Review: 40261 Thanksgiving
Posted by MeganL,
As our friends in Canada celebrate Thanksgiving today, it's appropriate to look at the next of this year's seasonals, 40261 Thanksgiving. The series of seasonal vignettes have been quite charming this year - will this continue the trend?
The front of the box shows the set, which is a series of mini builds. It looks to be a harvest theme as the builds are set in a golden countryside with blue skies and white puffy clouds in the background. There's also a graphic of a pumpkin in the top right corner with an opportunity to write in gift and giftee names. The back of the box, like 40260 Halloween Haunt, shows a story through a series of panels. There's an enterprising bird who has aspirations on some of the produce in the garden. But alas, the farmer is in the way and doesn't seem incllned to donate to the bird's dinner. However, the clever bird makes use of the scarecrow to startle the farmer so that he falls into a basket of fresh produce, which allows the bird access to his meal, all the while chuckling to himself.
There are two minifigs in the set: a farmer and a little girl. The farmer comes with a torso that's been seen a few times over the past several years, but is very appropriate for his role. His mustachioed head was introduced in last years Fun in the Park pack and has been seen a few times so far this year. For headgear he has another appropriate choice - a cowboy hat (though the inventory describes it as a fedora) that has been found in some sets but hasn't been incredibly common. His companion, the little girl, is wearing a red sweater with a white t-shirt decorated with stars underneath. The sweater has a nice wraparound closing with a bow. Her head is somewhat new, showing eyes that have been accentuated with long eyelashes and a shy smile, having only been seen twice before in Nexo Knights sets. Her legs are similarly in a rare colour, having only been seen in three sets since 2011. She has long hair, which almost seems to overwhelm her. The farmer has a pitchfork for an accessory, while the little girl has a pail with handle.
I've decided to use an orange background in honour of the harvest themed set. I'm not sure that I'll use it again.
The protagonist of the story on the box is provided by a small brick built bird. There's another bird in the set to provide the Thanksgiving theme: a turkey. I love brick built animals and really like there are two included here.
A wagon is included to carry the farmer and little girl out to the fields and bring back the harvest. It's quite funcitonal and comes in some nice colours, though it's not clear how it gets pulled to and from the field. Maybe the farmer is quite industrious?
We have a small field where it looks like there are three crops, some pumpkins, something that looks like corn (though it's too close to the ground to be corn) and something that's represented by a flame yellowish orange carrot top - I'm not sure what it is. The scarecrow is there with a pumpkin, though it doesn't seem to be too effective considering the bird is using it to startle the farmer!
A large bushel basket is provided to hold the harvest bounty. It contains the mystery crop, some apples and carrots.
The most substantial build is the tree - there's some very attractive parts colour usage in the foliage as well as liberal use of the bright orange flowers, which has not been seen in many sets. It looks like there may be accommodation for a birdhouse, but the brick built birds won't fit.
Overall thoughts
I think this is another delightful little set, and perfect for display in an office. I really enjoy the brick built birds, and like the trend the vignettes are taking with a little story being told on the back of the box. For the price (133 pieces, $9.99, 9.99€, £8.49) and some of the relatively rare pieces, I think it's worth picking up, like the rest of the vignettes this year. I'm looking forward to checking out the Christmas ones!
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25 comments on this article
American Gothic / Amish crossover
I really like this little seasonal set. Great colours and the turkey is designed well. Thanks for the review MeganL. I like the shout out for us Canadians! Happy Thanksgiving!
I wonder if those tapered cylinders are meant to be butternut squash?
Delighted to see that this set is available in the UK!
Like the pumpkin-coloured background!
Nice design, but the appeal is limited in regions not celebrating Thanksgiving.
I was looking forward to reading a review of this set, in a hope to figure out what the mystery crop was... but alas it's still a mystery ;)
Orange is a great background, especially for Dutchies like me!
I like the use of a colored background but a contrasting colour like light blue would probably have worked better. Nevertheless, nice review (as always!).
Thanksgiving is not really a big thing over here, but the set seems nice nonetheless.
Plus, these vignettes often go on sale for 5o% off after a short while here, making for a great bargain.
I was a bit disappointed when I first saw that this set did not have the turkey element that was in the Thanksgiving set from two years ago, but the elegance of the brick built turkey makes up for it. Also a great way to get the carrots and apples, as well as wagon wheels.
Looks like a nice companion to 2015's 40123.
I actually don’t like the orange background because it makes the builds look darker.
Great review! I love the parts used in this set. I really like that wagon. Great background color--I think it doesn't ruin the photos.
For me it was hard to get a good sense of the colors with such an intense background. Like the idea not the execution.
Thanks for the review Megan - I love these little seasonal vignettes too! In my opinion this one would be good for adding details to any farm scene, not just Thanksgiving/Fall per se. The farmer fig is especially nice, & the veggies, tree, & wagon. I would like to see LEGO do more "farm" themed stuff in general.
FWIW I like the orange background for this particular theme - makes your pictures look very warm and vibrant. It definitely wouldn't work for a lot of other themes though!
Mystery plant could be swiss chard. Yellow cones look like squash or gourds to me.
Those stalks could be wheat, at least that is what they're used for in the minecraft sets.
My guess is that the yellow branches are meant to be dried corn stalks. No idea about the short cones though!
I find it odd that Lego would produce a seasonal vignette based on a holiday that is celebrated in, what, two countries? I'm not seeing Australia Day or St. Patrick's Day vignettes.
@Baby Yoda. Agreed, it would be nice to get seasonal sets based on other culture holidays, other than getting the same ones every year.
This set works so well for autumn/farming in general that I don't mind them labelling it Thanksgiving.
I love the background
This is a cool little set. It adds a farmer with a pitchfork and food to my collection. Must have more!
The Mystery crop is wheat. It makes sense for the fall theme, and those parts are used as wheat in Minecraft sets. WHEAT
Just got mine, very nice! Girl's hair doesn't say on, though. Anyone else experiencing the same?