My January 1 LEGO shopping list: Buildable figures both great and small

With just hours to go, I've finalised my LEGO shopping list for January 1 and it's all about buildable figures both great and small.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of buildable figures, and January 1 leaves me spoilt for choice. My bedside table is dotted with LEGO BrickHeadz, my TV cabinet with Star Wars droids – if there's a version of a beloved character in LEGO form, it's definitely coming home with me.

It's therefore inevitable that I was going to pick up 40879 Eleven, Max, Demogorgon and Holly Figures. While 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House is an impressive model, it's not quite in my LEGO budget so soon after Christmas, but potentially one day.

The LEGO Stranger Things BrickHeadz is far more affordable, and I'm mostly buying it just for that tiny Demogorgon. The clever parts usage to create the toothy mouth is ingenious, but I'm also loving Max's wild hair.

At the other end of the price spectrum is 76344 Iron Man Mark 3 Collectors' Edition. I'll admit, when I first heard that another buildable Iron Man was on the way, I rolled my eyes but I've certainly been proved wrong.

The LEGO Marvel set is far from repetitive and has managed to capture every important detail from the suit. It really looks like a tiny Iron Man, with none of the compromises that LEGO figures usually have to make. As a buildable figure connoisseur, this one is up there with one of the best and I simply can't wait to build it.

Not every buildable figure needs to be humanoid, however, and 21588 The Fox is yet another example of how well Minecraft works in LEGO sets. I've whiled away many an hour trying to lure untamable Minecraft foxes back to my base, but now I can have one in real life that won't run away when I run out of berries.

I love how posable the 497-piece fox is, with a movable tail, head, and legs. You can even choose whether to display your version with open and closed eyes with no rebuilding required. This is the top of my list to build when my January 1 gets delivered.

Honourable mention also needs to go to two sets that I would absolutely be picking up if I didn't already have them for review. 31218 Japanese Cherry Blossom Landscape and 76466 Philosopher's Stone Collectors' Edition were two of the top sets I've reviewed all year, both pieces of art in their own ways.

The LEGO Art set draws the eye even now, weeks after I first built it. The colours, the depth, the details – it's all expertly put together in 31218 Japanese Cherry Blossom Landscape to make what's easily the best LEGO Art set we've seen to date.

Over in the world of LEGO Harry Potter, 76466 Philosopher's Stone Collectors' Edition is full of nostalgia but presented with modern building techniques that elevate it from good to great. I could wax lyrical just about how realistic the brick-built Philosopher's Stone looks, but perhaps I should just draw this to a close here (although you can read more about my thoughts at length here).

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