It’s holiday time, which means new LEGO offerings and holiday-themed sets. Santa’s Post Office (set #10339) joins the LEGO Winter Village collection this year. LEGO also released a small companion set, Santa’s Delivery Truck (set #40746). Ready for some festive winter fun?
LEGO fans likely know that the Winter Village lineup already includes a post office (and a delivery truck) – the Winter Village Post Office (set #10222), which was released in 2011. But that was not SANTA’s post office. The new 10339 set is not a re-release at all, but rather is more in line with the retired Elf Club House (#10275) and Santa’s Workshop (#10245) sets that feel more whimsical (maybe it’s the elves?!?) than some of the other LEGO Winter Village sets. So even if you own the previous post office set, this one will not feel like a duplicate. And of course, more sets equal more fun, right?
The Post Office
Santa’s Post Office (1440 pieces, $99.99) features the main building with a medium nougat and sand blue exterior charmingly adorned with candy cane lamp posts, holly garland, a snowy roof, icicles, little snowy trees, and a bugle horn. There’s even a double-sided fireplace.
The interior, like many of the holiday sets, consists of (very!) small rooms including a study, mail rooms, and small loft. A built-in series of ramps and chutes carries mail from the rooftop launchpad or the loft to the first floor, dumping into a very cute (working!) mail sorting machine.
In addition, there are a bunch of side builds which add both play features and photo opportunities:
- a beautiful green and gold hot air balloon with a light brick to mimic the burner glow
- a fun signpost that pays homage to previous sets with signs pointing to the clubhouse and workshop
- a small ice fishing pond (and a baby seal!), apparently for break time
- a small Christmas tree and gifts
Minifigures
Santa’s Post Office includes five minifigures – Santa and four mailroom elves. Although the elves have identical torsos and legs, they all have different faces, and two of them have dual-faced heads. I really wish LEGO would use moveable legs for all their minifigs to increase posing options. In the meantime, you could change out the short legs with the medium legs (part #107007), although this would make the elves a little taller and the closest medium legs available for now are earth (dark) green, so they won’t be a perfect match. Having said that, I did not find it too restrictive for photographing the set for this review, and I get that LEGO sets are about play first, photography second (i.e., non-moving legs on minifigs are not likely an issue for most LEGO lovers). But maybe someday (please!) the LEGO Group will grant my minifigure elves’ wish for moveable legs :).
The Delivery Truck
Santa’s Delivery Truck (224 pieces, $19.99) is the perfect companion to this year’s post office set. The set includes one elf driver, along with a small Christmas tree and a pile of gifts. The colors, logos, and style of this set compliment the post office set beautifully. I honestly can’t imagine having one set without the other. I’m also very grateful LEGO offered the set for sale rather than making it a gift with purchase (GWP) set.
Accessories Galore!
As a photographer who loves putting LEGO minifigures in front of the lens, accessory elements make me really happy. No disappointment here – lots of great accessories in these two sets! Obviously, for a post office, I expected some envelope tiles, but there are FOUR different kinds of envelopes here, and a total of 18 envelopes between the two sets.
Besides the baby seal (yay!), the set includes a small sled, a coffee machine, a quite fancy armchair, a small globe, a notepad/list tile, and writing desk accessories including a wax seal and stamp set, among others. There are also a few stickered pieces that are actually a welcome addition – a letter from Santa, and a book with a beautiful “SC” cover and mail sorter tally page.
Will it Waffle?
No, of course not :). But are these two sets fun for toy photographers? Here are a few more images to help you decide …
Conclusion
Some may dismiss these small Winter Village sets for toy photography because of the simple facades and tiny interior spaces. But the Santa’s Post Office (#10339) and Mail Delivery truck (#40746) sets definitely offer plenty of fun for both play and photography, and I had a blast exploring them both. And if your holiday preferences lean more “Halloween-y,” check out the awesome photo review of LEGO’s Nightmare Before Christmas set.
By the way, did you know you can write a real letter to Santa, or help someone’s Christmas wishes come true? Check out USPS’s Operation Santa® for more details.
Thank you to the LEGO group for providing the Santa’s Post Office set for review. All of the opinions and photos in this review are mine, and I can definitely recommend this set for toy photographers.
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