LEGO Hidden Side 70420 Graveyard Mystery review

Is LEGO Hidden Side 70420 Graveyard Mystery a great spooky set, or should it be left to rest in pieces?

Price: £24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99   Pieces: 335   Available: Now

Graveyards are synonymous with paranormal activity and hauntings, so it makes perfect sense for the LEGO Hidden Side range to include one in its line-up of locations. In fact the LEGO designers seem to have a thing for cemeteries this year, with 75965 The Rise of Voldemort (review) released just ahead of 70420 Graveyard Mystery. Does 70420 provide creepy fun, or will fans be haunted by the purchase?

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70420 Graveyard Mystery has a deceptively large footprint, stretching over several dark tan baseplates, with angled pieces on the edges extending it out even further. This makes for a lot of room to enact out creepy stories, and has allowed the designers to include plenty of details.

One of the main features of this model is the angel statue looking out across the graveyard. It can rotate on its mini-build plinth that has different coloured 2×2 tiles that interact with the Hidden Side app. With the yellow side showing you have nine seconds to find the gloom, while the red one reveals a ghost, et cetera. It is very easy to play around with, although you need quick reflexes to find and tap things in time. With one plain grey side, the function is well integrated and can be mostly hidden if fans want to use this set as a display piece in a Halloween inspired diorama.

Providing a literal surprise play feature in this set, one that works manually and with the app, is the large tomb in the middle of the graveyard. It ingeniously uses a 2x4x6 door frame on its side with a 6×4 trapdoor piece on top, so that the skeleton inside can spring out and scare anyone.

Although the caretaker’s hut is small, inside there are some really cleverly constructed details. On the wall is a tap-piece with blue tiles on the floor imitating puddles from dripping water, and a LEGO bin contains plenty of gardening equipment. Surrounding the building is the possessed tree, which uses Technic pins and connectors to make pose-able ‘arms’ and stem pieces to imply eyes. By the end, all of these Technic pieces are covered by foliage elements, so the finished tree looks natural – or as natural as a possessed tree can look.

Jack looks suitably ready for action, with a clever bit of printing revealing that his belt is actually Spencer’s old dog leash. Spencer himself is a fantastic new mould and could almost double as Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Parker has lots of printed detailing, from a letter pendant to ripped jeans, and her new hair-meets-beanie mould looks amazing. Unique to 70420 is Mr Branson, who has mud-spattered overalls and his possessed alter-ego uses an incredibly wacky new hair-piece.

Overall, 70420 Graveyard Mystery is a Hidden Side set that is fun with or without the app, which will be helpful for fans who don’t have the technology to support the software. At £24.99 it is also extremely good value for money, a great way to get the main characters and should be high on the list for fans considering this new theme.

This product was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

70420 Graveyard Mystery is available now at LEGO.com. You can help support Brick Fanatics’ work by using our affiliate links.

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