LEGO Year of the Rat Set 40355

Product Information

The orange and flame yellowish orange make for a nice contrasting pattern on the roof, and we also see ‘gold ingots’ of each color debut here.

The bed is a terrific little build with some creative parts use to make the rumpled blankets and give the illusion that the minifigs are tucked not-so-safely in their bed. The second bag builds the white dragon, the percusionists and their stage, as well as the white dragon. Whatever the reason, I think that we can all agree that this rat by Felix Jaensch is anything but common. Note that the Chinese year does not coincide with the Western calendar, moreover, Chinese New Year does not fall on the same date every year.If you're running a script or application, please register or sign in with your developer credentials here. There are a large number of new printed elements – the eyes, (technic ball), teeth (tile 2×2 quarter circle); forehead (a ‘slide shoe’ 2×2) and the body of the dragons – (2x2x2/3 curved slope) These elements are common to eachof the 5 dragons that are built up across the set.

With red pillars, teal details, and a roof making the most of the ‘plate 1x1x2/3 with outside bow’ in orange, it also sees the use of golden frogs for detail at the corners. The phone charger is a brilliant touch along with the above-bed light switches and glasses on the brown bedside table.We do have a couple of dual sided head prints (but only 2) I loved setting it all up, and working on posing the minifigures and lions. Over all, I really enjoyed building this set: with the lions spread out between other elements of the model. The LEGO 40355 year of the rat set consists of 162 pieces, contains two stickers for the eyes and a few "functions". Both sets feature an incredible amount of new prints, recoloring of pieces and a significant amount of minifigures which all combine into a large festival setting. The lions are posable to an extent, with flexing legs, opening mouths and the ability to nod, but the head is unable to turn from left to right, which has been a standout element in the lion dance, when I have seen it performed.

The set also contains a stage with floral and leaf elements and an engraved money envelope with a traditional gold-colored print. He features traditional patterns on his torso, as well as a molded mouse ‘helmet’, to wear over his head.This terrifying vignette by Victor has a lot of phobias on display: arachnaphobia, ophidiophobia and even musophobia! In my opinion, rats have earned an unfair reputation… maybe it started with the whole bubonic plague thing, or maybe it’s the fact that they have a tail that looks like a snake. The I found it was a good time to share the building duties with other members of my family, as we built the lions up. The round plate 1×1 with bar in teal is used to provide some of the detail on the side of the pillars.

Unfortunately, the ‘exoforce hair’ featured in the Modular green groceer set is no longer current, but the hair element used suits the role well. People born under a sign are also said to adopt certain traits of that animal, according to Chinese wisdom. There are other recolored elements, and I shall endeavour to discuss them as they appear in the building process.

The build is not complicated (evidenced by the 8+ label), but there is a meditative aspect to the contruction of similar elements, which surprisingly never became boring. The first bag gives us the elememnts we require to build the 2 red lions, as well as a man carrying a cabbage.