Review: LEGO Creator Expert 10263 Winter Village Fire Station

How about taking a quick look at the new set that comes to flesh out the LEGO Winter Village? The LEGO Creator Expert set 10263 Winter Village Fire Station (1166 pieces - 99.99 €) is now available and if you are in the habit of bringing out your sets Winter village at the end of the year, it will be difficult not to add this one to your collection or you will regret it when resellers ask for triple the price on the secondary market.

No chalet or cabin this year, but a very urban fire station that will certainly have a little trouble finding its place among the other elements already marketed on the same theme, but which will fit perfectly into a mini-town based on "classic" LEGO Creator sets.

First of all, we must underline the good idea of ​​this box, mentioned by the designer of the set in the presentation video uploaded a few days ago: Instead of a single instruction booklet, LEGO provides two booklets in this box: the bigger one allows to assemble the building. the other, everything else. It's a smart choice that allows you to share the assembly experience with your family.

While parents concentrate on the fire station, children can have fun building the ice rink, the tree, the bench with its lamppost and the fire truck. Or the reverse, the idea being here to allow a family and convivial activity.

Another detail which facilitates the participation of the youngest in the assembly of this set: the parts to be installed during each step of the assembly are surrounded by a green line. It's readable, well done for that.

Nothing very complicated to build here, even the small fire truck is surprisingly simple. It is also matched with the set bus 10259 Winter Village Station (2017), the transport truck of the set 10229 Winter Village Cottage (2012) and the postal van from the set 10222 Winter Village Post Office (2011)

It's coherent and all those who have obtained these different sets in due time now have something to liven up the streets of their village with these different vehicles matched with vintage accents.

The main building is here accompanied by several small elements that come to dress its environment. The tree, the bench with its lamppost and the fountain transformed into an ice rink are all small modules to be placed wherever you want in your village. The same goes for the snowman placed at the foot of the barracks who only asks to join a snow-covered square where a few children are having fun.

As you will have noticed, the firefighters are only called upon to fill the ice rink and fix the star at the top of the tree. This is not a set from the LEGO CITY range, so there are no fires going on or people to save from the flames.

The barracks will delight those who love the sets of the LEGO Creator range with their simple constructions but sufficiently detailed to allow creating a LEGO city much more affordable than by lining up Modulars LEGO Creator Expert.

On the assembly side, we stack from bottom to top, nothing rocket science. MOCeurs will also find some original techniques that they can reuse on occasion. By the way, we add here and there a few traces of snow and other decorations which can be removed and replaced by neutral parts to use this barracks outside of festive periods.

Too bad for the lack of depth of the building despite the projection which houses part of the rest room and the porch. It's better than what you usually find in the LEGO Creator range, but you only have to park the truck on the ground floor to realize that it really protrudes from the construction. It's a shame, because you can't store the truck properly, you'll have to play with the presentation angles to obtain an acceptable effect.

The garage has no floor covering. It's a shame there too, a few plaques would have been welcome, just to park the truck somewhere other than on the placemat of the dresser or on the ground at the foot of the (real) tree.

Even if the interior of the firefighters' rest room looks a bit like a Parisian maid's room, the designer still managed to integrate many details, such as the mini-kitchenette and the retractable bunk, and to make the very accessible first floor by offering a removable roof. It's really playable, a good point for that.

I still have a bit of trouble with chairs placed on the floor, but we'll do with it. The bar that allows the firefighters to shift quickly is in fact a pipe that is a little too flexible and the side door is of little use when you think about it, no one will go upstairs through there ... Once the truck parked downstairs, you also have to go out and walk around the building to take the stairs that lead to the second floor.

On the minifig side, we get seven characters in this box, including the baby. And a Dalmatian (giant). Of the six minifigs provided, only two of them, the hockey player and the young babysitter, are "civilian" characters. Nice sweaters for the two minifigs.

The rest of the small troop consists of three firefighters with neutral legs and whose torsos are strictly identical. Significantly, the set allows you to obtain four golden helmets, one for each of the fire soldiers and one for the statue placed on the edge of the ice rink. The member of the municipal band is a bit lonely and his outfit is not very exciting.

The luminous brick placed on the roof in front of the bell illuminates the room below. For those who are wondering, you only enjoy the light effect when you press the button but you can block the brick in the on position by holding the button down via a few well-placed pieces (or tape). It is also possible to replace the two LR41 batteries of this brick, do not throw it away when it no longer works ...

Even if this set doesn't really have muchConsultant, so it's a pretty box on the theme of winter and the end of year celebrations to build as a family. I say yes.

For all those who do not let their children touch their collection, it is as a bonus the opportunity to make a truce and to enjoy together a moment of sharing before exhibiting the set for a few months ...

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before September 30 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

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. I won't be relaunching from now on. No response within the time limit, it's lost.