REVIEW: LEGO Harry Potter 4842 Sveltewarts Hogwarts

[Svelte]

** Note: all pics link to high-res versions on my flickr stream **

Introduction and Overview

Impatient for the release of the new Harry Potter 4842 Hogwarts Castle, I built my own version using reference pics from the catalogue and fbtb's excellent photostream from Toy Fair. Due to parts availability there are some colour differences but I actually prefer some of my changes! As far as I can tell, the overall structure is 99% accurate, but I have changed some interior details

The main difference is the lack of tan corner castle walls and dark tan log bricks and arches. I bought lots of tan wedge pieces but found that I liked them better with the notched side mainly facing outwards for that ridged column effect. I also tend to think the castle looks better in all tan than it does with a mix of dark tan and tan. I also tweaked the sand green roof and made better colour choices for some of the tiling. I do like the original's stained glass windows, but didn't have the right trans-bricks boos!

It was a joy just to work out what the designers had done. I tell you what, this monster chews up tan bricks! It looks like it will be an amazing parts pack.

The inside is crammed with detail. Harry Potter sets have always been one of the best lines for great interior detailing and play features, and this set is no exception.

The tour begins! First stop, the Great Hall

Let's begin our magical mystery tour of Hogwarts Castle with the most stunning room - the Great Hall. We haven't seen this in LEGO form since 2001 - and I did like the soaring heights of that verison, although the skinny footprint did mean it turned to topple. This one has a much broader ground area to avoid that problem.

You can see that in the absence of brown windows, I've used dark green ones. I've also got rid of the ugly bley tiles on the sand green roof and changed the jumper plates on the crenellation to a more coordinated tan.

The entrance to the Great Hall. Imposing!

Inside, a capacious feast awaits the students of Hogwarts. On the menu: roast turkey, cake, croissants and green cherries. Don't eat it all at once! You'll be sick.

There's a lectern for whichever teacher is speaking, with two wooden chairs on either side for faculty to rest. The Sorting Hat can be rested on the pearl gold slopes on the lectern if you wish to re-enact that ceremony. (Go on Harry, turn to the dark side - you know you want to!)

The flambeaux can also be detached and waved around dramatically or used to light a bonfire, whichever you prefer.

Ooh, Hermione has a love-letter! Clearly not from Ron, he's too busy stuffing his face, as usual. Face it people, Herms settled a bit, considering the other high-class man-totty she had on offer *sigh*

The cake is a work of genius. Who needs special pieces for such things when basic bricks exist!

Gryffindor Tower/ Astronomy Tower/ Room of Requirement

Next let's take a look at the gloomiest part of the Castle containing a locked case containing a mysterious book and the Vanishing Cabinet linked to Borgin and Burkes' store in Knockturn Alley. I think all the red-brown bricks with bars dotted here and all over the rest of the facade are intended to be easy Dementor hand-holds when they're terrorising the students.

Before we venture inside, we can see the modular system which connects the parts of the Castle. Basically little submodels with connecting Technic pins plug into 1x2 Technic bricks at the base of each submodel. It's a clever and very flexible solution. I imagine the official release will use proper 1x2 Technic bricks with pins rather than just pins as I have (in tan the 1x2 brick with pins is quite rare.)

And plugged in! The castle is quite heavy so it's best to break it up into two sections before carrying the whole thing around.

The modular nature of the system means that more towers and rooms can be easily added any way you like, either repeating the official sections or creating your own. Eg, the set comes with common rooms for only 2 Houses but you could easily add another tower and make your own. Brilliant!

The furthermost tower is most traditionally castle-like, with a solid, blocky appearance and crenellated roof. The soaring tower containing the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms has a whimsically stepped mini-roof detail.

Severus Snape can view the stars using this telescope atop the Astronomy Tower.The mysterious locked cabinet contains a book of dark power - here, I've used Tom Riddle's diary. Ssssh! Pushing the headlight bricks attached to the flexible handcuffs causes the trans-clear panels to move along a rail and the book to be revealed.

The Room of Requirement seems to have had a spring clean and contains only this imposing looking cabinet, with metallic bolts adding to the ominous feel.

Connected to Borgin and Burke's store in Knockturn Alley, the Vanishing Cabinet allows trespassers to move secretly into Hogwarts without anyone knowing.

Who could possibly be hiding behind these wooden doors? Let's find out.

Uh... maybe not.

Sorry, wrong license, Nizam!

Aah, that's more like it - He Who Shall Not Be Named, Except When He Is, Which Is Like, Constantly - yes, Lord Voldemort himself - resides inside!

I love this soaring roof detail and it's a clever little build. This is the tower that contains the Owlery and the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms - not book-accurate but it would be impossible to fit everything into one LEGO set!

I like the use of sand green corner slopes to expand the Belville roof piece. I hated those green half cones used in the 2007 Hogwarts - they looked dreadful and were just lazy. This new Hogwarts has a much more detailed level of sophistication overall.

The Owlery has room for a few birds. I am very much looking forward to the new printed and highly detailed owls coming in the new set.

Probably the least exciting area, and one I made the most changes to me - mainly from laziness and since the flags in this section pf the official set rely on stickers.

The Gryffindor common room on the top has some kind of push/ pull function where if you push the plate with handle on the outside, something pops out from the fireplace in the common room (Sirius Black message perhaps?). I didn't worry about putting this in my version.

On the middle level, Mr Fitch and Mrs Norris explore the halls looking for miscreants.

But wait, what's behind that blank looking wall?

Rotate the turntable and reveal the Gryffindor Knight!

On the ground floor, Draco Malfoy rues the day he ever laid eyes on Harry Potter. Like all congenitally evil types, he prefers dark green furnishings, black goblets, and the company of snakes.

Dumbledore's office and the Hogwarts Entrance

The final submodel contains the entrance to Hogwarts and Dumbledore's office - again, a rendition of which we haven't seen since 2002.

This is a nice, solid little castle-type building too. The Hogwarts tile is one of the few printed pieces in the new set - I get the feeling they only used it since it was also being used in the Hogwarts Game set and they could spread the printing budget around a bit. (Overuse of stickers is the bane of the new line as far as I can tell, although the designs and figs are overall fab,)

This is a two-storey building, with the Sorting Hat on the roof and Dumbledore's office and the entrance below.

On the ground floor is a cabinet with some trophies and a chest containing the spell tile from the Dragons Wizard Impulse set, as seen in the catalogue pics - the designers really are recycling every printed piece they can!

The spiral staircase is one of those things that AFOLs generally hate - I can't say I mind them, although they do take up a lot of space for something that is essentially useless since figs can't stand on the steps without immediately falling off.

The potions originally shown in the Toy Fair pics were kind of dull so I've taken the opportunity to spice up Dumbledore's magical cabinets with more exotic ingredients. The orb and microscope are in the set. I've also given Dumbledore pearl gold trim on his chair - let's face it, he deserves it.

The topmost roof is recessed for a very practical reason - so you can easily place Dumbledore on his chair without breaking the furniture! Haha!

Hogwarts Interior - general pics

Here's some more shots of all the parts of the Castle assembled together. There's a lot crammed into this set! All the colours and details definitely make it enticing and thoroughly enjoyable to play around with.

The students of Hogwarts play 'Spot the Dementor' much as Muggles play 'Where's Wally?'

It really does just look so lovely.

Oooooogh! Headspin! You can pretend you're on a broomstick whilst viewing this pic, ha!

Massively detailed and filled with bricky goodness, 4842 is easily the best of the four Hogwarts Castles and the most satisfying to build, with the 2004 version coming second, the underrated 2001 set coming third, and the vile abomination of the 2007 version (greenhouse excluded) a pathetic last.

Modular arrangements

The modular connection system means you can recombine the set in many different ways. Here's one option!

Even changing the angle of the hinges makes the Castle look wildly different - this is the same as above, just with the towers placed at different angles.

Another rearrangement. Love the Dementor weather vane.

Caption fun!

Albus Dumbledore's dreams were so strange that even a Dementor dared not intrude on his odd mental hallucinations. Whatever could they mean?

'Give me back my outfit, you purple pantalooned poser!' screamed the Series 2 Vampire.

'Take a number,' said Snape. 'Dastan wants his hair back first.'

Conclusion

A brilliant set! I can't wait for the real thing, especially since the official figs look so brilliant and there are many nice new parts. I am not looking forward to the horrendous sticker application - I can live with small decals like newspapers and paintings where it would be silly to have printed tiles, but having stickers on 8 identical castle corner pieces will just look cheap. From learning how to put this set together, I do appreciate just how many parts there are and I think it is easily the best of all the Hogwarts Castles. It has the right mix between solidity, detail and playability - and doesn't feel flimsy or gappy like some of the earlier incarnations. With only 4 weeks to official release, you may start getting excited now!

[BillytheKid]

Those minifigs are different form the pic of brickset?

[takuto20]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for showing us your work! What fun you must have had recreating this. I too can't wait for the sets to be released, yay!!

[lightningtiger]

AWESOME job 'Svelte' - I can't wait for October now !

I'm a conformist! !

[Ras 74]

Great review of the upcoming HP castle Svelte.

It is just such a wierd idea to actually pre-build a set that soon will be released on the market. I love that idea.

Nice to see all the features of this great model. Even better to actually see it live as well

@AFOL12v: Read the first lines in the review again please:

Impatient for the release of the new Harry Potter 4842 Hogwarts Castle, I built my own version using reference pics from the catalogue and fbtb's excellent photostream from Toy Fair.

[Special K]

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!

You are truly skilled!!!

Cant wait for the real thing now!!!!

[Matn]

This is great! Thanks for the review. It's indeed a bit weird reading and admiring detailed photo's of a set that isn't released yet. Really nice idea of already making the upcoming set, with the few pictures that are around. I think you did a great job, the cornered walls looks very good (perhaps better than the stickered cornered panels).

I agree, this set looks better than the other three. It certainly tops the 2001 and 2007 version (which had awesome parts and minifigures, but really the build should have been better than the 2004 version). I think this set would fit nicely with the 2004 version if you change the dark bluish grey roof in sand green. If I have this beautiful set, I'll probably rebuild the 2004 and make a comparison review.

You really got me excited (even more).

[SuperChris]

I said in the other thread that this was brilliant, and it still stands! Any chance of a picture of it all folded up, Svelte?

Great work Svelte!

I also love the David Yates comment in the poll!

[Izzy]

Just brilliant Svelte!

As I was lucky enough to get my sticky hands all over this baby for real, I'd just like to say, it is (and is going to be) a brilliant set. I wasn't so sold in the real one myself yet but you have affirmed in me that I must have it no matter what.

Lovely details!

Please tell me I haven't missed the deadline and I can still enroll for Sveltewarts?

[metalandi]

Those minifigs are different form the pic of brickset?

You haven't even read the introduction of his review, right?

great job svelte, at the first look it really looks like the actual, upcoming set! I can't wait till it comes out, usually not a harry potter fan, but that castle is just superb with all those details.

[Rick]

Woohoo Svelte, you're really turning this into a habit. And you went straight from the PoP promotional (p)review to a set this size!

I already read the whole review on flickr yesterday (maybe you should set the pictures to private until you release the review on EB, so that EB still has the premiere). This looks like a nice play set. The modularity is a great feature. The Great Hall is my absolute favorite section (dark-green looks great for windows by the way). I like your substitutes for the tan corner walls (they look much better than the original, but that's probably also due to the ugly stickers(?) on the corner pieces). I do like the dark-tan breaking up the tan in the official version though. I did a quick comparison of the different Hogwarts versions and I agree with your ranking, this is definitely the best yet.

[Ferder]

Do the hinge joins that connect the modules allow for the set to fold up in a way that looks good?

[RileyC]

Fantastic review Svelte!

This looks like a great set with all the characters in it. However from this line Im only looking for the main three, Harry, Ron, Hermione so Ill only buy Hagrid's hut. It looks like a really good set with heaps of playability and detail. However the outside details kinda seem out of proportion.

Are you able to take up close pictures of the minifigs? Id love to see some real pictures of them and not the graphic ones lego has put up.

Thanks for the review!

[It All Ends Here]

It's really awesome, now I can't wait for October! (Where can you get Filch's torso?)

[metalandi]

Are you able to take up close pictures of the minifigs? Id love to see some real pictures of them and not the graphic ones lego has put up.

The minifigs in his review aren't the real minifigs that come with the original set, cause the review doesn't feature the original set. Read the description once more...

But i believe that there was a flickr folder from someone that took pictures at a toy fair where the original set was shown, and there were high-res pictures in which you could also see the figs.

[Svelte]

What fun you must have had recreating this. I too can't wait for the sets to be released, yay!!

Yes! It was fun! I started before we had a firm release date - I didn't know it would be so soon.

Nice to see all the features of this great model. Even better to actually see it live as well

You are one of the chosen few

I think you did a great job, the cornered walls looks very good (perhaps better than the stickered cornered panels).

Yeah, I kind of like them now I agree that the 2004 is second best, but I do have a fondness for the 2001 version - it was one of my first big sets out of my Dark Ages. Sadly I dissolved it into parts years ago, but I spent a bit of time recently restoring it in a bley/ dark bley version (you can tell I've been HP obsessed).

I said in the other thread that this was brilliant, and it still stands! Any chance of a picture of it all folded up, Svelte?

You'd think it would fold logically up like the 2007 version into a neat box... but it doesn't. The dining hall floor hits the octagonal plate of Gryffindor Tower and it doesn't quite work.

Please tell me I haven't missed the deadline and I can still enroll for Sveltewarts?

Of course. You're one of the other chosen few!

I do like the dark-tan breaking up the tan in the official version though.

Dark tan 1x4 arches and logs just weren't an option, but I will certainly be comparing the official model to this one.

Do the hinge joins that connect the modules allow for the set to fold up in a way that looks good?

Not really - see above.

Are you able to take up close pictures of the minifigs? Id love to see some real pictures of them and not the graphic ones lego has put up.

What metalandi said - these are just my own substitutes. The real figs are much more awesome!

It's really awesome, now I can't wait for October! (Where can you get Filch's torso?)

Filch's torso is from a Speed Racers set - the unloved but very useful line for great fleshie minifig parts!

[RileyC]

The minifigs in his review aren't the real minifigs that come with the original set, cause the review doesn't feature the original set. Read the description once more...

My bad! Silly me I totally must have brushed over the intro. It just looks so real! Congrats Svelte you did a really great job on fooling me.

[Strand]

Amazing! I've never been really excited about the HP sets but this one looks fantastic. You're probably in the know Svelte (being probably the most active contributor in the Aussie bargains thread), so what's a good place to pick this set up for Aus? Very interested.

[Svelte]

Amazing! I've never been really excited about the HP sets but this one looks fantastic. You're probably in the know Svelte (being probably the most active contributor in the Aussie bargains thread), so what's a good place to pick this set up for Aus? Very interested.

*rubs crystal ball*

I predict most chains will mark it down to $AUD150 at some point in the leadup to Xmas as a special sale item (25% off retail.) Bargain! If Myer does a buy 2 get 1 free deal you could combine it with the Passenger Train to get something else pretty good

[Masked Builder]

Great review! While I haven't read the books (stupid library for not having them!) it looks pretty good. Maybe I will get this set...

[I Scream Clone]

Well done, though I think my son will be just as jealous as me for missing out on this beauty IRBrick. Nice name btw

Liking the use of the angled walls turned inside out as well.

[DJ Force]

I like the interior of this set, but I´m absolutly not sold with the outside. It almost looks microscale to me. Would´ve prefered less rooms, but more properly executed proportions.

[Scouty]

Very cool that you rebuilt the whole Hogwarts castle from just pictures. Awesome job!

And the review was lovely and enjoyable to read, thanks for creating it !

[ZO6]

Aren't Lego blocks such a wonderful thing? One can essentially recreate just about any other set using parts in their own collection!

This looks superb, Svelte! Though the corner wall panels were a dead giveaway that this wasn't the official set, you've done a marvelous job recreating the castle. I agree a number of the changes that you've made (often without a choice) do look better than the real set, but I am still very much looking forward to the legit copy as I haven't been this satisfied with how a set looks in a while. It's great to see such a wonderful brick built structure, the exterior looks very nice and the interior is massively detailed.

Thanks for sharing your creation!

*drool*

[Sandy]

This really is a wonderful reconstruction of the upcoming set, and the fact that so many people thought it was the real deal only emphasizes how great it is.

The building itself is superb, and makes me lust for the new Hogwarts even more. I have to ask you, though, why didn't you make your own Flitwick for the set, and instead included Ron and Draco? Do you have something against the teacher of Charms, huh?