Review: 40573 Christmas Tree

I do rather like the star on the previous set

I wonder how the alternate builds compare to 40338, size-wise. It might be easier to incorporate the two smaller trees into a scene which already has the previous one in it. Not to mention, I believe 40338 was a GWP, so it's nice that this is available as a stand alone purchase.

The 2019 40338 was my absolute favorite christmas tree, and I think that still remains true. I just love the train underneath. I already bought this new one, but I might be interested in trying to combine both -- make a larger tree with the train.

I prefer the proportions of 40338.

It's not very interesting. Couldn't they have made it more colourful, with more decoration? And it seems odd that the baubles are sitting on flat wide branches instead of hanging below narrow branches.

I bricklinked the 2019 one and had changed the decorations to more spheres and some candles which I thought worked out well and I really like the base, train and overall look. I did order and look forward to doing this one. Think it was a little expensive but nothing like the resale cost for the 2019. Looking forward to build.

I actually preferred the proportions on 40338 , which was a GWP, I believe, and in my personal opinion the best GWP of all time.

This one seems too tall and gangly. But this is still nice, and I have already bought two of them.

I am a sucker for Xmas LEGO, and it seems that The Lego Company knows it!

It's a nice set, but only for those who didn't get the GWP one, and for that it's great that TLG made a set similar one available for all to purchase.

I think this years just takes the edge for looking slightly more subtle and classy than the 2019 one, but I like them both. Got one but will probably get a 2nd if it makes a useful threshold meeter for some upcoming GWP. Three different sizes are useful for different locations.

@PDelahanty said:
"I think I prefer 40338, the previous one. The base is more festive and the star is nicer. The new one has candles, which is nice, but that alone is not a reason for me to get it when I'm perfectly happy with 40338."

My thoughts exactly.

This style of tree is my favorite, like the one from the first Winter Village set. I wonder if it is bigger than that one. If not, I will make the alternate version with two trees, the more trees the merrier.
I like the candles but I will need to find some spare gems to add to it though, like 40338. The gems add a bit of sparkle like twinkle lights. My order with this tree, should be arriving soon.

Santas sleigh is back

I want to like it, but the first time I saw the build, it looked like 2 Christmas trees stacked on top of each other, and now I can't unsee it. :-/

Turned the Bonsai Tree into a Christmas tree; it worked out pretty well.

I actually prefer this over the wreath, but that only has to do with where I want to put it as a decoration. I’m sure the wreath can look good laying flat, but the tree won’t look great strapped to a wall. :D

How can you review a 2-in-1 set without reviewing both builds?

@lupia13 said:
"How can you review a 2-in-1 set without reviewing both builds?"

See the previous posts about it. Basically, they’re not worth the time.

I wasn't able to get $40338, so I might get this one. I love that tree skirt. And I don't think the alt build is pointless; after all, depending on what sort of Christmas display you've got in mind, two smaller ones might work better than one large one.

@Daveismyhero: It sort of is one tree stacked on top of another.

@VintageDude: Surely you don't have the TV and the stereo on at the same time? That would get noisy, and you'd have a hard time concentrating on either one.

@VintageDude said:
" 245-1 Lighting Device Pack"
My 1st Power Function. Felt like absolute state of the art technological genius at the time... and pretty much was!

"Stereo
"Let It Snow" - Dean Martin"
Mud, Slade and Wizzard!

To be honest, I think the alternative model looks better as the main model on the official pictures!
Maybe you should consider, adding a review of the two smaller trees later, when you have the time? Or Alice could do it? I think, it would be appreciated... :)

Addition: Anyway, thanks for the review! Like the set!

(could not edit my comment, despite having the button!? could click on the button, but no way of saving the edit!?)

@sjr60 & @VintageDude: My dad sometimes says he thought he had something because he had Lego light-up bricks. I did too, in 6780. (Although that one also made noise.)

I am not Christian and do not celebrate Christmas, so this set does not interest me. What I *am* interested in is those 4x4 macaroni tiles ow being in red. I need them for a MOC.

@Librarian1976 said:
"I am not Christian and do not celebrate Christmas, so this set does not interest me. What I *am* interested in is those 4x4 macaroni tiles ow being in red. I need them for a MOC."

J/k? just use as tree for city/
make a forest?

@Straight_6 said:
"Addition: Anyway, thanks for the review! Like the set!

(could not edit my comment, despite having the button!? could click on the button, but no way of saving the edit!?)"

yeah just shows, cancel button

Heh. My family on both sides has used fake trees for as long as I can remember. My mom grew up on a farm, so her parents had enough storage space that they’d just carry the whole tree up to the attic, decorations and all, and stow it until it was needed the following year (a fact which I didn’t learn until mid-childhood, since we were never there to see it go up or come down). My parents got one that had top and bottom halves to the trunk, and then tiers of six branches each, which would get stripped of decorations and disassembled before being packed up with each length of branch being bundled together to make it (somewhat) easier to figure out which order to assemble them in. My dad’s parents had the same style tree, but I vaguely remember them just popping the trunk in two sections, kinda like this.

@Murdoch17:
I believe that was a traditional method of decorating trees a few centuries ago in Germany, which is probably what Christmas tree lights were meant to replace. I’ve even seen strings of lights that were made to look like candles, but those are pretty rare in my experience. They looked like they’re kind of a pain to set up so the candles don’t fall over.

@jaredhinton:
I’m partial to 10069. By itself, it may not look great, but I used every part (and no other parts) from five copies to build a 10” tall tree that I can add to our seasonal club layouts. The spiral wing designs used in newer Winter Village sets is also fun to play around with as it allows more variety in terms of fullness. This style really only works for very fat trees that many homes don’t have room for. I do prefer it to the inverted slope style, which tend to look fairly anemic.

@WilsonPark:
40338 was indeed a GWP, and it didn’t last very long. I remember another member of my LUG mentioned planning to place another order to snag a spare copy, but they’d already sold out.

@Huw:
Maybe take a picture of the assembled twin trees as they appear in the instructions? It’s better than nothing.

@chardir:
Some ornaments hang below the branches via hooks, and others actually do rest on top of the branches.

@kolaxanthe:
Ooh, ooh, ooh! How about statistics on home fires caused by not watering natural trees and overloading electrical outlets? What, too morbid?

@bdc101:
Build a pedestal.

For people finding the proportions of this set too vertically stretched, surely it'd be easy enough to omit or remove a few plate layers of leaves to make the tree more squat to your preference?

@VintageDude:

Decoration:
Club layouts at The Henry Ford Museum, Detroit Festival of Trees, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

TV:
Muppet Christmas Carol and A Christmas Story

Music:
Wicked Cool Records’ Christmas-a-Go-Go, Blackheart Christmas, and various singles that are even less appropriate than any of those songs.

Food:
My grandmother, who passed away on Christmas 2004, used to make me meringues every Christmas. My mom has been trying to more recently, with increasingly greater success (because every oven is a little different, getting them fully cooked but not burnt requires a lot of trial-and-error…which gets complicated by only making one batch per year, and the whole process resets any time my parents move).

Drink:
Don’t really have one. I do remember buying a lot of Pomegranate 7-Up, but that only lasted a few years before it was discontinued.

Spirit:
See the first answer. All three of those are shows we’ve been doing since the mid to late aughts.

40338 is a joy to assemble and disassemble each year. It's one of the only holiday sets that my wife doesn't get tired of seeing.

@8BrickMario:
Who complained that it’s not fat enough?

@PurpleDave said:
" @Murdoch17 :
I believe that was a traditional method of decorating trees a few centuries ago in Germany, which is probably what Christmas tree lights were meant to replace."
Actually, using real candles for decorating Christmas trees is still quite common in Germany to this day (my parents-in-law and their neighbours being prime examples).
We on the other hand have been using chains of electric candles ever since I was a kid, not just for safety reasons but also because it is just way more practical.
They look like this one: https://www.amazon.de/Lunartec-Christbaum-Lichterkette-LED-Weihnachtsbaum-Lichterkette-Kerzen/dp/B00B06BQEW/ref=asc_df_B00B06BQEW

Note: I don't get anything from Amazon for this link. It's just to illustrate my point. Perhaps Huw wants to edit the link so that Brickset can use it for their affiliate program.

Honestly, i like this set but its not my favorite christmas set

@imemine98 said:
" @kolaxanthe said:
" @lippidp said:
"Wow, pass at that price. Looks kinda OK. They should just go nuts, offer a UCS Christmas Tree that's like 3 feet tall. $899 and with black placard that says "Christmas Tree"..."

What fun (and often pointless) facts would be included on a UCS style plaque about Christmas trees?"

Whatever facts are included would be fact-checked with a fine-toothed comb by @capnrex to point out any mistakes or inaccuracies. "

"Chrismas tree with 3.000 leafs
Hight: 1 metre / 3 foot
Do not ignite the candles: ABS poses a fire risk".

@Daveismyhero said:
"I want to like it, but the first time I saw the build, it looked like 2 Christmas trees stacked on top of each other, and now I can't unsee it. :-/
"

I think that's because the extra layer of plates in the middle of trees add a slight gap. I am sure you can just omit those pieces and you wouldn't have that unsightly gap in the tree. It will just be more difficult to disassemble later.

I bought this as a center tree for my winter village as well! I think I might make the tree stump a little higher from the ground so I can stack all the mini gifts from over the years under the tree!

@chardir said:
"It's not very interesting. Couldn't they have made it more colourful, with more decoration? And it seems odd that the baubles are sitting on flat wide branches instead of hanging below narrow branches."

if the review wasn't such a horrible burden for the author he might have mentioned that after building the set you have a lot of small decoration pieces in various shapes and colors left over. so, giving it a preferred personal look is no problem.

@Jdrewg said:
" @lippidp said:
"Wow, pass at that price. Looks kinda OK. They should just go nuts, offer a UCS Christmas Tree that's like 3 feet tall. $899 and with black placard that says "Christmas Tree"..."

Maybe recolor the upcoming Eiffel Tower? a 2-in-1."

Ha! Starting in January, you can spend six months building the Eiffel Tower for Bastille Day, and then immediately disassemble it to start building the Christmas tree! I can feel the tedium of the build from here already!

This model has geometric problems. 40338 has a perfect triangle shape. But this doesn't have.

Price in UK is actually £39.99 (both online and in Lego stores. (I still bought it!)

@VintageDude said:
"Question:
What is Christmas for you?
"

Decoration
- Christmas tree covered with Lego bubble decorations and Lego keychains
- All the Winter Village sets plus motorized train and Hogwarts Express on one table, giant ski mountain MOC on another, and the North Pole on a credenza. It's crazy and bigger every year!

TV
A Christmas Story, Scrooged, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, then Monty Python movie marathon for Boxing Day.

Stereo
"Baby, it's Cold Outside" Sachmo
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"
Enya Christmas Secrets

Food
- Eve - 13 course Italian fish dinner extravaganza including fresh oysters on the halfshell
- Day - Roast Beef and Garlic Mashed Potatoes w mushroom gravy, Slovenian Christmas cookies, Potica

Drink
Eve - Prosecco and then Negroni and finish with Espresso and Frangelico
Day - Irish coffee, Tullamore Dew, mulled wine or hot toddies
Boxing Day - Chimay Ale

Getting into the Spirit of Christmas:
Skiing the sweet champagne powder of the Colorado Rockies!