The Addams Aesthetic: Making A Thing Out of LEGO Wednesday Sets
It’s Wednesday! With October well on its way and Halloween just around the corner, what better time to cover sets from the new Wednesday season! So, first things first, or more accurately 76786 Morticia’s Cottage will be first, and 76785 Thing’s Apartment will be second. And yes, roll your eyes all you like, but I will be making this “Thing” thing a thing.
A Close Look at the Cottage
Let’s start with a high-level overview. 76786 Morticia’s Cottage retails for around US $110 and comes with 1,002 pieces. ”Business, business, business. Numbers... Is this working?” With those things out of the way, let’s take a closer look. “Yay!”
Instructions
Genuinely, these are a few of my favorite things. Morticia’s Cottage immediately struck me as similar to many winter village sets. It fits the familiar vibe of family seasonal décor. And if you’re anything like several of my LEGO friends with families, the way this set is split up is perfect for a small group build. So consider a fun fall evening with an instruction book or two per person, followed by some new episodes from Wednesday’s season 2!
Roses Have Stickers, and the Stickers Have Roses
The moment I opened these two sets and saw their amazing sticker sheets, I knew this was going to spark a future call to BrickLink action once their inventories are updated. Sheet 10114510/6565018 with stained glass roses, will certainly be scooped up like hot cakes. That said, I want to issue some sticker application warnings:
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Here’s the thing… once the beautiful rose stickers touch down upon the plastic glass, it’s done. I’ll say this again as a vinyl installer by day. The clear adhesive is very aggressive and if adjusted, it changes the clarity of the stained glass. Don’t try to pull it up and realign it. You simply must be perfect on the first attempt, or be forever saddened.
Lastly, my sticker sheets for Thing’s Apartment have not been die-cut deep enough, though this is an issue that LEGO is aware of and has corrected (and you can always call customer service for replacements). I suggest that if you come across a sticker that’s not fully free, pull out the negative space to help extricate the sticker. Otherwise, enjoy some gorgeous stickers!
Minidolls
This set includes four mini dolls. Wednesday and Morticia Addams, Bianca Barclay, and Lurch. Having a Wednesday figure in this set is fully expected. As for the other three, it makes a lot more sense after watching the new episodes.
In this season, these three characters have much more screen time and plot prominence, so it’s great to have them included in the limited set run that Wednesday has.
Looking at Lurch, the interesting thing is that he is significantly taller than all the other characters. To make this happen, LEGO gives us some mini-doll booster shoes! One thing to note is that these have low clutch power on the soul. This is for the obvious reason of wanting the piece to stay on the minidoll rather than wherever Lurch stood last. However, when looking at the piece by itself, I find this a slight detriment. I would love to see it as an Iron Builder element, though!
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The Addams Family Car
While it may be some kind of Pontiac Hearse built out on a Mercedes G Wagon, we’ll call it a black 6-stud wide car. And while we’ve seen the gargoyle in greater numbers before in 76781 Wednesday and Enid’s Dorm Room, it still remains the cutest thing, thus earning my second Actional BrickLink Award.)
And what’s a good car shot without demonstrating its occupancy capacity! They do indeed all fit, and Lurch even has a modified attachment point as our designated driver. Also note the cute ADD*4M5 family license plate!
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Marilyn Thornhill’s Morticia’s Cottage
As my given description implies, and minor spoilers do not scare me, this was formerly Marilyn’s Cottage. And once Catherine Zeta-Jones became President of Nevermore’s Gala Fundraising Committee, it was repurposed. So as close as we may have been to a highly pink flowery monstrosity reminiscent of Dolores Umbridge, it got slightly redecorated. Perhaps the Addamses are allergic to color or something, but the gothic cottage certainly fits the Halloween theme far better. I’m at least grateful they kept the rosy windows, which do turn out to be rather shadowed and lackluster when in the actual build.
As for function, the cottage swings open quite nicely with detachable hinges. I’m not sure where I stand on this. While with these, there is less stress on the joints, the closed house has some wiggle room which can take an extra tweak to line up perfectly. As for the back of the house, as one may suspect, it is somewhat dull. So, just remember put it on the mantle facing forward, obviously.
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Fancy Floors
The first floor features a kitchen, hearth room, and foyer. The kitchen naturally has an urn in it, and the piece holding the window cleverly shows the inside of the mold looking intentionally ornate. The hearth room has a very nicely upholstered red chair fit for a Gala President. The foyer features a simple grandfather clock, one of the stained glass windows, and lastly a cute phone. (“You rang?” - Lurch)
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The second floor features a “secret” room with a crystal ball, Wednesday’s bed, and a bathroom, naturally complete with black toilet and swords. The bed is built rather well, though if I were to be picky, I’d wish the quilt was printed 1x1s instead of a sticker on a 2x4 tile. Ultimately, the parts usage that takes the cake is none other than the cake frosting used as a red velvet tablecloth.
While in general, this set has a lower building skill threshold, they decided to spice things up a bit with the gable. I would be remiss if I didn’t show a quick exploded view of the most fun building technique in this set. The way they achieved the super steep angle on the roof is admirable and easy to execute. Roofs are often boring or hard to build, so this set does a lovely job of merging the two.
To conclude my look at 76786 Morticia’s Cottage, here are my residual thoughts of tangential frustration of ravens and red herrings. As frequently in your face and ultimately meaningless ravens were in Season 2, I for sure wanted to have more of the ominous or adorable little foul in this Wednesday set. (This is in spite of one genuinely considering trying to kill me today while 18 stories up on an exterior sticker install…)
Here’s The Thing…
More specifically, let’s now take a look at 76785 Thing’s Apartment, now selling for around US $90 and with 828 pieces.
First Things First
I think the word apartment in the title is aptly used. If described as a trunk or chest, one may be disappointed in its odd manner of sprawling open. This set is genuinely an unfolding inside out collage of Thing’s tricked out digs at Nevermore Academy.
If you planned to repurpose this build to make a functional box of your own, while you may find some useful brown pieces, it would likely require a full redesign. That said, LEGO has really captured the overall scheme of Thing’s things.
Appreciating the Little Things
We can pretty much thank Enid Sinclair for the attention to the colorful and kind details Thing has all around him, so including her mini-doll is a must, and the mini-scale version of Thing is a needed touch.
My wish was that we might’ve gotten some of Enid’s werewolf accessories and headwear, though the context isn’t really here. As for Thing himself, I will note that his clutch strength is not very strong.
The Next Best Thing
This set does a great job constructing a brick-built hand using some new 1x2 curved plates with a bar. Just as drawing hands often show a skill threshold for artists, building them comes with its own challenges.
Here, the designer has captured the iconic stance, some of the mobility, and the organic misalignment of fingers and knuckles. This is difficult to pull off, so I’ve only good things to say about it, including the clear stand that helps with stability.
Spicing Things Up
Looking at the accessories, I love the nail polish and the interchangeable fingernail tiles. I also enjoy seeing Enid’s touch in the “New Moon” label on the bottle. Which version of Thing do you prefer?
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One Thing At a Time
…the first being his ring. While needing to create these sets well in advance of the actual showing, it does bother me that Thing’s ring is not correct. As a collector of all LEGO shields, I miss the opportunity of having a printed Evermore ring emblem.
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Otherwise all of Thing’s other furnishings are great. From the bubble bath to cheery mood lighting, it really captures the essence of what we see in the show.
Four Fantastic Things
When not expanded and on display, all of Thing’s things fit neatly in the lid compartment. While clearly practical, I consider this area to be almost built like an attic of sorts, sticking with the apartment versus box theme.
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One of the aspects of this build that just made me the happiest was the handles. The way they naturally rest at a slight angle when the chest is closed and then fold up neatly when open is a quality design I wanted to point out.
Stranger Things
Some of the gripes I found with this set are the gaps on the edges and the various colorful SNOT pieces that show under the tile pieces (seen below in blue and yellow).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m usually grateful for LEGO including a range of colors on the unseen insides of sets. I like how this practice spreads out the color palette in a collection, but in this case, it left me with an unpolished finish. Perhaps it’s perfectly fine for most (or I can view it as Enid’s touch of personality shining through).
Thing 1 and Thing 2
A while back, I built a treasure chest for a LEGO Ideas D&D competition. BrickNerd then published an article overviewing a variety of LEGO treasure chests, and even included some instructions for a small build. So as this was certainly the main reason I was sent these sets to review, I would be remiss not to show them side by side as they certainly live in the same family.
That said, the direct comparison is a little difficult, as one acts as more of a functional box and the other a TV show display spread. Either way, you can check out that article here.
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Season 2, Episode 6
This is by far my favorite episode in both seasons. So, since I have access to the minidolls in both sets, I wanted to end on a final Easter egg photo of the two best roomies. You’ll just have to watch the show to find out what I mean.
All Things Considered
I really enjoyed Morticia’s Cottage and hope they expand the “Halloween Village” over time. Thing’s Apartment was also fun—while almost a cabinet of curiosities, I may end up just keeping Thing intact and repurposing the pieces to create a more basic treasure chest. Regardless, both of these sets are lots of fun and are a perfect pairing for the newest season of Wednesday. Enjoy!
76785 Thing’s Apartment and 76786 Morticia’s Cottage are available for around $90 - $110 each in the US, EU, CA, UK, and AU.
DISCLAIMER: These sets were provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
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