Note: these Seasonal sets will be released in North America on 1 October 2022, a month later than Europe and Australia. Not all of Lego’s adult sets are licensed models and many are part of the Lego Ideas line, which are originally designed by fans and then voted on by ordinary customers to see which ones get turned into an actual product – where the original creator gets a percentage of the profits. This lighthouse isn’t something Lego would’ve made on their own and yet it’s one of the best and most interesting designs of the year. Monster Jam Megalodon – the ideal Lego Technic starter set (pic: Lego) Lego Monster Jam Megalodon (42134) And yes, I can confirm that these 5 minifigures are delightful additions to your LEGO Winter Village! 40573 Christmas Tree Doc Brown’s time-travelling DeLorean is another thing that’s been released as Lego before, but only as a small, minifigure-sized car. This is a 35cm long recreation that’s much more accurate and includes not only the famous gull wing doors but wheels that fold away for flight and a bunch of optional extras to recreate the car from various points in the trilogy, including a Mr Fusion power source and Marty’s flying skateboard. You still get two minifigures with it, plus the pole used to catch the lighting in the first film.

Vibrant DUPLO sets are a go-to Christmas gift for kids, and it’s easy to see why. Not only are they fun, they’re educational too - allowing toddlers to learn and develop core skills while they play. Building with DUPLO is not only beneficial to the progression of your child’s fine motor skills; it can also help them become accustomed to learning with the alphabet and numbers. Of course, September also marks the launch of the 2022 LEGO Advent Calendar sets, which should also be considered Christmas/Seasonal sets. The Advent Calendars will be released on 1 September 2022, and this year, we have City, Friends, Harry Potter, Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy! It’s not just Super Mario that blurs the line between what sets are for kids and which for adults. There have been a lot of versions of the Hogwarts Express in the past, but they’ve always been smaller and less detailed than this giant-sized version. It comes with not only 20 minifigures but Platform 9¾ itself, so while it’s expensive you’re basically getting an entire Harry Potter collection in one go. With some Lego sets there can seem to be a bit of dichotomy between the nature of the set and who it’s aimed at. There’s a whole line of interactive Super Mario sets aimed at young kids, all of which are very popular, but there’s also some more expensive 18+ Nintendo sets that are clearly aimed at older fans. Not that there’s anyone that wouldn’t appreciate this giant-sized, highly articulated Bowser but if you do buy it for kids you may end up having to make most of it yourself… which is arguably all part of the appeal. Last but not least is Duplo 10976 Santa’s Gingerbread House, for little builders. You get to assemble a cute Gingerbread House, and you get a Santa Duplo figure, as well as plenty of festive food and accessories.We rarely get seasonal Christmas Duplo sets, with the last time being 10837 Santa’s Winter Holiday. Another addition that I think falls into this year’s LEGO Winter/Seasonal collection are these 5 minifigures from LEGO Minifigures Series 23– which has an entire Christmas/Winter sub-group within the 12 character set. It’s an excellent looking set, and works as a small ornamental Christmas Tree decoration, or as a Christmas tree for your minifigures/LEGO Winter village. There are plenty of decorative options, from hearts, to baubles to candles to personalise it.

Wintertime Polar Bears is likely to be this year’s final Seasonal buildable animal set, joining 40570 Halloween Cat & Mouse, 40522 Valentine’s Lovebirds, 40523 Easter Rabbits Display.

3. Wild Animals of South America

The Friends line came in for some criticism when it was first released, for trying to appeal to girls with stereotypical designs. It’s come a long way since then though and is now widely praised for being very inclusive and featuring designs and concepts that would never appear in the otherwise similar City line. Friends is aimed at a range of ages, between six and eight, and while the majority of the oversized minifigures are women there are increasingly more men as well. Hogwarts Express – Harry Potter fans will be all aboard this one (pic: Lego) Lego Hogwarts Express – Collectors’ Edition (76405) For your real Christmas tree, 40572 Penguin & Snowflake is this year’s buildable LEGO ornament, with a cute Penguin and Snowflake that you can build and hang.