LEGO Holiday Express Train Review

The LEGO Holiday Express Train rolled into stores in October 2025 with something unprecedented tucked inside its festive packaging. Set 10361 marks a genuine milestone for the Winter Village collection—and the real headline goes beyond the charming steam locomotive and bell-ringing polar bear. This is the first widely available LEGO set to include a 3D-printed element.

But does this technological leap justify the premium price tag? Game of Bricks dives deep into every car, every minifigure, and every controversial design choice to help you decide if this LEGO Holiday Train review should influence your holiday shopping list.

Four Minifigs, One Platform, 16 Tracks

Let's cut straight to the specifications. Here's what you're getting:

• Set Number: 10361
• Piece Count: 956 pieces
• Price: $129.99 / £109.99 / €119.99
• Release Date: October 1, 2025 (Insiders), October 4, 2025 (General)
• Minifigures: 4 (conductor, engineer, 2 passengers)
• Theme: LEGO Icons Winter Village Collection
• Age Rating: 18+

The box includes a steam locomotive with a bobbing smokestack, coal tender, flatcar with polar bear, passenger car, 16 curved track pieces, platform with bench and lamppost, and that controversial 3D-printed miniature train.

The LEGO Holiday Express Train continues the Winter Village tradition that began in 2009. This is only the second train in the collection after 2016's 10254 Winter Holiday Train—making it a relatively rare addition to the lineup.

Paper-Like Texture, Pre-Done Engineering. Will 3D Printing Replace Building?

The full-sized locomotive takes second place here. A tiny blue train barely two inches long steals the show.

This miniature represents nearly a decade of development by LEGO's Additive Design and Manufacturing team in Billund, Denmark. The 3D-printed element features functional moving parts impossible to achieve through traditional injection moulding at this scale.

The piece showcases spinning wheels and a puffing chimney that move in unison. Pretty impressive for something so small.

Ronen Hadar, Head of Additive Design and Manufacturing at LEGO, called this "a move similar in magnitude to when our founders purchased their first injection moulding machine back in the late 1940s." That's a bold claim, but it speaks to the potential impact of this technology.

The texture feels distinctly different from standard LEGO bricks—slightly matte rather than glossy smooth. If you've been building LEGO for years, your hands will immediately notice the difference. Some fans call it "paper-like," though it's far more durable than that suggests.

Here's the catch: the miniature train can't actually integrate with standard LEGO track. The connecting rods conflict with studs, so it's purely decorative. You can't roll it on your layout like a proper LEGO train.

This technology opens doors for complex internal mechanisms previously impossible to produce. Your perspective determines how you view this development. Are you a "LEGO should be buildable from bricks" purist? Or do you embrace innovation that enables new play patterns?

Building, Characters, and the Motorisation Reality

The 90-minute build arrives in six paper bags plus loose track elements. The 3D-printed train comes gift-boxed separately—a nice unboxing touch.

The locomotive construction proves fiddly. Wheel assemblies demand precise alignment, and the instructions leave spacing between the front bogie and flatbed wagon wheels to trial and error. You'll need patience.

The four minifigures lack personality. The conductor stands out with his gold waistcoat and pocket watch—very steampunk. The engineer and two passengers feel generic with reused face expressions. One passenger looks asleep.

This is the first Winter Village train without child minifigures, breaking tradition for a set marketed toward families. There's a continuity nod—two children from 2016's set return as adults—but it doesn't compensate for the bland lineup.

The flatbed wagon's bell-ringing polar bear mechanism works well. Its arms connect to wheels, creating movement as the train rolls. The passenger car measures just 10 studs long—absurdly small for a proper carriage.

One positive: no stickers. All decorative elements use printed pieces, including two "Holiday Express" nameplate tiles and locomotive number 10361. The colour scheme—dark blue, light blue, pearl gold with red and green accents—photographs beautifully.

The coal tender sits hollow by design, waiting for Powered Up components LEGO doesn't include:

• 88009 Hub - $49.99/£44.99
• 88011 Train Motor - $13.99/£12.99
• 88010 Controller (optional) - $22.99/£19.99

Total: $87/£87 additional

This pushes the complete motorised train to $217—nearly identical to LEGO City 60470 Explorers' Arctic Polar Express ($209.99), which includes 600 more pieces, all motors, and straight track pieces as standard. The Holiday Express offers only the Winter Village aesthetic.

Powered Up availability varies by region. Components show as "back order" or "retired" on some LEGO.com sites. Instructions include motorisation steps showing battery box placement in the tender and powered wheel platform installation.

First-time motorised train builders face unexpected costs. Existing Powered Up owners avoid the expense.

Game of Bricks lighting kits enhance the platform's streetlamp for atmospheric displays—particularly effective for photography.

Light Blue, Dark Blue, Gold—But Does It Read "Christmas"?

The LEGO Holiday Express Train divides opinion more sharply than most Winter Village releases.

The colour palette, frosty blues with gleaming pearl gold trim, evokes luxury and prestige. It looks expensive. Some collectors question whether it feels sufficiently "Christmasy" compared to traditional red and green schemes, though. This same colour combination appeared in last year's Winter Village set, which makes it feel less special.

The locomotive's proportions spark the most controversy. Unlike realistic steam engines, this design uses smaller train wheels as driving wheels. This creates an unusually large gap between bogies that just looks wrong to train enthusiasts.

Real steam locomotives typically feature large driving wheels. LEGO's printed nameplate curves—sized for those larger wheels—highlight this proportional mismatch. The nameplate literally doesn't match the wheel size it's mounted near.

The bobbing smokestack mechanism required design compromises. To achieve this play feature, LEGO sacrificed the connecting rods (valve gear) that give steam engines their characteristic appearance. Train enthusiasts find this trade-off particularly egregious. The locomotive looks more like a shopping mall kiddie train than a proper steam engine.

The polar bear on the flatbed wagon charmed most reviewers despite its sad expression. Maybe it's sad about the state of Arctic sea ice? Either way, the bear's moving arms and bell create a delightful play feature.

The gift-wrapped passenger car with its ribbon design earned praise. The execution is clever and festive. The diminutive size disappointed those expecting a proper carriage interior, though.

The tiny platform built—just a 5×6 plate with a bench and vintage streetlamp—feels bare for an 18+ set. It connects to track edges but offers minimal display value. You'll probably incorporate it into a larger Winter Village scene rather than displaying it standalone.

Why Did LEGO Include Updated Clips But Only Curved Rails?

The set includes 16 curved track pieces—the newly updated mould with improved connecting clips. This forms one complete circle, perfect for wrapping around Christmas trees or creating tabletop displays.

The clips do make connecting tracks easier than older versions. Small improvements matter when you're setting up and breaking down holiday displays annually.

The track pieces are fully compatible with other LEGO train tracks and rail accessories. If you own 2016's 10254 Holiday Train and 2017's 10259 Winter Village Station, the new train integrates seamlessly into an expanded layout. This compatibility is crucial for collectors building comprehensive Winter Village scenes.

The set includes zero straight track pieces. Some builders consider this a significant oversight. Want to create anything beyond a simple circle? You'll need an additional track.

Additional track pieces are available separately—20 pieces of varying shapes cost $19.99/£17.99 at LEGO.com. This raises questions about where the other 500 pieces went compared to previous Winter Village sets that cost less but included more pieces.

Gift-Boxed Research Tax

At $129.99/£109.99 for 956 pieces, the LEGO Holiday Express Train delivers a price-per-piece of 13.6¢/11.5p. That's well above the 10-cent threshold many collectors consider good value.

To be fair, this nearly matches the 2016 Winter Holiday Train's price-per-piece ratio. However, Winter Village sets held steady at $99.99/£89.99 for years while prices spiralled across other themes. Choosing this set—with fewer pieces than immediate predecessors—to break that ceiling feels like unfortunate timing.

The 16-track pieces impact the piece count significantly. You can purchase 20 track pieces separately for $19.99, though. This makes you question whether the actual train components justify the premium.

The 3D-printed element likely contributed to the increased cost. LEGO hasn't officially confirmed this, but the timing seems more than coincidental. Many fans voiced frustration that the "gift-boxed" miniature train seemed to drive the price increase for a feature they didn't request.

Development costs for new manufacturing technology don't come cheap. Someone has to pay for that decade of research and development. Unfortunately, that someone is you, the consumer.

Verdict: If you don't own the 2016 train, the Holiday Express represents a decent entry point to Winter Village trains. It's festive, it's functional, and it completes the Winter Village aesthetic. However, veteran collectors who already have 10254 may find the premium difficult to justify for what feels like a lateral move rather than a genuine upgrade.

Buy It Only If You're Legally Required to Own Every Winter Village Set

The LEGO Holiday Express Train occupies an uncomfortable middle ground. It's neither revolutionary enough to justify its premium price nor disappointing enough to dismiss entirely.

Buy it if:

💯 You're a Winter Village completist who needs every set

💯 You don't own the 2016 Winter Holiday Train

💯 You're genuinely excited about the 3D-printed technology milestone

💯 You value no-sticker building experiences

💯 You're planning a complete Winter Village display and need the track pieces

Skip it if:

❌ You already own 10254 and feel satisfied with your holiday train

❌ You want motorisation and can't justify the additional $80 Powered Up investment

❌ You're a train purist who values realistic locomotive proportions

❌ You're budget-conscious and can allocate those funds to sets with better price-to-piece ratios

❌ You want a train with straight track pieces included

If you do purchase, enhance your display with LEGO lights to maximise its visual impact. Proper lighting elevates any LEGO display, but it's particularly effective with sets featuring metallic elements like the pearl gold trim on this locomotive.

The Holiday Express That Changed Production, Not Proportions

The LEGO Holiday Express Train represents an interesting chapter in the Winter Village collection—flawed but not without charm. While design compromises disappoint train purists and the price-to-piece ratio raises eyebrows, it delivers festive appeal and historical significance as the first retail set with 3D-printed elements.

The 3D-printing technology itself deserves recognition as a genuine milestone in LEGO manufacturing history. Where this technology leads remains to be seen, but the Holiday Express Train marks the beginning of a new era. That historical significance may not justify the purchase today, but it makes the set more interesting in retrospect.

Happy building, and may your holiday trains run smoothly through your Winter Village displays this season!