Review: 40721 Halloween Barn
Posted by Huw,
40721 Halloween Barn is one of three seasonal sets that are released tomorrow, and is the latest in a long line of Halloween-themed sets that commenced in 1998 with 3047 Halloween Bucket, which introduced orange bricks.
There are no orange pieces in this one, but it does have a few fun features.
Summary
40721 Halloween Barn, 205 pieces.
£12.99 / $14.99 / €14.99 | 6.3p / 7.3c / 7.3c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Fun for kids but lacks appeal for adults
- Not so much a barn as a façade
- Boring minifigure
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The model is not so much a barn but just the front of one, being just two bricks deep. It looks suitably spooky from the outside and has a few hidden features to make it more so.
It contains no proper minifigure, just a bog-standard skeleton of which, like me, you probably have too many of already. The inclusion of a vampire instead would have elevated the appeal of the set considerably.
There's not much room inside the barn, although space has been found on the sides for a bottle and a cauldron.
The back of the door resembles a mouth surrounded by fangs which are visible from the front when the door is opened.
There's also an evil eye behind the shutters!
It's a fun little set with some nice details, although hardly an essential purchase, particularly as it's likely your LEGO budget is already stretched to breaking point this year.
But, at a pocket money price, it might be something kids will enjoy buying or receiving as a gift.
97 likes
44 comments on this article
Every year I look forward to the Halloween seasonal set and every year I am disappointed :(
When will we get another spooky theme like Monster Fighters?! I guess Hidden Side flopped too hard for them to make another attempt in the near future...
It's unfortunate that LEGO has moved away from doing halloween creatures such as the Owl or Cat and Mouse sets. Hopefully they'll return to doing those types of sets as they continue to be my favourite sets from the affordable end of their seasonal line.
I like it. It reminds me of Hidden Side, which was my favourite theme of the 2019-now era by far. It does look a bit flat for what it is though.
You're being a bit to hard on this. It's just meant to be a small little decoration. Kids can play with it if they want, adults can display if they want. I'm not getting it, but it's fine for what it us.
2015 vignettes, I miss you so much!
I like this set, gives off so much hidden side energy!
I welcome every skeleton, and every attempt at the spooky theme.
This certainly is a set that is being released!
It’s fine. I don’t know the purpose really since you can’t do much with it. But hey, it’s for sale so someone will buy it.
Photographing a white skeleton against a white background certainly resulted in... something. XD
I think it's cute. 15€ seems a bit much even for modern Lego Standards though.
There is nothing wrong with more skeletons!
We need all the troops we can for the Skeleton War.
I don't actually mind it - I like the colour scheme and the hidden side style 'face' to the building. However, without a decent minfigure, I would have much preferred it as a gift with purchase, maybe without a figure at all as a low-tier GWP.
@parsom said:
"2015 vignettes, I miss you so much!"
Like 40122? You're not alone!
Lacks appeal for adults? Speak for yourself, but this is one of the sets I’m looking forward to amongst the new releases for Sept.
Totally getting this because it will make an excellent backdrop for my existing old Halloween CMFs and more recent Halloween BMFs. It doesn't need to be more than what is: a good backdrop with play features. I only wish they would have used the brown 1x4 plates with the wooden board print on the barn, but luckily I have some of those loose from last year's Summer and Halloween VIP parts packs!
"One of three seasonal sets that are released tomorrow"
And the other 2 are much more appealing, so I guess this one needed a bit of a push!
We need an Autumn Village like the Winter Village series for proper Halloween/fall sets. There is a growing market for Halloween loving adults.
Skeleton is always great figure.
Don’t go in there, it’s the Monster House!
Is there a part 2 for the rest of the barn? :)
There isn't much to it, but I like its look!
I just hope we get some decently interesting Build-a-Minifigure parts this Halloween.
@Adrianucho said:
" @parsom said:
"2015 vignettes, I miss you so much!"
Like 40122? You're not alone!"
They were the absolute BEST. Designer Mel Caddick rules!
True! 40121 is one of my favorites.
This set feels so... hidden-sidey with that transformation. It seems that TLG decided to honour that fantastic failure theme with this. Actually, all of the promotional Halloween sets feel pretty much the same. And, by the way, I have only three skeleton minifigures - El Fuego from 30464 , a Minecraft skeleton from 21171 and a generic skeleton from 77015 (also maybe a Bone Goomba will count).
@gatorbug6 said:
"We need an Autumn Village like the Winter Village series for proper Halloween/fall sets. There is a growing market for Halloween loving adults."
I entirely agree, a series of autumn themed buildings like the winter village would be wonderful.
@daniellesa said:
" @gatorbug6 said:
"We need an Autumn Village like the Winter Village series for proper Halloween/fall sets. There is a growing market for Halloween loving adults."
I entirely agree, a series of autumn themed buildings like the winter village would be wonderful."
100%, I've been thinking about this for a while. There could be some "straight" autumn themed/decorated buildings and settings, just like Winter Village does. Then there could also be some spooky ones, like some of the Winter Village have the Santa/elf/fantastical element.
It's almost as flat as a postcard set.
Definitely feels like a build made out of pieces from a Halloween VIP accessory bag. That tree build looks oddly good for using a jumble of parts, though.
It'd be a passable GWP, but despite the reasonable PPP, it feels lacking for a $15 retail product.
Could have at least included a evil Goat or a Devil Chicken with red eyes
@ItsTwentyBelow said:
"Totally getting this because it will make an excellent backdrop for my existing old Halloween CMFs and more recent Halloween BMFs. It doesn't need to be more than what is: a good backdrop with play features. I only wish they would have used the brown 1x4 plates with the wooden board print on the barn, but luckily I have some of those loose from last year's Summer and Halloween VIP parts packs!"
Thanks for the idea! I will do the same with my unused Halloween VIP packs. :)
"It contains no proper minifigure, just a bog-standard skeleton of which, like me, you probably have too many of already." Especially since I have two of 40513. I gave one of those to my third nephew (because the only skeletons he had were Minecraft ones), and I don't miss it at all; what with skeletons from other sets, I've got enough troops to field a good-sized skellie army, should I choose to do so. I have no intention of getting this set, but I do like what the designer did with the door. Not just the mouth, but the use of https://brickset.com/parts/design-15397 to make it look boarded up.
Oof!
@gatorbug6 said:
"We need an Autumn Village like the Winter Village series for proper Halloween/fall sets. There is a growing market for Halloween loving adults."
That is such a good idea!
I still haven’t opened my Halloween set 850936 from 2014. I’m only a decade late!
No offense, but I'm really happy that I don't live in a land of 'bog standard.'
Regardless, thank you Huw for widening my knowledge of language.
As far as this set goes, I'm a sucker for anything fall or Halloween.
If I had this set, I'd have sever urge to "Buster Keaton" the skeleton...I think it'd look great:)
For a Halloween Barn, I could have imagined a scarecrow with a pumpkin head.
@StyleCounselor said:
"No offense, but I'm really happy that I don't live in a land of 'bog standard.'
Regardless, thank you Huw for widening my knowledge of language. . "
He could have used the synonym “Basic”, but someone would surely have managed to get confused and think he was referring to the classic theme of the same name ;)
"just a bog-standard skeleton of which, like me, you probably have too many of already"
Could you maybe run the numbers and check which minifigs are owned the most by brickset users, and in which quantities? Excluding starwars of course, I'm curious to see if they skeleton comes out on top.
I have loved a lot of the previous Halloween sets but this one misses the mark without a better minifig.
If any LEGO staff members roll through these comments, CONTINUE THE UNIVERSAL STUDIOS BRICKHEADZ! So much potential! 40422 was excellent and needs his monster friends. 40351 is also an all-time favorite Halloween set of mine. <3
@Adrianucho said:
" @parsom said:
"2015 vignettes, I miss you so much!"
Like 40122? You're not alone!"
Honest question for those who like the vignettes, What is the real difference between this and those? I look at 40122 and see just a door frame wall and a few items out front, just like this is a barn wall with some decorations out front. I guess I am not seeing why this isn't considered a vignette. I like them both and will definitely be adding this to my Halloween collection.
@MasterT said:
" @Adrianucho said:
" @parsom said:
"2015 vignettes, I miss you so much!"
Like 40122? You're not alone!"
Honest question for those who like the vignettes, What is the real difference between this and those? I look at 40122 and see just a door frame wall and a few items out front, just like this is a barn wall with some decorations out front. I guess I am not seeing why this isn't considered a vignette. I like them both and will definitely be adding this to my Halloween collection. "
Honestly, I don't know! I think you're right.
I prefer the brick built monsters and animals. The last year plus of seasonal sets have been lackluster.