I am finally reviewing the last of the Harry Potter sets from 2019. This one is #75948-1: Hogwarts Clock Tower. It was released on 1 July 2019 for $89.99 in the US. With 922 pieces, it works out to be $0.098 per piece. This isn’t too bad, but I obviously would have preferred a lower price. I have not seen this one go on sale yet, but I did get it for double VIP points before Christmas so I can’t complain.
This set is based on the the fourth book/movie in the Harry Potter series titled “The Goblet of Fire.” The set itself portrays the Tri-Wizard’s Tournament Yule Ball. Onto the review…
The box front shows the front of the set assembled with the minifigures by tables and a Christmas tree. The back shows the internals of the set and some of the features to include the moving clock and how you can set up the minifigures to “dance” on one of the set pieces.
The set contains six parts bags and 2 light gray octagon pieces (not sure of the official name). The instructions are sealed with the stickers. The instructions are just instructions and no extra details or anything. The stickers are one sheet with multiple stickers and one with a larger sticker (ugh!).
The first bag builds a part of the ball room area. In seeing the pieces ahead of time, I was curious how it would all get assembled. In the end it turns out that there are System gear pieces versus Technic and they are linked together. You spin the light gray octagon around and the white circles rotate. Then you can position the minifigures so it looks like they are dancing. Definitely an interesting way to do this, but I’m not sure it adds much to the set. The set is listed as ages 9+ so maybe the younger crowd enjoys setting up the minifigures so they can dance.
There are 2 tables for drinks. The legs are icicle pieces and they have some fun “ice” decorations on top.
This bag also contains Viktor Krum and Madame Maxine, but I’ll go over the minifigures later.
The second bag adds a tower which can be attached using Technic pins to the ball area. The tower has 2 floors. The bottom floor is the bathroom where the students have to bathe to hear what the egg is telling them. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just watch the movie. The large mermaid sticker goes here and you get the fun of having a large sticker and trying not to get air bubbles in it. I was successful, but it took a few tries.
The upper level is Dumbledore’s office. The phoenix and sorting hat are stickers on the wall. The sword of Gryffindor is above him and the pensieve is there too (had to look up what a “pensieve” was). In terms of the actual locations in the castle, I’m not sure if they are all correct, but then again I am not sure of the floor plan of the actual castle so who knows? I think they were looking for the chance to re-create as many scenes as they could from the book/movie with this set.
Fleur Delacour and Albus Dumbledore come in this bag, but more on minifigures later.
The third bag starts the build of the actual clock tower. This bag builds the first floor of the clock tower. I think it is the room where students can put their names into the cup to be chosen for the Triwizard’s Challenge. I’m not actually sure and I’m not certain why the treasure chest is there. Either way, it serves as the base to the tower.
Ron Weasley and Cedric Diggory come in this bag.
Bag 4 builds another room. This one appears to be the defense against the dark arts classroom. I am a fan of how the external part of the clock tower looks. I’m not sure how accurate it is compared to the movies, but the design is simple, yet it looks like it is part of the castle. The build is mainly stacking bricks, but the designers get the detail across with some difference pieces and color changes.
The inside has details from the movie to include the chalk board with a sticker that tells from things from the book/movie, the glass where Mad Eye put something inside, and then there are a few items along the wall as well as one chair for a student.
Hermione Granger is in this bag even though I didn’t include the minifigure in the picture.
The fifth bag almost finishes the clock tower and it includes the Harry Potter minifigure. The outside includes the clock face which is a cool printed piece. The clock hands are pieces from the standard LEGO tool kit (and you get the extra tools for other MOCs). The roof slopes here or at least you complete part of the slope.
Inside this floor is the hospital or clinic or whatever they call it. There are 2 beds for patients. This is the first time where I’ve seen LEGO use jumper plates so the minifigures can actually lay on the bed.
Also, based on watching the movies, the clock is near the hospital area so this is somewhat accurate to have these two sections nearby each other.
Much like #75954-1: Hogwarts Great Hall, this set has a decent number of minifigures which makes this set a must have for fans of the Harry Potter minifigures. All of them are in their Yule Ball attire which I’m not sure has been done before. Does anyone know?
I’ll use the order of my picture below to go through them:
Cedric Diggory - This minifigure last appeared in the Harry Potter collectible minifigure set (#71022). Not bad considering he only makes an appearance in one book.
Fleur Delacour - This character is also in #75958-1: Beauxbatons' Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts™ so the second time she’s appeared in a 2019 set.
Viktor Krum - I think this is the first time since the return of Harry Potter in 2018 that we’ve seen this minifigure.
Madame Maxine - This character is also in #75958-1: Beauxbatons' Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts™ Hermione Granger - I’ve lost count of how many of the big 3 we’ve seen. Hermione has on a dress and instead of giving her a slope bottom to show the dress it is just printed on. There is a printed 1x2 brick with a 1x2 plate below it. I’m not sure why they didn’t go for a smaller slope piece like Fleur has on, but okay.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are in a lot of sets. Now you get them in their Ball garb.
Albus Dumbledore - Dumbledore is in his Ball garb as well. What I found interesting is the head of this minifigure has his glasses on one side and no glasses on the other.
Overall, a good collection of minifigures in my opinion. Everyone has a wand too.
The sixth bag completes the build. The roof and the last turrets on top of the clock tower are built. You also get a small Christmas tree for the ball room. Additionally, a second, smaller clock is added to the main clock face.
Overall, the build is not too complicated, but it does have some interesting techniques like the gears used for the dancing area. There are some decent pieces for other MOCs although not a wide range of colors. The designers crammed a lot of play features into a small area that were probably spread out across the castle, but I get why they did that. It probably doesn’t match the actual castle from the movie, but again it is designed for play and not as a Creator Expert type set. In terms of price, the set is about average in terms of price per brick and I have yet to see it go on sale. Like #75954-1: Hogwarts Great Hall, this set has not been on the active sale list on places like Amazon.com. If you are looking to pick it up, look for other opportunities like discounts at specific retailers or promotions from LEGO itself.
Like most of the other Harry Potter sets, if you’re not a fan of the series, I don’t recommend picking up this set. The build wasn’t that great, but fans get some great minifigures and another piece of the book/movie series.
What are your thoughts on this one? Just another play set or a well designed version of Hogwarts?
Happy building!
