‘No Oogie Boogie?!’: Fans focus on what’s missing from LEGO Ideas Nightmare Before Christmas

14/08/202414/08/2024 Rachael Davies 529 Views 0 Comments

One day on from the reveal of LEGO Ideas 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas, here’s what fans have to say about the set.

The LEGO Group has officially unveiled 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas, coming out on September 3 for LEGO Insiders and on September 6 for everyone else, well ahead of Halloween. The 2,193-piece LEGO Ideas set packs a lot into the box, featuring connectible models of three Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas locations – Spiral Hill, Jack Skellington’s house and the Halloween Town Hall – and eight beloved characters.

Over 30 years on from the film’s original release, there’s still a huge fanbase for the iconic holiday movie – and that means there’s sure to be some strong opinions – both good and bad – about the upcoming LEGO Ideas set.

Where is Oogie Boogie?

First and foremost, fans of the movie have spotted at least one omission: Oogie Boogie. The villainous bag of bugs is always trying to take over Halloween Town but seemingly won’t be making an appearance in the LEGO Ideas set.

For some people, this is a dealbreaker, with one person writing on reddit: “A lack of Oogie Boogie and the price makes this a Day 1 WANT but not a Day 1 Buy for me. I’ll have to see if I can get it for much cheaper before I own it.”

However, there’s also speculation that Oogie Boogie could still be on his way, either in his own set (perhaps more unlikely as 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas falls under the LEGO Ideas theme, rather than a theme of its own) or as a GWP.

“Oogie Boogie as a GWP, I’m calling it now.” speculated one person on reddit, earning themselves dozens of upvotes from fellow hopeful fans.

Some minifigures are better than others

In a cast of eight characters, some as buildable character and some as minifigures, some have gone down better than others. The general consensus is that Jack Skellington and Zero are among the best – but others leave something to be desired.

“It looks like they put all their effort into Zero and then completely forgot the Mayor exists until the last minute,” one redditor complained in the comments of a discussion post.

There’s something missing from Lock, Stock, and Barrel

Specifically, it looks like Lock, Stock, and Barrel are missing a key detail, according to one eagle-eyed commenter on reddit.

“Some nice details and a decent execution, but where are Lock, Stock, and Barrel’s masks?” they wrote. “Unless I’m missing something it’s just their plain faces which you see what, once during the whole movie when they fight amongst themselves? Feels like a swing and a miss for those three.”

Indeed, the trio of minifigures looks remarkably plain next to some of the other characters, with largely plain printing and few accessories between them. Of course, some of that is authentic to how they look on screen but including a new hair piece or some other way to distinguish the gang could have added to their overall impression.

Long-legged Jack goes down a treat

It’s not all bad though, with a pretty universally positive reaction to the main man himself, Jack Skellington, sparking reactions like this one across the board: “LESSS GOOO JACK HAS THE LONGER LEGS.”

The detailed printing on the face, torso, and legs, as well as the bat bowtie, make this minifigure a slam dunk, even if you’re not a huge fan of the original movie.

The price feels too steep for some

With any new LEGO set nowadays, there’s always a discussion around price. In the case of 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas, priced at £169.99 / $199.99 / €199.99, many feel it’s too steep.

“I know it’s from the original submission, but I’d much rather have got just the hill and moon with Jack, Sally and Zero for maybe £60/70,” reasoned one redditor. “Even the designer’s original version that got rejected would’ve been great. That was the hill and the house and someone else also did that and had theirs rejected. Just those two for £120 might’ve been good.”

“Somehow this does not feel worth its price at all. It looks so much cheaper,” agreed another.

Even those who love the set from top to bottom are complaining about the price, with one quipping on Instagram: “What’s this? What’s this? I’ll tell you what it is, it’s another rad set I want but am just too broke to get.” However, it’s not stopping some people, with another Instagram commenter writing: “This set will absolutely be mine not a question of cost a question of when.”

21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas will be available for LEGO Insiders from September 3, before going on wider sale through LEGO.com and LEGO Stores from September 6, retailing at £169.99 / $199.99 / €199.99.

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Rachael Davies

I write about all the very best fandoms – and that means LEGO, of course. Spending so much time looking at and talking about LEGO sets is dangerous for my bank balance, but the LEGO shelves are thriving. You win some, you lose some.