LEGO Hidden Side Newbury Haunted High School 70425 Building Kit, School Playset for 9+ Year Old Boys and Girls, Interactive Augmented Reality Playset (1,474 Pieces)

This is one of the best options to get a LEGO castle theme.... since those aren’t really available by Lego anymore! My 9 year old loves it!

This particular set is challenging, unique and different in that it is interactive with an app which is good and bad. The great thing about Legos is it gets the kids away from electronics, now they mesh the two. It is unique and the grandkids love it but not sure about the app. Its inevitable I guess.

This is a larger set so be prepared for that and starting earlier in the day so you can complete the same day you start. This is our first train set so this was a wonderful addition to our Lego collection. It has great details and love the hidden features give more interactive play. I’m not a huge fan of downloading an app and getting my kids on a device after spending time off a device to build this. But it does provide some extra enjoyment. I wouldn’t buy just fit AR piece. If you find my review helpful, please select the helpful button below. Thank you!

My kid absolutely loves all Hidden Side Lego items and this was no exception. He greatly enjoyed the railroad theme in this particular example.

After receiving the wrong set of legos... I returned it to get this set. After my son put it together which took hours, he really enjoyed it for 20 minutes.

This combines technology with the old fashioned hands-on building experience. Scary in a fun way. Not my favorite LEGO set, but they are all good.

My son loved this!

My son just turned 6 and he absolutely loves this LEGO series. After he builds them he loves using the hidden side app. Makes it a bit more interactive after he’s done building. This haunted house LEGO set is very cool. This is the best price I found anywhere.

GOOD: As usual LEGOs attention to detail really shines in the train set, which comes with the main train, 2 smaller cars, a rail and a station. Dont be fooled, each piece is intricately detailed and the even the station has both a front and back that the characters can interact with. Both the train and the station have the ability to transform into haunted versions of themselves - the transformation part is actually both surprising and satisfying. BAD: LEGO is clearly looking for a unique angle with AR app but as a parent, the point of toys like LEGOs is to exercise a childs creativity and take them away from playing on phones. While older children may have their own phones, younger children may feel need to immediately fiddle with the AR app right after they build the toy, which is a shame. As for the AR app itself, it wasnt as easy as a download, point and play and I found it a bit cumbersome to use. CONCLUSION: Unfortunately, it seems like LEGO built in the price of the AR experience into the price of the set - for $80, I would generally expect to get a little more from a typical LEGO set. That said, the train is beautiful and took my 10 year old nephew about an hour to put together, offered several more hour of play (without the AR app) and was a happy with the ability to change the train back and forth. If youre looking to purchase this, dont do it for the AR app but because you love LEGOs and want an awesome train set + station.

Directions were explicit-extra parts just incase- all parts are spot on & manufactured precisely. Lots of moving parts and pleased with overall kit