This December of 2024, I felt like creating a small, minimalist LEGO® build with just a few pieces to represent the holiday season—something that would make me smile without using symbols considered traditional nowadays, like Santa Claus dressed in red and white, with black boots and a big white beard. My idea was to build a “reinvented” version of Nicolas—artistic, humorous, a surfer, and running late on his way to Lapland.
Even though it’s a small build, it was a hassle to gather the pieces in time for Christmas! I wanted to use some parts that were supposedly available in December 2004 in the “Build-a-Minifigure” (BAM) stations at official LEGO® stores. For example, the green torso-brick, the lime-colored surfboard with pine trees and golden stars, and the green tile with a gift bow pattern (on BrickLink LEGO® Group with the respective names and codes: Torso, 2 x 3 Brick Costume #37191c09; Utensil Surfboard Standard with Green Pine Trees and Gold and White Stars Pattern #90397pb021; Tile 2 x 3 with Present / Gift #26603pb461).
By December, I already had some of the pieces I needed, including the green torso, several heads with white beards, the sand-green hat, and the pentagonal arrow-shaped tile with the festive pattern (#22385pb310). However, I was still missing the surfboard and the tile with the gift bow, which had mysteriously disappeared from all official LEGO® stores in Portugal! I also needed the dark-gray Turntable piece, which was only produced in 2010 and 2011 and has a super interesting texture for representing rocks (#87750).
The missing BAM pieces came directly from Denmark, thanks to a friend, and the Turntable piece arrived just in time from a Portuguese BrickLink store!
I’ve had that round green 8 x 8 tile since 2019, but I had never used it—until now! It was the perfect moment to create my minimalist scene. Those trees fit perfectly on the Turntables, and the pentagonal tile is simply placed on the “rock” with the help of a 1 x 2 bracket.
My late-to-Lapland Nicolas is finally on his way and wishes you Happy Holidays and a wonderful 2025 filled with amazing LEGO® creations!
See you soon, and happy LEGO® building!
Rita Caré
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