When it comes to the holiday shopping season, it can be all done early or a mad rush the week before Christmas. No matter the style of shopping though, if there’s one thing all fans love, it’s a freebie with a purchase. A little thank you for spending money at a store. LEGO Store definitely knows how to do this well, and each year there’s at least one unique brick offering to tempt shoppers.
There’s been a large range of festive freebies over the last several years, everything from nutcrackers to gingerbread houses. Come join Blocks, the LEGO magazine for fans, as we walk through a winter wonderland of LEGO Christmas exclusives…
40337 Microscale Gingerbread House (2019)
A classic Christmas baking staple, there’s nothing cuter than a gingerbread house, right? Well, there is – a teensy, tiny LEGO one. 40337 Microscale Gingerbread House is based on its much bigger sibling 10267 Gingerbread House, using the same colours and candy inspired design. It has gumdrop windows, candy cane columns and a commemorative plaque in the snowy front yard.
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40254 Nutcracker (2017)
Seeing a performance during the festive season is always more magical, perhaps due to the longer nights or the taste of cinnamon on the air. The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky is one of the most famous, and the eponymous toy looks fantastic in bricks. Pearl-gold and bright red make his uniform, whilst LEGO tooth elements ingeniously make expressive eyebrows and a moustache.
40223 Snowglobe (2016)
Whilst for many countries it can be too warm in December for a white Christmas, a snow-globe captures the spirit of the weather. The first ever LEGO one came back in 2016 and it is still the only one made fully from bricks. Built onto a plinth with a secret compartment, a minifigure Santa stands merrily in front of a tree while 1×1 round tiles gently (or not) fall around him.
40410 Charles Dickens Tribute (2020)
While the LEGO Christmas exclusives tend to be quite small sets, 40410 broke that mould, providing a beautiful bookish build with three unique minifigures. It beautifully captures the moment when a newly reformed Ebenezer Scrooge comes to wish Bob Cratchit a very merry Christmas indeed.
40338 Christmas Tree (2019)
A bit like 40223, this set has a clever mechanism that allows 40338 Christmas Tree to have some movement. Using turntable elements lets the holiday trains spin around the base, whilst showing off the different coloured baubles covering the boughs. A bright translucent-yellow snowflake makes for a lovely tree-topper and of course there are brick-built presents too.
Over the years there has been every holiday gift you can imagine, and it’s impossible to predict what will come next. What’s good about this list is that most of these sets are available on the aftermarket for usually relatively decent prices, which is helpful considering this year’s second LEGO Christmas exclusive has been sadly cancelled…