With the third series of Stranger Things ready to drop on July 4th 2019, there is still time to get hold of this set and put it together while catching up on previous episodes… here are my scattered thoughts and photographs.

Back in 1983, I was fourteen years old. Going to school, riding my bike around to catch up with friends, playing the occasional game of Dungeons and Dragons. But nothing happened to me in a way that would be as weird as the goings on in Hawkins, Indiana, at that time, during which the first series of Stranger Things was set.

Stranger Things…Really?

When I first heard rumours about this set, I was sceptical. Why would a LEGO set based on program with supernatural content be reaching the market months before the arrival of an in house range, also featuring a supernatural theme – Hidden Side. It felt a little like LEGO was trying to compete with its own market, until I realised that the two lines are aimed at very different demographics: Hidden Side is aimed at younger, digitally focussed children, and focusses on game play. The Upside Down, on the other hand, brings highlights from an adult focussed series: that exploiting the nostalgic feelings we have for a not so bygone era, a metaphorical and literal shadows and soundtrack heavy on analog synthesiser. For many of us, that might have merely been our own childhood.