Review: LEGO 40355 Year of the Rat

It's the gift of the moment on the official LEGO online store and we will quickly talk about the set 40355 Year of the Rat which marks as the title of the box indicates the beginning of the year of the rat.

You have to spend 80 € on the LEGO Shop to be offered this little thematic set of 162 pieces and I know that many of you will remain insensitive to this somewhat wacky interpretation of the animal. No mystery, it's assembled in three minutes flat and it will end at best on the corner of a shelf in the company of previous sets on the same theme already marketed: the snake in 2013 (10250), the sheep in 2015 (40148 ), the monkey in 2016 (40207), the rooster in 2017 (40234), the dog in 2018 (40235) and the pig in 2019 (40186).

The rat is staged on a rather well decorated small plinth, that's always taken. The new eyes will eventually serve as a starting point for other creatures and the animal has articulations at the level of the ears and legs. The head is also adjustable so that this rat is staring at you from the dresser in the living room. If you'd rather think this pattern is a good start to getting a cool version of Ratatouille, no one will stop you changing the color of the legs.

As with all small sets featuring the featured animal in the coming year, LEGO provides a "red envelope" in the box which is actually ... yellow on the outside and red on the inside. Tradition has it that in Asia we offer money to our loved ones at this time of the year and you can therefore also comply with this custom thanks to the envelope provided. If you are giving the set to someone, you will need to open the box first, put the money in the envelope and close the set.

In short, this little gift is not uninteresting for all those who love Asian culture and its customs. Unfortunately, the minimum purchase to get it via the official online store, set at 80 €, is frankly too high to make it really accessible to everyone and that's a bit of a shame.

The secondary market should as usual be inundated with copies of this box in the days and weeks to come, and if you wait a bit it will be possible to get it for a few euros without having to pay a few sets at the price. fort on the official LEGO store.

I specify for all intents and purposes that the money you see on the top photo is not provided in the box ...

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at 23th January 2020 next at 23pm.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.