Fun with Modular Hogwarts __________________________ Thanks once again to LEGO for providing sets 76386 through 76389 to Eurobricks for review. Stay tuned for my review of Hogsmeade after this article. Now that I've covered 76386 Hogwarts: Polyjuice Potion Mistake, 76387 Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter, and 76389 Hogwarts: Chamber of Secrets in separate reviews, it's time to play around with combining them together. They're designed to be swapped, stacked, and re-arranged after all! Therefore I wanted to push the new modular system to its limits and share the results with you. __________________________ THE MODULES Broken down into their modular parts, these three Hogwarts sets contain a total of 15 modules: 2 8x24 modules, 4 8x16 modules, 3 8x8 modules, and 5 8x8 roof modules, and 1 8x16 roof module. 76395 Hogwarts: First Flying Lesson, which wasn't provided for review, will add an additional 2 8x8 modules and 2 8x8 roof modules, plus a 10x4 connector module which is less usable in the system so can be discounted. Now, looking at all of these modules, there are logical ways to combine them and less logical ways - I will show you some of each! They do provide a good amount of variety to start with, as all of them have different exteriors and even the conical roof bits have slightly different builds. __________________________ A STANDARD CONFIGURATION Here's a configuration similar to what's suggested on the box. The play feature sections are aligned so that they work: namely, the trapdoor from the Forbidden Corridor is placed over the Devil's Snare, and the bathroom from Polyjuice Potion is placed over the Chamber of Secrets slide. The Great Hall is kept as it comes in its set, and there's a reasonable amount of verticality without going overboard. Personally, the DADA classroom with all the windows being on the same level as the rocky parts looks a bit strange and not ideal, but it's necessary in this configuration to make the play features align. The inside will always make a bit less sense, as there are no doors provided between rooms and things like bathrooms, classrooms, and corridors will abut indiscriminately. I don't think this will bother most children terribly much, though it might have bothered me as a child since I liked things to somewhat mirror real-world situations. There's a good variety of spaces in which to play and stage scenes in these three sets alone: a bathroom, a place for eating, a place for learning, a blank-slate hallway for confrontations or whatever else you'd like, an office, and a few others. Indeed the components of 76387 Fluffy Encounter are elevated by being combined with the other sets, though that doesn't excuse the fact that they're of so little use in their own set. Populated with figures as I've done here, Hogwarts becomes quite lively quite quickly. But enough of the standard configuration. __________________________ THE TWO TOWERS Many people want to know if they can combine the Great Hall with previous Hogwarts sets and forget that it's the Great Hall. You not only can, but you can quite easily. The Great Hall is designed with the same modularity as all the other modules, and once you've shaken up the arrangement, it looks like just another Hogwarts segment. Now I have kept only the rocky bits on ground level. (Note I had two roof bits leftover in this configuration.)   On the interior this configuration makes a bit more logical sense. If I swapped the towers around, there'd be a classroom and a bathroom with a corridor in between, and the eating area off on its own level with some balconies adjoining. The play feature sections are also still where they need to be. __________________________ THE THREE TOWERS This configuration doesn't look so good with all the 8x16 modules all stacked up, but hey, it's a thing you can do. It also demonstrates different possibilities with the Great Hall's roof to make it less Great Hall like. The interior is a jumble now. __________________________ THE VERTICAL DOLL'S HOUSE Howabout smushing it all together for one solid slab of Hogwarts? It's a look but I wouldn't say it's a vibe. This configuration begins to demonstrate that the rocky modules don't have to be on ground level, but more of that to come. This one also actually reverts to keeping the play feature sections where they need to be to function, but once again the room placement makes little sense overall. Looks like McGonagall has some explaining to do down in the dungeon. __________________________ FARTHER AFIELD Time to throw inhibitions out the window and mix it up. Here's one I'm calling "The 39 Steps": And if you didn't believe me yet that the Chamber of Secrets modules function just like all the rest, now you will: __________________________ ASTRONOMY TIME If you have 2020's 75969 Hogwarts Astronomy Tower, did you ever notice that the tower itself is a semi-removal 8x8 module? It certainly struck me as odd when building it, because none of the previous Hogwarts sets did that. It doesn't work seamlessly in this system because the upper half has overhanging pieces, but it can be placed on top of an 8x8 module just fine with nothing to either side. The lower half doesn't share the same type of base or orientation of pin holes, but it can receive 8x8 modules. Now there's even more varied space in which to play. __________________________ CONCLUSIONS Playing around with the new modular Hogwarts system has been enormously fun and satisfying. While a little care is needed, the modules disconnect from each other and reconnect to each other smoothly and easily, and once connected they feel very stable. You can be confident moving them around without a resulting floor littered with bricks and tears. There are perhaps not an abundance of configurations that look great from the outside, but it's not too limited either. Playing around for an hour for this article, I came up with several passable solutions. My particular favourite would be what I called "The Two Towers", as it looks nice from the outside and has a logical layout inside, in my opinion. I'd be remiss not to briefly mention the comparison between this system and the original modular system found across the 2001 and 2002 Hogwarts sets. I have plenty of those (including two copies of the Dueling Club for some reason), and let me tell you, you certainly would NOT want to move that Hogwarts around without detaching all of the modules. Also, most of those besides arguably 4709 Hogwarts Castle itself only had one favourable side, while these sets work from the exterior and interior. This revamped system is a true elevation of the concept: lots of varied spaces and details, strong modular connections, and all in all a host of possibilities. Looking at these three sets together does not change my opinion of each one by itself. Sets should always provide a self-contained experience, that can be heightened by combining with other sets to be sure, but not take for granted that that combination will happen. 76386 Polyjuice Potion Mistake and 76389 Chamber of Secrets are both good in their own right, while 76387 really exists only for Fluffy and to lie in wait to be combined with the others. That said, all together, they do make a rewarding experience. __________________________ What do you think? How are you planning to arrange these sets? Do you have another arrangement you'd like me to try? Let me know in the comments!