Who You Gonna Call? [LEGO Review]

Only one word can describe the Ghostbusters Firehouse: EPIC. This is by far the largest and most detailed LEGO set that I have ever purchased, and it really is a must have for any brick city. I originally purchased it with the intent of using it as an actual firehouse and just ignoring the Ghostbusters component. But, upon building it, I have changed my mind. It is so much fun as is that I will probably end up buying the ECTO-1 to go with it.

Set Summary

Name: Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters
Set #: 75827
Cost: $399.99 CAD
Brick Count: 4634
Minifigure Count: 9
Other Figs: 3 ghosts (including Slimer)
Manuals: 1 (419 pages)
Release Date: January 2, 2016

Summary Review: 90%

Value: 100% (excellent value at $0.09 per brick)
Build: 99% (loads of detail, but the back wall is ugly)
Minifigs: 60% (generally good Minifigs, but not many compared to brick count)
Enjoyment: 100% (so much detail, easy play access, no modification needed)

Review:

Value: 100%
When buying this set, you are essentially buying LEGO in bulk. You are paying about $0.09 per brick, which is well below the average of $0.11. It is also far better than the average cost per brick associated with licensed sets ($0.14 per brick). You can read more about where these average costs come from by checking out my review of the summer 2016 catalogue. You get a lot of tiles and windows as well, which I am always on the lookout for. So, in addition to being an amazing and fun set, it comes with a lot of bricks at low cost to boost your collection if you are not planning to keep it built. There is no question, this set is well worth the cost. 5/5 for sure.

Build: 99%
In terms of the actual design of the set, the exterior is marvellously detailed. The only thing that I do not like about the exterior is the back wall. It does not match the look of the rest of the building, and seems a little sloppy. I really love the brick work around the windows, and the masonry around the edge of the roof. The air conditioning units on some of the windows are a nice touch, and the traffic light is awesome.

The inside is fully furnished with cool mini-builds. You get a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, a recreational space (with billiard table), a lab area, a dark room, and the main lobby area/garage that can actually fit the ECTO-1 set (sold separately). Check out the pictures below to see some of the details. Overall, this set gets a build score of 9.9/10. I can’t give it full marks because the back wall is so ugly, but there are so many other wonderful things about the design of this set that I don’t feel right taking off a full mark for just that.

Minifigures:

If you count only the actual Minifigures that LEGO advertises with this set, there is 1 Minifig for every 515 pieces. The set also comes with three smaller ghosts though. So, with the ghosts, the count goes up to 1 figure for every 386 pieces. While this is more or less in line with the large modular Creator sets, it is low compared to other sets in general. This unfortunately earns this set 2/5 for Minifigure to brick ratio.

In terms of the actual Minifigs themselves, I like them all. Let’s begin with the Ghostbusters. Each has a unique, double-sided face and hairpiece. They each have individualized printing on their front torsos as well. The back of the torso is the same on all of them, and none of them have printing on their legs. Each Ghostbuster comes with a walkie-talkie, and a buildable proton pack. In addition, Venkman and Zeddemore have ghost traps, and Spengler has a Psycho-Kinetic Energy meter. Out of all of the buildable accessories, the PKE-meter is my least favorite. While it is recognizable, it lacks the detail and creativity of the other pieces. The proton packs are awesome. Since there is no printing on the legs, these Minifigs lose some points. But, they are still very nicely done, and I give each one 8/10.

Up next, we have Janine and Tully. Both of them have a double-sided face, as well as front and rear printing on the torso. Neither one has printed legs, and Janine has no accessories. Tully actually comes with an alternate head in addition to his double-sided face, and his trademark colander helmet. I give Janine 6/10 due to the lack of printing on the legs, and the lack of accessories. Tully earns himself 8/10.

The last of the actual Minifigures are Dana, the Zombie Driver, and the Library Ghost. Of these figs, only the Zombie driver does not have a double-sided face, but he does have printing on the back of his head. Each one has front and back printing on the torso, and Dana has front and back printing on her legs as well. The Library Ghost does not have legs, but rather the bottom “ghost” piece that we saw with Minifigures Series 14 (only now it is painted pink). Dana and the Zombie Driver have no accessories. The Library Ghost comes with alternate hair and a book. Dana gets 8/10, losing some points for having no accessories. The Zombie driver gets 6/10, also for lack of accessories, and for generic legs. The Library Ghost gets full points, 10/10.

There are also the three smaller ghosts. Slimer is great. He is not a traditional Minifigure, but I love him. He has nice detailing, and moveable arms. The other two ghosts I could have done without, there is nothing special about them. I do like the transparent Minifigure heads and support rods they come with, those are always handy. I will rate Slimer as a 10/10, but I will ignore the other two ghosts because they are essentially glorified bricks.

Collectively, the Minifigs in this set earn a score of 80% for design. Taking into account the Minifigure to brick ratio, the overall score for the Minifigures in this set is 60%.

Entertainment: 100%
With the sheer number of pieces and thickness of the manual, this is a long build. It will entertain you for hours, if not days. I tend to build my sets in front of a camera so that I can make stop–motion videos of the build. Doing this, it took me several days to actually complete this set. The more building time I get from a set, the better. The cost per minute of building works out to about $0.27 per minute, which is pretty good. So, for entertainment value, I give this set 5/5.

The building has a really cool design that makes it really play/access friendly. One entire wall is built on hinges so you can just open the whole thing up to get inside. Alternatively, it is also modular, so you can drop it right in the middle of your city and access the interior by removing floors or sections of floors. I am always a big fan of modular designs because you can place them anywhere without having to worry about leaving space for swinging parts, or having an open face that ruins the flow of a city street. This set combines the hinged wall and modular set-ups flawlessly. This set will remain as it is in my LEGO city, and gets a full 5/5 for enjoyment.

Overall: 90%

This set has easily risen to the top of my favorites list. While the price tag may seem inhibitive at first, the set itself is actually a great value ($0.09 per brick). It provides hours of building entertainment, and is impressively detailed. The Minifigures are well done and fun. The set looks great when completed and fits well in any cityscape. The only downsides are the low Minifigure to brick ratio, and the lack of an aesthetically pleasing design on the back wall. This is a great set that I highly recommend.

Click here to watch the review and build on YouTube.

Don’t forget your FREE Slimer colouring page!

Until next time,

-T.N.B.