Though it isn’t scheduled to be released until October 2013 for regular retail customers, the 2013 LEGO Winter Village Market 10235 is available for purchase for all LEGO VIP members! Like every year’s Winter Village LEGO set, this set is an absolute must-buy for me. Though I’m not planning on buying the set myself until next month, I couldn’t resist the temptation to see the set with my own eyes in person, so I headed over to my favorite local LEGO Store over the weekend to take some photos…

I went to the LEGO Store early last week to scope out the new LEGO Winter Village Market 2013 set was was devastated (that might be melodramatic) to see that it hadn’t arrived yet at the store. The employees told me to check back in a week, but I couldn’t help myself and ended up visiting over the weekend just in case. My eyes lit up to discover that not only did they have the 10235 LEGO Winter Village Market box placed on the shelf when I returned, but they also had a complete set build out on display!

This was my first chance to see the back of the box for this LEGO 10235 set, and it’s suitably bright and cheerful. The box does a terrific job of spotlighting the colorful and unique minifigures included with the set, as well as making the various modular food stands included look pretty fun as well.

The actual set looks a little bit weird the way that it’s been displayed at the store, as the LEGO Winter Village Market Carousel was placed on a riser above all of the little Winter Village booths. I’m not a fan of this setup, as it makes the various stands look totally unnecessary and disconnected from the main portion of the set.

On the bright side, the carousel segment of the 2013 Winter Village Market LEGO set looks fun and adorable in-person. It’s a small carousel that you have to crank to operate, but I think that adds a lot to the nostalgic appeal of the set. The throwing carnival game booth also looks really cute, and is easily my favorite of the four small LEGO booths that are part of the Winter Village Market.

I didn’t have a lot of expectations for them, but the LEGO Winter Village Candy Stand and Grill Stand end up being unique and interesting additions to the Winter Village LEGO theme. The swirly lollipop candies that come with the food stand look very appetizing (at least as much as plastic candy can), and I like how different the two Winter Village booths look from each other. They look strange out on their own, but will be very cool when integrated into a whole LEGO Winter Village display.

The last two portions of the LEGO Winter Village 10235 set unfortunately are the most boring inclusions in the set. Considering that the Winter Village Bakery is one of the very few buildings that have been released in the LEGO Winter Village theme, it seems sort of lame to have a bakery stand to stick in the village as well. The LEGO bench and streetlight also feels like a rehash, and I don’t like the new LEGO wreath piece on the streetlamp nearly as much as I liked the old wreaths (such as the ones that you built in the LEGO Winter Village Toy Shop set).

The LEGO Winter Village Market set is currently only available for purchase in stores and online for LEGO VIP Members. If you’re not a LEGO V.I.P. card holder, you can sign up for free at checkout, as it’s a free rewards program. The 10235 LEGO Winter Village Market set can be ordered online for those who don’t have a local LEGO Store that they can pick up the set from–the set will not be sold at regular retailers like Walmart or Target and must be purchased from an official LEGO Store or the online LEGO Shop.