LEGO Ideas Hocus Pocus Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage (21341) Review!

Halloween, one of the most joyful yet spooky seasons of the year, enjoyed by both young and old alike. I personally like all the scary movies that come out the woodwork, one in particular is fun to watch every year at this time, yep you’ve guessed it, Hocus Pocus. With both the original and sequel now out on Disney+, you can enjoy them whenever you want, not just at Halloween.

When fan designer Amber Veyt (TheAmbrinator) submitted her build to the LEGO Ideas platform and it gained the required support and ultimately got made into a real LEGO set, I knew it was going to do well and a set I needed to purchase.

The appeal for me was of course from the movies and the characters given the LEGO Minifigure treatment, but it was also from the aspect of it being a good looking Medieval building. Being into LEGO Castles and Knights I had other plans for the Cottage, once I have a Cityscape of my own of course.

So, without further a-do, let’s get into the review of LEGO Ideas Hocus Pocus Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage (21341)!

The Box & Contents:

The box itself has adopted the standard look that most of the more premium LEGO sets have, the dark background with a hazy accent colour. The set is front and centre and looks great against the black backdrop, I particularly like how the set is given space to breathe and isn’t overcrowded but unnecessary distractions.

In the reverse you’ll see the Cottage opened up, this is granted by the roof lifting up and two hinged doors at the back. Also on show are some of the okay features, including the light brick that gives life to the fire under the cauldron.

Inside the box are 15 numbered bags, separate bag for larger plates, an instruction manual and sticker sheet. For a set that costs £199.99 I was expecting more bags. If you compare it to a LEGO Modular building you’ll sadly be let down by the 2,316 piece count to price ratio, it’s not great but then again it’s the Disney licence you’re paying extra for.

Open up the instruction manual and you’re presented with an informative and well presented pages surrounding the Fan Designer (mentioned above) and LEGO Designers that made this set come to life.

The Build:

Having built many of the larger LEGO Modular buildings I knew what to expect from a set of this size and theme. The number of bags is daunting at first but you soon realise that the process is nicely spread out and doesn’t overwhelm you with complex techniques and obscene amount of parts per stage.

Bag one kicks off with the Cemetery side build and again easing you in nicely to the overall set. It is made up of three sections that simply clip together, the grip is enough to hold whilst on display but a word of caution when listing it up, please use both hands.

As side builds go it’s not bad, there isn’t a lot to it but I think that adds to the Cemetery charm if you will, sparse in nature and mostly comprising of stone grey & earthy colour tones. The main part that stands out to me is the grave stones and their stickers. You’ll have noticed on the box art that a certain Zombie character isn’t included in the lineup, but William Butcherson‘s gravestone is present. There is a gravestone to the left of Billy’s, this is for Emily Binx, sister of Thackery Binx, who failed to save her in the opening of the original movie. Fan’s of the Hocus Pocus franchise may be confused as to who the third gravestone belongs too, this is a reference to the Fan Designer, Amber Veyt, cool right?!

Hey LEGO, why didn’t you include a Billy Butcherson Minifigure? He was my favourite character and one I would have loved to get. Thankfully I have word that Minifigs.me are currently working on a custom one, so watch this space.

Cracking into the next few bags and starting the Cottage itself, the foot print is a relatively decent size and constructed in a different way to LEGO Modular buildings. As you build the base, on which the Cottage sits, you’ll notice Technic elements with holes in them are added randomly along each side, this allows for angled plates covered in foliage to slot into.

Here is also where the light brick goes, just under the fire pit in the photo above, thankfully there is a narrow passage left open for button access.

You soon get into a nice rhythm when building up the walls, with a combination of tan masonry bricks, standard bricks and the odd coloured ones to give it a natural diverse look. During bag 3 you add the waterwheel, this breaks up the wall building nicely. Adding a cog or two and some Technic rods you make a start of the turning mechanism that will make the smoke from the chimney move up & down later in the set.

A small amount of foliage is added to the outside as you go along the walls, pretty much making that particular side of the wall complete.

As you continue around the edge, some pieces of furniture and decoration are added, including the Spellbook that the Sanderson Sisters‘ use many times throughout the movies, I love it when they call for it – “Boooooook, oh Boooook!“. The ‘Please do not touch‘ sign and the small but equally as good till/cashier towels are cool, but sadly stickers. Even the Spellbook is a sticker, shame on you LEGO for charging £199.99 and giving us stickers, I find this unacceptable.

As more gets added to the inside of the Cottage, the walls also get higher and although there isn’t a full first floor, there is a balcony of sorts that comprises of the Sanderson Sisters‘ bed and other furniture.

Details and movie references are packed into the set, the funniest one for me personally is the ‘broomstick‘ that Mary is left with, it’s in fact a vacuum cleaner. This small but masterfully designed build shows how you can make something look awesome with just a handful of parts, as the whole thing takes just 10 pieces.

The bed maybe small for the three Sisters’ it is still colour-coded for each of them, with different coloured patterns for their individual signature styles, green for Winnifred, pink for Sarah and red for Mary. It’s basic but it does the job, the added posts do finish it off better and gives the bed a frame that is very reminiscent of the time period.

The walls continue on the upper part of the Cottage and in the set style, using the ran Masonry bricks, matting 1×1 bricks and slightly different coloured accent bricks, all which being finished off with longer dark brown tiles that represent oak beams.

Each end of the roof is a separate bag, although somewhat similar in design the process is slightly different, this is to give it a unique and natural look. Placing tiles randomly and at jaunty angles is both fun and annoying, we’re used to placing tiles in straight lines, but here they often hung off a single stud and told to position it slightly off.

The slanted roof is built in the same way, design-wise, with the two sides being slightly different and featuring some straight and wonky tiles and plates. There are also randomly place foliage too, which really works well and looks amazing, I’ve always been a of fan of randomness especially in nature.

As we mentioned before in the review the waterwheel can be spun in place, this in turn pushes & pulls a couple connected Technic rods that two transparent purple cloud elements are attached too, making them go up & down to simulate smoke escaping the chimney. This is a very cool play feature, although mine doesn’t rotate a certain way without catching the making a Technic rod come apart half way down, making a real pain to try and connect. Perhaps there is a brick as a slight angle which cates it – who knows?!

The last couple of bags finish off the set and added a nice little side attachment that simply pops on using Technic pins. Inside is a fire place, a chair and other accessories.

I really like how both sections of the two roves are attached and can be lifted to gain access to the inside. Using a simple yet effective attachment method the roof panels can be lifted and swung-out in a way I’ve not seen LEGO do before. For my big hands this still isn’t really enough to fit inside the Cottage but it should helps to see inside, the two rear wall panels that open also allow for a better viewing point and access port. Take a look at the image below for a better look at the access points.

Inside and hanging from the roof beam are two unfortunate souls that have been trapped in cages and left to rot. The way the cages have been built is cool, using bars and clips that attach and fold down to create the finished cage look. The Skeletons inside are standard but finish them off nicely, they even swing when transporting the set.

Now all we need to make this set truly come alive are the Minifigures!

The Minifigures:

There are 6 Minifigure characters included, the 3 Witches Winifred, Mary and Sarah, these are joined by the 3 Children Max, Allison and Dani.

Starting off what the Sanderson Sisters’ themselves, and the cool prints and unique hairstyles they have.

Each character has unique & exclusive designs and prints, along with cool capes that are coloured to help represent them as individuals. Winifred is sporting a mostly green outfit, which has gold & purple accents. I particularly like the hair piece included with the old Sister, it’s different to what we’ve seen from LEGO and a welcomed addition to the Minifigure parts library.

Sarah, the youngest, is wearing mostly pinks and reds, again her outfit is elegant, sadly her hair piece isn’t a new mould but it is blonde in colour, making is somewhat rare. Mary on the other hand the middle sister, is less elegant and seems to be dressed in a more tatty looking outfit. Mostly brown and with a tired looking apron on cover her skirt. The hair piece used is brand new to LEGO and is whacky in nature, I love it!

The kids Max, Allison and Dani are just as cool and come with a variety of new and awesome parts and prints.

Starting off with Max, the older Brother of Dani, they become embroiled when snooping around the Cottage and accidentally opening the Spellbook and causing the return of the Sanderson Sisters’.

Max has a rather smart jacket design torso, this I can see myself nabbing for a MOC or two. The hair piece is brilliant and captures the 90s curtains brilliantly. LEGO have also included a spot of leg printing too, with the seems of the pockets and the belt loops.

Dani, Maxs’ younger sister, is the start of the show, after the Witches of course, as she including a new hat and hair dual-moulded combo. Under the Witches hat is a luxurious head of hair all puffed up and looking crazy-ish, like it hasn’t been brushed in forever. The torso matches the outfit and is captured well.

Allison is a friend of the Maxs’ at school, she has a standard LEGO hair piece, but her torso and legs are new. The torso is a print of a cardigan and it looks fab, again the design is good with added shadow definition. Her legs are a lighter blue version of Maxs’.

Each of the Minifigure characters have dual expressions, which is needed in a set of this theme, Halloween. Having a ‘normal‘ and then a spooked or mean looking face on the opposite side is great, well done LEGO.

Overall the set is stunning and one any Hocus Pocus, Disney or Halloween fannshkuld have in their collection and display area.

The building itself is great and captures the Medieval theme nicely. The Minifigures are spot on and match their onscreen counterparts extremely well.

For the price of £199.99 I would say this isn’t quite worth it, given that face it has stickers and a character missing, LEGO could have done better with the price, I guess it’s the Disney tax that forces the price up considerably.

I would recommend picking up this set of you like the overall look of it, regardless of its theme.

Thank you for reading our review, please let us know via the comments section below what you thought of it and the set itself. We love hearing from you!