Review: #40820 Up-Scaled Santa Minifigure
Does Big Santa offer Big Fun, Big Value, or Both? Let’s snap some bricks together and find out!
Every winter, The LEGO Group produces a number of holiday-themed sets including the most recent addition to the Winter Village series (such as this year’s #10361 Holiday Express Train), as well as a few less expensive sets clearly aimed at the Christmas holiday tradition. This set features the big man himself, a 6:1 scale representation of the classic Santa Minifigure. This means that it is 6-times as wide, deep, and tall… 6³ = 216 times as much volume as the original figure!
#40820 Up-Scaled Santa Minifigure comes in a box which is taller than it is wide.
#40820 Up-Scaled Santa Minifigure is $54.99 (54.99€ / £46.99 / 69.99 CAD / 89.99 AUD) and contains 761 pieces. Available October 1, 2025 at LEGO.com
The box contains seven numbered bags and a large instruction booklet.
Box Contents
- 7 numbered bags.
- 1 instruction Booklet, 19.5×26cm, 104 pages.
Build Process
The First Bag starts off by building a trapezoidal shape which I quickly concluded would be the torso. The more interesting part of the build is a pair of assemblies which are attached at an angle to a central support.
Assembling the trapezoidal torso section in Bag 1.
Inside each assembly there’s a pair of 2L Friction Pin & 1L Axle (Part 11214) with 8 Tooth Gears (Part 10928) attached to each one. Another gear on a longer axle connects between the two, which allows the axle to rotate, but with a ton of friction. I’m sure this is used to make the arms posable without falling down.
You can see the gears hidden inside the torso to add friction.
The second bag creates the t-shaped part where the legs will attach. This part is sometimes referred to as minifigure hips. It is built upside-down, and attached to the torso using a SNOT stud-reversal technique.
Santa’s got strong hip joints.
Bag 3 has legs – or rather it’s time to build a pair of legs for our oversized minifig. Each one is a pretty straightforward rectangular assembly. The curved section on the top is created using five 4×1×⅔ Curved, Double (Part 93273) across the top, and another five attached to the front using SNOT techniques.
The top of the minifigure’s leg follows a curved technique discussed in my book.
This technique can be used to approximate a curve with a diameter of slightly less than 6-studs. This is one of the techniques that I describe with custom illustrations in the ‘Curve’ chapter of my upcoming print edition of The LEGO Parts Guide.
My book will show how to approximate a circle using curved parts and SNOT techniques.
Our headless, armless santa gets some reprieve in Bag 4; it’s time for a pair of arms. They are pretty simple assemblies which rely on a single 1×4 Hinge Plate (Part 1927) to connect the forearm and upper arm at an 45°angle. The hand is attached to the arm using a 2L Friction Pin & 1L Axle (Part 11214) which allows it to rotate but also stay where you position it.
Santa’s brick-built hands and arms are reasonably accurate.
We begin building Santa’s head in Bag 5. As you may expect, it begins with a large SNOT-covered assembly which is slowly covered with 3× curves like 3×2 Curved (Part 24309). A circle created using 8 of that part approximates a curve with a diameter of 8⅓ studs.
Santa’s round head (Bag 5), and buoyant brick-built bushy beard (bag 6).
Bag 6 is all about a joyously expressive brick-built white beard. I love how it looks and think it was smart to cover half of his printed face with the beard, just like the beard element in a normal-sized Santa minifigure. I don’t like that the head does not rotate — the beard is attached to both the head and the top of his shirt, which doesn’t allow any rotation whatsoever. (They could have allowed the head to rotate even if the beard were fixed in place.)
Santa waits patiently for his cozy hat.
The seventh and final bag adds Santa’s iconic red hat. It is sculpted using a wide range of curved parts including 3×2 Wedge: Curved Left (Part 80177) & Curved Right (Part 80178) — released in 2022. More notably, we also get a pair of 2×2 Wedge: Curved Left (Part 5095) & Curved Right (Part 5093) — which were introduced this year.
Santa’s iconic red hat.
Build Time: 65 minutes (Bag 1: 9 minutes, Bag 2: 7 minutes, Bag 3: 11 minutes, Bag 4: 10 minutes, Bag 5: 9 minutes, Bag 6: 10 minutes, Bag 7: 9 minutes).
Value
Even though this is a moderately priced set, a thorough analysis of the value is warranted since price-per-part isn’t the only way to assess value.
| LEGO Set | Price | Part Count | Price-per-part | Weight | Price-per-gram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #31203 World Map | $249.99 | 11,695 pieces | $0.021 per-piece | 4020 grams | $0.062 per-gram |
| #21056 Taj Mahal | $119.99 | 2022 pieces | $0.059 per-piece | 1811 grams | $0.066 per-gram |
| #21058 Great Pyramid of Giza | $129.99 | 1476 pieces | $0.088 per-piece | 1832 grams | $0.071 per-gram |
| #10278 Police Station | $199.99 | 2923 pieces | $0.068 per-piece | 2602 grams | $0.077 per-gram |
| #71799 Ninjago City Markets | $369.99 | 6163 pieces | $0.06 per-piece | 4770 grams | $0.078 per-gram |
| #71741 Ninjago City Gardens | $299.99 | 5685 pieces | $0.052 per-piece | 3719 grams | $0.081 per-gram |
| #71043 Hogwarts Castle | $399.99 | 6020 pieces | $0.066 per-piece | 4899 grams | $0.082 per-gram |
| #10292 Friends – The Apartments | $149.99 | 2048 pieces | $0.073 per-piece | 1778 grams | $0.084 per-gram |
| #10297 Boutique Hotel | $199.99 | 3066 pieces | $0.065 per-piece | 2380 grams | $0.084 per-gram |
| #40820 Up-scaled Santa Minifigure (this set) | $54.99 | 761 pieces | $0.084 per-piece | 641 grams | $0.086 per-gram |
| #10326 Natural History Museum | $299.99 | 4014 pieces | $0.075 per piece | 3343 grams | $0.090 per-gram |
| #21343 Viking Village | $129.99 | 2103 pieces | $0.062 per-piece | 1448 grams | $0.090 per-gram |
| #42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion | $199.99 | 2275 pieces | $0.088 per-piece | 2116 grams | $0.095 per-gram |
| #10312 Jazz Club | $229.99 | 2899 pieces | $0.079 per-piece | 2392 grams | $0.096 per-gram |
| #10270 Bookshop | $199.99 | 2504 pieces | $0.080 per-piece | 2085 grams | $0.096 per-gram |
| #10350 Tudor Corner | $229.99 | 3266 pieces | $0.070 per-piece | 2288 grams | $0.100 per-gram |
| #10339 Santa’s Post Office | $99.99 | 1440 pieces | $0.069 per-piece | 954 grams | $0.105 per-gram |
| #10282 Adidas Originals Superstar | $79.99 | 731 pieces | $0.109 per-piece | 735 grams | $0.109 per-gram |
| #21062 Trevi Fountain | $159.99 | 1880 pieces | $0.076 per-piece | 1425 grams | $0.112 per-gram |
| #10316 Rivendell | $499.99 | 6167 pieces | $0.081 per piece | 4375 grams | $0.114 per-gram |
| #10305 Lion Knights’ Castle | $399.99 | 4514 pieces | $0.089 per piece | 3265 grams | $0.122 per-gram |
| #10303 Loop Coaster | $399.99 | 3756 pieces | $0.106 per-piece | 3189 grams | $0.125 per-gram |
| #21353 The Botanical Garden | $329.99 | 3792 pieces | $0.087 per-piece | 2583 grams | $0.128 per-gram |
| #21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas | $199.99 | 2193 pieces | $0.091 per-piece | 1514 grams | $0.132 per-gram |
| #40806 Gingerbread AT-AT Walker | $59.99 | 697 pieces | $0.086 per-piece | 418 grams | $0.144 per-gram |
| #75290 Mos Eisley Cantina | $399.99 | 3187 pieces | $0.126 per-piece | 2521 grams | $0.158 per-gram |
This set offers both an excellent price-per-part of 8.6 cents, and 8.4 center per-gram is the lowest I’ve seen all year. Based on this objective measure of value, this set offers a fantastic value.
| Set | Price | Part Count | Price-per-part | Price-per-gram | Build time | Price-per-minute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #31203 World Map | $249.99 | 11,695 pieces | $0.021 per-piece | $0.062 per-gram | 613 minutes | $0.41 per-minute |
| #21061 Notre Dame | $229.99 | 4383 pieces | $0.052 per-piece | $0.102 per-gram | 385 minutes | $0.60 per-minute |
| #10325 Alpine Lodge | $99.99 | 1517 pieces | $0.070 per-piece | $0.095 per-gram | 151 minutes | $0.66 per-minute |
| #21056 Taj Mahal | $119.99 | 2022 pieces | $0.059 per-piece | $0.066 per-gram | 177 minutes | $0.68 per-minute |
| #10297 Boutique Hotel | $229.99 | 3066 pieces | $0.075 per-piece | $0.097 per-gram | 333 minutes | $0.69 per-minute |
| #10350 Tudor Corner | $229.99 | 3266 pieces | $0.070 per-piece | $0.100 per-gram | 309 minutes | $0.74 per-minute |
| #10339 Santa’s Post Office | $99.99 | 1440 pieces | $0.069 per-piece | $0.105 per-gram | 132 minutes | $0.76 per-minute |
| #21060 Himeji Castle | $159.99 | 2125 pieces | $0.075 per-piece | $0.100 per-gram | 210 minutes | $0.76 per-minute |
| #21062 Trevi Fountain (this set) | $169.99 | 1880 pieces | $0.076 per-piece | $0.112 per-gram | 176 minutes | $0.91 per-minute |
| #10307 Eiffel Tower | $629.99 | 10,001 pieces | $0.063 per-piece | $0.092 per-gram | 803 minutes | $0.78 per-minute |
| #40820 Up-scaled Santa Minifigure (this set) | $54.99 | 761 pieces | $0.084 per-piece | $0.86 per-gram | 56 minutes | $0.85 per-minute |
| #10312 Jazz Club | $229.99 | 2899 pieces | $0.079 per-piece | $0.096 per-gram | 295 minutes | $0.88 per-minute |
| #21058 Great Pyramid of Giza | $129.99 | 1476 pieces | $0.088 per-piece | $0.071 per-gram | 146 minutes | $0.89 per-minute |
| #10320 Eldorado Fortress | $214.99 | 2509 pieces | $0.087 per-piece | $0.098 per-gram | 260 minutes | $1.01 per-minute |
| #10303 Loop Coaster | $399.99 | 3756 pieces | $0.106 per-piece | $0.125 per-gram | 378 minutes | $1.06 per-minute |
| #40806 Gingerbread AT-AT Walker | $59.99 | 697 pieces | $0.086 per-piece | $0.126 per-gram | 56 minutes | $1.07 per-minute |
| #21344 The Orient Express | $299.99 | 2540 pieces | $0.118 per-piece | $0.128 per-gram | 248 minutes | $1.21 per-minute |
| #10326 Natural History Museum | $299.99 | 4014 pieces | $0.074 per-piece | $0.090 per-gram | 213 minutes | $1.30 per-minute |
| #42146 Liebherr Crawler Crane LR 13000 | $699.99 | 2883 pieces | $0.243 per-piece | $0.137 per-gram | 467 minutes | $1.50 per-minute |
Conclusion
My main excitement when I started building this set was to see how brick-built giant LEGO minifigures are assembled since I have not built any of the previous versions. I was pleased by some of the techniques used to achieve enough friction in the shoulder and leg joints, as well as the advanced techniques used to create the trapezoidal torso and the bent arms.
Brick-built Santa holding a Santa minifigure (not included).
What I did not expect is to enjoy the finished model as much as I do. It is very satisfying to hold and to pose the figure and it looks great as home or office decor as you can see below. Even my son got into the action — he is drawn magnetically to the giant minifigure and poses him every time he comes into my office. I can also see how easy it would be to replace the pair of 30° 1×2×⅔ Slope (Part 85984) in each hand with a studded plate if you wanted to attach an accessory in his hands.
Brick-built Santa is a joy to build and brings festive vibes wherever he goes.
I’m also extremely impressed to see how this set offers a massive value if you care about price-per-part, or it’s more objective cousin: price-per-gram. At $0.086 per gram, this set is better priced than many sets released before The LEGO Group adjusted their prices in 2022. It has more pieces than both #40819 Up-Scaled Racing Driver Minifigure and #40649 Up-Scaled LEGO Minifigure, both of which share the $55 price tag. My only real critique is that it should have included a standard-size Santa minifigure for comparison purposes!
Since it is both a great set and a great value, I’m happy to give this set top marks. For it’s good value, enjoyable building experience, and good vibes, #40820 Up-Scaled Santa Minifigure earns our rare Must Have (5/5 star) rating!