Review: 40411 Creative Fun 12-in-1

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40411 Creative Fun 12-in-1 will be the gift with purchase at LEGO.com from July 1st. As its name suggests it provides parts to build 12 mini models, but not all simultaneously.

I set my wife and daughter Alice to work building and photographing all the models. View them after the break...


Box and contents

The box is an 'Architecture' style flip-top one which is perfect for keeping the pieces in when you're building and for storage afterwards.

View image at flickr

It contains 240 parts in 24 different colours and even includes a teal brick separator.

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The instruction manual is hefty:112 pages and perfect bound.

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The completed models

Here we go, then, 12 models, in no particular order:

1. Flamingo

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2. Watermelon slice

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3. Choc-ice

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4. Fish

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5. Duck

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6. Sand castle

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7. Parrot

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8. Sea horse

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9. Boat

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10. Cherries

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11. Yacht

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12. Pineapple

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A few of the models can be made at the same time, as you can see below, and I'm sure there are other combinations. I'm told it tended to be a few of the plates and SNOT bricks that were required for many of the models

View image at flickr

View image at flickr

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I then asked them to see what MOCs they could come up with: a chicken-thing, a butterfly and a spaceship...

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This was the best of the bunch!

View image at flickr


Verdict

It won't appeal to everyone, in particular those that like to build sets just to display, but if you want something to spark your creativity, it's perfect. It's also great for introducing SNOT building techniques to youngsters and it's not a bad parts-pack either.

I believe it will be free with orders over £85/$85/€85, which is quite high, but with a good number of new sets coming out on 1st July you shouldn't have too much trouble finding something to buy to acquire it.


Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All expressed opinions are my own.

26 comments on this article

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By in United States,

Nice pics! Can't say I'm clamouring at the screen to own one of these myself, but since I'm probably grabbing the Crocodile Train on the 1st I won't say no to an extra freebie...

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By in Canada,

I guess not being a creative MOCer I don't really gravitate to sets like this. I think the threshold is quite high considering the content. That all said with prices of LEGO sets its easily obtained and its a fun little set to experiment with.

Great photos!

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By in United States,

Interesting, though looks like a re-package of the 60th anniversary sets like Ocean's Bottom

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By in Puerto Rico,

Ok let's be real this reminds me of the small Christmas calendar similar in nature.

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By in Canada,

Fun Fact: Here in Canada, we call “choc-ice” by another name: “ice-cream fudgicles”. The pure chocolate ice cream ones are just called fudgicles.

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By in United Kingdom,

Just add a lot more colourful studs onto the ice cream and you've got your self a Nobbly Bobbly :D

Pretty decent promo just hope the threshold is reasonable, hoping for £35 or £50 and not £85+

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By in Canada,

Thanks for the review and pics. This set has a great summer vibe to it.

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By in Germany,

Definitely looks like it could be a fun GWP. The threshold price just seems a little high. 60 Euro would be more realistic IMO.

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By in Singapore,

Wow! I was just brainstorming with a friend a couple of days ago over what LEGO Classic set would be ideal for building together as a small group, while being easy to carry anywhere. This set looks to be just the perfect fit for my use case, with its dinky little box (even if it's no carrying case like 10713 Creative Suitcase or Sorting Case To Go) and very similar nature to the more massive and less colourful 70825 Queen Watevra's Build Whatever Box!. The purchase requirement will surely be even higher here, but this is pretty much a small-to-medium Classic set, so I really can't complain!

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By in United States,

I really like the concept, but having so many different shapes/colors of parts yet such limits on what can be built at the same time is really odd.

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By in Puerto Rico,

@Minifig290 said:
"Just add a lot more colourful studs onto the ice cream and you've got your self a Nobbly Bobbly :D

Pretty decent promo just hope the threshold is reasonable, hoping for £35 or £50 and not £85+"

It's $85 reportadly, but at least it has some great builds.

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By in Switzerland,

No issue for me, I will get it as the crocodile locomotive is on my day-one purchase list.

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By in United Kingdom,

I think for 200 parts I would rather have the 6 in 1 Highway Haulers from 2006, as can make a lot more fun and different vehicles, although only one or two at a time. I assume you can make all these at the same time, so more like an advent calendar? Pity you cannot put them all together to make one large 200 piece object, although as you say may be useful resource for spare parts.

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By in United Kingdom,

Not sure I'd pick any of these up if they were standalone polybags.

Speaking of polybags... Any news on the competition?

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By in United States,

^ Tomorrow.

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By in Germany,

Splendid. Will buy the Croc to get this as well.
Love sets like this. My kids too, so much fun to be had and such a lot of variety.

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By in United States,

As sophisticated as TLG is, they most likely use GWPs as a way of testing the market. If they see that some perform better than others, it tells them what helps drive purchases. Undoubtedly, this is a complicated determination because the availability of new sets at the time of the promotion must help drive that interest. Even so, I believe they would have algorithms to take into account the popularity of the sets that were simultaneously released.

Consequently, I would be fascinated to see how this parts pack fares. While I love and appreciate any GWP, this one holds little to no interest for me. It would seem appealing, perhaps, to an adult who might want a gift for their child. With a seemingly high purchase threshold of $85, it is hard to see how it would motivate youngsters to reach that price point in order to get it. Also, I can see adults perhaps wanting one if they are collectors, but no more than one.

Please don't misinterpret this comment as not appreciating the offer any kind of freebie. Rather, I feel it offers no compelling investment in design from TLG that makes it any more worthy than a random pick-a-brick cup.

I will wait on all purchases until there are more offerings, either through GWPs or double points, that appeal to my interests. My personal feeling is that day-one motivations are curious.

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By in Germany,

Isn't that spaceship "illegal" (since it uses a plate and not a tile)?! :-D

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By in Australia,

Some of those models are really impressive, even if the parts are fairly common.

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By in Hong Kong,

How was the cherry built in such small scale

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By in Poland,

What you call "Choc-Ice" we call an "Eskimo Pie." (Midwest U.S.) But with our current climate, someone will probably be offended by that term and it will be changed.

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By in United States,

This set looks like a child-oriented introduction to some classic building techniques--intended for a future builder-of-MOCs rather than someone with more experience. The color range and subjects are cheerfully summery, and the extra attention to the box and manual reminds me a little of the Master Builder Academy theme. Given all the expensive sets that are going to be released on July 1st I don't see that the purchase requirement is very unreasonable, either.

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By in Austria,

Pretty nice concept here and should be done more often, by creating toy sets that invoke creativity (for both adults and children). The Lego Creationary (3844) and basic building block sets are all made in this direction. I have always believed that doing MOC is what makes Lego fun, and not just following instructions to build something and put it on the shelf :)

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By in Russian Federation,

I'm all four for this kind of sets, but it looks to be spread too thin.

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By in United Kingdom,

I'll be planning to get two of these, and build one model per day, like an advent calendar. I'll also try to have as many as possible built at the same time. I was one of the (seemingly few) people who loved the two previous 24-in-1 Christmas calendar sets

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