Review: 40426 Wreath
Posted by Huw,40426 Wreath is the sort of set that you wonder why it hasn't been made before. It's a 2-in-1 model, with which you can build a wreath to hang on a door or wall, or one to display on a table.
The c. 510-piece set contains 96 foliage elements, most of which will have been made from the new plant-derived plastic that was introduced recently, and it'll be available from 1st October at LEGO.com.
The set comes packaged in an almost square box with a flap lid, so it doesn't require destroying to open.
Inside, 6 bags of parts and two instruction manuals. Next year, there won't be any point in taking photos like these, when the parts are in paper bags!
As you can see from the first pages of the manuals both wreath variants share the same underlying ring assembly which makes it easy to change between the two configurations without needing to start over.
The ring is slightly tedious to build, given it consists of 15 identical subassemblies and another one with the string attached, but they are fairly straightforward and once you've built a couple you'll be doing the remainder with your eyes closed. Overall, it's about 25cm diameter.
32 of the new three-leaf elements are added inside the circle and these too are common across both configurations.
At this point, then, you can decide which variation you want to construct.
I built the table decoration first and having seen the picture on the instruction cover showing uneven candles I thought I'd be delving into my stock of white 2x2 round bricks to make them all the same height because, surely, they would all have been lit at the same time, right?
But, there was no need -- there are enough in the box to make them all 5-high.
It will make an attractive centrepiece on your Christmas dinner table.
It took about 5 minutes to strip off the foliage from the ring to allow the hanging wreath to be built. As you might expect, the two styles are much the same: the leaves are just configured slightly differently.
A red bow at the top and palm-leaf flourish at the bottom finish it off nicely.
As soon as I opened the box I thought it would be great if the completed model fitted in it, and I'm very happy to report that it does. This will allow it to be built this year then packed away with the Christmas decorations ready for the next holiday season.
At the back of the instructions four other ideas for wreaths are illustrated. Let's hope that nobody complains to LEGO customer services that instructions are not provided too!
Verdict
I think that this a wonderful set that showcases the creativity and versatility of LEGO, putting it to good use to make an attractive display piece that will be admired by your visitors over the festive period. If we're allowed to have visitors by then, that is...
I've no idea how much it costs, LEGO never tell us when offering these things for review. Given the 500+ piece count, many of which are small, I would estimate £29.99 / $34.99 but I could be way off!
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All expressed opinions are my own.
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81 comments on this article
Looks good, will have to get me one.
This looks marvelous! The version without any red you could arguably use throughout the year.
If this isn't the greatest non-Classic/Bricks/Creator/xtra parts pack of all time I don't know what is! The selection looks like something straight out of a PAB wall.
And yes, I am going to miss these parts bags photos :'(
@Huw if your guess of the price is right, I'll likely pick up a few of these!
Depending on price, I’ll be getting one to build and one for the parts.
Nice festive set. I hope it's $29.99 or less.
"I built the table decoration first and having seen the picture on the instruction cover showing uneven candles I thought I'd be delving into my stock of white 2x2 round bricks to make them all the same height because, surely, they would all have been lit at the same time, right?"
No, not really. This seems to be based on an Advent wreath, a Christian holiday tradition that involves lighting an additional candle for each Sunday of Advent (the liturgical season leading up to Christmas). So the candle you lit on the first week would logically be shorter when it came time to light the second candle, and so on and so forth.
Actually, the candles are lit at different times, on the first Advent one candle is lit, on the second Advent the first and second are lit, and so forth to the fourth Advent where all are lit. So they are all different lengths.
The Advents are the four Sundays leading up to Weihnachten (German) or Christmas.
A very charming and cute little set.
Just read the comments and it's an interesting thing about the Advent part and lighting a new candle every week resulting in different heights. Do people keep the candles lit throughout the duration of Decemeber until Christmas?
I know with my family we'd be afraid of leaving candles lit overnight in case it accidentally falls over and sets our house on fire in the middle of the night.
@Lyichir said:
""I built the table decoration first and having seen the picture on the instruction cover showing uneven candles I thought I'd be delving into my stock of white 2x2 round bricks to make them all the same height because, surely, they would all have been lit at the same time, right?"
No, not really. This seems to be based on an Advent wreath, a Christian holiday tradition that involves lighting a candle for each week of Advent (the liturgical season leading up to Christmas). So the candle you lit on the first week would logically be shorter when it came time to light the second candle, and so on and so forth."
I’ve seen some people make the first candle the longest and the last the shortest so they’re all equal on Christmas Day, which is pretty ingenious, I think. But yes, they are all lit at different times.
Yup, two thumbs up for this! Will definitely be getting at least one of these.
Wonderful review! Thank you. I will have to get one for sure.
Thank you for the information. That's not something my family has ever done, but it perfectly explains the candle heights!
@Slobrojoe said:
" @Lyichir said:
""I built the table decoration first and having seen the picture on the instruction cover showing uneven candles I thought I'd be delving into my stock of white 2x2 round bricks to make them all the same height because, surely, they would all have been lit at the same time, right?"
No, not really. This seems to be based on an Advent wreath, a Christian holiday tradition that involves lighting a candle for each week of Advent (the liturgical season leading up to Christmas). So the candle you lit on the first week would logically be shorter when it came time to light the second candle, and so on and so forth."
I’ve seen some people make the first candle the longest and the last the shortest so they’re all equal on Christmas Day, which is pretty ingenious, I think. But yes, they are all lit at different times.
"
Originally all candles would be the same length before being lit, I believe the candles being made different lengths is a newer practice meant to be symbolic of keeping lit all through the month, without actually having to keep it lit.
The multiple options are great!
Might even be worth buying 2 sets!
Like everything but the "C" option. And especially like the "B" option.
That's the wreath sorted for my room :D
I'd guess £20 - £30
I wonder how long it'll take someone to put wheels and motors on it and make it into a fighting robot for Lego Robot Wars? ;)
that looks great but I already have to many sets I want to get soon :<
maybe if I find it super cheap somewhere...
This looks great.
As for candles I’d say you would blow them out at night and relight them every morning?
It’s more ceremonial for what it represents I thought. But maybe fire hazard doesn’t come into play. We never did the lighting of candles at home growing up, only at church.
It's a wreath of fresh air..
@Paperballpark said:
"I wonder how long it'll take someone to put wheels and motors on it and make it into a fighting robot for Lego Robot Wars? ;)"
Thank you for reminding me of that. Not sure if there was ever a dedicated Christmas-themed robot in the non-LEGO RW that you might be referencing, but I gotta go see some episodes again.
@Huw said:
"Thank you for the information. That's not something my family has ever done, but it perfectly explains the candle heights!"
It's more something that's done in a church service on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, than something families do at home :)
Unless you're a church with huge candles, keeping Advent candles lit 24/7 would result in all four candles being zero height by Christmas. The way my family did it was lighting the candles at night/dinnertime and then blowing them out at the end of dinner and relighting them the next night. Something around that is more practical if you want to have candles by the end of the month.
@Agent00Z said:
"A very charming and cute little set.
Just read the comments and it's an interesting thing about the Advent part and lighting a new candle every week resulting in different heights. Do people keep the candles lit throughout the duration of Decemeber until Christmas?
I know with my family we'd be afraid of leaving candles lit overnight in case it accidentally falls over and sets our house on fire in the middle of the night."
@Sethro3
@benbacardi
@8BrickMario
They are only lit on Sunday of each advent in the morning and put out in the evening.
Here in Germany most families still do this at home. There are still a lot of people who make their own Adventskranz, which the wreath with the candles which usually sits on the dining table.
@Crae
I have seen this with battery powered candles (sacrilege) but normal candles will all be different lengths by the fourth Advent anyway.
Nice!
@Agent00Z said:
"Just read the comments and it's an interesting thing about the Advent part and lighting a new candle every week resulting in different heights. Do people keep the candles lit throughout the duration of Decemeber until Christmas?"
I can't speak for others, but we lit them at Church on each of the 4 Sundays of Advent, and they were blown out at the end of each service. Each candle has an accompanying Bible passage and meaning
I can't imagine people keep them lit all the time, likely just on Sundays or dinnertime
What a nice surprise !
It's perfect. I love it!
@Huw said:
"Thank you for the information. That's not something my family has ever done"
Really? That is truly astonishing to me.
Of course, in other cultures this tradition is not practiced, but all of our friends in England had an Advent wreath with candles just like us in Germany. I would have bet you were only joking with that comment in the review.
By the way, we only lit the candles on the actual Advent Sundays. So they usually lasted long enough for an entire Advent season. After that we used the candles without the wreath during the following year until they were burnt down. The following Christmas season we used the same wreath, only with new foliage and new candles.
Very nice set.
Even the use of Palm leaves might look odd at first glance but is certainly the closest a single part will go to resemble Holly in both size and shape.
@Lyichir said:
""I built the table decoration first and having seen the picture on the instruction cover showing uneven candles I thought I'd be delving into my stock of white 2x2 round bricks to make them all the same height because, surely, they would all have been lit at the same time, right?"
No, not really. This seems to be based on an Advent wreath, a Christian holiday tradition that involves lighting an additional candle for each Sunday of Advent (the liturgical season leading up to Christmas). So the candle you lit on the first week would logically be shorter when it came time to light the second candle, and so on and so forth."
Also only one of the candles should be white. I’m pretty sure that there should be purple, red, and blue, as well as the one white. I want to get this set and buy the parts for the different color candles.
Very nice design, and suitable as a gift too! Well done (and hopefully the price is right).
I've been looking for a good wreath for several christmases now, but have always been disappointed by those I've seen in shops. However, this will do very nicely.
And it comes with fork handles ;)
During the year may also be useful as foliage for own ground based scenery when displaying models or park squares in-between modular buildings, but depends on the cost relative to buying parts separately.
I think we should all stop reminding Lego this is Christian, otherwise they might cancel it before any of us get to buy it :)
Would make a nice basis for a festive Hyperdrive ring for Anakin's green Jedi starfighter.
A shrubbery!!
@SMC said:
"I think we should all stop reminding Lego this is Christian, otherwise they might cancel it before any of us get to buy it :)"
Santa Claus is technically a bishop, and yet \_(?)_/ I am more worried about the Colosseum, being a slave pit, which is kind of a sensitive point these days.
i might get it in the near future for in house decoration.
@MeganL said:
"This looks marvelous! The version without any red you could arguably use throughout the year."
And decorate according to the season
I would buy this just for the pieces.
@inversion said:
" @SMC said:
"I think we should all stop reminding Lego this is Christian, otherwise they might cancel it before any of us get to buy it :)"
Santa Claus is technically a bishop, and yet \_(?)_/ I am more worried about the Colosseum, being a slave pit, which is kind of a sensitive point these days."
I'm more worried about the seinfeld set because of the Michael Richards rant.
Can we get a photo of it on a door? Hard to tell scale.
@inversion said:
" @SMC said:
"I think we should all stop reminding Lego this is Christian, otherwise they might cancel it before any of us get to buy it :)"
Santa Claus is technically a bishop, and yet \_(?)_/ I am more worried about the Colosseum, being a slave pit, which is kind of a sensitive point these days."
Well, Santa Claus is just Santa Claus - commercialised by Coca Cola. The bishop was named Saint Nicholas.
one thing missing in the review is the size. What is the outside diameter of the completed wreath?
This is an unequivocal winner. I will be buying a half dozen (work, home, friends, etc). Good job LEGO!
It fits in the box without disassembly? And there are 4 building ideas? And it's not licensed? Triple Play LEGO!
@Cooliocdawg said:
" @Lyichir said:
""I built the table decoration first and having seen the picture on the instruction cover showing uneven candles I thought I'd be delving into my stock of white 2x2 round bricks to make them all the same height because, surely, they would all have been lit at the same time, right?"
No, not really. This seems to be based on an Advent wreath, a Christian holiday tradition that involves lighting an additional candle for each Sunday of Advent (the liturgical season leading up to Christmas). So the candle you lit on the first week would logically be shorter when it came time to light the second candle, and so on and so forth."
Also only one of the candles should be white. I’m pretty sure that there should be purple, red, and blue, as well as the one white. I want to get this set and buy the parts for the different color candles.
"
In Anglican churches, there are 3 purple and 1 pink candle or 4 blue candles in the wreath. There's an additional white "Christ" candle to be lit on Christmas.
Wonder what is the dimension.
@vader11 said:
"Wonder what is the dimension."
"Overall, it's about 25cm diameter."
Right on with the estimate, listed as $34.99 on the Lego website.
@twentythree said:
" @vader11 said:
"Wonder what is the dimension."
"Overall, it's about 25cm diameter.""
Or roughly 10 inches, for the metric-illiterate.
@benbacardi said:
" @Huw said:
"Thank you for the information. That's not something my family has ever done, but it perfectly explains the candle heights!"
It's more something that's done in a church service on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, than something families do at home :)"
My family has always had an advent wreath on the dinner table throughout advent. We light the first candle the first Sunday of Advent and light it each night that first week during dinner. We Light two candles stating the second Sunday and so on. traditionally there are three purple and one pink candle, the pink candle being lit beginning on the third Sunday.
Sal
WFB, WI
This is like the Lego NES. It is probably cheaper to get the real thing.
I've wanted to make a LEGO Advent wreath for years but any form of pink in 2x2 round isn't produced :(
It would’ve been nice if they had LED lights as part of the build.
$45 in Canada. Not surprising.
@BricksandBoosters said:
"I've wanted to make a LEGO Advent wreath for years but any form of pink in 2x2 round isn't produced :( "
Although pink is not available in 2x2 round bricks, dark pink is a available as 2x2 round plates (6326495) and 2x2 round tiles with open stud (6223767) which will hold the flame piece at the top in place of the 2x2 truncated cone in this set. Triple the number of bricks for needed plates and use Technic axles inside to make the plates more secure.
Anyone know why it listed on US site but not UK yet?
Nice Holiday set! And nice parts pack for the rest of the year, especially the foliage.
Although it’s release is so close to the Cantina this Master Series Endor looks great! Shame about the mini figure count though.
@lee1980 said:
"Might even be worth buying 2 sets! "
You could make bigger ones by buying more sets!
This is one of the best sets Lego made this year. It is clever and surprising, not overpriced and cheers people up. This is what Lego should be.
no needles and easy to clean?
sign me up!
This is the flora battlepack we always wanted xD
It looks really good, but it's somehow less charming than 30028-1.
Gotta admit, the use of the palm leaves pieces look a bit out of place, but I suppose at a reasonable distance it won't be that distracting.
Pretty nice, but could be improved on.
Nice to see people liking this set. It is not something I personally like, but it is good to see a little positivity.
yay!!!!!!!
That the four candles can be the same length means it can be made a Sankta Lucia wreath as well (though hopefully not for someone too tall! A fall would be no fun). I saw it first as an Adventskranz. I think these are more common in Europe so it to an American may be something new.
I like it!
Nice display piece. And excellent parts pack! I will surely get one of these first for all the foliage parts, and the interesting colors of the rest of the bricks. Thanks for the review.
This is a great set. I love all the seasonal sets Lego produces.
I wish all the set boxes that use corrugated cardboard were like this one so it can open without ripping and be used for storage. Lego is so focused on sustainability but they're overlooking the obvious point of being able to reuse the boxes instead of just recycling them.
Really neat. More info about the Advent Wreath.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_wreath
A traditional Advent display would have 3 purple and a pink candle, so if I get this set (and it is already on my list) I'll have to get some colored pieces for this. OR, figure out a way to use real (or LED) candles on it.
@Huw will it be a Gift with purchase?
"Let's hope that nobody complains to LEGO customer services that instructions are not provided too!"
If I've learned anything from Brickset comments.....they'll complain.
I think it's a great little set. Can't wait to add it to my Christmas collection. Thanks for the review!
At 34.99 USD I kinda wish this was a GWP for that kind of money, but Ill probably get at least 1 if not two to be able to build both sets.
great set but definitely not to be hung at the external side of the door because it wont last in my neighborhood.
Didn't see it in the review -- How do you get your hands on it? the set page says LEGO Exclusive -- does that mean GWP, or only sold by LEGO?