Halloween Comes to Legoland - New Monster Fighters Sets!

I've been saying it a lot lately, but we Halloween Addicts live in pretty good times.

LEGO, maker of all things tiny, build-able and cool, has just come out with a new line called "Monster Fighters" that features everyone's favorite classic monsters in their respective environs for you to build, collect, mix, match and more.

Yes, it was only a scant year ago when I was talking about Lego's defunct Lego Studios line and the wonderful sets that were super-expensive (on eBay) but VERY desirable for Halloween Addicts (read all about it HERE).

At the time, it was the only way to get Frankenstein, The Mummy and even a giant Mad Scientist laboratory castle complete with a brain in a jar and tiny jack o' lanterns.

But, this is 2012!  Sure the Mayans have been trying to tell us it's the end of the world as we know it... but I'm following R.E.M. when I say 'I feel fine.' (I heard your collective groan and you can shut it).
IN 2012 WE GET THEM ALL BACK!  Bigger and better!

Check out that first pic in the post:  an ACTUAL HAUNTED HOUSE! 
Complete with dilapidated shutters, glow-in-the-dark GHOSTS (and we all know anything GITD is instantly awesome) and that particular set even comes with Dracula, his bride and zombie servants.  Amazing.

The Mad Scientist set, or it's official title "The Crazy Scientist and His Monster" has---well, um--- a Crazy Scientist complete with wavy gray hair (think Doc Brown from Back to the Future) and a re-sculpt of a Frankenstein-like monster.  There's even a LIGHT BRICK so you can make a little laser shoot out of the laser-cannon-Weather-Dominator-pew-pew-thing.  Ain't no laser beams in grandpa's Legos, nope.  But this one?  Yes.

I'm not going to spell out every set.  Know this:  they're amazing. 
Time for some Pros and Cons:

PROS:
-  The sets are new and readily available.  No more trolling eBay looking for those old Studios sets and paying over $500 for them.  Sure these are slightly expensive (Legos, man.  They're pricey.) but not nearly as much as when they're OOP and collectible.

- Box Art:  Featuring glowing letters in the "Monster" logo and fluttering bats through the sky, you'd better open these carfefully because you'll want the artwork as decoration when not built.

-  High value:  Each set comes with Monsters AND Fighters ("Monster Fighters"... get it?).  So you'll always have a battle to play.  Who are the Fighters?  There are great animated backstories available to watch HERE on the official Lego site.  You can also snag some Desktop Wallpapers, Mini-Games and even a downloadable Poster (see left) of each character. 

- Great Characters:  You get all the usual suspects:  Dracula, The Mummy, Frankenstein's monster, The Creature and a Werewolf.  But you also get a very Scream-like Ghost, the always-in-fashion zombies a bat-man (not superhero) a vampy-bride and a Mad Scientist.
The Fighters are super cool too and inspired by stage and screen heroes such as Van Helsing, Ash from Evil Dead, Snake Plissken and more.  Take a look at them on the site and you'll see where the winks are.  And they're loaded for bear with crossbows, blunderbusses and swords.

- Glow in the Dark ghosts.  'Nuff said.

CONS:
-  As with any Legos, they're a little pricey.  But can you really put a price on happiness?  (Lego didn't pay me to say that, but they should).

-  Sets are slightly smaller in scope.  The Vampyre's Castle is smaller than, say, a Harry Potter Hogworts castle set.  And the Crazy Scientist and his monster gets more of a "play area"-sized build as compared to the original Lego Studios Lab set.  But, hey, we get a Haunted House so I'm going to call it even.

-  If I was to be really nit-picky I'd want them to throw in two more specific pieces:  skeletons and jack o' lantern heads.  C'mon!  They had the jacks in the old Lego Studios!  Why drop 'em now?
And the skeletons absence is minor.  After all we get a whole skeletal GHOST TRAIN, so I'm kinda splitting hairs here.

So grab 'em this month (Amazon carousel is below) so you have something to build while watching AMC's Fear Fest or It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown for the 39th time. 
Wait it's your 40th? 
-tsk-  You're so industrious.

Special thanks to Shawn at Brandedinthe80s.com who tipped me off to these sets way back in February.