Review : LEGO ICONS Winter Village 10308 Holiday Main Street

Today we take a quick tour of the contents of the LEGO ICONS Winter Village set 10308 Holiday Main Street, a box of 1514 pieces which will be available at the public price of €99.99 from October 3, 2022 on the occasion of a preview reserved for members of the VIP program before global availability scheduled for October 7.

The title of the product in French version announces a "main street" decorated for the holidays. It's a bit pretentious, here we barely get enough to build two half-houses which will have a little trouble forming a street in the proper sense of the term, especially in the absence of sidewalks. But the real star of the set is in fact the tram provided and the interesting, but optional, possibilities that arise from its presence in this box.

"Collaborative" assembly is currently fashionable at LEGO and this set is broken down into four booklets with their associated bags, so it will be possible to get together with family or friends to share the experience. It will probably be necessary to draw lots beforehand to determine who will have to be satisfied with the tree associated with the tram stop...

The two facades provided will serve as background decor for a Winter Village made up of more accomplished references, the range not being stingy with pretty constructions that can be observed from all angles without having to blush, such as that of the set 10293 Santa's Visit (2021) or from the set 10275 Elf Clubhouse (2020)

This year we have the impression of being entitled to an extension of the Winter Village to be placed in the background rather than a new major member of the range: the two constructions proposed are very narrow and look more like a set of cinema than to real habitable structures. The advantage of the solution used here is to allow easy access to the interior of the two buildings in order to be able to take advantage of the facilities therein.

Despite everything, the interiors offered are relatively basic, but in the end we remain within the theme of the range with shops on the ground floor and living spaces upstairs. No stairs to navigate between levels, this product is not a Structure even if it uses some codes.

We could also criticize the atmosphere a little too "CITY" of the product which will have difficulty integrating with other sets of the range which rather embody different elements of a snowy village in festive colors. All you have to do is remove the few decorations placed on the facades to end up with a product that no longer has much to do with it and which becomes almost irrelevant. Those who collect products from the LEGO Harry Potter range could almost flesh out the builds in the set 76388 Hogsmeade Village Visit, the different buildings are rather connected to each other... The sheet of stickers is relatively large, but it allows you to obtain some decorations that are well in line with the theme and nicely executed.

As I said above, the star of the set is therefore the tram provided. the construction is detailed, the roof is removable and there is room to fit a few passengers in addition to the driver. Unfortunately, the vehicle is delivered here without even a portion of some rails which would have made it possible to stage it correctly without having to go back to the checkout and buy at least one copy of the CITY set 60205 tracks (19.99 €) with its 8 straight rails, its 4 curved rails and its 8 flexible sections which will allow you, for example, to navigate around the stop with its barriers, letterbox and clock.

And that's not to mention the possibility of motorizing the machine which will considerably increase the bill for those who have none of the elements of the ecosystem. Powered Up at hand: It is indeed necessary to integrate a Hub Powered Up 88009 (49.99 €), one train engine 88011 (13.99 €) and possibly a LED kit 88005 (9.99 €) so that this tram can move on its own by adding a touch of light in the "high street".

I simply put the hub in situation in the tram cabin so that you can visualize the result obtained during its integration. The train motor will replace an axle and a few cables will circulate in the cabin, but the assembly will remain relatively discreet if you take the time to carry out the modification properly, which is extensively documented in the product's instruction booklet. It will then be possible to set the tram in motion via the application Powered Up which will be updated for the occasion and you will take advantage of the possibility of launching some musical sequences and other sound effects to have fun for five minutes.

There is no doubt, we are here faced with a product which is in reality only a somewhat neutral complement to other elements of the Winter village with LEGO sauce and whose possibilities are frankly limited without paying a few extra tens of euros. I'm also not sure that the facades proposed fit perfectly into the context of a village, all that seems a little too urban.

There will remain a handful of minifigs that will populate the streets of your festive village. Nothing new in terms of the torsos delivered here: that of the young woman with the bonnet seen in the series 22 of collectible minifigs is not new, it also comes in the LEGO CITY set 60330 hospital (2022), the torso of the toy saleswoman is also in the set 60335 Train Station (2022), that of the seller of musical instruments has been available in several sets since 2019, that of the young boy is in two boxes marketed in 2022, including the set 80109 Lunar New Year Ice Festival and that of the tram driver is in the LEGO Ideas set 21335 Motorized Lighthouse (2022)

The elements provided are rather well selected to stick to the atmosphere of the set but LEGO obviously does not make any particular effort to include some new patterns and reward its most loyal customers who are there every year and who will spend a hundred euros. 2022 will therefore, in my opinion, remain a not very inspired transition year for the Winter Village range, except perhaps for those who will exploit the tram to its full potential.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 9th October, 2022 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.