Harry, Ron and Hermione often visit Hagrid in his hut on the Hogwarts grounds. Sometimes their visits are uneventful – but other times, a visit to Hagrid can lead to adventure. Includes 6 characters: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Hagrid, Norbert and Aragog. Hagrid's Hut features light up fire place. Furnishings, such as chairs, a table, a stove, and pots and pans also included. 442 LEGO pieces.
— As of 12/16/2011 this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from 28 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Lots of great details inside the hut; a great selection of mini-figs; detailed instructions. Cons: Not very durable once it is built; a bit small.

The Hub features new attachments, including the wheel and more imagination pieces, allowing kids to invent more complex structures. Build a go—cart, a rover, or a roaming character on a secret mission. Comes with over 60 attachments. Set Contains: 2 flexible OGOBILD balls, 4 wheels, 16 connectors, 11 joints, 5 wings, 25 imagination pieces.

Block Mates build upon the foundation of unit blocks by providing children with a themed exploration set, designed to enhance the original principles of block—building. All Block Mates are designed to fit standard unit blocks and can be built in their natural form or mixed and matched with others in the set to create new, imaginative vehicles or creatures. Patented gasket design ensures a snug fit. Set of 4 construction vehicles: Dump Truck, Sanitation Truck, Back Hoe and Cement Mixer. Features rugged sure—grip wheels with steel axles. Blocks not included.

The 150 piece set of Playstix allows kids to build a wide variety of models right out of the box, without the need for any additional or specialized parts. An Idea Booklet illustrates fun things to build, from a simple table and chairs to a two-story cabin. Each Playstix piece has grooves that interlock when one Playstix piece is placed across another. The different length Playstix pieces are color-coded, so it’s easy to see how each model is built.

This set of 9 pattern blocks can be twisted and turned in different shapes based on the guide provided.  Shapes can also be open-ended and based on the child's imagination. Start from Basic (4 blocks), Intermediate (6 blocks), to Advanced (9 blocks).

The finish line of the city stage is fast approaching and the red team holds a slight lead. To take the lead, the green team Formula One racer fires its missiles, but can the driver avoid the red team's spikes and stay in the race long enough to win? Includes 4 minifigures: 2 Backyard Blasters: Bart Blaster and Billy Bob Blaster; 2 X-treme Daredevils: MAX-treme and REX-treme.

In this game, only one player will ultimately become the LEGO Champion and win the trophy. Find out who will win the many challenges, claim the trophy. A multi-challenge family game for 3–8 players. Contents: 1 buildable LEGO dice, 9 LEGO microfigures, 206 LEGO pieces, rules booklet, building instructions.

Defend the LEGO Star Wars Hoth Echo Base (7879) from the evil Imperial forces. Imperial forces have discovered the Rebel base hidden on the ice planet of Hoth and are preparing to crush the Rebel Alliance. Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia and protocol droid R—3PO get ready to fend off the attack as 2 snowtroopers approach. Luke Skywalker is in the bacta tank being treated by medical droid 2—1B. The LEGO Star Wars Hoth Echo Base (7879) includes: Tauntaun stable with locking gate, tauntaun, rotating radar dishes, falling icicle trap, working cargo crane, and medical bay with bacta tank; Han Solo, injured Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, 2—1B, protocol droid R—3PO, Chewbacca and 2 snowtroopers; flick missile gun turrets; repeating blaster and blaster rifle weapons; Measures over 21" wide and 5" tall; Imperial speeder bike measures over 5" long; Contains 773 pieces.

Stop the prisoners from escaping the police station through the pipe drain. They won't get far on foot. Use the police car to chase them down and transport them back to prison in the police van. Help keep LEGO City safe with this feature-packed set. The LEGO City Police Station (7498) features: Set Contains 783 Pieces; Includes 4 police officers, 2 robbers, a police dog and lots of accessories; Modular building make building easy; Includes police car, prisoner transport van, and bicycle; Station features 2 jail cells, command center with computers, helicopter landing pad on the roof, garage for two vehicles.
— As of 11/07/2011 this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from 11 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Lots of accessories; fun to build; very detailed. Cons: Expensive; took one reviewer two days to assemble completely.
— As of 11/07/2011 this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from 15 reviews on Amazon.com.
— Paul Sahagian, owner of Learning Express in Needham, Mass., told TDmonthly in a December 2014 interview that this Frozen Coloring book is one of the best-selling books at their store.

Blast through the droid ambush with LEGO Star Wars Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter! With quad flick missiles and the reliable R8-B7 astromech droid to navigate and repair damage, Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter will be more than a match for the tactical droid TX-20 on his Separatist speeder.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from 14 reviews on Google Product Search. Pros: Mini Figures are great; lots of details and extras included. Cons: Many similar sets have been made.

Fly the LEGO Ninjago Lightning Dragon Battle (2521) to rescue Sensei Wu. Frakjaw and Kruncha have captured Sensei Wu and stole the nunchucks of lightning with their helicopter. Help Jay and the fearsome Lightning Dragon to rescue him and retrieve the golden weapon before they escape into the Underworld.! Beware of the helicopter's snapping jaws and flick missiles.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 4 out of 5 stars from 2 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Dragon is durable; mini figures are great. Cons: Helicopter is not very durable.

Battle for control of the four Spinjitzu weapons has begun. Sensei Wu, Kai, Zane and Nya need help to keep Lord Garmadon and his evil skeleton army from taking the ultimate Spinjitzu weapon – the Dragon Sword of Fire. As the temple splits into two, the fearsome Fire Dragon emerges to protect the sword by spitting fire at Lord Garmadon. Set also includes Samukai and Kruncha figures, all four golden weapons and 14 other weapons. 1174 pieces. Launch date: Summer 2011.
— As of 10/14/2011 this product had 4.7 out of 5 stars from 3 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Helps build fine motor skills and logic skills; challenging. Cons: Finished structure not very durable.
— As of 10/14/2011 this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 2 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Very detailed; lots of moving parts.

Take home this LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean The Black Pearl (4184). After 13 years, Davy Jones has come to take Jack Sparrow back to the Flying Dutchman. As his tentacled adversary boards the Black Pearl with his brackish crew, Maccus and Bootstrap Bill, Jack and his friends Will and Joshamee are in no mood to surrender just yet. The LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean The Black Pearl (4184) includes: Jack Sparrow MiniFigure; Will Turner MiniFigure; Joshamee Gibbs MiniFigure; Davy Jones MiniFigure; Maccus and Bootstrap Bill MiniFigures. Contains 804 pieces. Launch date: October 2011.

Kids can transform, configure, and manipulate Block Builders for endless building and perpetual design. Fold and unfold the six distinctively hinged blocks to create skyscrapers, modern art sculptures, geometric marvels - just about anything imaginable. Includes 50 puzzle challenge cards. Block Builders puzzle challenge cards range from beginner to expert. Look at the design on the front of the card and recreate the shape using the indicated number of blocks. The solution is provided in an exploded view on the opposite side of the card.

The LEGO MiniFigure Series 5 adds 16 all-new, special MiniFigures to the growing LEGO MiniFigure Collection. Each MiniFigure comes in a sealed, mystery bag. Each character has its own special accessories, display plate and collector's leaflet. Inspired by movies, sports, history and just everyday life. This collection includes: Fitness Instructor, Snowboarder Guy, Lizard Man, Lumberjack, Gladiator, Small Clown, Egyptian Queen, Evil Dwarf, Boxer, Ice Fisherman, Zoo Keeper, Graduate, Royal Guard, Cave Woman, Detective.
— As of 10/10/2011 this product had 4.9 out of 5 stars from 9 reviews on ToysRUs.com.
— Robert Lightburn from Cville's Hobbies, Games and Toys in Charlottesville, Va., told TDmonthly in an October 2011 survey that LEGO items sell well with the tween crowd.

Includes 24 blue and turquoise magnetic rods & 20 chromed steel spheres. Magnetic rods combined with non-magnetic spheres transform into thousands of geometric forms.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Products For Kids

Coloraturo, a new block set created by award winning toy designer Karen Hewitt, will delight and captivate the imagination of children and artists of all ages. This smart toy functions both as a designer art piece and a high quality children’s building toy providing endless experiences with color in both two and three dimensions. The color, form and sheer beauty of Coloraturo will attract young children as well as architects, designers and playful adults. "Displaying 36 unique, vibrant colors, this piece stands out from ordinary block sets, yet will still be a timeless toy for generations of children. This toy will provide endless building opportunities, yet looks beautiful enough to display anywhere in the house," Karen Hewitt, president/designer of Learning Materials Workshop, told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2011.
Awards: TDmonthly Top Toy Award, January 2012; 2011 Dr. Toy 10 Best Creative Products Award; 2011 Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products Award.
— Why it won: Beautifully designed, kids can enjoy hours of pattern play, color sorting, and building. Meanwhile, parents won't mind having these colorful, geometric blocks left lying around.

An extension of Ravensburger's popular puzzleball line, each of these buildings feature flat and hinged precision-cut pieces that snap together perfectly, and stand up to 15” high when completed. Other sets include Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, and a New England lighthouse.

Kids can send marbles down the wooden 99-piece Quadrilla Twist & Rail Set. Curved rails, straight rails, and a big twist make up this set.  50 marbles are included along with a cloth bag for safe storage.
Awards: Dr. Toy's 10 Best Toys - 2011

These micro-sized building blocks will enable kids to execute even the finest details like never before. With over 100 pieces, kids watch in amazement as this regal bird takes shape right beneath your fingertips. With a finished size of 1.5″w x 1.5″d x 2.36h, only this giant penguin is able to fit perfectly in the palm of a hand.  Includes detailed color instructions. 9 animal designs currently available.
— In a Summer 2012 survey, Shana Hack, owner of Moon Rabbit Toys in Santa Fe, N.M., told TDmonthly that nanoblocks were an overall best seller at their store.

Toobalink is the only construction toy that uses paper towel tubes and toilet tissue tubes as a main building element.  A Toobalink set comes with all the pieces necessary to build a wide variety of connectors, which are then used to hold the tubes together to build large scale structures. Each Toobalink kit comes with 39 pieces, including brand new tubes so that kids can get building right away. Kids love it because they can collect more tubes to build bigger, better structures and parents love it because the extra building material is FREE. Made in the USA. Launch date: June 2012.

3-D Laser Cut Models featuring detailed laser etching and laser cuts on a 4.5" square metal sheet.  Easily assembled by popping out the pieces and connecting them at the attachment points using the easy to follow instructions.  Eleven styles to choose from:  Golden Gate Bridge, Cable Car, P-51 Mustang, Fokker D-VII Bi-Plane, Boeing 747 Jet, Beach Buggy, Checker Cab, Huey Helicopter, Staten Island Ferry, Empire State Bldg, Chrysler Bldg. Launch date: September 2011.

Where to buy:
NORTH WEST

HEXACUS is an exploration in creativity and fun for the entire family. Just sort by size and color, then stack, nest, and balance to create a wide variety of patterns and shapes. Our Idea Booklet shows over 100 examples of easy to challenging patterns and shapes to build.  Ages: 2+  CONTENTS: 12 Hexagonal Pieces – 3 Red, 3 Orange, 2 Yellow, 2 Green, 1 Light Blue, 1 Dark Blue, Idea Booklet. "Due to it's unique and geometrically accurate shape, children are able to nest and stack HEXACUS pieces in a wide variety of ways using horizontal, vertical and diagonal planes," Jason Cheung, general manager of Huntar Company, Inc., told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2012.

Junglemorphs, new for 2011, is part of the Zoomorphs pop-together building system.  The child can build animals that exist or have existed in nature; or easily pop the pieces apart to make all sorts of friendly, poseable fantasy creatures.  There are four characters in this set:  Tree Python, Bird of Paradise, Tiger and Tropical Beetle.  All sets are interchangeable.  Some animals have hinged jaws. Launch date: August 2011.
— Karin Evick, manager of Kids' Ketch in Lewes, Del., told TDmonthly in an April 2012 survey that Zoomorphs are one of their best selling construction toys.

Attack the Hoth Rebel base with the Lego Star Wars AT-AT Walker (8129). Build one of the most iconic vehicles from the original Star Wars movies and celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. Use the grappling hook to help Luke Skywalker climb the body of the AT-AT, then use his lightsaber to stop the walker before it destroys the Rebel base. Will Luke triumph in time? Includes 8 minifigures: Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, Han Solo in Echo base gear, Rebel Trooper with P-Tower laser cannon, AT-AT pilot, 2 Snowtroopers, General Veers and Imperial Officer. AT-AT Walker measures more than 13" (33 cm) long and 12" (30 cm) tall. This is the stationary AT-AT model.
— As of 09/06/2011 this product had 4.6 out of 5 stars from 22 reviews on ToysRus.com. Pros: Fun, durable, easy to assemble. Cons: Expensive for a non-motorized version of this product.