Review: 4731 Dobby's Release

[Izzy]

Although this set is very small, it certainly packs a punch! Containing a 'once only' release of a Dobby Minifig and a Lucius Malfoy Minifig and enough pieces and little details to make it a fun set to play with or display.

Name: Dobby's Release

Set Number: 4731

Theme: LEGO System Harry Potter

Sub Theme: The Chamber of Secrets

Year: 2002

Pieces: 70

Minifigs: 2

Price: AU$19.99 GBP 5.99

Recommended Age: 6 - 10

Resources:Peeron Brickset Photobucket

The box:

The front of the box. W 14.5 cm, L 14.5 cm, D 4.5 cm

The back of the box, showing another possible build. In this case some kind of a throne from which Lucius can rule over Dobby.

The booklet:

The Cover of the booklet.

Random page from booklet. This page show how to insert the Spells/Potion into the wall compartment.

The Pieces:

The contents of the Box, 1 large bag, 1 small bag, 1 loose base piece, 1 small poster, 1 instruction booklet, 1 cape in cardboard case.

The Minifigures:

Lucius Malfoy, front view, I love how his vest it so shiny, but did anyone notice how his face looks a little blurred, like it was hand drawn on?

Dobby the House Elf, complete with ragged slave cloth and a very unhappy expression.

Pieces of Interest:

Lucius Malfoy's generic black cloak, I would have loved to see a Death Eater Hood on it. Harry Potter's sock is a printed piece, I love the details of the Gryffindor Crest.

Here's Tom Riddle's diary. I love the print of the ink stains. I have only opened and closed the diary twice and look how bad the stress marks already are. Such a pity.

The only problem here is, in order for it to fit the sock piece inside, the diary has to be of extraordinary size. In fact, it's almost as tall as Dobby. That would make it quite heavy for him I'm sure.

Bag of Potions/Spells, Two blue magical books one is a spare, these pieces are also used in a Fairy Queen Magical Set from Belville. Poor Dobby.

The Build:

Start of the build. (note the secret compartment to hide the Blue Magical Book)

A few more steps into the build and the lid for the secret compartment is done. Using an upward motion (follow the arrow) you can reveal what is hidden beneath.

The second secret compartment, disguised as the wall and window ledge.

Slide the wall backwards and reveal what is inside.

The secret wall compartment is completely revealed.

The Finished Product:

The Final Verdict:

Design: 8/10 For such a small set it has alot to look at, secret compartments, widows, accessories and a table. Varied colors and details make it well worth the few dollars you (originally) pay for it.

Build: 8/10 Made in just a few minutes, this set is easy and fun to build.

Playability: 8/10 With a few pieces to be used in MOC's or just to play around with the secret compartments and hidden socks (well, sock) this set is certainly not boring.

Minifigures: 9/10 Dobby is such a cute little minifig with short legs and his little ragged torso and Lucius is a great Fig to add to any collection. His has a fancy Grey suit with a shiny shiny vest and a great angry face.

Price: 10 /10 A great little set with a few good pieces, and two rare minifigs. Definitely worth it! The prices on all HP sets have gone up but I was still happy to pay that bit extra (compared to the original release price) for this set.

Overall: 9/10 I think this set is cute, I love Dobby and I love that TLG made him, although he probably can't carry on into any other themes, He can be carried on into all the other HP sets. Lucius can be adapted into many other themes and he is YELLOW . Overall I am very happy with this set. Cheap, Rare and Cute.

[Svelte]

Thanks for the lovely review, Cutlass_Iz!

I bought this set when it first came out on sale for about $AUD8 - for the time, it was a very detailed parts pack with a lot of useful pieces (such as the then uncommon arched window frames and lots of small bricks) with great figs! Dobby does have such a hangdog expression - he is hard to resist.

Those stress marks appear as soon as fold the books for the first time, but I've never had any break.

HP was always a great line for printed pieces - thems were the days!

Thanks again for the review!

[WhiteFang]

Great review! I love those printed parts in this set. Will like to ask you, if I am not a pure H.P collector such as Sandy or yourself, do you encourage me to get this set? I remembered seeing this set somewhere, in a consignment store, and I thought it was an useless old set, which does not have much playability. The problem is, I only owned a 5378 Hogwarts' castle which are mainly freshie related and in the past, I bought Harry Potters' minifigs characters to get only for its black cap. I am not sure if I could integrate them together well. Any advice?

[JimBee]

Great review, Iz. I can't say I like this set that much because of it's minimal size, but it does have some neat play features with the secret compartments. The minifigs are pretty decent, I just wish Dobby had a back print, as he looks naked from behind. Lucius Malfoy is a nice minifig, though, and I like his unique grin and torso.

Overall, I rate this set an average. I never was really one for HP sets.

[Izzy]

Thank You svelty! I do love how many printed pieces these little sets have. It is such a treat, that was one of the biggest let downs in the last HP castle set they produced. Stickers everywhere. Boo!

Thanks WhiteFang, I mix all my little sets with the castles as all the colors go well together, the Dobby minifig can go well in any of the HP sets and as for this set having yellow and the larger HP sets being fleshies.

I had a brilliant idea of how to use my yellow harry in my fleshies castle. In the Philosophers Stone Harry finds a mirror called the Mirror of Erised so I have made a mirror frame and have a young (yellow) harry and his parents (yellow) in the frame, i figured this way i can get away with them being a different color. reflections/shadows/lighting and such. hehe.

But the Lucius minifig not specifically HP looking so he can be used in any Town (or other) sets. I'm not such a fan of mixing yellow and flesh in the same display, so you could do as Sandy has done with her Hogwarts Dollhouse. You can make all the characters yellow and that works brilliantly as well. If you find it for a good price then i say go for it. It has some great pieces and two unique minifigs with tons of possibilities.

Thanks Jim, you know Dobby probably was naked form behind. Haha! He was only wearing rags you know. Haha! It would have been nice to see TLG give him a back half like they are doing on so many minifigs nowadays.

[Etzel]

Thank you for this great review, Cutlass_Iz!

This is probably one of my all time favourite sets actually. Firstly, I like that it's small. When this set came out to stores I was just a teenager with very little money, so sets like this was what I usually bought. Then I really like the minifigs, Lucius is magnificent with nothing but useful parts and Dobby is quite nice too, at least with those short tan legs. And now to the main reason why I like this set so much, it have great parts in lovely colours! I really loved the HP colour scheme with tan, dark grey and sand green. If I could find this set today in stores for the same price I would buy a whole bunch instantly.

My vote is Outstanding!

[WhiteFang]

Thanks WhiteFang, I mix all my little sets with the castles as all the colors go well together, the Dobby minifig can go well in any of the HP sets and as for this set having yellow and the larger HP sets being fleshies.

I had a brilliant idea of how to use my yellow harry in my fleshies castle. In the Philosophers Stone Harry finds a mirror called the Mirror of Erised so I have made a mirror frame and have a young (yellow) harry and his parents (yellow) in the frame, i figured this way i can get away with them being a different color. reflections/shadows/lighting and such. hehe.

But the Lucius minifig not specifically HP looking so he can be used in any Town (or other) sets. I'm not such a fan of mixing yellow and flesh in the same display, so you could do as Sandy has done with her Hogwarts Dollhouse. You can make all the characters yellow and that works brilliantly as well. If you find it for a good price then i say go for it. It has some great pieces and two unique minifigs with tons of possibilities.

Thanks Cutlass_Iz. I am thinking of using that chamber, to be part of a small castle setup, such as a small resting area for the guards. I guess that Lucius minifig will be taken apart to modify randomly across my solders' setup, while the Dobby minifig could be used something related to the Dwarves, or an outcast. I really appericate those printed parts and the book. It's really very useful for parts bin.

Your ideas are equally interesting, and this could allow me to give some inspiration. I will take a walk around over the week, to see if this set is still available or not.

[Hewman]

Thanks for the review, I didn't realise the complexity they were able to cram into that little set before I saw the review. And at that price of $19.99 from toycorner, I think I'll just have to take the 15 minute drive to the shop and pick one up.

[Izzy]

Thanks for the review, I didn't realise the complexity they were able to cram into that little set before I saw the review. And at that price of $19.99 from toycorner, I think I'll just have to take the 15 minute drive to the shop and pick one up.

Damn you for being so close! I just got my 'next review' from them in the mail about 5 minutes ago! They are all out of stock! i ordered about 5 small sets off the website and they emailed me saying they had NOT ONE of them left. Now their cheapest set (that I don't already have) is 29.99. Boo Hoo Hoo for me! and BOO for them.