Seasonal

Christmas Tree

A gift with purchase that quietly out builds half the trees LEGO actually sells.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 40338 · 2019

Pieces392

Minifigsn/a

Year2019

Set number40338

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The verdict

I was not expecting to fall for a promo freebie, but this tree earned it.

Twist the little spinner at the top, and a train tucked inside the hollow trunk goes chugging around the base, which is a genuinely clever bit of engineering hiding under all those green leaf plates. It stands about 8 inches tall and reads as a real display piece, not a token seasonal add-on. Grab it if you can still find one reasonably priced, especially if you love a build with a hidden mechanism, but don't expect minifigs or a ton of surprises once the novelty of the spinner wears off.

Best for: collectors who want a display centerpiece with a working mechanism, not a static tree

The full review

What it is

I was not expecting to fall for a promo freebie, but this tree earned it. It was handed out in November 2019 as a gift with qualifying purchase, valued around 20 to 25 dollars at the time, and it is one of the more generous GWPs LEGO has put out. Twist the little mechanism at the top of the tree and a train hidden inside the hollow trunk goes chugging around a turntable at the base. That is the moment the set clicked for me. It is not a huge, flashy feature, but it is a real one, and it makes the tree feel like more than just stacked green plates.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the build itself. The middle stretch, where you are laying down ring after ring of leaf plates studded with translucent ornaments, does start to feel like a routine. It is not a bad kind of repetitive, more the kind where you settle into a rhythm, but if you want constant surprises at every step this is not that set. There are no minifigs at all, so the appeal is purely the tree and its spinner, nothing more.

Who it's for

Get this one if you already love LEGO seasonal sets and want a display piece with an actual working part instead of a static shelf sitter. It is also a fun one to build with a kid during the holidays since the payoff, that spinning train, is easy for anyone to appreciate. Skip it if you are hoping for minifigs or a fast, varied build, and know going in that since it was never sold at retail, secondary market prices have climbed well past its original giveaway value.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building it starts with a wide, sturdy base and works up through layer after layer of green leaf plates, angled slightly outward to give the tree its natural taper. The sides get anchored with supports cleverly disguised as little doors, which is a nice touch of Christmas village charm hiding structural work. The middle stretch is where the repetition sets in, since most of the leaf tiers use a similar building technique with just the ornament placement changing.

The standout part of the whole build is the hollow trunk and turntable combo running through the center, which lets you spin the top of the tree and send a small train circling the base underneath. It is a smart use of a turntable piece for a purely decorative set. The translucent gem pieces scattered through the branches double as ornaments and lights, giving the finished tree a bit of sparkle even without actual LEGO lighting. For a 392 piece set that cost nothing beyond a qualifying purchase, the piece count and the working mechanism make it a genuinely good value on top of being a fun little engineering surprise.

Fun facts

01The set was never sold at retail. It was given away as a gift with qualifying purchase in LEGO stores and on LEGO.com starting November 29, 2019.
02Twisting the top of the tree turns a turntable connected through the hollow trunk, which sends a small train circling the base.
03The tree stands about 8 inches (20cm) tall, making it one of the larger Christmas tree sets LEGO has produced as a promotional giveaway.
04Brickset users have rated it around 4.1 out of 5, with 322 ratings praising it as one of the more generous GWP sets LEGO has offered.