Bricks Of Christmas Past – Day 1

A Look at LEGO® Christmas Sets From Past to Present

Welcome to the 12 Bricks of Christmas Past! This is my countdown of traditional Christmas subjects done over the years in LEGO® form. Seasonal LEGO® sets are always a huge hit over the holidays. Of late, we’ve been treated to some really amazing sets and themes. The Winter Village is a big highlight release for the end of the year. GWPs, ornaments, small builds, Christmas interpretations of popular themes also add to the merriment. And let’s not forget the ever expanding world of the Advent Calendars. So for the next 12 days – the traditional Christmas amount – I’m going to look at a particular subject and see the offerings past to present. There’s some fun stuff to explore so check back each day 😉

DAY 1: ELFS!….I MEAN, ELVES!

So let’s begin with those most beloved (some say) of Christmas folks. Elves. The earliest Elf I can find is from an early Advent Calendar. Way way back in 1998. Early LEGO® builds, even those as ‘recent’ as the 2000s definitely have a simplistic and blocky design. There’s a lot of charm in some of these designs. And also a bit of “….huh??” but that’s still super cute. Here are some elves over the years

Advent Calendar / Seasonal / 1998 / #1298 / 9 pcs

Advent Calendar / Seasonal / 1999 / #1076 / 12 pcs

Advent Calendar / Seasonal / 2004 / #4924 / 14-16 pcs

These definitely fall under the “use your imagination kids!” category. The 3-in-1 option is vauge, but I do see the elf with it’s 1×1 clip ears in the upper right. The one on the bottom is a…..sort of a…..sled?? Let’s move on haha.

Elf Boy & Elf Girl Polybags / Seasonal / 2004 / #10165, 10166 / 27 & 31 pcs

Holiday Elf / CMF Series 11 / 2013 / #71002 / 8 pcs

The first(ish) standalone seasonal Elf minifigure came in the Series 11 Collectible Minifigures line. After that, the floodgates were open and an entire Holiday set of elves released the following year with Santa’s Workshop (10245), part of the Winter Village subtheme. And even more elves made their way to our collections with the currently available Elf Club House (10275).

Little Elf Helpers / Seasonal / 2016 / #40205 / 238 pcs

We return with brick-built elves in 2016 for this small seasonal set. Extra pieces certainly make all the difference in creating some detail. But, is it just me, or do these guys look a little….disturbing? They look like Beaker from The Muppets. Perhaps he took a sabbatical from Dr. Honeydew and science.

Reindeer, Elf & Elfie / Brickheadz / 2019 / #40353 / 280 pcs

Our last look at Christmas elves comes courtesy of a recent Brickheadz set. Two elves and a trusty reindeer (who will show up later on for sure) make up this fun little collection. And it’s nice to see some gender equality among the elven kind.

The Countdown is on

And that is Day 1 of Bricks of Christmas Past done. I hope you enjoyed this little trip into the past. I know I found some fun surprises looking up all these themes, figs and sets. Tune in everyday from now until Christmas Eve to see the rest of the sets/topics. What do you all think? Do you have any of these older sets? Are you a fan of the elves whether it’s Dobby, Legolas or other? Drop a comment below and let me know what you think. And as always keep on brickin’. 🧱

-Frank

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