It’s a well know fact that Graveyards can be rather spooky places. So with all the strange things happening in Newbury it’s no surprise that the LEGO® Hidden Side has shown itself in the towns place of rest. The Graveyard Mystery is one of the smallest sets first wave of Hidden Side releases. The set features a small section of a spooky graveyard along with three Minifigures and of course the set can be brought to life with the Hidden Side AR app. It’s time to take a closer look at another LEGO Hidden Side set.
Product Description
Kids can experience fun ghost-catching adventures combining an augmented reality play experience with this LEGO® Hidden Side™ 70420 Graveyard Mystery playset. This awesome app toy combines a buildable LEGO model with augmented reality for kids to deliver a fully interactive play experience. Download the Hidden Side app and scan the model with a phone to make it come alive. With continuous updates, a unique boss ghost to battle in each set, new mysteries to solve, cool items to find, games to play and ghosts to collect, this LEGO Hidden Side set gives kids a whole new way to play and interact with building bricks! Packed with cool graveyard details, this toy construction set features a dog figure, gardener figure, girl and boy minifigures, a twistable statue, grave that opens and a haunted tree with posable arms for lots of fun ghost-hunting adventures
- Set Name: Graveyard Mystery
- Set Number: 70420
- Pieces: 335
- RRP: £24.99/$29.99/€29.99
- Measurements: over 14cm high, 32cm wide and 10cm deep
- Minifigures: Jack Davids, Parker L. Jackson, Mr Branson plus ghost dog figure Spencer & Skeleton
- Hidden Side Spook: Mamali
- Availability: LEGO Brand Store, LEGO.com & LEGO retailers
The Build
Unlike most of the other Hidden Side sets, the Graveyard Mystery is a single build set with no additional bits or bobs. The section of graveyard is built in three sections. So the central section is the larger area with two smaller sections either side. The focal point of the set is on the right hand side of the graveyard which features a small outhouse building beneath a spooky looking tree. On the opposite side is the gate and the whole thing is covered in leaves, vines and old looking black wrought iron fences.
The spooky tree has some nice features, it’s bark and foliage look a little like a face and its branch arms can be wiggled around using the handles around the back. I’m not sure if the tree is meant to be Gloomed like some of the other sets, there is no transforming sections like other sets, but it’s clearly haunted in some way. Either way I really like how its built into the groundskeepers storage hut. The use of brown plates and bows to represent roots look really good. The small building section under the tree is where Mr Branson keeps his tools. There is a door, which opens out onto graveyard and the back is open so you can access the inside area.
It wouldn’t be a graveyard without some graves. So there is a large concrete tomb, which opens to reveal a skeleton holding a soul artifact. I like the little stickered plates on the top of the tomb and on a NEXO shield, especially as they are partly obscured by overgrown vines. To the right of this grave is smaller grave which can also be opened to reveal a red scan point and to the left is a statue, this looks a little like a Weeping Angel from Doctor Who. This uses grey Minifigure elements along with a pair of wings. It looks very much like a statue you’ll find in a graveyard. But it also has another use apart from just decoration, it can be twisted to revealed the coloured scan points for the AR functions.
The Minifigures
The set features four Minifigures, one Hidden Side spook and ghost dog, Spencer. Both of the Hidden Side’s main characters are once again present, with Jack kitted out in his white hoodie torso and new hooded cap element. Parker has ditched her blue jacket in favour of a black top, adorned with a bum bag or fanny pack, across her front. Compared to her other outfit, this one is a little plain looking. However both Minifigures are exclusive to this set thanks to the combination of their expressions and outfits.
Another set exclusive Minifigure is Newbury citizen and graveyard groundskeeper Mr Branson. His torso and legs are new and only found in this set. Mr Branson’s head is also unique to the set. It can also be popped off to turn the unexpecting groundskeeper into a Gloombie. The ‘Gloomed’ up transformation is one of the simplest, but looks quite good against the tatty outfit Mr Branson is wearing.
AR Functions
One of the additional play features of the Hidden Side sets are an AR powered game. The set is perfectly fun on its own, but you can enhance play with the addition of the LEGO Hidden Side AR app. This brings the set to life by overlaying graphics and animated elements around the physical set. Once you scan the set, it comes to life with an animated background and moving elements. The AR functions work really well on this set as it’s nice and compact and doesn’t have any motion sections, like some of the vehicles. The location can also be explored in the app without the need for the physical set, during a minigame where you play the ghosts.
Overall
It may be a small set, but it’s fun to build and has some nice features. I really like how the black gate fencing is used to connect each section of the graveyard, without looking like its a just there to connect them. The use of leaves and vines help to give the set a more spooky feel and the tree is best part of the whole set. The simple way the roots have been built into the building section is very effective. It’s a great little set to get if you want the main characters and Mr Branson is nice addition, especially with the unique parts used to create him.
Set 70420: Graveyard Mystery is available now from LEGO Stores, LEGO.com, GAME and all good LEGO Retailers.
