I payed $100 on the online Lego Store, but I needed Christmas gifts, so it was ok. With 109 pieces, this is the largest 'freebie' ever. Four minifigures and a horse, it made the set an easy fit into the Winter Village theme. There were few rare parts, including the purple legs. The playability is limited, there is only so much you could make the horse go through the 'park', which I made into a bus depot. A good note is that the boy minifigure has the same hair and torso as the boy in the Winter Village Cottage. The legs are different, as is the face, but I consider them the same 'person'. So, if you want this set, your best chance on getting one is going to a Lego Store and asking if they have any left. (They cost about $12-$18)

Today I attended the special VIP Brick Friday event at the Sheffield LEGO store and I managed to get 10% off at the counter all though not great, it allowed me to get two Friends sets for my daughter so I could make the required £50 purchase to get my hands on the exclusive Christmas Set.

The reason I wanted this one is I have all the other Christmas Winter Village sets and this one fits right it. So for £50 you get 109 pieces to build a small add on to your village. The argument is if the set is worth spending £50 or not. Well for me I was getting those sets anyway at some point so it made sense to get make the trip to get it and also save 10%.

Right now the set is an exclusive only set and you can also obtain it early if you are a VIP Customer on shop at home. The set comes in a Christmas theme box. The front of the box has the set image on a graphic snow background with set details on the left hand side and limited edition 2012 on the other side. The back has the set in a different layout then on the font.

The instructions come with the same background and look as the book, at the back of the book you have the parts list and then you have 22 pages of instructions.

The Build

The instructions split the build up, first you assemble the horse, this is the new style horse that was released in the Lord of the rings theme this year. The horse is of reddish brown colour. You are given a 1×2 brick and 1×2 tile to put on the horse, although is pretty pointless as you have to removed them later to attach the sleigh.

Next you have to assemble all 4 minifigures, to get 4 minifigures in a set of this size is a real treat and as far as I am aware this is the only set all 4 of these minifigures appear in, the set is that new I am unable to check this. I love the sleigh drive and his face.

You then move on to the actual build process, this is split into two builds, first the sleigh and then the scenery section. The sleigh as one would expect of a set of this size is straight forward, most sections require you to put 2-4 elements on at a time. I do like how this sleigh comes together, while a simple build the overall look is very good. In all the sleigh build takes 14 stages to complete.

Next we move on the scenery piece this takes 11 stages and 3 mini stages for the street light. This is easy to put together as the bench has been in previous sets, so most people will be familiar with the build process. The street light is a different build and again the overall look makes up for the simple build. My one issue is the clear minifig heads that a used to represent the street lights are different shades of transparent one is the standard clear head the over looks like it is a faulty one as its a dirty clear one. I have replaced it with the correct colour. Be sure to check yours when you build it.

Final Thoughts

Overall it took about 20 minutes to photograph and build, so the build process was very simple but I have put it with the rest of the winter village and it fits right in. I really like the minifigs that come with this set and as I said above even though the build is simple the overall look is really good.

Is it worth paying £50 to get, I can’t really say I wanted it to go with my village and it does look good and would have bought those sets anyway, so I look at as a free set. You have to justify the reason to get it yourself but for me I am very happy I did.

Photos of the build process and finished model: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65553751@N03/sets/72157632027814961/with/8193177806/

Copied from Brick Fanatics: http://brickfanatics.co.uk/Reviews-detail/3300014-christmas-set/