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 - #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 - #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!

Set Review - #75958-1: Beauxbatons' Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts™ - The Wizarding World - Harry Potter

The first new wave of Harry Potter sets arrived last year (2018) and now in 2019 we have a second wave. They have been out for a bit, but my preference is to wait until they go on sale. This set, #75958-1: Beauxbatons' Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts™, was released in the US on 2 August 2019. It contains 430 pieces and retails for $49.99 in the US. It works out to $0.116/piece which is a bit on the steep side in my opinion.

This set depicts characters from the fourth book “Harry Potter and the Goblet of FIre.” Beauxbatons is a French wizarding school and the school arrives for the Tri-Wizard’s tournament in the carriage this set depicts (yes, I had to Google all that).

The box shows the full set on the front, the minifigures on the bottom left of the front and the characters from the movie on the top right. The back shows some of the different play features of the set.

The set contains three parts bags, an instruction booklet, and a small sticker sheet. Bag 1 contains a piece separator.

The first bag begins to build the carriage. I like how the designers achieved the angles on the front and back. I also like the light blue color and I think it goes well with the brown and gold brick colors. Beauxbatons was never shown in the movies, but this would make for a good MOC. A French style chateau with brown, light blue, gold, and the tan-ish color would look cool.

The second bag almost finishes the carriage. The second picture shows how one side of the carriage lifts up. I assume this was done for playability as you can get to the minifigures more easily versus removing the roof. While I’m not a fan of stickers, I do think they add to the set with the gold design on the light blue pieces.

This set comes with 4 minifigures and no it does not come with the base plates from the collectible minifigure series. I added them just to help the minifigures lay flat for the picture.

From left to right there is:

Rubeus Hagrid - This is a taller minifigure. To achieve the height, the torso is bigger, but the legs are the kid version legs. His arms are connected to the torso by a Technic like attachment.

Madame Maxime - She is the tall head of the school. I don’t recall how much taller she is over Hagrid in the movie, but I think they got it right with this minifigure.

Gabrielle Delacour and Fleur Delacour - These are two sisters attending Beauxbatons. Fleur (older and the taller minifigure) was a part of the Tri-Wizards tournament and her sister Gabrielle (smaller minifigurte) plays a big part in one of the challenges in the book/movie.

Overall, I think it is a good mix of minifigures for the set. Only 2 of the girls are really named and the rest are extras as far as I know, so I’m not sure what good it would have done to add more of the girls in. Especially since you can only make the carriage so big.

The third bag finishes up the build. The carriage has a top which needs to be removed before you can flip up the side. Additionally, it adds the wheels. The front axle rotates so it adds some playability. Additionally, there is a chest with tea cups to go with a table inside with a tea pot.

I’m sure the Harry Potter world has an official name, but I’ll call them winged horses. They are attached to the carriage via a somewhat bulky looking hitch. I’m not sure how I would redesign this part, but to me this part doesn’t match the elegance they tried to achieve on the carriage.

My final thoughts on this set… if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, then don’t bother unless there are specific parts you want from this set. If you are a Harry Potter fan, then it’s a good addition to the collection. You get some good minifigures and the designers did a decent job depicting the scene given the scale they used. I definitely recommend getting the set at a discount. Check amazon.com, Walmart, and Target for the deals they are offering. I think the full retail price is a bit steep.

Keep building!