2019 marks the 10-year anniversary of the LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village series. Since the Winter Village Toy Shop was released twice (in 2009 and 2015), this is the tenth unique set in the series.

They decided to mix things up a bit this year, as has become common with 10-year anniversaries at LEGO (The 2017 addition to the Modular Building series was the first model exceeding one 32×32 stud baseplate.) As for the Gingerbread House, they have introduced a completely fantastical addition to the series; Gingerbread People won’t look especially realistic in your growing Winter Village scene.

About the set

#10267 Gingerbread House is $99.99 (89.99€ / £84.99) and contains 1477 pieces. That makes it the second largest part count in the series, just below 2012’s Winter Village Cottage which contains 1490 pieces. Part-per-piece probably isn’t the best way to estimate value, but under $0.07 per part is definitely a good value.

#10267 Gingerbread House

My initial impressions before building the set were mixed: I liked the building’s aesthetic, was mixed about the use of Gingerbread Minifigures instead of humans, and was cautious about the large number of pastel details and the sparkly pink and purple windows. Let’s stop talking and start building!

Build process

This set is assembled across five stages, each of which corresponds to two numbered bags: a large bag with a code of either 329R9 or 429R9, and a small bag with a code of 135149. (Numbered bags make it faster and easier to build the set, since you have fewer parts on the table at any time.)

The set contains five numbered stages, with two bags each.

Bag 1

In the first bag, we build all of the smaller accessories featured in this set, including the Minifigures, Baby Buggy, Snow Blower, Christmas Tree, and several Christmas Presents. Aside from the addition of Bar 3l and Bar 4L to connect a few of the elements and offer extra structural support, there aren’t any noteworthy building techniques in this bag.

The first bag is all about the minifigures and accessories.

The first bag comes with a separate instruction booklet and is clearly designed with younger builders in mind. (It’s probably suitable for ages 8+.) I wish The LEGO Group started showing two ages on the box, as this first bag would be perfect for allowing younger members of your family to participate part of a large and complex model like this.

Bag 1, 25 minutes.

Bag 2

Now it’s time to start building the actual Gingerbread house! The base of the model is 16×28 studs and made of 1White plates: one 16×16 plate (part 91405), two 6×6 plate w/ round corner (part 6003), and two 6×10 plate (part 3033). While it isn’t quite up to the level of detailing of sets in the Creator Expert Modular Building series, prepare yourself for some patient tile laying, as we build the floor of the first story. This includes a small section of 1×1 tiles (part 3070b) in an alternating pattern of 1White and 107Bright Bluish GreenDark Turquoise / Teal. I really do like how the fine checkerboard pattern looks, but it’s time consuming to align all of the pieces perfectly.

Interior at the end of bag 1.

The bag continues with most of the first story of the building, including a lot of masonry bricks in 312Medium NougatMedium Dark Flesh. There is also a nicely detailed double-sided fireplace, with flames facing the building interior and the exterior. Lastly, we must mention the windows which are built using alternating 1×1 bricks in Glitter Transparent Pink and Purple. While these colors are way outside of my typical color palette, they add welcome personality to this festive holiday-themed home.

Building exterior, by the end of Bag 1.

Bag 2, 35 minutes.

Bag 3

This is where the build gets a lot more fun! In this bag, we add all of the interior personality to the first floor. Three of the interior details are built as sub-assemblies: the kitchen which includes a stove, cabinet, and sink; a chest of drawers; and an overstuffed lazy chair with brown pillows. The fireplace is beautifully decorated with two large candles, and two stocking hanging in front.

Well-designed furnishings for the building interior.

In this stage, we also finish the walls of the first floor and add two green doors. I like the vertical stripes of white on the right-side of the front—it gives the structure a Tudor styling, but with frosting! We wrap up this bag by making the chimney taller and installing the light-brick feature above the fireplace. The lighting effect is not very bright, but it is quite pleasing.

Interior at the end of Bag 3.

Bag 3, 40 minutes.

Bag 4

The second-to-last bag offers some variety, starting with four beautifully detailed peaked roof assemblies. White tiles wrap around the border of each piece of gingerbread, with additional curved details and a variety of pastel candies. To (literally) top them off, we see a very clever building technique which hinges at the bottom and a technic pin at the top to hold the two sections of roof together at the right angle. This is made even more delicious by the peppermint candy covering the technic elements at the teak of the roof

Exterior at the end of Bag 4.

We also build the floor for the second story, and two tall gables with additional pink and purple glitter windows. Lastly, we get even more beautifully designed furnishings in the form of a generous claw-footed bathtub, and a cleverly designed toilet. (Apparently gingerbread people have the same needs as the rest of us.)

Beautiful brick-built Bathtub (for Gingerbread people).

Bag 4, 35 minutes.

Bag 5

The fifth bag brings this set to a nice conclusion. The bedroom receives an oval rug in the corner and three pieces of furniture: a bed, a bedside table with lamp, and a crib for the baby. I like that the crib is placed at an angle, making for a more engaging composition.

More furnishings for the upstairs bedroom.

Lastly, we get to finish assembling the roof. This section leverages the same combination of hinges and technic elements used in previous bags, with the addition of a wedge-shaped section of roof connecting the gables which is connected with only hinges on the bottom, but is prevented from being pushed downward by inserting a wedge-shaped wall insert afterwards. It isn’t an elegant solution, but it’s a clever trick that solves the problem.

Photo showing how the top two gables are held together using Technic pins.

Bag 5, 35 minutes.

About the parts

The set does include a sticker sheet, but thankfully only includes three stickers. This was a mixed blessing for me—on the one hand I was pleased to see a set which required so few stickers for added personality, but disappointed that they didn’t use printed bricks since there were only three stickers.

The sticker sheet contains just three stickers.

Existing parts in new colors

While there aren’t any new parts in this set, there are several existing parts which are available in a new color for the first time:

• 8x – 1×2 w/ Pin Hole Bottom (part 18677) in 353Vibrant CoralCoral.
• 20x – 1×1 Brick (part 3005) in 129Transparent Bluish Violet (Glitter)Glitter Trans-Purple.
• 1x – 1×2 Plate w/ Handle on side (part 48336) in 322Medium AzurMedium Azure.
• 1x – 75° Slope 2×1×3 (part 4460b) in 312Medium NougatMedium Dark Flesh.
• 5x – 75° Slope 2×1×3 (part 3684c) in 312Medium NougatMedium Dark Flesh.
• 2x – 1×1 Flower w/ 5 petals (part 24866) in 297Warm GoldPearl Gold.
• 1x – 1×4 Plate w/ two studs (part 41740) in 21Bright RedRed.
• 4x – 2×1 Curved, Inverted (part 24201) in 192Reddish Brown.
• 11x – 1×2 Gold Bar (part 99563) in 5Brick YellowTan.
• 4x – 1×2 Diamond w/ Pin (part 35649) in 44Transparent YellowTrans-Yellow.

Conclusion

#10267 Gingerbread House – Completed model.

It is important to recognize that this is quite different from past sets in the long-running Winter Village theme. Last year’s Winter Village Station is arguably one of the most realistic sets in the series; firefighting adds a dose of realism to our idyllic winter village. This year’s set is the most fantastical—you may need to suspend disbelief when welcoming a brightly colored gingerbread house and a family of gingerbread people into your holiday community. (To be fair, diversity and inclusion has been a trending topic in 2019 for good reason.)

#10267 Gingerbread House is also a great play set with a detailed interior.

With so many treats in store, it is easy to recommend this set. Before building the set, I had expected that it would earn our “Highly Recommended” rating, but I’m happy to report that it’s exceeded my initial expectations—#10267 Gingerbread House earned our highest Must Have (5/5 star) rating! Not only is it a great set, but at nearly 1500 pieces for 100$, it’s also a great value.