LEGO Creator 40602 Winter Market Stall Gift with Purchase [Review]

LEGO often makes holiday sets that are available as gifts with purchase in November and December. This holiday season, that will include LEGO Creator 40602 Winter Market Stall. It looks like a toy seller’s stall at a holiday night market, and suggests you create your own additional stalls – or perhaps the night market is a destination for the trolley from 10308 Holiday Main Street, or going even further back, you could add it to the stalls from 10235 Winter Village Market! After initially posting this review, we’ve learned that the set will be available with a minimum purchase of (US $170 | CAN $220 | UK £150), nor when it will be available on the LEGO website. But when is, will it be worth stretching for another stocking stuffer? Let’s put on a pot of hot cocoa and see.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

The box and contents 

The box has classic LEGO Creator branding, similar to the 3-in-1 sets with yellow border detail and a view of the front of the stall, with the parts of the scene that are not included rendered in a flatter illustration style so they don’t look like part of the set.

The back shows the shop from behind. Confusingly, if you walked into the front of the box and walked around the shop to see it from this angle, the shops that are on the right in this box picture should be distinctly behind you. The candy cane stall has also swapped places with the heart stall in the mean time? Clearly I’m over-thinking this, or need some more eggnog.

Within are two numbered bags and the small instruction manual. As with most gift with purchase sets, there is not a QR code on the front of the instructions that can be scanned for Insider points.

The build 

With two bags, the first bag builds the main structure of the stall, and the second will build the roof. The stall has a nice curved shape, indicating that this is a semi-permanent structure, not a tent or canopy that’d be set up for one night. No, this needs to be up for a few weeks at least to be worth the trouble. It’s a very festive structure with lots of red and green. On one side is a large nutcracker and a toy rocket, and on the other is a toy train. In the middle is an old-time cash register for finalizing those holiday sales.

From the back, you can see the way the counters and display tables are build on log profile bricks to give them just a bit of extra detail.

Bag 2 builds a roof that seems to be covered in snow. It continues the nice shaping, with the front set out a few studs. The red and green bits are actually added a bit later as they line up with the stockings started on the first floor. A chimney pokes through the snow, though what it might be needed for is rather unclear.

From the back, it seems a few presents have been tucked up in the rafters, perhaps for the shopkeeper’s family?

Two brick-built accessories are included, a small Christmas tree and a snow person. The tree is similar to dozens that have been included in LEGO sets over the years. The snow person is … fine? Any round shape is really difficult to replicate with bricks at this scale, and this doesn’t strike me as one of the better attempts. The studs on the side of the head would be much better disguised as ear muffs, and the body looks like a water heater tank has been put on a small stand.

The minifigures

Two minifigures are included. Neither has any new parts as far as I can tell, but the torsos are both very nicely decorated and relatively uncommon, each appearing in only three other sets so far. The blue sweater looks particularly cozy and appropriate for winter.

Conclusion and recommendation 

This is a fun, quick build and the market stall will be welcome in many Winter Village displays. It definitely feels like a bonus, though, not a primary build. With a minimum purchase of $170 USD required, it’s pretty underwhelming. Enjoy the bonus with pre-planned purchases, but spending >$170 USD specifically timed to get this set doesn’t seem worth it.

LEGO Creator 40602 Winter Market Stall includes 271 pieces and 2 minifigures, and will be available as a gift with purchase at some point from LEGO.com for purchases of US $170 | CAN $220 | UK £150.

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