[REVIEW] 76400 Hogwarts Carriage and Thestrals

[Clone OPatra]

It's not everyday you find a USD $20 set with an identity crisis. These days, that price point will barely give you one thing let alone multiple things that don't get along. But an identity crisis is exactly what we get in:

SET INFORMATION
Number: 76400
Name: Hogwarts Carriage and Thestrals
Theme: Wizarding World
Released: 2022
Part Count: 121
Minifigures: 2
Set Price (RRP): 19.99 EUR / 17.99 GBP / 32.99 AUD / 19.99 USD / 24.99 CAD
Links: Brickset, Bricklink

INTRODUCTION
We're going to get right into this. No box pics. No fluff. It's a small set and it is what it is.

But what it is is two different things from two different scenes. We have the Thestral-borne carriage that takes 2+ Years to Hogwarts on one hand, and a representation of that weird scene where Luna is feeding a baby Thestral for some reason on the other. Do the two make for a natural pairing? Possibly. Does the pairing work? Let's find out.

Thank you to LEGO for providing this set at Eurobricks' request.

THE MINIFIGURES
As always I appreciate the Harry Potter team's dedication to providing ultra-specific, scene accurate Minifigures. Harry with added blue jacket and Luna in her lavender cardigan with shoulder bag perfectly match the scene where she feeds the baby Thestral (film colour-grading notwithstanding).

We certainly didn't need these two variants, but they are nice. Something extra for a contingent of Gryffindors, and a multi-purpose torso from Luna. Apart from the torsos, everything else has been seen before.

They include all of the accessories necessary for the scene: the shoulder bag recoloured into dark blue, an apple that the baby Thestral doesn't want, a dark red 1x1 to be the piece of meat that the baby Thestral does want, wands because every Wizard always needs a wand, and the Quibbler thrown in for Luna's introduction on the carriage (though of course her outfit doesn't match that scene).

THE THESTRALS
Mama Thestral remains unchanged from 75951 Grindelwald's Escape, where it was introduced, while baby Thestral is brand new. The big one has a good creepy look and imposing stature, though it is a shame that it has zero articulation for the mould itself. Yes you can flap the added on wings, but that's it.

The baby Thestral looks cute with its weeny little wings moulded right on. I have no complaints with the piece LEGO has created, but my nagging question is: did anyone really want this? Did anyone find the Harry Potter line sorely lacking one? It is cool to get, the mould is well done, but out of all the things this line still needs, this one feels like an odd choice. Even a new Grim within this very wave would have been a better use of a creature mould.

THE TREE SCENE
LEGO loves little trees when they can't think of anything else. It's nothing new. Way back in my review of 4865 The Forbidden Forest eleven years ago, I deemed 2011 to be the year of the tree.

At least that set went with dark shades for a spooky look. This set goes for brighter shades that don't convey the look of the forest in the slightest. It's also so darn small that the lowest branch only barely clears Harry's head, unlike all of the extremely tall trees in the film.

While the attention to screen accuracy in the figures, accessories and Thestral gives the sense that real care went into recreating this scene, the tree fails.

THE CARRIAGE SCENE
Finally we come to the carriage, and it succeeds! Of course it's a tad too large as LEGO's renditions of small vehicles tend to be, but it has good detail all around and scales with the Thestral well enough.

The carriage has plenty of space to seat four characters like it does in the film, plus has pleasant details like an opening door at the rear and a nod towards a staircase down to the ground. It works from all angles.

In fact, with the carriage hitched up to the Thestral and two figures atop it, this looks like a complete $10-$15 set.

THE (ACTUAL) COMPLETE SET
Unfortunately, the set had to go ahead and include the tree scene. Not only does the tree not look great by itself - it looks ludicrous next to the carriage, which absolutely dwarfs it.

Maybe the real purpose of the tree is to stage the scene where Harry (and co, mostly not included) flies off to the Ministry, but that's a tongue-in-cheek stretch.

CONCLUSION
If it wasn't already clear, 76400 Hogwarts Carriage and Thestrals is a half-good set that gets mired with its lousy half. The adult Thestral is good (though sadly lacking articulation) and the carriage is good. The baby Thestral is cute but didn't need to exist, especially before other stuff like a proper Grim or Fang. The tree sucks.

Honestly if the set simply lost the tree and baby Thestral and went for USD $15, I'd call it a great set. If it had to stick to $20, throw in another adult Thestral (people can use more than one anyway), and another minifigure, and you've got a better package than this set. There's still ok value with what you DO get here, but a lackluster overall experience.

SCORE
How do I rate this set?

8 MINIFIGURES

They have good attention to detail and provide a couple of new prints. Nothing amazing or super desirable though.

7 PIECES

There's nothing spectacular about the pieces included, besides the Thestrals themselves and a couple of small accessories. The totally static nature of the adult Thestral lets it down a bit though.

6 DESIGN

I really have to go harsh on this one. The points it earns for design are all for the carriage, and the points it loses are for the tree, which is disinteresting and doesn't match the source material or the rest of the set.

9 PLAYABILITY

To be fair to the set, there's plenty to do with what's included and plenty to play around with.

7 PRICE

The price of $20 is to be expected of a set with the two moulded creatures, but it feels a tad high especially because the tree is such a throwaway build. For a slight discount, it would be ok.

7.4 OVERALL - A set with some good aspects, but that has been padded to meet its price point and winds up including two scenes and builds that don't go together at all.

 

GIFT GUIDE
With the holiday gift-giving season coming up, does 76400 make a good gift compared to other sets at its price point? Looking through the 20 USD/EUR and below sets on LEGO.com, $20 in many other themes will get you at least one more minifigure and/or a more substantial build. Within the Harry Potter line, 76386 Polyjuice Potion Mistake is vastly superior.

For a kid... the play value here is ok, but not stupendous. If they like Harry Potter and don't yet have a Thestral, it's a worthwhile thing to get, and they might not mind the silly size of the tree as much as I do. That said, kids are discerning too.

For an AFOL... the minifigures have a couple of new prints, the bag is new in dark blue though available on Pick a Brick, and the baby Thestral is new. Apart from those things, there isn't much of a draw that would make this a surefire gift.

For a casual LEGO fan... I wouldn't recommend this set. The scenes aren't memorable enough and there's nothing inherently charming about the set.

For a Harry Potter superfan... Even to a Harry Potter superfan I wouldn't say the scenes are memorable enough to matter. Nobody would display this set to show off their love of Harry Potter and the the characters' outfits are inconsequential, so you would have to assess if this HP fan wants the Thestrals to add to their collection. If you have a friend who you just know likes Harry Potter, I wouldn't gravitate towards this set.

 

Next Monday, it's all about family...

[MKJoshA]

Some great thoughts on the Thestrals. I agree the baby Thestral looks great. But was it needed? Maybe not.

[Roebuck]

Lets face it HP are evergreen now so even if we have not gotten moulds for e.g. Fang yet we will it is only a matter of time so I do not agree that the mould is wasted on the juvenile thestral. The tree is not the best, but they rarely are. Other than that it is a great little set with 2 animal moulds and a useful carriage for Hogwarts displays in my mind so thought you where a little hard in your judgment 

Looking forward the see what you have to say about the farm animal battle pack next week (one of my favourite sets this year because of the animals )

NB I think the wings on the adult are new compared to the previous set..

[WhiteFang]

Very nice review. Thank you Clonie for sharing. I enjoyed this small set very much too   

I had modified the carriage slightly in order to accommodate medieval solders. It worked really well.