Review: 40424 Winter Snowball Fight
Posted by MeganL,One of our members chose 40424 Winter Snowball Fight as a gift recommendation last week. It's the second of two vignettes that LEGO surprised us with at the end of the year. Let's take a closer look at this second vignette. Almost nothing captures winter outdoor fun than a snowball fight, though it looks like some pretty heavy artillery is used in this one…
The front of the box depicts quite an active scene, with a sledding hill, a snow fort, and a snowman. The back of the box shows some of the play functions included in the set.
There are two minidolls in the set - two children, presumably on either side of the snowball fight. The little girl is dressed warmly in a blue jacket with zippered pockets with realistic creases at the bottom, showing the bulk of the jacket. She's extra warm thanks to the orange scarf accessory and her blue mittens. Her opponent is dressed in an olive jacket with a dark grey t-shirt underneath. The printing on his torso is similarly detailed, showing pockets as well as lines indicated the baffles in a down or similarly insulated coat. His warm accessories are a red mukluk style hat and black gloves.
The back of both minifigure torsos has additional detail, show the hood and stitching on the blue jacket, and additional baflles on the olive jacket. Both torsos in this set are new to this set, something that's always nice to see in these smaller sets. It's also nice that the little girl's head is double sided.
Modes of transportation are provided for both kids - skis for the girl (with sand green ski poles) and a sleigh for the boy. The sleigh is loaded for the impending snowy melee.
There are two witness to the snowball fight in shape of a husky dog. I love when dogs are included in vignettes and the husky is a natural choice for a winter scene. There's a tree included for no apparent reason, plus a table with some cookies and mugs (presumably filled with hot chocolate) for the two snow warriors.
The other witness to the fight is quite possibly one that was constructed by the combatants. A snowman oversees all the activity. There was an article written some years ago about the different variations of LEGO snowmen over the years. This is a servicable effort, and I like the coal buttons, black hat, and carrot nose, but I do miss the eyes.
The little girl has taken up her position behind the snow fort. The construction technique for the curved wall is fun, making liberal use of round 1x2 plates. I love the ice blue accents, too. There's some serious firepower (snow power) at the disposal of whoever holds the fort, as there's a large catapult included that can be loaded up with snowballs.
The opposing side of the fight takes place from atop of a hill, where the little boy is ready for action on his sleigh.
The hill has nice ice blue accents of its own.
A quick push of the technic crossaxle sends the boy down the hill.
Overall thoughts
As mentioned in the gift recommendation last week, for a small set (149 pieces, $12.99, £11.99, 12.66€), this has a lot going on. It makes for a nice display piece on its own, and will also fit in well with any Winter Village (which is where mine will be going ). The new torsos for the minifigs are a bonus, and there is a nice selection of newer recolours. I'm personally a big fan of the red mukluk hat!
This is a nice addition to the series. I do hope the vignettes continue in 2021.
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25 comments on this article
And now we know why the vignettes took a break - so they could bring them back having first jacked up the price considerably. These things used to be €9.99 here, and this one is now €12.99. That's a massive 1/3rd increase! Lego's greed knows no ends and I'm getting fed up of them trying to fleece me.
It's like those London/Paris magnets, 50c worth of parts bundled up with a tiny sticker sheet and a magnet, on sale at €9.99. It's unconscionable and they're starting to take their customers for granted.
Are we just going to ignore the fact that all of the snowballs have a massive hole in the middle?
I'm just sad at how fast the holiday vignettes sell out. I missed out on both autumn and winter this year T_T
I find it extremely offensive that the pieces weren’t pushed down in the side in image of the toboggan launch slide. Great little set tho
Nice set. Although, i'm not sure it feels like a 13.00 dollar set.
Two minidolls? Someone's gotten too used to reviewing Friends for us... :)
Lovely review as always, this looks like a fun winter set!
Nice to get some more winter jacket torsos. People wear them 3/4 seasons where I live so I like using them on my custom citizen figures. Always nice to get a huskie too. I don't think Lego has ever found a perfect snowman design. This one doesn't work for me, but I appreciate that they tried something new. I like the curved design of the snow fort. It really looks like it's been crafted out of blocks of snow.
Nice set, but to me not enough to justify the massive price increase. As long as TLG thinks they can do anything with regards to pricing I'll take my business elsewhere, thank you very much.
It's already on my want list.
Nice! Might pick it up at some point.
What's the first vignette just out of interest?
I bought two of the new Elite Police sets, recently, and grabbed this one as well. Lego's Winter Village sets have been very hit and miss, the last couple of years, but I like these little sets, because they also function as additions to the Winter Village, at a much more reasonable price point.
Yay for husky dog!
@The_Tourist said:
"What's the first vignette just out of interest? "
I presume it's a reference to Charles Dickens Tribute, 40410
I really like how they've stuck to this change to vignettes from many, many seasonal BrickHeadz. Personally its the husky that sells this to me, but its a good set without the husky, too.
@The_Tourist said:
"What's the first vignette just out of interest? "
I think its the Halloween Hayride one.
@BovineBrick said:
"Two minidolls? Someone's gotten too used to reviewing Friends for us... :)"
I noticed that. Made me do a double-take at first.
@Veyniac said:
"Are we just going to ignore the fact that all of the snowballs have a massive hole in the middle?"
They’re Snow Donuts. Or as we call em in Ohio...Snonuts! :D
I do love the vignettes for holidays...hope they make a comeback and ease the pedal off the sticker price a little.
I live in the Canadian Prairies. I tried making a realistic winter vignette of this area with as few pieces as possible. Here’s the link to my vignette: https://brickset.com/parts/4618526/plate-16x16
Liking minifigures and snowman cool
Good set, good price. Things can't stay the same price forever or we'd have no Lego at all after a few years.
Does anyone else find that carrot nose intensely unsettling?
I’m normally the first to call out rip-off prices - most notably on Star Wars and other licensed sets .....
But this one strikes me as good value!
2 unique & cute minifigs, a husky dog, a snowman, and some cute builds with play features.
Not bad at all, I say!
@lemish34 said:
"I’m normally the first to call out rip-off prices - most notably on Star Wars and other licensed sets .....
But this one strikes me as good value!
2 unique & cute minifigs, a husky dog, a snowman, and some cute builds with play features.
Not bad at all, I say!"
We used to get the same 2 years ago for a 1/3rd less...
@aleydita said:
" @lemish34 said:
"I’m normally the first to call out rip-off prices - most notably on Star Wars and other licensed sets .....
But this one strikes me as good value!
2 unique & cute minifigs, a husky dog, a snowman, and some cute builds with play features.
Not bad at all, I say!"
We used to get the same 2 years ago for a 1/3rd less..."
Indeed. And inflation over the last two years was hardly worth mentioning and definitely not 30+ %.
Just because 12.99 Euro does not seem like a lot of money, the actual increase isn't reasonable at all. Think about a small car. Two years ago it was 10k Euro, and now the manufacturer wants you to pay 13k Euro for basically the same car. Reasonable?
@aleydita said:
"And now we know why the vignettes took a break - so they could bring them back having first jacked up the price considerably. These things used to be €9.99 here, and this one is now €12.99. That's a massive 1/3rd increase! Lego's greed knows no ends and I'm getting fed up of them trying to fleece me.
It's like those London/Paris magnets, 50c worth of parts bundled up with a tiny sticker sheet and a magnet, on sale at €9.99. It's unconscionable and they're starting to take their customers for granted."
Mainly because People buy stuff like this.