Review: 40272 Witch
Posted by Huw,
The seasonal series of sets has recently alternated between brick-built characters one year and vignettes the next. This year they are in the form of BrickHeadz and I'm hopeful that the Halloween one will be better than the truly terrifying 40203 Vampire and Bat from 2016.
So, just in time for Halloween tomorrow, let's take a quick look at the third of this year's seasonal sets: 40272 Witch.
Why do witches have green skin? Apparently it's all down to Margaret Hamilton’s emerald-tinted portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in film The Wizard of Oz. Before that they were depicted as having normal, or reddish, skin tones.
Her purple dress and pointy lop-sided hat complement her skin colour perfectly. The belt with gold buckle and bow tie help add some interest to the torso.
Her cape, complete with collar, has been reproduced fairly effectively round the back and sides.
There's nothing particularly remarkable about the build or the finished model, although it does have something that few other BrickHeadz depictions of a human have: a nose.
Seasonal BrickHeadz are provided with embellishments to their stand which in this case consists of a cauldron over a fire on the left and a spooky tree and pumpkin on the right.
Unlike other recent Brickheadz, this one comes with a printed tile for the base indicating that it's a seasonal one.
Verdict
A perfectly competent and attractive model that collectors of BrickHeadz and seasonal sets will wish to acquire. However, if you're neither, it probably won't tempt you to become one.
Someone suggested that we add a quick poll to the end of our reviews and product announcements, so let's see how this goes...
(I suspect we'll work on the options over time...)
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31 comments on this article
"although it does have something that no other BrickHeadz depiction of a human has: a nose."
Krusty the Clown Brickhead (41632) has a nose. Wouldn't that count as a human?
Also, if conducting a poll, how about an option for:
"I really like the design, and I'm glad LEGO produced this set, but I still won't buy it."
I love the poll at the end. Nice addition!
I like it but don’t love it....
Good idea to add a poll, though - it’ll be interesting to review results once the options have been refined.
I'm really not a fan of the Brickheadz (nor the POP! figures that inspired them), but this one is kind of fun. I think it's the diorama bits that really sell it. I'll def pick it up if it's still around on my next trip to the Lego Store.
Horrible figure and nothing better than the 2016's set 40203. :-/
Why didn't they use a green 1x1 plate underneath the eye-tiles instead of olive?
To be honest (while 'Vampire and bat' are not Brickhead style) I actually PREFER the Vampire set to this one.
The poll is great!
Another option: Cool set - but just for parts. :-P
I don't love the poll options. I like this set but certainly don't love it and I wouldn't buy it unless it was on sale. I don't dislike it either, though.
I was bought this as a gift, and I actually rather like it. I don't love it, though, despite what I had to respond to the poll with.
@Holodoc: I thought they were meant to represent sunken eye sockets.
need to add "I like it" and "I won't be buying it" to the standardized poll.
If it's possible, maybe it should be two poll categories:
one for like/dislike and another for buy/won't buy
That way you can conveniently cover more combinations and better gauge people's interest both aesthetically and financially.
Is it just me, or does it look like a corrupted version of Link from Legend of Zelda rather then a witch?
On the poll, its nice to see one on a review to get a proper overall feedback opinion. I'd like to see one on al future reviews if possible. Though, could we get a neutral response for those that neither like or hate it?
@huw
You really need more options in the poll. Something weaker than love and hate, plus an option for indifference; the latter would be my choice in this situation.
I like the poll, but the "Your review has persuaded me to buy it" option probably won't get many
votes on a set over $99.99..
Love the poll feature!
Even though I have warmed up to BrickHeadz a little of late, this set doesn't do anything for me.
I recently bought Minnie, Boba Fett, the BTTF duo as well as the Santa and Mrs Claus set. All of those to me are a hundred times better than this one, especially Boba Fett.
I have this set and I like it.
For various reasons, I like it but don't love it.
For that reason, you need more poll options. ;)
Brickheads - Still creepy. But Holiday set, so had to have it. Along with Thanksgiving Turkey, Santa and Mrs. Claus, Homer and Krusty, and the Star Wars Calendar, these were the first purchases at the new Pittsburgh LEGO Store!!!!
I'd buy this and use the parts to build something else..
I was hoping for a vignette this year but we get a Brickhead which I don't collect. Are Lego trying to inflate Brickhead sales by putting them in other "themes" (for want of a better word) so I will not be buying this, oh well maybe next year.
Love the little scene it comes with. I really like Brickheadz... this one is just ugly.
Lie the addition of the poll. Looks cool, wish they did the side decorations with other Brickheadz other than seasonal.
Nice to include the poll! When it comes to the set I landed on "Don't like it", it's not that bad but I'm not a huge fan of the Legopopz (only has Jack Sparrow and the Brick Me set). What really earned it a downvote is Lego's insistence on witches having green skin (it annoyed me with the Series 2 and 14 witches too). To me it's just another example of Lego focusing on American tastes - "The Wizard of Oz" just doesn't have the same "seen it dozens of times through your childhood" cultural status in the rest of the world and I can only remember it being aired once here in Norway. And if they still insists on green skin, couldn't they at least used something better than plain green - sand green, olive or bright lime seems like much more interesting choices.
A nice parts pack. Really want that cauldron especially.
By the way, love the pole! But agree there should be a like it but don't plan to but it option.
Agree need another poll option to the effect of "like it" but had to go with "love it" which really isn't the case, but definitely not "don't like it".
You use ‘perfectly’ quite often.
Funny, I only just realized this was supposed to be a witch. Having never seen any depictions of witches having green skin, I thought it was a Halloween goblin of sorts. After looking up the Wizard of Oz, which up to now I had only heard of but never seen, I venture to guess that it's actually the only film/source material depicting a witch with green skin. Or is there any other source material?
My recollection of witches is mostly influenced by films based on European fairy tales, like those by the brothers Grimm, H.C. Andersen, etc. And of course the most famous (in Germany at least) witch that kids over here know: Bibi Blocksberg :-)
Plus of course the film that really freaked me out as a kid - The Witches, a 1990 British film starring Anjelica Huston and Rowan Atkinson, among others.
Fun fact: the main protagonist kid in that film had quite a bit of Lego, which even played an important part near the end of the film, especially a MOC scenery prominently featuring parts from the 6990 Classic Space monorail. I was so envious at the time because I desperately wanted that set and never got it. By now I even more regret that fact ;-)
I bought her yesterday...
To me in the uk the Wizard of Oz is a perennial of Christmas viewing. I even have a song by the Irish band Blink with the lyrics “it’s Christmas you know what that means, yeah, the wizard of oz”.
A good review but not a fan of the set.
I thought the "bow tie" was just the knot in the string from the cape.
I think the hat should have been built up a bit higher. It indeed looks more like Link or Goblin.
For the poll: Nice review, ok set, won't be buying it.
@andyh1984: I suspect it’s more just that the trend in the past five years or so has been collectible vignettes in odd-numbered years and collectible brick-built characters in even-numbered years, and the BrickHeadz format has seemingly been more popular than other types of brick-built character sculpture.
@AustinPowers: The green-skinned witch is downright ubiquitous in 20th century pop culture: the Wicked Witch of the West from the 1939 film adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz” is the originator of this trope (in the original book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, her defining trait was her glass eye, and earlier film adaptations were not in color), but many stereotypical witches in American cartoons, comics, movies, picture books, video games, and other forms of art also feature green-skinned witches, as a Google image search for “Witch” is likely to show you.
Black hair + black cape is not the best combination, they kinda merge.
@Aanchir: thanks for the info, you appear to be correct.
Then again, it further shows the cultural differences. Over here there are basically zero depictions of witches having green skin - unless you happen to know the Wizard of Oz, which few people over here do. Especially most kids, believe it or not, will have never seen or heard of it. It's just not common knowledge over here, neither is it part of a Christmas tradition. That honor goes to two films that everyone in Germany will closely associate with Christmas (whether he/she likes them or not):
"Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel", a 1973 Czech/GDR film variant of the Aschenputtel storyline which also spawned the famous Disney film Cinderella, and
"Der kleine Lord" (originally "Little Lord Fauntleroy", the 1980 British film version starring Alec Guiness). Those films have been a Christmas staple for decades over here.
Fun fact: I now remember that (due to having been to the UK so often as a kid/youngster) I own the Ladybird book version of the Wizard of Oz, even though I had forgotten about it until reading this set review. The green witch though hasn't stuck in my memory, my favorite character was the Tin Man actually.
This is not a good BrickHeadz