Review: 30008 Snowman & 30009 Christmas Tree

[Oky]

Hello there! I got these sets when TRU was giving them out for free with any Lego purchase, which equaled a BOGO-Free deal for me. So, just in time for the holidays, I bring you this little double review of these two TRU-exclusive Xmas Creator sets. Enjoy!

PART 1: 30008 Snowman

Theme: Creator

Pieces: 44

Price: 3.49 USD

Let's start with good ol' Frosty! He is bagged in the same kind of polybag as all previous Creator promotionals of this size.

Contents: The parts and an instructions paper. As has been mentioned in the General Discussion forum, this set comes with six of the new modified 1x1 bricks with a stud on the side in white.

Front of the instructions:

The back of the instructions features the final two steps of the build, a Legoland California coupon, and ads for Creator sets 6751-6754, and 6743

The finished build:

Front:

Side:

Back: This is the weak point of this set. The lines on the broom go the wrong way and everything looks very flat.

Left over pieces include one of each droid arm, stud, and cheese slope:

The top of the hat has a loop so that you can use it as a Christmas ornament! However, no string of any kind is included to hang it up with. But then again, normal Christmas ornaments don't usually come with any either.

This is how it looks like when hung on a Christmas tree:

Pretty neat, no?

Ratings:

Design: It looks a bit blocky for a snowman, but it's not too bad. I like the hat, bow tie, and broom, and the droid arms work surprisingly well as small branches. The back still bothers me a bit though. 3/5

Parts: Well, aside from the mod. 1x1s, nothing special, but since those are new and kinda rare, especially in that color, it's a pretty good way to get them cheap. And one can never have enough of those hinge pieces and cheese slopes. 3/5

Price: It's the same price as an impulse set but has about twice as many pieces, and considering this is a TRU exclusive, that's pretty good! 5/5

Playability: Uhm... It's a Christmas ornament. Not much you can do with that, and it's a bit too big to be incorporated into a City layout too. But you can pose the arms. That's at least something I suppose. 1/5

Overall: 4/5 It looks alright, especially on an Xmas tree, and it's a nice parts pack for a fair price. I guess there's not much one could want more from a Lego Christmas ornament.

Edited December 21, 2009 by WhiteFang
Indexed

[Oky]

PART 2: 30009 Christmas Tree

Theme: Creator

Pieces: 47

Price: 3.49 USD

This set has the same kind of polybag as the snowman and any other Creator promo-set.

The back is the same as well, except it has a 1x3 slope instead of the orange cone.

Contents: Again, parts and an instruction paper. Lots of green, gold, and silver!

Front of the instructions:

Back:

The finished build and left-over pieces. Interestingly, you get a second extra pearl gold stud instead of an extra silver one.

The tree looks pretty much the same from all sides, so here is just a straight-on shot of the other side of it:

Looks pretty good, right? But if we look from above...

... not so much. At least it doesn't look much like a tree.

It doesn't have have hook or anything, so it can't be used as an ornament, but it'll still look pretty good on your mantelpiece next to the snowman and your stockings.

Ratings:

Design: It's not the best Xmas tree design I have seen, but not the worst either. It looks OK from most angles, but it kinda feels more like one of those fake trees, especially due to those bley parts. The use of silver and pearl gold studs and the trans-clear diamond is nice though. 3/5

Parts: Nothing too exciting. As I said, the shiny studs and trans-clear diamond are nice, but not all that special. The propeller pieces are useful, but it would have been nice to get them in a new color for once. 3/5

Price: 47 pieces is getting close to being three times as good a value as an impulse set! I know you can't really compare Creator sets with impulse sets, but there aren't any other Creator sets in the same price range to compare these with. Back in 2006, you would have gotten around 60 pieces for this price, but these are tough times now, and 47 pieces for $3.45 is pretty good in my opinion. 5/5

Playability: Well, unlike the snowman, this is in minifig scale, so it can be used in Christmas scenes, but since no minifigs are included, there's not really anything you can do with it (except for maybe trying to come up with alternate ornament patterns). 0/5

Overall: 3/5 Meh, it's OK. Although not the best Lego Xmas tree out there, it looks more like a tree than the snowman looks like a snowman, and it's a cheap way to get some shiny studs, propeller pieces, green slopes, and a clear diamond. Good stocking stuffer as well.

All pictures can be found in this brickshelf folder.

I hope you enjoyed this review and have a merry Xmas!

Edited December 21, 2009 by WhiteFang
Indexed

[Rick]

Indeed: kind of strange that the tree is such a nice '3-D' model and looks good from every angle and that snow-man is so 'flat' from the back.

[Big Cam]

Snowman pics are awfully dark, and if I were to fget either it's be the tree for sure, it's much more appealing to the eye than the plain snowman. I gave the snowman a below average and the tree and average.

[Oky]

Snowman pics are awfully dark

Really? Are they that bad? Are you sure your screen is adjusted right? I can lighten them up if you want...

Edited December 21, 2009 by Oky Wan Kenobi

[wooootles]

I have 6 of the snowmen and 5 of the tree. I wanted to stock up on the parts offering and I did.

[Pepper_Gabriel]

We're having a year round Christmas. Since I purchased this new lego stuff for my boys, they don't seem to notice their other toys anymore. Everywhere I look, I see a lego snowman. I'm not complaining though as I happen to be a lego baby myself. I actually passed on to my kids my very first lego:)

[JayDuck]

I thought these were great little sets, both as models and as parts packs. My wife picked up both of these (for herself ) back before Christmas, and we set them in our holiday display with the Winter Toy Shop and some other stuff. While she was putting the tree together I dubbed it the 'tree-copter' for the way it was put together. Frosty was posed at the top of the ski slope with broom raised chasing the kids down the hill.

[sharky]

I like these sets. I plan to use them to decorate my daughter's creator houses for the holidays. I'm sure she'll like that. As far as the snowman, I've seen people make snowmen that big. It's nuts, but a sight to see.