Vampire's Crypt: How Dracula Got His Groove Back! Lego Studio Vampire's Crypt
Written: Aug 20 '02 (Updated Jan 09 '04)
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Pros: Cool coffin, Creepy scenes, Lots of elements, bats, garlic, Happy Dracula / Mean Dracula.
Cons: Havent found a single con yet :]
The Bottom Line: By far, one of my favorite sets! Dracula! A coffin! A skeleton head! I dare you to find one thing wrong with this set. Come on, I dare ya!
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO Studio Vampire's Crypt |
If you haven't figured it out yet, I am a Lego addict. I doubt that genetics played any part in my children having the same affliction, but alas, they too have fallen under the spell of Lego's. When I saw the new additions of the Lego Studio line, most notably the Monster Series I let out a scream that could possibly have awoken Dracula himself. If you have read any of my reviews you might know that I am also a hard-core Halloween freak so when I saw the pictures for Vampire’s Crypt at the Lego website my heart started doing flip flops … out comes the credit card … I’ll take four sets please.
The Vampire’s Crypt marks a new era for the Lego Studio line; with some new sets finally hitting the market the series has gotten a reprieve from being axed off the assembly line. What makes this set so desirable is the fact that there is so much you can do with it. The 170 piece count of Lego elements gives you more than enough design options and when you add this to other Studio sets the fun is unlimited!
The Vampire’s Crypt
More than just a dark dank place where Dracula rests his old bones – the crypt is a cool little scene that has a ton of replay value and more than a few different ways of being built. The largest section is the back wall that is made of cardboard and Lego pillars. Unlike other sets that took the cheap route in making these – this is rather sturdy and will stand up to a fair amount of handling. If you anticipate this getting a lot of use I suggest sealing it in a laminate pouch or inside sticky acetate pages. This will keep it from getting bent or warped and keep the colors vibrant.
The two separate structures join together to form the back portion of the crypt but don’t feel that you have to be limited to building this according to the provided instructions. Be sure to check the back and under portion of the box for some photos of alternative design concepts. Feel free to check out the Lego website too – they post photos of creations that Lego fans send in and it’s always a hot bed of ideas for making bigger and better scenes.
Dracula
I wondered how long it would be before Lego would finally take the ultimate step and create a Dracula figure. Impressive and rather frightening, Dracula is a very cool little figure that has a ton of features. His head peg is pasty white and features two facial images – one side with an evil scowl and the other a happier Dracula – almost sporting a smile. The cape he is wearing is non traditional – it is one solid piece of fabric but split into two sections. The first sort of encases his head and the other runs down his back like a typical Lego cape. One side is black and the other is red so you have two options to choose from when building him. The cape comes in a small white box so make sure you look for it before you start tossing things in the trash. Without a doubt one of the coolest Lego figures to come around in the past several years. I can’t wait for the brick brokers to start getting these in stock!
The Professor
A/K/A The Vampire Hunter
Much like Dracula, the professor features two face images. The first one is a very frightened one and the other is rather sinister – best suited for when he’s chasing Dracula around with the garlic. His stenciled light brown suit is impressive but I would have rather seen him in a white lab coat. His main objective is to hunt down Dracula and kill him off using the garlic as his only weapon. No stake? No holy water? Is this guy crazy?
Overall this character could have been a little more defined before it was released. It’s hard to make up your mind if he’s a good guy or just as bad as Dracula. The redeeming qualities are the double-sided face and stenciled suit, other than that – this character didn’t do much for me.
The Carriage Driver
A/K/A Igor
I refuse to believe that this is the real Igor. Through the entire booklet and accompanying comic he is depicted as Dracula’s sidekick rather than a servant. And maybe I’m wrong but wasn’t Igor associated with Frankenstein? Maybe I’ve gotten my horror movies mixed up again. This Lego figure is pretty cool even if he’s suffering from an identity crisis. He looks better suited for one of the Castle sets rather than this one – especially due to his stenciled clothing that is a little battered but still presentable. He has a small backpack and plastic hooded head cover – both of which add to the overall charm and appeal of collecting this figure. He has a staff that he carries with him but it’s never revealed if he uses this for walking or fighting.
The Cameraman
This guy is so cool he even had his own set dedicated to him [Camera Man, set 1357]. While this Lego figure is a little younger than the one in the Cameraman set, he comes with some very cool perks. The stenciled movie lot pass he wears around his neck is probably the first thing you’ll notice – followed by the ‘action bat’ image on his torso. His face has both stenciled glasses and a headset / microphone – both of which make him stand out from the other workers in the Studio series.
The Haunted Carriage
Under the careful eye of the driver, this vehicle is not only a way to transport Dracula’s coffin but a great little getaway vehicle when the townsfolk find out Dracula’s been hiding out there. This easy to build vehicle features two plastic “wood like” wheels – on one hand this gives it an authentic look but isn’t very functional. It still needs to be pulled by someone and since there is no horse provided within the set – it’s left to one of the Lego figures to pull the load. Since the cameraman is an obvious no-no that leaves the professor [the vampire hunter] to do the dirty work. Doesn’t make much sense does it?
To get a good look at the carriage check out the back page of the instruction booklet – this gives you a great view of it however there are no instructions provided to build this model. The standard cart that is provided within the set is only intended to move the coffin. To build the featured cart sown on the back page you will need to remove about 40 pieces from the crypt scene. Not exactly a cool move by Lego designers but an alternative option nonetheless.
Instructions
Don’t fall over when you see the instruction booklet for this set. It is big but it’s presented in a very clear format that almost guarantees that you won’t make any mistakes when constructing the Vampire’s Crypt. The booklet is 48 pages in length and walks you through the building process one section at a time. Since some of the characters and figures need a little more attention than others there are detailed illustrations on how to put them together. Think this is a waste of space? Try to figure out how to build the carriage driver on your own.
The first item built is the coffin. You might think it’s just a coffin, how hard can that be?. Well, you have to put the stickers on the sides of the coffin as well as just snapping the pieces together. You get a sheet of four stickers and I opted to only use two of the four and tuck the others away if they are needed in the future. If you find yourself with a ratty looking coffin and have no replacement stickers you can always go for a quick fix and pick up a gold metallic marker and go over the grooves of the handles.
The cart and back walls are the next to be assembled. While the walls might look like solid pieces, they are infact pressed cardboard with a reversible image on it. The pillars that hold the image card in place are very strong and are the same ones used in the Jack Stone series. When I saw that this was an image card rather than a stenciled piece of plastic I immediately though of the Harry Potter sets that featured the cardboard backgrounds – this one is a lot more sturdy and smaller – so once you have it built it blends in with the rest of the scene nicely.
The tower and accompanying staircase are featured next. The staircase is one element so you don’t have to play around with building it and having it fall apart from time to time. This might look like the hardest part of the set to build but it is in fact the easiest. The second level is next and it too is easy to build and has great step-by-step instructions. The last part of the booklet deals with how the different individual structures are connected and what it should look like if you’ve built it correctly.
Pages 40 through 45 feature a little mini comic book [no text] that carries you through an adventurous little scene involving Dracula, the carriage driver [also doubles as his minion] and how the professor crashes the party. The last three pages feature photos of alternative constructions of the set and the different faces of the professor and Dracula. While there aren’t instructions provided for these alternative set applications, with a little playing around I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out.
The Bottom Line
I won’t go so far as to say that this is my all time favorite Lego set because that certainly wouldn’t be fair to all the other sets and series that I’ve actively collected over the years. I will say this though – this ranks in the top ten for sure. Dracula, the cameraman, the coffin, the skeleton head and unlimited construction designs all helped to get this set on to my top ten list – and believe me – there’s plenty of competition.
Fans of the Halloween season, Lego Studio series and all things dark and creepy will more than likely fall in love with this set. The suggested retail price of $19.99 might seem a bit steep to some people but I can almost guarantee that once you open the box and take a look at all the cool stuff you get for your money – you’ll completely forget about the price. And as usual, some of these elements will make their way into the huge castle I am currently building – especially the bat sconces, stenciled walls, hooded carriage driver and red flames.
All in all this is a great set to add to a Lego lovers collection. The instructions are simple, clear and to the point and even though this is a larger set, it would be great for those just getting into the Lego series or those crossing over from the Duplo line. There are more than enough pieces to create several play scenes and personally I think this is a very impressive set for the suggested retail price.
Then again, I might be a little biased – Dracula is just too cute!
The Stats
Set Name: Vampire’s Crypt
Family Set: Lego Studio – Monster Series
Lego Set: 1381
Number of Pieces: 170
Age Recommendation: 7 - 12
Ease Of Assembly: Moderate
Time Of Assembly: 30 minutes
Cost: $19.99 [Amazon.com]
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2004 Freak369
Other Lego Studio reviews ...
Temple Escape
Stunt Man Catapult
Camera Man
Stunt Go Cart
Director's Copter
Air Boat
Studios Green Goblin Set
Werewolf Ambush
Vampire's Crypt
Studio Pirate Scene
Curse of the Pharaoh
Mini Copter
Pirate Treasure Surprise
Dino Head Attack
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $19.99
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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