As we discussed already, the latest in the LEGO Winter Village series is the #10275 LEGO Creator Elf Club House. I just finished building the set last night, so I thought to talk about it in more detail than we have done so already in previous articles.
An interesting change that was introduced with this set is that it’s marketed to adults instead of children and families like all the previous LEGO Winter Village sets with a 12+ age recommendation. This means that the box has a mainly plain black/dark-blue background like the other sets targeting adults, and it has a 18+ age recommendation printed on the box.
Although I like the new 18+ sets and I mostly agree with what sets have been placed in this category, I don’t agree with marketing the LEGO Winter Village to adults. A lot of parents and grandparents have been using the age recommendation printed on boxes to choose gifts for children and grandchildren, as it has been a pretty reliable indicator for selecting age-appropriate sets. Even though the Elf Club House is just as cute and easy to build as the previous LEGO Winter Village sets, the 18+ recommendation could deter parents and grandparents from buying the set for children, thinking that there is something about it that’s not appropriate for children.
However, this is not the case. The building experience and level of difficulty are the same as all the previous LEGO Winter Village sets, and the box should really say 12+. And, just like the previous LEGO Winter Village sets, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Elf Club House to an experienced eight-year-old. So, if you traditionally build the LEGO Winter Village sets with your children and grandchildren, don’t hesitate to purchase the Elf Club House.
The Elf Club House shares other similarities with the previously released LEGO Winter Village sets. The main building comes with snow-covered roofs and holiday decorations and is open at the back for easy access and play. And there are a bunch of smaller add-on builds and accessories to expand the play and display possibilities. And, just like the previous LEGO Winter Village sets, the Elf Club House includes a light-brick.
The Elf Club House comes with two instruction booklets. The smaller one is for building the Christmas tree, the small sleigh pulled by the brand new reindeer, and the various small gifts that can be placed around the tree or inside the house. The larger instruction book includes the steps to build the house as well as the add-on chimney with a cool waffle making play-feature.
This is probably my favorite small LEGO Christmas tree. It is cute, easy to build, and super sturdy. Four identical panels are built with angled plates and covered with 1×2 modified plates are attached to a 1×1 column at the core of the tree. It would be easy to duplicate this design to build an entire pine forest! The tree is decorated with simple 1×1 round plates and an enormous start at the top.
The little gifts are delightful; two colorfully wrapped boxes, a small keyboard, a mini airplane, and a small ship. Another small add-on build is a retro-style computer sitting on a low desk. This is where the elves can check who was naughty and who was nice. I initially thought that the screen was a stickered 2×2 tile, which I was planning to replace with a standard 2×2 printed tile with a computer screen. However, as it turns out, the screen is actually a 2×2 reverse tile with studs at the back, and no printed computer screen exists for this piece. This was a bit of a disappointment for me, as it limits the use of the computer, but otherwise, I like it a lot.
Speaking of stickers, there are only five of them in the set; one for the computer screen, one for a calendar inside the house, one is for a 2×4 tile with a picture of the elves with Santa, and two for the directional sign at the front of the house. It’s nice to see that the set doesn’t rely on stickers too much.
The last build from the first instruction book is the tiny sleigh pulled by the reindeer. It’s super cute and even have thrusters at the back to aid the reindeer in pulling the sleigh on difficult terrain. Or perhaps they are for flying? The reindeer has a surprised look, and his antlers are made of a soft plastic material, which will prevent them from breaking off.
The Elf Club House itself is built on a 26-stud by 12-stud base made up of angled plates and regular plates. The house has four compartments. The middle section is two stories high with a bedroom on the second floor. On the first floor is a dining room and living room combo which are separated only by a pillar. And on the outside, under one of the smaller roofs, there is a small semi-open shelter for the reindeer.
The house has a couple of neat play-features. One is that you can twist the clock, which will rattle the triple-decker bunk bed on the second floor, waking up and knocking the elves out of bed. This feature works well, and it’s pretty funny. The second play-feature is the light-brick, which is well hidden under the top of the roof over the bunk bed and can be activated by a lever. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stay on by itself. You have to hold it down the whole time you want to have it on. But it’s a nice feature and it illuminates the inside of the building with a warm glow.
The living room area has a clever built with a wrapping station where the elves can wrap presents for each other. The wrapping paper is made of two small car doors hanged up sideways and backward.
There are also a few nicely built furniture pieces both at the top and bottom floor. And there is also a small lookout terrace on the second floor with a telescope, which the elves can access by climbing out the bedroom window.
The last part of the set is a separately built chimney that can be clipped to the back of the house. It’s a pretty substantial built that is almost 9 inches tall. While the chimney is nice, I’m not a big fan that it’s separate from the main building. It looks awkward in both positions when attached (behind the shed, or perpendicular to the back of the house). And due to its size and weight, it separates from the main building easily as you more around the building. I’m not sure why it was done this way.
The chimney has the last main play-feature of the set; it makes waffles! There is a small compartment to load up the waffles, which you can drop into the frying pan one by one via a lever. When they are done, you can dump out the waffle by the tilting motion of the stove itself. It’s a fun feature that operates flawlessly. Even if a waffle accidentally drops behind the stove, there is a gap at the bottom where they will fall out.
The architectural details of the Elf Club House are also worth mentioning. It resembled Alpine architecture with a wooden frame, lattice windows, and high roofs. I was very impressed both by the color combination and the detailing. The door, the second-story window, the small porch, and the side shed are particularly cute. Although it is made as a dwelling for the elves, you could easily turn this into a regular minifig house in your LEGO Winter Village, or perhaps use it as a dwelling in medieval times.
The four elves included in the set are identical, except for their faces. Two of them have single facial prints, while the other two have double prints with two different facial expressions. And one of them has a red scarf. Some people don’t like that they are all the same, but I like the uniformity. They are all members of Santa’s workforce in their work uniforms. They are adorable.
Overall, the #10275 LEGO Creator Elf Club House is a cute set, worthy to be added to your LEGO Winter Village. The architecture of the house is very nice, the decorations and accessories are lovely, the add-ons like the Christmas tree, sleigh, and gifts are cute, and the play-features are fun and work well. The set was designed by LEGO fan-turned-LEGO-designer Chris McVeigh, who was well known for his cute Christmas decorations even before he joined the company. Below, I’m including the designer-video where he talked about the set in detail.
If you’re interested, the #10275 LEGO Creator Elf Club House is available – along with several other Christmas-themed sets – at the seasonal items section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Elf Club House? Do you collect the LEGO Winter Village sets? Are you planning to add this one to your collection? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
