Review : LEGO Winter Village 10293 Santa's Visit

Today we are quickly interested in the new element that this year enriches the much appreciated Winter village in a LEGO version: the set  10293 Santa's Visit, with its 1445 pieces, its four minifigs and its public price set at 99.99 € which will be available in VIP preview from September 16 before global availability from October 1, 2021.

As I wrote when announcing the product, it will not have escaped the attention of the most assiduous of collectors that this new box is more or less inspired by the set. 10229 Winter Village Cottage marketed in 2012, we find here some of the very characteristic attributes of the cottage such as the blue walls, wooden beams, the large gray fireplace that runs along the building or the roof sections completely covered with snow.

This new set emancipates this year from the clearly identifiable function of several of the boxes in the range. Winter village like the station, the fire station, the workshop of Santa Claus or the house of the elves. LEGO indeed offers us a simple village house with its inhabitants and this is in my opinion good news even if some fans will undoubtedly be a little disappointed by the relative lack of "enthusiasm" of the product. The fact remains that the construction is neutral enough to be integrated into a "real" village which is not only composed of stalls with aggressive decoration or official buildings.

As is often the case with LEGO, once again you have to be content with a half-house with its decorated facade on one side and its furnished interior easily accessible on the other. We can't really talk about playsets with this product, I think no one will really play waiting for Santa Claus to enter the place by the fireplace, but the product can either be displayed on one side or on the left. 'other depending on the effect you want to achieve on your shelves. We could just regret that the front / interior distribution is not really proportional with a living room which frankly overflows what should be the other front of the house if we installed a roof with the same angle as on the front face.

The assembly is shipped fairly quickly but the process conceals some fairly original techniques that should satisfy all those who are a little hungry. Modulars during the year after taking advantage of the novelty usually available in January.

As you will have noticed, the house is not a simple "sliced" linear block with the facade on one side and the interior on the other. The designer has endeavored here to give a little volume to the construction and by ricochet to facilitate access to the various interior spaces by orienting the two lateral extensions at 45 ° in relation to the living room. The effect obtained allows more flexibility in the positioning of the construction of 19 cm high, 27 cm wide and 16 cm deep within a village made up of different sets and the parts less accessible than the living room become much more visible when the model is presented inward.

The finish is generally very correct even if the walls lack a little texture and if only the kitchen floor benefits from Tiles tile-shaped. The rest of the surfaces are exposed tenons, which is not a big deal, the spaces are very cramped anyway and filled with various furniture and accessories. Those who wondered where the idea to propose a blue variant of the Fiat 500 get their answer here with the many rooms that form the walls of the house.

The roof benefits from some rather ingenious assembly techniques with Technic beams which allow the various sections to be folded down on the frame. The solution is very useful here for the bedroom located on the first floor with a roof section that can be moved to allow access to the room without having to go there with your fingertips.

The fireplace may seem a little too imposing compared to the rest of the construction, but this is the price to pay to offer a sufficiently large duct to allow Santa Claus to descend into the living room where he swings the flames of the fireplace. hearth at the end of the slide. It's fun once or twice and the symbolism is there.

It is the tradition, it is necessary to integrate a luminous brick in these boxes and that of this year does not light the chimney or a room of the house. This time it is placed in the big tree and it is enough to press on the construction to obtain the promised lighting effect. It's anecdotal but the functionality at least has the merit of being different from those often offered in these boxes. Under the tree we place some gifts and the overall consistency of the set is there: We can guess that the young girl is passionate about space and astronomy thanks to the poster on the wall of her room and the planet attached to the framework, the rocket at the foot of the tree will undoubtedly make its happiness.

The exterior decoration of the house may seem a bit sketchy for a festive product, but there is still a large handful of green claws already seen in the set. 71741 Ninjago City Gardens to offer a little contrast to the construction, some cherries for a touch of red and lanterns with a very successful "smoked glass" effect. The separate module with the barrier and the letterbox brings a little volume to the front of the construction, it is a good idea to possibly reproduce for other houses in the village by extending the stone path in the process. the junction with the doorstep.

The interior of the house is well furnished with there also some good ideas such as the food processor, the micro-gas stove, the armchair near the fireplace or the bed in the first bedroom. The family table seems a little less convincing to me with its four chairs low to the ground. The successful effect of the tablecloth that crosses the table saves a little ... the furniture. The sheet of stickers remains reasonable with four stickers which illustrate the scene including a table representing the family who occupy the premises and a clock which confirms that Santa Claus passes at ten minutes to midnight.

The neutrality and "realism" of the product also benefits the various minifigures provided: it is quite simply a family that Santa Claus is visiting. Minifigs are commonplace in their everyday outfits, but a few additional civilians will be welcome among the elves, gingerbread men and firefighters. On the other hand, Santa Claus benefits from frankly successful elements and he is finally equipped with black "boots" of the most beautiful effect.

Interest in everything that revolves around the universe Winter village in the LEGO version cannot be discussed. The range has its unconditional fans who eagerly await the announcement of the new expansion every year and who bring out all their sets in November to install the most beautiful snow-covered village possible while others remain indifferent to this modern brick-based nativity scene. .

This 2021 vintage seems really successful to me, even if we could legitimately find the thing a little too austere for the theme. This house with smooth walls and white roofs may not be the ideal set to start a Winter village festive but it should nevertheless fit well into a diorama based on slightly more colorful constructions.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 24, 2021 next at 23pm. 

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.