One of my absolute biggest regrets as a LEGO collector is that I never bought the LEGO Grand Carousel 10196 when it was in stores. I loved that set, but I balked at the $300 price-point and never picked one up. Now if I want one it’ll cost me over $1000, which is way out of my budget. That experience with the Grand Carousel LEGO set is what led me to always buy the LEGO Winter Village sets as soon as they hit stores each year–and with this year’s LEGO Winter Village set headlined by a carousel, it seems like everything has come full circle (no pun intended)! It’s the 2013 LEGO Winter Village Market 10235!

The Winter Village LEGO sets are becoming one of my favorite holiday traditions (much to my wife’s dismay), and I look forward speculating about each year’s set and building all the prior sets every year as the holidays approach. I thought I had a fair idea of what the LEGO 10235 Winter Village Market was going to be like when the set was announced by name over a month ago, but now that the set has been revealed this weekend at Canada’s Brickfête 2013 convention, it turns out that it’s not at all what I was anticipating!

I thought the set would heavily feature a marketplace–like the LEGO Medieval Market 10193–but the shops are just a side course in this year’s Winter Village Market. No, the real star of the show here is the Winter Village Carousel! This is not even in the same universe of detail or glamor as the LEGO Grand Carousel, but it’s still a very fun, colorful and charming addition to the LEGO winter village.

This carousel is easily the high point of the LEGO Winter Village Market! You can use the crank to move the carousel in a circle, and the horses (who have unique print deco on them) really rock back and forth. This is going to fit in very nicely with past LEGO Winter Village sets, and could become one of the centerpieces of any LEGO Winter Village display!

The set also comes with three small food stands. Maybe they should have called this set the LEGO Winter Village Farmer’s Market? I’m honestly a bit disappointed that we’re getting so many little building with this set instead of one really huge one, but the individual LEGO food stands are all sort of neat. The bakery stand has a cream pie included–now all the set needs is a clown minifigure to throw it! It’s a good thing LEGO has released several clowns already in the popular LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series!

Of the three Winter Village Marketplace stands, the Candy Shop is easily my favorite. The swirly lollipop pieces look like a lot of fun, although I’m surprised to see no proper LEGO candy canes included with the set!

Finally, we’ve got the Winter Village Barbecue Grill stand, which is another place that hands you hot dogs with no buns, napkins, or plates. Foods service sure it weird in the LEGO world! I like the brown LEGO cat included with this set a lot, as it looks a lot more detailed and realistic than the white LEGO cat with the original Winter Village Toy Shop 10199.

The “scorned girlfriend” minifigure just might be my favorite LEGO minifigure ever included in one of the LEGO Winter Village sets! Kudos to to whoever in the LEGO photography department is responsible for this wildly fun glamor shot of the angry girlfriend watching from behind the lamppost. Genius!

The set includes a total of nine minifigures, plus the cat and teddy bear. There’s also three little free-standing “tables” including, but those are a little bit silly and underwhelming, in my opinion. Man, do I love that teddy bear, though!

The LEGO Winter Village Market 10235 seasonal set will be releasing in October 2013 in the United States, with a price of $99.99 for 1,261 pieces (that’s a good deal!). The set will only be available for purchase through the online LEGO Store and official brick and mortar LEGO Stores–this set will not be sold at Walmart, Toys R Us or any other chain stores. The Winter Village sets are always an instant must-buy for me, so I’ll review and photograph the set just as soon as it’s out in stores this fall!