KristofBD Posted February 4, 2011 (edited) [Note@mods: I just noticed that there was already a review of Diagon alley. If this review has no added value, please remove it]. Some time ago, I went to the LEGO store in Cologne to buy the Harry Potter Diagon Alley set. When I arrived there, there were five sets on the shelves. When I left 2 hours later on, only one of them was left. For a set that costs 149.99 euro, this is quite remarkable, I would say. The lady behind the counter told me that the set was indeed hugely popular. So is this set really worth all the fuzz? Read on and find out! Set Information Set Number: 10217 Pieces: 2025 Set Line: Harry Potter Price: 149.99 euro Release Date: January 2011 Review First, regarding the box and the instructions, there's nothing spectacular here. The box is the same size as the Hogwarts castle box. Given the high number of pieces this means the box is filled for 3/4. The good thing about the instructions, is that the booklets and the sticker sheet are packed in plastic with a piece of cardboard. Hence, the three booklets and the sheet were in perfect condition. The booklet are normal in the sense that everything works the way it should. The last pages show the play functions of the set. 1. The Cast Now let's move to the more interesting parts of the set. Surely the cast is one of the reasons to get this set. There's some usual suspects (Hagrid, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lucius Malfoy, Fenrir Greyback) next to some exclusive minifigs (most importantly Ollivander, the two goblins and... the Weasley twins. (Sorry for the background noise on the pics - I have too much lego...) Ron, Harry and Hermione are in leisure suit. Next up are Ollivander and the two goblins. The Goblins are somewhat disappointing. Their torsos are the same as the old goblins, and so are their heads. At a time when even animals are printed, I think it is normal to expect the goblins to have at least eye printing. They don't however The hands of Ollivander are darker flesh. I guess that is a mistake However, I fiulled in the form on the lego-site and got a replacement without any delay. Ollivander also has a double-sided head. The twins are really gorgeous! The colour of their suit is great, their facial expressions are good, and have backprinting. The details on these guys are simply perfect. The Weasley twins are certainly one of the highlights of the set. Before I I will discuss the main buildings, just a few shots of the extra subsets. Normally these would be worth examining closer, but they are really peanuts compared to the rest of the set, so I’ll just present some pictures. The first half of the extra subsets is nice. We get four owls, a rat and a bat in this set. The second half of the subsets is less interesting. Two cauldrons - but they are a bit unnecessary (I have enough of them already). 2. Ollivander’s Regarding the other pieces of interest, I will discuss them per subset as there are so many interesting pieces! First up is Ollivander's store. This set features lots of gold pieces, two white plumes (one extra), two Prince of Persia slopes in tan, the Maurauder map, 16 dark tan pieces and 4 dark red square pieces. Not bad. Oh and next to that it features a lot of sand green pieces. Personally, I don't like the colour, hence I did not include in this section. The build is fairly simple. Except for the hinges used to give the windows the round shape, I learned no new building techniques. The whole building breathes the atmosphere of the 19th century. The side view of the buildings are nice. I like the poster with Sirius Black on it. The other side features a somewhat odd “roof”. I don’t see why it should be there. The colours (dark red and gold) are very nice though. So may be this is LEGO treating its fan with some nice extra bricks? (Note: the upper part of the building is the same as on the other side, hence I did not include it in the picture) In fact, there are a lot of hidden 'extra bricks'. For instance, underneath the roof of Ollivander's, there are two tan 4x1 SNOT bricks. They are invisible and the SNOT function is not used at all. Further on in the roof, there are two 4x2 dark green bricks that are also invisible. Nice bricks, but completely hidden. The interior is nicely detailed. The counter has a somewhat odd play function. So what do I think about this building? Well, somebody said that it just is a bit odd. I agree. I think the main problem here is the colour scheme. The sand green does not match the dark blue roof tiles and the tan and dark tan bricks on the ground floor. Additionally, the side windows on the first floor seem to be ‘flying’. Overall I was a bit disappointed with this building, as when I first saw it online, I thought this building was the main catch. 2. Borgin and Burkes. Luckily the other two buildings really made up for the relatively weaker Ollivander’s store. Especially the Borgin and burkes store is an absolute win. At first I found this building quite boring as its interior is quite empty. However that is the only downside about this set and it is made up by all the other wonderful features it has. First the pieces of interest. I only showed just a few of them. The Weasley twin comes with this part of the set and one of them (is it Fred or is it George? ) has a chocolate frog. The other has a copy of the Daily Prophet. There are also a lot of glow in the dark pieces (23!). And overall this building really looks creepy in the dark because the bricks are well distributed over the whole of the store. Well done LEGO! Furthermore, there are 13 dark purple round bricks. They will serve to be the flowers on the plants attached to the ‘chapel’ and the roof of the store. We also get the Bellvile piece and Prince of Persia slope in black and lots of dark green pieces, including 25 windows. (everything in this set seems to come in large quantities…). I am absolutely in love with the roof. The build is so clever and creative that it was pure fun to build it. Overall the build of Borgin and Burkes was the most difficult, but also the most pleasing as it was clever and not repetitive. An absolute joy… The building itself looks great from the outside. It also breathes the atmosphere of the 19th century. The right side view is also nice. It shows a number of papers attached to the wall. Very nice sticker. A close-up of the sticker: The lower roof is also a bit funny. 12 black skeleton legs are used to attach the poles to. Given the sinister nature of the store, I find this very fitting. The interior is a bit empty. Both ‘means of transport’ are nice, but especially compared to the other two buildings the interior is quite modest. There is also a play feature included in this building. As Fenrir demonstrates, the chimney can be turned. 3. Gringott’s bank The bank comes with the goblins and Harry and Hagrid. There are an insane amount of white bricks used in this build. The whole building will be decorated with SNOTted tiles, so we get a lot of the snot- and studless bricks. Furthermore we get 29 Greek pillar round bricks and a lot of studless dark red bricks for the entrance. We also get a gate, a Power Miner crystal and the pirates coins (which will be located in the safe inside the bank). Overall, great stuff. As the Goblin shows, there is some room for minifigs to stand. The build was less spectacular than Borgin and Burkes. Yet this may simply be due to the fact that I was just still in memory of that build. The building is top notch. Everything is perfect. It is also very symmetrical, which is why I liked the build of Borgin and Burkes a bit more. I like the interior. The chandelier is very well done and fits well. The office desk and the vault are also very nice. Overall the interior looks very suited. Though the building looks fairly small on pictures, it is actually quite large. Even when closed, the building is impressive in real life. Opened it looks, however, best. The diagonal columns are also very nicely done. Part of the 'mystery' lies here: The columns remain firmly euh diagonal because on top they have this piece: It floats in a 3x1 empty space. Clever indeed... Rating. So how do I feel about this set? Build: 10 Great build. Especially Borgin and Burkes… Design: 9.5 Again, Borgin and Burkes and Gringott’s bank are some of the best LEGO has ever built. Minifigures: 9.5 Three exclusive figs, two semi-exclusive (the goblins) and the main characters in fairly rare clothes – I say this is a win. My only beef lies with the Goblins: their faces should have been printed. Playability: 8 Two explicit playability features, but you can forget about them. The real playing lies with the figs and the buildings. Price: 9 Steep, but nevertheless worth it. There are so many pieces included in this set – and many of them are rare. Overall: 46/50 A classic set already. Definitively worth all the fuzz! Edited February 4, 2011 by KristofBD Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lt.Gonville brickhead Posted February 4, 2011 Great review Kristof That's another thing on my wanted list. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artifex Posted February 4, 2011 Wow, thanks a lot for the review! A must-have, for sure! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prateek Posted February 4, 2011 Nice review. This set is great, but for the price, there is tough competition. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Masked Builder Posted February 5, 2011 Good review! The new Weasley brothers look great, and are quite mischievous looking. Now I really want this...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juppy Posted February 6, 2011 (edited) Nice to see someone with a different opinion! Finally someone who appreciates Borgin and Burkes' exterior! A problem though is the location of the glow in the dark bricks. I'm guessing the reason behind the designer's placement of the glow in the dark bricks around the skeleton is to illuminate it at night. Works well in theory, in real life however, the bricks surrounding the glow in the dark bricks limit the light exposure to it so the bricks won't illuminate much in the night. Despite that, still darn good to see a strip of green light from my lego when I turn off the lights! Edited February 6, 2011 by Juppy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KristofBD Posted February 8, 2011 @Juppy: When I first saw the Borgin and Burkes store, I was also skeptical. Especially the interior seemed so empty. However, I think this is a typical building that grows while you are building it. The build is so clever and all in all the exterios really looks good in real life. Regarding the glow in the dar pieces, I noticed that as well. Luckily there are a lot of those pieces in the roof. Those bricks do light up easier. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miss Kyle Posted February 10, 2011 Nice review, thanks so much! I bought it on Tuesday, but I haven't built it yet. I'll spend five weeks studying in the UK from tomorrow on and will save the set for when I come back. Can't wait!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silverface Posted April 4, 2011 Hi! Thanks for the review! This set is quite expensive set, so do you think it's worth it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miss Kyle Posted April 4, 2011 Glad someone brought the topic back up. I built my Diagon Alley last week and it is fantastic. All the detail, all the minifigs and the lovely colours - amazing Lego experience. I love every bit of it. I doesn't quite reach my favourite, The Burrow, but it's a close second! :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
travisco_nabisco Posted April 15, 2011 Great review. I just finished building the set and agree with your conclusions. Ollivander's was a boring and didn't feel right, but the other two buildings are fantastic. The one thing I noticed when building the roof of Ollivander's was that the blue roof tiles actually were inconsistently dyed. I had four that were a deeper blue than the rest. I don't mind as it adds a bit more texture but wondered if anyone else found this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KristofBD Posted April 15, 2011 @Travisco: I did not have that problem, but I agree that it can actually a bit of extra texture and is not necessarily a bad thing. @Silverface: It is indeed a very expensive set, but the building experience is great. Additionally, I sold the parts that I did not really care about (ollivander's and Gringott's bank) for more than 90 euro's. In the end I have Borgin and Burkes, Lucius Malfoy and the Weasley brothers left. I got a bid of 15 euros for the Weasleys, so just selling those two already recuperates a lot of money. If you want to keep it all, 150 euro is a lot, but the building experience is great and inspiring - this set is clearly made by the best designers. @Miss Kyle: I agree that overall the Burrow is slightly better - but then again, that set is simply one of the best sets ever in my view. Nevertheless, the building techniques used in Diagon Alley are somewhat better I think. I would recommend this set to everyone who can afford it - it is definitively worth it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Invader Zim Posted April 15, 2011 Regarding the spare interior of Borgin and Burkes, I've found the accessories from the 7955 Wizard impulse set from Kingdoms look good added to the interior and fill just the right amount of space. I'm sorry I don't have the set up right now to take a picture in place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
legojazzbricks Posted April 17, 2011 wow i have just ordered this set i hope it comes soon i think it will look great next to the mmv and my other costom biuldings Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blackknight112 Posted April 17, 2011 Nice review. this set is awsome.but I'm not getting it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miss Kyle Posted April 18, 2011 Regarding the spare interior of Borgin and Burkes, I've found the accessories from the 7955 Wizard impulse set from Kingdoms look good added to the interior and fill just the right amount of space. I'm sorry I don't have the set up right now to take a picture in place. Ha, I just ordered that one, too! :D Can't wait to add it to my Alley set. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gogocar Posted April 18, 2011 Like the review and the set. However, I'm to poor to get it . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO AFOL Posted May 3, 2011 (edited) Very nice set. Thumbs up. I believe this is a popular set. Edited May 3, 2011 by LEGO AFOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Flying Dutchman Posted May 11, 2011 thanks for the review: thumbs up! It's likable one of may favourit sets to get, though it's also priced steep (as you mentioned). I love the B&B feautures and sure would like to add the twins to my collection. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Benn Posted May 13, 2011 I'd love to see these buildings alongside some of the other period buildings such as Medieval Market village - as a contrast to my nice and new Mular Building street, I'd also love to make a small 'old town' area, with ye olde buildings like this and narrow alleyways for streets, just for a bit of atmosphere - will probably be where all the tourists go so might have to convert at least one of the buildings to a terrible souvenir shop ;-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roodaksta Posted May 13, 2011 Nice review KristofBD. The price, well, 149 dollars for 2000+ pieces, that actually one of the most impressive prices, considering the fact that Harry Potter is a licensed product. Anyways it's a nice little review, defiantly a must have set for all HP fans. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Algernon Posted May 17, 2011 I am absolutely in love with this set. It just oozes that Harry Potter atmosphere that everyone knows and loves. I think its a lot better than any of the other models we've gotten from the latest wave (like the new "Hogwarts") and it has all the class of a Town set. I think you've sold me on it, thank you! Great review. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO AFOL Posted May 18, 2011 wow i have just ordered this set i hope it comes soon i think it will look great next to the mmv and my other costom biuldings I also want to put it next to my MMV. I have decided to put this instead of Mill village raid. This is more compatible with MMV compared to 7189. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. McDuck Posted May 18, 2011 Great review! The set is also very cool and it uses some nice building techniques and it almost looks too good to be a LEGO set. I hope I will get it in the future. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
