any idea what the 2015 winter village set is?

clowndiscuslego

any body heard anything?

theLEGOman

The Hoth Base.

:p . Sorry don't know myself.

CupIsHalfEmpty

#10249 is rumored to be another Winter Toy Shop. 

#10245 was unveiled August 9th 2014, so we should have news about 2015's set around the same time. 

clowndiscuslego

why would we need another toy shop?

Bumblepants

^speculation is that it will be more of a toy factory for elves than a toy shop for humans

natro220

clowndiscuslego said:

why would we need another toy shop?

The answer is probably the same reason we get more police stations and millennium falcons every couple years.  Kids today were not able to buy the first one...not to mention AFOLs who were in their dark age.

playwell

^ All true but why not use new idea first, there are so many things they could have done and a winter train has not been seen for a lot longer than a toy shop.

lordzarak

theLEGOman said:

The Hoth Base.

:p . Sorry don't know myself.

Only if it comes with a holiday sausage. :)

clowndiscuslego

a winter train would be awesome, i customized a lone ranger train for christmas

playwell

^ I have the Toy Story one but have not added power functions or made other changes yet, maybe a project for before Christmas.

natro220

10173 Holiday Train was just a few years prior to the last Toy Store, so the same argument could be made that they are repeating. Maybe a Winter monorail?

playwell

I guess but it was a bit longer and it just seems like something people want more, it was also not part of the WV line.

Sethro3

Since Christmas is all about the toys, another Toy Shop(pe) is certainly warranted. We need more materialistic items!!!

Either way, I'll end up buying it. I have all of them so far. They are one of two guaranteed purchases every year. Although, I've been disappointed with the most recent years. Hopefully the next one will get back to their roots. Smaller scale, better price, fun details.

Mandalorian_Builder

Sethro3 said:

Since Christmas is all about the toys, another Toy Shop(pe) is certainly warranted. We need more materialistic items!!!

Either way, I'll end up buying it. I have all of them so far. They are one of two guaranteed purchases every year. Although, I've been disappointed with the most recent years. Hopefully the next one will get back to their roots. Smaller scale, better price, fun details.

What's the second? lol

tamamahm

I'm hoping  by toy shop, they mean an extension of last year's set, where they have a full elf  toy WORKshop, vs. a shop that sells toys. 

I am not convinced yet it is just a remake of the toy shop. I think it is also different doing a remake for a child like another police station, versus a remake of this line, where your buyers are probably AFOLs, adults, families, etc. 

SumoLego

I give up if there is a Winter Monorail.

Maybe a Sleigh Service Station... or a Reindeer Stable.

HokieJoe99

I thought that the point of the winter village theme is to show an old time town celebrating Christmas.  Last year's set depicted a fictitious location that did not go well with the previous buildings. I hope we don't get something that furthers the fictitious locations and gets back on track to continue growing the village. 

SumoLego

A giant Rockefeller Center-style tree and skating rink would be a nice addition.

goshe7

^^ the cottage was the departure point from the old time town.  Agreed that I would like to see the line move back towards town concept.

77ncaachamps

Just throwing these ideas out there...
Christmas tree lot
Car with a Christmas tree strapped to the top of it in the driveway of a decorated home
Carolers in a city park
North Pole Headquarters
Shopping mall scene with Santa fielding children's Christmas wishes
Building a REALLY tall Christmas tree in the city's central park with a cherry picker

Goldchains

How about a bunch of surly looking minifigs standing outside a mall storefront waiting for Black Friday?

CapnRex101

^ Hopefully the smashed TV boxes being fought over would be printed rather than use stickers on a 2x4 tile.

Venunder

I think we need a Winter Florists shop selling xmas trees and door decorations.
But we have had Tree delivery and tree selling sets before, so maybe we need a Winter Train station for the Winter Train which arrives next year?

dragon114

I want another holiday train

Shib

I've herd the Toy Shop rumour passed around a few places, but the it seemed to all come from one unconfirmed, translated page, so it could be anything. I'm hoping it's something different.

Personally I'd like an Inn, downstairs dining room (to basically be a pub but avoiding the alcohol issue) with a couple of small guest rooms upstairs.

If you look at classic Christmas Village models there are a lot of things that LEGO could do without repeats.

As for a Winter Village Train, while I'd love that, I don't see it happening. To really fit with the Winter Village line I think it would need to be a station and the train. in one set that would likely be a bit pricey for the WV line, so they could split it across two sets, but how would that work? Would they put out two additional sets this year and still keep Santa's Workshop out too, or break the normal cycle and just have two new sets. Or would they bring out one this year and the next year, how would the overlap work? They can't really sell the station without the train being available. As others have mentioned there was the Holiday Train prior to the Winter Village line, it was out while I was in dark ages, but I've been lead to believe it wasn't brilliantly received. 
It's not to say a Winter Village Tain won't happen, but I wouldn't get my hopes up for one, better off waiting for another steam train set to come out that you could customise into a WV train yourself.

LordofLego

Bumblepants said:

^speculation is that it will be more of a toy factory for elves than a toy shop for humans

That was last year...

Fauch

no one said a church? for the midnight mass. also it's typically the central point of the village, well, around here at least.

madforLEGO

Fauch said:

no one said a church? for the midnight mass. also it's typically the central point of the village, well, around here at least.

LEGO stays out of religious building designs. Santa is Santa, but I think LEGO has said in the past that they will not make churches.

monkey_roo

^ I think that is because it is well accepted that Lego will never produce a church or pub as out and out sets for a variety of reasons, although they have flexed this policy over years. Either way, it is safe to safe there will be no church for the winter village.

I hope they don't rehash sets etc. but not too sure where they might go. We will see in a few months.

Shib

The only sidestep for a church I can imagine is something like a Village Hall...but even then I don't think they'd want to step too close.

pharmjod

Playmobil doesn't have any blowback for religious themed sets around Christmas. I would respect LEGO a lot more if they would just do it. After all there is no Christmas with out the Christ Mass. A small country type church with a stained glass window or two and a steeple should really not be offensive. And I can just about guarantee it would be a HUGE seller for them. No other religious symbols would be necessary.

Shib

While I agree that a small church shouldn't cause any problems and shouldn't really be seen as offensive, I think there are a lot of people who are very quick to jump on companies that put so much as a toe out of line, particularly when they have documented that they don't want to deal with themes of religion in the past.

Showing any kind of favour to any individual religion could lead to people complaining about showing favouritism. I believe this is why the line is called Winter Village as opposed to Christmas Village - which is the more traditional name.

I wouldn't mind a Winter Village Church, but I understand LEGO's reluctance to go there.

madforLEGO

pharmjod said:

Playmobil doesn't have any blowback for religious themed sets around Christmas. I would respect LEGO a lot more if they would just do it. After all there is no Christmas with out the Christ Mass. A small country type church with a stained glass window or two and a steeple should really not be offensive. And I can just about guarantee it would be a HUGE seller for them. No other religious symbols would be necessary.

Notice how the line is called Winter village and not Christmas village? Even Santa is more commercial than anything to do with Christmas per se.

Fauch

well, it's not like they can do a mosque for a Christmas theme lol.

actually is the taj mahal a muslim building?

pharmjod

They can call it what ever they want. It is Christmas. Santa isn't associated with "winter" he only comes out at Christmas. They can do a Chanukah Harry too for all I care but lets not be naive or coy. It's Christmas.

cheshirecat

Although Santa Claus comes from the Dutch sinterklaas (also france, Belgium and Luxemberg) relating to St Nichols's day which isn't Christmas but the 6th December. And as we all know the image of Santa Claus as presented in the Lego sets has nothing to do with Christianity either. 

LostInTranslation

And I here I was thinking all the posts meant we had some actual info....  

Not to go all "Eurobricks" , but don't we already have threads for discussing what we'd like the Winter Village line to include and the issues about religion? 

pharmjod

No, I never said Santa as presented is Christian. However you're a lot more likely to find a small non descript chapel type building in a small "winter" community than you will a carousel.

LordofLego

People would be upset if they made a church mainly because they've said they wouldn't.

pharmjod

That is the problem. I am fairly certain it is a small minority that would even care. It irritates me when businesses make decisions based on the anticipated outrage of a tiny fraction of people with nothing better to do than be offended in life.

Sethro3

I think they should do a Hannukah Armadillo. That'd be fun.

As far as a church, I'd certainly welcome it. I haven't been to church in a while though..

TheLoneTensor

Shib said:

As for a Winter Village Train, while I'd love that, I don't see it happening. To really fit with the Winter Village line I think it would need to be a station and the train.

It's not that they would need a station (though they could do a little decorated platform), it's that a PF train would have to be $150 minimum (like the bare-bones passenger train) and more like $200 if done right with a bigger station, multiple cars, decorations, minifigs, etc.

That may seem like that's a heavy price for the next "single entry" into the winter village line, but given that the theme is already 6-years mature and popular, it seems like lucky number 7 is a good time to inject such a set into the mix.  Lego has clearly indicated that they aren't afraid to dive into a $200 set for something you wouldn't otherwise expect (Ninjago's new temple).

Me, I think it would FLY off the shelves.

Shib

I agree it could be done, and if they did the train without a station it would be fine, but it would fit the theme a lot more with a station. One possibility could be to do a very basic platform and basic ticket booth as the two little promotional purchase sets - like last years skating scene and elves workshop sets- to act as the suplimentary sets to give a basic station.

i would love for them to do a winter village train but ultimately I'd rather have the view that it won't happen and be pleasantly surprised if it does.

Fauch

actually, even a train sounds a bit far fetched for a village. there could be horse carriages.

thenos

For churches,  people have done some great ones with the Eurobricks expand the winter village competition.  The one I built was copied from

 https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/philocrites/5271842139/

That's good enough for me.  

klatu003

^@thenos  Thanks!  Very nice.  He shares a link for downloading the instructions for us MOC challenged.  I think my Winter Village will be expanded next year.

playwell

The train would not have to come with PF or even track it wound be very doable for under £100 and next year a station.

goshe7

^ Dedicated train fans who already have PF and track would not mind a train-only set at a lower price point.  Many casual customers would be very put off with the experience of buying a set for $150 and realizing they would need to plunk down another $150 to get a small setup.  That's a stark departure from a theme with a price point from $50 to $100.

goshe7

pharmjod said:

That is the problem. I am fairly certain it is a small minority that would even care. It irritates me when businesses make decisions based on the anticipated outrage of a tiny fraction of people with nothing better to do than be offended in life.

The size of the fraction doesn't matter.  The volume of their voice does.  And unfortunately, the contingent dedicated to keeping anything religious contained to houses of worship have a loud voice. 

Fauch

I've just remembered something. lego klick number 5

http://www.priceminister.com/offer/buy/144313760/lego-klick-n-5-le-magazine-lego.html

does it look like a church in the background? doesn't really look offensive btw.

pharmjod

@goshe7 you're supporting my point. They have no power other than out shouting everyone. I would like to see companies ignore them as their opinion is meaningless in the scheme of business and profitability. And if they start getting ignored often enough, they might get the hint and find things to be for rather than against.