To be fair, I don’t think I should do a regular review, scoring pieces and building techniques out of 10 for this set. I quite like the set but it’s not great on these aspects. So I’d say an average score would be too low and this is an example for the total being better than the sum of its parts.

The set contains 152 pieces. The horse is the rarest piece in this set (included in 3 sets in total) and the newer flat lid for treasure chests is my first set getting it in. The ornamental carriage wheels can be interesting for some but they’ve been around for quite a while. Other than that there’s no bulk of pieces, or anything noteworthy among the rest.

The build process is fast and furious. There’s really not much to it and I was thinking to myself: ‘is this it?’. But you end up with a beautiful horse drawm carriage audiences of all ages can enjoy. It’s suitable for play for children and display for adults. And that’s a quality we don’t often see in sets. Most often one of the two is sacrificed for the other.

There are 3 minifigures included in the set, a driver and 2 passengers. The driver has a carrot for the horse and the passengers have scarves around their neck. So for me this seems to be extra on most GWP’s and makes up for the earlier mentioned shortcomings in pieces and building process.

So overall this is a great GWP to me. In the Christmas spirit I’d happily overlook some details and just enjoy the set as a whole. If you plan on spending this kind of money on LEGO in the near future I’d recommend doing so while this set is available, I’m not sure there will be a better promotion this month.

This set was of course designed by Chris McVeigh aka Powerpig who released 2 books on LEGO Christmas ornaments before becoming a LEGO designer. So we are in safe hands!

As usual, with opening a new set I hope to finally find my first paper bags. Unfortunately it’s still single use plastic I found in this one. Parts are divided over 3 bags without a number. With a piece count like this it’s not really an issue to find the needed parts, so no problem there.

Part selection

The set consists of 182 parts. There are no special or printed parts in this set, but the parts provided are just solid versatile parts. So an 8 out of 10 for me.

Build process

The baubles are rather elegant to build, the used slope parts make them fit together really nice. I don’t want to spoil your building pleasure so I won’t show exactly how it’s build. If you are not going to get the set with a purchase you can always check out the online building instructions. The building technique for all 3 is the same and before I had finished the first bauble I stopped using the booklet myself. In a bigger set the repetetive nature would become annoying, but with a set this size I could tolerate it quite well. It was just a nice and quick build and the pleasing colour scheme variations made it interesting enough. So for building process I’d also give an 8 out of 10. Nothing extra special, just solid.

The price

With a spending threshold of €70/$70/£65 it’s not crazy good value like some other GWP’s we had this year. But it’s certainly not bad either. With the current prices with inflation from the last 2 years taken into account, I’d say the threshold is just reasonable and fair. A 9 out of 10 for me.

Display-ability

These are rather nice to hang in your Christmas tree (if the branches are sturdy enough to hold them). These weigh a bit more so it probably won’t work for everybody. But if they do, they’re quite easy to clone so it should be possible to have a nicely decorated LEGO themed Christmas tree with this set (and a few extra).

If you are considering a LEGO purchase, I’d recommend picking this one up before the 14th of December or stock runs out.

So what do you think of this set? Have you also picked it up or plan to get it? Share your thoughts in the comments!