40355 Year of the Rat

40355 Year of the Rat is a Chinese New Year set that was released on January 13, 2020 as a promotional set.
==Background==
The Zodiacal Rat or Zodiacal Mouse is the first of the repeating 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac, constituting part of the Chinese calendar system (with similar systems in use elsewhere). The Year of the Rat in standard Chinese is (Chinese: 鼠年; pinyin: shǔ​nián); the rat is associated with the first branch of the Earthly Branch symbol 子 (zǐ), which starts a repeating cycle of twelve years. The Chinese word shǔ​ (鼠) refers to various types of Muroidea, such as rats and mice. The term "zodiac" ultimately derives from an Ancient Greek term referring to a "circle of little animals". There are also a yearly month of the rat and a daily hour of the rat (Chinese double hour, midnight, 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.). Years of the rat are cyclically differentiated by correlation to the Heavenly Stems cycle, resulting in a repeating cycle of five years of the rat (over a sixty-year period), each rat year also being associated with one of the Chinese wu xing, also known as the "five elements", or "phases": the "Five Phases" being Fire (火 huǒ), Water (水 shuǐ), Wood (木 mù), Metal (金 jīn), and Earth (土 tǔ).
==Description==
The set includes 162 pieces, which are used to build a large rat and a base. The rat is built from a 2 x 4 Dark Stone Gray plate with a 2 x 2 Medium Stone Gray in the middle and a 1 x 2 Medium Stone Gray plate with ball cup on each side. A 1 x 2 Bright Red brick with knob is on top of those, with a 1 x 2 Dark Stone Gray brick with hole behind it. There's two 1 x 1 Brick Yellow bricks with knobs on each end of that, and two 2 x 2 x 2/3 White plates with knobs pointing outwards are on top of that. A 2 x 2 Sand Yellow plate is in the middle, and a 1 x 2 Bright Red plate with knob is on top of that with a 1 x 2 Bright Yellow brick with knob behind that. There's another set of two 1 x 2 Brick Yellow bricks on each side, with two White 1 x 2 x 2 corner angle plates on top and two 1 x 2 Medium Stone Gray plates with ball cups on each end pointing outwards. A 2 x 4 Dark Stone Gray plate is on top, with a 2 x 2 Medium Stone Gray in the middle and a 2 x 2 White turn plate holder on top, with a Medium Stone Gray turn plate in that. There's a 1 x 2 Dark Stone Gray roof tile on each side pointing outwards, with two Medium Stone Gray roof tiles pointing outward on top of the two plates with ball cups. Two Dark Stone Gray 1 x 2 x 2 corner plates are attached to the back of the rat, with a 1 x 1 Dark Stone Gray plate on top of the end of each corner plate. There was a 1 x 4 Dark Stone Gray plate with a 1 x 2 Dark Stone Gray roof tile in the middle and two Dark Stone Gray 1/3 plates with bows, one on each side. This build is attached to the top of those two 1 x 1 tiles. Four Dark Stone Gray 1 x 2 x 2/3 plates with bows are connected to those, forming a smooth backside. There is a White tail and White tail tip sticking out from the backside. There is a 2 x 3 Dark Stone Gray plate with a 1 x 2 Dark Stone Gray plate down the middle, with a Medium Stone Gray 2 x 2 x 2/3 plate with bow on one end and two Dark Stone Gray 1/3 plates with bows on the other end. This is attached to the side and the build is replicated on the other side. A White 2 x 3 plate with a 1 x 2 White plate running down the middle is a 2 x 2 x 2/3 plate with bow on one side and 2 x 3 plate with bow on the other side. This build is attached to the chest of the rat, and a 1 x 2 Medium Stone Gray plate with a 1 x 1 tile on top and a 1 x 2 x 2/3 plate with bow on the other end is attached to the side, with the same build replicated on the other side of the chest. A 2 x 2 x 2/3 Medium Stone Gray plate with pow is connected to a 1 x 2 Dark Stone Gray plate with bow, and then attached to the plate with ball cup as the feet. The same build is replicated on the other side. Another 1 x 2 Dark Stone Gray plate with ball has two 1 x 1 Medium Stone Gray half circle tiles on each side, and connected to the hand. That is replicated on the other hand. 
The head is made from a White 2 x 3 plate with two White 2 x 2 x 2/3 plates with knobs in the middle, pointing outwards. Another 2 x 2 x 2/3 White plate with knobs is attached, pointed frontwards. A 2 x 3 Dark Stone Gray plate is in the middle of those, with a 1 x 2 Bright Blue brick on top of the middle of that and a 1 x 2 Bright Red brick with knobs pointing outwards on the other end. Two 1 x 1 Bright Yellow bricks with knobs are attached to the other end and pointed outwards. Two White 1 x 1 bricks with knobs are attached to the front, with a 1 x 2 White brick with two 1 x 2 x 2/3 plates with bows (one in White, one in Medium Stone Gray) attached to the side of that build. The same thing is replicated on the other side. A White 1 x 2 plate with a White 2 x 2 x 2/3 plate with bow attached to that is attached to the side of the front. Two 2 x 2 x 2/3 White plates with knobs pointing outwards are on the top, with a White 2 x 2 reduced knob plate in the front. A 1 x 2 Dark Stone Gray plate is on top at one end, and a 1 x 2 Bright Red brick with knobs is on top of that and pointing outwards. A 1 x 2 Dark Stone Gray plate is on top of that. A 1 x 1 x 2 White brick is in front of that, and two 1 x 2 Dark Stone Gray roof tiles are attached to the sides of the two white plates with bows. There's a build made from two Dark Stone Gray 1 x 2 plates, a similarly sized plate with ball, and two more plates on top. This build is attached to the top of that White roof tile, and the same build is replicated on the other side. A 2 x 4 Dark Stone Gray plate with four 2 x 2 x 2/3 Dark Stone Gray plates with bows on the ends are attached to the back. Two Dark Stone Gray 1 x 4 x 2/4 plates with bows are on the top. A 2 x 2 White rounded brick with slope is on the nose with a Light Purple stud on the end. Two large googly eyes are attached to the front. A Dark Stone Gray 1 x 4 with a cutout and 1 x 2 Medium Stone Gray plate with cup is in the middle of that, with a 1 x 2 Light Purple brick on top of that and two Dark Stone Gray 1 x 1 x 1 bricks with arches are on the top. A Dark Stone Gray 1 x 2 tile is in the middle. The same build is replicated on the other side of the head, and is rotatable. An Earth Green 4 x 8 1/2 circle with a 2 X 4 Dark Stone Gray plate poking out in the middle serves as the base. The same plate is attached to the other end, and two 1 x 2 Medium Stone Gray plates are on the sides of the plate. Four 1 x 2 Sand Yellow roof tiles are attached on each side. In front of the roof tiles are a 1 x 2 Warm Gold plate with knob in front of those. Various leaf tiles are attached to the corners. Two 1 x 2 Sand Yellow tiles are attached to the side, with a 2 x 2 Sand Yellow plate between those tiles. A 2 x 4 Sand Yellow tile is attached to the front. Four Bright Red flowers are attached to the leaf pieces. The rat is attached to the top of the plate build.
==Gallery==
40355-1.jpg|Set overview
40355c.jpg|Rotating ears
40355d.jpg|Box reverse
==Notes==
* The set was released as a promotional set between January 13 and January 26.
==External links==
Category:2020 sets
Category:40000 sets
Category:Seasonal
Category:Holiday