Review: LEGO 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas

August 17, 2024 | 9

Jay Ong

As we head into Halloween, LEGO Ideas is set to release one of the most anticipated sets of 2024, 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas, which launches on 3 September 2024 for LEGO Insiders (free to join), ahead of a 6 September general release.

Tim Burton’s quintessential Halloween/Christmas tale is brought to life in this 2,193-piece set which depicts 3 iconic locations in Halloween Town, as well as a whole cast of macabre characters from the movie.

At US$199.99 / AU$299.99 / £169.99 it’s one the pricier end of LEGO Ideas sets, but LEGO have done a superb job capturing so many beloved elements from The Nightmare Before Christmas in this charming build. With Nightmare Before Christmas being such a Halloween staple, this is definitely one of the must-have Halloween/Spooky-themed sets!

Check out the global pricing and regional product pages bwlow

• 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas [US] – US$199.99
• 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas [AUS] – AU$299.99
• 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas [UK] – £169.99
• 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas [EU] – €199.99
• 21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas [CA] – CAD$259.99

Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set over for review.

If you’re planning on purchasing or pre-ordering this set, please consider using the affiliate links in this post. I may earn a small commission with each purchase that helps support the work I do on the blog!

21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas Set Details

Here’s a look at the LEGO Nightmare Before Christmas instruction manuals. There are 3 separate instruction booklets, which translates to this being a Build Together set, as you can share the build with up to two other people concurrently, making this a fun holiday activity.

If you’re building solo, you begin with the Town Hall, followed by Jack Skellington’s House and ending with Spiral Hill, which is a lovely way to cap off the end of a delightful build.

Here’s a look at the contents of the manual, which features a great profile of the fan designer, Simon Scott aka tvrulesmylife, as well as words from the design team.

Interestingly, there aren’t any named designers featured which is quite odd. For what it’s worth, Cesar Soares and Laura Perron co-designed the set. Cesar is a name you might recognise from his extensive work on LEGO Star Wars, and Laura is a LEGO Ideas core designer, and both are huge fans of the movie.

Graphics and minifigures were designed by Djordje Djordjevic and Chris Bonven.

Here’s a look at the sticker sheet. Most of the key design details are stickers, but there are some interesting printed elements like the decorations on The Mayor.

LEGO The Nightmare Before Christmas Minifigures

Here’s a look at the LEGO The Nightmare Before Christmas minifigures! There are 6 minifigures in total, from left to right we have Lock, Barrel, Shock, Sally, Zero the Dog, Jack Skellington, Santa Claus and The Mayor.

When the set was officially released, many fans were aghast to discover that the main antagonist Oogie Boogie wasn’t included. Speaking to the design team, it was mostly a decision made by Disney (the IP Owner), and he also didn’t appear in any of the scenes that take place in Halloween Town which make up the build.

Plus, the fan designer didn’t include Oogie in his original submission, so there’s the official response for Oogie Boogie’s missing status in the set.

Here’s a look at the Jack Skellington and Sally minifigures. Jack and Sally first made their debut as LEGO Minifigures in the Disney Series 2 Minifigures series, but the 2024 version has Jack Skellington benefiting from the long Avatar legs and arms, giving him a much more accurate lankier look and he looks terrifyingly good.

Sally also looks great, with detailed printing across her torso, legs and head. Interestingly, I learned that the original moulds used in the Disney Series 2 moulds no longer exist, so LEGO had to re-create Jack’s bowtie element and Sally’s hair is also slightly different.

And sure enough, after comparing both bowties, there are very subtle differences, with a small notch in the neckhole, and the newer version having a slightly glossier finish.

And here’s a comparison of the new and old Sally minifigures. I kinda prefer the older version, although the newer Sally has a much nicer torso.

Jack on the other hand looks spectacular with the longer legs, giving the Pumpkin King the proportions that perfectly mirror his on-screen look. Shame they didn’t print on the side of the legs or arms!

But the real star of the set is Zero the Ghost Dog, who appears as a gorgeous new and highly detailed mould. This is a really fascinating mould, as his nose and ears are made of rubbery plastic, whereas his body is made of hard plastic.

Zero just looks perfect, and I have to say that this is one of the best LEGO Animals ever created, and fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas will definitely want to add him to their collection.

And now, we have two LEGO ghost dogs! Here’s Zero with Spencer, the Ghost Dog from now-defunct Hidden Side theme!

And here we have Lock, Shock and Barrel. I should’ve lined them up correctly, but instead I have them as Shock, Barrel and Lock, which doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily.

The trio of trick of treaters are tasked with kidnapping a certain Sandy Claws from Christmas Town, and they play a prominent role in the plot. The minifigures are just okay in my opinion – their designs are quite plain, and their Halloween masks are printed on regular minifigure heads, so they lack their distinct look, which might’ve been a little too hard to pull off, requiring custom moulded heads and also probably breaking a gazillion LEGO Minifigure design guidelines in the process, so we get their real faces instead.

Here’s a look at their alternate faces. The lack of Lock’s mask is probably the most jarring one, but hey, at least Barrel’s face and hair combo could be handy for people looking to create their very own Jared Leto Joker minifigure.

Next we have Sandy Claws Santa Claus, who gets abducted against his will and gets dragged to Halloween Town, nearly ruining Christmas in the process. The Santa Claus minifigure is surprisingly well-made, and it isn’t a typical LEGO Santa minifigure as he has a printed skirt piece, which will be handy to upgrade any of your other Santa minifigures.

I love his rosy cheeks, and how expressive he looks as well, but the real highlights are hidden underneath his beard, where he has bits of candy corn stuck to his top, and a lollipop tucked into his belt at the back.

And last but not least, we have The Mayor of Halloween Town, who is brick-built. His decorations are printed thankfully, and I think the LEGO design team have done his odd-shaped body justice here.

I don’t like his hat – the top part of it isn’t fastened to the brim tightly, so if you pinch it to pick it up, it comes off way too easily.

And here’s his alternate face which is printed on the back. I thought it was a shame to not include a turntable so he can swivel his head around like in the movie!

So a pretty solid lineup for a LEGO Nightmare Before Christmas set. Oogie Boogie would’ve been a brilliant inclusion, but outside of a hugely expensive custom-moulded bigfig, I don’t see how LEGO could do him justice, so I’m kinda okay that he isn’t in this.

Dr. Finkelstein would’ve also been a nice inclusion as Sally is in this, but again, as his lab isn’t included in the build, I can see why it would’ve been a stretch to include him.

The Build Experience and Complete Model

And here’s a look at the completed LEGO Nightmare Before Christmas set! The set comprises of three distinct sections that snap together to form one cohesive model depicting Halloween Town.

The build was quite interesting, starting with the Town Hall, and ending with Spiral Hill. It’s quite beginner-friendly, but at the same time, contains some really interesting and novel building ideas to keep veteran LEGO fans engaged throughout.

One fascinating build technique employed in Jack Skellington’s House is this very common curved wall technique, which you often find in LEGO MOCs (My Own Creations) by adult builders, so it’s great to see this technique employed so prominently in an official LEGO set!

Here’s a look at the Town Hall, home of the mayor. The building itself is quite small, but there are enough distinct features like the angled pillars to keep it recognisable enough.

Here’s the fountain which is just begging to be illuminated by third-party lighting solutions. I quite enjoyed the dragon build!

The best part of the Town Hall is the Halloween bunting, with is a brand new fabric piece which looks brilliant and really takes you to the movie. There’s the countdown to Xmas sign above, and the spiderweb clock which are all familiar visuals!

The buildings are quite small, so there’s very limited space for interiors. Here’s a look at the back which is exposed like a dollhouse.

The roof can be easily removed to reveal an attic filled with Christmas paraphernalia, as Halloween Town gears up for their very first Christmas. I love the skeleton head with the bow on top!

The Town Hall interiors are quite bare, with just a stage and pulpit for Jack being the most interesting element.

Hidden beneath, however is a fun little Easter Egg left by the designers! There’s a LEGO Skeleton (designer Laura Perron is a big fan of skeletons!) grasping a spoon, next to a large cauldron and a green bottle, and even a bowl next to it.

Could Sally finally have done it and killed Dr. Finkelstein?

Next up, we have Jack Skellington’s House, which has been scaled down dramatically from the original fan submission, losing many of the crazy angles. It still has a distinct look, and a crooked chimney, but there’s something off with this as it’s not as tall as it should be, and just looks a bit too squat and weird.

According to the LEGO Design Team, there were structural and stability issues, but Disney also insisted on a particular look for Jack’s house, which is how they ended up with this slightly compromised version.

At least it looks quite fun from the side.

These cast-iron cat sculptures that flank the gate are really nice, and made simple LEGO elements that work so particularly well together!

The creepy eyeball in the door is also here.

And I really like what the designers did with the technique used for the stairs!

The roof also has a fun technique, with a zig-zag toothy look for the tip where both sides meet.

Here’s a look at the back. On the ground floor is a small Christmas Tree.

And in the attic, more Christmas paraphernalia!

Jack’s study is quite cramped, but contains a bookshelf, wrapping paper and also this iconic drawing of him wearing a Santa Claus outfit, which he tasks Sally to sew!

And on the other end of the room, we have Jack’s blackboard where he attempts to figure out the meaning of Christmas. There’s a secret Easter Egg here, which is Simon Scott’s (the fan designer) birthday being part of the meaning of Christmas!

Here are all the separate parts of Jack’s house, which comes apart quite easily, so be careful and don’t knock it over!

And last but not least, we have Spiral Hill, where we have Jack and Sally hanging out against a massive full moon in the background. This is quite possibly the most iconic shot and location in the movie, as Jack rues his bored existence and yearns for something new and exciting to give his life meaning again.

The most interesting element is the moon, which is a large, perfectly circular piece of cardboard. It’s not quite a foil, as it’s quite thick and it’s a really fascinating element which will find plenty of creative use for LEGO builders for MOCs!

See what I mean by how thick it is?

While Simon’s original submission didn’t include the moon, the graphic and promotional image he uses does, so it’s amazing to see LEGO create this brand new element to adapt one of the most iconic shots from the movie, and capture it in LEGO form.

It’s just the perfect backdrop for Jack and Sally.

What I liked:

• A delightful rendition of The Nightmare Before Christmas in LEGO form
• Zero is perfect
• A great cast of characters, even if Oogie Boogie was ommited
• The perfect Halloween set

What I didn’t like:

• Halloween Town feels quite empty, and needs more minifigures to fill it up
• Some parts like the roof of the buildings are quite unstable as they don’t “lock in”
• Jack’s House feels a bit too small
• A little expensive

Final Thoughts

21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas is an amazingly fun, and satisfying LEGO set that does justice to Henry Selick’s movie, and Tim Burton’s concept and vision of the spooky Halloween Town.

It’s just a perfect Halloween (and maybe Christmas)-themed set that will delight fans of the movie, who either grew up watching it, or rediscovered it recently.

The build itself is welcoming, but not frustrating making for an engaging experience that is both suited for new and veteran LEGO builders.

The set features a really strong cast of LEGO Minifigures, with nearly every important character from the Halloween Town sections, with sharp printing, although Lock, Shock and Barrel are a little play without their masks.

The new Avatar legs being employed for Jack is also perfect, making this taller, lankier version the quintessential Jack Skellington minifigure.

Zero is undoubtedly the star of the set, and Nightmare Before Christmas fans will go wild over how well he’s translated into LEGO form.

The downsides are Jack’s small and weirdly proportioned house, and also how sparse the final model looks. While it looks great aesthetically, with an interesting silhouette, and also Spiral Hill and the Full Moon being such a strong visual element, the model does feel a little empty.

Halloween Town is depicted as a dense, bustling metropolis of horror and spooky creatures, so I think you’re almost invited to add zombies, vampires, werewolves and skeletons to fill it up. If only LEGO Zombies, Vampires and other scary characters were easy to come by in 2024..

This is a must-have for Nightmare Before Christmas fans, and those looking for a fun Halloween-themed LEGO set to accompany last year’s 21341 Hocus Pocus The Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage. The possibilities are limitless to expand Halloween Town, and also to Christmasfy it, but on its own, I think it’s a really great set that’s more than the sum of its parts.

While it is on the slightly expensive side of things, I think for what you get, and how big it looks as a display model, it’s fairly priced for all the fun new elements and Jack’s new long legs.

Final Score

4

Build

A decent and engaging build with some clever techniques sprinkled in, but accessible enough for new builders

4

Display Value

A superb display piece that’s begging to be expanded on

3

Real Value

A little pricey, but the final model is large and has tremendous display presence

3

Innovation

Not the most innovative set around, but some clever build techniques are made official

4

Keepability

A great set to keep and bust out every Halloween

Audience rating

How would you rate this set?

1 2 3 4 5

21351 The Nightmare Before Christmas will be released on 3 September 2024 for LEGO Insiders (free to join), ahead of a 6 September general release, exclusively from LEGO.com or your local LEGO Store.

What do you think of the LEGO Nightmare Before Christmas set?

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