The Ghostbusters Headquarters Firehouse is similar to sets that have been submitted to LEGO Ideas, including one by the original Ecto 1 designer Brent Waller. I can't understate how massive this set is! It actually took me something like 2 months to finish building this - mainly because of the need to take photos, and inability to dedicate the many, many hours needed to finish it!This set contains 4639 parts (with 143 spares!) - the third largest model ever released by LEGO after the Taj Mahal and Millenium Falcon UCS sets. Due to it's size, it comes in a very large box measuring 18.5 x 48.5 x 58 cm and weighing 6.5kg. In fact, there are two large boxes within the main box - presumably to help with the box strength and keep it rigid.The instruction booklet (at 418 pages) gets quite a workout, but survived intact. It's printed on black glossy paper like several LEGO Ideas sets have been, which I dislike. It collects fingerprints too easily, and it can be difficult to make out the proper colors of parts sometimes.
New part elements (except Minifig parts):There are 9 minifigs and 3 ghost figures. The four Ghostbuster minifigs have slightly different torso prints and some also have new hair parts.Where there are two minifigs in the photos below, the one on the left is the old minifig from the LEGO Ideas set 21108 Ghostbusters Ecto 1.With their backpacks on, they are too heavy and tip backwards. They can only stand up if you put the hose into their hands so it props them up. The backpacks themselves are identical to the ones in the LEGO Ideas Ecto 1 set.Louis actually get's two heads - one is double sided, the other has the chinstrap print and is meant to be used with a helmet.The three ghosts have printed faces, but they feel like they could scratch off easily. I'm not sure if that's because of the different plastic used for the transparency.There are several modules that are built separately and can be detached from the final building when completed - similar to sets from the Modular Buildings theme.
The whole thing is built on one and a half baseplates - a total of 48 x 32 studs in size.The ground floor has thick walls to support the buildings weight. Technic beams are used to help strengthen the sides that open up, and there are multiple hinges to help spread the weight when they do open up.The main front doors are nicely done, and contain a smaller minifig sized door that can open separately.And finally, the ground floor is complete! You can see the many hinges used to open up the sides of the building - they need to support quite a bit of weight later on. The whole thing feels very sturdy.The reception area is very open and spacious, but is not big enough to fit the LEGO Ideas Ecto 1 car inside. Maybe the upcoming Ecto 1 car will be smaller and fit better.Immediately things are a bit brighter on this floor compared to the dark feeling of the ground floor.There are many small items and pieces of furniture on this floor. They all have some great details and are fun to build.The chairs around the table are not actually connected to anything and will slide around as you manipulate the build.
A bit annoying - especially for photo taking.I started to take it easier with the photos about now, otherwise there would just be too many :)I presume all the yellow parts around the toilet is ghost ectoplasm or something. At least I hope so.I don't remember this room from the movie, but I guess even if it wasn't in there they had to put something on this floor.Again, so many impressive details here.I guess this is Egon's lab. I don't know why there are stickers on the wall for Vigo. But then again, I can't remember much about that terrible sequel.This module covers two floors and creates the fire-escape on the outside of the building that covers all three floors.There's not much to the roof, mainly the hinge joint.There are some transparent rods to connect the flying ghosts to random spots on the walls of the building. I must admit, the outside of the building looks pretty boring - but is a very faithful reproduction of the movie set.With so much attention to detail everywhere, it's a shame that the back of the building doesn't look very good.
The backs of panels and mismatched colors seem very out of place compared to everything else.The completed building opens up fairly easily and gives you easy access to all the googies inside. The small wall opens up 180 degrees while the larger section only opens 90 degrees.Since the walls are fairly heavy, it doesn't take too much opening/closing of them before the tiles on the ground floor start to get scratched up.At a cost of US $350, this is a very large and very expensive set. If you're a fan of modular buildings, you'll probably love this one too. Even though its technically not compatible with other modulars, it's not hard to just sit them next to each other and use the gap as a small alley-way.Being such a large set, there are so many little features and the designers have paid great attention to detail everywhere (except the back of the building!). There are doors and drawers everywhere, and plenty of things to play with.Disclaimer: This LEGO set was provided for review by The LEGO Group.
Anything said in this post is the opinion of the author and not The LEGO Group.The 4,634-piece set, modeled after the TriBeCa's Ladder 8 Firehouse, will go on sale in January. TriBeCa's famed Ladder 8 firehouse — used as the headquarters for the ghoul hunting troupe in the classic 1984 comedy — is being transformed into a 4,634-piece Lego set.This toy kit, however, isn't necessarily for kids, considering its hefty $350 price-tag.The company dropped the ghost-busting news just before Halloween, but the set won't be available until January 2016.Get ready to bust some ghosts! First look at set 75827 LEGO @Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters available Jan 2016! /TRbCYevLga— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) October 27, 2015 So what does $350 get you? All the multi-colored building blocks necessary for two floors of rooms, including a laboratory, ghost containment center and living quarters. You'll also get little figures of the original crew: Peter, Ray, Egon, Winston, and original movie characters Janine Melnitz, Dana Barrett, Louis Tully, the library ghost, and even a zombie ghost driver.