For several years, Christmas has been marked by an ongoing series of festive LEGO® sets which make up the Winter Village Collection. LEGO fans have used these sets to build their own Christmas Village displays. Now Halloween has been given the same treatment with the debut of the Midnight Valley Collection. The first set in this presumed series of sets is the Mayor Manor, a mysterious mansion with tilted architecture, a weathered facade with creeping vegetation, and an eerily detailed interior plus three glow-in-the-dark minifigures. As the Witching Hour approaches, here’s a brief look around the Midnight Valley Mayor Manor.
Product Details
Set Name: Mayor Manor | Set Number: 11383 | Pieces: 1420 | Theme: Icons | Subtheme: Midnight Valley Collection
Number of Bags: Bags x 10 | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Stickers: N/A | Characters: Mayor, Maid and Butler + cat, rat, suit of armour
RRP: £99.99 / 109.99€ / $119.99 / 179.99AUD / 169.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & selected retailers
Since the LEGO Winter Village Collection began back in 2012, LEGO fans have delighted in seeing how they can expand their festive scenes with a new set each year. That same mindset can now be applied to Halloween thanks to a similar but spooky new range of sets dubbed the Midnight Valley Collection. Set in a town frozen at perpetual midnight due to a mysterious event, the old Mayor’s Manor house lies at the heart of a long-forgotten town. The once grand residence has long fallen into disrepair, which results in a unique build experience.
The set is filled with plenty of fun details, some of which could become trademarked flourishes in future sets. These include one of several printed pieces, which is a new clock face, along with a NEXO shield featuring the town’s coat of arms. Despite the small interior space, it’s packed with detail, and it doesn’t feel cramped like some of the Winter Village sets can sometimes do. On the lower floor is a hidden space below the floor, which hides a key, being guarded by a rat. Above the fireplace is a printed portrait of the Mayor, and across the other side of the manor is a set of armour standing next to another printed piece, this time featuring a rather regal-looking cat. Upstairs you can find a small library and study, which is where you’ll find the clock featuring the new clock face and a printed tile showing what the manor looked like before the everlasting night fell upon the Midnight Valley.
The exterior of the manor is great fun to build. One side of the building is sitting at a jaunty angle thanks to the tree which has taken root within the structure of the building. This offers a unique build experience, as do many of the smaller architectural flourishes, which offer an idea of what the manor looked like before being left to ruin. The roof is home to a gargoyle, which is nice to see this great element appearing in more sets.
There have been plenty of spooky minifigures released over the years, including a whole series of Collectable Minifigures and the excellent Monster Fighters sets. So it was always going to be tricky to top some of those past spooky characters. On the surface, the three included characters look fairly tame. They include the Mayor, her butler and maid; all three of these minifigures feature a glow-in-the-dark head. This could also be an ongoing feature of Midnight Valley sets. They are joined by a unique new cat figure. This uses the fluffier version of a cat, in a new colour. There’s also a fourth minifigure, which is a suit of armour found within the manor.
I’ve enjoyed the Winter Village Collection, so it’s nice to see a similar collection of sets applied to Halloween. The set employs some interesting build techniques to capture its dilapidated state, such as crooked roofs and the side of the building slowly being pushed aside by the tree. I also really like the stained glass windows. This could have easily been achieved with stickered panels, but the use of transparent 1×1 plates fixed to a grated panel looks so much better than a sticker ever could. The minifigures could have been a little spookier, but I do like that they glow-in-the-dark. It’s a shame their hands don’t glow. I really hope this becomes an annual tradition, just as the Winter Village Collection has, because it’s a great-looking set and I really enjoyed building it.
