As the Christmas season comes up, I find myself thinking about Christmases of the past, as well as gifts that I should be asking for this year. One gift that stands out as being at the top of my lists from the age I was old enough to fit the bricks together is Legos. Some people may see them as made for kids and having no place past childhood, but in reality, Lego makes sets for people of all ages and with different interests. Following that, my tastes have very much changed from when I was little, as I used to build everything Lego Friends with all the pink, purple, and teal you could possibly imagine, to the larger sets that I now have on my wishlist. In that spirit, I will be talking through some of my favorite sets that I have built and a few sets that I hope to be getting for Christmas.
I can’t talk about my favorite sets without first mentioning the Starry Night (Van Gogh) set that I built over the summer. I believe it’s one of the largest that I have, and Starry Night is by far my favorite painting, so I was so excited to build it. It’s surprisingly accurate when I compare it to the Starry Night print that I have in my room, which is also pretty cool. It even has a tiny figure of Van Gogh on an arm on the side with a paintbrush and a mini replica of the painting. There are also a lot of 3D elements in the set. The only slightly less fun part about building it was the extensive amount of time that it took to fill in the background, which is just a bunch of 4×1 rectangles in a variety of different shades of blue. However, I really enjoyed building this and now have it on display on my desk.
This next point is for all of the Marvel Lego sets that I have, which include the one that I most recently finished. I have the Infinity Gauntlet from the Avengers, and both the regular Baby Groot and the new Venomized Baby Groot. Those were all enjoyable to build and just goes to show how Lego makes an effort to reach a lot of different audiences. As far as Marvel goes, they also have Thor’s Hammer, the Iron Man version of the Infinity Gauntlet, and scenes from different movies among other sets.
The Lego Botanical sets are in a category full of flowers, trees, and succulents and could be enjoyable for a lot of people. I own a decent amount of the sets in this collection, some of which I’ve built and some of which are in my closet waiting to be built. Ones that I have built include the Flower Bouquet, which is in my kitchen, and the Bonsai Tree and Succulents, both of which are in my room. I also have the Wildflower Bouquet and the Orchid in my closet right now which I will hopefully get to building before Christmas so I don’t stack up even more in there. These sets are all a lot of fun and include some really cool features, like the two different kinds of branches for the Bonsai Tree that allow for some customization within the set.
The Architecture collection is one of my personal favorites and is one of the collections that led me to the more “adult” side of Legos. There are all kinds of sets included in this collection, such as larger famous landmarks and city skylines. Since this was the first kind of set I started building after I grew out of the smaller Lego stage, I own quite a few of them. I have almost all of the skylines, which have a bunch of recognizable details from the cities that they represent. There is Tokyo, Chicago, London, and my personal favorite, Dubai, to name a few. There are also lots of larger sets, like the Statue of Liberty, the Taj Mahal, and the White House. These are all really fun to build because I think it’s cool to be able to create something that is part of real life and to be able to recognize the details that are included, like the buildings in the skylines.
- Now, a few sets that I don’t have but very much want that I will hopefully get in the near future. One of the Architecture sets that came out a few years ago is the Great Pyramid of Giza, which is part of the larger sets that I mentioned earlier. There’s also a set called the Tranquil Garden that’s a really pretty design. A set that Leg
o quite literally just released is called Tiny Plants, and honestly, the title alone makes me want to build it, but I also really love tiny plants, which can be seen by the succulent set that I mentioned earlier.
imshuman1
Hi Alyza,
First off, I love your legos, especially the Botanical garden one. I have a couple of the lego flower bouquets saved on my pinterest boards and think they are a really fun form of decor. Personally, I never really got into lego building, as even when I used to get the Lego friends sets as a kid I would always ask my brother to build them for me, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun to appreciate how calming they can be. It’s such a fun way to unwind, especially with a good podcast in the background. Last Christmas, my brother got the Home Alone house, which has to be one of my favorite sets I’ve seen so far. The only thing that holds me back is how expensive they can be. Otherwise, I think legos are the perfect Christmas present, and your post reminded me of how great they can be!
bmaharjan1
Hi Alyzza, I don’t think legos will ever be a part of my past and I still love building them to this day. Although my collection is not as extensive as yours I do have a few. Lego friends were a childhood staple for me. During every birthday someone would always end up giving me one. I went to the New York Lego store over the summer and I am still thinking about the giant Disney castle they had on display. I bought the Lego orchid and I recommend that you build it. I have it in my room right now and it has been one of my favorite pieces I have. The Starry Night one looks so pretty, it is now on my wishlist for Christmas this year. I recommend getting the Lego keychains if you don’t have any. I have a matching Lego Winnie the Pooh keychain with my friend and I love it.
Christian Stanicek
Did not realize there were such a variety of Legos. I liked the Starry Night one, thanks for the pictures. The botanical set is awesome. I have enjoyed reading your blogs this semester.
kcqueen
Alyza – I also love building Legos. I used to enjoy building the Star Wars and Lego Friend sets, owning almost the entirety of Heartlake City and the Millennium Falcon. I’m very jealous that you have so many botanical sets and the Van Gogh set. I am a big fan of Lego’s botanical sets and even asked for the Little Plant set for Christmas as well. Recently, I’ve found myself interested in Lego’s Creator collection, but specifically their space sets within that collection. I own the Apollo 11 set and have been looking at some of their bigger space crafts to potentially build once I’ve saved enough to buy it. I know you listed a couple of your favorite sets within your blog, but are there any sets you have that you wouldn’t recommend? All in all, your blog was super interesting and definitely gave me some Lego ideas to add to my Christmas and birthday lists.