Small lego kits?

December 13, 2018 12:50 PM

I am rapidly running down my Lego advent calendar kits. Are there other similar options?

I really like them. I am doing the Star Wars and the Friends one. Simple (mostly) models that take just a bit to put together. I am mostly interested in the fact it is a tiny puzzle that does not take hours and space to put together. I am interested in similar small kits with similar build times. Does anyone offer such a thing? I guess like a lego a day kit? I know i can buy a $20 kit a every month. But that is kinda one and done. I just want a tiny kit a few times a week. The advent ones are hitting the right balance between time spent doing them and price point.

posted by jeribus to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

I've seen smaller bags of Lego that, while are a bit larger than the advent calendar one, usually don't take too much time to put together and aren't too expensive. I usually see more of them this time of year in the stocking stuffer section of Target, but I have also seen them in the check out aisles as well.
posted by ElleElle at 12:56 PM on December 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

The Creator 3-in-1 sets have instructions for three small-ish models that can be made from the same set of bricks. They're mostly vehicles or buildings.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:57 PM on December 13, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I've seen smaller bags of Lego that, while are a bit larger than the advent calendar one, usually don't take too much time to put together and aren't too expensive. I usually see more of them this time of year in the stocking stuffer section of Target, but I have also seen them in the check out aisles as well.

In Lego-fan parlance these are called "polybags" and you can find a lot of them on eBay (example).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:58 PM on December 13, 2018 [2 favorites]

There is also a rebuildable set (LEGO Christmas Build Up, #40222) where the same set of bricks can be built into 24 different models.

Dunno if that pushes your buttons or not but it's a great alternative to "have to buy a new one every year (and inevitably forget until late November and they're all out of stock or ridiculously marked up)" Advent calendars.
posted by spamloaf at 1:25 PM on December 13, 2018 [2 favorites]

We have gotten a lot of cute little kits (dinosaurs, village houses) from brick loot. On larger pieces the quality difference (worse than Lego) starts to show but it's great for small novelty sets.
posted by typecloud at 1:56 PM on December 13, 2018

These are not Lego and not as high quality, but we gave them as party bag gifts and they made cute dinosaurs -- as a bonus, they apparently all fit together to make one big dinosaur.
posted by Mchelly at 2:07 PM on December 13, 2018

How about Lego ornaments?
posted by Seboshin at 4:06 PM on December 13, 2018

Nanoblocks? They're like LEGO but with smaller pieces (as the name implies). The small sets are generally around ~$10, but they're fun to put together (although I find the finished pieces are sometimes a bit delicate) and there is a lot of different designs. They're more advanced than small LEGO kits but I've never found them frustrating to put together nor do they take particularly long.

Amazon has some but I've also seen them at bookstores/gift shops/etc.
posted by darksong at 4:35 PM on December 13, 2018

Lego minibuilds might scratch the itch? Although you make them with kits you already own.
posted by Ms. Next at 11:06 PM on December 13, 2018