King Boo's Haunted Mansion

King Boo's Haunted Mansion was the moment the LEGO Super Mario line started to grow up for me. For years these expansion sets felt like accessories to the electronic figure, half-finished without the app buzzing and beeping. This one is different. It is a proper little haunted house, three storeys of purple gloom that hinges open into distinct sections so you can play with every room, then folds back up into a single closed building for display. The first time I swung it open and closed on those rounded shaft-and-clip joints, I grinned. It just feels like a toy that knows what it wants to be.

The interior is where the personality lives. There is a sofa that rises on a mechanism, a bookcase that swings to reveal a hidden key, and my favourite piece of nonsense, an armchair wired to a lever so you can seat a character, push down, and launch them straight out through the roof. King Boo himself sits on a little rocker, and twisting the Mario figure left and right sets him swaying until he tips over and shows the scan tile on his underside. It is silly and theatrical in exactly the way a haunted mansion should be.

Now for the honest bruises. The window lattices are the weak link, and builders have been vocal about it. They are inconsistently sized, so some click in firmly, some barely hold, and a few simply refuse to stay put and drop out the moment you move the set. For a model built around opening, closing and swooshing characters around, having pieces rain off is genuinely annoying. The 932-piece count also flatters it a little, because Super Mario relies on big hollow wall panels, so the build goes quicker and feels lighter in the hand than the number implies.

So who is this for? If you love Luigi's Mansion, or you have a Mario, Luigi or Peach figure already and want a themed course that actually earns its shelf space, this is an easy yes. It is aimed at ages eight and up and plays beautifully as a standalone haunted house even with the electronics switched off, which is the highest compliment I can pay a Super Mario set. I would steer away if you are a pure display builder chasing dense parts value or crisp engineering, because the loose windows and airy panel construction will nag at you. For everyone else, it is a warm, characterful little thing.

It retired at the end of 2025, so if the wobbling King Boo and the trapdoor armchair are calling to you, this is the point where you grab it before aftermarket prices settle in.