Review: LEGO Wicked Welcome to Emerald City (75684)

LEGO Wicked Welcome to Emerald City 75684 New Release Review Brick Banter - 2024

LEGO Wicked Emerald City is green to go!

LEGO Wicked sets are on the cusp of release, and the movie is right around the corner. We have our hands on some sets with little to no movie context, so here we are! The Emerald City of the Wizard Oz finally gets an appearance in LEGO form, despite the Wicked Witch and her Monkeys already appearing in LEGO form.

Being the largest set of the wave has a high bar to hit, so lets take a look!

LEGO® Wicked Welcome to Emerald City (75684)
RRP AUD $169.99 – CA $129.99 – EUR €99.99 – UK £89.99 – USA $99.99
945 pieces
Available for pre-order now from LEGO.com and LEGO Stores ahead of the 1st October 2024 release.

The LEGO Emerald City

The Emerald City stands as a huge four story tall building, which is a great height for a playset with a flying character. The build, when looking at the top three floors from the outside, look elegant and stoic, vastly compared to the lower floor which is more akin to the LEGO Friends sets we see today.

Much like the story and the Wizard being a fraud, the lower floor almost looks like a gift shop for propaganda. There is a busy city street with foods, and apple tree, café and flowers. There is a mix of potions, a small hot air balloon reference, library and all sorts of treats to find. But once we move past these parts, we see the Wizard’s metalling copper face, that is used for talking to the people. At first, I thought the build was too brick like and clunky, but then re-watching the trailer revealed this is incredibly spot on. The face is framed by curtains and has a nice stained glass picture in the same room too.

The build, overall, was okay, but there was something that really felt kind of odd about the whole thing. It wasn’t until I took a step back and looked at the set in a large frame that I realised that there wasn’t actually a lot of *substance*. Remove the food, and the set actually sits incredibly bare. I’m not sure what the resources looked like that LEGO had, but yeah, just a vibe.

LEGO Wicked Minifigures

The set comes with five figures; Glinda, Elphaba, the Wizard, Madame Morrible and Fiyero.

Glinda appears in her ‘Good Witch’ outfit, complete with crown, wand and elegant dress. The figure here looks amazing, is a stellar standout of the set. I do wish she had a bigger smile on her face, but otherwise this great! And a new crown element too!

Elphaba appears in her stereotypical ‘Witch’ outfit, which is the biggest standout of the set. Elphaba introduces us to a new hat/hair mould, with hair similar to the cheaper sets of this wave. She also has a cloak that extends further than her fig, which makes great for flying around on her broomstick; which is unfortunately a negative. Elphaba can’t fly around on her broom due to the limitations of the mini-dolls themselves, meaning she simply holds on and flies. Bummer.

As for the Wizard, Jeff Goldblum, the figure comes with both hat and hair accessories to dress them up however you like. His torso is an elegant print, but I’m equally enthralled by the colours of the legs and their mouldings too. Solid figure.

Madame Morrible is probably one of the most fantastical themed minidolls I’ve ever seen. With her dress giving off witch/fortune teller vibes, I’m glad to see this in the flesh. I’m also a big fan of her new hair mould, making three new ones for this set.

The last figure is Fiyero, or as I nicknamed him; Chad. Chad is very stereotypically an alpha-male esque character, and is relatively bland. I’m sure there is more to this character, but the figure is kinda… eh.

Verdict

The set stands grandiose and tall, containing the most sought-after figures of the wave by far. For kids that want the set, this is a great choice, and they are sure to enjoy acting out scenes from the film.

But for adult collectors who love Wicked, the $169.99(AUD) price tag might stave a few people away. It’s not as aesthetically pleasing to have on display as other sets, and I know that I would personally make some tweaks.

I have mixed feelings. This is a large set for kids – not the adult collectors. Keep that in mind when making a purchase.