As the Brickset Forum and other online communities started to reverberate with the news that The Sun newspaper in the UK was preparing for another week of LEGO giveaways, I have to confess to mixed feelings. On the one hand, what's not to like about free LEGO ? OK, so not free, but free with a 30 pence newspaper (or 60 pence on Saturdays). So free enough. And the sets included this time round looked pretty good to me - Star Wars, Alien Conquest, Harry Potter, Creator and Cars themes were all represented. The downside is the unedifying feeding frenzy that ensued last time The Sun ran such a promotion, and the thought that it was going to happen all over again. Honestly, talk about bringing out the worst in the average Brit. The mad scrum at the checkout as people literally fought to get their small polybag of LEGO last time round was unbelievable - you got the feeling that some of those individuals fighting for their share would sell their own grandmothers for a pound. And then there's the greed - people lying to shop assistants that they wanted 25 sets for children's gift bags before then boasting to their friends on the way out of the store that they would get £5 for each set on eBay. Not a pleasant prospect at all.
But of course, the lure of those little sets, most of which hadn't previously been available in the UK, proved too strong to resist, and so it was with a heavy heart that I prepared to join the throng.....
The promotion started strongly with Star Wars Set 30053 Republic Attack Cruiser. This set was one of those that hadn't previously been available in the UK. Early reports on the Saturday morning spoke of a less frenzied situation than expected, with the major participating retail chain WHSmiths clearly better prepared this time round. Stores were inconsistent with their application of the specified "one set per person" rule, however, with some enforcing it rigidly, others happy to give away one set per newspaper purchased, and a minority seemingly content to give multiple sets out with just one newspaper, or indeed with no newspapers at all...
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| Set 30053 Republic Attack Cruiser |
Clearly not much building to do with this one, the USP obviously being the Harry Potter minifigure, which while having appeared in numerous retail sets already, was still welcome.
Tuesday saw the appearance of Creator Set 30024 Truck; no minifig with this one, but nevertheless a nice little set, with the added bonus that once again it had never previously been available in the UK. Having managed to get duplicates of this one from my local WHSmiths, it's telling that all of my duplicates are already on their way to various trading partners overseas, so clearly a great set for trading as well as building....
Alien Conquest Set 30141 Jetpack was for me one of the highights of the promotion and was given away on the Wednesday. I've previously written of my affection for the Alien Conquest theme, and this set is one of only two Alien Conquest polybags to have been spotted in the wild thus far. Prior to The Sun promotion, the only way for most folks to get their hands on one of these at retail was as a giveaway with purchases over £50 at LEGO S@H, although a few found their way onto eBay, Bricklink and Amazon. I'm a sucker for these dark azure-coloured Alien Defence Unit (ADU) minifigures, and I was delighted to be able to grab a few of these sets. OK, so the actual jetpack is IMHO a bit rubbish, but I love the figure. His head is reversible, and I'm particularly partial to his 'pensive' look (pics below - click to enlarge)
Thursday brought the other set that I was awaiting most eagerly; Set 30121 Grem was my first Cars 2-themed polybag, and having already picked up all of the retail Cars 2 sets I was very keen to get hold of this one. Lots of pieces (54) for 30p, two printed parts, no stickers and a neat little model in its own right - excellent ! It comes with an awesome (and huge) trans orange and red flame piece and a nicely-realised moveable visor with trans blue glass. The sides and back of the model are perhaps a little plain, but it feels churlish to complain on this occasion so for once I'll stop...
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| Set 30121 Grem |
So the verdict ? Well, whatever you think of the Sun newspaper, there's no denying that this was a cracking promotion for many LEGO fans. Clearly your perception will depend to some extent on your opinion of the sets on offer, but from where I'm standing there was a nice variety of themes represented, and some interesting and hard-to-find sets were included which was much appreciated. My personal favourites were Set 30121 Grem and Set 30141 Jetpack (or more accurately, the ADU minifig wearing the Jetpack...), but none of them were terrible, and all seem to be in demand in the US and elsewhere which gives us Brits some useful trading leverage.
Most people I spoke with felt that the actual process of getting hold of the sets was less chaotic and misery-inducing than last time round, with generally (although not always) more stock in branches of WHSmiths, fewer shortages, and less aggro. Many people managed to secure multiples, and few people were left completely without, although the lack of a comprehensive mail-in option was a bit of a pain. All in all, it was a cheap and reasonably easy way to get your hands on some neat little sets, and as such the promotion gets a big thumbs up from me. Expect the next one in around 6 months time...
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