REVIEW: Holiday Set 1 of 2

This is more of an overview of the set, and is intended to give people a more accurate view of what the set is like (as not many people realise the pictures Lego put out are actually renders).
I was going to wait until I got hold of the second set to do a double review, but I don’t know if people will be able to get hold of these after October, without having to re-mortgage. There are just a few days left, so you can still get one if you spend spend spend at a Lego store or online.

I have two copies of this set: the one you see here, and a mint-condition one received today that will go into my vault.

The box

The back of the box, which also shows the second half of this set. Lego really wants to ram the message home: “don’t you go to sleep, there’s another part to this set and you have to get it to obtain the full experience.”

The contents

As you can see I already got started taking the bags apart, but here are the contents of the box. The instructions are folded in two to fit.

One of the bags contains the smaller elements.

The tiles and plates included in this set: lots of colour.

Look at the sheer number of Dark Red bricks in this set. LOOK AT IT! It’s not bad for a set this size, but again it may have contributed to the overall (assumed) price.

Stars of the show

These are the pieces that stood out for me. On the top of the list are the 2×2 jumper plates in Bright Green: these are currently found only in this set and two of the Heroica games. Bright Green elements maketh a day.
There are also two 1×4 Dark Tan plates in the set, which are also exclusive to this set and two Heroica games. There’s even a fifth cheese slope in Pearl Gold that I’d overlooked.

Building the model

First we have the carpet…

…then the walls…

…adding the window…

…and then finish with the tiles and the picture frame.

I included this shot in case someone somewhere gets confused with where to put things. Personally I would have added these parts before adding the walls.

The Pearl Gold cheese slopes serve as makeshift bows for the presents.

The Christmas tree is a very simple build, but I had this particular gripe: why bother using a Bright Green jumper plate if it’s going to be covered up? Was it necessary to use a jumper plate here at all?
Then I realised: maybe it’s simpler and more cost-effective to use a part used elsewhere in the set. Another section of the tree is rotated on top of the other jumper plate.

Here’s the finished model. All that’s left is to add…

…Timmy, who looks suspiciously like the boy from 2010’s City Advent Calendar.

And here he is within the set.

Leftovers

And at the back of the instructions:

More incentive (read: pressure) to collect all the Winter sets!

I thought it was quite funny that they included the murder victim as a “figure” in the Winter Village Bakery lineup.

The verdict

If you’re a fan of the Winter sets, or you want a small Lego Christmas display due to lack of space, this is worth getting hold of. But it’s worth getting hold of with a large purchase from a Lego store; I’d hate to think how much these sets would go for on feeBay or elsewhere, especially if they’re not made available by Lego after this month.

As there’s no definitive price for this set, I won’t (yet?) give a score.