Review : LEGO Stranger Things 75810 The Upside Down

Without transition, we continue with a quick test of the LEGO Stranger Things set 75810 The Upside Down (2287 pieces - 199.99 €), a luxury spin-off for die-hard fans of the hit Netflix series, the third season of which arrives next July. The set is available now in the LEGO Shop and from tomorrow morning in your favorite LEGO Store, if you are a member of the VIP program.

As with all merchandise, if you are not a fan of the universe in question here, you have just saved 199.99 €. If you are a fan of the Stranger Things series, this set is a very nice tribute to the first season but it will cost you more than a t-shirt or a poster. It's up to you.

That being said, Netflix has been careful to partner with a brand that, like the series, readily surfs nostalgia to establish its legend. I am also amazed that no LEGO product placement has taken place in the first two seasons of the series, it will certainly be for the next episodes.

This set is stamped "Netflix Official Merchandise", it is therefore at least the fruit of a partnership between the two brands and possibly an order from Netflix which wishes to make a little more profitable this nostalgia which constitutes the whole backstory of the series. There are many product placements in Stranger Things, that LEGO is associated with merchandising is not surprising.

As I said above, this box is based on the events of the first season of the series broadcast during the summer of 2016. From the second season, broadcast at the end of 2017, the children of the cast had already grown up, Dustin had teeth and Eleven had hair. The third season will feature teenagers and the minifigs in the set will therefore remain a tribute to the very first season of the series. Only Jim Hopper (David Harbor) and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) will remain more or less timeless.

LEGO has chosen to represent the house of the Byers, very present in the first season of the series, especially when Will Byers communicates with his mother from the Upside Down via the light garlands installed in the living room. The choice to reproduce the family house was logical and the result is up to what one would expect from a set at 200 €.

To symbolize the Upside Down, LEGO has therefore reproduced with a mirror effect the house of the "normal" version by staging it in the dark and disturbing parallel universe seen in the series. The idea is good, even if some may see it as a somewhat confusing choice, particularly because of the presentation of the whole.

In the box, you will find two instruction booklets that are actively involved in the fan service with some facts about the series scattered over the pages. The real plus: it is possible to share the assembly of the set with other fans, each one taking care of one of the two versions of the house of Byers, to then bring it all together.

The two parts of the set are brought together thanks to two uprights which integrate some Technic parts covered by the tree trunks and the foliage which come to be fixed on the sides of the two versions of the house of the Byers via a series of Ball Seals. The visual symmetry works perfectly and the mirror effect is really very convincing.

There's nothing stopping you from displaying either or both of the versions on your shelves if the choice of LEGO isn't right for you. The fixing device that unites the two houses is ingenious and the whole, which may seem a bit fragile at first glance, is flawlessly stable. On the other hand, it will take patience to dissociate the two parts of the set, the connection points placed at the level of the uprights and around the house being very numerous. You also have to remove some decorative pieces before you can unhook the two side uprights.

Everything has been thought out so that all interior fittings can stand upside down. The accessories are all fixed on the walls and on the floor, nothing falls. Even Sheriff Hopper's vehicle is plugged into a stand that holds it when it's the Upside Down version that's placed on top.

Even if the purpose here is not to "replay" the different scenes taking place inside the house, LEGO has taken care to offer a successful interior filled with winks that fans will appreciate: search of Will and Barbara Holland, the poster of Jaws (The Teeth of the Sea) seen in Will's room, the bear trap used to capture the Demogorgon, etc ... The fan service print version is spread over the two large sheets of stickers provided (see above).

The central element of the set is obviously the wall covered with the alphabet which allows Will to communicate with his mother from the other dimension via the string lights. LEGO had the good idea to integrate a light brick that you can activate at will to light up the scene. It's playful, and the benchmark works even though those LEGO light bricks don't light up much and still can't stay on all the time without tinkering with a system that keeps the push button pressed.

The set also allows us to obtain the vehicle of Sheriff Jim Hopper, a Chevrolet K5 Blazer rather well modeled by LEGO. The vehicle is designed to be able to easily install Hopper behind the wheel and you only have to remove the roof to access the interior.

At the back in the trunk also accessible by removing the roof, there is one of the rare direct nods of the set to season 2 of the series: a pumpkin that recalls the sequences in which Jim Hopper investigates on the strange phenomenon which destroys many crops in the vicinity of Hawkins.

Among the references to the second season of the series, we find a purple hat hidden under the roof of the house in reference to the fourth episode of season 2 (Will the wise) and there is also a drawing of Will with the Mind Flayer (see sheet of stickers above).

There is no license plate on the front of Sheriff Hopper's vehicle, it is not an oversight and it is normal. No plate in the series and in the USA, several states including Indiana do not impose a plate on the front. Even though the town of Hawkins does not exist, it is located in Indiana, so the series relies on this rule.

The minfigs delivered in this big box are overall very successful, even if as I said above, they are based on the first season of the series and will ultimately remain a direct reference to the episodes of 2016.

Bowl cut and red and yellow anorak for Will Byers, it's perfect. Striped polo shirt and beige jacket for Mike Wheeler, it works. Cap, green stamped t-shirt WaupacaWisconsin, hair that overflows and mouth without teeth for Dustin Henderson, it is in conformity. Warrior outfit and slingshot with yellow elastic for Lucas Sinclair whose head is adorned with the camouflage headband, everything is there.

The piece that serves as both hair and cap for Dustin is beautifully executed and the rendering is impeccable. Out of the four young heroes in the show, it's flawless and if I had to make a criticism I'd say Mike Wheeler's hair isn't totally true to the character's hairstyle in the first few episodes. There are also the essential walkie-talkies that serve as a means of communication for children.

Joyce Byers' minifigure is also quite convincing with a hairstyle very close to that of Winona Ryder in the series. Jim Hopper is a bit more generic, hard to see David Harbor in it, but the minifigure will do even without the American flag on the right sleeve and the Hawkins Police Department crest on the left sleeve. Too bad for the lack of customization of this generic sheriff which deserved some additional details.

Pink dress, blue jacket and blonde wig for Eleven (Eleven), with of course an Eggo waffle in the character's hand to respect the product placement, and it's pretty successful except that LEGO forgot to provide us with an accessory to play as the real haircut of the girl. The pink fabric skirt spoils the overall aesthetic of the minifigure a little and contrasts with the very pale pink of the torso, but we will do with it.

Finally, the Demogorgon is impressive. LEGO had the good idea to create a hood that plugs into the head of the minifigure to obtain two different "faces". The pad printing on the curved surface of the creature's mouth is really successful.

As you can see from the official visuals, the display provided only allows four characters to be displayed and that's a shame. I understand that Will is somewhere else at this point in the story, but I would have preferred to be able to line up all the characters provided on the same medium. By the way, I note that the logo of the series is a sticker and at 200 € the "official" box I would have appreciated a nice pad printed plate.

Every fan of the series will have an opinion anyway on what LEGO should or could have done: The Castle byers in the forest ? a school hallway? A piece of the lab? For the most assiduous fans, there is in the series what to fill dozens of sets. For those who have watched the show like they watch dozens of other shows on Netflix or Amazon Prime and have already moved on, one box will suffice. The fashion of "binge watching"has also somewhat killed the potential for a series to become cult over time. A few years back, it was also the regularity of the broadcast and the spacing of the episodes that created over time a meeting essential and gradually installed content in popular culture.

In short, this derivative product has everything to please as long as you appreciate the universe of the Stranger Things series and have the means to afford something other than a poster or a mug. This is obviously not a flamboyant example of LEGO's ability to develop its own universes, but it is a clear demonstration of the brand's know-how when it comes to creating goodies luxury in the service of external licenses.

Note: The set shown here, supplied by LEGO, is included as usual. To participate in the draw, all you have to do is post a comment (avoid "I participate, I try, etc ..." be a little more constructive) on this article before the May 24, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

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