Hello, just me - and I'm back with a review of probably my most anticipated set of the year. I'm serious: I've spent the last few weeks waiting for "Brick Friday" to come, and on that morning I waited outside of the Lego store at 8.30am to make sure I got one. It turned out that the store opened at 10am, with a mad crowd of around... five people to contend with.

Getting these sets proved to be a bit of a nightmare, but I managed to obtain three: one for this review, a spare (which is being given to Pinky) and one going in the SilentMode vault. No scalping/reselling in my yard, and shame on those who are.

If you've missed it, see my overview of the first Holiday set.

Holiday Set 2 of 2

Set 3300002

Release year: 2011

# of parts: 117

# of minifigs: 1

RRP: GBP 7.49*

Links: Brickset Bricklink

* These sets were given away with Lego store purchases worth GBP 50/USD 99 on the 19th and 25th-27th November 2011, although they were being added at a "discount" of GBP -7.49.

The box

Here's the back of the box, which is the same size as Set 1. From here on in you'll notice there's absolutely no mention of the first set anywhere.

One of the sides of the box shows a Santa figure for scale. One has to wonder why the pictures on the box are renders rather than photos of real parts - and very disturbingly, some people still couldn't/can't tell the difference between computer graphics and photos. (One person on Bricklink was asking about the "new goblet piece" shown on the front.)

The other sides of the box don't have much to look at.

The parts

Yesterday I opened the box up, being careful not to stare too hard at the parts inside. Like many other AFOLs I'm sure, there was one part in this set that I was really looking forward to seeing up close and personal... you know which one I'm talking about!

Much like Set 1, we have two bags of parts (one with the larger parts, one with small parts), an 8x8 Light Bluish Grey plate on its own, and the instruction book. I didn't take a picture of the contents of the instructions, but it's very similar to the one in Set 1 - except there's no mention of Set 1 inside it.

Take a look at these sexy Dark Red bricks. (Altogether now: LOOK AT IT!) I'm guessing they're in exactly the same quantity as in Set 1, given that they're used to build the walls. We also have a Dark Green quarter-circle brick as well, which previously has only existed in a Pirates of the Caribbean set (the Fountain of Youth).

Stars of the show

Any set that includes tiles in white and grey, as well as SNOT bricks, is okay with me. But we also have a shiny new transparent cup, and a brand new head for Father Christmas/Santa Claus (previous incarnations tended to use a basic head). I like the fact the head has its own white beard, although I can't remember where I've seen it before.

... Okay, I know I've left an important part out of the previous photo; I wanted to save it until last. Here we go!

Tile, Round 1 x 1

I finally have them in my possession, and they look gorgeous.

I know a lot of people have gotten themselves excited about this Holiday set, solely because this piece was included, and so have I. But I think we're missing a very big point: this was one of the most requested new parts on Eurobricks (in this and this thread), and that's what makes its fruition significant, whether or not it was a direct influence on Lego.

I only hope that these tiles are made widely available: I'd especially like to see them in opaque colours, such as white, tan, medium blue, black and green, since they're commonly showing up in transparent colours in the newer sets.

IMO the real credit should go to Brickforge, who put out their own version of this round tile a while ago. Their version is only available in transparent colours, however.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of Lego's and Brickforge's counterparts: the Brickforge version is in transparent green.

While both tiles fit onto this brick, the Lego version was easier to apply and remove. In fact, the Brickforge version was very tight on most stud connections, sometimes not being able to attach at all. But before we criticise Brickforge, I can attest to the difficulty in designing and producing custom parts.

But back to the set.

The minifigure

The assembled Father Christmas/Santa Claus figure in all its glory. While he looks more impressive than his Advent Calendar counterparts with the new head, I find myself joining the queue of people wondering why Lego hasn't produced a dedicated hat for him. For one, they've already produced several new moulds for the Collectible Minifigures series, some even one-offs like the S5 Graduate's mortarboard hat; for another, they could have possibly used a Red version of the S4 Gnome's hat.

Also, where's his sack?!

Building the model

The first round tile goes in!

The second round tile goes in!

And we're done, all that's left is to add Father Christmas/Santa Claus to the scene.

WHAT?!

"Gimme that cookie, you selfish punk!"

"No, it's my cookie!"

"Oh you think you bad, huh? Take 'yo cookie, take yo' drink - matter of fact, have some of this table!"

"NO TOYS FOR YOU!"

The leftovers

Just what I was hoping for: a leftover 1x1 round tile to play with! As is customary, we have spares of the other small elements - sadly no Green 1x1 plate.

The verdict

Without a doubt, Set 2 is superior to Set 1 both in terms of the final model and the parts used in it. It stands to good reason that it is, because it was the more difficult set to get hold of. Although the promotion lasted for just three days, amazingly some people weren't able to get hold of them - probably losing out to the scalpers and resellers with deeper pockets.

Anyway, this set isn't quite perfect, and we have to overlook the inclusion of those 1x1 round tiles. For one, the fire in the fireplace was very weak (it's literally a transparent orange cheese slope on top of a stud); as we can hardly see it when the model's complete, we might as well have has an Orange one, or pehaps even Trans Neon Orange round plates as hot coals. The grille in front of the fireplace seemed to be not much more than a use for one of those round tiles, as it doesn't sit perfectly in the middle of the fireplace, although you could argue I'm nitpicking. Usually a turntable piece would be used to create those 45 degree angles.

But definitely, this was a set worth getting as a Christmas display and for the parts, especially those tiles (if you're not lucky enough to be in the US right now). For those who weren't able to get this set, I really do feel for you guys; let's just hope you don't end up paying through the nose for one from one of these scalpers/resellers.

As with Set 1, since there's no definitive price, I won't give this set a score - but while I'd prefer to have both, I personally would purchase this set over Set 1 given the choice.

"He's climibin' in yo' window, he's snatchin' yo' people up..."

Edited January 2, 201213 yr by Rufus
Indexed

Awesome review, you took a very simple set and made it entertaining to read about, not to mention inform this guy about the new tile pieces

A very comprehensive review as well.

I just LOVE the new round tile and I hope it appears in trans-clear, trans-orange, trans-yellow and trans-red (still wish the 1 x 1 tile would come out in trans-orange :( )

Yet again, thanks for the amazing review Silent Mode. I'm looking forward to having these side-by-side by the Christmas tree!

Excellent review and photos. Love the little comic you did at the end too. I am happy to see so many of the tiles in this set, pretty cool. I think this is the only place to get non-trans colors so far.

Beautiful review, SilentMode. Have you ever considered joining the Reviewers Academy?

I got one of these on Black Friday, and I've been trying to convince myself to leave it unopened until Christmas...your review isn't helping. The head, by the way, is on the Kingdoms Blue Wizard and Lion King.

Thanks for the review Silent Mode! Wander why this set is so much popular then the first one?

I guess the Santa Minifigure and the new 1x1 round piece are at fault.

Hope they repeat the offer again next year with something new!

also the scene with Knecht Ruprecht is a laugh

Edited November 29, 201113 yr by grogall

Great and entertaining review, thanks! And just while I was reading it, my parcel with this set arrived, so guess what I'll do right away...

wow a 1x1 round smooth, that's a first for me, nice little set for the festive season coming up

I'm still sulking because I didn't get the set, but it's a great review!

Thanks for the feedback thus far. At the moment I'm not sure about joining the academy, but I'll think about it.

As we speak there's someone on feeBay charging GBP 125.99 (+ postage) for this set, and they've sold 17 already - absolutely disgusting.

Great review 'SilentMode'....funny towards the end of it too....now I will say set two is better than set one by looks alone and oh, yes there is Santa. I agree with you on the hat issue....why haven't they made a Santa hat ?

This side of that room looks better than the first set....that tree is not the best and a grey cookie ? Oatmeal ?

Review On 'SilentMode' !

Thanks for the feedback thus far. At the moment I'm not sure about joining the academy, but I'll think about it.

As we speak there's someone on feeBay charging GBP 125.99 (+ postage) for this set, and they've sold 17 already - absolutely disgusting.

This intrigued me enough to go check out the seller you're talking about... how did he/she get so many in the first place though?!

Interestingly, if you look at those which have been sold (just click on the '17 sold' link!) all of them sold prior to the brick Friday weekend for between £12 and £15, nowhere near the comedy asking price now. Standard ebay price for these is looking like £20-30 at the moment, with some sellers doing their usual trick with high postage prices too.

Wonderful review! It makes me sad that I wasn't able to pick either set up. I'm guessing there's no way to obtain these outside of eBay anymore?

Going to rant for a bit here ...

Nothing annoys me more than people making judgement calls without all the information. Don't blame scalpers and resellers for inability to obtain this set. Lego made a coding error back when the first set was being sold that allowed people to buy as many as this second set as they wanted from S@H. This lasted less than one day, but everyone that ordered (not me) received their sets. I know of people that ordered 25+ of this set and got all of them ($10 apiece).

1.) If Lego hadn't made the error, there would have been thousands of these left for this three day sale.

2.) Even though Lego made the error, they didn't HAVE to ship these sets - they could have cancelled all of them due to a website error.

Next time get off your high horse and do some research. If you're going to blame someone, blame Lego.

Going to rant for a bit here ...

Nothing annoys me more than people making judgement calls without all the information. Don't blame scalpers and resellers for inability to obtain this set. Lego made a coding error back when the first set was being sold that allowed people to buy as many as this second set as they wanted from S@H. This lasted less than one day, but everyone that ordered (not me) received their sets. I know of people that ordered 25+ of this set and got all of them ($10 apiece).

1.) If Lego hadn't made the error, there would have been thousands of these left for this three day sale.

2.) Even though Lego made the error, they didn't HAVE to ship these sets - they could have cancelled all of them due to a website error.

Next time get off your high horse and do some research. If you're going to blame someone, blame Lego.

Yet again there are people out there with chainsaws, and I'm the one getting called out. I guess I'm an easier target.

Anyway, nowhere did I blame scalpers/resellers for people being unable to get this set - if anything I was just verbally shaking my first - nor am I completely against the idea of them making a small profit. If there was a shortfall of Holiday sets, or some roundabout way of accumulating them from the promotion, then indeed that's Lego's responsibility... especially when there's a minimum spend to be made.

At the shop I was told there were even more of the 2nd set than of the 1st one. But apparently there were so many people who wanted it - I have no idea where the sets went and what people did with them. I'm just sad because I didn't get one - I can't blame Lego for good sales, can I?

LMAO! great review and loved the extra story very funny!

side note I got my 1of2 set from brick link 15$ sucked but didnt have the money at the time to order from lego but i am getting my 2of2 direct. I agree lego didn't have to honor the orders but the did and good for them for thinking of the customer who did order.

Edited November 29, 201113 yr by legomonk

My local lego store sold Set 1 for $9.99. we got Set two on BF. They still had some cause I had to show it to my wife to get her to agree to get the second set. Gotta complete the set!!!

I bought the first set at the Lego store back in October. I didnt bother with the requirement. I just waited and it was for sale.

Edited November 29, 201113 yr by Solscud007

My local lego store sold Set 1 for $9.99. we got Set two on BF.

Ugh! I asked my local Lego store and they said they couldn't sell them.

One of the sides of the box shows a Santa figure for scale. One has to wonder why the pictures on the box are renders rather than photos of real parts - and very disturbingly, some people still couldn't/can't tell the difference between computer graphics and photos. (One person on Bricklink was asking about the "new goblet piece" shown on the front.)

Lego has been using rendered pictures on their boxes for years now. A lot of times it's very difficult to tell, it's true. I haven't seen an actual picture on a box for a long time.

Thanks for the review! I haven't been following the news so the round 1x1 tiles sure were a surprise to me! I made an order over the weekend so I'm looking forward to getting this in a couple days.

Very good review of a very good set. I mean, I have an army of Santas, but this is the first angry one, so that makes him unique.

And is it extremely crass to mention I have another of this set that I'm quite comfortable parting with? [i'd planned to get a second of set #1, and then have the pair for another thing I wanted to do, but wasn't able to get the first one in the store, so now I have a second #2 that might as well get a new home.]

Lego has been using rendered pictures on their boxes for years now. A lot of times it's very difficult to tell, it's true. I haven't seen an actual picture on a box for a long time.

Thanks for the review! I haven't been following the news so the round 1x1 tiles sure were a surprise to me! I made an order over the weekend so I'm looking forward to getting this in a couple days.

Actually, it varies by theme. Many of this year's Ninjago sets just use photos. If you look at them in high-res there are imperfections that I've never seen TLG be able to replicate in a render before. In contrast, the small and medium-sized BIONICLE and Hero Factory sets have used renders since those themes began, and most of the larger sets have also used renders since at least 2008.

The award for "worst use of renders for box art" probably goes to the Aqua Raiders theme of 2007 IMO. Those renders were neither made to be realistic nor designed to take advantage of their "fake" look in a tasteful way. At least BIONICLE's box art, since the beginning, has hinged the figures into appealing poses and sometimes added "battle damage" to make it clear that these were genuine artistic depictions of the characters, rather than just a crappy substitute for a real photo.

Is it just me, or does Father Christmas look less jolly and more angry? Or is that a trick of the light?

Is it just me, or does Father Christmas look less jolly and more angry? Or is that a trick of the light?

I think it's a combination of the curves made by the large eyebrows and beard, and the small mouth (that gets covered up by the beard accessory).