Alright, So a Sentient Hand Got a LEGO Apartment... And He's Apparently a Gamer?
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
This new LEGO set building Thing's apartment from Netflix's 'Wednesday' series isn't just a clever build; it's a surprising dive into the secret life of a sentient hand, revealing he's a hardcore gamer with a tiny Game Boy – blending unique playability with sharp display appeal.
Right, so you reckon you've seen it all in the world of LEGO, eh? Space stations, medieval castles, even hyper-realistic botanical gardens. But then something utterly bonkers yet utterly brilliant pops up on the radar, making you question the very fabric of brick-based reality. Mate, I'm talking about the new LEGO set that lets you build the apartment of *Thing* from Netflix's 'Wednesday' series.
Fair dinkum, my childhood was practically soundtracked by the snap of Addams Family bones during Thanksgiving breaks. These creepy, kooky characters have been a constant in my life, and while the new 'Wednesday' series had its... *moments* (some good, some a bit like a spell that fizzled), its greatest gift to us, bar none, is the elevation of Thing. That disembodied hand, the ultimate wingman, the unsung hero – he finally got the spotlight he deserved. And now, he's got a LEGO pad, which is just pure, unadulterated genius.
This 'Thing's Apartment' set, weighing in at a respectable 828 pieces, is a bit of a chameleon. One part gothic dollhouse, one part haunted Polly Pocket, and honestly, the engineering behind it is proper wizardry. It packs so much detail into a surprisingly compact, foldable trunk that you can display or, if you're like me, play with until your neighbours start wondering if you've finally gone off the deep end. What really stood out, as Jacob Kienlen over at IGN South Africa pointed out in their original piece (cheers for the intel, Jacob!), is how consistently *fun* the build is. No boring stretches, no tedious repetitions – it's like a perfectly paced dungeon crawl where every room reveals a new surprise.
The first thing you build? Thing himself, obviously. It's his gaff, innit? Assembling a tiny brick hand might sound a bit daft, but it's genuinely delightful. The end result is a perfectly articulated, five-fingered little friend who, let's be honest, is already my new favourite honorary LEGO minifigure. You can pose him, have him 'help' with the rest of the build – his presence just brings the whole thing to life. It's almost like casting an animation spell on inanimate objects.
But here's where it gets truly wild, and where my inner digital wizard started sparking with curiosity: Thing is apparently a gamer! Among the first accessories you construct is a tiny, blue brick-built Game Boy, complete with a Tetris sticker. I reckon my jaw hit the floor faster than a corrupted save file. So, all those times Thing was off-screen, pulling off heroic feats or just generally being awesome? He was probably grinding levels or trying to beat his high score. The sheer audacity, the sheer brilliance! And the fact that LEGO also dropped an official, fully buildable Game Boy set around the same time? Coincidence? Or a cleverly planted Easter egg by some mischievous designers who know exactly what happens if you combine pop culture and pixelated nostalgia? My money's on the latter, mate.
Alongside Thing's virtual console, you also put together a tiny nail polish bottle (purely for show, sadly, no actual painting) and an Enid minidoll. Now, I love Enid in the show, she's a breath of colourful air, but as Jacob observed, her mini-doll feels a bit like a spell that went slightly awry. She's a fraction of Thing's size and just doesn't quite seem to belong anywhere in his meticulously crafted bachelor pad. Fair play, I too would likely relegate her to the 'miscellaneous bits' drawer almost immediately. Though, the extra set of black fingernails for Thing? Now *that's* attention to detail.
Once the trinkets are done, you tackle the trunk base. This is, admittedly, the 'grind' part of the build – lots of big brown pieces snapping into place. But there's something incredibly satisfying about laying down that foundation, isn't there? It’s like clearing out the tutorial zone before the real adventure begins. And once that’s done, the real fun of furnishing Thing's humble abode kicks in.
I went into this build thinking the interior looked a bit chaotic, but assembling tiny furniture – a bed, a tub, a sink, a table – for a tiny apartment designed for a sentient hand? It’s pure, unadulterated joy. Each little detail feels like its own miniature diorama, and slotting them into the larger structure is immensely gratifying. Splitting the build across two days, as the original author did, sounds like a wizard’s trick to extend the enjoyment, making each session feel like a new chapter in an unfolding adventure.
My favourite part, though, the real magic trick of this set, is the folding mechanism. How do you cram all those details into something that compacts into a neat, display-ready trunk? It’s down to some clever design, especially the accessorised walls on the second floor – flaps that reveal flowers, pictures, and a clock when opened. Pure genius, even if my attempts at perfectly centred stickers were, shall we say, less than magical.
Finishing the exterior, snapping the top of the trunk into place, doesn't feel like the end. It's more like closing a well-read book, knowing you can open it up again and dive back into the story. This set genuinely strikes a brilliant balance: a cool-looking display piece for adults who appreciate a quirky bit of pop culture, and a thoroughly engaging playset for kids (the 10+ age rating feels spot on). As Jacob noted, at $89.99, it's not exactly pocket change, but for a meticulously crafted piece of pop culture wizardry, especially for the sheer quality of the Thing figure alone, it feels about right. It’s a delightful, slightly spooky kick-off to the Halloween season, and honestly, a testament to LEGO's continued knack for making the weird wonderful.
Original article by Jacob Kienlen for IGN South Africa.
Tags: LEGO, Gaming Culture, Wednesday Series, Addams Family, Collectible Toys
Original article: IGN South Africa