[REVIEW] 40424 - Winter Snowball Fight

[MKJoshA]

Since 2010 TLG has been releasing seasonal sets that usually focus on either the four seasons or four big holidays (Valentine's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). So 2020 marks the 10th year Lego has been giving us these kinds of sets. How does this year's Winter set measure up?

Set Information
Name:  40424 - Winter Snowball Fight
Theme: Holiday & Event
Year: 2020
Pieces: 149
Minifigures: 2
Price: £? / $12.99 / ?€
Resources: Brickset and Bricklink

The year's snow infused scene has a very modular feel to it.

The front of the box shows an inviting playful scene between two children.

The back of the box shows almost every possible play opportunity in the set.

The side of the box is a little plain, but nicely shows off the male minifigure included in the set.

Inside the box we find 3 unnumbered bags and the instructions. No stickers.

We have a number of pieces of note outside of the minifigures themselves. Light Aqua is still a relatively rare color for parts. So it's nice to get a few in this set. The tan 6L bar has only been in 3 sets before now, all of them larger sets. We get 2 in this set. The trans-blue tooth place is brand new this year and only appears in 1 other set.

The first minibuild we create is the snowman. I like the use of the bracket and jumper-plates to make spots for the coal buttons. However, it does lead to a pretty blocky looking snowman when we're done.

The building process and the instructions are very straightforward. It always make me grin when I see these warnings though. I have two young kids and they've never managed to hit each other using Lego play features. Better safe than sued though, right?

There are two minigures and a dog included.

Both kids have new torsos for this set, though I believe that everything else is re-used.

Both torsos have printing on the back. The girl has a double sided head with a playful grin.

The boy sports a red Ushanka hat which debuted in 2018. The girl uses the "Katniss Everdeen" hair which fits nicely over her scarf.

Now that the fashion show is over, it's time to play!

Finishing the snowman you can see how blocky it is. The orange horn is used as a nose. Lego used this piece for the exact same purpose back in 2010's Advent Calendar. Since then we've seen Unikitty horns and actual carrots used for a nose. So why this reversion to an orange horn? Could it be a subtle nod to the 2010 origins of this line of sets? Personally I think a Unikitty horn would be better. I will say though that the Modified 3x2 Plate with Hole in red is a nice piece for the scarf.

After the snowman is complete, it's time for a break! The little table holds mugs of (presumably) hot liquid and cookies.

After the kids are warmed up, it's time to build their bases! The girl is apparently on the blue team, as her waving blue flag suggests. Her fort is made up of 1x2 round plates and looks amazing! It's subtle, but by using 2 plates on top of each other instead of alternating every line the designer has made a more realistic looking fort. Off to the side of the fort is a catapult for launching snowballs.

The boy, on the red team, is a little less practical when it comes to building his defenses. Instead he goes straight for the offense. His slide contraption will hopefully give him the element of surprise in the snow battle to come. I love the use of the trans-blue tooth as ice. I just wish we got more than 1 tooth in the set. Also, the light aqua is an interesting color choice. It invokes a sense of cold, but I've never seen snow look like that. It works great under the trans-blue tooth as a super-subtle accent color. But as a surface color I think it falls short. The lever in the back can be used to push the sled down the slope.

This gives us the completed set. It's a nice little collection of scenes that fit well together. The story-telling and play are obvious in a good way. The snowman is a little clunky, but overall the set looks nice... from the front.

But how do they look from the back? As is usually the case, these small sets suffer some when viewed from behind. Except the snow fort, that looks amazing from any angle! There is a blue crystal hidden under the red team's hill. The back of the box even shows the two kids discovering the crystal as a play feature. But it's the snowman who really looks bad from behind. Not only is he still blocky, but now there's a giant hole in his head. A single white stud could have fixed this problem. It's too bad they didn't add that part.

Final Thoughts:

So is this set for you?

Playability: 8/10 - Obviously you're not going to have as much play value in a $12 set as you would in a $50 set. But for what you get I think the set designer did an excellent job adding playability.

Building Experience: 6/10 - The snow fort is fun to build, but other than that there is nothing to write home about.

Design: 8/10 - Again, grading with that fact that this is only a $12 set I think it's designed well. I have to take a few points off for the snowman though.

Aesthetic: 9/10 - It looks like a fun snow scene. It looks like two kids having fun. So aesthetically I think it ticks all the boxes. I'm only knocking a point for the aqua blue.

Minifigures: 6/10 - The new torsos are great, but there is nothing else outstanding about these figures.

Price: 8/10 - It's just over the $0.10/piece threshold. And it has a decent selection of parts. Nothing as great as the 2015 line of seasonal sets, but it's decent.

Verdict: 7.5/10 - If you want something to display on your mantle this winter. Or you just want to add to your Winter Village I think this set is a nice little addition. As far as I know you'll only be able to buy it from Lego.com or in brand stores. So there's no sense waiting for a sale. If you see it, pick it up!

Thank you to The Lego Group who provided a copy of this set to review.

[JintaiZ]

Great review! I think the set is good, but not sure if I'll have much use for it.

Edited December 26, 2020 by JintaiZ

[TeriXeri]

It's nice LEGO is going back to Seasonal minifig sets, but for now, this , or the halloween sets aren't sold in European LEGO.com. 

I do prefer this over the 2020 City Calendar for sure, and this is half the price.

Edited September 2, 2020 by TeriXeri

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Nice set ...great review!

[WhiteFang]

Nice review, and the only appeal for this set is actually the "husky" for me, since I haven't manage to get it in my pets collection. I don't really find small built any particularly useful other than breaking of parts, unless I have an existing Winter Village set up to complement it together. Otherwise, it is very hard for me to get some proper usage for it. 

Josh, thanks for doing this up.  

[summicron]

Two new CITY minifigs. I like it already. Thanks for the review. Its the first time I see photos of the new torsos.

[Vindicare]

A decent little set with great torsos. The fort is a great build & the sled is neat.

[Pchan1983]

I actually like this one more than the halloween one.  Here are my detailed thoughts.

[MKJoshA]

On 12/18/2020 at 8:46 PM, Pchan1983 said:

I actually like this one more than the halloween one.  Here are my detailed thoughts.

Nice video review!