75903 Haunted Lighthouse

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I have to say that I was a surprised when LEGO acquired the Scooby-Doo license earlier this year. Once the set images broke, they seemed hit and miss. I figured that the minifigs would be the big selling point and resigned myself to picking up a copy of the Mystery Machine at some point. Then my lovely wife brought me home a copy of the Haunted Lighthouse.

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Even in my hands, this set had a nice heft. The price per piece is a bit low for my taste, but once I laid out the contents, I felt a little better about it. This set has a nice subdued color scheme with lots of elements that will be useful for rocky terrain.

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Scooby and Shaggy are in the first bag. I thought is was a bit odd that they appeared in every set, but they have variations to keep them interesting. Shaggy’s torso is great, with two-tone arms and a print depicting his sea debris covered shirt. His face is just perfect, with that chin scruff. Scooby is a fine sculpt. I don’t know that he’ll have much use outside of Scooby-Doo themed builds, but he still looks great.

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Shaggy’s alternate face has a nervous smile. Scooby has a nice smirk that isn’t immediately obvious, but definitely shows the attention to detail in the sculpt and printing.

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The rest of the first bag builds a Mystery Machine themed speed boat. It’s a solid little build, though I do think it is a bit odd that the Mystery Gang has a garage of custom painted vehicles for their adventures. I really like the massive sandwich for Shaggy. That printed boat tile is amazing and I really hope to see it get used for something totally non sequitur in future builds.

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Bag 2 builds the lowest part of the rocky island. Though the construction is fairly simple, I really like the texture of the rockwork and the mixture of slopes and masonry bricks. A small signal post previews the visual style of the lighthouse itself.

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There is a map hidden under loose boards and a chest full of treasure in a sea cave. Interestingly, there are technic bricks that will provide a connection to the next section of the build.

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The first of the set’s monsters is in bag 3, a sea monster that is very reminiscent of one of the creatures from the Monster Hunter’s theme. Honestly, I don’t really like the dark green/medium lavender color scheme that much. The printing just doesn’t work for me, especially with the finer detail just disappearing into dark background.

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One of the cool features of the monsters in this theme is that they feature an ‘unmasked’ face. This lets you act out those icon scenes from the show where the monsters were always revealed to be some disgruntled geezer.

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The third bag builds the second half of the rocky island, which features a larger sea cave, technic connections (for attaching the other half), and more connection points where a rocky skull gets added.

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After connecting the last two builds, bag builds the first floor of the lighthouse and that cool skull door. A knob on the back side allows you to swing the skull aside so that the monster can some out and terrorize, while hiding a stash of diving supplies inside.

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In the final bag we get the last two figs, Daphne and the sea ghost. Daphne looks great with a bright new hair piece and iconic printing on her torso and legs. I really dig the ghost too (I’m sad that my photo barely shows the ratty pea coat belted with a rope. The ghost’s head glows in the dark and the hair piece has a great Zardoz vibe that appeals to my geek.

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Daphne’s scared face is pretty great. The unmasked ghost turns out to be a woman, which explains the belted coat (which is nicely printed on the back too).

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The last back finishes out the lighthouse. I really like the white and dark red striping. The rail at the top uses flex-tubing, which I’ve never actually encountered in a set before.

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The finished build is really satisfying. This is a handsome model with many, many play features and some great minifigs. This set should be a no-brainer for anyone who is a fan of the show. For other AFOLs, there is still a lot to be gained here. Not only is there a nice selection of colors and elements, there are some nice design elements that are worth emulating.

This set was a lot of fun to build and I heartily recommend it.

Keep building and enjoy!