Mr. GeoK surprised me with Lego set 40154. He picked it up on sale for about $10, which translates to a per brick cost of about 5 cents.It’s currently priced at C$17.00 on the Canadian Lego shop-at-home site, which equates to the more typical 10+ cents/brick.

Before I discovered this bright yellow box on the corner of my desk, I didn’t realize Lego had a pencil holder set. I’ve since learned that there are two different pencil holders available: this one (seems to fit the City and Creator themes) and set 40080 from the Friends theme. I personally find this set more visually appealing – the colours are more traditional, there are some great details and with a few bricks from our bins, can be easily modified to be a house for any Lego fan’s Lego town.

As with the 2015 Holiday Bonus sets, I built my new pencil pot inside my homemade white box and took photographs every 10 steps or so. BUT, instead of following the instructions 100%, I modified the small flower bed(?) along one side of the house so that it was wide enough to accommodate a standard business card standing on it’s short edge. This required a few extra bricks from our Lego bins, but allowed me to replace both my old pencil cup and my old business card holder with this one set.

The set includes 2 minifigs. The female resident of the house has a head printed with two faces: one looks stressed/unhappy (presumably because her roof needs fixing) and one that’s not exactly happy, but less stressed. The home handyman has just one printed face and comes with a hammer.

I was only a couple of steps into the build when I realized that if I modified the flower garden (eraser holder?) along the side of the house that I’d be able to use this set as a business card holder as well as a pencil pot.

Long after I put everything away, K pointed out that my building technique was pretty sloppy towards the end. I made a n00b mistake and failed to make sure all the pieces were firmly pressed together! I’ve been building with Lego for almost 50 years and definitely know better. I must have been preoccupied with photographing my progress.

Here are a couple of photos of the finished build, showing the small compartment beneath the removable roof section (for erasers, paper clips, coins, etc.) and the generous capacity of the main pencil holding section.

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There were several pieces leftover. The larger ones on the left would be used in the standard build but were made redundant when I incorporated a few bricks from our Lego bins to make the business card holder on the side.

I have found in day-to-day use that the business cards tend to tip over, so I’ve moved the handyman’s ladder to keep them in place.

Some of the details include an opening front door, windows, window box, chimney (complete with textured bricks) and assorted flower elements. It’s sitting on my desk right beside my Lego perpetual calendar (set 83195). Together, these colourful sets add a bit of cheerful whimsy to my office. They are also an easy icebreaker topic of conversation for visitors. Given that I these sets for many hours a day, the value for money is excellent and I would recommend it as a gift for any AFOL (adult fan of Lego) with a desk!