December 7, 2023
Holiday

Bricks Of Christmas Past – Day 9

by Frank R

A Look at LEGO® Christmas Sets From Past to Present

Welcome back 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. 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 😉 Click below for previous articles and read on for today’s topic!

It’s Day 9 of the Bricks of Christmas Past. We’re in the last quarter of our list and it’s time for the main event. Get the ornaments ready because we’re finally putting up the Christmas Tree. The biggest staple of any traditional Christmas celebration is the tree. At least, from a symbol/icon perspective. Real or artificial, a tree is wonderfully unique to each household. LEGO® built trees are bountiful! In fact, Tom just posted about a life-size LEGO® brick built tree. There’s even instructions for you to take on the enormous task yourself if you’re up for it. Click here for the interview with AFOL and designer Marty Mitchell. But for now, let’s talk Christmas shrubbery!

Christmas Tree / Seasonal Polybag / 2002-2015 / 35-77 pcs

We’re beginning our Bricks of Christmas Past tree adventure with polybags. Much like yesterday’s snowman entry, there are a number of polybag sets to pick from. When it comes to building brick-built trees, the defacto element of choice is a green 1×2 or 1×3 brick with a slope. If you stack ’em just right it’s pretty convincing. The first photo is pretty much just that, albeit undecorated. But grab some trans 1×1 studs or plates and you have lights. The 2D tree is less impressive….looks like post-modern kindergarten art.

#10069 – 2002
#30009 – 2009
#40002 – 2009
#40024- 2011
#30186 – 2013
#30286 – 2015

Decorating The Tree / Seasonal Polybag / 2013 / #40058 / 102 pcs / 2 Minifigs

This polybag gets it’s own section because of the piece count, built items and the minfigures. The setting is cute and the builds are well done. I really like the ladder they included as it helps to flesh out a pretty relatable scene. And getting minifigs in a set is always great – especially in seasonal ones.

Christmas Tree Ornament / Seasonal / 2013-2019 / 26-32 pcs

A few trees have been made into ornaments which then go on the trees themselves. Very meta. The first is traditional ball/bauble and the second is a brick-built polybag.

#850851 – 2013
#5003083 – 2015

Christmas Tree / Ornament GWP / 2017 / #5004934 / 66 pcs / 2 Minifigs

Here is another ornament build packaged in a box. This is a GWP and includes 2 minifigures. It’s OK packaging and not really something that you can hang up, but it’s a fun gift.

Advent Calendars / Seasonal / 2001-2021 / 12-26 pcs

There are SOOOOOO many Christmas Trees across lots of advent calendars. Here’s a few of them across the Belville, Friends, Harry Potter and City themes. The dual-molded tree from set #7600 is really unique, shame it’s not around anymore.

#4124 – 2001
#7907 – 2007
#7600 – 2007
#60099 – 2015
#41102 – 2015
#60133- 2016
#60235 – 2019
#75981 – 2020
#41690 – 2021

Christmas Tree Scene / Seasonal GWP / 2011 / #3300020 / 98 pcs / 1 Minifig

This is an older GWP offering with a nice, if not blocky tree. It’s a simple but classic corner vignette design with a minifigure thrown in for good measure.

The next couple of sets revolve around Christmas trees but you won’t build any. The trees are classic molded pine trees. I love these old school trees. In my head they are quintessential LEGO® elements. Both sets were released in 2013 a couple of months apart as complimentary gifts-with-purchase. The Truck came out before American Thanksgiving and the stand closer to Christmas. It’s a fun idea that I don’t think has been repeated since. Let me know if you have any info on that.

Christmas Tree Truck / Creator GWP / 2013 / #40083 / 118 pcs / 1 Minifig

Christmas Tree Stand / Creator GWP / 2013 / #40082 / 115 pcs / 2 Minifigs

Again, I love classic LEGO® trees! 😊

Christmas Tree / Seasonal GWP / 2019 / #40338 / 392 pcs

Here’s our biggest and most detailed tree design to date. This GWP is done with stacked plates and decorative elements. The base has a great micro train build that spins around when you turn the top of the tree. It’s a really fun interactive feature.

All the trimmings

Today’s Bricks of Christmas Past was a longer one. But if there’s any topic that gets a lot of representation at Christmas it’s the tree. There are plenty more trees in many other sets. This year’s Winter Village set – Santa’s Visit (10293) – even has the first ever light-up tree! It’s a great feature and you can read about it in Tom’s review here. But what’re your hot takes? Is your Christmas tree more Charlie Brown or Department Store? Do you have favourite LEGO® ornaments? And what’s your preference on Christmas trees: TeamReal or TeamArtificial? Please comment below and on our social channels to let me know. And as always, keep on brickin’. 🧱

-Frank

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