Random set of the day: Winter Village Cottage
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 10229 Winter Village Cottage, released during 2012. It's one of 3 Advanced models sets produced that year. It contains 1490 pieces and 8 minifigs, and its retail price was US$99.99/£89.99.
It's owned by 9,578 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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49 comments on this article
[Insert joke about it not being Christmas]
I started collecting too late to get this one and now the aftermarket is insane.
The second post-Christmas Christmas set. Fun times.
I wish Lego would circle around and re-release the older winter sets. It’s been long enough. I know collectors would complain about the resale dropping but hey that’s not the first goal of getting into Lego. At least it shouldn’t be.
This set really felt like the Winter Village theme upping its game. I loved the previous ones but the depth of the house really lent it a more substantial vibe.
Every year we build 4-5 sets out of the collection for Christmas, and this is one of those I want to build every year. Probably my favorite of the collection.
'Tis the season!... wait no it's not
This is might be the best of the bunch with the train station and post office close behind. I am fortunate to have all of them and we set them up every year at Christmas but slowly running out of table space and my wife will not let me add another table. Not sure what she is going to do when the Winter Chalet shows up in a couple of weeks to add to the scene.
Ooh, an igloo!
How many Lego igloos have there been, anyway?
@B_Space_Man said:
"I wish Lego would circle around and re-release the older winter sets. It’s been long enough. I know collectors would complain about the resale dropping but hey that’s not the first goal of getting into Lego. At least it shouldn’t be. "
As an avid Lego “Christmas” collector, I agree. Although I do love getting a new set every year, my Christmas display is already massive. Moving to an “every other year” method mixing in re-releases would be good for everyone.
@MeisterDad said: "I started collecting too late to get this one and now the aftermarket is insane."
I didn't buy the Winter Village sets, at first, but after a couple of years (when the first couple were still available in Australian toy shops), I realised that if I didn't buy them? Years in the future, I would regret it immensely.
See, I never bought any of the modular buildings, and missed the early ones completely. So I didn't repeat that mistake with the Winter Village. I buy them all, and I don't regret it.
Even though it makes my wallet sad.
@B_Space_Man said:
"I wish Lego would circle around and re-release the older winter sets. It’s been long enough. I know collectors would complain about the resale dropping but hey that’s not the first goal of getting into Lego. At least it shouldn’t be. "
I'd like to see that as well - I have a few but certainly not all. The problem with that is: it blocks a spot for a new set for those who have been collecting assiduously since the beginning. They will complain (with reason) that they are not provided with a new set (remember 10199 and 10249). If Lego ever decided (slim chance) to reissue older winter sets, they would still have to produce a new one to keep everyone happy. Santa' Visit 10293 (still available) is a reasonably close proxy.
This is such an awesome set. It really captures the important things at Christmas (family). Also just the idea of the lightbrick fireplace, stockings over said fireplace, a tree, sitting in a cosy armchair reading by the fire, the kid upstairs with his toys waiting for Santa etc. I also really like the vintage truck and how it can be a snowplough or a regular truck depending on what you want. Plus as others have said it was a really substantial build.
Recent WV sets have lost all the charm of the originals. Personally I don't like fantasy ones (Santa's workshop was fine, I always just said it was people in costumes and the building itself fitted in fine with the other buildings). However I understand people like fantasy WV sets. But the latest cottage for example was way too modern and just didnt have that special something the original had. Plus look at how much stuff you got in the 2012 one compared to the recent one.
The latest set with the tram was good, although representing a more 'Miracle on 34th Street' type scene. I personally don't mind this, but at the same time I miss the days when we got lovely little sets like post office, bakery, cottage for example that were an alpine European village in the interwar years and captured the nostalgia and charm of Christmas.
Hence, to get to the point, I am more and more inclined to agree with you guys on Lego rereleasing the original sets rather than making new ones which in my opinion don't capture WV anymore. Trying new pieces or building techniques would be good and making the originals available to those that missed out.
How have the brown bricks aged with this one? Are they brittle?
@MeisterDad said:
"I started collecting too late to get this one and now the aftermarket is insane."
Not too many uncommon parts though. Should be pretty easy to piece together.
As far as I'm concerned, it's never too early or late for Christmas! (Exceptfor October--that's too early!)
This was a great set, but difficult to bring myself to buy. Up to this point, they'd been quite a bit smaller and cheaper (in the $60-70 range). I sucked it up and paid the $100 for this one, but it started me down the path of deciding I was not going to attempt to complete this line.
I remember getting a couple these on sale at the LEGO store for 75-80 USD because the boxes were damaged.
Blows my mind when I see things like this from what I think are 'contemporary' themes and raising they're more than a decade old
So far, the only basic house in the entire run. Their only neighbors in the tiny town of Winter Village are Santa, the elves, some bewitched cookies, and the family that’s calling 911 about some dude trying to break in through the chimney. Authorities are unsure if it’s actually Santa, or just someone trying to frame the old codger by dressing like him.
@B_Space_Man:
They did that three years later with 10249, which was almost identical to 10199, the set that started it all. People did throw a fit, and not just because of lost resale value. Families had turned building the WV set into a new Christmas tradition, and getting what looked like a straight repeat crushed them. After the slew of complaints they fielded that year, I don’t think you’re likely to see this happen.
@Zordboy:
I skipped the first two, and only reconsidered by the time the third one had just hit stores. Due to the quirky seasonal release schedule, I was able to grab all three in one go at MSRP, but as I understand it, some substitutions were made in later copies of at least the toy shop (specifically, some minifig heads got retired by the third year of production, so the closest look-alikes got subbed in). I did flat out skip the second toy shop, which I do kinda regret. I haven’t built any of them yet, and if I got the second one as well, I could build everything but still keep the set that started it all MISB.
I know the weathers bad in the UK atm, but there's no need for Christmas sets Huwbot :)
I love the nostalgic look of these Winter Village sets. They are a pleasure to look at.
Only started on the re-released Winter Toyshop when I came out of my dark age. I immediately knew I had to get the 5 that I'd missed and was very glad I did.
This Winter Village Cottage was the trickiest (and priciest) to get hold of but is still my favourite!
@Sandinista said:
"How have the brown bricks aged with this one? Are they brittle?"
Two of the tiles on mine did break when prying them up; Lego replaced them quickly.
@MCLegoboy said:
"[Insert joke about it not being Christmas"]
Maybe not but the weather my county just got pelted with sure made things resemble this scene…
I’ve wired all my WV sets with lights, which makes them even better. This one was the most challenging, with that chandelier and small Christmas tree inside… intense! But so worth it.
Just packed it away til next year…
"Hey there, Janine! Is that coffee for me?"
"You're the guy with the axe and the chainsaw, so yeah, I guess this is your coffee now, Don."
That's quite good value. Almost 1,500 pieces and 8 (!) minifigs for 130 Euro in 2023 equivalent.
They should really re-release these early WV sets, like they already did with 10249 (10199) in the past.
My favorite Winter Village set. I never got many Creator sets as a kid but I always loved the idea of building a Lego house. But, I got this one, so it scratched that itch in a great way by being a great set.
A classic Winter Village set, my personal favourite of the collection
@Sandinista said:
"How have the brown bricks aged with this one? Are they brittle?"
Anecdotal, my set has no issues with the brown bricks and it gets rebuilt every year
Fun fact: it's a horror movie scene and the rightmost guy is the antagonist.
@MCLegoboy said:
"[Insert joke about it not being Christmas"]
Considering we had freezing temperatures for several days and snow just yesterday (both of which can't be said about this past Christmas), the set appears quite fitting. It's not like it's the middle of summer here you know.
3 advanced models in 2012... now there are sometimes 3 released a month!
Has it really been that long ago? Time flies!
What a cool set! So many sidebuilds and stuff to play with.
Mildly disappointed that the owl wasn't a Great Snowy owl. Well, if it doesn't get to shelter soon enough, it might be...
@Randomness: Seven so far. https://brickset.com/sets/tag-Igloo (Although two of those are Duplo, so only count as "Lego" igloos on a technicality.)
@Binnekamp: Consider that the WV line has been eligible for RSotD for four years, if you really want your mind blown.
I wonder has anyone ever used spades as the runners for a sledge? Check out the photos as lots of detail inside the house. One of the other 3 advanced models Town Hall 10224 was RSOD exactly a month ago! Looking forward to Sopworth Camel 10226 on 16th April.
Echoing what a lot of others have said, this is one of my favorite WV sets. I actually got most of mine in a free bin last year, which was a lucky surprise! It's still missing a handful of parts in the right colors, but it's not enough to keep me from building it. It's got so much warmth and all the little side builds really fill out a scene. I love the plow truck, it's really a wonderful stylistic build.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Binnekamp : Consider that the WV line has been eligible for RSotD for four years, if you really want your mind blown."
I know that! I still have the Toy Shop on the front of one of the old Shop @ Home catalogs from back in the day. Thing is, this didn't feel like one of those earlier Winter Village sets. This was the 'big one' from the time. After this they didn't make any big cottages like this one until the Santa's Visit set. This one was a hard one to live up to, and I recall people comparing the newer set to the village cottage for years after it came out.
But the funny thing is that because these sets released every other year and some of them stuck around for a bit (as far as I remember at least) the 'early period' of Winter Village sets took several years over just a handful of sets. Looking at the database again it also surprised me that the Toy Shop re-release was in 2015. It feels more recent. I guess it's because I didn't encounter these sets that often alongside other contemporaries and because most of these are timeless scenes.
This is my favorite Christmas set. So much going on.
I picked up 2 of these for £50 each from a John Lewis store as it was after Christmas and they were selling them off, I think early 2015. I sold one immediately for £100 (which I should have kept hold of!) and retained the other (which has a pretty wrecked box) which gets reassembled for the holiday period every few years - it's out of the light most of the time so all in good condition too. I think the only really scarce part is the red door but it's hardly essential to have a red door...
@Binnekamp:
Plus, the WV release schedule would have put 10249 back in stores for the 2016 and 2017 seasons before it would have finally retired. By the time that happens, you probably won’t pay nearly as much attention to it because it’s over two years old, so unless you actually bought the last copy, it’d be hard to say when you last saw it on a store shelf.
@Sandinista said:
"How have the brown bricks aged with this one? Are they brittle?"
I bought this set at release, but it sat in my closet for the past decade until this past Christmas.
Finally decided to build it and every single brown and dark green piece snapped. Thankfully, Lego support replaced all of them.
@HOBBES said:
" @B_Space_Man said:
"I wish Lego would circle around and re-release the older winter sets. It’s been long enough. I know collectors would complain about the resale dropping but hey that’s not the first goal of getting into Lego. At least it shouldn’t be. "
I'd like to see that as well - I have a few but certainly not all. The problem with that is: it blocks a spot for a new set for those who have been collecting assiduously since the beginning. They will complain (with reason) that they are not provided with a new set (remember 10199 and 10249). If Lego ever decided (slim chance) to reissue older winter sets, they would still have to produce a new one to keep everyone happy. Santa' Visit 10293 (still available) is a reasonably close proxy."
I agree with this, but will add: in the end there will be too many sets for anyone to display, so ultimately you have to be selective with what you want on your display, anyway. I missed this one too, but I'm sure within a few years I'll have one that is comparable and fits my display without having to get completionist about this theme. If you *really* like this one, maybe skip a year or two and save up to get it in the aftermarket, so everyone wins.
I didn't get this one on purpose because it seemed too big and too expensive compared to the three previous sets. Seems silly now as they've been consistently priced like this one, and the size has grown larger as well. Shame really, and the first three sets were the ideal size and price.
Like others, I feel this is much too big to be a "cottage" and doesn't really fit with the rest of Winter Village--although many more recent sets have the same features which I find drawbacks. Some I have bought, others I haven't--but this set is why I always judge each new WV set on its own, since I'll never collect the complete series.
As for the early ones I missed, there's always Bricklink....
@farsidehobbes:
Dark-green, too? I’ve had reddish-brown and dark-red shatter, and I think I heard dark-brown is also a problem, but not dark-green.
@SolidState said:
" @MeisterDad said:
"I started collecting too late to get this one and now the aftermarket is insane."
Not too many uncommon parts though. Should be pretty easy to piece together."
The red door and dark green windows will cost you, not to mention the sticker sheet…
I was in a Lego store during this one’s release window. Picked it up, looked at it and set it back down. Huge regret every year around Christmas.