Review:10254 Winter Holiday Train
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$99.99
€89.99
£69.99
$149.99
Reviews
Vasko
Country: Bulgaria Age Group: TFOL Gender: Male
Joined: April 18, 2012 
№ of Reviews: 4 
№ of Featured reviews: 0
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€.
The Box
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.
Contents
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.
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.
The Minifigures
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.
Bag 1
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.
Bag 2
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.
Bag 3
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.
Parts
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.)
Conclusion
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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