Hello everyone,
Today I will be reviewing another seasonal vignette of 2015, 40124 Winter Fun. This is the 5th of 6 vignettes we get this year. I welcome this a lot - a good break from the christmas tree polybag we get often.
Christmas is the season with the most number of theme sets, with 59 as of December 2015. To create something new and refreshing from a tradition is a high order, and the set designer has done exceptionally well.
Without further ado, let us begin.
Name: 40124 Winter Fun Theme: LEGO System/ Seasonal Year: 2015 Pieces: 107 Minifigs: 2 Price: GBP 8.49 / USD $9.99 / SGD $18.90 Resources: Brickset, Bricklink
LEGO Official Shop@Home said:
Step out for Winter Fun in the snow!
Step outside for Winter Fun in the snow with this ice-cool LEGO® set! Build the snow-capped doorway scene complete with festive wreath, lantern and fir tree. Take the husky dog for a walk and build the snowman. Then swoop down on the snow scooter and start a snowball fight! Includes 2 minifigures with assorted accessory elements: a male and a female.
Includes 2 minifigures with assorted accessory elements: a male and a female
Features a buildable house entrance scene including an opening door plus assorted elements including a festive wreath, lantern, fir tree, plants and snow elements
Also includes a snowman with top hat, stick arm and broom elements, husky, and a snow scooter
Accessory elements include beanie hat, helmet and a snowball
Create a snowy winter scene!
Build and decorate the snowman
Play with the husky dog
Takea thrilling ride in the snow scooter!
A perfect Christmas gift for LEGO lovers!
Measures over 3" (8cm) high, 2" (6cm) wide and 2" (6cm) deep
Original Box Image
Front of box
Back of box
I always enjoy the occasional goofy designs. The back shows a crying boy driving a motorised sled knocking into a snowman, and the tophat flying towards the husky. Kudos to the good pictures. You will also notice the use of snowflakes as decor, compared to pumpkins and bats in the halloween vignette and falling leaves in the thanksgiving one. Nice touch.
The box- standard yellow with studs decor does not have a theme stamp on the top right corner, unlike those in other themes. For example, Star Wars always had a prominent figure as the theme stamp every wave- the latest was Kylo Ren. This might signal a return next year. I was hoping last year's polybags made a return, as they did not have the theme stamp- but they did not. However, we got seasonal animal box sets from last year.
Contents of the Sealed Box
Instructions
We have a saddle stitched instructions booklet, as well as 3 bags- 2 bigger and 1 smaller one together with 2 white 4 x 8 plates. The picture with sealed bags did not turn out well so I have removed it, and laid out the parts instead.
The background of the instruction booklet has a nice cartoon of a hut on a hill as well as trees, as well as sled tracks, the same as the box art. It's small details like this that makes the pictures great.
Random page of instructions
Why this page, you may ask. Ever since I have built this up and put it beside my laptop, I have been fiddling with the roof tile ever so often- taking it off, putting it on. The clutch power of LEGO is extremely enjoyable. You can feel tile lose grip of every individual stud, ever so slightly and feel the just nice bit of resistance when you pop it back. Ahh.. nothing like a dose of our favourite ABS. Tiles and jumpers with groove.. that's the real deal right there.
Notable rare parts
Here are some of my favourite parts from this set. As with all the other vignettes of 2015, there are no new parts, be it mould or colour. This does not diminish the value of this set however.
First we have the yellow minifig head with the dual face- huge grin with white pupils and eyebrow as well as sad with tear with concave eyebrows. Appearing in 7 sets including the exclusive Fairground Mixer, this is a very expressive head- one of the happiest ones. Furthermore, this set is the most cost effective way to get it- unless you got the Balloon Cart polybag as a free gift.
Next we have the slope, curved 2 x 2. First produced in this colour in 2015, curved slopes are a must in anyone's parts list. The other day, I was attempting to make a miniland scale sofa. I lacked enough of this curve in the right colour, only then realising the importance of them. There's only 1 here. F14T & Scuderia Ferrari Truck has 20 of them. Being a new part, it may take a while to get more of it.
Thirdly we have the reddish brown 1 x 2 brick with groove. Being the crown jewel of the whole set, it only appears in another set- Minecraft The Farm. There's 7 of it here, compared to only 2 in the minecraft set. Nowadays we rarely see this part used as a shutter or railing guide, but more of a facade to break the monotony of regular bricks in a building. Pet Shop utilises this part in sand blue to create the nice design.
Lastly we have the 1 x 2 brick in sand green. You'll be happy to hear, we have 10 of it in a US$9.99 set. Relative to the set's price, Winter Fun is the best set to buy, if you want many of this. The days of rarity are over- sand green is slowly becoming a common colour.
Minifigures
Front View
There's a lot to love here. The brick built snowman looks simple and elegant. The torso of the boy has tints of silver in it which is nice. My only gripe is the small girl having a waistline, as with Trick or Treat's girl. But I do understand LEGO set designers have their restrictions. They have limited minifig parts to choose from.
However the torso with scarf has a nice christmas feel. Great choice!
Rear View
The girl has back printing on the torso, which is beautiful. The sports helmet with vent holes doesn't cover his dual face fully. This Professor Quirrel doesn't hide his Voldermort well.
However I understand the parts restriction given to set designers, and they have made good use of their parts. Some want dual faces, others want it covered. But I wouldn't have it any other way, this is awesome.
Dual Face Printing
Mid- build
Here you can see why we have 7 reddish brown groove bricks instead of 8. The inclusion of the erling/ headlight brick to place a lamp on the front.
Spare Parts
Here are the spares. The inclusion of the brown carrot top is nice.
Completed Build
Front of Build
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
There's some greebling out in the front, which is good. The snow covered grass is a nice touch.
Back of Build
This is the second vignette of the year with a door front. This time round, there isn't any treats. But I like it this way, lesser parts hidden behind we don't see, means more in front we see.
Left
Here we can see the tree placed in front of the house. Nice touch. One of my favourite elements in this set.
Right
Here you can see the greebling more clearly. The whole vignette is packed full of details, there's no place for the snowman.
Aerial
Snow got on the porch as well. Little details like this make sets look great.
Side by side comparison
Here is the full collection of the 8 x 8 christmas themed vignettes. From left to right, we have Fire Place Scene from 2011, Winter Fun, Santa's Visit from 2015, and lastly Christmas Tree Scene from 2011.
I enjoyed the build. The parts given were decent, all of which were System. The price per part was not too good, but there was 2 minifigs, a dog and most importantly a pine tree included so it wasn't too bad either. When looking at price per part, it is always important to take into acount bigger, more detailed pieces, minifigs, new prints, moulds and colours.
A senior collector told me, it's best to buy what you like, instead of chasing numbers.
Summary Review
Playability: 5/10 (Gave a passing grade because of the goofy pictures on the box) Design: 7/10 (Simple, something different) Parts: 3/10 (Sand green bricks and the tree, always good to have. Everything else.. average.) Minifigures: 5/10 (Boy's head is great, but girl's was average. Female has back print. Short legs, always good to have) Price: 5/10 (Not a big fan of minifigs, so the lower parts count isn't justified. Most people buy this and Santa's Visit together.)
Overall: 5/10 (Average)