I got the Christmas Market set today - from Italy! It was actually cheaper with postage from Italy than any I could find on ebay in Germany or the UK!
Here's the box, another very sturdy one.
The contents in the inner box
The stalls and roofs.
At first, because the snow was already on the roof I thought it was made that way, but luckily it comes off so the stall could be used for different market scenes or a fairground as someone suggested when the 2010 sets were first shown.
This time I followed the instructions and with my trusty tweezers, the stickers were very easy to apply.
Here are the contents for the food stall, nothing really new here, but I'm sure all the apples will come in useful.
The Food stall complete.
The contents for the toy stall
I like the miniature coach (which I think is the same as the one in the 4330 Fairy Tale Castle micro set but without the magnet), the dinosaur and the doll. Junior spotted that the hedgehog and snail are the ones on the 3235 Jungle Gym, I knew they looked familiar but couldn't think from where.
Here's a close up of the toys.
The toy stall complete
It should have a sledge attached and from how it looks on the box I thought there would be somewhere to hang it but there isn't.
Musical instruments, again nothing new here but I do like this recorder.
The klickies and accessories
There are some new designs here. I really love the couple with the winter clothers, the scarf on the female looks very realistic and with the matching cuffs her hands do look as though she is wearing mittens, without being too bulky.
The sleeves on the man make him look as though he is wearing a padded jacket, but are removable.
The stall holders have great designs on their sweaters, I think I might give the lady red cuffs to make her look more like she's wearing gloves.
The children have the usual hairstyles, but I like the boy's hat and the colour of the girl's hat, scarf and hands that give the impression of her wearing gloves to match.
The thing that gave me the most trouble was the tree!
No instructions on how to put it together and at first I didn't notice that there was a groove at one side at the bottom and a sticking out bit at the other side at the top. When I had realised this the pieces fit together with no problem.
I had thought there would be something to hold the birds onto the top of the stall but there isn't and they kept falling off, but as I'm not keen on the blue colour of them I'm quite happy to leave them off!
Here's the complete set
Sorry about this being a very long review, but I'm quite excited at having got this. All in all I think this is a great set and a good one to use for a display at our Christmas Produce Fair - I just need some more stalls now.
Are the stalls themselves available from German ds? and is there someone over there who could get a couple for me?
Elaine
