Creator Expert 10235 Winter Village Market

[vynsane]

^ Creator Expert is a new sub-theme for larger, more intricate sets that don't fall under any other specific category. While the Winter Village sets could be seen as a sub-set of the Town/CITY theme, they generally exhibit a greater level of detail and specialty pieces.

Previously, like the Modular Building sets, these sets were released without any theme branding - the box just said "LEGO" and then the name/number of the set. This is the third such set to be released under the "Creator Expert" sub-theme, after Horizon Express and Palace Cinema. Neither of those sets exhibited "alternate builds", either.

[Zeya]

What's with putting this in the "Creator" line when there aren't three different models shown with instructions. Same with the Winter Village Cottage and the Horizon Express.

Lego has started to put some of these exclusive and/or "adult" sets into the "Creator" branding, starting recently. The modular houses, the exclusives like the orange train, etc. So now if it says "Creator" it isn't necessarily a 3-in-1 thing.

[CharliesDad]

I think the set looks great. Honestly, when I first saw the details on the carousel, I thought to myself that it would be a $119 set. I'll be getting mine!

[skeet318]

Suppose if I were to take a jab at her, she'd sign up as well?

[wyldjedi]

I was actually going to go into detail saying how I am a machinist, do 3D and pad printing, fabricating of metal, plastic and rubber parts along with other work in that area but I will simply say I have experience in the field and part of my job is creating objects from raw materials. Minifigures are probably more expensive than other Lego parts with equivalent amount of plastic but I have a difficult time believing they could be much more costly than Lego makes you think they are. I would say that graphic designers for torso/face prints, new molds for hair and helmets, and print errors account for the biggest factor in minifigure price. Once you have the design, printing is actually very cheap.

In my previous post I said a good value in piece count is only truly applicable when there are a good variation in part sizes and that part count is not 'always' a best indicator for price. The Winter Village is one of those exceptions where part count exceeds the 10 cent golden mark and yet still does not seem to be a great value. I see no new molds or colors and 9 very generic looking figures, most of which have the same parts used in other sets. It is also has few bricks compared to plates, those of which are a 2x2 or equivalent and all of which use popular molds. I am not saying you are wrong, but I am not wrong either.

Minifigures are an advertising ploy - a few extra generic figures and a horse or two create the illusion of value while the consumer glosses over just how many teeny tiny little 1x1 round plates are in the set. You yourself proved that point by pointing out only the minifigures and how they created the value of the set.

[SpaceNinjaDino]

This is a good looking set and strikes me as an instant classic like all the other winter sets have. I passed on the original carousel and this makes a nice center piece without taking up an entire town square.

$100 could be fair if they run another exclusive small winter set LEGO Shop promo like they did the past two years.

[vynsane]

I was actually going to go into detail saying how I am a machinist, do 3D and pad printing, fabricating of metal, plastic and rubber parts along with other work in that area but I will simply say I have experience in the field and part of my job is creating objects from raw materials. Minifigures are probably more expensive than other Lego parts with equivalent amount of plastic but I have a difficult time believing they could be much more costly than Lego makes you think they are. I would say that graphic designers for torso/face prints, new molds for hair and helmets, and print errors account for the biggest factor in minifigure price. Once you have the design, printing is actually very cheap.

Fair points, but I ask again whether or not you took the time to read my previous post on the subject regarding how the TLG internal price sheet factors in a lot more variables than simply the amount of plastic used per piece and its complexity (complexity obviously being a detriment to quality control, the more complex the more things can go wrong).

The real-life example from the article I cited states that the 4L technic axle is, internally, actually more expensive to produce than a 6L axle because it's an older mold that doesn't yield the same quantity as more modern molds, resulting in the need to run the machinery longer. The production time and maintenance costs are factored in to the final price for that piece. This internal price is what the LEGO designer struggles with in terms of making sure the set stays under the internal budget weighed against the proposed MSRP. The end result being, we can look at a piece and say it holds X amount of value, but if it's taking up more than its fair share of the production budget, it makes the set look like a bad deal.

I would say TLG's stringent QC is also a big factor in the internal/final price of a minifigure in addition to printing errors. I don't know if the graphic design is factored in to the price, but the printing probably is.

In my previous post I said a good value in piece count is only truly applicable when there are a good variation in part sizes and that part count is not 'always' a best indicator for price. The Winter Village is one of those exceptions where part count exceeds the 10 cent golden mark and yet still does not seem to be a great value. I see no new molds or colors and 9 very generic looking figures, most of which have the same parts used in other sets. It is also has few bricks compared to plates, those of which are a 2x2 or equivalent and all of which use popular molds. I am not saying you are wrong, but I am not wrong either.

Agreed, I've always contended that the "golden ratio" of $0.10 per piece is a very very rough estimate at best (and dangerously misleading at worst) and each set should be weighed on its individual merits. While there definitely seems to be a large amount of small pieces, I feel like the set is deceptively larger than it appears. In this instance, the various builds are all a bit more homogenous in size. While previous offerings have featured a larger 'main' building and smaller accent builds, this one has a smaller central build (the carousel/bucket game combo) with three slightly more substantial accent builds as well as (yet another) park bench and lamp post combo.

However, in the video, Astrid points out that there are three pieces of note: The horses feature an exclusive printing, the lollipops feature a 1x1 round tile with a new peppermint swirl printing, and the 1x8 arch bricks in Dark (Earth) Blue were pulled out of retirement for this set (last available in 2007 with Café Corner and Market Street modulars). There is also the Messenger Bag in Sand Green previously only available in the "Flying Dutchman" Spongebob set.

Minifigures are an advertising ploy - a few extra generic figures and a horse or two create the illusion of value while the consumer glosses over just how many teeny tiny little 1x1 round plates are in the set. You yourself proved that point by pointing out only the minifigures and how they created the value of the set.

They may be a marketing ploy, but only because it works

However, I didn't say the figures included created the value of the set. I only stated that:

9 minifigures and two horses[...] easily account for over one third the cost of this set.

Whether or not the rest of the pieces in the set covers the rest of the cost involved in buying it is everyone's individual judgement call.