Winter Village

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. It marks the beginning of the Christian liturgical year, and it officially opens the period of Advent. A period of expectant waiting that finds its origins in the wait for the return of the light. The winter solstice. The longest night. A cup of hot chocolate and deep dark nights with fresh snow on a pale moon. Ahh, winter is coming. And so is the Winter Village Project. 

And so it begins.

Here in Stockholm, Sweden it is far from wintery yet. It feels more like the grey November we just left behind. So no better time and place to start the unboxing of the latest Winter Village set. A set that consists out of 1166 pieces, is considered 12+ and falls in the expert build category. A set that listens to the set number 10263 and made me think back directly to the iconic 10197 Fire Brigade.

This beautiful little build retails at 99 EUR in most European countries (89 EUR in Germany) or  99 USD in the US. In Europe this set is on backorder at the time of writing but orders are accepted on the LEGO store and it should ship by December 6th. The US was still shipping.

The unboxing

Not much of an unboxing experience, it is a classic “destroy the box” kind of box, and there are 3 distinct building moments. A set of bags numbered One. Two. Three. And two books and this makes it an ideal “build together” set, where for example a more experienced AFOL builder can tackle book two, while the younger family member builds the easier minifigures and Christmas tree.

The Play

Or like in our family. The toy photographer can start playing with book 1 directly, while the more advanced build goes to the builders in the family. I really liked this small little twist, as there was really no other reason to include two books than having the opportunity of building together. Thank You, LEGO!

There are six seven minifigures included in this set.

The sled with the baby and the young girl is just supercute. I am sure these two will make it in many toy photographers bags. We had the scarf before in the Ninjago series, and it is great to see it pop up here as well. 

Do you see the seventh minifigure?

The ice skater has a beautiful sweater that feels warm to the touch. And he is playing Ice Hockey with the Dalmatian dog and so I could not resist to swap the puck for the bone. The Dalmatian dog is considered the official Firehouse dog, and this tradition goes back to the olden days, where Dalmatian dogs ran alongside the horse carriage. 

The Fire Station

The build of the fire station is fun, and I really liked the red doors on the ground floor. Very shiny. And the top floor was packed with little details that are fun to build, play with and photograph.

Unfortunataly, the flag and the markings on the firetruck are almost all stickers, but the very high quality of the uniforms of the firemen and the rest of the minifigures made me look away. 

There is a lot in this set to love. Not just to build or play. But also to use in some serious toy photography and storytelling and so our friends celebrated the first Advent outside the little Winter Village until the sun set, and it was time to go home.

Time to go home

But wait …

And then, when everyone went home and our firemen return to their bunks the red phone rings. Is the adventure just about to begin?

The fire station comes with a LEGO light brick, that nicely lits up the top floor at night and makes for some longer exposure photography.
But more on that later.

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The Winter Village Fire Station 10263 was provided by The LEGO Group. All views and opinions are our own. 

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.