Review:10254 Winter Holiday Train/Vasko

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avatar Vasko
Country: Bulgaria     Age Group: TFOL   Gender: Male
Day.pngJoined: April 18, 2012   LEGO.com-icon-yellow.png № of Reviews: 4   FA-goldbrick.png № of Featured reviews: 0
LEGO Logo.jpg Building Experience: Advanced


Hello and welcome to my review of 10254 Winter Holiday Train!

Firstly, I would like to give huge thanks to The LEGO Group and Brickipedia for providing me with this set. Secondly, I want to thank my friend and cameraman Valentine, who did an amazing job taking those pictures you will see in this review. I hope you enjoy this review as much as I enjoyed building the set.


The Winter Holiday Train is the eighth set in the Winter Village line and is the first one not to be a building, which brings in some much needed diversity. The set was released in early October 2016, and it includes 734 pieces and 5 minifigures. It is recommended for anyone 12 years or older and is priced at $100/90€.

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The Box[edit | edit source]

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The set comes in a decently sized box which shows most of the sets' features on the back. All of the parts are shown on the top of the box, which is a nice inclusion on all Creator boxes, whereas the only picture on the bottom shows the length of the train and the width of the train tracks once they are assembled in a full circle. Both sides of the box show some really nice photos including the figures included in the set and the train itself.


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Contents[edit | edit source]

Once you open the box, you are greeted by a total of 7 bags, two instruction booklets packed in another bag and 4 sets of 4 rails each.

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The first instruction booklet shows you how two of the minifigures are assembled, the small train platform, as well as all the Christmas gifts and toys included in the set. The second one guides you through the build of the train itself and the rest of the minifigures.


10254reveiw-bookletone.jpg 10254review-bookletone1.jpg

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The Minifigures[edit | edit source]

Included in the set are 5 minifigures, two of which are children, one boy and one girl. The rest are a woman with a black coat and short brown hair, who is the only minifigure in the set to have a double-sided face, a ticket collector with a tan pouch and dark red hat, who reuses Dr. Rodney Rathbone's torso, and a locomotive driver with a red scarf and a shovel which he uses for the coal located in the second wagon. Also included is a remote control which is made up of a walkie-talkie and a trans-green stud. The remote control is used by either of the kids to play with a toy robot.

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Bag 1[edit | edit source]

Bag one is accompanied by booklet one and assembles into a tiny platform covered with snow with a bench and a lamp post which has a Christmas wreath attached to it. The grandmother can sit on the bench and maybe even take a nap while she waits for her grandchildren. All of the toys and gifts in the set are also included in the first bag.

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Bag 2[edit | edit source]

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The second bag is actually divided into three separate ones. As mentioned earlier, it is used alongside a part of the second booklet to assemble the steam locomotive and the coal wagon. The locomotive is really detailed and would really fit in with any other Winter Village set, due to the colour scheme being mainly green, red and black. The first two wagons are connected using a standard TECHNIC assembly, whereas the coal wagon has a magnetic buffer which can be attached to any of the other two wagons. The most noticeable detail on the locomotive must be the wreaths on either side, as well as the bright red wheels, which apart from this set have only ever appeared in 7597 Western Train Chase, which is no longer available for purchase. On the inside of the locomotive is a 1x4 tile printed with a control panel, which on its own makes the inside of the train look more detailed. The coal wagon is the smallest out of the four and has two white branches on either side, decorated with holiday lights.


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Bag 3[edit | edit source]

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The third and last set of bags is used to build the wagon with the Christmas tree and gifts, and the passenger wagon. The toys built in bag one can be stored in the small section next to the Christmas tree while they are being delivered. There is a feature that, whenever the train moves, makes the Christmas tree rotate. A really simple mechanism is used for the tree to rotate: the tree is on top of an axle that is turned by a worm gear, which in turn is attached to the front wheels and rotates along with them. There is also a mini-built train under the Christmas tree. The fourth and last wagon is accessible by two green doors on either side, and inside are included two chairs where minifigures can sit, as well as a table with a lamp and a mug. There are two lanterns on the removable roof, which is used to easily access the inside.


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Parts[edit | edit source]

There are many interesting pieces in this set, however only a few are actually exclusive. The ones that particularly caught my eye were the gold stud with a tiny bar on top, the 1x1 calculator tile and the lavender flower piece, which is used as a ribbon on one of the gifts. There are also many spare parts which could find a use in any build. Additionally, there is a brick separator included in the set, which is always handy. Another use I found for it was to separate the rails from one another, as they were connected using a couple of grey bars which aren't actual LEGO pieces. (This was really difficult, and without the brick separator, it would've been near impossible.)


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Conclusion[edit | edit source]

In conclusion, this is probably my all-time favourite LEGO train. It is also one of the most impressive Winter Village sets. I would recommend it to anyone who likes either seasonal sets or trains in general, as there are quite literally no flaws in the build or the minifigures. Thanks for reading through my review, and I hope I will be able to provide you with other reviews like this in the future!


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Comments[edit | edit source]

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avatar

CPplayer90210Bricktastic

92 months ago
Score 2++
The set and the pictures are cool.
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VaskoOutstanding Brickipedian

92 months ago
Score 0++
Thanks!
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SamanthaNguyenBuilding Bigger

92 months ago
Score 2++
As others said down below, I definitely love the .gif! It's super awesome since it's pretty rare to see a .gif in a review :) Great photos too, they're lovely!
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VaskoOutstanding Brickipedian

92 months ago
Score 1++
Thank you, Sam! Taking the photos took more time than anything else, so I'm glad they turned out well!
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Jack PhoenixBricktastic

92 months ago
Score 2++

Been looking forward to this and came to say that I wasn't disappointed. :D

The pictures are, as Brikkyy mentioned, wonderful, and the set seems pretty amazing, too! I find it fascinating how, at a first glance, this set looks somewhat smaller than, say, 5988 Pharaoh's Forbidden Ruins yet actually this set has 24 pieces more. Maybe it's because vehicles in general are smaller and more limited in space than a big "building"?

Looking at the pictures you've included of the box as well as the instruction booklets, it's interesting to see that the box has a parts listing. Now if they'd only include the part numbers there, too...
Likewise, it looks like a definite improvement that the instruction booklets clearly display the parts you need for each step — quite a step up (pardon the pun!) from the instruction booklets of 1990's and 2000's. I assume that this made the overall building process relatively easy?

The Christmas tree looks pretty snazzy, as does your .gif! You don't see moving images in set reviews that often, so it's nice that you took the time and effort to create that animation. :)

I think you should consider adding some of your pics to the mainspace article — would be great to have some community-taken pics there, especially now that the set isn't just yet generally available. ;)

Overall this was a great review — as is the set itself! — and I for one look forward to seeing your next review!
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VaskoOutstanding Brickipedian

92 months ago
Score 1++
I am very glad that you enjoyed the review, Jack! :D Definitely the inclusion of the parts in each step makes it a lot easier with these newer sets. Especially when there's several lengths of TECHNIC axles in the same set, it used to be really difficult to get them right!
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VaskoOutstanding Brickipedian

92 months ago
Score 0++
Yeah, I really didn't know where to place it, so in the end I threw it into the section where it would fit in most. :P
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VaskoOutstanding Brickipedian

92 months ago
Score 0++
Oh, right. :P
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NovaHawkLegendary Brickipedian

92 months ago
Score 1++
Great review Vasko, it looks like a really nice set :) And that GIF is awesome! It's one thing to see photos, but it's great to see it moving along the tracks and the Christmas tree rotating
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VaskoOutstanding Brickipedian

92 months ago
Score 2++
Thanks, Nova! I thought the GIF would make the review come alive in some sort of way. (also there's obviously no other way to show exactly how the tree rotates :P)
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Brikkyy13Outstanding Brickipedian

92 months ago
Score 2++
Excellent review! Your picture quality is amazing! This set looks great, but I probably won't be getting it since I don't have any of the other winter village sets.
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VaskoOutstanding Brickipedian

92 months ago
Score 1++
Thanks a bunch! I would say the set looks really good on its own, even without other winter village sets, but it's all up to you! :D
22:53:00, 10 October 2016 +
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