LEGO 70433 Hidden Side – J.B.’s Submarine [Review]

Hello and welcome to the Hidden Side! Although the theme debuted last year, this is our first review of a Hidden Side set and I’m pleased to be your guide on this spooky journey. Today we are looking at one of the new sets from the theme’s third wave, Hidden Side 70433 J.B.’s Submarine. It is the smallest of the new wave and a fun, affordable entry into the series. There have been two previous waves with a total of fourteen sets following the ghost hunting adventures of heroes Jack Davids, Parker L. Jackson, J.B. Watt and their ghost dog, Spencer. In this outing, Parker takes a submarine, presumably of J.B.’s invention, down to the depths of the ocean to discover the Statue of Evil. The set includes 224 pieces, and while LEGO hasn’t officially revealed the price yet, we believe it should come in around $19.99 USD when it launches on June 1, 2020. Now, let’s strap on our diving gear and take the plunge down to the bottom of the sea.


The box and contents

The box comes with the now familiar half-and-half artwork showing both the Hidden Side and the “real world” of Newbury. I haven’t been a huge fan of this theme’s box art in the past as it made it very difficult to understand not only what was happening, but what the model actually looked like. LEGO box art tends to be pretty straightforward in its depictions of the sets so this theme’s departure of style was a bit of a surprise. I’m glad to see that on this box at least, more attention was paid to making the model a focus. Inside you will find two numbered bags, a sticker set with twelve stickers and the 62-page instruction manual. The real stars of this set are the minifigures, but there are a few nice pieces included like the dark azure branches, black seaweed and the bubble window of the submarine that’s printed with a smiling face and some graffiti.


The build

The model is fun and has a nice play function, but it doesn’t really break any new ground as far as building techniques are concerned. The submarine is fairly simple and I like the purple, flame-yellowish orange, black and dark azure color scheme.

The other portion of the model is the undersea scene containing a tree and the color wheel that is utilized by the set’s Augmented Reality functions.

One big attraction of the Hidden Side sets is that they transform. They usually have a “normal” look and then with a few pulls and flips, the model transforms into something spooky. This particular set doesn’t have as dramatic a change as some of the larger ones, but I do like how pushing the tab reveals the creepy eyes and tentacles. Unfortunately, at the time I’m writing this article, this set is not yet available in the Hidden Side App so I was unable to test the AR functions.


The finished model

The final build is a nice small scene. The inclusion of the Technic stand to hold the submarine is a great addition and adds action even when the model isn’t being played with. Being a lover of scary things, I have mine displayed with base’s creepy eyes and tentacles revealed for all to see.


The minifigures

The set comes with three minifigures and a shark with a new eye print. The cast of characters includes our hero, Parker, her great great great great grandfather, the ghostly Vaughn Geist and the Statue of Evil. Parker is sporting a nicely printed diving suit and has a new hairpiece that includes a pair of headphones molded to her dark lavender tresses. She also comes equipped with her special ghost viewing smartphone printed on a coral 1×2 tile. Vaughn is wearing a light nougat western-style outfit with a dark green vest, bandolier and dark green kerchief covering his face. His legs are printed with a belt and cowboy boot pattern and the ensemble is topped off with a dashing light nougat bowler hat. The Statue of Evil has a great light grey cracked stone printed torso, the new sweeping slope dress piece in dark grey and a dark grey hood.

Both Parker and the Statue of Evil have dual face prints and while Vaughn does not, his head is transparent purple to show that he is, in fact, a ghost.


Conclusion and recommendation

This is a quick, fun build, but if you are looking for something a bit more complicated this might not be the set for you. However, it’s sure to please younger builders and parts junkies. In particular, I really like Parker’s new hairpiece, the black seaweed and the medium azure branches. The minifigures are quite nice and the combo of those plus the plant pieces make this a great set for those of us that mainly collect sets for their interesting parts.


70433 Hidden Side: J.B.’s Submarine will be available from the LEGO Shop Online beginning June 1st. It will also be available via third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.


Check out our full gallery of images below:

1 comment on “LEGO 70433 Hidden Side – J.B.’s Submarine [Review]

  1. Tom Klatt

    It’s interesting that the statue is has the dress sloping toward the front. At first I thought you’d made a mistake, but looking closer at the official LEGO pictures it appears that’s how it’s supposed to be.

Comments are closed.