to arrive in the Asia-Pacific Region on Christmas, December 25. The rest of the world must wait until January 1, 2022.

LEGO Monkie Kid Galactic Explorer (80035) Makes Its Debut at the Expo

For fans of LEGO action themes wanting more variety outside Ninjago, Monkie Kid was a breath of fresh air. A fantasy-futuristic take on Journey to the West isn’t new; anime fans have Dragon Ball for starters. But an action-packed, super fun series rendered in LEGO and animated in 2D? LEGO had a winning recipe with this. Both the sets and the animated series generated massive hype, as had the announcement that the theme will continue. As an affirmation of this, LEGO showed the new LEGO Monkie Kid Galactic Explorer (80035) set at the Chinese International Import Expo. Some videogame content was revealed elsewhere as well.

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The LEGO Monkie Kid Galactic Explorer (80035) features a gloriously red space rocket accentuated by the theme’s familiar aesthetics. As for its minifigs, Monkie Kid looks to be teamed with Mei, Tang, Sandy, and his cat Mo. They appear to be fighting the Monkey King’s rival, Macaque, who has used his cloning magic (explaining two Macaques in this set). We’re not sure yet if this set ties into the planned third season of the Monkie Kid animated series, but I’m sure will find out pretty soon.

Meanwhile, Brick Fanatics has it that Apple Arcade’s LEGO Brawls is getting some Monkie Kid content. As can be seen in the trailer above, not only do MK and his friends join the roster. The platform-fighter mobile game developed by Red Games Co. will also be getting a new stage: Flower Fruit Mountain. “LEGO Brawls” gives a gorgeous adaptation of the LEGO Monkie Kid set (80024). The LMK stuff is now available on that title, playable on Apple Arcade with a monthly subscription. LEGO Monkie Kid is, indeed, continuing strongly.

More Upcoming LEGO Super Mario 2022 Sets Revealed

When this month began, LEGO gave their first look at the newest sets for LEGO Super Mario. Said sets, earmarked for 2022 release, tie into the Nintendo GameCube title Luigi’s Mansion. As it turns out, however, the three revealed were just part of a larger batch. What we probably didn’t expect is the venue for LEGO’s reveal of the rest. The grand unveiling took place at China’s 4th International Import Expo, alongside other LEGO set announcements. And this time around, we have some better images of the upcoming LEGO Super Mario 2022 sets expected to be part of LEGO’s wave of January 2022 releases.

Courtesy of The Brick Fan, let’s have a look at these other upcoming LEGO Super Mario 2022 set releases. LEGO put up images on their official page on the Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo, the link for which TBF provided. They’re quite an impressive ensemble, so here they are with set names translated.

The first three are Expansion Sets:

Bowser Jr.’s Clown Car (71396)

LEGO Super Mario 2022

Dorrie’s Beachfront (71398)

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Big Urchin Beach Ride (71400)

LEGO Super Mario 2022

The fourth is a character pack introducing more “Super Mario” game franchise characters:

LEGO Super Mario Character Packs – Series 4 (71402)

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As we mentioned, they’re probably releasing New Year’s Day 2022 alongside the Luigi’s Mansion sets.

From the Rumor Mill: LEGO Star Wars UCS AT-AT (75313) Expected to be a Black Friday Release

By now, LEGO Star Wars collectors in the know are waiting with baited breaths for November 9. We previously covered a rumor saying this is the day LEGO comes clean about its supposed UCS AT-AT Walker. But if these leaked images do check out, there may be no need to wait for LEGO’s confirmation. It would appear the LEGO Star Wars UCS AT-AT (75313) is real. In other news, we know LEGO has some big Black Friday reveals lined up this November, and this might well include the much anticipated LEGO Star Wars UCS AT-AT (75313) set.

Germany’s Promobricks.de brings us these jaw-dropping leak developments. Multiple leaked images on Instagram have shown images of this upcoming set, with the one featured here coming from lego_fulcrum. As can be seen in our top image, it’s a beauty. Further leaked details shared on social media and gathered by Promobricks provide the following figures and specs:

  • Pieces: 6,782
  • Minifigures: 9 (Veers, Pilots x2, Snowtroopers x5, Luke Skywalker)
  • Price: €799.99/$924.28 (direct conversion)
  • Release: November 26, 2021

This mammoth-sized brick-built walker features a roomy interior that is enough to house all but one of the above-mentioned minifigs. Access is granted by merely lifting the side armor flaps. And as the date would have it, we’re getting set 75313 on Black Friday 2021. This bit of news may be a done deal now. Still, for formality’s sake, we ask readers to regard all leaked information as rumors. We must wait until they come right out of LEGO’s mouth.

New Details Published About the LEGO Ninjago 2022 Season and Skybound Comic Tie-In

As we already know, LEGO Ninjago is good to go through 2022 and even 2023 in terms of new sets and content. In line with that, the tie-in LEGO Ninjago 2022 animated series is guaranteed to be on its way. And what else is new on the Ninjago front? Last week, series co-creator Tommy Andreasen revealed a five-issue comic-book series in cooperation with Skybound Entertainment. And if that wasn’t enough, we now have additional details on the next “Ninjago” season from online hints dropped by Andreasen. All these things we know courtesy of Brick Fanatics.

During last week’s Skybound live-stream event featuring the LEGO Ninjago 2022 creative team, Andreasen teased viewers with an episode title. He claimed that episode to be the 12th in the upcoming season for 2022. A week later, Andreasen posted a correction on his Twitter page. The episode titled “The Benefit of Grief” was actually the 10th rather than 12th. He declined to name the actual title for episode 12, but his tweet brought details to a wider audience. Now we know, at the very minimum, that the next “Ninjago” season has at least 12 episodes lined up. That should cover animated LEGO Ninjago for the year 2022.

With regards to the Skybound LEGO Ninjago comic books, it ties into the series via a key character. None other than Garmadon headlines this five-issue story. The initial antagonist-turned-mentor-turned-villain to the Ninjago team left the story after season 10: “March of the Oni.” Synopses for the comic, done by writer-artist Tri Vuong, reveal Garmadon wandering the world as a lone protector. But is his latest heroic turn real, or is he still planning something? We’ll find out when the first issue arrives April next year. It’s likely around the time of the next season’s premiere.

More Product Ideas Enter the LEGO Ideas Third 2021 Review Stage

LEGO Ideas 10-K submissions appear to be busying up once again. We just covered one the day before, and not only has another product idea followed, one earlier submission was missed. Ah, sorry about that. Anyhow, let’s take a look at these latest product ideas that qualified to enter the LEGO Ideas Third 2021 Review Stage.

The LEGO Emergency Box

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First, we’ll talk about this modest yet cheeky contribution by SzegoBalint16: The LEGO Emergency Box. As you can see, this is a brick-built emergency case much like one will find in public buildings. It even has an attached hammer ready for use in breaking the glass in case of emergency. What kind of LEGO crisis would need such a contingency setup? Why, the sudden need for a brick separator, of course! There’s an orange one waiting behind the transparent LEGO panels. And at 101 pieces total, this could possibly become the first LEGO Ideas polybag…if it passes review, of course.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

LEGO Ideas Third 2021 Review Stage

Next on our feature is this sweet interior set based on yet another hit TV series. Remember back in 2018, when Fox canceled “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” only for NBC to catch it? At the time, TT Games Global Community Manager Bear Parker recreated the show’s intro using LEGO videogame graphics. It was quite well-received. And if viewers were impressed by the titular NYPD station’s floor layout in that video, BenFankhauser has redone it. His brick rendition of the Brooklyn 99’s workspace could go toe-to-toe with Jaijai Lewis’ “The Office.” Recall that his submission was selected in the First 2021 Review Stage.

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This build of 2,500+ pieces also comes with minifigures of the police sitcom’s main cast. While “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” has run its course on two networks, this product idea could become a proper sendoff. Of course, BenFankhauser’s submission must now place itself at the mercy of the LEGO Ideas review team. It’ll have fierce competition alongside SzegoBalint16’s LEGO Emergency Box and twelve other 10-K submissions in the Third LEGO Ideas 2021 Review Stage.

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WATCH: This Stop-Motion Video Showcases the Latest LEGO Star Wars Sets

It’s well-known that LEGO, with the freedom of building their products provide, gets plenty of mileage from fan contributions. The most prominent venue of this is LEGO Ideas. Their website invites submissions to fun activities, prize-winning content and the chance to make their custom builds into official sets. Outside that, LEGO has been known to invite popular builders to join their design teams. They’ve also engaged LEGO media-makers like animators (3D or stop-motion) to do commissioned production work. This particular avenue just gave YouTube LEGO animator Forrest “forrestfire101” Whaley a big break. Here’s his new animated video featuring all the latest LEGO Star Wars sets around.

As Brick Fanatics tells it, the LEGO Group tapped forrestfire101 to do a stop-animation promo vid to highlight their latest sets. His output, featured on his YouTube channel, features some choice recent-release LEGO Star Wars sets. The setting is the Mos Espa racetrack from “The Phantom Menace.” As for the competitors:

The race starts out similar to the Podrace sequence from “Phantom Menace,” then escalates as only LEGO can. Whaley’s stop-motion visuals make this minute-and-a-half video a non-stop LEGO Star Wars extravaganza. And you might have an idea which of the racers wins. All in all, this is a fun promo vid commissioned by LEGO, one that would excite LEGO Star Wars collectors.

Working Custom LEGO Rubik’s Cube Gets 10-K Ideas Support

Have you ever played with a Rubik’s Cube? Have you ever wondered how the genius toy works its horizontal-vertical pivoting mechanism? Did your curiosity ever go so far as to just break the Cube apart to see its interior? Surely some Rubik’s Cube owners have done what was implied in that last question. This brainchild of Hungarian architect-inventor Erno Rubik didn’t become one of the best toys ever for nothing. The Cube’s simple yet complex design plays an important part. Now, a LEGO Ideas member seeks to blend Rubik’s Cube with LEGO’s building potential. The result: this awesome custom LEGO Rubik’s Cube product idea and it just got 10,000 supporters.

custom LEGO Rubik's Cube

Indeed, puzzLEGO1 has hit upon a strong contender for LEGO Ideas with a brick-built yet functional Rubik’s Cube. This submission appears to be the culmination of several years of work from an original (decorative-only) LEGO Cube. After three revisions, puzzLEGO1 notes in his product idea page that he finally got the smooth pivoting functionality right. Not only does this build work like an original Rubik’s Cube; it can also teach builders the base toy’s inner workings. Considering the number of mechanical product ideas submitted for the Third 2021 Review Stage, this custom LEGO Rubik’s Cube really stands out. We can’t wait to see how it fares in review, months on.

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