REVIEW: 71043 Hogwarts™ Castle

[Heppy9]

1 hour ago, Tavis75 said:

Bit late to the party, but have to say that I didn't notice the issue with the bridge that Jang raised while building the set and I'd watched both his videos before the build so I was expecting it, but the parts seemed to fit fine to me.

Only "issue" I did have was an apparently random flower stem piece in the bag that contained the vine pieces, couldn't see it in the instructions and it was the only piece of that type within that specific bag, did I just get a rogue piece or have I missed something? Had all the flower stem pieces I needed to make the trees so it hadn't come from one of the other bags without me noticing. Did anyone else get the piece?

I too didn’t notice any issue connecting the bridge other than it sits at a slight angle. Maybe jang was forcing it to sit straight?

 

i didn’t have a stem piece in that bag so must have been a rogue ?

[Kristof]

On 9/6/2018 at 3:19 PM, Tavis75 said:

Bit late to the party, but have to say that I didn't notice the issue with the bridge that Jang raised while building the set and I'd watched both his videos before the build so I was expecting it, but the parts seemed to fit fine to me.

 

On 9/6/2018 at 4:56 PM, Heppy9 said:

I too didn’t notice any issue connecting the bridge other than it sits at a slight angle. Maybe jang was forcing it to sit straight?

I don't have the set and I still haven't find the time or enthusiasm to build it digitally to make sure Jang's 'prop' he used to demonstrate the issue really corresponds to the layout in the build, but I have to say that I have little to no doubt that he made sure he was correct. And if his prop is correct, then sure enough, there is misalignment, as Jang clearly shows in the second video and as you can see on my picture. The difference is small and given there is longer reach of the parts that get connected by the bridge (hence the distance between the rigid wall and the part where the bridge spans) than on the prop, I can imagine the natural tolerance and flex in part connections allow to insert the bridge smoothly. In fact I am myself surprised that Jang noticed the issue. Nonetheless, I stay positive it is in there. And there is no way he was forcing it straight... did you watch the videos? Such assumptions of someone's repeated big mistake which he even films and shares on video sounds odd to me.

[RedHoodPug]

2 hours ago, krisandkris12 said:

And there is no way he was forcing it straight... did you watch the videos? Such assumptions of someone's repeated big mistake which he even films and shares on video sounds odd to me.

For fear of dragging this out more than it deserves, I would ask this. If some are not experiencing stress in the build, then is their opinion not as valid as those who are? It would suggest that there is no right answer.

[Kristof]

@RedHoodPug Absolutely not :) That is why I intentionally and repeatedly wrote that I think there is enough natural give (inherit to lego construction, the same kind people sometimes use to create curves using stacked offset bricks etc, but that is indeed officially illegal) that you can not tell there is any particular stress. I also wrote that I am surprised that Jang originally noticed the issue and felt - in his words - that too much force needs to be applied to squeeze the bridge in. I have no idea whether I would have noticed myself - I actually think I wouldn't have, because I would have never expected any misalignment in new lego set.

So it is not about the stress, no matter who does experience it or not. It's perception is subjective anyway and it may even physically vary from set to set.

All I keep saying is that whether the build really is as it appears (maybe it is not, and I would be happy if someone takes the time to actually prove Jang and me wrong, but saying 'i built it and felt no extra stress' proves exactly nothing), there is a geometrical mismatch and assembling requires to rely on that slight give in lego parts. Is that a serious problem? I don't think so. Is that surprising and weird? I think it is. I am only interested in this issue because it still bugs me how did it manage to leak in the final design, especially regarding the instructions, and how come it is not apparent in the instructions that the parts don't line up just right. That would actually very strongly suggest that the misalignment doesn't exist, but then again, counting the studs, doing the math, it really looks there is... 

The reason why I responded what you quoted (which I hope doesn't sound excessively negative or discriminating anyway) is that I don't like quickie claims being made that suggest anyone's obvious mistakes that simply aren't correct. Jang was not putting the bridge in straight and everyone who has vision and watched the video can see it. Should whoever say that they simply think the issue is not there, I would likely disagree again and ask them to show some proof or reason, why they think that is, but I wouldn't express any negativity because it is for sure that I can be wrong and so can Jang.

Apologies for dragging this out more than it deserves  I just wanted to make sure I am not appearing as some 'stress feeling' nazi. 

[RedHoodPug]

@krisandkris12 hey don’t worry about it, I’ve no deep attachment to the set. My thinking was that this set has sold really well, and if there was a widespread problem then we would have heard something about it by now, a la the first Ant Man set. Always prepared to be wrong, though 

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

I've spent the last 2 days building the set (with one person helping):

- great hall is way smaller and looks far less detailed in person
- great tower is incredibly big. Especially since the exterior is brick built it's just a very imposing view!
- build was far nicer than I would have thought and very easy, compared to some $70+ sets. I think designers put some work into the instructions, so that repetitive parts can be built more efficient and diversified.

- and once we put both parts together - I had to watch the build in silence for like five minutes. The constant colour scheme, the many building techniques to get the "towerish" shapes look like nothing I've ever seen before in Lego. Without glasses, I wouldn't even recognize this as Lego, from like a meter distance. Overall, if you are unsure to purchase this, you should at least see it in person somehow


Also, I didn't have any problems with the bridge. There may be some stress, but it's very little.

[Tavis75]

I guess with the bridge that there's an awful lot of build between the two anchor points for it, so quite a potential for slight variations in positioning to creep in, which maybe explains why some people see it and others don't. Obviously Jang's mock-up removes some of that so maybe there is an issue with the geometry when everything is lined up exactly but in the castle itself the size of the build allows that misalignment to be spread around a large number of joins, removing the stress, and whether or not you see the issue when trying to fit the bridge simply depends on the exact geometry of your build, which I think could easily vary by a few millimetres.

[Kristof]

^ I can’t agree enough. Nicely summarized :)

[WhiteFang]

Excellent review, Veebs. I enjoyed reading and viewing this majestic review. I could imagine how long you have taken to build and review this. I love the overall built and even though it is microbuilt. It is still very appealing. The minifigures are equally impressive and I now have to decide whether to get this set or just purely getting the minifigures since I really like building sets in minifigure scale better. 

[SassQueen]

On 8/20/2018 at 7:09 AM, Robert8 said:

1. Until the reveal of this sets I never knew a hooded microfigure even existed. I think they need a generic "female" microfigure with long hair. Because some of these just don't work for me. Like Hermione or Bellatrix. The Moaning Myrtle sticker having hair is almost an admission of this

Has anyone ever found a solution of sorts to this?  I'm trying to think of something that will set the female microfigs apart, so they will stand out on display, and am coming up short.

I feel like TLG really needs to come up with something for this.

[Graupensuppe]

Quote

But the scale is just weird.  Its a little to small to be mini-fig compatible.

I removed all the tiny chairs and tables and replaced the microfigures with minifigures, and I think most of the rooms look quite good this way.

At least I don't see any reason to buy the less accurate Great Hall and Whomping Willow sets just to have "minifigure scale" buildings - the scale doesn't actually seem all that different to me.

[ironman66]

Potterhead đây. Tôi chỉ cần đặt một bộ và ngay bây giờ tôi rất vui mừng và chờ mỗi giây cho bộ này để đến nhà tôi. Khi tôi nhận được bộ này, tôi sẽ sớm xem xét.

Edited November 2, 2018 by ironman66

[Joe from Seoul]

This may be an odd request, but could someone upload a "foot print" sketch of the finished build? I would like to assemble a base from blue, green, and grey baseplates and build on that base. I want to make sure I have water, grass, and rock in the right areas.

If I can't find the foot print, I'll just build the display base after the build is done.

Edited April 14, 2019 by Joe from Seoul

[Jaromir]

Hi guys, I am not sure it it's the right topic, but do you know where I can get the mini figures of Hogwart founders with their items in a good price? Thanks for help and sorry if it is off topic.