Wednesday 16 November 2011

Our tenth Lego project - 10222 Winter Village Post Office

  • Model: 10222 Winter Village Post Office
  • 822 Pieces
  • Released in 2011
  • Retail price: $69.99 USD
10222 Winter Village Post Office
822 pieces and 1 instruction manual!

The finished product! Our Winter Village Post Office!

Yet another busy Winter Village set!

Let's line everyone up for the shot!

Bench, pavilion, post office and delivery van!

Finally. The set that completes the trilogy. The final piece in the Lego Winter Village jigsaw. Behold, the third leg of the Seasonal Series - 10222 Winter Post Office!

At 822 pieces, the 10222 Winter Village Post Office is currently the largest Winter Village set that has been produced by Lego; it is also the latest set, having been officially released by Lego in the US about a month ago. This set follows the 687-piece 10199 Winter Village Toy Shop (released in 2009) and the 815-piece 10216 Winter Village Bakery (2010).

As with the previous two Winter Village sets, building the 10222 Winter Village Post Office was a relatively short and straightforward affair compared to our Modular Buildings or Pirates Series, but one that was no less enjoyable. The Winter Village Post Office is a feast for the eyes - it comes with a post office, pavilion, bench and delivery van, all of which are very colourful and festive-looking. Additionally, the minifigs - an ecletic group of musicians, post office staff, residents and pet owner - add to the jolly atmosphere. Together with the other two Lego Winter Village sets, we believe the Winter Village Post Office will embellish an already dreamy Lego winter wonderland.

In terms of building detail, Lego's design team has, once again, shown us the true meaning of the saying "there are many ways to skin a cat". The roofs of the Post Office may look similar in structure, but the one on the left was put together by two pairs of clips latching onto the horizontal bar, while the one on the right was created by threading a horizontal bar through a base which has a common opening (please see the pictures in the extended post). Pure genius at work! Of course, we haven't really found a perfect building design - the Winter Village Post Office, like the Winter Village Bakery, somehow lacks a staircase or a ladder for access to the second floor, something which continues to puzzle us.

Display-wise, the 10222 Winter Village Post Office, like its predecessors, is probably cute and pretty enough to stand on its own in the living room, but it would be nice if all three sets were combined into a Lego Winter Village in time for Christmas, wouldn't it? More on the Lego Winter Village in our next post, but for now, do enjoy all the pictures and comments in the extended entry!

We decided to have more technical detail in this entry compared to our previous two Winter Village entries; therefore, we shall be blogging more specifically about each structure.

Bench
Snow shoveller at work!

You've got mail!

A well deserved pat on the head!

Care to go for a walk? :)

The bench seems to be a common feature in the Winter Village sets so far, standing on its own in 10199 Winter Village Toy Shop and as part of the ice skating rink in 10216 Winter Village Bakery. The bench comes with snow; like the Winter Village Bakery, there is a shoveller who can help clear the snow. Another similarity, this time among all three sets, is the presence of animals; the Toy Shop's cat, the Bakery's horse, and the dog here. The boy here comes with a whip or a leash, however you wish to imagine it. Interestingly, the mailbag is able to fit onto the body of the dog, giving the dog the ability to deliver mail.

Pavilion

Music please!

Different angles of the pavilion - what a beautiful sight!

Snow-filled roofs!

The pavilion is one of the main attractions of the 10222 Winter Village Post Office. Built with three seats, colourful external decorations, a Christmas tree and a big bright star at the top, the pavilion is a great place for minifigs to relax and, perhaps, enjoy some music from two musicians playing the banjo and saxophone.

Delivery Van

Does the vehicle plate number look familiar? :)

Just parked!

Presents have to be delivered on time!

Loading the mail and parcels!

The delivery van is the second transportation vehicle in the Seasonal series, after the Winter Village Bakery's horse carriage. Like the fire engine in our Fire Brigade from our Modular Building Series, building the delivery van was a challenge in itself. In terms of design, the van comes with ample space for parcels at the back, but the position of the mailbag at the top of the van is a tad puzzling. Do scroll further down to see the van in use!

Post Office 
Cottage masquerading as a post office? :)

Left side - entrance to the post office!

Closer look: mail boxes and window displays!

Take note of the operating hours!

View from the left side - check out the snow-covered roofs!

Close-up of the left side. Parcel and letter on display, behind the streaks of ice!

Right side: Lights, windows, tree, chimney, ice!

View from the right side - chimney and tree!

Close-up of the chimney! Check out the streak of ice and snow-covered roof, again!

Lighting available!

The post office, the main theme of this set, is a feast for the eyes. The only main structure so far to have a green roof, the post office blends well with the bakery and the toy shop - more on that in a later post when we combine all three sets. Another feature of the three sets is the clever and generous use of windows to give viewers a clear sight of the interior design and contents of the buildings; in the case of this set, the front and side windows offer an insight into the letters and parcels inside the busy post office. The other thing that we need to note about the Winter Village sets is that they are not complete buildings: the back is exposed; more on that below.


Back view - busy day in the office!
  
High ceiling with fireplace!

Close-up of the counter and window display!

Fireplace in greater detail!

View of the first floor!

Please take note of the charges for postage!

Entrance and coffee corner!

Close-up of the coffee corner!

Time for a short coffee break!

The back of the post office boasts a lot of detail. There are plenty of letters and parcels in the room, while the neat beige and blue tiles form a checkered floor. The fireplace provides much needed warmth in the freezing weather, while a coffee corner on the second floor allows the staff to take a short break in the middle of a busy work day. Another flaw we found - similar to the bakery - is the lack of a staircase or ladder leading up to the second floor; at least the Toy Shop had a ladder! Lastly, the street lamp looks impressive; its position to the side of the post office suggests an alley between two buildings in a Winter Village. Now that we have discussed the back of the post office in detail, let us move on to the creativity of Lego's designers.

Roof design #1- open state

Roof design #1 - closed state

Roof design #2 - open state

Roof design #2 - closed state

Side view of the closed state of roof design #2

As you can see from the pictures above, the two roofs may look alike, but they are put together using different means. In roof design #1, designers use a horizontal bar to lock the roof pieces together. In roof design #2, the pieces are clipped on; due to the angle of the roofs, the pieces here can be opened wide.

Structures and minifigs combined 
It all starts with the posting of a letter...

Then its time to start preparing for delivery!

Left box is for local mail, right box is for international mail!

Further sorting by our efficient mailroom assistants

Too much work!

Too much snow on the ground!

Sorry, no way through for the van!

No choice then, have to go on foot, er, anti slip skates!

Letters delivered to our happy recipients

Letters delivered, ground snow cleared and its time to go!

We have come to the end of our post. Do check out our website in the days ahead for our next post - combining the Winter Village Toy Shop, Bakery and Post Office into one complete Lego Winter Village! Tata for now! :)

Related posts:
Our Lego Winter Village - Two and Counting 
Our Lego Winter Village - Three and Counting
Our Lego Winter Village MOC - 10199 Winter Village Toy Shop, 10216 Winter Village Bakery and 10222 Winter Village Post Office
Lego Christmas Winter Wonderland 
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Our 19th Lego project - 10245 Santa's Workshop
Our Lego Winter Village Town MOC - 10199 Winter Village Toy Shop, 10216 Winter Village Bakery, 10222 Winter Village Post Office, 10229 Winter Village Cottage, 10235 Winter Village Market and 10245 Santa's Workshop
 

2 comments:

  1. nice post, you can consider making a blog post on all 3 winter buildings together (create a little snowy town). a little request :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. That post will probably be up in Dec! Once the white plates from bricklink have arrived.
    We're in the process of writing a new entry on the Winter Village Town (without snow)..
    Stay tuned!

    ReplyDelete