Top Holiday Gifts for LEGO fans: 2013

As a LEGO enthusiast,  I like to make a list of what I believe are the most compelling and interesting LEGO gifts for the upcoming holiday season.  This year there appears to be an exceptional amount of new sets and books, perhaps marking a LEGO resurgence into mainstream pop-culture.

Below are my picks--along with a few notes-- of the best sets and books to wrap up 2013.

2013 Top Gifts for LEGO Fans

LEGO sets: Listed from highest to lowest priced

1.  MINDSTORMS EV3 31313  $349.99.
You don't have to like robotics for this set to be useful.  Space, train, castle and even micro-scale fans can put the EV3 robot to work on animations that can bring other creations to life.

2.  Ewok™ Village 10236  $249.99
This is a beautiful set, chock full of minifigures and useful tree parts.

3.  The Tower of Orthanc ™ 10237  $199.99

4.  Architecture Studio  21050 $149.99
Although this set consists of white parts only, the included book and creative insights make this a fun addition to town, city, castle or space fans.

5.  LEGO City Town Square  60026  $119.99

6.  Winter Village Market 10235 $99.99

7.  Master Builder Academy sets (Invention or Adventure) Designer 20214 or 20215 $79.99 each
These sets offer a diverse set of parts and some great instructions.

8.  Mini Modulars 10230 $79.99  (1356 pieces)
This is the only set that in the list that is left over from last year, but the sheer volume of parts and detailing capabilities make for an awesome resource for any LEGO fan.

9.  UN Headquarters 21018 $49.99

10.  The DeLorean Time Machine 21103  $34.99

And as a stocking stuffer:  Minifigure series 11 $2.99

LEGO books and a few other things:

1.  Moleskin Limited Edition LEGO notebooks.  These classic notebooks feature an integrated building plate that can be used every day at your home or the office.

2.  Beautiful LEGO book.  An amazing, visual feast of a wide variety of work.

3.  LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History book.

4.  Brick City: Global Icons to Make from LEGO book.  One of my favorite, all around LEGO books with both narrative and building instructions.

5.  The LEGO Build It Book, Vol. 2: More Amazing Vehicles.  Prepare to be impressed with the amount of alternate sets the authors created from set 5867.

6.  The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol 2. 

7.  LEGO Space, Building the Future book

8.  The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol 1.  An inspiring, lighthearted look at a wide variety of models.

9.  The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Laboratory.  Among the first to showcase the new EV3 capabilities.
10. LEGO Galaxy: Build Your Own Universe book
11.  Possibly the new, adult LEGO watch line slated to arrive in November.  Too early to tell.

Ashley