Yeah, it’s September, the sun is still out, and we’ve barely put Halloween on the calendar — but LEGO doesn’t care about your timeline. The company has just officially revealed its Christmas 2026 seasonal lineup, and it’s dropping on October 1. Five new holiday sets are headed to shelves, and whether you’re a die-hard Elf fan, a Lego collector hunting for a Mrs. Claus to pair with last year’s Santa, or just someone who wants to count down to Christmas with style, there’s something in this lineup for you.
Here’s everything you need to know about each set, what it costs, and where to grab one.
LEGO Buddy the Elf (Set 40865) — $39.99
Nobody saw this one coming, and honestly that makes it better. The first-ever LEGO set based on the 2003 movie Elf has been confirmed, and it’s Buddy himself — front and center, yellow tights, oversized elf hat, and that goofy grin intact.
The set clocks in at 713 pieces, recommended for ages 12 and up, and builds a display figure of Buddy the Elf standing on a snowy North Pole base. The details are genuinely delightful — there are candy canes, a maple syrup bottle (two of the most sacred food groups, as any Elf fan knows), and an arctic puffin hanging out alongside Buddy. It’s a display piece that screams holiday shelf without going full Christmas tree explosion.
For context on how unexpected this license is: LEGO has been rapidly expanding into movie IP in recent years, picking up Pokémon, Shrek, K-Pop, and others. But snagging the rights to a 2003 Will Ferrell Christmas comedy for a dedicated set in 2026? That’s a bingo square nobody had filled in. And yet here we are, and it works. At $39.99 for 713 pieces, the price point is fair — the license hasn’t inflated the cost in a way that feels punishing, which is a win for fans who just want Buddy on their desk.
Preorders for Buddy the Elf are live now at the LEGO store.
For those unfamiliar: Elf follows Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole who travels to New York City to find his real father. Directed by Jon Favreau and starring Will Ferrell, it’s remained one of the most enduringly beloved Christmas comedies in the 23 years since its release — the kind of movie that people genuinely rewatch every single year without any irony. Will Ferrell himself has said the film “continues to resonate in a way that’s pretty incredible,” with fans watching it year-round. A LEGO tribute was always going to land well.
LEGO Santa’s Holiday Countdown (Set 40874) — $59.99
If you’ve ever felt like regular LEGO Advent calendars are fun but a little too one-and-done, this set is built for you. The Santa’s Holiday Countdown is a 873-piece perpetual calendar that you can break out every December, reset, and use again — essentially justifying the purchase across multiple holiday seasons.
The build creates a scene of Santa Claus poking out of a snowy chimney rooftop, sack of gifts beside him, ready to make the big drop. The clever mechanical part? Knobs on either side of the model roll a drum mechanism built into the chimney, ticking over countdown number blocks so you can track exactly how many days are left until Christmas Day. It’s a genuinely charming piece of holiday engineering in brick form.
Recommended for ages 10 and up, this is the kind of set that works as a family activity and then becomes an annual tradition — build it together, put it on the mantelpiece, and spin the countdown knobs each morning through December. That reusability is a big part of what makes the $59.99 price tag feel justified compared to a standard advent calendar that has a hard expiration date on December 26.
Preorders for Santa’s Holiday Countdown are also live now at the LEGO store.
LEGO Up-Scaled Mrs. Claus Minifigure (Set 40875) — $59.99
Last year, LEGO dropped the Up-Scaled Santa Minifigure (40820), and the response from the Lego community was enthusiastic enough that a follow-up was basically inevitable. Well, Santa’s better half has arrived. The Up-Scaled Mrs. Claus Minifigure is a 904-piece buildable giant version of the classic Mrs. Claus minifigure, and she’s been designed specifically to stand alongside her husband.
Like the Santa set before it, Mrs. Claus features a posable head, arms, and hands, making her a display piece you can actually pose and adjust rather than just a static brick blob. One particularly notable detail: she’s the first up-scaled minifigure to use a dress piece instead of legs — a design choice that keeps her faithful to the original minifigure while requiring some clever engineering work to execute at this size.
Brick Fanatics noted some minor quibbles — her belt doesn’t quite wrap around perfectly due to sloped elements on either side of her torso — but described it overall as an “almost pitch-perfect rendition” of the Mrs. Claus minifigure with fun detail work on the white hair. For anyone who already picked up the Up-Scaled Santa last year, this is a very easy purchase decision. The Claus household shelf display is now complete.
Interestingly, it’s worth noting that the first LEGO Santa minifigure debuted back in 2006, but Mrs. Claus didn’t appear in minifigure form until 2014’s Santa’s Workshop set — a full eight years later. She’s been playing catch-up ever since, and now she’s officially at every scale alongside her husband.
Unlike Buddy and the Santa Countdown, the Mrs. Claus set is not available for preorder right now but will be purchasable on October 1.
The Two Extra Sets — Santa’s Sleigh Adventure and Holiday Ornament Selection
The announcement didn’t stop at three. Two additional sets round out the 2026 Christmas wave, both also landing on October 1.
Santa’s Sleigh Adventure (40866) is a 187-piece set priced at $29.99, and it comes with both Santa and Mrs. Claus aboard the sleigh, joined by four reindeer and a reindeer calf. The previous LEGO Santa’s Sleigh set (40499) retired in 2025 after a solid run since 2021, so this is a welcome updated version — slightly more compact than its predecessor but bringing Mrs. Claus along for the ride this time, which is a nice touch given the theme of this year’s lineup.
Holiday Ornament Selection (40862) is the smallest set of the wave at just 179 pieces and $12.99, featuring buildable tree ornaments — following in the footsteps of previous LEGO bauble sets like last year’s Snowman Ornaments. A low-commitment, accessible addition to any holiday Lego display without requiring much shelf real estate or budget.
Why LEGO Christmas Sets Keep Selling Out
It’s worth stepping back to appreciate what LEGO has built with its seasonal lineup over the past few years. Holiday sets have become some of the most reliably beloved releases in the entire LEGO catalog — they sell to adults, they sell to parents buying for kids, they cross age groups, and they sit on shelves in a way that makes sense year after year. The Up-Scaled Santa from 2025 is still available and still selling. The Countdown set will be on mantlepieces in homes every December indefinitely.
The Buddy the Elf license in particular shows LEGO leaning hard into the adult collector market. This isn’t a set aimed at kids who need to recognize Buddy from a recent film. It’s aimed at the 25-to-40-year-old who grew up watching Elf on repeat and now has disposable income and shelf space. The same instinct that drove the Lego PlayStation set with Gran Turismo and Ape Escape Easter eggs — nostalgia-driven, IP-backed, display-worthy builds for grown-ups who love to build.
Full LEGO Christmas 2026 Set Summary
- Buddy the Elf (40865) — 713 pieces | $39.99 | Ages 12+ | Preorder live now
- Santa’s Holiday Countdown (40874) — 873 pieces | $59.99 | Ages 10+ | Preorder live now
- Up-Scaled Mrs. Claus Minifigure (40875) — 904 pieces | $59.99 | Ages 10+ | Available October 1
- Santa’s Sleigh Adventure (40866) — 187 pieces | $29.99 | Available October 1
- Holiday Ornament Selection (40862) — 179 pieces | $12.99 | Available October 1
All five sets release on October 1, 2026 through the LEGO store online and in-person locations. Given how quickly LEGO seasonal sets tend to move — especially ones with licensed IP or companion set appeal — preordering Buddy and the Santa Countdown now is probably worth doing if either is on your list.
Christmas may be a few months away, but as any LEGO fan knows — the sets drop in October, and the best ones don’t always stick around long enough to actually hang the stockings. Some collector items move faster than you’d expect, and the Buddy the Elf set in particular feels like one that’ll go quickly once it’s officially on shelves.
It’s the most wonderful time of year to start stacking bricks. 🎅
