Review: 40499 Santa's Sleigh

Isabel is the name below Diego ?

Edit: Sniped by Romans122

I love the look of this set. The substantial sleigh is very nice.

@merman said:
"Really curious about the price. This should not be more than €30"

It is 36.99 Euro in germany

£34.99 on Lego GB site

It is now listed for 34,99 in the UK, 36,99$ in the US, and 36,99 Euro in Germany

@Jacopyright said:
"Still not reindeer.
These are deer/stags.
Quite different animal.
Disney confusion/error keeps spreading…
*sigh*"

Reindeers are know for having their antlers the other way around

Amazing set! I think it might be Rachel under John on that list.

it's on Lego.com for $36.99

Definitely looks like Rachel under John.

Love the look of this set and it is a perfect accessory to go with the Winter Village range. Price does seem steep however £20-25 would have been more reasonable looking at the build and the size of the final set. Really not sure on this one but also know it will sell out sharpish.

@DoonsterBuildsLego said:
" @merman said:
"Really curious about the price. This should not be more than €30"

I think it'll be more than that: it'll cost you £20 on BnP just for the deer."

They are €5.95 on Bricks and Pieces

49.99 CAD on the Canadian Lego site.

My favorite piece in this set is Santa's head. Would also make a great ship captain / old fisherman / etc.

Based on the build, if we get two how easily do you think we can make this an eight reindeer setup?

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong, but looks like the online Pick a Brick (in the US) does not have reindeer. Dang it.

@darthbooji said:
" @BelgianBricker said:
"lol no, the deer on BnP is about 6€..."

Yes, but there are 4 of them. :-D"

yeah, not an English native speaker, so I forgot that "deer" is single and plural at the same time ;) (although apparently "deers" is concidered correct also (?))

It's €36.99 on Lego.com in Ireland. At least we have the cheaper Euro price than it seems in other EU countries. Sort of helps make up for Lego not locating one of their physical shops here.

Thanks for the review, Huw! What a great set!

Why does Santa look so annoyed?
https://youtu.be/1-3lwhFezDE?list=PLjke0dIPNiMYkRybVoqtFwWPnH9WuzEMc

I can see this chonky boy flying off the shelves.

Great set, although the deer are still not printed like proper reindeer. Thx Disney.
Would be funny if the designers written on the nice list get an extra Christmas bonus like this set or something better.

It seems closer to UCS scale than mining scale, and those reindeer still seem Duplo-y to me.. different strokes I guess.

Getting this and mario day one

No shot of the sticker sheet or pictures of the build process? :(

SERIOUSLY ? ? ? ?

I'm not on the NICE LIST this year ?

:(

More expensive than I was hoping - my replica of the Phoenix Park (in Dublin) will have a smaller deer herd than I hoped!

The head looks like element 6039681

5th name on the right could be "Randal". The one following it could be Suzanne or Suzana but I'm less confident there, there's not quite enough room for two n's. I don't believe third one down is Jens, whatever the third letter is, it dips below the line like a 'g' or a 'y'. I love that so many people's first instinct here was to try and figure out the names!

Santa's head isn't new; it's from a King minifigure that appeared in a single 2013 castle set (70404, King's Castle) (though it was also used as Santa in an employee holiday gift set that same year, 4000013 "A LEGO Christmas Tale")

Regarding the names on the list, “Charlie” is definitely Claudia. The last letter is round with a vertical bar on the right, which can only indicate the letter “a”.

Diego looks right.

“Isabel” looks almost right, but the “s” hangs down pretty low, and I don’t think “Igabel” or “Igobel” is really a name.

Kayleigh seems likely, but I don’t think that’s “Kenneth”

“Donald” is probably Daniel.

Next looks like Kim.

I’m stuck on the last one. Without knowing if that’s a “J”, a “T”, or something even less expected, it really doesn’t help to narrow down the options. I was thinking “Todd”, but the last stem is shorter than the one to the left, so those should be different letters.

On the right side, Pablo looks correct.

Next is five letters, starting with “L”, and probably ending with “y”.

Not “Jens”. It doesn’t make sense, but it looks like “Jogs” or “Jags”.

John and Rachel seem right.

I’m going with Suzanne here.

And Oliver and William round out the list.

It'll sell out fast- I imagine quite a few of us will buy two to have a full crew of reindeer.

@Drewsko said:
"Santa's head isn't new; it's from a King minifigure that appeared in a single 2013 castle set (70404, King's Castle) (though it was also used as Santa in an employee holiday gift set that same year, 4000013 "A LEGO Christmas Tale")"

That set is CREEPY.

Really digging this one. The sleigh could be modified to hold more presents be just removing the secret compartment, also the ornaments on the back could be brick built. Overall I think it's a really good looking set that will find it's way in any winter village diorama. As Huw said, especially awesome when combined with Santa's Visit.

I might have to get two just to have the full set of eight reindeer. Looks like it should be pretty easy to link another set of reins to the current ones.

I will be forced to buy two of these for a complete set of eight reindeer.

@merman said:
"Really curious about the price. This should not be more than €30"

There's a lot of small pieces and 4 large molds, I think it will be atleast £45

@BigbloxG said:
" @merman said:
"Really curious about the price. This should not be more than €30"

There's a lot of small pieces and 4 large molds, I think it will be atleast £45"

The price is literally in the review :/

@PurpleDave said:
"Not “Jens”. It doesn’t make sense, but it looks like “Jogs” or “Jags”."

I think that it's "Jose."

I then see John, Rachel, Susanne, Oliver and William.

My name is Daniel and I'm glad I'm on the nice list. Kind of annoying that the Santa minifigure isn't the same between this set and 10293, though.

Another pet peeve of mine is the use of a tile instead of a plate to smooth out the top of the animal's body. I'm not sure exactly when LEGO started doing that (I'm sure it's been a very long time). I find the tile's groove incredibly unsightly, whereas the studs of a plate at least add to the LEGO look of the thing.

@PurpleDave: Donald is third from bottom left up (below Kenneth); Daniel is fourth from bottom right up (below John).

@ForestMenOfEndor said:
" @Huw said:
"^ People don't read them, it seems, just look at the pictures, which is why I don't write much!"

I read every word! More words, please! Seriously, keep up the great work."

What @ForestMenOfEndor said! I was sad the review was so short! At least give us some goat pictures and jokes!

@Huw said:
" @BelgianBricker said:
"Anyhoe, not to sure now if I am going to buy it or simply stack up on deers trough BnP. The sleigh is bulcky, but seems to have a lot of wasted space (aka not a lot of room to store stuff)..."

I forgot about a hidden feature, probably because I didn't actually build it (I subcontracted it out to my helpers ;-) ): There's a opening drawer at the back in which there's a carrot for the animals and a pretzel for Santa.

I've added a photo.

"

An under the seat too. (From another review) :)

$37 is really odd...

So which 4 are the chosen reindeer in this set from the main 8? Not including the most famous, red-nosed outcast. (Still trying to figure out how to attach a red "voodoo ball" 32474 to one deer's muzzle).

Isn't Santa's face in this set the same as King's in 70404?

@The_Toniboeh said:
" @Wrecknbuild said:
" @merman said:
"Really curious about the price. This should not be more than €30"

It's € 39.99 in the Netherlands. Of course it's 3 euros more than in Germany. Why, Lego???
Please stop this ridiculous price discrimination between countries. I can imagine charging lower prices in countries with lower incomes, but this is pointless."

45€ in Finland :["

Strange, considering you have reindeer much closer by.
Edit: and Santa...

Another excellent review. I will definitely be getting this. The only problem is there doesn't look enough space on the roof of 10293 for this sleigh.

@Jacopyright:
The body may not be right, but the antlers look like North American caribou. As discussed in the previous article’s comment section, reindeer and caribou are basically different names for the same species (Rangifer tarandus). In Europe, particularly where they’ve been domesticated, they’re called reindeer. In North America, they mostly roam wild, and the name appears to have come from a French bastardization of the Algonquin word “qalipu”.

@Huw:
I would think the new Monkie bar would be less obtrusive, having a more symmetrical design.

@fakespacesquid:
Your name is Santa?

@ForestMenOfEndor:
You know, I think you’re right. Jose looks right if the “s” is a bit dangly. And Susanne would match the “s”, where we don’t have any clear instance of “z” to compare against.

@LegoSonicBoy:
Daniel is too long to be “Donald”, and Rachel is too starts-with-an-R to be Daniel.

@Slithus_Venom:
Hook any number of goats up to this sleigh and Christmas is off. We just did a display at our bank-owned State Fair, and just before tearing down I watched a girl literally having to drag her goat out of the building. Fortunately for her, goat hooves don’t grip well on sealed concrete.

@Zander:
I had that as an assignment in grade school (with less whiskey, obviously). We got a list of a few dozen instructions and were told to start reading and do as the instructions told us, with some sort of recognition for being done first. The first line said to read the entire page before doing anything. The last line said to ignore every subsequent line and just write your name in the upper right corner. The lines between these had you drawing all kinds of stuff, writing lots of nonsense, etc...

Picked this up from the Dreamworld LEGO store the other day (no I don't know how they got stock but they did and I grabbed one). Definitely worth the A$60 I paid for it (given what the deer alone go for on Bricks & Pieces) and a nice addition to the collection.

@BrickBoriqueno
@RichardGoring

Thanks to you both! I learned something new today, I didn't even know about this (so I should probably also hand in my AFOL card! oh well :)

@ForestMenOfEndor said:
" @Huw said:
"^ People don't read them, it seems, just look at the pictures, which is why I don't write much!"

I read every word! More words, please! Seriously, keep up the great work."

I couldn’t agree more. Your reviews are fantastic, and the best part of this blog IMHO. Please keep writing!

@Wrecknbuild said:
" @merman said:
"Really curious about the price. This should not be more than €30"

It's € 39.99 in the Netherlands. Of course it's 3 euros more than in Germany. Why, Lego???
Please stop this ridiculous price discrimination between countries. I can imagine charging lower prices in countries with lower incomes, but this is pointless."

So in Slovenia the price will be 20Eur, we have very low income. But is not, it is like in your country not even like in Germany. How so?

What are all these deer thingies doing in this set? I thought Legoland Santa's sleigh was pulled by a reindog, as seen in 7324.

@vizzitor said:
"So which 4 are the chosen reindeer in this set from the main 8? Not including the most famous, red-nosed outcast. (Still trying to figure out how to attach a red "voodoo ball" 32474 to one deer's muzzle)."

I'd say based on the traditional Night Before Christmas poem and given order of reindeer listed (assuming they are named in order from front of team to back) there's Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen.

I'm thinking I'll customize the reindeer from set 10275 by applying a small amount of red paint to the nose and turn that one into a proper Rudolph.

@AllenSmith said:
"What are all these deer thingies doing in this set? I thought Legoland Santa's sleigh was pulled by a reindog, as seen in 7324 ."

60235 : City Advent Calendar had a dog sled as well, more recently in 2019 . :)

But yes, the one you linked does have santa and a crate of gifts, making it a more proper Santa sleigh.

@Zander said:
" @Paperballpark said:
" @Huw said:
"^ People don't read them, it seems, just look at the pictures, which is why I don't write much!"

Maybe you should put a line in the middle of a random review: "If you're reading this, please start your comment with the word 'Banana'. ;)"
Reminds me of the possibly apocryphal story about a PhD student who added the following line three pages into his dissertation: ‘If you’re reading this, please ask me for a free bottle of your favourite whisky’. According to legend, the student was never asked! :~D"

My dad had a teacher that put “post a picture of ALF to blackboard” in the syllabus. Dad was the only one to follow those directions.

@TeriXeri said:
" @AllenSmith said:
"What are all these deer thingies doing in this set? I thought Legoland Santa's sleigh was pulled by a reindog, as seen in 7324 ."

60235 : City Advent Calendar had a dog sled as well, more recently in 2019 . :)

But yes, the one you linked does have santa and a crate of gifts, making it a more proper Santa sleigh."

Sometimes the magical flying reindogs go chase squirrels or something, and Santa has to push his own sleigh, like he's doing in 1807!

@TeriXeri:
Heh. Do we know if this is a printed 1x2 file? If it is, it’s totally going on my Santa droptail. I don’t have pics of that version posted, but the original is here:

https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=346507

We did a Christmas-themed show where the photographer taking pictures with Santa told me about a Santa event he did where Santa was chauffeured in with a red corvette that had white trim like his jacket. So I made a version of this car that sheds the chrome for black, trims the body in white, and tows a matching trailer. The rumble seat has an elf with presents, and the passenger seat and trailer carry more presents. If that’s a printed 1x2 file, Santa’s getting a new license plate.

@AllenSmith:
Usually only green Santas hook their sleighs up to a single dog.

@darkstonegrey:
Alternately, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen would be closest to the sleigh in the traces, so it could be the other four were cut loose (with Rudolph).

Holy Christmas Balls! I can’t believe my name is on there. I’m stunned. I’m buying 2 of these.

This will look grand on any fireplace, it's a beautiful set. First name looks like a Claudia to me.

Right side, 5th down looks like Rachel.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Jacopyright:
The body may not be right, but the antlers look like North American caribou. As discussed in the previous article’s comment section, reindeer and caribou are basically different names for the same species (Rangifer tarandus). In Europe, particularly where they’ve been domesticated, they’re called reindeer. In North America, they mostly roam wild, and the name appears to have come from a French bastardization of the Algonquin word “qalipu”."

The antlers are not reindeer/caribou ones, but red deer. The hole mould is a red deer stag, since it was made for HP in the UK where they have them. The closest species to that in NA is the elk.

The colors on the mould on the other hand is not red deer or reindeer, but white-tailed deer. Probably since Disney (and other manufactures) do not think NA consumers can imagine anything other than what is right outside their window so they made Bambi a white-tailed deer (it is originally a roe deer in the original books by Felix Salten) and santa's reindeer at least in color white-tailed deer.

Therefore they are not any real deer species at all, but a mix I like to call x-mas deer ;)
However this is the first deer mould in minifig scale we have gotten so I do not mind that much and it is excellent for winter village scenes and can be used as a deer in other scenes until we get a better one.

I really hope they recolor it as a proper red deer stag so it can be used with Forestmen and other Castle sets etc. in the future. Who knows maybe we even one day get a proper reindeer mould we can use with minifigs, minidolls has already a calf and a adult male in 41166 :D

@Romans122 said:
"Nice set!

My guess at the names is:
Left: Claudia, Diego, Isabel, Kayleigh, Kenneth, David, Kiva (unsure), Yule (unsure)
Right: Pablo, Larry, Jens, John, Daniel, ?, Oliver, William

The ? looks like "Sugare" to me but I doubt that's what its meant to be."

Under John, I read Rachal ??? i think its in the R at the front

@Slithus_Venom said:
" @ForestMenOfEndor said:
" @Huw said:
"^ People don't read them, it seems, just look at the pictures, which is why I don't write much!"

I read every word! More words, please! Seriously, keep up the great work."

What @ForestMenOfEndor said! I was sad the review was so short! At least give us some goat pictures and jokes!"

and goats!

I guarantee these sets will not "literally fly off the shelves."

Interesting that the names on the Nice List are not in alphabetical order. Does that mean some kids are considered "less nice" than others, or is it based on their parents' wealth, or what? Is Santa showing favoritism to the kids at the top of the list and giving them better presents?

^ Presumably Santa’s delivery order.

LEGO has revealed that 14 of the names are generic and two are those of actual people. The reason they are all blurred is so that people can imagine their own names. The designers have a version where the names are printed clearly, not blurred.

@vizzitor said:
"So which 4 are the chosen reindeer in this set from the main 8? Not including the most famous, red-nosed outcast. (Still trying to figure out how to attach a red "voodoo ball" 32474 to one deer's muzzle)."

Something tells me my 'spare' from elf clubhouse may see some red enamel 'enhancement'.

I really like this! lego should do more!

@PurpleDave: You're right, on closer look the one on the right does seem more like Rachel.

This will be a winter time promo set. Likely spend x amount of dollars and get this set free.

I was lucky enough to grab a wreath last year. I do not want to miss out on this set.

The comment above by @DavidBrick about this set already being sold out at LEGO.com is so spot on!

As for @fakepsacesquid being at the top of the nice list, that is for all of the work Charlie has done for the virtual parts drafts those of us who have been lucky enough to participate in!

@bmwlego said:
"I was lucky enough to grab a wreath last year. I do not want to miss out on this set.
"

I bought the wreath this year as soon as it appeared online. Wasn't going to miss it second time around.

@Roebuck:
I’m just not seeing what you’re seeing. Ignore the body. The body looks like Santa’s Little Helper from 71009-4 on steroids. Speaking strictly of the antlers, they resemble the caribou antlers I’m most familiar with, but they’re not a perfect match. The antlers on North American caribou have a large beam in the back and short beam in the front that form a graceful curve that looks similar to a rocking chair from the side, like these. What doesn’t match is that the tines should project backwards from the outside of the main beams, not forward from the inside like these. The other thing is that caribou/reindeer are the only deer species I know of where the tines end in rounded knobs. Due to child safety concerns, that’s probably a given for LEGO antlers. Aside from moose, most other deer I’m familiar with have antlers that form more of a goblet shape, there are multiple branchings like a tree, and the ends are all fairly sharp. Caribou also have dark antlers, where most deer antlers are bony white. It’s not perfect, but I don’t see any other species of deer when I see those antlers.

@LegoSonicBoy:
Yeah, but you’re still in the left column. I was trying to turn that into “David”, but there’s a cleft right where the lower point of the “v” needs to be.

@bmwlego:
There’s no “Charlie” on this list. That name is Claudia.

Reindeers? Pfffft. We need cows @LEGO.
WE NEED MORE COWS!

Is this available now for VIPs or is it a strictly October 1st?