Welcome to the start of this year’s holiday gift guides! The GeekMom guides will run each week on Tuesday mornings. We start it off this year with Toys, with a few of the GeekMom writers’ favorites.
Image: LEGOLEGO Minecraft The Iron Golem
Suggested By: Rory Bristol
Mfg: LEGO
Price: $15.99
This fun and faithful LEGO kit brings the Minecraft Iron Golem into the real world. Join Alex, the Iron Golem, a zombie, and a baby pig for a fun, easy, and affordable treat for your favorite builder. Who knows, you might even get your digital-lover to play in the real world for once.
Images: LEGOLEGO Creator 3-in-1 Kits
Suggested By: Jenny Bristol
Mfg: LEGO
Price: Varies
One of the advantages of LEGO kits is their replayability. But much of the time, we build something according to directions and then just leave it. But these LEGO Creator 3-in-1 kits are specially designed to build, enjoy, take apart, rebuild, and enjoy again in a different way. Two new sets were in my shopping cart as soon as I saw them. The LEGO Creator 31052 Vacation Getaways Building Kit has 792 pieces and can be built into a campervan, a summer home, or a yacht. Get away from it all this winter, in LEGO form. Bonus: You can also build a bear. The LEGO Creator 31051 Lighthouse Point Building Kit has 528 pieces and allows for building a lighthouse, a house with a pier and speedboat, or a boathouse. No matter what your seaside dreams look like, it’s got you covered. Plus: A light brick, an orca, fish, and birds.
TMNT 2 Movie Lair Playset Image: Playmates ToysTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows City Sewer Lair Playset
Suggested By: Dakster Sullivan
Mfg: Playmates
Price: $99.99
Take the lair out of the movie and you get over 40-inches of Cowabunga fun. My son had the one from the first movie and that love continues. Comes complete with multiple levels to battle on, a slide, pizza disk launcher, and more. TMNT figures not included.
Doc McStuffins Toy Hospital, photo courtesy Just PlayDoc McStuffins Toy Hospital
Suggested By: Jackie Reeve
Mfg: Just Play
Price: $69.99
Doc McStuffins, the fabulous kid toy doctor, gets a pretty great hospital playset for the holidays this year. The playset comes with a Doc figure, her baby sister Maya, Lambie, a whale patient, and Rescue Rhonda. Your preschooler can see patients in the different rooms and hang out with the baby in the nursery. We love Doc McStuffins for the play options that let kids be doctors. GeekMom Jackie swears by Doc McStuffins toys, which helped her own preschooler overcome her nerves during checkups.
Lionel Trains Mickey Mouse Ready Play Train Set Image: Lionel TrainsMickey Mouse Ready to Play Train Set
Suggested By: Dakster Sullivan
Mfg: Lionel Trains
Price: $104
This is a gift you give before Christmas and put around your tree for the fun of it. Mickey and Donald figures take center stage while the rest of the gang is painted on the side of the cars. Remote controlled with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a Lionel train.
Image: LEGOLEGO Big Ben
Suggested By: Rory Bristol
Mfg: LEGO
Price: $249.99
Build your very own Big Ben, or properly, Elizabeth Tower, one of the most iconic structures in the world. Featuring 4,163 pieces, this LEGO Creater kit will provide hours (perhaps days) of fun for any LEGO builder. This is an Expert kit, not good for young kids, but great for teens and adults. With moving clock hands, and an exquisite representation of the Westminster Palace, this is a gift sure to shock friends and families alike. Make an impact with a re-buildable kit that will be the envy of any holiday celebration.
Image: LEGOLEGO Architecture United States Capitol Building
Suggested By: Jenny Bristol
Mfg: LEGO
Price: $99.99
With over 1000 pieces, the LEGO Architecture United States Capitol Building is the perfect project this election year. It includes a tile floor, statues, columns, colonnades, and a removable dome to access the rotunda. The finished product is over 6″ high, and 17″ wide.
