Set #75903 Haunted Lighthouse: The second largest set from the Theme and the only one with Daphne as a Minifigure, this set stands out as a very impressive one and this review will cover every reason why. So grab your Scooby snacks, prepare your sleuthing skills and let’s dive in to the next exciting adventure for Scooby and the Mystery Inc. gang.

Box/Instructions

Box: As I’ve noted before in past reviews this new Theme which may be a one-off has included a very impressive looking box design and I’m loving the dynamic action and the similarities to the cartoon itself.

Once again the back does a great job of showing all the features of the set and includes a brief tale of Mystery Inc. unmasking the crooks for the police. Overall a really great design choice and I do hope they’ll continue the Theme this Halloween.

Instructions: There are two numbered booklets in this set, which breaks up the build between the numbered bags so you can work on the set at your leisure. The first booklet features instructions to build the contents of bag 1, 2 and 3 then directs you to the next manual. 4 and 5 are featured in manual 2 and completes the entire build, some of the build involves very minor repetition, however the rest will be unique and brand new. Lastly you’ll find the cross-promotional images and parts list, speaking of parts.

Parts

I love how many pieces are in this set, true there aren’t that many unique looking ones. However it is a great parts pack for mason bricks in dark red and the medium grey coloured parts that are found a lot in this set. You also get some very nice blue plates, not a baseplate mind you, but the plates don’t come often in water coloured blue like this, so it’s nice to see them here.

Minifigures

Daphne: This Minifigure looks perfect, she dressed in her familiar purple outfit with great printed detailing on her torso and legs to capture the look of the skirt and blouse ensemble with matching green scarf. Her hair piece is brand new and unique to her, I don’t see LEGO reusing it for anyone other than Daphne, it even has the purple hair band on the top as a print. Her face is double-sided with a smiling expression on one side and a terrified one on the other, she’s carrying an old paddle she found somewhere in the lighthouse to defend herself from the creeps in the masks.

Lighthouse Keeper: This creepy Lighthouse Keeper is dressed in a dark blue outfit with a rope belt, tattered with age the print is double-sided. The LEGO Hobbit hair piece from Balin is reused to give the right menacing look, the spooky and undead looking facial expression on one side hides a secret. Pop the hair piece off and flip it around to reveal the woman behind the mask, Verona Dempsey. She’s carrying a gold key to lock Daphne into the jail cell in the upper room of the Lighthouse.

Scooby-Doo: This version of the titular canine hero uses the sculpted lower body that is seated and the printed head with Scooby’s teeth chattering in fright. I am a huge fan of how they used these new sculpted parts to create Scooby, which really makes me hope we’ll see other sets at some point in the future for this Theme.

Shaggy: Using plain brown legs and a dual-molded torso for the short sleeved look typical of Shaggy Rogers, this Minifigure features a double-sided print of Shaggy’s customary green shirt covered in seaweed and a starfish, being dragged around on his blue water skis has lead him into some kind of trouble. His unique hair piece is really well made, and the face is double-sided with a happy expression on one side and Shaggy’s nervous fear filled face on the other.

Shaggy gets a pair of water skis for an accessory, as mentioned above, and a buildable sandwhich on a bun with meat, lettuce, mustard and ketchup, perhaps it’s a Hamburger, though it’s hard to say. The design of the build is pretty clever using a donut piece with a hole in the middle for him to hold on the bottom and a printed circular tile for the top.

Swamp Creature: Re-using all of the parts found in the LEGO Monster Fighters theme for the swamp creature, this version is made with a darker and more menacing looking green colour. The torso print is fairly similar as well, however the face is different. On one side is a spooky looking monster face and on the other, well once you’ve unmasked this particular creep you’ll discover Mr. Brown, the accomplice in the Lighthouse Mystery. He includes a trident accessory piece.

The build

Bag 1: This is the Mystery Boat build, or whatever they actually call it. Scooby and Shaggy are in the bag too, help them build their boat and sandwich. If you’ve built a lot of LEGO City speedboats you won’t have any trouble here, as the build is somewhat similar to those, the only thing, stickers are being used for detailing which some younger builders might need help applying properly.

Bag 2: Start building the island where the Lighthouse sits with this bag. It’s a fairly involved portion of the build as you are building the rock island as well as the small section to the side that represents the pier where the Speedboat can dock. I didn’t notice anything difficult during the build, for a Theme like Scooby-Doo that should be expected though.

Bag 3: The rocky island where the Lighthouse sits is built in two stages, this bag features the second portion of the rock face where the rock skull will be once we finish the build. It’s a modular design using technic pins to attach the two sections of island together. Naturally this section of the build doesn’t have any difficult areas. The Swamp Creature is in this bag.

Bag 4: This bag has you building the skeleton face in the rocks and the first floor of the Lighthouse as well as the stairs leading to the second floor. It’s a nice and satisfying, if slightly repetitive section of the build, and looks great once finished.

Bag 5: This section of the build completes the model of the lighthouse in a very impressive way, I enjoyed the lighthouse build a lot and there aren’t really any difficult steps during any of the builds found here. Daphne and the Lighthouse Keeper are also in this bag, so now all of the Minifigures are accounted for. Sticker placement is the only part that may require a helping hand.

The completed model

Lighthouse: A suitably spooky looking model taken straight out of an episode of the cartoon. The design of the model is quite impressive, it features a nice looking lighthouse model as well as some decent rock formations, including a massive skull which is part of a play feature and probably meant to be inspired by pirates with the gold tooth in the skull.

The model is quite large and involves some interesting play features, it does not however include a light up brick. That is slightly unfortunate, but the top of the lighthouse still has some great detail work, some of it made by stickers for the unique window designs, the interior features two fire pieces for the light. The top is built up on a hinged plate, it flips up to reveal a hiding spot where a key is kept and a bone, possibly a snack for Scooby.

There is no direct path up to the top of the lighthouse, the stairs on the outside go to the second floor which houses a small jail cell for someone to be held, a spider web closes off the back of the room. The first floor features a stove for cooking food with, creeps in masks need to eat, and Shaggy and Scooby always find a stove to make food during their capers.

Underneath the lighthouse is a small alcove where a pirates treasure has been hidden, or perhaps stolen goods. Underneath the stairs is a place where a crate with scuba equipment is held. This is hidden behind the skull build, which can be opened with a geared technic build in the back. The last portion of the build is a small side dock that can be used by any of the characters, hidden under the boards is a printed tile with a ‘clue’ on it for solving the mystery.

Overall this model is really fun looking and includes tons of great play features. I really dig the personality exuded by this model, from the foreboding Keep Out sign by the stairs to the obvious pirate themed stone skull with the secret passage behind it.

Mystery Boat: For Mystery Incorporated it isn’t odd to find them using vehicles other than the Mystery Machine, usually they aren’t all the same colour though, however as time has gone on that colour scheme has been associated with them so it makes sense that LEGO would give us vehicle builds of all types with the same lime green and light teal colouring.

This companion model really stands out as a fun little build, it uses some stickers to give it the familiar psychedelic inspired pattern on the side of the boat which is also seen on the side of the Mystery Machine. There’s also a water ski pulley attached to the back, or whatever it’s officially called, where Shaggy can be pulled along while Scooby steers the ship to help save the day. Just like in the cartoon.

Overall opinion

As a huge fan of Scooby-Doo I have to admit that these sets were something I never thought we’d ever see from LEGO. However it’s nice to see this Theme exists now even if they don’t choose to follow up with more sets later on. Personally I think the best sets to get are this one, the mansion and the Mystery Machine, however you can’t go wrong with getting the complete set. I strongly recommend this set for all fans of the franchise.