I think the color palette is another aspect that makes them so tight. The licensed sets seem to always have superior color schemes to the Lego sets from similar eras, ie Pirate vs PoTC, LoTR vs Castle
The designer for the train set, Marco Bessa, also the new Ewok Village- he seems quite talented. I have seen some folks complaining about the scale of the stage coach, but I think that particular set is also just beautiful especially when you see how it moves. I wish TLG would do designer videos for some of the Lone Ranger sets, but I think they know this thing is over soon...