Product test

Tested by XAgent: The Christmas train from Lego

20.10.2017

Translation: machine translated

Every month we give away a Lego novelty. Neela aka XAgent has won the festive Christmas train from Lego Creator. This is her test report.

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the first of September and everyday life at the office wasn't going particularly well. In the afternoon, I received an email from Galaxus telling me that I had won the Lego competition and that I would be receiving the festive Christmas train within the next few days. That definitely made my day.

The days couldn't pass quickly enough. On Monday, thankfully, I received an automated message that Galaxus had sent the parcel. It was due to arrive on Tuesday. The anticipation grew immeasurably. Of course, the postman was unable to leave the parcel outside the door and took it away again. Fortunately, in this day and age, you are also informed of this by e-mail. So I knew that I wasn't allowed to finish work too late. Due to an unforeseen incident, I almost missed the end of work on time. But my colleague gave me a lift and so I was able to make up for the missing minutes. So I quickly got home, fished the postman's note out of the letterbox and took it to the post office. I rushed into the post office at 5.55 pm. After all, my parcel had already been delivered by the postman and I was allowed to take it home with me.

18:00

I feel like a little kid at Christmas (how fitting, for a festive Christmas train). You can already recognise individual details of the train on the packaging. The age recommendation is 12 years and older. Well, I count myself in the "and older" group. The building is said to comprise a proud 734 parts and runs in "expert mode". Just made for me.

Unfortunately, I don't know whether this also includes the spare parts. I pour the contents of the packaging onto the table. There are six numbered bags, four packs of rails, an unnumbered bag with something magnetic and, of course, the clear instructions for use.

18:02

I start with the first bag and pour everything onto the table.

As always with Lego, the figures are assembled first. There are two different figures in this bag. The female figure even has two different faces.

It's also funny that such blatant things are created from what at first seem to be random parts. You have a pair of "roller skates", three small parts (round and square) and a few narrow components, and in no time at all, it becomes a small toy fire engine.

All together, the bricks from the first bag are used to build a bench with a street lamp, three wrapped presents and five small toys. I had a few problems with the boat as I somehow couldn't get the pliers through the holes in the bricks. As an adult, I already had problems with brute force here. So how do 12-year-olds manage it?

18:30

The bags with the number 2 are now due. There are significantly more stones (there are also more bags) and there are now also larger stones.

Now there are also 1:1 displays in the instructions so that you can choose the right size for certain bars.

It's quite helpful, but there aren't that many different rod lengths in this kit, so this illustration isn't really necessary. But it's better to have it printed and not need it than the other way round. I also stopped briefly at point 22. Three wheels are shown here on the "Parts that are needed" list. Three wheels are also supplied. However, only the two larger wheels are needed. It took me a while to understand this, but maybe I was just thinking too much. Why should unnecessary stones be supplied here?

And the locomotive was already up and running. It even has Lego steam. So the children don't have to steal any cotton wool from mum's bathroom.

Unfortunately, the locomotive doesn't move very much. The front part is movable, but considering the Lego creations that already exist and the bright minds working at Lego, I would have liked the coupling rods to rotate with the wheels. However, there is a printed Lego brick inside the driver's cab with a pressure gauge etc.

The remaining Lego bricks seem to me to be too many as replacement bricks. I don't think they'll be enough for a trailer. What a mistake! There's still enough for a small trailer on which the coal is transported. This is connected to the locomotive with an eyelet and a hook.

This is also the first time in my Lego history, as far as I can remember, that metal has been used. The wheels of the trailer have axles, which consist of a small metal rod. Put two wheels on the axle and click the whole thing into the holder on the wagon - done.

I would have liked a few more details on the coal wagon. The coal is simply a black Lego plate, which is attached at an angle. This cannot be varied either. I would have added a few of these round, black Lego bricks so that you can also put some coal on the shovel of the Lego man. The magnetic parts are also used for the first time on the coal wagon. These are the couplings to the other wagons. The whole thing makes coupling and uncoupling relatively easy and you don't always have to hook or unhook anything.

19:21

It's time for the remaining bags

I had hardly any difficulties here. The Lego bricks are enough for two wagons. The first wagon is like a "freight wagon". This is where one of the Lego geniuses came in. A Christmas tree grows on the wagon and a miniature train runs around it. The Christmas tree, including the train, turns on its own axis when the big train is travelling. Behind the Christmas tree there is a shelf for the small presents that have been assembled with the first bag. The second carriage is a dining car and has a table and two chairs. There is a lamp and a cup on the table.

19:59

It's done. After two hours of Lego fun, the new festive Christmas train from Lego Creator stands before me. The included tracks are enough for a circle of about one metre in diameter. Enough to circle once around the little Christmas tree.

Conclusion

As in real life, there were some lows, but also many highs. Apart from the fact that the colours of the train are in the typical Christmas and winter colours of green, red, black, gold and white, the only thing that reminds me of Christmas is the decoration. I think I would have liked more "snow" on the train. Even if it's hardly ever a white Christmas in our part of the world these days, the snow somehow makes Christmas even more festive. In general, I would have liked a few more details. I'm used to so many details from other Lego Creator Expert kits such as the Lego Bank or the Lego Detective Agency, but of course this is also a slightly different price segment. For CHF 95, you definitely get your money's worth here.

The kit is certainly a great idea for children aged 12. Perfect to brighten up the pre-Christmas period. You could also divide up the parts and make a kind of advent calendar for the child. For adults, however, I was missing a few more details here.