samsz_3

Thank you for everything Ben. All the best.

It has been 9 years since the last train (I'm getting old), so it does make sense to release one for the new adult collectors in the black box era. My guesses at design reasoning: - Designers wanted to have the moving funnel (chimney/smokestack). This needed a set of non motorised wheels at the front for the gearing and mechanism - Due to budget constraints the tender couldn't be bigger than 8 studs long and incorporate the train motor (10 studs long), so the motor had to go in the locomotive. - Designers didn't want large train wheels on train motor (to fast/low torque), and as it isn't aimed at train AFOLs, didn't want to use a standard motor. This forced using the train motor as a bogie, giving a weird design.

On r/wintervillage in the comments there is a photo on the back of the box. It shows Powered Up can be added (I thought it was getting retired?!), the funnel/smokestack moves up and down, the polar bear nods his head and rings the bell. It also shows the toy train as a 3D printed element...interesting from Lego, but with how cheap 3D printing has gotten that can't be used as a price explanation.

10361 Holiday Express Train leaked on Reddit. Yikes. I take my words back. This is worse than 10254. No couplings, no EN wheels. I don't mind small locos just using standard size wheels, but having bogies on a steam locomotive feels like a throwback to My Own Train and the era before Big Ben Bricks (RIP) and the EN.

Brickset designer interview for those who prefer reading over videos: https://brickset.com/article/124598/interview-with-césar-soares-designer-of-75419-death-star https://brickset.com/article/124608/interview-with-maddy-o-neil-graphic-designer-for-75419-death-star Interesting discussions about the size/layout. They wanted to go for size, but I think for 1000USD fans would have preferred smaller, but half/full sphere. Re walling off trash compactor: "I did, once we added the blast door between the hangar and that area, creating space for the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan. I created a wall panel to separate them at one point, but those parts were ultimately needed elsewhere." Couldn't afford dual moulding for Imperial officers or C3PO... "we receive a certain allotment of frames to do different things with the elements, which can include new moulds, colour changes and new decorations. We try to prioritise creating new characters over features like dual-moulded legs because making a new head, for instance, counts for more or less the same as changing the colour of legs." I think the designers tried their best for this particular concept but: A) the concept was not the one to go with B) bean counter interference as always

Another leak: January 2026 LEGO City 60508 Police Tran Heist USD $199.99 Again with this and the Arctic train, I'm glad City is doing things that tie into other things, and are uniquely LEGO and creative, rather than a passenger/cargo train that could be in any non LEGO trainset.

Crazy weekend for Eurobricks to be down!!. Honestly it probably displays better than the 2008/2016 Death Stars as you can see it all. But not for 1000USD. That needed to be a sphere.

LEGO Icons 10361 Winter Express Train 956 pieces USD$ 129.99 1st October via Reddit, via Weibo I was too young for 10173 but had so much nostalgia looking at photos of it (I'm a City RC era kid) and 10254 was in my dark ages (and I don't think it was as good...) - I'm excited for this. 10254 was 734 pieces for USD$99.99, which inflation adjusted is 134.40. With the increase in number of smaller pieces used, I reckon it will be a similar size.

I love it. It's a kids toy, and for the first time in years it feels like TLG are trying to be creative with their trains. As a kid I used to do lego train crashes, knock things onto the track, I'd have fallen head over heals for this. Making two new track pieces shows that they're still interested in train sets. It looks like the "activator rail" piece has a level which is pushed down when a wheel goes over it. Could be really intesting for level crossings, signals, maybe even automatic unloading mocs? I actually really like the locomotive being an 0-6-0 design. PU has the advantage of not needing an IR receiver, so nice to finally see city going for a smaller locomotive. I do think a wagon with a snowblower fan connected to an axle would have been cool, but perhaps to complicated for a city set. The two ploughs will work well for pushing the boulders, so it's not that important. Unfortunately looks like it's back to thr plastic axle wheels, after a few sets swapping around recently. With money being stretched further, houses getting smaller etc, I hope their are still enough parents who can afford to spend this much on a toy, and have the floor space for a kid to set it up.

This aged well!

Wow, I must not have looked at set pictures properly - I didn't realise how long the included platform is! Is this the longest platform ever released? Looks bigger than latest city train stations

https://www.jb-spielwaren.de/lego-60423-strassenbahn-mit-haltestelle/a-60423/ City Tram for summer 2024. Could very easily be used as a light railway EMU. Personally i like it a lot, as it reminds me of trams I've been on, with the colours of 7938. I also think offering a "cheaper" train set without motors, whole loop of track etc, is good to try and get kids intrested in trains. Intresgingly LEGO have gone back to the older style of train wheels (metal axles)...why for something this light, but not thr heavy OE...

May be controversial, but I think this R2D2 is better than the UCS version

Agree, I think TLG is missing a trick here. They could have made a small 0-4-0 steam or diesel shunter for city with powered up (for steam would need tanks to cover it). Add in 2 wagons and a circle of track (no straights) and they may have been able to get a trainset out for under £100 in today's money.

Runs well, considering it only uses 1x train motor - with everything TLG said, I thought it would be slower. Because of this, I'm planning on putting 2x PF train motors in a carriage, and putting the battery box in the dining carriage as well, in the door section, so most of the interior is preserved. I guess the weight of the coach is giving the train motors lots of traction.