Set #71221 Fun Pack The Wizard of Oz: Some Fun Packs are one and done deals and The Wicked Witch from the West is one of them. (Which is a huge shame because I still want my Dorothy Gale, Tin Woodsman, Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow, alas it is not to be.) Definitely need to get this one, for the simple fact you can’t access this world without this pack, however let’s move on to the rest of the review.

Packaging

Streaking through the sky with fire around her fist, or claw hand, the Wicked Witch is leaving Emerald City with wicked intent, as evidenced by the emerald glowing city visible in the background of the character art on the front of this standard packaging from LEGO Dimensions.

Parts

There’s not much in here, but there is a brand new colour of Fez, this time it is available in a dark blue colour and you’ll find a small number of light blue elements in here as well.

Minifigures

Wicked Witch: There is a lot of detail in the torso and legs, a lot of nice printing of her black dress, she includes the older style of black cape and a long pointed witches hat along with a broom accessory for flying. She also has a suitably evil smirk on her facial print, overall this is a very nice looking Minifigure and this is the only way to get her.

The build

Winged Monkey, Battle Monkey and Commander Monkey: The build for all three of these models are very similar though not entirely identical, the steps may appear to be similar just from looking at the leg placement alone, but each build is clearly somewhat altered based on the angle the lower torso is built.

The completed model

Winged Monkey & Alternate Models: What can I say, compared to the Minifigures found in The Ultimate Batmobile these brick built monkey models are a bit weaker, especially considering the rest of the models in the game encountered as enemies do not match up with this creature model.

It’s a nice group of models, though I find the Winged Monkey to be the best of the lot as the Battle Monkey just looks oddly disproportioned and the Commander Monkey is just a Winged Monkey holding a horn and with its legs crossed… very odd design choices there. They are extremely creative, but I feel it might have been more interesting if the Wicked Witch had her large Crystal Ball to unlock different spell abilities or something.

The Digital Content

The Adventure World: We’re off to see The Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and first we get to hop through a Tornado and venture through black and white Kansas. This Adventure World is loaded with a ton of charm and nods to the original classic film, the only change is in the voice acting as new lines were recorded for every speaking character instead of relying simply on archival audio.

You can see the Emerald City, the Witch’s Castle, Dorothy’s Farm, and follow along the Yellow Brick World from Munchkin Land across the world. It’s really quite impressive and highly nostalgic.

Character & Creature Abilities: The Wicked Witch is loaded with abilities, she can destroy Silver LEGO Objects, fly, perform magic, Illuminate dark areas, Mind Control and create a Magical Shield to protect against enemy fire.

The Winged Monkey is a rideable figure, other than that it appears to have no actual abilities according to the in-game information menu. Battle Monkey has a Special Attack can destroy Silver LEGO Objects and acts as a Flying Model. Command Monkey gains the Sonar Smash ability while losing the Silver LEGO Destruction and has a Special Weapon ability. A fairly lackluster ability roster for this toy.

Overall opinion

Strongly Recommended, without the Wicked Witch you can’t access the Wizard of Oz Adventure World, her ability list is fairly heavy and there’s some great nostalgia in the adventure world itself. The only downside is the Creature/Toy she comes with because it seems to be lacking a lot of potential or ability. It would have been interesting if the Winged Monkey could control the enemies in the worlds where Winged Monkeys show up, but the programming for that probably was just too difficult. Overall still think it’s worth tracking down to fully experience LEGO Dimensions’ gameplay. Strongly Recommended.

When I first looked into Lego Dimensions, I was very surprised by the variety of movies and franchises that LEGO was inviting to join their new game, but none was more random to me than the Wizard of Oz. What was even stranger to me was that of all the characters available to pick that the Wicked Witch was chosen, But I decided I wanted to add it to my collection simply so I could unlock another adventure world. Having now played around with the Wicked Witch and her infamous animal henchman I've discovered that this is actually a really fun...well...Fun pack. Should you be taking a trip to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, or is this a Fun Pack that can be left on the shelf. Read on to find out...

The Wicked Witch

Outside the Game

Outside the game, the Wicked Witch is an instantly recognizable character. Her black dress is accurately represented with lots of printing to represent its robe like appearance. Her hands and face are colored an accurate lime green and that nasty grin on the witch's face is the perfect expression for her, but the lack of her large nose is unfortunate since it is a key feature many associate with the character. The Witch's Toy Tag(her trans blue base) is printed with black on the front and back and dark grey on the sides. Her icon, printed on the front of the base is her infamous Crystal Ball, though in my opinion this symbol isn't nearly as recognizable as many of the other characters'.

Inside the Game

In terms of her abilities, The Wicked Witch is essentially a powered up Gandalf. She posses all of the abilities you'd expect out of a magic user(shooting magic blasts, telekinesis , etc.) But also has the ability to use Mind Control, destroy Silver LEGO Bricks, and of course fly via her magic broom. The ability to fly without the help of a vehicle is surprisingly rare along with the mind control ability, but what really makes The Witch special is her exclusive ability to unlock The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Adventure World. While I won't spoil too much, I will say that all the iconic locations you'd expect to see, such as the Emerald City, Munchkinland, and The Witch's castle are all acessable.Its even possible to ride a tornado from a black and white Kansas up to Oz!

Winged Monkey

Outside the Game

Outside the Game the Winged Monkey is a fantastic mini model. The colors of dark grey with dashes of bright and sand blue are all perfect choices. Pieces like the dark grey wings and the blue and gold fezzes(the gold fez is used on the horn clipped to the monkey's back) are very desirable, and although it has less pieces than most of the mini models, I think that the uniqueness of the source material more than makes up for this.

Inside the Game

Inside the game it is very easy to see why this gadget(or vehicle, I'm not sure) is called a winged monkey and not a flying monkey. It has to be upgraded in order to fly! To unlock the other two rebuilds, you must spend 15,000 studs a piece on 10 upgrades, which then unlocks the opportunity to purchase the next model for 10,000 studs and 3 Gold Bricks. The first model merely allows you to move faster and attack faster, while the second model, the Battle Monkey, allows you to fly as well as shoot projectiles from some kind of weapon. Though I haven't upgraded to the third model, the Commander Monkey, yet, It appears to me that he utilizes the horn clipped to the first model's back to use the Sonar Smash ability. The physical model can also be rebuilt into the other two respective models without leaving any left over pieces.

Final Thoughts

As much as I never thought I'd say this, The Wicked Witch has become one of my favorite characters. Her array of useful abilities combined with the uniqueness of the character compared to the others in the game makes her someone who is surprisingly fun to play around with. She is also the only Fun Pack character who can exclusively unlock an adventure world, and her Winged Monkey(when upgraded at least) provides other characters an easily maneuverable way to fly. If you're buying this set for the physical bricks, than unless you're a big Wizard of Oz fan I don't think its worth it. But if you're looking for useful enjoyable in-game content more than anything like me, than this is definitely a must have Fun Pack for your collection.

Overview

At a retail price of $11.99 in the United States and much higher in other countries, many have called Dimensions sets overpriced. Are they right? Yes. Luckily, they go on discount frequently. So let's look at this set based on its own merits.

The minifigures

This is the greatest appeal of the Dimensions sets if, like me, you have not yet purchased the actual game. And a great appeal it is, as Dimensions minifigures tend to have an exceptional amount of detail. The Witch is no exception. Her torso and legs are printed with exceptional detail, with the torso depicting a tight black dress and the legs showing a set of keys. Her head looks excellent as well, although it is only printed on one side. As an alternate print would show on the back of her head, this is understandable. The cape piece is the older, stiff cloth material. The Witch is an excellent minifigure, and is a good portrayal of the movie character.

The build

The chosen 'vehicle' for the witch is of course a winged monkey, and it looks...strange. Given the limitations of brick building at this scale, and given that they had to make it rebuildable, it is understandable, but it just does not look much like a winged monkey. It's still somewhat fun, however.

The parts

The parts that go into the monkey are much more interesting than the monkey itself. The blue fez appears only in this set, as do the Dark Bluish Grey wings, which should be very useful to anyone trying to build statues, and the medium blue round tile 1x1s, which should generally be useful for detailing in a variety of contexts. Gold fezzes are more common, appearing in 24 sets, but are still useful and noteable.

Overall

At the retail price, I would recommend purchasing this set only if you are an enormous and impatient fan of the Wizard of Oz. However, the good news is, you will almost certainly not have to purchase this at retail price. At a price of $6 for 1 minifigure and 38 pieces, some rare, I can recommend this set.

When I found out they were making an official Wicked Witch figure, I was very excited. When I got her along with the game, I was even happier!

Box/Instructions

The LEGO Dimensions packs are in unusual boxes, which open from the sides as usual. There aren't any instructions for the monkey, however, because they are accessed in-game.

Parts

Nothing too special here, but the blue fez and the 1x1 tiles and slope are pretty nice.

Minifigures

The Wicked Witch is the sole minifigure here, and she's great. Her face shows her with an appropriately wicked grin, and her body is nicely detailed, despite her costume in the film being very simple.

The build

The build is fairly short, with the in-game instructions deliberately stretching it out by only adding a piece or two on each page.

The completed model

It doesn't look like the winged monkeys. It tries, but it just doesn't. Sorry, LEGO. The game implies that it's some sort of mecha-walker, with the front being one large visor-eye, but still.

Gameplay

The Wicked Witch is absolutely essential to the game, as she is the only character who can access the Wizard of Oz world. Her abilities are best described as "Gandalf and more", as she not only possesses his magical abilities like telekinesis and illumination, but she can fly, explode silver LEGO, and use mind control. Her only weakness is that she cannot touch water, but her flying ability automatically rescues her from a melting end.

The Wizard of Oz world she unlocks is a lot of fun. All of the iconic areas have been included, like Munchkin Town, the Emerald City, the Witch's castle, and the cornfield hut, and forest, where the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion are found. You can even discover the sepia-toned area of Kansas, with the tornado transporting you back to Oz. Overall, it's one of my favorite adventure worlds to play in.

The flying monkey is less useful, especially for the character involved, but it's still pretty nice. When upgraded, its explosive and flying abilities are redundant due to the Witch naturally having them, but it's my favorite flying vehicle for other characters, and its sonar ability can be useful if one does not have a character like the Doctor, Marty, or Homer to use instead.

Overall opinion

If you're playing the game, I certainly recommend her, but if not, only get her if you like the character enough, as she's the only selling point.