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!

Set Review: #40452-1: Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms - Harry Potter

Continuing with the Harry Potter theme, LEGO recently had a gift with purchase promotion for #40452-1: Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms. The promotion started in in the US on 25 October 2021. It was scheduled to end after about two weeks, but it appears to have lasted slightly longer. I’m not sure what day it stopped. This set was thrown in when you bought $100 or more of Harry Potter sets. Of course they are all priced so you can’t buy exactly $100 so you had to shell out $110 or more. Also everyone was buying and inventory dried up fast. The set contains 148 pieces, two minifigures, and four of the collectible tiles.

The box is similar to others in the 2021 Harry Potter theme. Full set build on the front, minifigures, and similar logos. The back shows a few features to includes the 8x8 plate that you can slide in/out to display your collectible tiles.

The set comes with two parts bags, an instruction booklet, an 8x8 plate, an 8x16 plate, and two 1x16 bricks.

For being a smaller set with not a lot of pieces, there are some decent builds in this set. The back wall uses some SNOT to achieve the rail for the 8x8 plate to slide into. I’m not sure why they chose black rails versus the tan color, but it works. Using the small fence pieces also makes for an interesting looking window. The beds are also decently designed and I like how they used jumper plates so you can angle the beds.

There are some decent pieces in the set too. I’m a fan of the chest, but mainly from its use back in the pirate days. The gold colored pieces are always fun and the rug tiles are good colors.

The plate on the back wall is an interesting way to display your purple 2x2 tiles. If you don’t like it there, you can always pull it out.

The build itself goes with the rest of the 2021 Harry Potter sets in that it can be connected with Technic pins to the other sets or stacked on top.

Overall, I can’t complain about this set. For a gift with purchase, it is a decent set.

The set has two minifigures. Ron comes with a wand and chocolate frog. He has two facial expressions. Harry just has a wand and also has a happy and scared/surprised face. While it would be great to have other characters, I can see why they chose these two based on the scenes in the dorm rooms.

What were your thoughts on this one? Worth the spend or not so much?

Happy building!

Set Review - #76386-1: Hogwarts™: Polyjuice Potion Mistake - Harry Potter

I picked up another one of the 2021 Harry Potter themed sets. This one is the first I received of the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter LEGO sets. This one is #76386-1: Hogwarts™: Polyjuice Potion Mistake. It was released on 5 June 2021 in the US and retails for $19.99. With 217 pieces, it works out to $0.092 per piece so not too bad. This one comes with three minifigures plus a collectible gold minifigure plus two mystery printed tiles.

The front of the box shows the set built with the main characters making the potion. It also highlights the anniversary and shows the minifigures. The back shows some play features like usual and shows how the minifigures can be changed into the post potion drinking versions. It also highlights the mystery tiles.

This box has the perforated section on the back where you stick your finger through to open the box versus cutting the tape seals. The production of this box didn’t go well as there was no perforation. I had to find a sharp blade to make my own perforations. It was a bit of a struggle to get the box open, but I succeeded in the end.

The set comes with two parts bags, an instruction booklet, and some stickers.. My camera with the lighting doesn’t do real well, but the stickers are the mirrors for the bathroom. There are thankfully only three stickers and they weren’t too bad to put on other than the standard issues of trying to center them on a piece and making sure they are not crooked.

The first bag starts to assemble the bathroom. You get the back wall and then a stall with a toilet. Nothing too out of the ordinary here which is to be expected for a smaller set. My only complaint here is the door is too big to open and close all the way.. It hits one of the support columns if you try and swing it open/closed. I have it fully opened in the picture, but if you were to close it, it would only open up to the column. Not really a big issue, but hopefully there are other stalls the students can use.

Bag two goes pretty quickly. The build isn’t too challenging other than trying to get the silver mirror stickers centered on the two brick high 1x2s. The set is definitely made so that you can connect it to other/future sets so it is good to see the designers thought about that functionality. You also have a good start if you wanted to expand the bathroom out as there are a number of scenes from the books/movies that take place here.

Running through the minifigures you get the main three (Harry, Hermione, and Ron). They all come with wands and Hermione has her potion cup. Both have two faces, but Hermione’s only goes with her face. Harry and Ron have other faces that go with their transformed characters.

First picture is the three characters transformed. Crabbe and Goyle are the two characters that Harry and Ron transform to. Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the movies… Hermione accidently gets cat hair and becomes a cat. You get different hair pieces for the two male characters and then a cat head for Hermione which is fun.

This set comes with the gold Harry figure. It’s a gimmick, but all the Potter fans will be all over it. This is the cheapest set in the line so I’m guessing it will be the most prevalent one to have. Then you get two printed 2x2 tiles. The back of the instructions lists the 16 that are out there. I apparently got Nicholas Flamel and Olympe Maxime. Oh boy! Or not… I don’t think I’ll be rushing to find all 16, but maybe others will.

Overall, not bad for a $20 set. Three minifigures that “transform” and then a bonus gold minifigure. Plus you get the play feature of being able to attach this set to others. I like what LEGO has done here with the ability to incorporate it into others. It’s a must buy if you’re a Potter fan and maybe later in the year, it will go on discount. For others who aren’t into the Potter line, I wouldn’t jump in, but that’s just me.

Happy building!

Set Review - #40495-1: Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid - Brickheadz - Harry Potter

I’m not a collector of all Brickheadz, but I do pick up a set here and there when it interests me. As a Harry Potter fan, the return of Harry Potter themed Brickheadz made me jump in. Congrats on the sale LEGO!

#40495-1: Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid was released on 5 June 2021 in the US. It contains 466 pieces and retails for $24.99. That works out to $0.054/piece which isn’t too bad.

The set portrays the figures as listed in the name. Hagrid is portrayed at what I would call the normal or standard scale Brickheadz size and then the three students are portrayed at a smaller scale. Let’s get into the review.

Both sides of the box show the Brickheadz only in a different order on each side. The front notes that these are Brickheadz numbers 139 through 142. It’s hard to believe they’ve made that many already.

The contents are five parts bags and four instruction booklets. Hagrid is first with two parts bags. Then Harry with one bag, Hermione with one bag, and then Ron with one bag.

The first bag is Hagrid. He is built in the standard Brickheadz fashion with an internal structure to allow for plates and tiles to face in each direction. I think they captured his likeness well in terms of his hair, face, and clothes. The only issue I have is I don’t think the scale is right. Hagrid is much taller than most of the adult characters portrayed in the movies and I think he should have been made to be taller. He is taller than the children, but not taller as an adult. Not a big deal, just a nitpick.

Hagrid comes with a minifigure scale umbrella. It looks tiny on the Brickheadz, but it gets the intent across.

Like many Brickheadz, it comes with a printed brick to add some detail. In this case it is his shirt. He has the standard Brickheadz eyes with the larger square and then the smaller square offset at an angle.

Bag two builds Harry. He is in his student uniform with a cape. The uniform has a printed brick for the collar. There is also a printed tile for his scar on his forehead. Harry has two 2x2 round tiles for eyes with the standard Brickheadz eye print along with some white and then black to show that he is wearing glasses. The glasses don’t attach to his ears (which don’t exist anyways), but it gets the point across.

I think they portray Harry well and I have no complaints. The only improvement I would make is on his right side towards the bottom, there is a stud with a hole that sticks out. I thought it looked out of place, but it can easily be covered up with a leftover tile from one of the other builds. Problem solved!

Bag three builds Hermione. She is similar in scale to Harry, has the same school uniform on, and has a minifigure scale wand in her hand. Not much to say about the Brickhead. I think it looks okay and portrays the character well.

The last bag builds Ron. Now that you’ve built Harry and Hermione, the process is pretty similar only with different colored hair. The only comment I’ll make is that it looks like he could use an extra tile on either side of the back of his head. I think the stud there looks out of place. Especially if you compare it to Hermione who has all slopes as hair on the sides.

So there are all four Brickheadz. The build goes quickly and if you’ve build Brickheadz before, then you are familiar with the pattern.

I would pick these up if you are a Brickheadz fan or a Harry Potter fan (or both). If you’re not one of the two, I would save your funds for another set. The build isn’t overly exciting and it’s not like you get a ton of great pieces. The pricing is decent, but later in their life, pay attention for sales. I could see a $5 off deal being run at Amazon.com.

What are your thoughts?

Happy building!

Set Review - #75980-1: Attack on the Burrow - Harry Potter

Finally got the last of the 2020 Harry Potter sets. I ordered it back in December 2020, it was out of stock, it showed up, it shipped, USPS “lost it,” I’m working with LEGO on a replacement, and I reordered to have to wait for it to come off back order to actually get it. So let’s hope it’s worth it…

Released back on 3 July 2020, #75980-1 contains 1047 pieces and retails at $99.99. This works out to $0.096 per piece. Not too bad, but I have yet to see this set on sale (even in Germany). Onto the review…

The box shows both sides of the set on the front with some designed features. The back shows all of the different play features like most sets do.

The set contains seven numbered parts bags, an un-numbered bag with larger plates, and the instructions are sealed up with the stickers.

Here are the instructions and stickers. Nothing special about the instructions. No special write ups or pictures. There are two sticker sheets which are both fairly small. One is the normal sheet and the other is clear stickers. There aren’t a ton of stickers so I can’t complain too much. As a technique, I’ve started using the piece separator to apply stickers versus my fingers. It’s actually worked very well. Maybe you all already do that, but if you haven’t, give it a try.

The first bag contains a piece separator and starts the base of the building. It is connected with hinges so you can get to the inside later on which works out nice for play features. You get a pig with this set… I didn’t even know they had pigs, but I won’t complain. You also get Arthur and Molly Weasley.

For the rest of the build, I decided not to include the minifigs by bag and I’ll bring them all up at the end.

The second bag of parts builds out the living space. You get a table loaded up with a breakfast of eggs and waffles. There’s a small little sink area as well. The living space has a couch, a chair, and various decorations to include lamps, candles, and plants. Outside, you can see some of the clear stickers which actually look pretty decent. I managed to put them on without getting any air bubbles in them so that was good.

The third bag finishes up the inside of the first floor and starts on the roof. Inside, you can see the fireplace where they enter the floo network. The fireplace is connected to a Technic axle that you can spin between flames and the floo network green. I show it in translucent green here and then in the translucent orange below.

Here’s the orange, “normal” fire place. On the other side of the fire place, you see a clock which shows where everyone in the family is located. There’s also a picture on the wall and a book shelf.

Bag four finishes up the roof on the ground floor and adds a room on the second floor. I assume it is Ginny’s room with the hair brush and mirror. The bed has multiple colors and then a sticker that matches the colors. It was tricky to line up the sticker with the parts, but I think I got it close to being right. The downside to this set up is the sticker is smaller than the tile it goes on so there is a gap between the sticker and the sloped bricks which from far away isn’t a big deal, but close up looks bad.

The fifth bag starts the next level. This eventually becomes Arthur and Molly Weasley’s room. For now, there is a chair with some magical knitting going on at it. There’s also a family picture on the wall.

The sixth bag puts a bed in Molly and Arthur’s room with a quilt on it. It also adds in a room above. Maybe Ron’s room? There’s a bed and a picture on the wall, but that’s it. From the room, there’s a small stair way that leads up to a small upper porch area. That area has a broom so you can either sweep it off or fly away from there.

The last bag finishes the roof and adds a chimney. You also get two owls to include Hedwig. The roof is made with 45 degree slopes, but they vary in color so it adds to the design other than just using one color. I’ll cover the last part of this build with the minifigures.

The set comes with eight minifigures. Seven of them are unique to this set and then #8, Harry Potter, also comes in #75967-1: Forbidden Forest Umbridge’s Encounter. As mentioned in the bag seven section, it includes more besides the roof. It also includes a section of flames as can be seen in the sixth movie. The two minifigures included in bag seven are Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback. They both come with wands.

The remaining six as shown in the picture are Nymphadora Tonks, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, Molly Weasley, and Arthur Weasley. They all come with wands as well.

I think this is a pretty good mix for the set and you get a decent amount. For minifigure collectors, you get seven unique Harry Potter minifigures so not bad.

Here’s the final set. I like how they created the offset angle of the upper level. My Non-LEGO Spouse originally saw it and thought I didn’t connect everything. I had to explain that it was built that way. A nice touch.

Overall a good set that closely follows the Harry Potter version from the movie at an age 9+ range with just over 1,000 pieces. There are some good building techniques, but nothing overly challenging. For MOC builders you get some good pieces to pick from for your own builds. Price wise it is not bad, but it could be cheaper. I didn’t find it on sale, but I did get it with a freebie so that helped. If you wait a bit longer, you might be able to pick it up on sale. Just don’t wait too long and have it retire.

And that closes out the 2020 Harry Potter line for me. What are your thoughts on this set?

Happy building!

Set Review - #75978-1: Diagon Alley - Harry Potter

I’ve had this one for a bit and finally got it finished and a blog post ready to go. #75978-1: Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter line is built! The last big one for the Harry Potter theme was #71043-1 - Hogwarts Castle in 2018 and this is the next big set in 2020. It was released on 1 September 2020 in the US. It contains 5,544 pieces and 17 minifigures. The set retails for $399.99 in the US which works out to $0.072 per piece.

I’m a Potter fan and decided to pick up the set. I got it before Christmas along with two free gifts (#634602: Buildable Teal brick and #40410-1: Charles Dickens Tribute). I also got 10% back on Rakuten versus their normal 2.5% so $40 back is awesome (you can see post about it here… and no I am not getting paid to advertise for them). I also had a $50 gift card so $90 off and two gift with purchase sets work for me.

Onto the review… It’s a giant box. The box is labeled as a 16+ set. The front shows the full set and the back shows some details, lists out the separate buildings, and shows the insides of the set. On the side of the box you can see all of the minifigures as well as some of the scenes you can create.

The box has a large white box in it as well as some parts bags. Those bags are numbered 9 through 20. Opening the white box reveals bags 1 through 8, box 21, the instructions and stickers, the base plates, and an parts bag without a number. I count 41 bags of parts, a box, and the base plates. I might be off a bag or two.

There are four instruction books. Each book is tied to what is built on one of the 16x32 gray baseplates. The books have some good write ups about the set to include details on each building, info on the designers and product team, and info on the minifigures.

Each building comes with a sticker sheet. As you can see, the Weasley’s Joke Shop has quite a few. I am not a fan of stickers, but these really do add some great detail to the set. The only downside is how some stickers are split up between pieces. A sign should have a smooth flow, but instead is broken up between two or three pieces. If you center the stickers, it looks weird, but if put two closer together, the third may look odd. Has anyone built the set without stickers? How does it look?

The first buildings are Ollivanders™ Wand Shop and Scribbulus.

The first bags start the base. This build and the rest have a sidewalk made mostly with tiles and then part of the street made up of various plates and tiles. Bag one starts the front of Ollivanders and then the first floor of Scribbulus. I don’t recall Scribbulus being in the movie at all so I will assume the designers got this shop correct.

The second bag includes Garrick Ollivander. He is holding a wand box with a wand on the inside. I don’t recall seeing this item before. The box allows for a 1x3 tile to be placed on the top and it fits the standard Harry Potter wand size. Throughout the build, there are numerous versions of these boxes to show the stock of the store along with some plates and bricks to look like boxes on the shelf. This part of the build includes a set of stairs. The stairs are on a hinge and can fold in. This allows you to place the buildings back to back versus all connected in a row.

Bag 3 starts work on the second floor and adds in windows on the first and second floors. The tiles in the windows are translucent yellow which adds a nice touch to the building versus just using clear. I also like the use of all of the textured bricks to add some detail/texture to the building façade.

The windows appear to be round with the use of curved plates and tiles. This style of build has been done before and I think it fits in good here.

Hermione Granger comes with this bag.

The fourth bag adds a sitting room with a fireplace above Scribbulus. It looks like it would fit for any wizard who needs it. It adds to the second floor of Ollivander’s too.

The fifth bag finishes this build with the roof and chimneys, another room of wands in Ollivander’s, and some owls. The chimney that is slightly crooked is a nice touch. The hinge pieces don’t exactly fit in asthetically, but the chimney seems to fit the magical world of Harry Potter. The second floor of Ollivander’s has a desk, a ladder, a chair, and another shelf of wands. You get 3 owls with this build. Hedwig and then two others. Hedwig is connected with a clear pole piece and he is flying a copy of the Daily Prophet. The other two are perched on Ollivander’s.

One last item is the various flags/signs on the buildings to advertise for the stores. I like how they are done and think they look cool, but the stickers are a pain. One on each side of the piece. It really put my sticker applying skills to the test.

The sixth set of bags start Quality Quidditch™ Supplies and The Daily Prophet™. The sidewalk and road are similar to the previous building. The Quidditch shop has some fun details inside to include brooms, minifigures displaying uniforms, and various uniforms stacked on shelves.

The Daily Prophet seems like an after thought. Or there weren’t a lot of details available. It’s just an empty space with 2x2 tiles of the newspaper laying around.

The seventh bags add the front façade to the first floor of the Quidditch shop. The brick red with the greenish color fits in well. I love the printed red on the clear bricks to create the windows with the added clear cheese slopes. It almost has an Asian/Chinese Festival look to it. The Quidditch equipment above the door looks cool too.

I forgot to throw him in the picture, but Ron Weasley’s minifigure comes in this bag.

The eighth bags build the second floor of the shop to include more gear, clothes, and then a minifigure displaying a uniform. The pink color brightens things up after the dark grey and tan-ish color from Ollivander’s

The ninth set of bags finishes the set up. As mentioned, the Daily Prophet leaves a bit to be desired. A large spider web, stacks of papers, a rat eating cheese. and more newspapers. A desk or a magical printer maybe?

The Daily Prophet photographer shows up in this bag with a camera.

This one is another great building for the set. The Quidditch shop is the main selling point for me with the design of the first floor exterior. The interior details are cool too. No minifigure to work in the shop though.

The tenth bags build Flourish & Blotts and Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. Flourish & Blotts is used in the second book/movie “The Chamber of Secrets.” They actually go inside the store so I’m sure the designers had a bit more to go on than just some quick movie stills.

This part of the build includes Mrs. Weasley. It also starts to build Flourish & Blotts. A similar window type piece is used for this one as the Quidditch shop only it is green colored.

The eleventh set of bags builds the first floor section of Flourish & Blotts with some book shelves, a book display, and the stairwell. The stairs are on a hinge and they fold up if you want to put the buildings back to back.

This section also starts on the Ice Cream Parlor with the black and white checkered flooring, a shelf with some ice cream dishes, and the fun sticker with flavors on the wall.

Ginny Weasley’s minifigure comes with this bag to include a copy of Gilderoy Lockhart’s book “Magical Me.”

My pictures of build 12 are awful. Sorry about the bad lighting.

Here you build the counter in the ice cream parlor, some books on display outside of Flourish & Blotts, the first floor ceilings, the façade of Flourish & Blotts, and the awning of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. There are some interesting build techniques. The awning is rather simple, with 1x3 plates stacked with clip pieces mixed in. They clip onto the building and then some lipstick type pieces are used to hold the awning up. The Flourish & Blotts façade with the signs is all brick built and stickers. I like how the angles were achieved and I’m glad they didn’t use a big piece to get it all done. The use of different sized slopes to achieve the roof of the first floor present a cool effect as well.

Florean Fortescue comes in this set of bags.

Bag 13 adds Harry Potter.

You also build the second floor of Flourish & Blotts. There is a window section that matches the signage below and then inside you get a book shelf, a lamp with a book on display, and another book display on the floor. Externally there is a simple, yet cool dragon head like gargoyle on either side of the windows. You also build the main sign and attach more stickers.

Bag 14 finishes up this section. You get Gilderoy Lockhart with another copy of his book, the desk for him to sit behind to sign books, a seating area outside of the ice cream parlor, the seating area display on the roof area of the ice cream parlor, and a lamp on the front. Inside the second floor of the ice cream parlor is a small sitting room with an arm chair, coffee table with tea set, lamp, and rug. The roof is completed for both buildings. The roof on the ice cream parlor matches the one on the first floor. Flourish & Blotts has a simple set of slopes.

As mentioned, there is a seating area outside of the ice cream parlor. The table is attached by studs, but the chairs are not. No big deal really unless you need to pick the set up. The desk is another story as it really doesn’t fit inside. I guess you could put it outside or build up a scene with additional bricks in the back? It kind of seems out of place.

I like this building with the different green colors of Flourish & Blotts and the roof and awning pieces of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. So far, I’m enjoying the build. Even if there are a ton of stickers…

The last of the four buildings is Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes & Knockturn Alley. This one helps to mix up the movies/books a bit as Flourish & Blotts was spotlighted in the second book/movie and Weasley’s is from book #6. Knockturn Alley shows up a few times. Either way, I’m okay with the mixing of books/movies. You can set it up as desired and include/exclude buildings as you want.

Bag 15 starts off the Weasley’s store with some bright orange bricks to contrast some of the other buildings in the set. Knockturn alley is started too with an archway.

This bag contains Draco Mallfoy’s minifigure.

Bag 16 helps build out the first floor with a lot of details and items for purchase on shelves and display. This also means a lot of stickers too so get ready. You build a stairwell to the next level as well.

Lucius Malfoy comes in this bag. Unlike other Harry Potter sets, the minifigures don’t come with accessories here. Most of the other ones include wands for characters. Here they do not, but Lucius comes with his cane that he walks around with.

Bag 17 finished up the first floor. I like how they achieved the rounded section of the building while building up the windows to be at different angles. You also start work on the second floor. In the picture, I show the side of the building to highlight some of the larger stickers. The stickers for this build are numbered up to 41 and that doesn’t count where there are multiples of some stickers. Thankfully, the largest one is shown and the rest are smaller.

The George Weasley minifigure comes in this bag.

Bag 18 continues work on the second floor and completes the two story rounded window section. They use some clever techniques to fill up the corner and then put the figure in tipping his hat. Putting the brick built figure in was a bit challenging. I had to give it a few tries to get it right and it wasn’t exactly clear to me on the instructions.

Lots of stickers go on the outside of the building. As mentioned before, it was a challenge for me to space them out properly. This was especially hard on the orange curved pieces. I didn’t want the words to look disconnected, but I didn’t want there to look like there were large gaps in the lettering either. It would be nice if the stickers more closely matched the size of the brick you were putting it on. That way you wouldn’t have to guess as much.

Fred Weasley comes with this bag. If you can tell him apart from George that is…

Bag 19 finishes up the second floor and gets you stairs to the third level. The stairwell has a very colorful railing to brighten things up. You also add some balloons which need to be removed if you want to put the sets back to back.

On the outside, you build up Knockturn Alley with a “window to nothing” above the alleyway. I guess you could take it upon yourself to build up a building behind it. No complaints from me though. I like how the designers were able to achieve a crooked, angled window look without huge gaps.

Bag 20 wraps it up. The head is added to the figure in the front and there are some Technic elements used to make the character “tip” his hat. In the movie, a rabbit appears every other time he tips his hat. Obviously LEGO didn’t create that effect, but it’s cool to have some motion with the building. The hat doesn’t tip up too high for me, but I’m sure I could adjust it more if I wanted it to.

This building is a bit taller and the third floor has some inventory as well. The color contrast with the black and light purple/lavender color looks pretty cool.

You get another small build with this bag. It is a table where you can buy love potions as highlighted in book/movie #6. It’s a fun addition to the building, but like the desk for Flourish & Blotts, you can’t fit it in the building. So either extend the building or just set it behind the building with some of your own bricks.

This building was fun to put together with lots of different building techniques, colors, and elements. So many stickers though…

Then there’s box 21. It says “Silencio! Keep it between us.” I guess this is supposed to be a secret box so pretend you’re not reading this section. Although the instructions are included in book for so it’s not really secret. The box includes another Harry Potter minifigure. He has two faces with the other not pictured having dirt and dust from when he went through the flue network incorrectly during the second book/movie. It also includes Hagrid with his pink umbrella. You build a small stand for them to stand on and then behind them you attach a plate with a printed sign. It has the LEGO and Harry Potter logos along with a quote from the movie (and book?) from Hagrid to Harry. I think this is a nice addition to the set. Especially if you want to use this set as a display piece.

Besides the Harry and Hagrid minfigures in box 21, you get another 13 characters from the book/movie. I think it’s a good collection of minifigures to include some of the more popular and some of the ones we don’t normally see. They don’t come with too many accessories, but I think that’s okay. In the movie, you don’t see them with wands or other items unless they are buying things.

Here’s a picture of the final build all lined up. They are similar to the modular building series in that you can connect them, rearrange them, and for these you can put them front to back. No corner buildings or anything, but I guess that leaves it up to you to build them. I’m okay with the backs being open so you can see the details inside. I understand these are not modulars.

$400 is pretty steep for this set so definitely look for opportunities to get gifts with purchase or double VIP point bonuses. I got cash back and had a gift card so that helped.

Should you buy this set? I say this set is for Potter fans. A great addition to the world and a fun build if you know some of the details. This set is also for MOC builders. There are a ton of great pieces and great colors in this set. For about 7 cents a piece you can get some great parts. I’d love to see what some of the pro builders out there could do with this set.

If you aren’t a Potter fan or don’t want the pieces, I’d consider other sets first. Just my opinion.

I’m a Potter fan and I think the set was great. On a YouTuber I follow, it was mentioned that it would be great for the 2021 Potter sets to add onto Diagon Alley. What if they did a Gringots set you could add to this street? It would be pretty awesome!

What did you think of this one? Better or worse than Hogwart’s Castle?

Happy building!

Set Review - #75968-1: 4 Privet Drive - Harry Potter

Another of the 2020 Harry Potter series… #75968-1: 4 Privet Drive. Also released on 24 August 2020 in the US, this one cost $69.99 in the US. With 797 pieces, it works out to $0.088/piece. This set captures a scene from the second book/movie titled “The Chamber of Secrets.” It’s where Ron rescues Harry from the room he was locked into so he can go to Hogwarts. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, look it up on line.

The set has the standard box with the front showing the full set while the back shows the other side of the set along with some play features.

This set contains 5 parts bags, a sticker sheet, an 8x16 plate, and the instructions. Bag one includes a piece separator.

Bag one starts off on the bottom floor with some furniture, the door (with stickers to show the letters coming in, but they can’t fit due to the boards nailed on), stairs up to the next level, and then the street sign with an owl. Proportions wise, I think they fit a decent amount of details in considering the size of the set and it seems to match the movie scene well. The minifigure for Mr. Dursley is in bag one.

The second bag finishes up the first floor with some details like the fireplace, carpeting, a plant on an end table, and the railing leading to the second level. Additionally it finishes the small room under the stairs where Harry was locked away in the first book. This section has a small door on the one side and then uses hinge pieces to open up to the small space.

The minifigure for Dudley is in this bag.

The third bag starts the second floor where Harry’s room is located. It adds the walls, a bed and some details to include a copy of the Daily Prophet newspaper, a picture of Harry’s parents, and some clippings from Hogwarts. It also adds the window that Mr. Dursley bars up. This window is placed in using friction and there are no studs in contact with the frame so it can easily be pulled out.

On the first floor by the fireplace, a Technic gear is added. This is connected to a small mechanism that allows you to slip 1x2 tile letters down a slot. They can then come out the fireplace similar to the movie how Harry wanted his letter welcoming him to school. The gear allows you to open or close the slot as desired.

The front of the home has some plant life for decoration. I like how they did the roof with the slope bricks offset by one tile each. It’s a pretty simple way to add in some details without making it an over technical roof build.

The Mrs. Dursley minifigure comes in this bag.

The fourth bag finishes the roof. It uses the same technique as the small porch area on the first level. I’m a fan of how it looks. If you don’t like it or the set, at least you get a bunch of the black slope pieces to use in MOCs as desired.

This bag contains Dobby and the cake/pudding Dobby levitates over the Dursley’s guest. It also contains Hedwig which is the same figure from #75969-1: Hogwart’s Astronomy Tower and #75979-1: Hedwig.

The fifth build completes the set with the Harry minifigure and the Weasley’s flying car. It’s a different build from the original one we saw in #75953-1: Hogwart’s Whomping Willow. The two minifigures don’t fit in super well, but the truck has space for Harry’s trunk.

Lastly, there’s the final view in the side room of the house. Not much has changed there other than the light on the outside.

Final look at all the minifigures… There are 6 in total plus a Hedwig. Not a bad mix if you are a Harry Potter minifigure collector.

Overall, it’s a good build with some good play features and it captures the movie scenes well. There are some decent pieces you can use in MOCs if you don’t want to keep the set together. The small size of the set with the ~$70 price tag make it seem a bit overpriced. I picked it up on sale here for ~$52 and I recently saw it on sale on Amazon.com for around $56 so better. Unless you’re a big Harry Potter fan or collect the minifigures, I would steer clear of this one. Or maybe if you can find a better sale. This one seems to me like a $39 set.

What are your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!

Set Review - #75969-1: Hogwarts Astronomy Tower - Harry Potter

The Harry Potter sets are back for another round. The 2020 releases came out in late August in the US and in early May in Germany. A few of them are already on sale here in Europe so I picked them up and will let you know what I think.

The first is #75969-1: Hogwarts Astronomy Tower that was released on 24 August 2020. It contains 971 pieces and 8 minifigures and retails for $99.99 in the US. That works out to $0.103 per piece. I found it locally for around $74 and thought that was a much better deal.

The box format looks similar to last year. The front shows the set with a digital background and the three main characters from the movie in the upper right. The back shows some of the play features and the back side of the set.

The set contains 6 parts bags and the instructions which are wrapped up in plastic with the stickers. There is also an 8x16 dark gray plate that comes separate.

The sticker sheet isn’t too bad although I don’t like trying to put the smaller stickers on the larger pieces as you’ll see later. I can never seem to properly center them.

Bag one builds the green house. It’s a simple build, but the roof is done differently. There are no stud connections and instead it is attached based on friction between the pieces. I found it to fit well and wasn’t super loose. This bag has the minifigures for Harry and Professor Horace Slughorn. It also has Hedwig the owl.

The only other notable part of this build are the Mandrake plants which are printed 1x1 round bricks. They have a plant piece attached and I thought this was a nice detail in the set and I was glad it wasn’t a sticker.

The second bag starts the base of the tower. It’s a fairly simple build, but I do like the curves and arches and how they add detail to the castle look. The use of stickers on the front columns wasn’t fun to apply. You can see from my picture that I didn’t put them on evenly.

The inside of this part has a classroom. It is maybe a potion classroom with various items to pour into pots. This is a cool part of the set, but is rather small. It needs expansion in my opinion.

Bag 3 builds the roof of the bottom portion of the tower. I like the design and the use of angled plates to create the detail. The spires are fun too. The inside adds a few candles hanging from the wall.

The fourth bag adds to the base of the tower which is hooked into the other section with Technic pins. This section appears to just be a hallway. There’s a shovel hanging up and well that’s about it. There’s also a decoration with red lanterns/balls. It appears this is part of the scene from book number 6 “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” where Professor Slughorn hosts a “Slug Club” party before Christmas. This set includes a table with a food set up and Neville serving a drink. Hermione is the other minifigure included here.

The fifth bag builds the next floor up and includes Luna Lovegood. This floor is the Ravenclaw common room which I don’t ever recall seeing in the movies. Was it mentioned in the books? It’s a pretty simple set up with a few beds, the house colors as a sticker, and some books on a brick books shelf.

Bag six builds the last floor and roof for the astronomy tower. It has the actual astronomy tower portions with the telescope. The minifigure included here is Malfoy. While I like how this set looks from the front, I would have liked to have seen how the telescope points out. Is there a retractable roof piece or something that opens? Again, another part not seen in the movie, but it would have been interesting to build or it could be something you build on your own.

As mentioned, you get 8 minifigures in this set and a Hedwig. Hedwig appears in six sets this year in the same manner so if you’re looking to get the owl, no need to get the most expensive set. The minifigures all appear in this form only in this set so if you collect Harry Potter minifigures, sorry…Also of note, these all have dual expressions. I tend to go with the happy or not mad expressions when I do reviews. The remainder of the expressions are either mad or a look of disgust or something similar.

Here’s the final build. Overall, I think it’s a cool structure from the front and I look forward to some day having the space to connect the sets from the previous few years. While I understand the back is open for kids to play with, I think it would be cool to have the full set filled in. Perhaps some day I will work on a minifigure scale Hogwarts castle.

I recommend trying to find a sale on this one before buying. It sits a little about the $0.10 per piece point at retail and I think it could be slightly cheaper (although you are paying for the license as well).

Happy building!

Set Review - #75948-1: Hogwarts Clock Tower - Harry Potter

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!

Set Review - #75947-1: Hagrid's Hut Buckbeak's Rescue - Harry Potter

It’s 2020 and I’m still working my way through the 2019 sets. With a goal of getting sets of sale, I usually wait to purchase so I don’t buy at full price. #75947-1: Hagrid’s Hut Buckbeak’s Rescue was released on 1 July 2019 in the US for $59.99. With 496 pieces, it works out to be $0.121/piece. This is a bit high, but I picked it up for 20% off at Amazon.com in the US so it made it a bit more affordable.

Onto the review…

The box is pretty standard with the front showing the set while the back shows the play features. One note you’ll see is this one has a light brick which is not normal for most Harry Potter sets.

The contents include 3 parts bags, a small bag with Buckbeak, an instruction booklet, and a sticker sheet. The instructions and the sticker sheet were shoved into the box and they were pretty beat up. Despite the folded up stickers, I was able to apply the stickers without showing any of the damage permanently. Of note, the first bag includes a piece separator.

The first bags start construction on the main part of the hut. It builds up the initial wall along with some of the interior furniture. The outer wall looks a little too squared off in my opinion. I’m not sure how I would re-design it, but I think it would be better looking if it look like a stone hut versus having squared off blocks in it. The sticker on the front door helps with the details some, but I’m never a big fan of stickers.

The interior so far has a chair, a candle, and a container that holds a shovel and umbrella.

The second bag finishes the first part of the hut. I like how the roof is built to match how it is portrayed in the movie. I also think it would have been better if the whole building was built versus just half, but I’m sure it is for the play factor and price point.

The interior is fun with a table and chairs, a sack, some utensils hanging from the ceiling, and a broom. I haven’t done the research to see how accurate it is as compared to the movie, but it seems like it is close from my limited memory of what the hut looks like in the movie.

The light brick is added here and shines down on an egg in the fireplace area. Not sure if he is supposed to be warming it to eat or if he’s warming it to incubate it. Either way, I think the light brick is unnecessary in this set. I’d rather remove that part/expense and add some additional detail to the set.

The third bag finishes off the set. It adds a second room that looks similar to the first room only is slightly smaller. There is a doorway to pass from the larger part of the hut to the smaller room. The exterior of this part of the hut looks similar. The interior has a desk with a candle and a copy of the Daily Prophet newspaper as a 2x2 tile. It also contains a chest with a brown frog inside and a spider crawling around on the ceiling.

Externally, there is a small pumpkin patch with pumpkins growing on vines. There is also a chain to attach Buckbeak to as seen in the movie “The Prisoner of Azkaban.” For a simple pumpkin patch, I think it looks good with some larger pumpkins and some smaller ones still growing.

This set comes with six minifigures. According to Brickset, from left to right and top to bottom there are the following:
Executioner - Walden MacNair: The movie does not give his name. Maybe the book does? Either way I think they captured this character who plays a small part in this book/movie well. The large ax like tool that he has matches what is used in the movie well.
Rubeus Hagrid: This character is similar to other LEGO versions and again he carries a lantern.
Minster of Magic - Cornelius Fudge: I think they got this one right. I am a fan of the hat.
Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter are all mid-size minifigures. They have the smaller legs, but not the tiny ones that do not pivot. The outfits seem to match the movie outfits well and they each have 2 facial expressions and a wand.

For Potter fans, the Buckbeak figure is the bonus for the set. I think LEGO captured the likeness of the character well. The head can move up and down and you can angle the wings. There are studs on top of Buckbeak as well which allow minifigures to sit on top for a ride.

Overall, this set was middle of the road for me. It wasn’t bad, but not something I would go rush to buy at full price. The 20% off helped and even more would have been better. I’m curious as to how much the light brick adds to the price of the set.

For Potter fans you do get 6 minifigures as well as Buckbeak so that’s not too bad.

As a builder, I would have preferred a little more detail to the outside of the hut and potentially the full hut versus just part. Although half the set is a good start for those who want to build the rest on their own.

What are your thoughts on this one? How would you change this set?

Happy building!