Lots of assembly required.

Did you know that the name “Lego” is derived from a Danish phrase meaning “play well”? If not, you can cross off “learn something new” from your New Year’s resolution list early and thank us later.

In addition to resolutions, another New Year’s tradition in Japan are fukubukuro lucky bags, which are large bags or boxes that contain an assortment of goods from a brand or store. Often, the contents are known in advance but sometimes they are not, and in most cases the bags are considerably cheaper than the sum of their parts.

This holiday season, our online shopping correspondent Masanuki Sunakoma tore himself away from e-commerce to line up for a coveted Lego lucky bag at his local shopping mall.

On this day, five types of bags with unknown contents were sold; two differently priced versions of a “Hero” bag, two differently priced versions of a “Friends” bag, and an “Adult” bag of Lego products, which sounds much less scandalous in Japanese.

Lego is a hot-selling item in general and these bags were no different, with people having lined up well before the mall opened. It seems most were after the big-ticket items and by the time Masanuki got to the front, only the cheaper Hero and Friends bags were left.

That was fine for our reporter though. He didn’t really have the courage to put down 30,000 yen (US$190) on a mystery bag of Lego and happily bought a Hero bag for 5,999 yen ($38).

He hurried home to open up his bag and see how lucky he was. First out of the bag was Mateo’s Off-Road Car from the Dreamzzz series. This set tells the story of using a cool slime car to find a magical hourglass and retails for 1,370 yen ($9).

Next up was the Police Speedboat and Crooks’ Hideout set from the City collection. It told a high-octane story of police trying to bust a crime syndicate operating out of City Port as the cops rush into danger of having fish dumped on their heads. It sells for 4,280 yen ($27) and would soon be discontinued, potentially raising its value significantly in the future.

The final one was the Ice Cream Parlor set from the City collection. It didn’t seem to fit the “Hero” theme at first, but upon further reflection, ice cream vendors really are the unsung heroes of our nation. It was also the largest and cutest one, making it a welcome addition to the bag.

Ice Cream Parlor retails at 4,980 yen ($32) and was also nearing the end of its run. So, Masanuki’s lucky bag haul totaled over 10,000 yen in goods, making it a highly cost-effective bag.

But what fun is buying a Lego fukubukuro if you don’t play with it? So, our reporter cracked open Mateo’s Off-Road Car and tried putting it together.

Masanuki was rather rusty with Lego but the instructions were incredibly easy to follow.

Mateo also comes equipped with a blob gun that actually shoots out little Lego discs.

Caution is required though, because they come out pretty strongly and it’s easy to lose the discs.

He also enjoyed putting on the stickers, which reminded him of toys he used to play with as a kid.

Assembly took him about 15 minutes and he felt it was easy enough for anyone to accomplish without trouble.

It seemed like a great winter vacation lucky bag that kids and even adults can get some joy from. The sets were fun and allows everyone to give their creativity some exercise. Even the prices were in the range of New Year’s otoshidama gifts of cash.

All in all, even the lower-priced Lego lucky bags are well worth a purchase as long as you don’t mind dealing with the lines.

Photos © SoraNews24
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