Winter Village Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[RichardGoring]

21 minutes ago, Gilderdave said:

That’s a good point. How much are they as parts?

$5 something each.

[Celtchief]

1 hour ago, Gilderdave said:

I honestly wonder if we’ll see a revised Santa’s workshop. New deer etc.

I think they would be smart to do a stand alone sled set with 4 reindeer, a good sled, maybe better then the one with the workshop, Santa and like 1 Elf, as a stand alone set, not Winter Village, but something that could double as a small display for home, or a WV set.  I think some people would get the set as a stand alone, even for their non Christmas city to throw in at Christmas time flying above the city.  Some of us would get two sets to make the classic 8 person reindeer.  Throw in a GWP with a Rudolph in a small stable with one elf for synergy, and I think you have a great set.  Fairly inexpensive to get one set, and a good reason for some fans to buy multiple sets.  40$ maybe?  Throw in a display stand and call it 44.99.  

I'm just rambling though.... who knows.   

[Gilderdave]

UCS Santa’s sleigh! 😂

[LegoDW]

Highly unlikely TLG would release the Cottage, not for $100 US.  Could see a release of the Post Office for this price.

[Arstotle]

I really think they're done with re-releases.  That Toy Shop re-release did not go over well.  If anything, they'll put out a bigger, better bakery or post office, and you know there will be more houses/cottages if this line continues over the years.  

[Roebuck]

On 8/21/2021 at 4:52 AM, RichardGoring said:

But would they put 4x very expensive deer into a single $100 set? The previous ones were brick built, so much cheaper.

Not very likely, but they were rather "generous" with the animals in the City wildlife wave this year. However unless the deer are the main focus on the set like a sled or similar I do not think it will happen. Maybe if they include a deer in every set from now on as a compromise that could be a way to do it

[Paul van Nuil]

On 8/21/2021 at 1:32 AM, Celtchief said:

I think a meet Santa set could go well with a town hall, with a mayor, maybe a friendly looking 1940's cop, santa and elves that are either real in costume, you decide.... and because we already have it, a reindeer.. few kids and a few adults... Boom!  

There are a lot of "meet Santa" as MOC's on Rebrickable. I already have one, so please no: not such a set, although I like the idea of a town hall

Edited August 23, 2021 by Paul van Nuil

[nikhkin]

On 8/22/2021 at 1:08 AM, Arstotle said:

I really think they're done with re-releases.  That Toy Shop re-release did not go over well.  If anything, they'll put out a bigger, better bakery or post office, and you know there will be more houses/cottages if this line continues over the years.  

Wasn't the Toy Shop re-release only because there were some internal issues and the alternative was no set at all?

From what I remember, it wasn't an active decision to re-release the set from the beginning, only once they determined there wasn't an alternative.

Edit: I've found a source for the info:

http://thebrickblogger.com/2015/09/brick-breakdown-lego-winter-toy-shop/ 

Quote

Why was this set reissued? It’s a question Jamie Berard (the lead designer for LEGO Creator) gets asked a lot these days. I have a friend who recently took a trip to Denmark, and had a chance to ask Jamie this very question in person. The long and short of his response was rather surprising. The reissue had nothing to do with a lack of new design ideas. In fact, according to Jamie, they had a new model ready to go. However management was not ready to put resources into it just yet. So Jamie talked with the people in charge and it all boiled down to this; there would either be no new LEGO Winter Village set this year, or they could rerelease one of the previous sets. The end result is a revised version of the #10199 LEGO Winter Toy Shop from 2009. The next logical question is; what changes are there in the revised version?

 

Edited August 23, 2021 by nikhkin
Source for re-release

[SarahAnnieC]

A Christmas Parade would be pretty cool. With Santa on a fire truck at the end, and some fun floats. 

 

Or, maybe not part of the WV line, but a brick built santa and Mrs. Claus mini fig, like the Harry and Hermione brick built mini figs. 

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, nikhkin said:

Wasn't the Toy Shop re-release only because there were some internal issues and the alternative was no set at all?

From what I remember, it wasn't an active decision to re-release the set from the beginning, only once they determined there wasn't an alternative.

Edit: I've found a source for the info:

http://thebrickblogger.com/2015/09/brick-breakdown-lego-winter-toy-shop/ 

 

That's fascinating. I wonder what the bottle neck in the process was? Because it clearly wasn't design, if they had a model. And it wasn't production or logistics, because they released a model. Was it testing? Marketing?! Or maybe the model wasn't as complete as this suggests.

[nikhkin]

4 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

That's fascinating. I wonder what the bottle neck in the process was? Because it clearly wasn't design, if they had a model. And it wasn't production or logistics, because they released a model. Was it testing? Marketing?! Or maybe the model wasn't as complete as this suggests.

The next Winter Village set was the train, so I wonder if it was related to the specialised train pieces. It could be that they weren't due another production run for the tracks or wheels and couldn't fit one in before launch. I imagine they produce a large number of those parts only once or twice a year since they're used in so few sets. 

The only set that isn't a train that includes those wheels is the Batmobile. 

[RichardGoring]

Ah, fair point. That seems plausible.

[Paperballpark]

Personally I'd be happy with different cottage designs most years.

[Yellowturnip]

5 hours ago, nikhkin said:

The next Winter Village set was the train, so I wonder if it was related to the specialised train pieces. It could be that they weren't due another production run for the tracks or wheels and couldn't fit one in before launch. I imagine they produce a large number of those parts only once or twice a year since they're used in so few sets. 

The only set that isn't a train that includes those wheels is the Batmobile. 

When the toy shop was re released there was an interview with one of the designers and I’m sure he said something about whoever designed the train wanted more time on it. I’m sure it was that they came up with a better idea for it or something like that and the lego team were happy enough that the decision was either no release that year or do a re-release. I could be wrong it was a long time ago now

[Arstotle]

8 hours ago, nikhkin said:

Wasn't the Toy Shop re-release only because there were some internal issues and the alternative was no set at all?

From what I remember, it wasn't an active decision to re-release the set from the beginning, only once they determined there wasn't an alternative.

Edit: I've found a source for the info:

http://thebrickblogger.com/2015/09/brick-breakdown-lego-winter-toy-shop/ 

 

To be clear, I'm not questioning the rationale for the re-release.  I do recall that information leaking out - that they were not able to move forward with the designed model for some reason, and I agree that the theory about the train not being ready makes sense.

My point is that we intermittently hear from various people that wish for a re-release of the bakery, or the post office, or the cottage.  IMO, there is no more sure way to kill this line than to start putting out rehashes/re-releases when we only get one set per year.  I will admit that this is my favorite line that Lego puts out, and this may make me biased, but in order for this line to continue (hopefully for years and years), Lego needs to put out a new set every year.  If they'd like to do a one-year re-release of an older set alongside the new set every year - fine by me.  I'm not trying to keep older sets out of the hands of people that don't have them.  But when we only get that one, singular set every year, it has got to be an original concept.  

[Celtchief]

5 minutes ago, Arstotle said:

  If they'd like to do a one-year re-release of an older set alongside the new set every year - fine by me.  I'm not trying to keep older sets out of the hands of people that don't have them.  But when we only get that one, singular set every year, it has got to be an original concept.  

I think there will be a time where it makes sense to do, if not re-releases, new versions of older sets.  So to redo the bakery and post office from scratch.  I mean, they are not going to never do another Christmas train, it may not get done for another 10 years, but people dig Christmas trains...

 

Edited August 23, 2021 by Celtchief

[Paul van Nuil]

20 hours ago, SarahAnnieC said:

A Christmas Parade would be pretty cool. With Santa on a fire truck at the end, and some fun floats.

David Younger has a nice parade. Look at inklingbricks.com (https://inklingbricks.com/instructions/30-winter-village-parade.html)

[CDM]

I like the idea of a new cottage design every couple years. My collection is beginning to outgrow the space I have to display it so having several house-type structures to switch out would work for me. With that said, we've had two straight "houses" so we may be due for a municipal-type building.

[SarahAnnieC]

On 8/24/2021 at 5:43 AM, Paul van Nuil said:

David Younger has a nice parade. Look at inklingbricks.com (https://inklingbricks.com/instructions/30-winter-village-parade.html)

Oh man, that looks super nice! I love the Gingerbread car. 

[GwladysM]

On 8/24/2021 at 10:43 AM, Paul van Nuil said:

David Younger has a nice parade. Look at inklingbricks.com (https://inklingbricks.com/instructions/30-winter-village-parade.html)

Wow thanks for sharing, this is such a good inspiration! I can't wait to know more about this year's set. Best time of the year :)

[Celtchief]

I was just looking through the posts from last year, and it amazes me that we at least had a title for the set by July 30th of 2020, and this year.... nothing.  We gotta be getting close to the official announcement...  I know it won't happen anytime soon, if ever, but a Christmas Trolley to run down the center of a town would be a fun way to add some kinetic energy to the set. 

 

 

[CDM]

6 hours ago, Celtchief said:

I was just looking through the posts from last year, and it amazes me that we at least had a title for the set by July 30th of 2020, and this year.... nothing.  We gotta be getting close to the official announcement...

It seems like they've really clamped the leaks as best they can. Based on recent history we should get an announcement within the next twoish weeks.

[sansui]

There's no leak, even all advent calenders will be on shelf this week. I think it will be a re-release of one of old sets. My choice would be cottage. And there will be first ideas christmas set: Home Alone. That's great.

[Arstotle]

Actually, if you look back at last year, we didn't get the official announcement until September 21st.  As much as I hate to say it, we might be a full three weeks away still.  It's a little amazing to see the lack of leaks with the winter village set as well as the holiday GWP's.  It seems like we usually have some rumor/picture of the first holiday GWP by now.

[Robert8]

The Advent Calendars are already revealed, reviewed and will be released at any time now. 

 

But the Winter Village.... nothing. Not even a name