Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Ideas set 21341 Disney's Hocus Pocus The Sanderson Sisters' Cottage, a box of 2316 pieces displayed at the public price of 229.99 €, which is a product derived from the film Hocus Pocus: The Three Witches released in theaters in 1993 and whose official version is based on the project Hocus Pocus - The Sanderson Sisters' Cottage (Updated) proposed by Amber Veyt on the LEGO Ideas platform.

If you have no idea what the subject is here, just know that the film in question was a relative box office flop when it hit theaters in 1993 but has become a real phenomenon over the years by integrating the annual Halloween movie playlist of many Americans. This is undoubtedly what explains the enthusiasm of the fans on the LEGO Ideas platform which allowed the initial idea to reach the 10.000 supporters necessary for the passage of the project in the review phase and the final validation by LEGO and Disney of this creation.

It is therefore a question of assembling the house of the three witches embodied on screen by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, a construction which acts as a lair for the three sisters in the introductory scene which takes place in Salem in 1693 and then a museum abandoned in the rest of the film whose action is set in 1993. The LEGO version offers a mix of the two eras with the possibility of removing elements to possibly rid the museum of its attributes intended for visitors.

The house is built like a Structure with an interior in which furniture and other references to the film are piled up until thirsty and an exterior structure which seems uninspired but which ultimately remains more or less faithful to the building seen on screen. Many fans will find the execution of the half-timbered walls and roof with damaged roof a little sketchy, even 'academic' and it is indeed difficult to compare the result obtained here with the considerably more finished construction of the LEGO Ideas set 21325 Medieval Blacksmith (2164 pieces - 159.99 €).

This house, which is home to the three Sanderson sisters, has many rather well-integrated attributes, but the whole thing almost only deserves to end up in the background in a diorama, to "furnish" it like a movie set, the parts of which less exposed would not benefit from the refinements of those visible in the foreground.

The set still offers some features with a light brick integrated into the base of the house to light the fire under the cauldron and a paddle wheel that sets the two purple plumes of smoke in motion via a rod that circulates inside. of the fireplace. Nothing crazy for a display model, but fans of the film might find something to enjoy there for a few minutes before putting the set away on the corner of a shelf.

The furniture and accessories which are so many references to scenes from the film will allow all those who are enough fans to spend 230 € in this box to find their account, it's pure and hard fan service down to the smallest details with the magic grimoire under its window which benefits from very successful stickers, the black flame candle, the bubbling cauldron, the vacuum cleaner which serves as a flying broom for Mary Sanderson or even the suspended cages which welcome in the film Jay Taylor and his sidekick "Ice".

The latter are also not in the cast of the minifigs provided and are simply replaced by skeletons, Disney having been actively involved in the design of this derivative product and having probably not wished to glorify these two adolescent stalkers who notably rob the young hero of the film by stealing his pair of Nike sneakers and who force the children to give them their Halloween candy gleaned by going door to door.

Always like a Structure, we should not hope too much to be able to take advantage of the different interior spaces at the end of the assembly of the product, even if we note that the designer has tried to offer correct accessibility by integrating two mobile panels on the front to take advantage of the development of the ground floor, an entire section of roof on hinges to allow access to the first floor and a removable extension of the fireplace hearth which allows a peek inside the premises. Difficult to make more accessible in the state with a cube-shaped house of less than 30 cm side closed on all sides.

From a more technical point of view, the set suffers from the usual problems with many scratched or damaged parts right out of the box and monochromatic surfaces which really suffer from these appearance defects, color differences between parts of the same color which have become commonplace but which are still just as unacceptable on toys sold at a high price and once again there is no escaping a large sheet of stickers. These are as often graphically very well done but I still can't convince myself that it is wise to stick twenty stickers on a pure display product.

The house is accompanied by a secondary construction consisting of a gate and a piece of cemetery, this set is mainly used as a display stand to display the half-dozen minifigs provided. It is rather well seen knowing that the house is closed on all sides and that it is therefore impossible to really take advantage of the minifigs if they are staged inside the premises. This display is not attached to the house, it's up to you to place it wherever you want.

The endowment in minifigs is content with the essentials and it's a bit of a shame: we only get the three Sanderson sisters, Max and Dani Dennison, Allison Watts and the young Thackery Binx transformed into a black cat from the start of the film. LEGO could have made the effort to provide us with the latter in his human form accompanied by his sister Emily Binx, just to really justify the possibility of staging the house in its initial form and not being satisfied with the "museum" version. " places.

The young Emily being sacrificed by the witches at the beginning of the film, Disney will have wanted to avoid proposing a dead child in a toy and his brother indirectly pays the price for this impasse. It also lacks Billy the zombie with the sewn mouth and the wandering head who is still very present in the second part of the film, there was no doubt a way to offer a figurine of this almost endearing character.

Once again, the comparison between the "real" minifigures and the digital versions used by LEGO on the product sheet is not to the advantage of the plastic minifigs: the official visuals are extensively retouched with, for example, pad printing which sits nicely flush with the lower torsos and upper skirts of the three witches and a much rougher impression on the real figures. Same observation for the neck of Winifred and Mary Sanderson which is too pale to be perfectly matched with the heads of the two characters.

That being said, the faces of the three sisters in the LEGO version perfectly resume the outrageous makeup seen on the screen and it is generally very successful. Same observation for the hair of the minifigs which are very well executed. Too bad for the soft capes, the three witches would have deserved real hooded coats like those worn in many scenes of the film.

The Dani Dennison minifigure is also very well executed, the outfit of the young girl minifigure matches the one seen on screen and the hat with integrated hair is beautiful. However, I'm not sure that the hair color is right, the red used here seems a little too pronounced to me. The minifigs of Max Dennison and Allison Watts are more generic but we find the two teenagers in their outfits seen in the majority of the scenes of the film.

The stamped salt box delivered in the set is a nice nod to several scenes from the film, fans will appreciate. The presence of Thackery Binx in his form of immortal black cat with green eyes was essential as the animal plays an important role in the film, the figurine is perfectly fitting.

This set under official Disney license will undoubtedly have a little trouble finding its audience here, but its potential across the Atlantic should not be underestimated. The film that inspires this box has become a great classic for many Americans and the support for this project, like its definitive validation by LEGO, is not the result of an accident or a choice out of spite.

With us, it will be less obvious, Hocus Pocus and its sequel released directly on Disney + in 2022 remain for many sluggish, overplayed and a little outdated comedies, so there will not be enough to offload 230 € to obtain a aesthetically uninspired derivative product, even if the latter offers a large dose of fan service.

However, there may be some nostalgics of the LEGO Monster Fighters range to checkout, it will however be necessary to wait for LEGO to offer this product at a reduced price which will undoubtedly happen on occasion. for example from Black Friday 2023. A little thought in passing for all those who exhaustively collect sets from the LEGO Ideas range, this reference probably not being the most essential or the most successful of the range.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 2, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. 

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

LEGO today unveils a new addition to the LEGO Ideas range: the set 21341 Disney's Hocus Pocus: The Sanderson Sisters' Cottage, a derivative product inspired by the project Hocus Pocus - The Sanderson Sisters' Cottage (Updated) proposed by Amber Veyt, himself based on the film Hocus Pocus: The Three Witches released in theaters in 1993.

In the box, 2316 pieces to assemble the Sanderson sisters' mansion and a handful of minifigs with the three main characters, Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson, joined by Max and Dani Dennison, Allison Watts and the cat Thackery Binx.

Commercialization announced in VIP preview from July 1, 2023 before global availability set for July 4, 2023. Retail price: €229.99.

We'll talk about this box again soon, and even if the film that serves as a reference for this derivative product doesn't tell you anything, the pretty main construction should still easily appeal to fans who like medieval atmospheres and that's already one of the assets obvious from the products.

21341 THE SANDERSON SISTERS' COTTAGE ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

(The link to the shop redirects to the version of the official shop for your country of connection)

LEGO just announced the result of the third LEGO Ideas evaluation phase for the year 2022, with a batch that included 35 more or less successful ideas but which had all managed to gather the 10.000 supports necessary for their passage to the review stage.

Two projects are definitively validated:

Everything else falls by the wayside without momentum and the creators of these various projects will have to settle for the "consolation" endowment consisting of LEGO products with a total value of $500 offered to all those who reach 10.000 supporters.

While waiting to learn more about these two products that will soon join the LEGO Ideas range, you can always try to guess who will emerge victorious from the next phase of review which brings together 71 ideas and whose result will be unveiled this fall:

For those who are interested, know that the LEGO Ideas set 21340 Tales of the Space Age is available today as a VIP preview at the retail price of €49.99. In the box, 688 pieces to assemble four decorative "3D postcards" 14 cm high by 9 cm long. To display on a wall or on the corner of a shelf.

21340 TALES OF THE SPACE AGE ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

The team in charge of selecting the ideas that will become official products still has work to do: 71 projects have gathered the 10.000 supports necessary for their passage to the review phase during the first four months of the year 2023 on the LEGO Ideas platform.

As usual, the selection is made up of more or less interesting ideas, slightly wacky projects that a priori have no chance of passing, various and varied licenses, modulars, medieval sets, musical groups, Shrek, vintage or old-fashioned objects, Shrek, etc... All will not be lost for those who see their project go down the drain, they will receive a consolation endowment consisting of LEGO products worth a total of $500. It will be in my opinion well paid for some of them...

If you want to find out more about all these projects, go to the LEGO Ideas blog, they are all listed there. Result expected for fall 2023.

While waiting to find out who will see their idea become an official product among these 71 projects, we will be entitled this summer to the announcement of the results of the third phase of the 2022 review with 35 projects in the running: