We all have those films, we love and can happily watch numerous times. For me that applies to Home Alone. It came out at a time when I was around the same age as the mischievous Kevin McCalister. I adore the film and its sequel so much, I even got (and still have) a TalkBoy for Christmas one year. So I was super excited to see a fan-created project hit LEGO Ideas and even more delighted when it was chosen to become a future LEGO set. Home Alone is obviously classed as a Christmas film, so the upcoming release of the 38th LEGO Ideas set ties nicely to the ever-nearing festive period. But it also links to the new Disney+ take on Home Alone, if only by name. But how does the set compare to the original project and the film which has inspired them both. Order yourself a pizza, secure the perimeter and let’s find out you filthy animals in my review of the LEGO Ideas Home Alone set.
Product Description
Relive a family-favourite Christmas comedy movie with this LEGO® Ideas Home Alone set (21330) for play and display. The McCallisters’ house is packed with instantly recognizable details and delightful features to recreate hilarious scenes. There is everything you need to stage Kevin’s fake Christmas party, a basement furnace with a LEGO light brick, iron-drop function, swinging paint cans, collapsible shelves, zip line from the attic to the tree house and more. Each level of the house is detachable, and the walls and roof open up for easy access.
Great Christmas holiday gift
The set includes 5 LEGO minifigures of Kevin McCallister, mom Kate McCallister, crooks Harry and Marv and neighbour ‘Old Man’ Marley, plus Harry and Marv’s van with crowbar and police hat elements inside. With 3,957 pieces, this is the biggest LEGO Ideas set so far and the bricks are divided into bags following the movie’s plot, so you can relive the story as you build during the holidays.
- Set Name: Home Alone
- Set Number: 21330
- Pieces: 3055
- RRP: £229.99/$249.99/€249.99/399.99AUD/349.99CAD
- Measurements: 27 cm long, 34 cm wide and 34 cm deep
- Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO.com from November 1st
The original fan project was created by Adwind and rebuilt the McCallister’s home. Which is the main location for the hijinx caused by Kevin and the Wet Bandits, after Kevin is left home alone. Despite rumours to the contrary, the final set stays pretty close to the original project, especially in terms of scale. In fact, it has the greatest piece count of any current LEGO Ideas set. Any LEGO set based on a beloved IP often incorporates various features and Easter Eggs calling back to the source material. This has instigated the main change to the original design. The base of the house is slightly elevated above ground level. The reason for this is a small mechanism used to add a movement feature within the house. It also helps to extend the steps up to the front door.
Other slight tweaks to the layout of the house are the way it opens. The original design was a little more modular, with removable sections allowing access to the interior of the house. This version not only allows each floor of the house to be completely removed, but the front walls on the main floors open out in a similar fashion to a doll’s house. Great care has been taken to ensure the set looks good when both closed and opened. Admittedly it doesn’t look too festive when closed but when open, beyond the various details in each room, there are strips of red and green trim. These have no connection to the film but add an extra bit of festive flare.
As ornate and grand as the outside of the house is, the interior is where much of the detail is found. This is also another area where the set differs from the fan project. It’s both less detailed and more detailed. An odd paradox I know, but certain areas of the interior are vastly different from what was originally envisioned yet other areas are far more detailed. This partly ties to the raised base. As mentioned it features a simple mechanism, which powers two turntables within the house. These recreate the iconic moment Kevin throws a party full of ‘guests’ to fool Harry and Marv into thinking he’s not home alone. One is focused on a train track, with a Minifigure cut-out fixed to a toy train and the other is in a different room and powers a record player, with a statue bust mounted atop it. The handle to turn both are found on the left-hand side of the building.
Other play features include collapsible shelves in Buzz’s room, a plunger to propel Kevin’s sledge down the stairs and a droppable iron. The house merely acts as a backdrop for Kevin to enact his Battle Plan, those play features tie-in to that, but there are plenty of other nods to iconic moments from the classic film. Skate elements become the mini-cars Kevin leaves scattered on the floor, Mac & Cheese packets are found in the cupboards and Little Nero Pizza boxes litter the kitchen. But there are also nods to the Home Alone sequel, Lost in New York. These include a pair of turtle doves on the Christmas tree and a picture of New York.
As well as the main floors of the house, the dreaded third-floor attic is included with the roof section. It’s easily accessed by lifting up a large flap-like section. It’s only a small section but there are a few things slotted into the space. You’ll find the bed Kevin is banished to, a gumball machine and Kevin’s Battle Plan. The roof also has a couple of neat build techniques to achieve the various arch structures.
The interior isn’t as fancy as what was originally proposed however, it saddles function as well as fun. For example, there’s a couple of sections on each floor of the house, which combine furniture with a clip bay. This allows the front opening panels of the house to be fixed in place. On the subject of those opening panels, it may seem they aren’t the easiest things to open. But the windows in the middle section of the house, on each floor, have a small lip on them, which gives you something to grip on when opening the panels. It took me far too long to realise this. I was also concerned a rather important feature of the films had been forgotten. The poor old statue which stands outside the McCalister’s house is missing as you build the front section but is actually included towards the end of the build.
Inside the house are a number of rooms tied to moments from the film. The living room is decorated with a tree and Kevin’s party ‘guests’. The dining room includes a grandfather clock so Kevin can out down the moment to defend his home. Upstairs you’ll find Buzz’s room, the main bedroom and the bathroom so Kevin can ‘shave’. Each is populated with various Minibuilds or sticker details.
Once the main house is built, you’ll start on a smaller extension that connects to the rear of the house. Despite being a much smaller section of the house it has quite a lot of detail packed into it. It features both a basement and a kitchen area. Just like the house it’s built in levels and can be taken apart to access each of them. The basement features a menacing furnace, which includes a light brick, which can be illuminated by opening it up. Moving up to the kitchen and there’s a unique door used, which features a cat flap or doggy door if you prefer. This is an important moment from the film, so it’s nice it’s been included in the build.
Another section built beyond the main house is Kevin’s treehouse. It’s not massively detailed but it’s nice to have it included in the set. Not only was it part of the original design, but it also helps tie up the story of Home Alone. And yes it can be connected to the house via a zip line.
Often LEGO Ideas sets need to change or tweak the designs created by the original fan submission. This can sometimes be due to the build experience or hitting a certain piece count. One thing some sets have seen is various additional sections are completely left out. That’s not the case here, instead of something being removed, it actually features something all-new. The Wet Bandits van has been added to the set and it’s a welcomed addition. It’s a simple enough build and similar to what you’d find in LEGO City sets. I particularly like the pipes fitted to the roof of the Oh-Kay Plumbing van.
The set features five Minifigures. Unfortunately, the entire McCastiler clan isn’t fully represented and to be fair they don’t really need to be. So you’ll find Kevin, he uses the bendable short legs, which means he can be seated and doesn’t suffer from the awkwardness which comes with the fixed shorter legs. He has two faces including the iconic scream. He’s wearing his classic red jumper, but you can add a scarf and switch the hair out for a hat.
Two of the best bundling bad guys in films have to be Harry and Marv, aka the Wet Bandits. Their attempts to rob homes left empty at Christmas are well and truly thwarted when they meet Kevin. Their two Minifigures are great, perfectly capturing their looks, right down to alternate faces tied to their mishaps in the film. Oddly Harry also includes a police hat obviously this is because we first meet him as a cop casing homes. It just makes no sense to have him wear a hat with his normal clothes.
The final two Minifigures are a little unexpected as much of the film is focused on Kevin and the Wet Bandits. But they include Kevin’s Mum and his scary neighbour Old Man Marley. His Mum is fairly generic but her outfit matches the one she wears as she frantically tries to return home from France. I’m not sure the hair is a great match for what Catherin O’Hara sports in the film but I’d be hard placed to suggest a better one. Old Man Marley, rescues Kevin towards the end of the film and his Minifigure nails his appearance, even though the beard could look a little fuller than it is in the film.
I have a real soft spot for the LEGO Ideas range, each new set not only expands what’s possible to create with LEGO bricks and continues to inspire future designers to get creative. The Home Alone house is an incredible set. It’s great fun to build, packed with delightful details and play features. Above all, it’s a physical reminder of the magic of Home Alone and Christmas. It’s a set that can be dug out every December and displayed alongside the Winter Village set. Plus it’s also the ultimate advent countdown with 24 steps making it a perfect build to enjoy on the lead up to Christmas Day. It’s also the best LEGO Ideas set to date.
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This set was provided by the LEGO Group for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
