Just in case yesterday’s first glimpse at the LEGO Gingerbread House 40139 promo set wasn’t enough to get you salivating, the first hi-res images of the other LEGO 2015 Holiday Promo set began to roll into the station! After word of the 40138 Holiday Train leaked out at the end of 2014, we waited almost nine months to see the first image of the set on the October 2015 LEGO Store Calendar. And now, just three weeks away from the LEGO Christmas Train 40138 set finally being released, the official hi-res photos have been sent out! Was it worth the wait, brick fans?

UPDATE 10/13/2015: The LEGO Christmas Train set is now available online! Just add $99 or more of LEGO products to your cart and the exclusive Train will be added to your cart automatically! Happy Holidays!!

The initial photo of f the Holiday Train 40138 set that we saw on the October 2015 LEGO Store Calendar depicted the train on an illustrated snow-covered background. I had a hunch that TLG hadn’t gone to all that effort of creating such an elaborate background just to be used on a calendar, and they did not–the calendar artwork is actually shared with the official box for the exclusive Christmas Train 40138!

I was very surprised to see this set titled as “Christmas Train” on the box, since up until now it’s only been referred to as the “Holiday Train”. I’m not sure if the name for this set is going to differ depending upon the country that it’s released in or what, but for the moment it really does look like it’s going to officially be the 40138 LEGO Christmas Train. But oh well–just semantics, right?

The box for this set also reveals the total piece count for the very first time: 233 pieces! That’s a pretty huge number for a free promo set, but taking into account that you need to spend $99 or more to qualify for this set, it’s tough to really call it “free”.

Even so, a 233 piece set should ideally retail for $23.30, but we’ve seen sets of that size retail for as much as $29.99. So TLG is basically giving us a $20-$30 exclusive set as a bonus just for shopping at the LEGO Store next month and buying sets we (hopefully) would be buying anyway! Not bad, right?

While the vast majority of the pieces in the set comprise the train itself, there are also some extras included for “world-building” (so to speak). There’s what I think is intended to be a little station to place on the side, which consists of a pine tree, a brick-built flag/station sign and a pink-wrapped present.

In addition to the mini-station, the train will also have several accessories that it can hold in its middle car! The cargo car will be able to be filled up with a pink cupcake, two cookies, a green gift, a yellow gift and a big red-, white- and green-striped candy cane!

I imagine that whatever child receives that candy cane as a gift is going to have a mouthful of cavities by the new year, though–looking at its scale, the candy cane is nearly as long as a whole car of the Christmas Train! Yikes! =D

The LEGO Christmas Train/Holiday Train will be available exclusively online and in branded LEGO Stores starting October 13th. Builders will have to spend $99 or more in purchases at the store in one visit to qualify for the free train set–it is not and never will be available for purchase separately at retail. While the promo is scheduled to run until November 13th, 2015, if past holiday promos are any indication, this train is going to be pulling out of the tracks long before then. Get an order in early if you want this set for yourself or a loved one!

Now that you’ve seen the 40138 Train (Holiday or Christmas, whatever it ends up being called), are you on-board for this exclusive holiday promo coming next month, LEGO fans? Is this set worth purchasing $99 is other sets for, or are you sitting out this red-and-green wonder?