I tested for you: 10254 Winter Holiday Train

While fans must now spend more than € 500 to afford the other "festive" train of the set 10173 Holiday Train released in 2006, the LEGO Creator Expert set 10254 Winter Holiday Train is there an acceptable fallback solution for those who absolutely want their Christmas gear?

Vendu at the public price of 94.99 €, does this 734-piece Creator Expert line set keep all of its promises and are consumers getting their money's worth?

No question of describing you here by the menu the box and its different sides in shimmering colors, the size of the bags or the thickness of the two instruction booklets provided. So I'll just give you my opinion in a few lines, and it will be fine for a set that will probably not enter the pantheon of the best LEGO creations.

The train itself is an almost decent model even though the only passenger car provided is ridiculously small. The impression of dealing with a miniaturized version of a train that could have been much more detailed is too present. Everything is too small, too simplified, too compacted. Even the locomotive is disarmingly banal for a set from the Creator Expert range.

We logically think of the big brother of this miniature train, that of the set 10173 Holiday Train released in 2006 and then sold € 89.99. But this set is now sold for more than 500 € on the secondary market and even if the comparison between the two boxes with content on the same theme is inevitable, the debate is closed.

As for the colors, we are in the very garish festive. We have to admit that we are in the middle of the theme and that it works, even if I have no particular affinity with the basic green and red offered by LEGO. It is probably the fault of Dark Red and DarkGreen, two colors which I find more subtle ...

This train is delivered with 16 curved rails which, once assembled to form a very round circuit which can go around the foot of the tree, cry out the need for motorization. And for 94.99 €, you won't have enough to watch your train stroll casually on the modest circuit provided. You will spend well five minutes doing Choo Choo pushing the convoy about fifty centimeters by hand and watching the tree turn slowly, but you will quickly realize that all this is sorely lacking in animation.

LEGO does not fail to remind you with insistence that you can make this somewhat static train a real mobile attraction: The products of the range Power Functions necessary for its motorization are highlighted on the back of the box and the instruction booklet ends on ten pages devoted to the installation of these different elements.

In short, you will have to spend 13.99 € for AAA battery box (88000), 13.99 € for train engine (88002), € 16.90 for the infrared receiver (8884) and possibly 15.99 € for the infrared remote control (8879) i.e. an additional invoice of € 60.87 if you do not have any of these items ...

Fans of festive sets wishing to expand their Christmas crib made up of boxes on the same theme will find their happiness there. Those who want to turn it into an "old-fashioned" train will eventually be able to rid the locomotive and wagons of their "end of the year" attributes to obtain a perfectly acceptable (small) vintage / western train. That's not bad.

LEGO states in the official product description: "...Includes dual building instructions for a build for the whole family.. "It's simpler than that: Two booklets are provided, one for assembling the train and a second for assembling the platform, two of the five minifigs and the gifts, probably intended for the youngest.

However, there is nothing very "Expert" in this set and a 7 year old child manages to assemble the thing by carefully following the instructions. The five minifigs provided ensure a minimum of playability with a conductor, a conductor, a mom and her two kids, although LEGO as usual does a lot in its description: "...Join the controller in the comfortable car to drink a delicious cup of hot chocolate ...".

In my opinion, too many rooms are devoted to ancillary objects: Gifts, platform, public bench, lamppost ... I would have preferred to obtain an additional car instead of these elements, or better, a longer passenger car.

The system of magnets allowing the wagons to stay attached to each other does its job. One just wonders why the locomotive and the coal wagon are connected by a different, somewhat sloppy mechanism. If anyone has a valid explanation for the railway equipment neophyte that I am ...

Special mention for the little Christmas tree which turns on itself, it will inspire all those who want to create micro-trees for their nursery.

In the end, this box is a bit expensive for what it offers, even if fans of the festive sets offered by LEGO will not worry about the price and will find my criticism easy. As far as I'm concerned, I consider that a train that does not move on its own without having to hand it over to the wallet, in 2016, that should no longer exist. A pack, unfortunately necessarily a little more expensive but including the engine components, would have been of good quality.

I'm going back to assemble the Disney castle, I'll tell you about it soon ...

Note: If you have taken the trouble to read this article so far, please be aware that I am offering the set I received from LEGO via a raffle among the comments posted below (Deadline for participation : October 10, 2016 at 23:59 p.m.). The box is obviously open, but the winner will save € 94.99. It's always taken and the savings will allow it to afford the Power Functions elements necessary to motorize the thing.