Combining the 2021 Harry Potter sets

In case you haven’t read the set reviews I did for the 2021 Harry Potter LEGO sets, they are built to connect together with Technic pins and studs.

By the way, you can see all of the previous reviews of the sets that link together at the following places:

#40452-1: HOGWARTS™ GRYFFINDOR DORMS

#76386-1: HOGWARTS™: POLYJUICE POTION MISTAKE

#76387-1: HOGWARTS™ FLUFFY ENCOUNTER

#76389-1: HOGWARTS CHAMBER OF SECRETS

#76395-1: HOGWARTS: FIRST FLYING LESSON

Okay, now that you’ve dug into the rest of my opinions, here is my picture of the front of the combination of those sets. Please note that there are no instructions on how to do this. I connected the sets how I wanted to, but you could do it however you wanted.

Overall, I think the front side looks good. It could be a fun item to display on a longer shelf or a good start to building your own full up, minifigure scale Hogwarts. I’m not sure the #76395-1: HOGWARTS: FIRST FLYING LESSON fits well there. I’d have to go back to the movies and see where they place it. I also think it would have been cool to add corners to the building so it’s not just one flat side of a building. To be fair, it wouldn’t be too hard to put corners into the buildings and connect them.

A big criticism on this side is that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is on the outside of the building. I the movie it is clearly somewhere underneath the castle in a cave. As it is constructed, it is just below a floor that has a roof section. If you were to update these sets, I would look to adjust the placement of the entrance to the Chamber so it is more internal to the castle.

Here is what the inside looks like. You can place them how you like, but I tired to make them match up as realistic as possible. So I was able to put #76387-1: HOGWARTS™ FLUFFY ENCOUNTER so that the entrance to the location where the sorcerer’s stone is hidden can be placed appropriately. Also, I was able to properly line up the entrance to the #76389-1: HOGWARTS CHAMBER OF SECRETS using the #76386-1: HOGWARTS™: POLYJUICE POTION MISTAKE to have the entrance be the bathroom.

There are a few that I wasn’t exactly sure where to place, but I tried my best. In the end it probably doesn’t really matter where they are, but you can try and line them up appropriately.

Overall, I can’t complain about the inside, but it does open up the opportunity to make your own adjustments with your own pieces. I haven’t tried this yet, but can see a few ways to add to the set up so it is more three dimensional and/or accurate.

So should you get all the sets to connect them together? It probably depends on how big of a Harry Potter fan you are (and how much funding you have). If you are looking to make a bigger MOC, it’s a good start to the Potter world and you’ll get a bunch of accessories like minifigures and other items. However, you’ll have to do some work on the internal sections and some of the roof parts aren’t exactly common. For those who just want a play set, this definitely fits the bill.

Any other thoughts on this one?

Happy building!

Set Review: #76392-1: Hogwarts Wizard's Chess - Harry Potter

It’s finally the last of the 2021 Harry Potter sets… or at least the last one I’m going to review. I decided not to purchase/review the Harry Potter Moments sets. This one is #76392-1: Hogwarts Wizard’s Chess. It was released on 18 April 2021 in the US. It retails for $59.99 and contains 876 pieces. This works out to $0.068 per piece. This is a pretty decent ratio, but a lot of the pieces are pretty small so that could be part of the reason why it looks so good. The set depicts the part of the first book/movie where our three main characters have to play Wizard’s Chess in order to continue on the path to reach the sorcerer’s stone.

The front of the box shows the full set with all of the minifigures, chess pieces, and the playing board. It has the standard Harry Potter set branding along with the 20th anniversary logos. The back shows a closer detail on each of the playing pieces and highlights the random collectible tiles that you get.

The set comes with eight parts bags. They are numbered one through five. You get two unnumbered bags as well with some larger pieces. Then the instruction booklet is separate. It is not in a bag or anything, but mine wasn’t jammed in too badly.

The first set of bags builds the board. I took a picture of one of the earlier steps so you could see the structure underneath. The picture just shows some of the substructure. You add some more pieces in the areas between the long plates so it is pretty sturdy and the board doesn’t bow in. The board gets covered up with alternating pairs of black and white tiles. Along the outside you attach some small pieces to re-create the torches seen in the movie.

This set of bags comes with the Harry Potter minifigure and then the 20th anniversary golden minifigure for Professor Snape.

The second bag builds all of the black pawn pieces. If you’re not into repetitive building, then you won’t like building eight of these followed by eight of the white ones. I didn’t think it was that bad as it’s a pretty simple build. I like the helmets and how they used the LEGO miner helmets only put them on in reverse.

The third bag builds the remainder of the black chess pieces and the Hermione minifigure. I didn’t go back to watch the movie and see how well the minifigure scaled versions match the movie versions, but they seem pretty accurate. If you are familiar with chess, you can tell what most of the pieces are without having to look them up.

The fourth bag builds the white pawns and the Ron minifigure. It’s the same design as the black ones, as you’d expect, but only using white pieces.

The final bag builds the remainder of the white playing pieces. No differences in design here.

Here’s the final set with all of the pieces lined up. Not only can you re-create the scene from the movie, you can also play a real game of chess. I guess you can dismember your pieces after your opponent knocks them out too. Within the LEGO system, there is also a lot of potential to modify this board. You could use different minifigure heads on the different pieces, add in different colors to the playing pieces, mix up the board so it is different colored tiles, I’m curious to see if anyone customizes their board.

If you’re a Harry Potter fan or collector of these sets, you’ll probably want to grab one of these. Hopefully they go on sale at some point.

And now for a break on Harry Potter sets…

Happy building!

Set Review - #76389-1: Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets - Harry Potter

Believe it or not, this isn’t the last of the Harry Potter 2021 sets. If I don’t hurry up, all of the 2022 sets will be out. This one is #76389-1: Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets. It was released on 5 June 2021 in the US. It contains 1,176 pieces and retails for $129.99. That works out to $0.111 per piece. There are 11 minifigures in this set which makes it a decent, though expensive minifigure pack. It also is one of the centerpiece sets if you plan to connect all of the other 2021 sets together.

Nothing extraordinary about the box. The front shows the set, has the Harry Potter logos, shows all the minifigures, and it is still the 20th anniversary of LEGO creating Harry Potter sets. The back goes into a bunch of detail on various sections, shows the back side once you connect everything, and shows how you can connect the sections.

The set contents are nine numbered parts bags, two 8x16 tan plates, and then the instructions and stickers come wrapped in plastic.

Here’s a closer look at the sticker sheet. There are a bunch of them!

The first bag builds the top of the astronomy tower which was just done in 2020’s #75969-1: Hogwart’s Astronomy Tower. This one is just the very top of the tower and a telescope.

You also get the basilisk in this build. I’m not sure if it is to scale or not, but for a 9+ play set, it works.

There are three minifigures in bag 1. You get Harry with the Sword of Gryffindor, Colin Creevey (the photographer, you build a camera for him too), and Professor Sinisitra. I had no idea who the last one was. A quick Google search says she was an astronomy professor.

Lastly, you get a brick separator in this bag.

The second build is a section of building which appears to be part of Professor Gilderoy’s classroom based on the sticker you attach. There are two desks and a small table. The table has a minifigure printed skull on it. There’s also a candelabra. The outside seems to fit the architectural style of Hogwart’s and there’s a shield with the school crest.

This set contains Luna Lovegood which was somewhat surprising to me as I don’t remember her being in that movie. If she was, she didn’t have a big part. You also get two Pixies and then a book.

Bag three builds Professor Gilderoy’s office and of course comes with his minifigure. His office is covered in pictures of him, has a minifigure head with a wig, and then pictures for him to autograph. The stickers are a bit of a pain, but that’s just my opinion.

The fourth bag builds the Great Hall which is not to be confused with 2018’s #75954-1 Hogwart’s Great Hall. It’s definitely a much scaled down version of the Great Hall, but considering the spacing available, it works.

This bag comes with two minifigures, Dumbledore and Justin Finch. You also get a small green snake.

Bag five adds the roof over the great hall. The inside adds in the Hogwarts crest on a banner. The minifigure in this bag is a glow in the dark Nearly Headless Nick.

Bag six has the initial room to the chamber of secrets where they slide down from the girl’s bathroom. Conveniently, you can purchase #76389-1: Hogwarts: Polyjuice Potion Mistake and open the entrance in the bathroom to slide your minifigures down.

This bag comes with a minifigure for Ginny Weasley and your very own copy of Tom Riddle’s diary. The sticker you put in it includes the holes Harry adds with the basilisk fang so you can re-create the scene at the end of the book/movie (hopefully not a spoiler by now).

The seventh bag builds the actual entrance to the chamber of secrets. The door they designed does a pretty good job at capturing what the actual door looked like in the movie. You can open and close it as well which is a nice feature. The only thing I’m not sure about is the steeple above the entrance. I thought the chamber of secrets was underground. I’m not sure why they have a roof section above it.

No minifigures here, but you do get a fun owl to add to your LEGO owl collection.

The eighth bag builds the main structural feature where the basilisk lives in the chamber of secrets. With the help of a sticker, the designers did a good job capturing the weird face carved into the rock wall.

You also get a Tom Riddle minifigure in this bag.

The ninth and final bag finishes up the set. You finish building the chamber and some of the accessories. The mouth of the “stone” face opens up so you can have the basilisk come out. Then there are two small snake heads on stands that can be removed and placed along the… I’m not sure what it’s called… in the movie there’s a long pathway leading up to the place where the basilisk comes out.

The opposing side of the build has two torches and some stone structures made of BURPs. We have no way of knowing whether the chamber is right next to the outside of the castle or buried deep within underneath the castle so maybe this is how it was.

The last minifigure is the 20th anniversary golden minifigure of the set. You get Voldemort. He’s not the most exciting one to get, but I understand how he fits in.

Here are the 11 minifigures, the basilisk, two books, to Pixies, a snake, and a camera.

Here’s what the final set looks like when you connect it all together. As a standalone, it’s not too bad. In a future post, I’ll show what it looks like to have all of the 2021 sets connected together. The front side looks pretty cool and is definitely a good start if you’re looking to make a full up, minifigure scaled Hogwarts on your own. The back side doesn’t quite make sense without the other sets such as the entrance to the chamber not having the bathroom above it.

This set is definitely a play set or minifigure collector’s set. I don’t recommend this one for adult fans unless you are super into the Harry Potter theme. At $130, it’s pretty expensive considering what you get. I haven’t seen it on sale yet. We’ll have to see if that happens as it approaches the end of its retail life.

Happy building!

Set Review - #76388-1: Hogsmeade Village Visit - Harry Potter

Yes, still more 2021 Harry Potter sets. This one is #76388-1: Hogsmeade Village Visit. It was released on 5 June 2021 in the US and retails for $79.99. It contains 851 pieces which works out to $0.094 per piece. I have yet to see this one on sale, but maybe I missed an opportunity or two. Perhaps as it nears retirement?

This set brings something a little different to the theme if you’ve been sick of building Hogwarts modular builds this year. Hogsmeade is a separate area and these two buildings are a fun addition to any Harry Potter layout as well as potentially in a Winter Village themed layout.

Nothing overly exciting about the box. Set on the front and some details on the back. It highlights that you get 7 minifigures so no complaints there.

The set contains six parts bags (each numbered), two sticker sheets, and two instruction booklets. Each booklet goes with one of the buildings as well as the stickers.

Here’s a closer view of the stickers. There are quite a few, but I managed to get them attached okay. I would have preferred to have the bars printed on the window like in #75978-1: Diagon Alley, but I can’t complain considering the price point of the set.

Bag one starts Honey Dukes. I don’t actually recall seeing this store in any of the movies so I will have to go back at some point and pay close attention to spot it. While the façade has a dreary brown shade, inside is very bright with lots of colors and parts that make up the various sugary items for sale. It definitely helps to liven up the traditional, brown/tan Harry Potter builds.

You get yet another Harry Potter minifigure in this set along with the golden Ron minifigure.

The second bag finishes the front of the building to include the clear curved pieces that you have to put stickers on (good luck!). You start to build the second floor and roof as well. The set is themed for around winter time so you get a bit of “snow” draping off the front.

This bag comes with Mrs. Flume and a purple printed collectible tile.

The third bag finishes up Honey Dukes. The second floor has some storage and what I assume is space to make more goodies. You also add in the cash register and a stand in the middle of the shop. The front roofing is pretty simple, but I think it looks really good. The angles are mostly in line and there are only some minor gaps between pieces.

You also get the pieces to make a lamp post, a small bench, and then a wanted poster from “The Prisoner of Azkaban.”

This bag contains Mr. Flume. Both Mr. Flume and Mrs. Flume are unique to this set.

Okay so I started to build this set outside on a small table, but had to finish up the rest inside. Sorry for the differing picture backgrounds.

Bag four builds “The Three Broomsticks” which is like a pub I guess. This bag starts the bottom floor. The color scheme, decorations, and architectural style are all pretty cool. This would be a great building to have even if it wasn’t a Harry Potter set. The stickers add to the detail pretty well. The inside has a bar with some beverages and a table with some cups and a croissant.

This bag comes with Madam Rosmerta and she’s holding a hammer. I don’t recall her from the movie or why she has a hammer.

The fifth bag continues to build up to the second level. I like the mix of the brick textured pieces and the plain bricks. The inside builds a small room with a table, chair, fire place, and a small desk with drawers.

The Professor Minerva minifigure comes in this bag. I think this is the first time I have ever seen her show up in a set.

The sixth bag wraps up the set and includes the Dean Thomas minifigure. I really like the angled roofs and various slopes. I’m not exactly sure how functional it is in a real house/building, but it has a cool look to it. Throw on the white places to make snow and it definitely has a Winter Village feel to it.

Here are the six minifigures in the set. According to Brickset.com, they are all unique to this set so a bonus for getting this set if you collect them. We get lots of Harry Potter figures, but it is nice to see some different ones in the collection.

Here’s the final build. Overall, I’m a big fan of this set. It has a lot of detail in the build considering it’s 851 pieces, but isn’t overly complicated. The ability to connect it to Harry Potter or the Winter Village theme is an added bonus. I haven’t seen it on sale yet, but be on the lookout. I recommend Potter fans pick this one up. It might not be bad for those looking to expand the Winter Village or maybe even a Castle themed village.

Happy building!

Set Review - #76387-1: Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter - Harry Potter

Continuing through the 2021 Harry Potter sets… This one is #76387-1: Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter. It depicts the scene from the first book/movie where the three main characters encounter the creature protecting the entrance to the location where the sorcerer’s stone is being kept. This set was released in the US on 5 June 2021. It retails for $39.99 and contains 397 pieces. This puts it at $0.101 per piece. At the time of this post, I have seen it on sale at a few retailers for 20% off so be on the lookout if you want to get a better deal.

The box art is similar to other sets. The full set, minifigures, and 20th anniversary logo on the front with some of the play features on the back.

The set contains three numbered parts bags and an instruction booklet. When I opened the box, I didn’t see the sticker sheet. I only realized it was missing when I got to the first point in the instructions that asked for a sticker. After some searching, I found it. It is smaller and thankfully only has six stickers.

The first bag builds Fluffy the three-headed dog creature. It’s not a bad design considering the size of the set. Each of the legs pivot and you can swivel the heads. The heads are a single piece, but I think it’s to be expected considering the size of the set. You also get the Harry minifigure and then the gold Hermione minifigure. Are there any Harry Potter sets without Harry?

The second bag builds the main chamber where Fluffy is and where it guards the door in the floor. It’s a simple room without much detail as it has to be large enough to fit the Fluffy build in it. You’ll notice that I put the roof on backwards in this picture. Whoops!
This bag includes a brick built harp which is used to put Fluffy to sleep as well as the Ron minifigure.

The third bag completes the build. It adds two more modular rooms and then a space below a spire. One of the rooms is where the “Devil’s Snare” is located. This is where they fall in after going through the door below Fluffy. The other room just has some flames for light so you could use it as a path to another room or whatever you want.

I have it set up in the picture so that the other two rooms are stacked separately. This allows you to use the spire piece on top. However, to re-create the book/movie scene, the two smaller chambers need to go underneath the larger one and the spire has no place to go. I have not tried to combine this set with the others so maybe it can be connected elsewhere. Or maybe you can just build your own rooms to have it go on top of. Either way, for kids playing with this set and potentially not having others, they would have to figure out how to arrange it so the spire can be used (or not).

One last issue… there is a sticker that goes inside of the spire. I was challenged as an adult to apply it as you are trying to get a sticker with a weird shape onto a curved surface. Lining it up straight was a big challenge for me. Maybe kids do a better job at it? I did okay, but would have preferred to either not have the sticker or have some other form of decoration there.

This set has four minifigures. You get the golden Hermione and then Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They each have the short legs and come with a wand. All of them have dual printed heads. Not too exciting here on the minifig front as it seems you can get these three in many sets.

Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with the set. While it depicts the scene fairly well at a basic level, it leaves a lot to be desired. Unless you feel like using your own bricks to add onto the scene, You need to look into getting more of the 2021 sets to add onto it. In terms of the price, it’s a bit high. Definitely try and get the 20% off or more if you plan to pick it up.

Happy building!

LEGO® House: LEGO® Star Wars™ exhibition

Throughout 2019, the LEGO® House will be celebrating 20 Years of the Star Wars™ line. The special display is located in the History Collection in the basement. If you look at my post on the History Collection, I mention that there is a walk way that you take in a square (or maybe rectangle) to see the history. In the center of that shape is a space with a lot of the old and current sets on display. Well on either side of the room is the Star Wars™ display. I had seen some pictures online and you could see the display clearly. The owners of that site obviously took their camera right up to the glass because you can’t see it clearly in person. Here’s what you see on either side of the room (below). Really? So you have to peer through the slots to see everything.

This is the only picture I have of the sets on display. I didn’t take any close up pictures as it’s just some of the sets as selected by various LEGO® Designers. Each set has a card by it explaining why the designer thought the particular set was their favorite.

On the opposing wall is this sign with a similar glass pattern. LEGO® borrowed a collection and put them on display. I wonder if he got anything in return? Anyways, I did take a few pictures of the minifigures.

The display is set up by year. At the top of each column is the year the minifigures came out. The initial years have only a few and as the years go on, more minifigures appear until you get closer to today and it’s jam packed with various minifigures. I didn’t count them and the sign just says more than 1,000. Where does he put them all?

Anyways, if you get to the LEGO® House in 2019, it’s worth a few minutes of your time to go check out the Star Wars™ display for the minifigures alone. There are quite a few there and it’s pretty cool to see… if you can find the right slot in the glass to peek through.

Happy building!

Any only 1 minifigure in 2001?