Review: Wicked Brick display case for 21330 Home Alone
Posted by CapnRex101,
Wicked Brick produces an impressive collection of display accessories, including display cases for varying sets.
21330 Home Alone certainly deserves prominent display and should look nice inside the dedicated case, protected from dust. The display stands are excellent, so expectations are high!
The display case arrives in several components, extremely well-packaged with paper padding, bubble wrap and protective film. Each panel should therefore arrive in pristine condition and I think the case looks marvellous when complete, comfortably accommodating the McCallister house with its accompanying minifigures, treehouse and the Wet Bandits' van.
Assembling the case is fairly simple, needing only a flat-head screwdriver to fix metal cubes at the corners. The resulting structure feels quite sturdy and slots neatly into grooves in the base, also nestling around the central elevated platform.
When complete, the structure measures 62cm across, 41cm deep and 30cm tall. That seems larger than necessary for 21330 Home Alone, but offers ample space for the van and creates room between the house and the treehouse. The zip-line suspended between them therefore remains relatively taut, when both models are connected to the 1x1 round plates embedded in the base underneath.
These studs are particularly useful for securing the minifigures, while only two are provided to attach each larger structure. That provides some different options for display, although I think the arrangement shown on the Wicked Brick website is most effective. Furthermore, I like the backdrop behind the house, featuring a lovely snowy scene.
This backdrop is actually a huge sticker, which concerned me upon arrival! However, applying the sticker is very easy and more forgiving than LEGO stickers, so air bubbles can be avoided. Accessing the model is equally simple as the cover can easily be removed, should you need to adjust something inside.
Overall
I have enjoyed Wicked Brick display stands before and this display case demonstrates similar qualities. 21330 Home Alone looks excellent inside the case and the manufacturing quality is brilliant, while assembly is pleasantly simple. However, high quality generally requires a high price and this is no exception, costing £79.99 without the backdrop, or £89.99 with it.
That is certainly expensive, but could prove worthwhile for a select few prized sets. However, space must also be considered and this display case does require considerable space, even more than many others! The quality is exceptional though and I think these display cases are well-suited to anybody wishing to distinguish their favourite LEGO sets.
You can find this display case and many others on the Wicked Brick website.
This product was provided for review by Wicked Brick, but the review represents an expression of my own opinions.
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22 comments on this article
Yeah.., but I’m still waiting for Lego to get this and Titanic back in stock…
Is the market for home museum collections that big? I suppose I thought everyone randomly plays with their expensive Lego toys like I do. Never underestimate the element of surprise, I suppose.
It does look like really good quality. And I realize quality comes with price, but at that price I'd never be able to swing that. Plus, that takes away money that could go to LEGO (or ya know, more important bills).
But the end result does look nice, so certainly an option for people with a little extra money for their hobby.
It looks fine but £10 for a backdrop seems quite excessive. I like the idea tho
This reminds me of the February 5, 1995 Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.
https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/02/05
It's a nice looking display but I'd always take a bit of dust in exchange for being able to... well, I'm too old to say "play", but play with it :p
@iwybs said:
"This reminds me of the February 5, 1995 Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.
https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/02/05"
Absolutely lol
@TheBrickshipyard said:
" @Goujon said:
"It looks fine but £10 for a backdrop seems quite excessive. I like the idea tho"
I agree with you. More economical to print off your own backdrop. I like the workmanship of the panels, but think the cost of materials is below $30 - $40. Even factoring in some profit margin, the MSRP is excessive. Perhaps some competition in the display case field would be healthy. "
There is competition and prices are comparable. Quality isn't cheap, don't forget, and if you were to buy, say, a 1m square 5mm thick Perspex sheet it would cost about $100.
I got one for the Taj Mahal set, and a display plate for the winter village set this year. Worth a shot I think and the case wasn’t terribly priced. I agree though I wouldn’t want to take the case apart to “play” with a set like this that’s interactive.
I would never do this to any set that is intended to be played with. Yeah, dust is a pain...but this set is minifig-scale and deserves to be played with and/or incorporated into a town layout.
IMHO, a display case would be more appropriate for something like Architecture sets, 21329 Fender Stratocaster, 10282 Adidas, 10290 Pickup Truck, or even a sort of "museum piece" like 40290 60 Years of the Brick, 40370 Trains 40th Anniversary, or maybe a copy of the first Lego set you ever owned.
I've been ready to post orders here many times but they are charging 38 pounds (42eu) for shipping (from UK to NL) which is truly outrageous.
I hope that they are able to do something about that.
I'm a big fan of WickerBrick and I used to be a regular customer before Brexit f*cked up international shipping for them and buying things from the EU became a rip-off (seriously...over £50 just in shipping is ridiculous. They say they are working on it but they've been saying that for months and so far, nothing has materialised...).
Their displays are the best (and I've tried a few competitors) but there's one thing I still think they do wrong: size.
Their displays are unnecessarily huge and waste A TON of space. Take this Home Alone display, for example. It's far taller and wider than it needed to be.
I think if they designed tighter fitting cases it'd be beneficial for everyone since, for many people, a display case like this isn't an option 'cause their space is already limited and the display case takes a ton more space than the set alone.
Smaller display cases would allow people to maximise space while keeping their sets protected.
Like some people have said, definitely better if they are tighter fit and cheaper. The sets are already huge, and most people run into space problem at some point, adding these cases only make the problem worse. Probably only half the material is needed to just fit this set. At half the size and half the price, it is much better price and space wise. Not to mention those prices easily match the price of a decently sized lego set itself. And for someone who want to interact with the sets from time to time, it's better not to have those cases. Even if they are display sets, the design of them that let you open up the interior means some people could always come back and "play" with them for a bit.
This isn’t big enough for my copy. I bought a second set to raid for parts so I could build the two missing wings of the house. I even figured out how to blend the roof in without having to modify the original set. At present, it fills a 2x2 block of 32-stud baseplates. Next up is adding the detached garage!
@iwybs said:
"This reminds me of the February 5, 1995 Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.
https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/02/05"
Yes it does. I also miss reading Calvin & Hobbes... Can't believe it is 25+ years.
@djcbs said:
"Their displays are the best (and I've tried a few competitors) but there's one thing I still think they do wrong: size.
Their displays are unnecessarily huge and waste A TON of space. Take this Home Alone display, for example. It's far taller and wider than it needed to be.
I think if they designed tighter fitting cases it'd be beneficial for everyone since, for many people, a display case like this isn't an option 'cause their space is already limited and the display case takes a ton more space than the set alone.
Smaller display cases would allow people to maximise space while keeping their sets protected."
100% Agree. I ended up buying a custom case for the Ideas Tree House that was at least a little closer to the actual model size, as there is simply no shelf that can fit the depth of a lot of the cases. After a toddler-induced breakage of this case I am now trying the Harry Potter Burrow set case.
It should also be mentioned (alongside all of the publicity) that they have been struggling with a long lead time at present, and the order I placed for Black Friday only arrived this week. Overall I’m still happy with the quality of the products, but I think the above points deserve to be made.
@djcbs said:
"I'm a big fan of WickerBrick and I used to be a regular customer before Brexit f*cked up international shipping for them and buying things from the EU became a rip-off (seriously...over £50 just in shipping is ridiculous. They say they are working on it but they've been saying that for months and so far, nothing has materialised...).
Their displays are the best (and I've tried a few competitors) but there's one thing I still think they do wrong: size.
Their displays are unnecessarily huge and waste A TON of space. Take this Home Alone display, for example. It's far taller and wider than it needed to be.
I think if they designed tighter fitting cases it'd be beneficial for everyone since, for many people, a display case like this isn't an option 'cause their space is already limited and the display case takes a ton more space than the set alone.
Smaller display cases would allow people to maximise space while keeping their sets protected."
Completely Agree. The cases are unnecessarily large. I was about to order one for my AT-AT until I realised how much more space was needed.
Smaller cases would also reduce material and shipping costs.
Wicked Brick - Are you listening to your customers ?
I think these look OK for displaying 1 or 2 models, but it doesn't take many before a proper, full size display cabinet makes a more economic and better looking option.
@PurpleDave said:
"This isn’t big enough for my copy. I bought a second set to raid for parts so I could build the two missing wings of the house. I even figured out how to blend the roof in without having to modify the original set. At present, it fills a 2x2 block of 32-stud baseplates. Next up is adding the detached garage!"
Any pics posted online? When I finally own the set, I wanted to make it more realistic with the missing bits.
@Sethro3:
Nope. For one, I am bad about posting pics of my MOCs, because I get to display them in person so much. I think I have between 30-50 of my Batman minifigs posted, and I’m pushing 400 in my collection at this point. For another thing, it’s not done yet. I’m still waiting on a B&P order to finish the roof.
But there’s not a lot to it. I built the set (mostly) stock. I made a few interior changes, due to the fact that I need to be able to transport it without losing parts. Loose objects got attached somewhere. I tweaked the dining room chairs so each opposing pair is attached under the table (just rotate some 1x2 plates or tiles to bridge the gap). This keeps them neatly pushed in, instead of rolling all over the floor.
The wings are free-standing, so I didn’t have to modify the sides of the set. They but up against the exterior walls and cover any windows on the sides. The bases are 10 studs wide and 8 studs deep. There are four columns of windows on front and back, and two on the sides, with half as many basement windows below. I matched the pinstriping on the model, and blacked out the windows (not only did it save me coming up with interiors for four rooms, but it hides the exterior walls that end up inside). I even figured out how to blend it into the existing roof with no mods required. Right now one wing has red bits because I didn’t have white ones, but it proved my technique would work.
For the base, I took four green baseplates and covered them with white 16x16 plates. I figured out where I wanted the house to sit, and used some of the extra roof slopes to build a pocket. I did the same for the treehouse, and I added a sidewalk leading from the front steps.
Next up is the garage. That’ll increase it from a 2x2 to a 2x3 block, and I’m thinking the two cars in the garage will be facades. I probably have enough brown from the second Home Alone set, but I’ll need more roof slopes.
What I’m currently not planning to do is add the circle drive out front. That would bump it to a 3x3 for the full thing, which will make it a bit tricky to work into the main display I want to use it for.
@PurpleDave said:
"This isn’t big enough for my copy. I bought a second set to raid for parts so I could build the two missing wings of the house. I even figured out how to blend the roof in without having to modify the original set. At present, it fills a 2x2 block of 32-stud baseplates. Next up is adding the detached garage!"
Between the missing wings of the house and the dismal height of the Boutique Hotel, one has to wonder if Lego is really emphasizing the purchase of multiple sets.
@CopperTablet:
Maybe. I mean, Home Alone cost $250 for what you get. Add the two missing wings, even with nothing inside, and you might be looking at a $50 bump. The garage and two cars might push it to $350-400. For SW UCS or Modulars, that’s not risky. They have a proven track record, and one of the local LEGO Store employees told me they can gauge ahead of time how they’ll sell. For this, it’s a one-off, so they could show up for launch day and have a line stretching out to the parking lot, or they might not sell a single copy, but there’s not much they can do to figure that out in advance. Nearly doubling the price could push the set past the point of being profitable, if enough people balk at the increase.
But this one’s a bit more complicated. My mod has what are essentially two hollow towers on either side. They’d add four rooms to the build, but I’m not sure what rooms should be added, especially on the first floor. But the interiors for what I’ve built would only by 6x8, so there’s not much space to work with. And you’d also need to squeeze hallways past the two bedrooms, which don’t really have the room to spare as it is. The wings weren’t part of the original project, and this may be part of the reason why.