The flagship set of the Scooby-Doo theme, the Mystery Mansion was generally considered to be one of the two sets to get. Is it?

Box/Instructions

Parts

The parts here are pretty nice, with lots of brown, purple, grey, and black. The standouts here are the two pumpkin masks (used as real jack-'o-lanterns here) and the Vampire's coffin, which has an exclusive print to match the figure.

Minifigures

Hmm. It seems the gang has split up for this mystery!

Yes, this set provides the entirety of Mystery Incorporated with the exception of Fred, exclusive to the Mystery Machine, which everyone will probably be wanting anyway.

Shaggy and Scooby aren't exclusive in any way at all.

Daphne is a great figure, exclusive to the two largest Scooby sets. Her outfit is nicely represented on her torso and legs (save for the lack of pink tights) and her hairpiece is excellent. It's a bit large, but it looks great, and has a good range of shoulder rotation compared to other long hairpieces. Her face shows a fairly generic female face with a smile (still perfectly appropriate) and a scared expression on the other side.

Velma is the exclusive team member here, and she looks great. Her hairpiece is simple but very accurate, and her face and outfit look just like the show. Her secondary face shows her in fear, but they missed the opportunity to remove her glasses, due to her tendency to lose them almost every episode.

The Black Knight is another nice figure. His head, on one side, shows nothing but two small angry eyes in darkness, which looks great, and his dark grey suit of armor and axe are nicely done. The helmet is a bit of an issue, though, as the rounded one with the slotted visor would have been much closer to his appearance on the show. Now, most of the villains in this set are designed to be "unmasked", so the reverse of his head shows a bewildered Mr. Wickles peeking out of his costume. I don't particularly love this effect, though, as there's no removable mask left over. I would have liked separate heads.

The Ghost is a very bland figure, due to being a generic design in the show and using the Monster Fighters ghost piece. His ball and chain is nice, and underneath his shroud, he can be exposed as Bluestone the Great.

The true star of this set, however, is the Vampire (Dracula in the show). He's probably my favorite vampire LEGO's done, perhaps due to how unique he looks. His hair isn't new, but looks good, and his face is great, showing a yellow-eyed vampire with a wicked grin. The eyes, mouth, and cape are reminiscent of the original Studios vampire, which is a very good thing. Speaking of the cape, it's a nice two-piece thing that's red on one side and black on the other! His suit is a simple grey outfit, but it looks good. The other side of his face (thank goodness the hair covers it) is Big Bob Oakley.

The build

The build was very interesting, due to the clock tower mechanism and the angled shapes in the building.

The completed model

The first things you build are the Mystery Inc. motorcycle and the carnivorous plant. Both are decent models, but nothing spectacular.

The Mansion, however...wow! When I finished, I was struck by how large it felt, which is great for a set at its price. All throughout the build, the house is made to look old and distressed, such as the crooked pillars and crooked gable on the front, the broken windows, and the bent iron spikes on the roof. The greenhouse is the first build, and is nicely done, with some simulated broken windows on the roof and some space inside for the plant and a figure or two. The central tower is built next, which includes a key under the floorboards and a trap above the entry hall. A giant spiked ball will swing down with a turn of a knob, knocking out anyone below and revealing a painting of either the CMF Prospector or the Miner 49-er. Above the trap, the clock tower is built, with an terrific mechanism linked to the clock. Turning the knob on the back will rotate the clock hand, and when it reaches twelve, the platform below will have fully rotated to reveal the Vampire on the other side. In the roof, there is a secret hiding place for the Vampire's coffin.

The left section is more rooms of the house, with a nice dingy kitchen on the bottom floor with some nice checkered floor tiles and some dirty cabinets and a sink. An appetizing burger for Scooby and Shaggy can be left there as a trap. On the second level is a small room only furnished with a safe. A (printed tile) lock on the protective grille indicates the purpose for the hidden key, and opening the second door will reveal some stolen gold bars.

Perhaps my only gripe with this set is the general lack of rooms, and the lack of any real means of going around the house. There's no entrance to the right of the house, and no stairs or ladders anywhere.

The three wings of the house are designed to be modular, and the greenhouse and right wing can be removed for ease of play or storage.

Overall opinion

This is a great set. It looks fantastically spooky, and has a great presence and some nice play value. I'd recommend this to any collector of Scooby-Doo or Halloween-themed LEGO.

This is the largest and most expensive set in the current Scooby Doo line-up and looked fabulous in photos - it was the top of my son's Christmas list and the first to be built after the paper came off. A few weeks on I thought I'd share my thoughts on it.

Box/Instructions

A large sturdy box with lime green framing the product shots and prominent Scooby Doo branding. It features the usual array of closeups and angles front and back and looks very appealing on the shelf.

The set comes in a number of bags (9 main and some additional smaller ones) with several booklets for various stages of the build. Steps are clear and don't add too many parts per page which is wise considering some of the intricacies of the build

Parts

There are very few large pieces here as most of the building is constructed from smaller bricks and plates in order to create the detailed, ramshackle appearance. As a consequence there are quite a few masonry bricks of various types mainly in greys, black and tan brown. The roofs and lintels use plates and wedges in purple The topmost roof section is a single large purple section but this looks just right for the gothic style and is topped by a conical tower.

More unusual parts include some pumpkin heads, some custom printed 2x2 map tiles, printed ‘burger bun’ 2x2 slide shoes in beige and a large spiked ball to create a rather deadly looking trap. The kitchen features some 2x2 single stud tiles in pastel blue and there’s also some sand green parts used for the safe - which houses some gold bars and jewel pieces and has a 1x1 tile with padlock print.

You’ll also find some vines and plant pieces helping to create the overgrown look and a single lonely minifig skull to perch on a railing

Really a very good range of pieces in a great set of colours which, if you were inclined, could be rebuilt into something else, though the thought of breaking this up for parts makes me shudder!

Minifigures

A really good selection here apart from one glaring - and some might say cynical - omission; no Fred! I'll come to that later but to sum up you get the whole gang (apart from Fred, did I mention that?) a standing Scooby, The Black Knight, a Vampire and a ghost. Though it's not a minifig, there's also a man-eating plant built from a number of parts that can be detached from the greenhouse and join the inevitable goofy chase.

The Scooby Doo gang characters are all terrific and instantly recognisable with custom hairpieces and a set of ghost hunting accessories to share including a working magnifying glass. All the villain characters have a double sided head so you can see who was behind the mask. The vampire is my favourite with his two-part red and black cape, followed by the axe-wielding Black Knight. The ghost is pretty generic apart from the head print but makes for a nice addition and has a very effective glow-in-the-dark shroud piece that my son likes 'charged up' before we switch the light off for bedtime. It also comes with a couple of the rubbery bats to add some spooky flavour

So to Fred: I understand the TLG is in the business to make money but to have to buy this set and then the Mystery Machine to get the full team is a little cheeky IMHO. As it happens I bought a Fred on Bricklink so we had a full line-up and it feels a lot more like a complete set now.

The build

As mentioned this is quite an intricate build which while not too difficult, employs some neat techniques to create the run-down, collapsing appearance of the house. I put this together with my 4 year old and it was really a lot of fun to build up, one section at a time. As far as techniques go, the way the roof on the smaller side wing of the house is built is simple but pleasing the way it slots into place and there are some nice little hidden details all around - the use of clear wedges to create broken window panes is cool and some single, forward facing studs are used to attached pillars, boards and lintels at odd angles to help with the wonky style.

Some gears are used to create the synchronised clock and Vampire ‘turntable’ so he can magically transform from bat to vampire and back at the (nearly) stroke of 12. Other moving parts include the tilting greenhouse roof and a swinging spiked ball trap above the entrance hall, simply mounted on some pins.

Other playable features include a hidden compartment under the floor, a safe in the attic, a kitchen with various cupboards for hiding clues and the detachable carnivorous plant. There’s also a nice little motorbike with sidecar for a couple of characters to speed around in

The 3 sections of the mansion plug together with technic pins so you can keep them together in the angled arrangement or place them separately - though they do look great in the suggested build.

The completed model

A really super looking set - interesting, colourful and humourous, people can't resist taking a closer look at the detail inside and out. Despite the number of parts though, it’s not particularly big - the exterior is actually slightly miniaturised.

On this point, I think my only gripe is that the size of the interiors and floor space is actually pretty small so it’s hard to fit more than 1 character in most of the rooms.

You might also find the black spikes on the roof ridges, while helping with the gothic style, are prone to snagging on hands and clothes and pinging off to all corners of the room so you might want to remove them for smaller kids.

Overall opinion

I think this a fantastic set that manages to combine detail and a faithful representation of the Scooby Doo ‘World’ with playability. It's a great combination that will appeal to people looking for a display set or a toy.

(Just add a Fred!)

This is an amazing set!!!!

Box/Instructions

The box has a green ghost that has Scooby-Doo written inside. The back of the box has the pictures of the play features in the set. It also shows the villains unmasked to reveal their actual faces.

Parts

The parts in the set are great. You get lot's of mason bricks which are very nice for mocs. The high amount of purple pieces are great as there are new pieces that have not been used in that color before. I really enjoy the new jack-o-lantern piece and the new azure pieces. Especially the one that is used to cover the wheel on the passenger car of the motorcycle

Minifigures

I love the new hairpieces and mold for Scooby. I love how his tail is plastic, but the rest of him is not.the three villains have reversible heads so you can do the famous unmasking scene! The only thing i wish they included was Fred, but other than that, all the minifigures are great.

The build

The build was enjoyable as you can see the progress as you go. The first thing you build is the small vehicle. Then you build the green house, then main tower, and last the small area on the far right of the castle/mansion.

The completed model

I love this model!!!!It has many play features such as a giant wrecking ball, a hidden floor board, and a clock that moves with an area that turns underneath as well, to reenact the vampires dreadful visit. It is a great that it includes clues so you can have a fun and exciting mystery!!!!

Overall opinion

This set is AMAZING!!!! It will be perfect for any Scooby-Doo fan. I am bummed as this set should have included Fred, but luckily you get the rest of the gang!!! Even if your a person who hates Scooby-Doo, this is still a great buy as there are many unique parts in this set!!!