Review: 75901 Mystery Plane Adventures
Posted by CapnRex101,
75901 Mystery Plane Adventures is the weakest of the five Scooby-Doo sets in my opinion, although it still holds appeal purely for the presence of the Headless Horseman. The Horseman is a true icon of horror, having appeared in various forms of literature since the Middle Ages but made most famous by Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The set is priced at £19.99 or $19.99 but contains only 128-pieces, a very disappointing figure even taking account of the licensing fees and the inclusion of a couple of larger pieces. The size of the plane is also unimpressive in that regard as it feels very light considering the cost of the set.
However, there are some positives to be taken from the set as the play value is reasonably high and the Headless Horseman minifigure is absolutely brilliant. In fact, it might be my favourite of the entire theme!
Minifigures
Variants of Scooby-Doo appear in each of the five new sets. This seated version is just as impressive as the standing one and even features flying goggles printed on his head, which is poseable at the neck. Every detail of the character has been captured perfectly, including his blue collar and hair colour, so there is no way I think it could be improved upon.
There are three versions of Shaggy available and this is my favourite, with a frightened expression which is better suited to the character than the miserable one which appears in 75902 Mystery Machine. His stubbly beard looks superb too.
On the other side, he has a wry smile and his torso is printed with a wrinkled green shirt. Dual-moulded arms are used perfectly here to form short sleeves just like those in the television show. The hair piece is brilliantly moulded just like the elements making up Scooby-Doo and is cast in the ideal colour: medium nougat.
The Headless Horseman is the highlight of this set without a doubt. His pumpkin head looks absolutely fantastic and is enormously detailed, with a very realistic carved face. The green stalk is the width of a standard bar so it will clip right into a minifigure hand.
Underneath the pumpkin is a head printed with the face of Elwood Crane which looks very accurate to the show, right down to the blue goggles. His blue and purple robes are quite simple but they look very nice indeed.
The Completed Model
It will come as no surprise to learn that the Headless Horseman is accompanied by a white horse which is identical to Silver from the short-lived Lone Ranger theme. The Horseman's cape just about fits in the saddle and a brick is included to fill the gap if you wish to take the saddle off.
Two burgers are included to be launched from the plane. These appear in most of the Scooby-Doo sets and they look superb, with a new print on the 2x2 slider component and a new colour for the 2x2 tile with pin hole. A similar design appeared in 3825 Krusty Krab but it has been hugely refined and improved upon since then and I will certainly be looking to pick up the parts for a few more.
The plane itself makes up the bulk of the set and I quite like it, although it is no better than earlier biplane designs such as the model in 7307 Flying Mummy Attack. It is very similar to that set in just about every regard other than its colour scheme, even featuring the same 4x4 curved plates at the tip of each wing.
The propeller rotates and there is a sticker behind this which provides some nice detail. It bothers me slightly that the cowling can turn freely and the use of three bricks to represent the cockpit glass seems excessive as one would suffice.
There is room for two figures in the cockpit and flick-fire burgers are mounted on either side of the fuselage. Unfortunately most of the detail on the plane is a result of the stickers, which are relatively numerous for such a small set. Nevertheless, the results are quite impressive. The chain dangling from the plane can be used however you like, perhaps to capture the Headless Horseman or allow him an opportunity to climb onto the plane.
Overall
I am struggling to recommend this set as the plane is not particularly interesting but I absolutely love the Headless Horseman minifigure and for me that alone was almost worth the price. Scooby-Doo and Shaggy figures are available in other sets which are far better than this one, so their appeal is limited.
The main strength of the set is in its play value. The plane is very durable and the flick-fire burgers are fun, but that still doesn't justify the cost for me. I am sure the set will be reduced by at least 25% within the next few months and at that point this would be a worthy purchase if you particularly want the Headless Horseman. If not, I doubt you will regret skipping this set.
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14 comments on this article
The plane is fine but like you said it's not enough to warrant the $20 price tag. Really should have had a little play set for the horseman to ride. Maybe when the burger bombs it something explodes.
It's cool for a kid set, not so good for AFOLs and collectors.
I may get this just for the Headless Horseman and the burgers, plus that plane and Scooby/Shaggy will look nice in a prison I mean collectable box.
A different print for the horse would have made me buy it but as it is I might look to pick up sitting Scooby from another set or game pack.
I don't think the 3 clear bricks are supposed to be glass. I think it is to support the upper wing but remain invisible as a real biplane would have supports there.
Burger print! it should have been Krabby Patty's look... :p
^^Ah yes, but they've done just one clear brick in the past doubling as support and, you know, glass.
Wait, this has only 128 pieces?! That price tag is ridiculous. It seems like a very fun set though... even if it needs something else besides vehicle and horseman. Something like that robot tree thing in the other set. :P
When can we expect a review of the lighthouse?
Great review! ...Wish they would have included a scenery element, like some plants or rocks. It's a pretty set, but (as has been said) it could use a little more to justify the cost.
Can't wait to have this in my Lego Scooby collection.
The plane looks fine from the front, but from the rear, with the wide body, all those stickers, and the clear blocks, it looks terrible. Also, the Headless Horseman's outfit could have been a lot darker. It hardly looks spooky in bright blue.
The pumpkin as a helmet, rather than a printed head like previous LEGO monsters, is a nice touch - highly suitable for illuminating using maybe a trans-orange head and PF lights. Though I see this piece appears elsewhere, specifically the greenhouse of the Haunted Mansion. Sad though that it can no longer wear a highwayman's tricorn hat, like the printed head could, suitably wielded in the hand of a genuinely headless horseman on a rearing black steed...
Dat price tag tho....
If it goes on sale for $15 I might get it...
What's that tile in shaggy's hand in the last picture?
edit - Oh it's ok I zoomed in on the flickr picture
I don't think $20 is too much for this set. I usually give a minifigure an average value of $5 and you're getting 3 plus a horse. This Scooby would also look good on the motorcycle side car.
I would give the Horseman a black horse but the white horse is faithful to the cartoon along with the blue outfit.
If I decided to buy one of these sets I would probably decide to buy them all.
I wasn't going to buy any of the sets from this theme, but I could just change my mind for this one. The Headless Horseman will go perfectly with the CMF 'horror' theme later this year. The plane (minus the stickers) is OK, and I like the seated version of Scooby. So I'll wait and see if it gets discounted in time.