71006 – LEGO Simpson’s House
Whether you love the Simpsons or hate the Simpson’s, there is no denying that the LEGO Group made a wise decision partnering with them to release a series of Simpson’s inspired sets. The set we are looking at today is the Simpson’s House, a costly but satisfying build that is a must for any LEGO fan, regardless of their appreciation for the Simpson’s.
I’m proof of this fact, as I’ve rarely ever watched the Simpson’s in my nearly 30 years on planet earth, but perhaps its my appreciation for the impact it has had on pop culture that made this set so appealing. For 229.99 in Canada – and 199.99 in the US – the number of bricks, combined with the number of exclusive and unique pieces to this set, make the price understandable, and completely worth it.
To build everything that comes in the box will take roughly 8-12 hours, at a leisurely, enjoyable pace. Half the fun of building the Simpson’s house is the appreciate for all the detail that went into this build. For the most part, each room in the house is a fairly good replica of the what you actually see in the show, with the only major omission being the refrigerator in the kitchen. I’m not 100% sure why this somewhat iconic appliance wasn’t recreate in LEGO form, but I assume there was some reason.
Either way, as you build, you just appreciate the time and effort it took to take a clean, 3D cartoon, and replicate it in LEGO form. From others who have purchased the set, and have claimed to be huge Simpson’s fans, there is a sense of nostalgia when building the couch, or when piecing together the pink car. Let’s jump into the more specific aspects of this build!
Minifigures
The LEGO Simpson’s house comes with 6 Minifugres: The Simpson’s family – Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie – and Ned Flanders. Each figure is somewhat larger than your average LEGO mini figure due to their abnormally large heads. If you purchased or have seen the LEGO Simpson’s Minifigure collection, you are getting similar characters here, with slightly different features (mostly facial).
Alongside a slew of somewhat hard-to-acquire minifigures, the set also comes with a number of accessories for the characters to use, including garage tools, a shovel for gardening, the BBQ and associated items, and of course, Bart’s skateboard.
The Build
Like we stated previously, it will take you a number of hours to complete this 2500+ piece build, and every minute of it is incredibly enjoyable. Each section of the house is build separately: the downstairs portions and the upstairs portions, with the exception being the removable rooms of Bart and Lisa Simpson.
Once the garage is complete, it is 100% detachable from the house without ruining the structural integrity of either. While we would have preferred if the garage door went inside the garage as they usually do in a modern home like that, it’s understandable from a design stand point why that wasn’t possible.
Although nothing is overly complicated, laying some of the ’tile’ within the house can quickly become tedious work, the least enjoyable moments of this build. As said previously, even as someone who wasn’t a huge Simpson’s fan, putting together all those iconic items from the show – TV, Car, etc. – was by far the best part, and knowing that when the house was complete, it would be a wonderful recreation of the actual house in the show.
Aesthetics
And that leads us to the biggest reason why this is a fantastic build: the quality and level of detail. When the house is finished, it would easily be recognizable to anyone – even without the minifigures on display – that this is the house from the Simpson’s TV show. Recreating things in LEGO form doesn’t always work out the way we want it too when making custom builds, but LEGO never seems to disappoint in this regard. Like all their licensed sets, this Simpson’s recreation is of the highest quality, from top to bottom.
Playability
With LEGO Sets, playability isn’t always the ultimate goal, but for many is fairly important. I think the LEGO Simpson’s House serves both the consumer who wants to display it, as well as the person who wants to play with it. When paired with the Series 1 and Series 2 of the LEGO Simpson’s Minifigure collections, it works really well.
The house is hinged which allows users to open it up and access all the rooms. Because of the size, many of the rooms are more for aesthetics than playing as it is hard to manipulate the figures once inside the home. For more playability, Bart and Lisa’s rooms are detachable from the upstairs section of the builds, which also (obviously) makes the roof removable too. The reminder of the second floor can also be lifted off the build to provide more playable access to the rooms below.
Conclusion
From top to bottom, this build is absolutely fantastic. Whether you are a collector who just wants to put the house on display, or someone who loves to interact with their sets, this is the perfect set for a great price. Anytime you can get your pieces for under 10 cents a piece, you are doing well. With lots of exclusive items to this set, and some hard to find pieces, this is great for hard core Simpson’s fans, and those that just enjoy a great LEGO Group set!
Year: 2014
Theme: Simpson’s
Item Number: 71006
Pieces: 2523
Price: 199.99 US / 229.99 CAN
We have linked off to “Friend of the Site” Danny Petsis YouTube channel where he and his son build and review the set. Please give him a follow for more great toy content! The video is below.
Article By Adam Roffel
Adam Roffel has only been writing about video games for a short time, but has honed his skills completing a Master's Degree. He loves Nintendo, and almost anything they have released...even Tomodachi Life.
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