As we approach the holiday 2013 shopping season, more and more retailers are breaking street dates and posting photos of the LEGO 2014 sets! While I’m sure this drives LEGO a little crazy, it’s all well and good for us LEGO fans! While I don’t think I’ll post an article to preview every upcoming winter LEGO 2014 set, I definitely want to hit up some of the ones that most strike my fancy–starting with the 2014 LEGO City Helicopter Surveillance 60046 set!

LEGO City definitely isn’t the main LEGO theme that I collect, but the LEGO Winter 2014 sets for the theme are definitely part of one of my favorite LEGO City waves ever. The first set that struck my eye, LEGO 60046 Helicopter Surveillance, is part of the LEGO Police subset of the LEGO City theme, as I have a total weakness for cool helicopters.

The 60046 LEGO Helicopter Surveillance helicopter is going to be 44cm (17.3 inches) long–almost a full foot and a half! This is one big helicopter, and the kind of aircraft I would have loved to run up and down the house “flying” after the bad guys as a kid. The nose gun on the front of the helicopter is definitely a lot more formidable than any weapon I’ve ever seen on a police vehicle, and I really like the sliding door to the passenger compartment that the LEGO policeman minifigures can jump out of (or rappel out of, using the LEGO rope included!).

While the main portion of this set is (obviously) the LEGO Police Helicopter, that’s not to say that it’s the only good part of the set. In fact, what makes Helicopter Surveillance one of my favorite LEGO City 2014 sets is the fact that every “chunk” that makes up this 528 pieces set feels cool and worthwhile to me. I especially like the LEGO policeman minifigure that is having a stakeout by hiding in a barrel. The idea of the cop in a barrel staking out the joint is hilarious and has the kooky LEGO humor feel to it that I love so much.

The LEGO Crooks minifigures have two very distinct designs so it doesn’t feel like you’re just getting two of the same figure at all, and I love their shady little hideout and getaway truck. The “Keep Out!” sign on the wall of their hideout and the “wooden” LEGO plank covering the window are great details that make the hideout feel authentic (or at least as authentic as a hideout made of LEGO bricks can be).

The LEGO City Helicopter Surveillance 60046 set is part of the January 2014 LEGO City sets wave, although I expect to see the set pop up for sale sometime in early/mid-December 2013. I’ll post an update to this site and also to the Bricks and Bloks Facebook Page once the set pops up for sale, so keep your eyes peeled if you’re wanting to pick up the Helicopter Surveillance LEGO City set before its official release date!