Lego Home Alone review: "Guaranteed to put a huge smile on the face of fans"

Just like the film itself, Lego Home Alone brings up a lot of emotions. Because the movie is such an iconic Christmas watch (it's one of my favourites, as luck would have it), I was beyond excited to see Kevin McCallister and his house of tricks finally immortalised in brick form. For fans like myself, this particular creation has been a long time coming.

But while I was excited, I was also apprehensive. Would this version of 671 Lincoln Avenue live up to the beautiful Christmassy building from the '90s movie? And would it be the amazing model my mind had conjured? 'Yes' is the answer to both. The Lego Home Alone house is absolutely packed with movie references, all of which are guaranteed to put a huge smile on the face of fans. But despite being one of the best Lego sets on balance, this tribute isn't without its flaws.

Lego Home Alone: Features

Lego Home Alone is by no means cheap, but it offers good value for money when you consider the amount of Lego and level of detail included; it has 24 bags of bricks to build, and nearly 4,000 pieces overall. That's comparable to other big-box sets like the Lego Haunted House or Lego Ghostbusters ECTO-1, both in terms of complexity and cost. 

The set also includes five minifigures (Kevin, Kate McCallister, old man Marley, and the Wet Bandits, Harry and Marv), all of which have identifiable outfits and facial expressions. I love the use of medium legs to depict Harry's height, and the bright pink iron print detailed on one side of Marv's face – classic. And that's just the start; the kit comes with the Wet Bandits' Oh-Kay Plumbing & Heating van, along with a miniature version of Kevin's treehouse.

How easy is it to build?

• Takes roughly 8 hours
• Easy, modular build
• Uses lots of stickers

Lego suggests a new way to approach this kit's 3,900+ pieces, saying fans could use it like an advent calendar and build a bag every day in the lead up to Christmas. However if, like me, you bought this set because you love Home Alone and/or the '90s, you definitely won't have the patience or desire to construct just one bag every 24 hours.

As soon as I began, I found myself speeding along excitedly in anticipation of which scene of the film I would be recreating next. That said, I did take a few breaks, and the whole build took approximately eight hours over a few days. 

As modular builds go, this was super easy, which is good because it meant all of my concentration and focus went where it should be: the interior of this Lego Home Alone set. But it's not just easy to build: it's fun. Lots of fun. That's because hidden Easter eggs and movie references pop up constantly.

Sadly, the windows are where the fun starts to wain slightly. There are so many transparent panels to pop. Thankfully, these are spread throughout the build.  

It's also worth noting that a big part of this build is stickers. Creator sets in 2022 have been trying to move away from stickers, but the Lego Home Alone set relies heavily on them to showcase major references from the movie. There are tons here – 37, to be exact. I personally really enjoy stickers being part of Lego kits, yet I know that's not the case for many. If you're one of them, your love for Home Alone will need to be strong to overlook the sheer quantity of - sometimes very small and fiddly -stickers here.

Design

• Front panels open to reveal interior
• Crammed with movie references
• Fun, interactive moving parts
• Incredible attention to detail

The Lego Home Alone house is a modular design that places the majority of its focus, as you would expect in this case, on the interior. That makes it a really involved, fun set to create. However, it left me a bit disappointed to think once the build was finished, all of that amazing detail would be hidden inside. But as the set progressed, I realised this house has an ingenious design that allows the front walls to swing open so you can enjoy every room in all its glory. 

The ground floor layout is pretty accurate, and features multiple movie references. In the living room, the party to trick the Wet Bandits Kevin's not alone is on, with a Lego cardboard cutout of Michael Jordan on a train. This is one of a few moving parts in the set, with a knob on the outside of the house that can be twisted to get the train, and Michael, around the track. 

It's here you'll find some of the aforementioned Easter eggs, including a Lego Home Alone set beneath the Christmas tree, baubles underneath the window (ready for Marv to step on barefoot), and skates to represent the toy cars Kevin uses to trip the Wet Bandits as they go to chase him up the stairs.

Also downstairs you'll find a fan in the dining room ready to cover Harry in feathers, along with a plate of macaroni cheese that Kevin abandons when the grandfather clock, also featured, strikes nine o'clock.

At the back of the Lego Home Alone set on the lower ground is the basement and kitchen, the latter of which is my favourite room of the kit. The designers have lovingly recreated this area, making sure to add every reference a fan would want. There's a TV showing Angels with Even Filthier Souls, Little Nero's pizza boxes with lovely cheese pizzas (just for Kevin), and a flame thrower by the back door, just waiting to set Harry's hat alight. The kitchen also features a movement function, which allows you to drop an iron down the laundry shoot, straight into Marv's brilliant iron-printed face. 

Speaking of the basement, the furnace is a delightful addition. It looks identical, so much so I almost expected it to say 'HELLO KERRIE' (a girl can wish, right?) when building it. The light-up element of this item is also a lovely touch.

The upper floor has been modified to suit the set, naturally, and some rooms have been omitted (otherwise the Lego Home Alone kit would be enormous). But it doesn't take anything away from the model, and I think the designers made the right choice in featuring Buzz, Kevin's parents' room, and the bathroom where we see Kevin's famous aftershave, hands-on-face scream scene.

Buzz's room in particular is a brilliant replica. To be precise, it features stacking shelves that collapse when pulling a knob on the outside of the house. It's a cool touch.

Similar tips of the hat can be found elsewhere in the Lego Home Alone house. Go across to the other side of the building and you'll pass a large tin of paint waiting to be swung down the stairs before arriving at Kevin's parent's room. There's subtle nods to the movie everywhere you look, in other words, including the alarm clock stuck on midnight. The ensuite is also lots of fun, featuring Kevin's stolen (hopefully American Dental association approved) toothbrush. 

There's so much more, but I don't want to spoil it all. I can't, however, not mention the oversized spider included in this set, which you can use to recreate what is arguably one of the best and funniest scenes ever made.

Should you buy the Lego Home Alone house?

If you're interested in the Lego Home Alone house, you're either a huge fan of the films and/or modular builds. If you fall within the former of those two, you will love everything about this set. Every one of the 24 bags has something in it that sparks a memory of Kevin and co that you can't help but smile at.

Yes, I was apprehensive about this Lego Home Alone house and whether it would do the film (not to mention the memories I have of it) justice. But the designers have done a truly amazing job at squeezing so many of the movie's most notable scenes and booby traps into just under 4,000 Lego pieces. 

So, if you love Lego and Home Alone, it's hard to fault this product. In my opinion, it's worth the money not only for the amount of Lego you get but the joy and nostalgia the build brings. 

Now all I need is Kevin's uncle Rob and aunt Georgette's townhouse on New York's 95th Street, or maybe Duncan's Toy Chest, to complete the set...

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested the Lego Home Alone set

I spent roughly eight hours constructing the Lego Home Alone house over a number of days with my family. I paid particular attention to how easy the process was in terms of complexity, the quality of instructions provided, how it compared to previous kits, and - most importantly - whether the process was actually fun.

For more information on our process, take a look at how we test products.

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