With its sand green coloring, assortment of ghosts and ghouls and boarded-up windows, LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31167 Haunted Mansion immediately evokes the spirit of the 10228 Monster Fighters Haunted House from 2012 – a fondly-remembered set from a much-loved theme. But does it measure up? Is it truly its spiritual successor? (See what I did there?) Read on to learn what we think. This new scary house has 736 pieces and will retail for US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £79.99 when it releases this August 1st.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
The Box
As all the other 3-in-1 sets we’ve reviewed, the front of the box handsomely illustrates the main build as well as the two alternate builds to the right with the usual 3-in-1 Creator graphics. The back features vignettes of the best angles of all three builds. So far, design-wise this is just like any other 3-in-1 set.
What soon becomes apparent though is this box does not have a thumb-punch feature but rather a two part box with removable lid. Once the lid is removed, the box features a front cutout in which the three books and six numbered plastic bags reside within. I tore open all the plastic bags before taking this photo so you’ll have to take my word for it that they were there.
The unique box design enables you to store all your parts in the tray as you build. However, a lesson learned from building and reviewing another 3-in-1 set recently proved this method slowed me down, so I ended up sorting by color instead. I’m aware that most children and adults who may purchase this set will not be bogged down by tight deadlines as they build, so your build experience with storing the parts in the tray might be a more pleasant one!
The Main Build: The Haunted Mansion
Upon finishing the main Haunted Mansion, it becomes apparent that there are at least a couple of configurations in which this model can be presented. When configured in the way it is shown on the box, the classic Edwardian-style mansion appears to have a rather large footprint. A graveyard plot adorns the front as well as a spooky sentient tree. A separate build acts as a rusted front gate.
The back is open dollhouse style to enable easy access to the interior play features. The house is minimally furnished on the inside, but a pipe organ resides on the upper floor, right in the center presumably providing the unsettling haunted soundtrack.
You can manually operate the pendulum of the grandfather clock. That, in conjunction with a few unsettling paintings on the wall and a couple of lit candles is really all the furniture a house full of ghosts needs.
Speaking of ghosts, this short GIF demonstrates another feature: turn the amior, and a ghost appears.
You can also see it through the window from the mansion’s exterior.
Once you’re finished playing with all the interior elements, you can fold the mansion in on itself which gives it that classic haunted house shape but with quite a small squarish footprint. The front yard graveyard becomes a side yard graveyard and the spooky tree up front also moves to the side. It is chock full of neat, haunted details throughout the exterior.
The Minifigures
If you find the Haunted Mansion itself to be underwhelming, I believe this aspect can be easily forgiven when we take the five included minifigures into consideration. From left to right, we have Frankenstein’s monster; a vampire lady with an amazing windswept hair piece; next to her, likely the star of the show (you’ll see why in a bit) is a ghost; then a skeleton; and finally a werewolf. This ghoulish lineup of classic monsters harkens back to the bygone Monster Fighters line from 2012.
And here are the backs of the figures. The werewolf, vampiress and Franken-fig all have back printing, too.
In case you didn’t guess why the ghost is the star of the show and likely the main draw of this set, it becomes clear that its appeal works overtime once the lights are out. A glow-in-the-dark LEGO piece is a rare thing indeed. My limited research states that it’s been since 2015 since we last got to have a glow-in-the-dark ghost minifigure included in any set. The ghost minifigure alone can currently go for about $30 on the aftermarket, so hopefully, this will be a rather inexpensive way to get that ghost minifig (as well as over 730 other pieces) in the hands of the public.
Haunted Train
And now we can delve into the first alternate build, the Haunted Train. With any 3-in-1 set, the directions of the alternate builds encourage you to open all bags at once, in this case there are six. This is an instance in which you can use the box’s unique design to store your bricks but for this one, I chose to sort by color instead. The completed model depicts an old-timey style ghost train along with a train station.
Pictured here, the skeleton dons a conductor’s cap to drive the train while the other monsters wait patiently at the station.
This view makes it clear that this ghostly train floats above the track with the help of a few transparent bricks.
Once onboard, everyone fits – although it’s a tight squeeze, with Frankenstein and the werewolf seated in what appears to be a former coal chamber. The ghost and vampire lady can join the skeleton conductor in the engineer’s compartment. You can remove the train’s roof in order to more easily access the interior.
Haunted Ship
Finally on this 3-in-1 slab is the Haunted Ship. What was once the rusted gates of the haunted house are turned upside-down here and depict torn sails rather nicely.
It’s a neat ship from any angle complete with cannons, a gangplank, an anchor and pipe organ.
You can remove the upper bridge to reveal a private captain’s quarters.
These photos highlight the crew members. Where is the skeleton? It’s donned a pirate’s hat, and is currently acting as the ship’s figurehead at the bow.
Turning the lights out in the photo studio and leaving for the night offered up one more opportunity to showcase why the ghost is the star of the show.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Right around this time, you might be wondering how this set measures up to the fantastic Monster Fighters Haunted House of yore. Thankfully, that set from 2012 stands as part of our permanent decor. Here’s the new model next to its spiritual predecessor.
This new set is much smaller to be sure but there are a lot of factors here that could sway you to purchase this set regardless. The old 10228 Haunted House resells for anywhere between $400-$600, with many sellers trying for much higher. If you never had or can’t afford the old collectable set, this would be a great way to get a pretty decent facsimile for under $100 US. If you’re after the monster figures, particularly the rare glow-in-the-dark ghost, then your decision has already been made. Also, if you’re into the color, any set containing an abundance of sand green is a win. Even at just over 12 cents per brick, this set is decent value whatever your motivation may be for wanting it.
LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31167 Haunted Mansion has 736 pieces and will release at LEGO.com on August 1st, with a retail price of US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £79.99.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
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