Review: 40291 Creative Personalities
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO has produced a broad range of different promotional items during the last few years and 40291 Creative Personalities is perhaps the most unusual such model yet. This set celebrates Hans Christian Andersen, a prolific author and one of Denmark's most famous historic citizens.
The model is based around a book and depicts Andersen writing a fairy tale, perhaps inspired by his rural surroundings. I have been thoroughly impressed by the images of this interesting promotional set so have high expectations for its quality, especially since it contains a total of 307 pieces which is quite exceptional for a gift-with-purchase at shop.LEGO.com!
Box and Contents
The box is looks marvellous, displaying the open book against a row of unmistakably Danish buildings. I like the red seal in the corner which matches a printed tile in the set and the reverse shows some of the smaller details and accessories that are included. Unfortunately, the box features a thumb tab rather than tape seals so may be damaged unless you are particularly careful when opening it.
Four bags of parts, some loose 6x10 plates and a single instruction manual are found inside the box. The instruction booklet is made using a higher quality paper stock than one might expect for a set of this kind and includes images of other inspirational models, depicting a selection of Andersen's most famous and beloved fairy tales. These could replace the pond which occupies the right hand page of the book.
Minifigures
Two minifigures are included, the first of which is a child wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and a stripy shirt. I like his smiling facial expression very much and the texture of the dark orange hair piece looks brilliant. Hans Christian Andersen appears somewhat plain by comparison. He sports a black top hat and a matching waistcoat. This design bears a loose resemblance to the real author but a new head or torso design would have been beneficial.
Andersen comes with a dark bluish grey quill pen and a reddish brown book. The cover opens to reveal a printed tile which reads 'Once upon a time...' so befits a fairy tale. This component has only appeared in two previous sets and so is quite appealing, especially since it features some lovely metallic gold scrollwork at the edge of the page.
The Completed Model
The book is constructed around a central spine, to which the open pages are then attached using clips. I think the resultant design looks fantastic, closely resembling a real book and including several splashes of bright colour that contrast with the earthy tones of the cover and pages. The left hand page displays Andersen sitting on a bench and authoring one of his fairy tales. I love the cobblestones around the bench and the black lamppost looks good too, although a trans-yellow lamp would have been better than trans-neon green.
A printed 1x8 tile is laid in front of the scene and includes a tiny wax seal, like that on the packaging. The opposite page features a pond with a swan swimming on the surface. The Ugly Duckling is Andersen's most famous story focused upon swans but that tale appears as a suggested alternative model in the instructions. I therefore wonder whether this vignette takes inspiration from The Wild Swans, a less famous story which is celebrating 180 years since its publication this year.
Unfortunately, the swan appears rather crude in my opinion. The designer has certainly captured its white feathers and colourful beak but the shaping of the neck looks odd when compared with the real animal. The surrounding pond, on the other hand, is excellent. I like its irregular banks and the fountain as well as the pink flowers which are reasonably rare, having been used in just eleven other sets.
The underside of the book is much less attractive, including some obtrusive flame yellowish orange plates. A more muted colour scheme would have been perfect here, although the corresponding stripes across the spine look great. It is perhaps a shame that there is not a little more detail on this side of the model but most of the 307 pieces included are focused upon the open pages which are undoubtedly more important for display.
Overall
Several excellent promotional products have already been released in 2018 but I think 40291 Creative Personalities is the best such model yet. Its unusual design is very distinctive and the open book looks wonderful on display, featuring an attractive but understated colour scheme as well as some beautifully textured cobblestones. The trans-light blue water is similarly impressive, really standing out against the tan pages of the book.
My only criticism of this set relates to the Hans Christian Andersen figure. A couple of new pieces would definitely have been useful here as the current torso and head feel unsuitable for the famed author. However, there is little opportunity to include new minifigure parts in a promotional set like this one and I would therefore highly recommend adding 40291 Creative Personalities to your collection.
I hope you have found this review informative. Let us know by liking this article and share your thoughts on the set in the comments below.
Thanks to Huw for the photos in this review.
40291 Creative Personalities is free with purchases exceeding £65 or $99 during the next fortnight on shop.LEGO.com:
USA | Canada | UK | Germany | France
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group but the review is an expression of my own opinions.
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29 comments on this article
Wow! That’s a really nice freebie!
Fabulous promo set - the size of the set is impressive especially compared to the minifigure factory. Great stuff - I hope they keep it up!
I'd love to see these for other famous danes, particularly Mr Le Mans himself, Tom Kristensen. A speed champions-sized replica of one of his winning cars, either the R8 or the R10, would be great.
Just ordered mine, (If you're curious, I ordered 41597, 70638, 31067 and 31058 to get to the £65 threshold) can't wait, looks like a lovely set!
A Promotional item should be like this. Excellent.
One of the hobbit torso prints would have been better.
A great freebie to go along with the Pirate Roller Coaster or City Hospital. You know Father's Day is right around the corner... hello? Family? Are you listening?... Is this thing on?
Finally got the diner modular to get this freebie. A freebie worthwhile for me:) I always wait for great GWP
Such a great looking freebie - usually i'm not too fussed but this is a must have so definitely time to order the pirate roller coaster. Might try and MOC this to open/close
I’ve been wanting this set. Gonna have to figure out what to get to make it happen!
Great looking GWP, so pleased to have ordered 21042 this morning to get this.
Did order various bits and pieces this morning to get this; twice actually: one to build, one to keep
Lovely set and great review, I'm just wondering though; why are you guys calling it "Creative Personalities" both in this review and in the database, when LEGO themselves refers to the set as "Creative Storybook"? That seems like a much better name for the set, and that's what LEGO calls it.
I'm not sure where that name came from. Probably an early translation from somewhere. We'll get it changed in the database.
The official set name is given as both 'Creative Personalities' and 'Creative Storybook' on shop.LEGO.com: https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Creative-Personalities-2018-40291
Don't forget your £5 PayPal discount U.K. People..
You have to add the offer to your wallet in PayPal, then checkout...
I got the pirate rollercoaster.
Went a bit overboard.... anyway, part of the order was for the Garmadon shark mech; with that one, the Ninjago Movie set collection is complete (until something new comes out).
I was at Legoland California Star Wars Days (Week 1) this past weekend and found this set on the shelves of The Big Shop. Price was $24.99 USD. I bought one. :)
I am most interested in altering the content of the book over time. Maybe a star wars story, maybe Jurassic world, maybe Dune, maybe...
T Rex transport, plus Owen and Blue ordered to get this and the dinosaur playpen. Looking forward to all of them.
Held off on ordering 21042 Statue of Liberty until today, to get this promo! Looking forward to both!
picked it up this morning in store. Not sure whether to open it!! Certainly a great GWP
I had to go pick this up straight away. I wouldn't normally spend $200 (the free shipping threshold for Aus) on undiscounted lego, but I love this thing so much, and have been looking forward to it for so long. Lego's done some seriously good promos this year, but this is the first one I've bothered with.
Shame I have to miss the JP promotion, but buying Jurassic Park sets without at least a 30% discount isn't something Im about to ever do.
Placed two orders mainly consisting of Brickheadz (because these are among the only sets that are not cheaper in retail, so I might as well get VIP points from them) so that I can build one and keep the other for collection purposes.
@magmafrost: the JP polybag was added to my order by buying the Owen & Blue Brickheadz, if you're looking for a cheap JP set ;)
Waiting eagerly for mine to show up (ordered the Statue of Liberty). While I absolutely love this set, am I the only one who thinks it's odd that the boy is clearly a "modern" person, while Hans Christian Andersen is from the 1800s...? Did someone time travel for them to be together?!
I was wanting the "Storybook" set and my husband was wanting the "Statue of Liberty" set. I got him that SoL set for Fathers' Day and kept the "Storybook" for myself. :) :) :)
Is this set modern or 1850, Anderson is in the set but the kid is dressed in a hoodie
I was surprised to see that the new top-head (used for the Penguin from The Lego Batman Movie) had not been used. Ik would fit the character better ans it would match the seal on the box.
What a phenomenal freebie :O
also... if I had this set I would make print my own tile and replace the Hans Christian Andersen (and the author name tile) with Lewis Carroll and replace the ugly duckling scene with Alice in Wonderland