Upon building this set there were many issues with it. 1.) for all the Minifigures once putting the heads on it was very difficult to get off. This made it really difficult to change their faces to the alternate one. Or in Kevin’s case add his scarf. 2.) set came with duplicates of pieces that shouldn’t have been there such as the bar piece for the fire place, an extra string for the paint can, and an extra beard for the last minifigure. 3.) didn’t like the amount of loose pieces such as the items on the shelf in buzz’s room and the chairs in the dining room. The legs were a pain to put on and getting the position right was also super difficult. In addition it was impossible to get them to stay standing for very long. This resulted in me having to stick them to the underside of the table. And lastly the trophy piece in the back of the van was just there not connected to anything. This caused it to keep moving around. 4.) there were several mistakes in the instruction booklet. For starters the page detailing what bags bags belonged to which part of set told me that bags 1 and 2 were for the van and then the house build started however the van had only required bag one. In addition there was one occasion where the piece mentioned in the instructor book was not in the pieces I have received. The piece showed as purple in the book but I only got a blue piece then on the following page it showed as blue.Thus making it very confusing. Also, there was an instance where the picture in the on one page was a completely different color. 5.) last but not least the pieces were more difficult to put together than previous Lego sets I had built. I had to really push down to get them to stick. Anyways just wanted to say that I worked super hard to be able to save up and afford this set and yet I found so many issues with it.

Lego got it absolutely right with this set. Firstly this movie is such a festive icon that no matter how the set turned out people would be pre ordering it. The amount of details and Easter eggs is probably the most I've every seen in THE LEGO lineups as well as some incredible play features. Now this review is definitely stating how much I recommend this set and under no circumstances is this saying this set is not worth it etc. but here is some advice

1. The play features are awesome and work great however don't push it! sure if you want to use the play features go for it that's a key part of the experience however don't keep tugging at them especially the shelves in buzzes room. the items fall off [I know this is their intention] and even with the opening front it is still very hard to get them back on and for me resulted in damaging the set and having to take a good chunk a part. For this reason I don't think this is suitable for children to play with but in fairness, this is a 18+ set and with a few jumper plates to modify the build slightly would solve this whole issue! To summarise, don't expect this to be a set children can play with easily!

2. This set doesn't really go with anything- now 259 pounds is pretty dam good for the set and although people may be hesitant its such a strong build and nice model to display after. However this doesn't change the fact that this set doesn't really go will anything else. Now I don't know what could be the solution here because if it was smaller and could fit into the winter village then it would lose so many details and get a lot of negativity. But if you made it modular it just would not work, some play features would be lost and the wintery feel with the snow wouldn't work with any other modular. This happens with lego ideas sets frequently, and you have just got to accept it, sure you could definitely include it in a city with modification and if your city was substantial enough but even if your city was pretty decently sized I still don't think it would work, your city has to be big with multiple different sections.And for the subject for winter village, it would be very hard to include such a set when it supposed to be set in a neighbourhood in America. I am a huge fan of winter village sets and I've tried to think of a way this set could be integrated and other than the fact It could just be a mansion not the Mcallisters family home, I can't really recommend any. If I am totally honest I think some people would rather have 3 winter village sets, or a modular building for the same price and be able to integrate it into their collection better.

Although, I have no regrets at all! Its a fantastic build, great for a festive display piece, great for any display and excellent if you love the movies! Honestly I don't think there is a straight answer if this set is worth it or not but just think about your budget, collection and the things mentioned above! If your still hesitant, I think you will enjoy it still, you can't go wrong with this and I'm being extremely picky. and to be honest THIS IS AN AMAZING SET GO FOR IT!

My son wrote the following: I think overall this set was amazing. It had lots of cool features and the booby traps were amazing. It was really fun to add a custom garage next to it with a basketball hoop. Since I made the garage I also made a patio for the family to sit when they wanted to have a party. I think how you can open the attic, zipline, heater and the iron are the coolest features I also added a tripping hazard even though the designers didnt add that to the set. The okay plumbing truck was fun to build and turned out very cute in the end. Also removing the floors was super cool, because you could play with it inside. The sled going down the stairs was also fun trying to get it through the door( so far I've only made it a couple times but without him it is alot easier.) So far I've had alot of fun playing with this set and can't wait to add a patio to it! Thank you for making this set! ( from shov

I have had nothing but terrible experiences buying Lego sets from Best Buy. I don't know what they do, but every set I have purchased has always been received with a damaged box. The Home Alone set takes the cake though. Best Buy didn't even put the set in a shipping box. They literally shipped it to me with a UPS label slapped on the Lego box. Suffice it to say, that box was pretty beat up by the time I received it. And to make matters worse, the UPS driver just literally set the set down on my porch covered in snow, not ringing the bell or anything. So by the time I got the notification the set was delivered, the bottom of the Lego box was soaked. This is just unacceptable, but the set is sold out everywhere else, so reached out to Best Buy about keeping the set if they could give me some kind of partial refund. They refused. So the set will be shipping back to Best Buy at their expense with no shipping box since none was received. This is just unacceptable and I will never be purchasing Lego from Best Buy again. Buyer beware.