my little brother (over the age of 6 under the age of 10) is going to buy a $40 set in a couple days but cant decide which one, please recomend a combo of sets or a single $40 set for him.

For 40 bucks I'd go with an Orc Forge from LOTR.

At a guess he's not buying for investment.

How about a creator set, he can build more than one model.

kids his age seem to go for the city theme.  Police or fire are popular at least they were with my kids that age.

Funhouse Escape would get my $.

Star Wars? As you cannot get classic space which is what I got around that age.

For 40 bucks I'd go with an Orc Forge from LOTR.

 

In the same vein, my son (5) loves Barrel Escape.  Dwarves, Elves and a Hobbit minifig gives you a nice cross section of Middle Earth races.

 

Also consider Chima and Ninjago sets.  In the $40 range, try 70005 Laval's Royal Fighter  or Golden Dragon + Kai's Fire Mech.  I also like the Samurai Mech, although it's a little fragile.

 

 

At a guess he's not buying for investment.

How about a creator set, he can build more than one model.

 

Creator sets are nice, but they don't come with minifigs, a big downer for the younger Legoers.

Yeah I didn't stop to think that this probably wasn't for investment. Orc Forge would be my pick for a 40 dollar investment but some of the sets others have mentioned might be better for play. The Ninjago sets that Quacs mentioned are appealing to kids, at least the ones around here.

Fun house escape would be my pick if he has a little more $.  Or I would get batman/catwoman chase...with cap America set to play with.  Any superheroes set would be fun.  Or if he likes minifigs...think outside the box and get the chess set, lots of minifigs to play with.

Ill also go with the Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escape, it looks like a very fun playset.

The new creator tree house for $30. Kids seem to like it. The extra $10 could to build a mini-fig or the $10 smaller sets (one is City with a shark and the other is a guy with a sandcastle)

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Treehouse-31010?p=31010

Barrel Escape is an awesome playset.  I highly recommend it.

Ninjago all the way.  Can't go wrong with Ninjas.

Ninjago all the way.  Can't go wrong with Ninjas.

 

 

Will12, what are your brother's general interests? LEGO has so many options, it is better to limit the choices to what the kid actually likes.

I would go with The Bat vs. Bane.  Two fun vehicles and a hero to go up against a villian.  Perfect match.

With limited funds and a tender age, teach him the value of buying well under retail.  Find clearance sets!  Also make him keep the boxes and instructions in good shape in a closet somewhere, and he can always start 'investing' for college.

I have to go with Fun House. 

Creator sets are nice, but they don't come with minifigs, a big downer for the younger Legoers.

The houses since Log Cabin do, but still alltogether they typically do not.

Will12, what are your brother's general interests? LEGO has so many options, it is better to limit the choices to what the kid actually likes.

I was going to ask that as well. There are so many options and it would help narrow things down if we had some ideas of his general preferances. Otherwise some of us could go all night listing practically every single set under the $40 range.