Review: LEGO 10275 Elf Club House

September 21, 2020 | 26

Say hello to the 2020 LEGO Winter Village set – 10275 Elf Club House, the perfect addition to your Christmas LEGO display.

The Elf Clubhouse joins 2014’s Santa’s Workshop and last year’s Gingerbread House as a fantasy-themed expansion of LEGO’s beloved Winter Village theme, which is a personal favourite of mine.

It’s been tradition on the blog to publish my review of this year’s Winter Village set around Christmas, but LEGO were kind enough to offer the set for review, and I couldn’t wait till December.

Read on to see what I thought of the Elf Club House!

Thanks to LEGO for providing this set for review.

Name: Elf Club House
Set Number: 10275
Pieces: 1,197
Price: AU$149.99 | US$99.99 | £84.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AU] [US] [UK]
Exclusive to: LEGO Brand Retail Stores, LEGO.com
Theme: Seasonal Winter Village
Release Date: 23 September 2020

The Elf Club House is a fun little set, that expands on the Winter Village by providing a base of operations and accommodation for Santa’s hardworking Elves.

Santa doesn’t like keeping his workforce on-site, so he has generously constructed living quarters for his uh, minions.

Here’s a look at the sticker sheet included – not an offensive number of stickers, but par for the course for a Winter Village set. At the very least, they’re all square or rectangles and aren’t a pain to apply.

If you want to check out a speed-build of me building this set, check out the video on my Youtube channel.

There are 4 minifigure Elves included, all of whom have the same torso design and matching hats.

There are no names afforded to the Elves, although the “leader” can be inferred by the red scarf. They have all sorts of cheery expressions on their face, which is exactly what you’d expect from indentured magical creatures.

They’re nameless, so I’m going to call them Elrond, Legolas, Galadriel and Feanor.

Here’s a look at the back printing, which have the continuation of their bells and belts printed on. Two Elves have dual-sided faces – the one with the lip-bite I believe is fairly new, if not exclusive to this set?

This is a minor, minor gripe, and has been a problem forever, but I really dislike the colour bleeding from the Elf hat onto their ears.

It’s been an issue since this headpiece was introduced, and it’s kind of disappointing that LEGO haven’t been able to fix it to this day.

The star and main attraction of the set is undoubtedly the new LEGO reindeer, which LEGO have knocked out of the park.

New LEGO animals are always a moment to celebrate, and I’m very pleased with the overall design, which we first saw with the LEGO Patronus from last year’s Expecto Patronum set.

The printing is satisfyingly sharp, and the antlers are especially majestic.

Here’s a side by side comparison between the LEGO Reindeer and Patronus.

I really love the new LEGO Reindeer, and I wish they had included another one, so I’ll be hoping we see it used in future LEGO sets to make the most of this utterly gorgeous mould.

The Reindeer pulls a small basic sleigh, which has pearl gold embellishments which contrast nicely against the red and white.

The sleigh has a very cool surprise, which really sets the playful tone of the entire set..

Yup, the sleigh has rocket boosters, with flames shooting out the back! Such a small detail that instantly adds so much personality to this set.

Like all LEGO Winter Village sets, the Elf Club House comes with an assortment of mini LEGO models, which often reference current LEGO sets.

In this set, we get a Pirate Ship (a nod to the Creator Pirate Ship)and a keyboard (which references the Grand Piano), and a red propeller, as well as 2 presents.

I don’t believe there’s an existing red propeller, although it could be a reference to this Duplo plane. Maybe LEGO are hinting at a Creator Expert propeller coming in the near future.

Last but not least of the mini builds is this amazing retro desktop computer, with Elf looking up Santa’s Nice List. You think Facebook is bad because they have so much data on you? Wait till you see Santa’s file on you.

If the style of the LEGO desktop computer rings some sort of bell, you’re on the money, as the Elf Club House set was designed by Chris McVeigh (or @powerpig as he’s better known on Instagram).

I love how incredibly simple, yet poignant this design is, especially for us oldies who may remember actually using a desktop computer like this.

Chris McVeigh’s most memorable creations (apart from Brick Sketches and Christmas ornaments) are his retro technology models, so it’s really sweet to see Chris being able to add his signature flair to this set with this desktop computer.

Another signature inclusion in Winter Village sets are the brick-built Christmas trees, which are unique and have been a staple since the very first Winter Toy Shop.

This year’s design is a breath of fresh air, and I love the use of 2 x 1 cutout wedges to give the tree its angled shape and sense of texture.

The use of studs embedded into the tree itself works remarkbly well visually, and I love the feeling of discovering and building each year’s Christmas tree.

The use of the LEGO Movie 2 stars as the umm, star that adorns the tip of the Christmas tree is also a great choice, although it seems a teensy bit oversized for the tree.

Here’s the completed set, which is an absolute beauty.

The design of the Elf Club House is immediately recognizable as belonging to the Winter Village, thanks to the iconic sloped snow-blanketed roof and inclusion of the chimney.

The tan and sand green colour scheme is close to the Winter Village Station

It does have its own unique style, with the tall roof, which has a sharper angle, and two windows that emerge out each side.

It might be just me, but the architectural shape of the Elf Club House does look like an elf, with a pointy hat, and ears that stick out. Please tell me you see it too.

The exterior is packed with details, and I really like the brick-built door, which I believe is a first for a Winter Village set. It feels distinctively like a Hobbit door in the best of ways.

The wreath hanging above the door, is so simple, but so damn good.

I also really like the brown curved frame for the upper level window.

There’s a candy cane pole hanging outside the front, with directions to Santa’s Workshop, and the North Pole.

Curiously, the North Pole is actually part of Santa’s Workshop, so I don’t know why the sign is pointing at the opposite direction.

On the left side of the building are a pair of yellow snowshoes hanging from the wall.

Another cool detail is this observation deck with a telescope that the Elves can use to track Santa’s Sleigh!

Last but not least are the Christmas lights, which employ yet another new technique using bulbs instead of studs.

Here’s a look at the back of the Elf Club House, which has an exposed dollhouse-style design much like all the other Winter Village buildings.

For a relatively small structure, the design team were able to pack quite a lot into the club house, including a towering chimney (I believe the tallest one yet) that has a waffle machine built into it.

The main structure contains sleeping quarters, a dining table and a present wrapping section.

The chimney has a very clever play mechanism built into it – a waffle machine.

Here’s how it works, you press the lever, and a waffle gets dropped into a pan, which you can then tip out.

It’s honestly incredible just how fun this is, especially since this was created without any complex mechanism or parts.

On the ground floor is a small counter and chairs, which have plates of waffles and red mugs for the Elves to eat.

Hanging above the dining section is a printed portrait of their overlord, Santa.

On the other end is a cabinet with a teapot on it, and a wrapping station. The use of the red and white doors as a roll of wrapping paper is absolutely inspired.

The main section of the build, and also the funniest is the bunk beds – which really ties together the playful nature of this set.

Triple bunk beds, all stacked on one another, and above it, a calendar with the 24th of December circled in red – D-Day for the Elves as they work tirelessly to help load Santa’s sleigh before he departs on his round the world trip to deliver gifts.

And it wouldn’t be a Winter Village set without a light brick.

The Elves have a tendency of sleeping in and being lazy, which is why the leader, Galadriel is equipped with a megaphone to wake them up.

The play feature which I wasn’t expecting is absolutely hilarious – you twist the clock which tips the bunk beds, causing all the Elves to fall out of bed.

This just filled me with so much joy about how random this is, yet it fits the overall playful theme of this set so well.

The build and the bunk beds alone were funny enough, but the addition of this play feature, was such a brilliant surprise that really tied the entire set together for me.

The interiors are tiny, but they managed to squeeze in some furniture, and a sitting area, which is a great use of what little space they had.

This set is really made to be a companion build to the 2014 Santa’s Workshop, which I unfortunately had packed away, so I don’t have a side by side shot.

The elves are a big upgrade, and have their own personality and costumes now which is a huge plus.

What I liked:

• the awesome LEGO Reindeer
• The elf-shaped building design
• Tons of fun little play features that don’t feel forced
• The little retro desktop computer
• You get so much value for the price point

What I didn’t like:

• Some more Elves would be nice
• An additional Reindeer would also be nice
• Interiors can feel quite cramped
• I still wish this was a Winter Village Tavern

Final thoughts: The LEGO Elf Club House is a worthy addition to the Winter Village, and is a solid follow-up to last year’s Gingerbread House.

I really like LEGO’s new direction of more fantasy-themed Seasonal Winter sets, and this “expansion pack” to Santa’s Workshop delivers in so many amazing ways.

The LEGO Reindeer is an absolutely great addition, and a must-have for any Winter Village. I really, really wish LEGO had bumped the price up slightly to accommodate for another reindeer, or a few more Elves.

The Elf Club House design is one of the strongest in the Winter Village theme – I really love the shape, and how all the little flourishes like the observation deck add to the entire package.

The interiors, while a little restrictive when it comes to space over-index in how much is packed into them, with the triple bunk bed tying it all together.

If you’re a fan of the Winter Village series, this set is a no-brainer. I have to commend LEGO for doing their best to keep the price low, and the fact that this set comes it at $99.99 in the US and AU$149.99 in Australia will help make it relatively accessible for the average household.

This is an easy, easy set to recommend to buy, as you’ll enjoy every moment of the set. With LEGO being in such short supply this year, I wouldn’t hesitate in pulling the trigger on the Elf Club House, especially if you want to avoid missing out for Christmas this year.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this early review of 10275 Elf Club House!

What do you think of the 2020 Winter Village set? Do you think it’s a great addition to the Winter Village and does it fit in well with the other buildings?

10275 Elf Club House will be available from LEGO.com on 23 September onwards from LEGO.com or your local LEGO store.

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