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Thanks to everyone who entered the fifth annual Expand the Winter Village Contest. Once again, it has been inspiring to see so much creativity in a relatively small space. This year, we have 36 excellent qualifying entries! You can now vote for your favorite entries by replying in this topic. Please read the voting rules below carefully and use this thread for voting only. We'd love to hear your feedback on the competition in the discussion thread. Voting closes on Sunday, January 18 at Midnight GMT. Voting Rules - You have a total of 5 points to award - You may not give more than 3 points to a single entry - Post your votes in the voting format shown below (list entry number, builder, and number of points awarded) - You may not edit your post (posts edited more than one hour after the vote was placed will not be counted) - Votes that do not comply with these (simple) rules will not be counted - You must have joined Eurobricks prior to January 1, 2015 Examples of Correct Votes 7. Bonaparte - 2 19. Hinckley - 3 7. Bonaparte - 2 15. Sinner - 2 19. Hinckley - 1 7. Bonaparte - 1 15. Sinner - 1 19. Hinckley - 1 21. Pandora - 1 22. Rick - 1 The Entries 1. Old Man Winter's General Store by ResIpsaLoquitur 2. Game Room and Hot Tub by BrickRally217 3. Holiday Cafe by Ranger_Elegost 4. Gingerbread House by Eureka 5. Christmas Frozen Fountain by sweetsha 6. the Gingerbread House by Athos 7. Buddy's Bunkhouse by GmaBlu 8. Ebeneezer's Books & Blends by stebai 9. Santa's Storage Unit by antp 10. Reindeer Barn by 6kyubi6 11. Winter Fun Fair by jaredchan 12. Lighthouse by Rustony 13. Nativity Scene in the Winter Village Public Park by parsom 14. Removed–this entry was disqualified as it was posted elsewhere before being entered into the contest. If you voted for this creation, please follow the instructions in this post. Thank you. 15. Food Mall by monkey_roo 16. Woodworker's Shop by Leopold 17. Santa's HotChoc&Cake Train by Gabor 18. Conservatory, Florist and Garland Shoppe by ShaydDeGrai 19. Elf House by boxyman123 20. The Little Cottage by nucleon 21. Santa's Garage and Stable by Ozp 22. Dance Hall by Emma 23. Sweet Shoppe by CM4Sci 24. The Barn House by Kristel 25. Cheers & Beers by soundwave_sw 26. Uni-Kitty is com-ing, to Town by Cara 27. The Elves' Bakery by Bayou 28. Ginger Bread Man House by keiththelegokid 29. "Reindeer" Games by MaineBrickFan 30. Market by tommi5 31. St. Nick's School for Elves by gazumpty 32. Jack Frost's Forge and Shoppe by JackJonespaw 33. The Water Mill by StevenV 34. North Pole Motel by eliza 35. Gingerbread Bakery by ---Vertea--- 36. Reindeer Maintenance Barn by LittleMsLaura

This is my entry for the winter Village contest: a Reindeer/Maintenance Barn. It's where the Reindeer are stabled and Santa's elves maintain/perform much needed upgrades the sleigh. You didn't think Santa delievered all those flat screen TV's and gaming systems using just reindeer power did you? Shown below are: - the overall outside of the barn both front and back; - reindeer getting a treat for all their hard work; - work being done on one of the thrusters inside the barn - and the real story to why Rudolf has such a red nose More photos can be found on my Flickr page HERE. Reindeer & Maintenance Barn Now that Christmas is over, time to perform some much needed elven maintenance on the sleigh. Christmas presents aren't what they used to be (toy trains, hula hoops and dolls). Now it's flat screen TV's and gaming systems the kids want. All that additional weight is becoming a little to much for the reindeer to bare, so the elves have installed thruster packs to the sleigh to give it a much needed boast. Here they are testing out a new design outside with Santa watching on. Up on the weathervein, even a local Owl watches on with interested as to what new motifications the elves have come up with this year. Unfortunately that owl better look out as one the of the barn cats has taken an interest in him. Think I've got it guys... Oops! With the tests outside done, the thursters are brought inside the barn where the elves can perform the additional modifications. Oops! FIRE!!!! Looks like someone forgot to remove the power to the thurster before they started work on it. Carrots anyone? Meanwhile on the other side of the barn, some of the reindeer are getting a much deserved treat after a hard night's work pulling Santa's sleigh. Mmmm carrots. Delicious. Putting the snowmobile away for the season Around back of the barn, a group of elves are hard at work storing away in the loft some of the equipment for the season. Two doing the hard labour and a third (with the help of the Gingerbreadman) supervising. Hey. it takes a lot of hard work to make supervising look this effortless In an attempt to get away from the cat the owl relocated to above the crane hoist, but it appears the cat is just as determined to follow him. How Rudolf got his Red Nose (the untold story) While everyone else is busy working, Rudolf and one of the elves take advantage of no one looking to sneak around to the side of the barn and partake in a little of their own Christmas cheer. H'ick!!! I guess now we know the real reason why Rudolf's nose is so red ...Glühwein! Uh-Oh! I hope those two are not completely sauced as it appears this party is about to be crashed by a local polar bear.

(I'm just going to go ahead and apologize profusely for the terrible quality of pictures. Once I find my big ol' camera things won't be so bad, and I can stop using my phone.) Jack Frost! Everyone knows him as the guy with the ice. The ice guy. But who knew that he's also a talented blacksmith, eh? He works for Santa to forge some quite magnificient golden pieces, using only the finest gold material infused with magical ice powers to create a hardened gold end result, be it a breastplate, a small statue, or a weapon. Since Santa quit giving gifts of gold to kids, as, obviously, the kid could sell it for thousands, Jack opened up a Shoppe, where all of his golden craft can be bought for pretty high prices, actually. Jack isn't a business man. He's a blacksmith. Look at it. A shoppe and forge. Also a truck and a furnace for melting down the imported gold. And if you really, really want to, there's one more picture of the truck on my Flickr. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Here is my entry for the Expand the Winter Village contest.... presenting the North Pole Motel. The North Pole has become a great vacation destination for visitors from other holiday lands. The set features motel sign, two cozy cabins, and a vintage car for traveling. The cabins are furnished. And here is the car with the top off. Thanks for looking!

Here is my model for the Expand the Winter Village Contest. Enjoy. Winter Village Gingerbread House at the North Pole by macsforless, on Flickr

Hi all, This is my entry for this marvellous end of year contest. I made a little house for elves which is on a side of a big rock. This rock was modified by the elves to add a bread oven in a part of it. After that, they constructed a small house to be just aside the oven. I was inspired by old farm here (in east of France) because many ot them had a bread oven 50 years ago. Unfortunatelly today a lot of them has disappeared. I worked hard on the snow because I would like to give it a real shape with curves and some snowslides on the second part of the roof because of the wind. I also add a light brick in the oven, with a "key" to turn it on or off. The key is hidden in the rock. Have a great end of year, thanks for reading. link to the album on photobucket : http://s204.photobuc...village contest

Winter Village: Uni-kitty is com-ing, to town! As I was starting this build Unikitty came along and screamed, "That's MY house!!!" From that point on I felt like a snowball rolling down a hill. So, she moved in, added a dance floor, decorated for the holidays (Unikitty style), then threw a 'Welcome to my New Home' party. She couldn't wait to try out ice skating. While others from the North Pole and Winter Village are visiting, poor Larry is working again this year, this time DJing. In the living room, Unikitty has hung up her stocking. While on the top floor, she put in a dance floor, complete with disco ball. Inside visitors enjoy the treats Unikitty has laid out, while warming themselves at the fire. Only kids and Unikitty see nothing strange about ice cream in winter. Unikitty's 'Welcome to my New House' party

Here's my entry to the Expand the Winter Village Contest V: The Barn House. This is where the sick animals (mostly fawns) are kept and looked after when they are not well. The 'set' includes the main barn house, and outdoor yard with shelter and five minifigures. The minifigures from left to right are: Elf - Santa's liaison Jo - looks after the animals Kids x2 - because where there are small animals there are always small kids Lachy - cleans up after the animals Front of the barn house: You can see the chicken on the left hand side, snooping around the feed store for the animals. The interior of the barn house has a small stable, for the animals that need lots of attention, a pot belly stove to warm up the barn and a loft so that Jo can stay close to the animals 24/7. The outside yard is for those animals that need a little less attention. It includes a small stable to shelter from the weather: Someone left the gate open! More images in the Flickr album. Thanks for looking! C&C welcome.

Hello everybody! I'm here to present my entry to this year's Expand the Winter Village Contest, the Winter Village Sweet Shoppe! On the outside we have light yellow walls accompanied by a brick pattern along the bottom. Rounded windows, snowy rooftops, festive decorations and a chimney are all included! On the inside there is a nice, warm fireplace that lights up, barrels of candy and sweets and a checkout counter with treats on display. Upstairs is a bedroom for the gingerbread man (or whoever owns the place.) Back outside, the street lamp has an owl on top of it. Aside is a snow blower I included in my entry last year, I just love it so much I couldn't get rid of it. That's pretty much my entry! Hope you guys enjoyed it, maybe even vote for it! Thanks for looking! -Sci

Here's my entry into this years Expand the Winter Village contest: The Dance Hall of the Sugar Plum Fairy Each year, everyone in the village dress up in their finery and gather together at Sugar Plum's dance hall for the annual New Year's Gala. Drinks and canapés are in plenty and enjoyed by all. Mr. and Mrs. Clause take a turn around the dance floor. (Turning the knob on the lower right spins the minifigures around.) Press down on the chandelier to light the room with a soft glow. Thanks for having a look - comments/critiques are always appreciated. Also, there are a few more pictures over on flickr.

Winter Village: the Little Cottage This's my entry for the Expand the Winter Village and my first time for contest on Eurobricks . Concept is a small cottage in the winter season and in christmas time. I've never seen a snow before because my country is located at the equator but I would like to have a house like this I choose Natalie Portman face because she is my favorite actor inside the cottage , I can go up to the mezzanine by use a ladder. many toys on it!! Hey , I got a trumpet ! Hay a little dog ! which one ? Cookie or candy I hope you enjoy my work , Thank you and sorry for my bad english = =

This is my entry for the "Expand the Winter Village" competition. It is also my first post. Here is a link to the photo including Santa's North Pole set and the Elf's House set : http://i1167.photobu...zps328b9d73.jpg I have created a house for the elves, I wanted it to blend with Santa's North Pole set so I built it similarly. I felt penguins were necessary as was the postbox for the mail to arrive. A better view of the chimney. Finally an inside shot.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Over the years I have found a lot of inspiration here at Eurobricks so I thought I'd give just a little bit back by sharing photos of the Winter Village / Christmas display I have made together with my two boys this December. It consists of all the official Winter Village sets and a slightly modified version of the train from 79111 - Constitution Train Chase. Plus a few extra details here and there...! Lighting done with LifeLites. More pictures are available at Flickr.

Hello all, here is the latest addition to my winter village. My version of Santa's workshop. Hope you like it. DSC03766 by Brickedin, on Flickr DSC03816 by Brickedin, on Flickr DSC03799 by Brickedin, on Flickr DSC03671 by Brickedin, on Flickr DSC03682 by Brickedin, on Flickr

Hi everyone. My daughter and I have been working on a Christmas Winter Village MOC. Its based around the Santa's Workshop and the other Winter Village sets. We've also built a large Christmas Tree, a custom Lego Church and a number of smaller features. I hope you like the MOC. If you want to watch the previous 5 updates showing it being built from basic structure, to the working tree lights, to where it is today, click on our Youtube channel link. I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to leave any comments. Thanks, Mike

Hello everyone, so here is my entry for the "Expand the Winter Village Contest V" I present to you the "Reindeer Barn" well everybody needs a home sweet home so why not build one for our dear reindeers. In this set you'll find: A barn 4 reindeers: Rudolph/Comet/Dasher/Cupid A cute pine tree 2 snowman 5 minifigs Here is the back of the Barn: The reindeer are resting and are wainting to get feed You can go check some more pictures here: http://brickpirate.n...hp?f=33&t=16449 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE and I hope you'll like my little Barn

"Bah humbug!". Ebeneezer left the Lego Movie, realizing what a terrible mistake he had made when he decided on a life of accountancy. "The real money is in coffee", he mumbled as he trudged home through the snow banks, his misery mounting, "Banks without money - humbug.." As he reached his destination he paused outside his cold and lonely office, "I'll have to do something about this..." With a new found enthusiasm Ebeneezer set about creating a lovely little coffee & book shop, "Books & Blends". He soon found he had stumbled upon a goldmine, people just loved his coffee and dusty old almanacs. He even allowed Charlie, the local chestnut seller to set up outside his store. Ebeneezer didn't even ask for a percentage of Charlie's takings! Everyone agreed his cosy, little cafe was just the place to warm up on a winters day. Ebeneezer though, peering down from his balcony study, still liked to keep en eye on the business, Old habits were hard to lose, but he was happy. The books sold well, but the real money was in the COFFEE!! Ebeneezer's Books & Blends became so popular he never looked back on his miserable past. His staff loved the kindly man, who, in-turn, paid them well and valued their help. Everything indeed, with a little help from Lego, was "awesome" for Ebeneezer Scrooge. Merry Christmas! I hope you like the entry - as always I try to keep my builds as close in size and parts to the official Lego sets. There is also a Light Brick in there but it's hard to see (it's underneath Ebeneezers study). All the best to my fellow Lego builders for the competition & festive season - see some of you at Brickvention I hope in Melbourne 2015.

I made a bunk house for Santa's Elves to coordinate with Santa's workshop. Since I am leaving to see my grandchildren tomorrow I can't wait for my impending bricklink to furnish the kitchen and put a ping pong table on the first floor. Originally I wanted the bunks to be greens on the left and reds on the right, but since the tiles didn't arrive the Elves' beds are more individual. Each elf represents one of my grandchildren.

Hi everyone, Here is my entry for the Expand the Winter Village Contest V - the Christmas frozen fountain : A lovely place for Santa and Gingerbread Man to practice ice-skating Below the details of the different elements - I tried to keep the spirit of official winter sets : Yeti feeding his cat : Holiday elves riding a sledge driven by the fastest penguins of the North pole : And of course the fountain : Hope you'll like it. Comments and remarks are welcome

So I was already building a "mom and pop" general store for the Winter Village when this contest opened, and it was decided that it had to be North Pole/mythological themed. I wanted to keep the store going, but what mythological character would possibly be running one at the North Pole? I'm betting we're going to see a lot of gingerbread houses, so who's left? And then I remembered: Old Man Winter. I'm not sure if Old Man Winter is a real mythological character, but he's a popular representation of the dry, grumpy feeling we get in a bitter winter. Fortunately, my Old Man is a little merrier than that and runs a nice (if somewhat chilly) store to sell provisions to North Polers and other visitor. Old Man Winter runs a traditional old-fashioned general store, though it gets frosted over quite frequently. He has it decorated in sparking blue lights and he's helped by an Arctic Explorer who brings supplies, a helper who gets rid of the icicles, and the Abombinable Snowman who's available for pictures with visitors. It's a great place for the Fantasy characters to stock up on tools and goods--just look at Santa with his new wheelbarrow. The roof is removable for easier access to the interior. Inside is a store full of, well, everything. You never know what's for sale at the North Pole--like any general store, it's "whatever's in this week." There's plenty of ice cream, though! Or you can read up on the latest Lego news, buy some frozen fruit or canned goods, get some tools, spare cheese for your fondue, or even some old tires. You didn't expect to be getting hot coffee from a guy named Old Man Winter, did you? The Abominable Snowman is not somebody you want working in a store full of stuff, so Old Man Winter keeps him happy with popsicles and lets him pose for pictures with visitors. He sits on a chair made out of pure ice! (Fortunately, it's padded so the Abombinable Snowman doesn't freeze his bottom.) Here's an alternate shot of the interior. I have more pictures available on my Photobucket site. I think I'm going to still be doing some mods to this set to get the colors more consistent. I've put in a Bricklink order for a bunch of white doors and windows and some blue shutters to get a colder, wintry look going. In the meantime, I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions on this shop! I've been slowly modding this building for the last two years (and I had to buy a ton of 1 x 4 brown wood bricks) to get it just right, but there's always room for improvement. I look forward to your suggestions and to everyone else's entries!

It's that time of year again! The Holiday Season is fast approaching and we're already excited about the latest additions to the Winter Village from TLG: Santa's Workshop and the Winter Village Market. It's now becoming a tradition here in Town that we love to see people's own creations to add to the Winter Village, and this year is no different. Things have changed slightly, but the core of the contest is here - we'd love YOU to build us an addition the the World of Santa's North Pole Village or create buildings for other holiday characters. Does that sound limiting? Fear not! Even Santa's Village needs train stations and houses and bakeries and all the other things a non-Santa Christmas village would need so be as creative as you want. Frosty and Rudolph and other holiday characters could use their own houses and workplaces too, I think so there's a chance to be really clever if you want as well! So come on Eurobricks, what are you waiting for? Let's have some wintery fun, and show us what your Holiday Character Winter Village inspired creation is! The Rules Entries must be posted by midnight UTC, December 31st, 2014. One entry per member. Entries must be similar in size to an official release LEGO Winter Village set. Entries should be either Town-themed or Friends-themed and may include either (or both) Minifigs and Minidolls. Entries should be new (never posted anywhere previously) and be similar in style to the previous official TLG releases. All entries are to include only real LEGO. No clone brands, 3rd party parts, or digital entries allowed. Decals will be allowed if you've made them yourself, but no cutting, sculpting or modifying parts. Entries are to be placed in their own entry topic in the Town forum. The title of the topic should begin with "Winter Village: " and then give the name of the entry. The entry post (first post in your entry topic) may be edited at any time up to the end of the contest, so feel free to make improvements if you wish. Entries are to consist of no more than 5 posted pictures of 1024x768 pixels or smaller resolution but may also include a link to a folder of additional images of any size. Photos of your creation can be manipulated with Photoshop for levels, proportions and color correction but may not include graphic enhancements. We reserve the right to disqualify any entry that does not follow these rules. The Prizes First Prize: EITHER 10245 Santa's Workshop OR 10235 Winter Village Market Second Prize: whichever set is not chosen for First Prize, of the two sets above. Third Prize: TBA For Inspiration and Reference Expand the Winter Village Contest IV: Winners | Entries and Voting | Rules and Discussion Expand the Winter Village Contest III: Winners | Entries and Voting | Rules and Discussion Expand the Winter Village Contest II: Winners | Entries and Voting | Rules and Discussion Expand the Winter Village Contest: Winners | Entries and Voting | Rules and Discussion Best of luck everyone, we're looking forward to seeing your entries!

It's here! Or, rather, over there, at LEGO® IDEAS. Thanks for checking this train project out. If you like it, I'd appreciate your support vote at the IDEAS project page. If you don't like it, or might like it, let me know in the comments what you would have modified or added. with gratitude, James https://ideas.lego.com/projects/85295 Custom Winter Village™ LEGO® train project, arriving soon on track LEGO IDEAS™. Can you smell the coal, oil, steam, and pine? Can you feel the crisp chill in the air against the warm aroma of spiced cider and nutmeg atop a mug of nog? This project awaits approval, after which your support would be greatly appreciated to enable potential production and begin revenue service. Check back in about one week for additional "Winter Village Express" train project details and get your ticket to travel back in time on a winter holiday as this project goes "live" on LEGO IDEAS. "Tickets, please." ;-) Thanks for checking it out. sincerely, James Mathis

Hi all, I've been waiting to order my second holiday set 10245, to complete my santa workshop with a back-side), for the ever great holiday promotion set. This year it is a really must have to complete the main set. Only first and even second of october came, and no holiday gift was added to make bag at the Lego shop. When i change region to the United States, it does appear :-( Does anyone know if this promotion will only be offers in the United States? Early holiday greetings, Alco

Hello everyone, I am very pleased and honoured to be able to review one of the highly anticipated upcoming Winter Village addition which is classified and labelled under the LEGO Creator Expert Theme. I have not done any of the LEGO Winter Village sets for my review before and I am extremely elated to have such an awesome opportunity given by Eurobricks Staff and The LEGO Group (TLG) to have an early insight reviewing on this beloved winter set. Earlier ago, Eurobricks has started a topic in August 2014, which entail the official press release discussion topic for more high resolution images provided by TLG. Name: 10245 Santa's Workshop Theme: LEGO System / Creator Expert / Winter Village Year: 2014 Pieces: 883 Minifigs: 6 minifigures Price: USD $69.99, GBP 59.99, EURO N.A, SGD N.A Resources: Brickset, BrickLink An original box image of the 10245 Santa's Workshop Back view of the original box image of the 10245 Santa's Workshop Different side view of the original box image (1) Different side view of the original box image (2) Different side view of the original box image (3) Discover the Christmas Magic right here in the Santa's Workshop Come on everyone and be excited by the charm and magic of Christmas right here in the Santa's Workshop. It has never been done before for any LEGO sets. Occasionally, we do get a few slight different variants of Santa Claus minifigures in some places such as the City Advent Calendars, Lifestyle items, etc. There is never a real home for Santa to live in. Thus, we have to thank the man for the design of this set. It is none other than, Marcos Bessa (Senior LEGO Model Designer) who has made this design possible. He has designed many various and iconic sets. One of his recent works, was the 21108: Ghostbusters. If you wish to know more about this 10245 Santa's Workshop and Marcos Bessa, an exclusive video interview done by TLG, can be found . It is worth to watch that two minute plus video, to allow you to gain a better appreciation on this set as well, from the designer's perspective. The 10245 Santa's Workshop is part of the greater annual winter tradition, under the Winter Village sub-themes. It all started in 2009 with the 10199 Winter Toy Shop and it went on to feature the upcoming sixth addition to this memorable sub-theme in 2014, which is adored by many especially during the month of December in the celebration of Christmas Day. It has progressed and expanded systematically to allow all these sets to form an actual winter village. Even though, Santa's Workshop is not physically 'present' in a typical village setting, but it can be real near to the hearts of many, despite of his North Pole locality. I really hope TLG will continue expanding the winter village setting. The content of the sealed box The sealed box comes with nine mint packages which is numbered and grouped from one to three, a sticker sheet, three long black bendable rods and two instruction manuals to guide the user to build up the set. After the building is completed based on the selected design, the remaining spare parts varies. These are the remaining spare parts for packet 1, packet 2 and packet 3. The two instruction manuals are packaged in a sealed plastic together with the sticker sheet, like in this front and back image. Please note there is no paper cardboard at the back to support the manuals. Thankfully, when I opened the package, the manuals are straighten without any visible bending. At the end of the second instruction manual, you can see TLG promoting the LEGO Creator Expert Theme of the recent LEGO Modular series. As for the dreaded sticker sheet, there are only six elements which required to be stickered. Luckily, six is not really considered a lot of stickers. The close up details of the sticker sheet can be found in here and over here. The full minifigures range in this Santa's Workshop In this 10245 Santa's Workshop, you will get a total of six minifigures and two of them have printed backs. You will get the main star of Santa Claus. You may also notice that Santa Claus is highly similar to the LEGO CMFs Series 8 Santa Claus. This is the parts assortment of Santa Claus from the Santa's Workshop. Not quite a big difference, other than the torso neck and the new red colour for the bag of gifts. The other main new star, is casting Mrs Claus. It will be real lonely for Santa Claus to be living all alone without his loved one taking care of him during the harsh bitter winter cold. Mrs Claus will take great care of him by preparing nice baked cookies and hot chocolate in his favourite mug which will be seen later in Santa's working table. I personally find it disappointing but I believe it is the quota constrain for producing limited exclusive torso parts and set designer are highly encouraged to use existing parts and most likely his request for new parts could have been restricted for other areas of his built. Still, I am sadden by the fact that, while we are given a brand new designed skirt torso for Mrs Claus but we used the Princess Maiden torso from the 7947 Prison Tower Rescue. This female torso is also available in these sets. The remaining four are the superb hyper hardworking elves. Without these jingle elves, then Santa Claus will be working very hard to ensure that toy-making production is on schedule. These elves made use of the same hairpiece of the Series 11 Holiday Elf. The facial features for these elves are just so dynamic. I am very fond of their various looks. Their short legs are quite common and it is useful for using it as City children minfigures or dwarves. The torsos are mostly made up of common City minifigures torso, with the rare exception of the third elf from the left, which utilise a new City torso of the Juggling Man that can be found in the new 10244 Fairground Mixer. And, oh gosh... I am so wrong... The torso is not really that exclusive and it actually appears in the 3816 Glove World and 10232 Palace Cinema as well. This is quite a disappointment. Line up, please! We have a new worker among us The extended version of the Christmas Minifigures The building process overview The entire building content for Packet 1 Some useful parts in Packet 1 After opening and pouring all of the LEGO elements together, I personally find these items to be quite useful. First of all, no one will mind the fact that the reindeer eyes and the fur backs to be printed. I am very pleased to see them printed as it could be useful for builders to attempt to use it to build other brick-built animals with those features. The magic wands and guitar is not new, but it is nice to have them as Christmas gifts even though I will really prefer teddy bears instead. The stars and ribbons are some nice ornamental touch which I find it nice to outline additional fine details. The new red colour for the bag of gifts for Santa Claus is distinct and matching. Somehow, I am surprised to see a spare additional white beard for Santa Claus. It could be good to keep the spare part for your minifigures customisation in the future. North Pole signage To get to North Pole, you must first locate the elusive North Pole signage. Too bad, the wording is made up of sticker. I am personally fond of the simplicity and subtle hint of Santa Claus since it utilise the red and white colour schema for the pole. Christmas Tree When there is a Christmas celebration, you will bound to find a Christmas Tree. This small brick built Christmas Tree is well designed. It is able to outline the shape of the tree through the usage of jumper bricks to form the four sides of irregularity which eventually even out the sides. The final touch is the shining star which is placed at the top of the Christmas Tree. Baby Reindeer This cute little brick-built baby Reindeer is actually called a calf. It belongs to a deer species that live in Arctic and subarctic areas. The entire built is smaller and the ears are without the antlers. It is just simple and nice. Now let's slowly discover the rest of them. Reindeer gathering The four brick-built reindeer are adults with their full grown antlers and larger body built. It is ingenious to utilise the robot droid body to form the head and the robotic arms to form the antler. Really nice and creative way to make use of these parts. The reindeer come with their natural backing. You can remove a 1x2 portion at the back to allow the placing of the carriage lash. This image and the other image is a simple comparison of the reindeer with the carriage lash on and off. The carriage lash is meant for the reindeer to secure with the magical sleigh which will be shown soon. Well, some of them are not very fond of this brick built reindeer and will prefer moulded version of an animal. I am receptive towards the brick-built as it bring some cuteness in it and reindeer may not be commonly used in other future settings in a more common manner which could not justify the cost of the mould. I am just guessing down here. Reindeer are having their well-deserved breaks The magical Santa's sleigh We have finally received a proper and decent design of a Santa's sleigh. Excellent work. I am super glad that it is not something like the 40059 Santa's Sleigh. The magnificent and the scale of the Santa's sleigh is terrific. The interior of the Santa's sleigh offer comfort and plentiful of storage space. I like the colour schema of the distinct red combined with emerald green and pearl gold to form the side of the sleigh and the back of it as well. It is also enable the sleigh to lock through the carriage lash for the reindeer. Oh well, this sleigh doesn't come with the nine reindeer which are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and of course, Rudolph. Frontal view of the magical sleigh Side view of the magical sleigh Let's see if I have brought all of the presents out These presents are able to fit nicely at the back of the sleigh without spilling the presents out of there. I did tell you that there are plentiful of space at the back. My magical sleigh The completed built for Packet 1 The entire building content for Packet 2 Some useful parts in Packet 2 It is useful to have these parts in your collection. I will not complain having more mason texture wall bricks of nougat brown and dark grey bricks to give texture to the outer facade. The emerald green windows with the pearl gold grilles are useful as well since we don't get this colours easily. The signage is a nice store front display but without the sticker, it look rather bare and it will be much useful if there is stickered detail for it to apply in your own creation. The printed clock is superb and lovely. I am very pleased that piece is not stickered. The printed baked cookies are also nice accessories for it to be used in many other settings. Same applied for more printed envelopes too. Front view of Santa's home After building the lengthy built of the Santa's home from the building elements in Packet 2, you are able to admire the beautiful exterior of the building. It involve some advanced building techniques, from the base to the door which is pretty awesome detail to show the snowing and grey texture. From the side, you are able to see some of the designer's application to build the fireplace exterior which is rather an ingenious way to show the dull texture combining with a mixture of grey bricks to show the flow. The two red and white poles are also a nice touch to show from far, that this is Santa's home. At the same side, I have applied the sticker onto the black signage and clipped onto the side of the house. It is hung together with a lit lamp for luminance. The clocktower is situated at the center front top of the house. It is a nice placement which make it the main focus of that house. As you open the wooden door, you will be able to see a stickered doormat with the wording, "Welcome Ho-Ho-Home". I am sure it must be Mrs Claus idea to place such a heart warming doormat to welcome his beloved husband back after a hard day of work. Near the fireplace at the ground floor, you will see another nice and sweet stickered picture frame hung at the top of the fireplace. It appears both of them are having their fun and hot Summer Holidays at tropical sunny beach. At the second floor, you will see Santa's cosy armchair in his work-area. In there, you will find his warm hot chocolate yellow mug, prepared by Mrs Claus placed at the side of his table with the candle lit, reading through the letters sent by children wishing for what they wished for and telling Santa how good they have been for the past one year. Now I put Santa in the working area and it fits him comfortably. You can see the scale of the Santa's house with the minifigures in place. The wooden pearl gold ladder is the mean to connect both floors together. Side view of Santa's home Side view of Santa's home Back view of Santa's home The completed built for Packet 2 The entire building content for Packet 3 Front view of the Workshop The second part of the building is the extension and built up of the Santa's Workshop. The wooden door look rather secure and secretive. After all, toy-making is a secretive task for the elves to work on. The building of the stained glass windows is very nice and I find it one of the best eye-catching detail in this workshop. Once completed, you can see the full built of the stained glass windows from the inside. The exterior work for the white snow rooftop is filled with dazzling Christmas lightings. This is pretty simple and effective way to showcase colourful lightings. But I am not quite pleased that the rooftop is not fully covered. I do wish that the roof can at least cover the top of the workshop. The diligent elves will work on the workbench. It is equipped with tools and parts for them to carry rectification works on the toys to ensure highest quality checked is being carried out. You may also notice the last stickered part, which show a motivational poster designed by Santa to motivate his elves to work hard to meet the tight deadline. Side view of the Workshop Side view of the Workshop Back view of the Workshop Front view of the toy-making machine If I introduce this last component of the Santa's Workshop, the simplest way to present it could be that this bad-megablocks machine is a dream of many children. If this machine is able to magically produce any number of LEGO sets that I want, that will be incredibly awesome. Enough of my silly dream, this is a magical toy-making machine specially created for Santa Claus in his beloved workshop. The toy-making machine is operated by qualified and well-trained elves and the machine is capable of producing a series of beautiful toys in the assembly line. The finished built of the toy-making machine is fantastic, especially with this brand new printed tile which features the machine controls. It has printed gauges, adjustable levers and light on it. Real awesome to have such lovely printed tile. And, "again", I have made a silly mistake of mistaken identity. It seem the printed tile is not that exclusive and it is a common printed tile that used in some recent train models. It has appeared in a total of 31 sets. For those who are very familiar with the City Advent Calendars, we do get some micro building toys, similar to the one made here. In this case, the toy-making machine produces a blue classic spaceship and yellow car in micro scale. Side view of the toy-making machine Back view of the toy-making machine The completed built for Packet 3 Front view of the fully built Santa's Workshop Isn't it a sight to behold to place the two finished section and combined them to form a built Santa's Workshop. Personally, I am fond of the finished built of the Santa's Workshop despite of some flaws in my opinion that was mentioned earlier in my other segments of my review. I like the outline of the workshop. It felt very compact and he managed to squeeze many fine details on the exterior which is highly commendable. All in all, it is still a nice piece of building to be featured in the Winter Village setting and a place for our main characters to live in. Back view of the fully built Santa's Workshop Welcome to the North Pole I have prepared a few additional pictures below for your viewing pleasure and I hope you will like the way that I have arranged with them. Let's try and repair this blue Classic Spaceship Santa needs you Come boys, have some baked cookies Let's hire these new helpers Have some baked cookies before you depart Good bye Santa and don't be late Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas! Santa Claus welcoming these special visitors Good bye Mrs Claus and my hardworking jingle elves To conclude, I enjoyed building this set very much. The building process is interesting and not quite suitable for our younger builders since this set is targeted at the age of 12 plus and above. The minifigures are fun to play with except the disappointment of Mrs Claus. It could have been better. The finished building and the numerous components that form the entire Santa's Workshop is amazing. I love it, except that the workshop portion can be improved to include a proper roofing to cover the top. Lots of nice and delicious uncommon colour bricks such as emerald green and nougat tan. Not only that, the cute and adorable brick-built reindeer including the baby reindeer are just brilliant. Lastly, if you are collecting the whole Winter Village Series, then this set is not to be missed when it is out in official retail store in October 2014 worldwide. Summary review Playability: 8/10 (Fun and enjoyable to narrate many different play scenes on its own as illustrated in the last few images.) Design: 8/10 (Very good efforts to squeeze in many fine details onto the building and other components.) Price: 8/10 (Price is reasonable for per part ratio but it may not be reasonably attractive in other regions such as Singapore.) Overall: 8/10 (Get this set and don't miss it, especially fans and collectors of the LEGO Winter Series.) I gave it a "4" based on my Review Score Card. What about yours? I hope every one of you enjoyed reading this simple review of mine. Comments and Criticisms are strongly welcomed. Pictures can be found in My Flickr.

Hello everyone! As promised to many of you who have followed me over the last few months there are some pictures of my full Winter Village version 2014. The village consists of 24 baseplates, various buildings, over 28.500 pieces and over 120 minifigs. A lot of hard work but that led me in the recent exhibition of Lecco (19-20 July in Italy) a great satisfaction. Thanks for watching and for your comments! The complete gallery and other HD images: