REVIEW: WINTER HOLIDAY TRAIN

REVIEWS Every month, the Bricks team scours the latest releases in the LEGO world to see which are worth you parting with your hard-earned cash for

Riding the snow train

Words: Mark Guest Set number: 10254 Set name: Winter Holiday Train Piece count: 734 pieces Price: £69.99 / $99.99

In 2009 the LEGO Group launched the Creator Expert Winter Village line with 10199 Winter Village Toy Shop, and has built up this theme to create an everexpanding magical winter wonderland scene. Snow-covered bakeries, cottages, post offices and many more festive buildings populate the magical setting, making the annual release somewhat of a calendar highlight. The announcement of this year’s set was met with great excitement, as not only is 10254 Winter Holiday Train aesthetically pleasing but it is also an unexpected departure from the static settings of the buildings we have seen before. I couldn’t wait to add this to my collection, but would the build experience and final model live up to my expectations?

MINIFIGURES

The set contains five minifigures and although they contain no new parts, they are beautiful and so this not a point that detracts from the excitement of the set. Included in this line up is a boiler suitwearing driver, three passengers (two children and an adult female) and the fifth is the conductor. As you would expect, all the passengers wear winter clothing with

The level of detail is immense across all four carriages of the train

the best being the woman sporting a rare hairpiece and fur coat torso originally seen in 76010 Batman: The Penguin Face-off. The driver is printed in an all-blue boiler suit and has a red neck tie, but my favourite of all the figures is the conductor. He is accessorised with a tan satchel and the torso is a fairly common grey striped waistcoat with pocket watch but the real appeal lies in his head print. The two-toned grey, mutton chops beard and stern expression are nothing short of delightful, although he looks like he wouldn’t tolerate any fare dodgers. All in all, the figures are the usual high quality City-esque affair, offering little in the way of surprises but providing plenty of storytelling opportunities.

THE MODEL

The build experience of this set is excellent and I didn’t find any areas

The passenger cart is compact, but colourful

REVIEWS

tedious, in fact I spent most my time anticipating the next bag with excitement. This set is packed with fun details like the selection of tiny presents you get to build, with the robot and fire engine being my highlights. These mini-models generally consist of less than 10 pieces yet resemble iconic gifts. The ingenuity in these is noteworthy, and there is even a nod to Blacktron in the spaceship.

The platform is probably the only area where I would like to see a little more definition of features, as it is a small affair consisting of a bench on a raised 4x8 dark tan plate with a festive lamppost. It’s OK, but when you consider the size of the rest of the set, something more substantial would have been nice. However, this platform can be located at any point along the 58cm loop of track provided and perhaps that is why it has been kept so compact in its design.

The train has visual similarities to Toy Story 7597 Western Train Chase but is more compact and certainly very different when it comes to the build. It is hard to ignore the striking red wheels and gold pipe detailing of the locomotive, all set around the traditional green and black colours of the boiler. Details are found everywhere and look great, from the wreaths around the cab to the lamp positioned under the funnel which is created with an upside-down cone. The four 2x2 circle plates in white do a nice job of replicating billowing smoke out of the top. It could be argued that the cab internals are a little sparse with only just enough room for the one figure, and the large hole in the floor is distracting. This is there to allow for cabling should you wish to motorise the train but if you choose not to, an extra plate to cover it is necessary in my opinion.

The tender attached behind the engine follows the design well and has a hinged sloped plate that can be angled to incorporate and hide the Power Function pieces if necessary. It is compact but my only grumble would be the fragile linking of the two units as, unlike the other wagons, this one uses a hole and pin method of attachment and not the magnetic buffers.

Sitting behind this is the cargo wagon, which on the face of it looks to be a simple affair but certainly holds some magical festive appeal. One half is a space decorated with gold 1x4x1 fence pieces that allow for all the great micro models to be piled up and the other half is a miniature Christmas tree, cleverly designed with SNOT techniques and even has a micro train set circling its trunk. The tree is connected to a cog mechanism below the trailer which results in the tree rotating as the wagon moves. This alone is reason enough to motorise the set!

The last carriage is a passenger cart which, if comparing it to the Toy Story version, seems a little too compact but the beauty of its colouring and the lavish detail cannot be argued with. Inside the carriage are two seats and a table for the passengers to relax, meaning someone is going to be left on the platform. The green saloon doors at either end allow visible access but to place the figures inside, you have to lift the snazzy roof made with curved slopes. In fact the roof is probably the best part of this wagon, as its dark blue colouring creates interesting contrast and the raised middle section with transparent pieces for clerestory windows certainly adds character. The sides are decorated with rare white foliage pieces and transparent pieces for lights, just as the tender is.

“THERE IS EVEN A NOD TO BLACKTRON IN THE SPACESHIP”

CONCLUSION

All in all, this is one of my favourite Winter Village sets, partly because it’s not just another building but also because it carries an aesthetic charm. All four train sections carry the level of detail we have come to expect and there is plenty of opportunity for play. The additional instructions in the book show how this set can be motorised and for those of you planning to place this at the bottom of your tree, I would thoroughly recommend this option. In some areas the train was smaller than I expected but this doesn’t detract from it being a great set and in fact, when positioned with the rest of the Winter Village sets, it is actually in the same scale and so it is perhaps unfair to criticise. However if you are fixated on the size issue, additional carriages are easily added. Indeed, in next month’s issue we will show you some inspirational ideas for what you could add to your train in time for Christmas.

The set is worth the money in my opinion, the micro-present designs are great, the figures are cute and the train is spot on, and so the latest addition to Winter Village is a must have.

The odd gap in the cab floor is for adding Power Functions

GET INSPIRED

CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW TO ENHANCE THE FESTIVE TRAIN

Thanks to The LEGO Group for supplying the set to review. None of the opinions expressed in this review are those of The LEGO Group.

Fun micro-builds like this robot are a highlight of the set 58cm of track are provided in the set, enough for a full loop