LEGO Stranger Things: The Creel House’s minifigures have received a mixed response from the community, but with them all in hand they really are better than you think.
LEGO Icons 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House revisits five previous characters from the Netflix show while bringing us debuts for eight other supporting cast members, villains and relative newcomers. But the initial response to their reveal yesterday has been pretty mixed, thanks in part to the reuse of existing parts for several minifigures, but also because the minifigures in 75810 The Upside Down just felt much more iconic.
Having had chance to put the set together for myself, though – and now having watched Season 5 Volume I of Stranger Things – I do feel these minifigures are a little better than most people are giving them credit for (even if they’re not perfect). I’ll go through them here one at a time to take a closer look, but it’s worth pointing out at the top that these outfits are just not yet as iconic as Will’s primary-colour jacket, Eleven’s blonde wig, Dustin’s red, blue and white cap and Lucas’s bandana. Keep that in mind…
Spoilers follow for the first four episodes of Season 5 of Stranger Things.
Will
While there are some obviously spoilery characters in the mix in 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House, one that doesn’t appear at first glance to give much away is Will. The LEGO designers have pretty faithfully recreated his blue jacket with red collar and tan arms, and with few identifying features on his face – no glasses, beard or the like – his regular print is pretty reasonable.
But it’s the alternate face print where this minifigure really comes to life. When I first got this set in hand (in advance of the show’s Volume I premiere) I just assumed the white eyes represented Will being possessed as in previous seasons. Instead, they’re presumably a nod to the climax of the fourth episode, when Will taps into the hivemind to control the Demogorgons rather than simply spy on them.
For those of us who remember the completely random Spider-Man: No Way Home sets Disney foisted on us in fear of spoilers, Will represents a refreshing level of accuracy for a LEGO set that’s debuting side-by-side with its source material. He could definitely have benefited from a better hairpiece, though – you’ll find that’s a running theme with these minifigures – as this generic ‘do doesn’t really scream ‘already unfashionable bowl cut’.
Mike
On the other hand, I could probably have gotten on board with Max’s hairstyle if not for LEGO Fortnite showing us what else might have been possible with a little more budget for a dedicated element. There is the old argument though that LEGO minifigures, as much as LEGO sets, should work within the confines of an existing parts palette rather than turning to purpose-built pieces on every occasion.
You can probably describe Mike in the show as ‘scrawny, gangly, dark hair’, which doesn’t give the LEGO design team a lot to go on in terms of defining features. LEGO minifigures all operate at the same proportions, after all. His torso is basically the most unique piece here as a result, although I’m not entirely sure why the arms are a different colour to the rest of the jacket. And try as I might, I couldn’t really see that jumper underneath at any point during the first four episodes. Let me know in the comments if I missed it.
On balance, Mike is one of the least interesting minifigures in 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House, but the same could be said of 75810 The Upside Down too. And it’s not too surprising: he’s compelling on-screen, but thanks to his character rather than his design. That doesn’t translate very effectively to LEGO.
Lucas
Lucas is one of only two minifigures in the entire new Stranger Things line-up to get a new hairpiece, and you have to say he needed it: nothing in the current portfolio would have come close to matching his style. The more puzzling choice here (at least from a Season 5 Volume I perspective) is his torso, because at no point during those first four episodes does he wear anything other than his baseball jacket.
Presumably he’s going to don a WSQK sweatshirt in the remaining episodes, because if not it’s a shame we didn’t get that baseball jacket design – even if the radio station logo is a little more obviously Stranger Things-specific.
Dustin
While I had all my fingers crossed for an ‘Eddie’s last stand’ gift-with-purchase for 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House, Dustin is the consolation prize thanks to his Hellfire Club t-shirt. A ripped version with a beaten and bloodied face print would maybe have been a little more accurate to how Dustin spends most of Volume I, while trenchcoat printing wouldn’t have been uncalled for either.
But I’m glad the LEGO Group went this route because the results are obviously more versatile – a custom Eddie is in arm’s reach, if we forgo his denim jacket too – and Dustin’s character design otherwise lends itself well to a minifigure. The hat/hair combo from 2019’s 75810 The Upside Down returns recoloured and makes him just as recognisable as he was back then.
Eleven
The only dual-moulded legs in 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House belong to Eleven, used here to represent her red shorts over her grey leggings. There’s a hint of her blue bandana on her torso – maybe an alternate face print or even the blue LEGO bandana piece could have communicated it even better? – but otherwise this is a fine recreation of what’s a relatively plain costume for Eleven in Season 5 of Stranger Things.
What’s she holding, though? I can’t figure it out. Something related to Volume II or the finale, maybe? Answers on the back of a postcard…
Steve
Now we’re into brand new character territory, starting with Steve Harrington, who – along with Nancy and Jonathan – was one of the biggest omissions from 75810 The Upside Down. And if anything, this minifigure only makes me wish even more that we’d had him back then, because chances are he’d have received a dedicated hairpiece rather than reusing this one that debuted in 2021’s Queer Eye set.
It’s an okay match, I guess, but my wife pointed out while I was building this set that it looks more like Conan O’Brien and now I can’t unsee that. He’s otherwise on point as a minifigure from Season 5, but none of that really matters if you don’t get Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington’s defining feature just right, and this one doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Nancy
Nancy also borrows an existing hairpiece but it’s one much better-suited to the character, and props to the LEGO design team for turning to a relatively unexpected source in Gabby’s Dollhouse. She’s pretty recognisable from top to bottom – like many of these minifigures she only has plain legs, but then she’s only wearing jeans, so it’s easy to excuse – although her torso feels caught between her sweater vest and pink outer jacket, which she wears most of the time in Volume I and is only represented here in the arms.
It's tough to think this one might have been any better in 2019, though, so I’m pretty happy with LEGO Nancy Wheeler as she comes in 2026.
Jonathan
As for Jonathan? Well, it depends how familiar you are with the rest of the LEGO portfolio. If you’ve built any The Lord of the Rings sets of late, you’re probably thinking that he looks like he’s just walked straight out of the Shire. But from the existing portfolio of LEGO hairstyles this is pretty close to what we see in Season 5, in form and even colour, although a shade darker would have done fine too.
Otherwise, Jonathan’s fairly generic outfit has translated to a fairly generic minifigure. The real sore spot here is actually his face, because Charlie Heaton has distinctive features that aren’t really represented in this generic, reused and single-sided head.
Robin
The rest of the minifigures in 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House have only joined the show since Season 1, so this is really their first opportunity to appear in a LEGO set. And (spoiler alert for the rest of this review) they’re actually all pretty recognisable to different degrees, starting with Robin, who makes strong use of existing elements for her head and hair alongside a new torso.
She obviously benefits from slightly more distinctive character design than some of her contemporaries, especially in Season 5, but it’s only to the minifigure’s credit. The headphone accessories that hint at her role at WSQK are a nice touch, too, while she also has probably the best accessory of any minifigure here: the red brick she uses to break into the Creel House in Season 4.
Max
One of four minifigures the LEGO Group didn’t show us at Fan Media Days this year because they were too spoilery, Max’s design here is obviously a big giveaway for where her character ends up in Season 5 (i.e. not just bed-bound, so to speak). And it’s again credit to Netflix for giving the LEGO Group full access to the events of the show well in advance that she’s so accurate to her appearance in Vecna’s mind prison.
She again makes good use of an existing hairpiece in lieu of a brand new one that would probably only have been slightly different, and her dual face prints are a nice match for Sadie Sink’s expressions. Coupled with her new torso print and dark blue jeans, she’s instantly recognisable as Mad Max.
Holly
Season 5’s major spoiler character appears in 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House in her major spoiler outfit, donned only after Vecna whisks her away to the Upside Down. And it’s pretty much one-to-one for the show, in such a way that it was really fun watching Holly piece the outfit together after I’d built the set. During the first episode I was wondering how the LEGO designers could have got it so wrong, and by the time the credits rolled on the first volume I was fully on board.
Holly of course benefits from additional elements like her fabric cape and plastic skirt, but the torso design is worth shouting about too – and her custom hairpiece really fits the bill from a LEGO perspective. Veteran Stranger Things fans will obviously care more about veteran characters, but don’t overlook how well Holly is realised here.
Mr. Whatsit
Vecna’s alter ego, who lures children to his house with the promise of saving them from monsters (I guess maybe that would have worked in the ‘80s?), makes a welcome appearance in 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House with a design about which I really have no complaints. If there’s a tiny nitpick it’s that his separate hat – which I forgot to photograph for this feature, whoops – isn’t a dual-moulded hat and hairpiece, but so it goes.
Vecna
Vecna was easily the most controversial of all the minifigures in 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House when images of the set first surfaced, partly because of the colour – he’s very much not dark red but dark tan (as LEGO colours go) in Season 4 – but also because the LEGO Group has tried to communicate his design through printing alone, where moulded elements might have helped.
Having now watched Season 5, I’m pretty neutral on the colour (and to be fair, the lighting definitely makes him look red in his mind lair, which is where he appears in this set). But given the upgrades to his design since Season 4, I do think some shoulder armour (of sorts) would have done wonders to help beef him up. At the very least it would have been nice to get a matching claw for his right hand, although it’s fun that you can pop this one on Mr. Whatsit for that moment when he’s chasing Max through his mind prison.
There’s maybe also an argument to be made that the level of printing here is too much, because you really do have to get up close with it to decode the minifigure’s face (the specific contours around his mouth get a little lost). It’s certainly not the best minifigure in 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House, and given he offered the most potential of them all from a design perspective, that’s a bit of a shame.
LEGO Stranger Things 2026 minifigures: the verdict
On the whole, I’m pretty happy with these minifigures. Getting them all in a single set (even if it’s a 2,593-piece set that costs £249.99 / $299.99 / €279.99) is also nothing to sniff at, especially when the LEGO Group could easily have left a few on the cutting room floor as it did back in 2019.
The only real omissions are Joyce and Hopper – both included in the day-one gift-with-purchase, although using mostly existing pieces anyway – and a Demogorgon or two. Vecna’s foot soldiers never appear near Creel House (at least so far) but definitely play a big role in Season 5, so it would have been nice to see them return here as they’re pretty pricey on the aftermarket.
You’ll be able to check out all these LEGO Stranger Things minifigures in person when
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