Review: 75904 Mystery Mansion
Posted by CapnRex101,
I was lucky to see plenty of fantastic sets at the London Toy Fair back in January but the recipient of my 'best in show' award was 75904 Mystery Mansion. The set bears a striking resemblance to 9468 Vampyre Castle from the Monster Fighters theme, high praise indeed considering the excellence of that model.
Now that I have the set in my possession I have to admit to being very slightly disappointed. It is a superb model on the whole and has enormous play value but some areas of the interior are lacking in detail which is a shame. However, the exterior looks spectacular and there is a brilliant selection of minifigures so I am still pleased with the set, just slightly less so than I had hoped.
Read on and see what you think...
Minifigures
Scooby-Doo appears in each of the five sets in this wave, although it is pleasing to see some variation in the figures. This one is standing and has a fairly neutral expression on his face just like in 75900 Mummy Museum Mystery. The cast of the body and head both look perfect and the printing is very accurate to the television show. Congratulations to the element sculptor who worked on the Scooby-Doo figure as I have no complaints about his design whatsoever!
I am similarly delighted with Shaggy. Like his canine counterpart this minifigure appears in every one of the new sets and he too features a couple of different designs. This version features a cheerful grin on one side of his head and a miserable expression on the other while the torso printing is the same as usual with a lime green shirt with short sleeves.
Shaggy's dark red trousers are the ideal colour but the best element is undoubtedly his hair piece. This is a brand new component and is intricately moulded for the best possible show-accuracy, a task which is certainly accomplished.
Daphne only appears in this set and 75903 Haunted Lighthouse. Just like the rest of the Mystery Gang her orange hair component is new this summer and exclusive to this minifigure.
It too is impressively faithful to the television show, as is the rest of her attire which includes a purple jacket and skirt along with a green scarf.
Unfortunately Daphne was often captured by the villains in the original series of 'Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?' and her double-sided head is representative of this with a smile on one side and a frightened expression on the other.
The final member of Mystery Inc. included is Velma, who is exclusive to this set. Many fans will understandably bemoan the fact that she only appears in the largest set in the wave, thereby making it more difficult to complete the gang. On the other hand, this also furthers the appeal of 75904 Mystery Mansion, a fact which was not lost on the LEGO marketing department I am sure.
At this point it almost goes without saying that Velma's hair piece is fantastic and that the rest of the minifigure is equally accurate to the show. As you might expect she also features a reversible head with smiling and worried expressions which greatly increases the range of display options possible for the team.
The Black Knight appeared in the very first episode of 'Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?' and has since become one of the gang's most famed enemies, encountering them in almost every incarnation of the show since! The helmet and armour is fairly plain, adorned only by a red feather, but there is a more intricate design beneath.
The torso is printed with a breastplate and suit jacket on the front and back while the head features yellow eyes on one side and the true bespectacled face of Mr Wickles on the other. I am very pleased to see that his glasses are askew for the unmasking, just as they were in the show!
No mansion is complete without a Ghost and this one is particularly creepy as he glows in the dark. The ghostly shroud is the same as the one which appeared in the Monster Fighters line and it can fit onto a studded surface with or without the minifigure inside.
The torso and legs are plain white while the head is printed with the face of Bluestone the Great, the magician who poses as The Phantom while trying to find pirate treasure in only the third episode of the original series. Here the figure is accompanied by a ball and chain which does not appear in the show, although it contrasts nicely with the otherwise entirely white costume.
The seventh and final figure is the Vampire, who seems to be the most important villain of all given his prominent position on the packaging. Vampires have appeared in plenty of sets over the years but this is my favourite one yet as his cape is red on one side and black on the other.
The head is printed with a scary pale design on one side and the face of Big Bob Oakley on the reverse, an famed thief who tried to frighten the gang away from the Franken Castle so he could steal the treasure housed there.
The Completed Model
This set is absolutely packed with features. The mansion itself consists of three main sections: the greenhouse, the central tower and the kitchen area. These are linked using Technic pins so you could disconnect them and arrange the set differently if you wish. I love the mixture of dull greys with bright purple and there is a smattering of greenery too which looks superb.
My favourite part of the set is the greenhouse, which is extremely nicely detailed on the inside and out. The window panes look fantastic with stickers on some showing spiders and carnivorous plants while others are smashed or missing. This building is predominantly brown with purple highlights on the roof and door.
Inside there are two pumpkins, complete with carved faces, a couple of small plants and an enormous plant monster which is poseable using the small ball joints introduced with the Mixels last year. One of the pumpkins is mounted on a turntable so it can eerily follow the gang with its eyes as they explore.
The central tower is the weakest section of the mansion in my opinion. From the outside there is some very nice detail including crooked porch pillars, smashed windows and an enormous clock face which looks great. The instructions show the 'VI' sticker applied upside down which is unusual as the numerals at the bottom of a clock are usually the right way up.
There is also a balcony for the Vampire and a rotating section of wall for simulating his transformation into a bat. As you twist the knob on the back, the hand on the clock rotates as well. The open space on either side of the wall is slightly irritating as it would look far better if it were disguised to match the rest of the structure.
Inside there are surprisingly few floors with a small entrance hall at the ground level, a gallery on the floor above and a coffin at the very top. There is a golden key hidden under the floorboards on the ground floor and a painting on the next level which features a minifigure version of Miner Forty-Niner, another villain from the original series.
The coffin is printed with a unique design and has room inside for the Vampire. These three small floors are very sparsely furnished, mainly because an enormous mace occupies the lower two. This can be swung down to knock over people in the entrance hall which is a fun feature, although it is not worth the sacrifice of so much space in my opinion.
The third building is far more detailed than the tower, almost as though it were created by an entirely different designer! As you can see the purple is most prevalent on this section, perhaps a little too much so in my opinion, although I like the tiling details which have been included.
The kitchen is tiled in white and blue which matches the cabinets and stove nicely. On the second level there is a sand green safe containing three gold bars. Although all the patterned windows are stickers I think they look fantastic from the inside or the outside.
A motorcycle and sidecar are included to transport the Mystery Gang which features the medium azure and lime green colour scheme shared with all their vehicles. I am not aware of this ever appearing in the original series, although it might be based on something briefly ridden by some of the main characters as in the case of the biplane from 75901 Mystery Plane Adventures.
Regardless of its origin, this motorbike and sidecar is a nice little model which serves its purpose well. The sidecar leaves a 2x3 stud space open for a minifigure to be seated which is more than enough. The extra space has been included for a sitting Scooby-Doo figure, although there is not room to place the standing version included in the set.
Overall
I like this set very much on the whole, it is just a shame that some areas of the model are quite severely lacking in detail. I was not expecting the kind of furnishings found in Modular Buildings but the set would be far improved if the detail of the kitchen and greenhouse was maintained throughout the entire model. My only other negative comment regards the absence of Fred, although I suspect many fans would want to buy 75902 Mystery Machine if they are considering purchasing this set, regardless of whether or not the entire gang was included.
However, those complaints are relatively insignificant given the excellence of the rest of the set. There is a huge amount of play value and the model looks superb from the front, with a lovely colour scheme and some offset building techniques which brilliantly represent the ramshackle nature of the building. The price of £69.99 or $89.99 seems very reasonable considering the number of minifigures and the piece count of 860 so I have no hesitation in recommending this set.
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34 comments on this article
Definitely getting this SD set to go with my MF Vampyre Castle. :)
Velma's 2nd head print should have been her without her glasses, since she constantly loses them in almost every episode.
Awesome!
I only wish all the Big Bob Oakley monsters were included along with that Vampire. (Werewolf, Frankenstein, Gypsy).
as adressed before, a great set to combine with Monster Fighters' Vampire Castle! But to be honest, the latter is as detailed outside as inside!! nevertheless, I'm getting my hands over this Scooby-Doo one too!!
Niiice! Deffo want this set. Actually I want the whole theme :-S
While I like the general design of this set and think it would complement the Vampire Castle nicely, I hate the purple. HATE it. I would have much preferred sand green if they didn't stick to the basic black.
This is almost the same design as the first Arkham Assylum. Interesting connection as both are from excellent cartoons featuring detectives.
I'm with richl on the terrible purple color scheme. Also hate the fact that this is the only set with Velma, meaning you either buy this garish set or get Velma separately, at what I can only imagine will be a ridiculous price. Boo!
Found this today at Target in Minneapolis. Didn't think twice about buying it.
Having just bought this set (and MM), I love it! It's simply spectacular, and is both interesting to look at and play with. I do somewhat agree on the lack of interior details--but it's really just the center tower that's lacking as you note, so I don't think drags the whole set down. At least not with the trade off of detail vs play features.
I too echo the desire for a Velma without glasses however. Hopefully we'll get a second wave with her having that variation.
Great set! Love to buy it if I had the money. Scooby Doo was always my favorite cartoon growing up. I haven't seen this set in the US though, but I did see Mask Maker vs Skull Grinder available.
Have to disagree as far as playability is concerned - there's a grand total of two interactive play features; the rotating bat in the clock tower and the swinging trap above the front door. Pretty poor for a £69.99 set - the rest of the mansion is just static.
How tall/wide is this set? Maybe some comparison with 9468?
@ccjwprongs - I don't think the number of moving parts is very important in relation to playability, at least in some cases. The selection of minifigures and how they interact with the set is what offers the most play value and in that regard I think this model is excellent.
Really looking forward to getting this set. It's slightly cheaper than I expected and it'll look great as part of a Halloween display.
Personally I like the purple rooftops.
The 1950s (?) color scheme of the kitchen totally caught me by surprise. Seems incongruous, but I'm tickled by it all the same.
I'm looking forward to unveiling the mansion — which will be our only SD purchase — and doling out Series 14 minifigures (our first and only venture into CMFs) as a Halloween warm up for the little girl. Bonus points if it acts as a check against the princess business. Doubtful, but parents can hope...
This set is spectacular. The interior needs work and the Vampire figure is kind of boring, but the rest is excellent. Velma is a great figure.
Although that interior... makes the set seem rather smaller than it is in the pictures. Still, this is one of the best licensed sets of the year.
For all the attention that's been lavished on the details of the minifigs, you'd have thought someone would have spotted that the girls are wearing skirts from in front and trousers from the back!
I'm sort of torn on this one. I think the color scheme is fine and fits, the nostalgia factor is strong as I grew up watching this show, would love to have the whole gang and a place to park the Mystery Machine, but it's tough to part with $90 for it. Though I could always use the pieces to MOC another structure or something. Thanks for the review Capn!
Hoo boy
Gosh, this is going to be an expensive month. Though I've been patiently waiting until Saturday to get to the Lego store to get the new sets. They told me the last time I was in they were going to wait until then. I'll be really annoyed if they've started selling the earlier, as I don't want them to be sold out!
This set looks good, my wallet is in pain already. Hey guys, don't you think that dark-coloured pieces should be printed twice? Like Daphne's legs for example, they look awful in my opinion, not for the design but for the color of the skin which looks darker than the rest of the body parts. You even see purple in the back, this could be solved if the piece would be printed at least a second time as it is done with clothing serigraphy. Sorry, just wanted to share my thoughts.
I think the purple design of the mansion works really well, especially since some of the castles/mansions in the old show were that colour. I am slightly disappointed that there's no trap door as these were very prominent in Scooby Doo Where Are You.
Out of all the minifigures Velma definitely looks the most accurate, although I agree one side should have had glasses off. I also think Shaggy should have had a scared "Zoinks!" expression, but as others have said I hope there is another series to rectify this.
@netomeyer, I agree with you, Daphne's legs look pretty dodgy, especially when compared to the other printed parts.
Still, this will be an instant purchase as soon as I see this 20% off.
LEGO is really killing our wallets this years. Many outstanding sets in these new licenses.
"The instructions show the 'VI' sticker applied upside down which is unusual as the numerals at the bottom of a clock are usually the right way up."
I did a little image Googling ("clock face roman"), and for clocks with Roman numbers, the vast majority have the bottom numbers upside-down, like in the set.
They don't sell the Scooby Doo theme in Switzerland! :-(
Are the brown board tiles printed or do they have stickers? I cannot tell from the picture above.
Thanks,
^ They are stickers unfortunately.
It's OK that Velma is in just the one set. Who the heck likes Velma anyway? She was the "Meg" (Family Guy reference) of the series. Shaggy and Scooby were the stars.
On a different note, TLG could do a wave of CMF featuring the cameo characters like the Harlem Globetrotters, Johnathan Winters, or (dare I dream) Phyllis Diller. It would really help me out with my Hollywood Squares MOC.
Certainly picking this one up, after missing the Vampyre Caste of 2012, but I am not at all keen on Velma. Not an amazing fig. Although not a good character either.
And it's disappointing about the stickers, although to be expected for a set of this size.
The market here is definitely split between those who have seen the show and those who haven't. Being in the second group, just looking at the first photo makes me feel crooked....but then I have never liked crooked roofs because they have to leak somewhere!
Anyway it looks like an interesting design and the figs are quite attractive. Will check it out in real life at the LEGO store and may bring one home. It sounds like there are a lot of Scooby fans around. (And anything beats Disney Princess sets IMHO. Gooooooo Elves!)
I love the set and great review ! Hate the purple unfortunately, so will not be getting the set. However, will get some of the other sets... :) (Not a fan of purple in general - it tends to be a love or hate thing I have noticed, and I am in the latter category...)
Mine already shipped! Birthday present for my son and I can't wait to build it with him!