What did I buy on July 1st? This LEGO Hocus Pocus Cottage. I had been waiting a little over a year for this set. When I saw it was teased/leaked I hoped it would be chosen. When I saw it was officially chosen as one of the Ideas sets, I was thrilled. LEGO gave insiders early access to buy this set, and I ordered it bright and early. It’s been sitting in my closet waiting for a rainy day.
As a kid, LEGOs were my favorite. I’ve recently began collecting some fun sets and share that building experience with my oldest. We feature some of our builds on Liam’s YouTube Channel. Our past builds include a passenger train and the Hogwarts Express.
We save all LEGO building for rainy days. A few weekends ago, an all-weekend rainstorm gave us the perfect conditions for an intense LEGO build. This was the first set I did with Liam where I thought, “Yes, this is not for you.” He’s always a huge help, and it usually takes less than an hour to tackle a build. This one took six hours.
Building the LEGO Hocus Pocus Cottage
We started off the build watching Hocus Pocus. Before you knew it, the movie was over and Liam requested Hocus Pocus 2. Once that was over, it was nearly dinner time, so we had to take a break. This was my first build where I had to take a break. I can’t think of a set that I own where that has happened. Once Liam went to bed, I powered through the remainder of the set and two and half hours later, the set was complete. With over 2300 pieces, this one was bound to take a while.
TL;DR – this set is awesome.
Let’s start with the characters! You get Max, Allison, Dani, Binx, and of course, the Sanderson Sisters! I love that Allison comes with a little salt canister. Dani carries her Halloween candy bucket. Winifred has the green magic, Sarah has a potion bottle, and Mary is carrying (what I think is) a mirror. But, you get a real treat when you see that the creator included the vacuum Mary rides!
The set is the main witches’ cottage. But you get the cemetery entrance as another piece of this. In the cemetery, you’ll see Emily Binx’s and Billy Butcherson’s headstones, and the creator, Amber, has a headstone, too! Binx is also walking around the entrance to the cemetery.
The Cottage
The cottage is very detailed! Let’s start with the outside. The chimney magic smoke goes up and down when you turn the watermill. That was a frustrating part of the build because it kept coming apart due to my own clumsiness. Once it was complete, I and Liam had so much fun turning the wheel and watching the pink smoke move.
There are three sections of the cottage that open. In the back, the walls swing open to reveal the main floor of the cottage and all of the Easter eggs. Most noticeably, the black flame candle and Book are right near the front. The main floor is setup like in the movie where the cottage is now a museum. There’s a cash register, ‘do not touch’ signs, and red ropes all over. It’s really fun to look at everything.
Beyond the candle, is a cauldron. When you press the green button, the light below the cauldron turns on and glows through the clear, orange pieces. Another really fun part of the cottage.
The second section that opens is the roof, revealing the second floor. You’ll find the witches’ bed, the vacuum, mop, and broomsticks. Cages hang from the ceiling along with a few cobwebs.
The last section that opens is the fireplace where Dani sits down during the witches’ interrogation right after they return from the dead. This section pulls right out from the side of the cottage.
Worth It!
If you love the movie and want a collector’s piece, you need to get yourself this set. I’m so happy I did. I am in awe at the amount of detail the creator put into this set. Liam enjoys the first movie and is a fan of the second (maybe it’s the singing?). He loved helping me with this, but it only kept his attention for so long. Right now, we have it on display with our Halloween decorations. In about twenty days, I’m going to have to find a new home for it and researching some storage options. However, I’m trying not to think about it right now and pushing off that problem to the twenty-days-from-now Brian!
