Clone OPatra

Then which ones don't you like, just the HP one? The only other one there's been is the Toy Story one, and I think it would be hard to dislike four green figures, but of course you may. The only other current small Licensed sets are Star Wars ones, but those are in a different category. I suppose you may be referring to the small Batman sets, which I thought had weak vehicles.

Mine does not; it has the tape. This is probably because I am in the U.S., while you are in Europe.

I think, as you yourself pointed out, that you need to verify all of the contents in order to decide. If everything is sealed, all of the instructions are there, etc. then there is nothing to worry about, and the set truly is mint (even if the box is not so sealed). If there are some things missing, or the bags seem re-sealed, etc. then it is likely the Bricklink seller's fault.

Guys, don't you read? The guy who posted that on FBTB is Greg Hyland, a LEGO cartoonist who also designs preliminary boxes, as he says further down the page. It's quite possible that he could actually get a box of prototypes.

Please don't post in this topic unless you have at least something somewhat substantial to say, as lightning tiger and drevim have. Community is for discussion, not just flaming something or tiny meaningless posts. Personally, I get frustrated with MB because the bricks don't stick together very well. I have a ton of the Dragons stuff, and while some of the rock pieces and baseplates are fairly cool looking, the parts just don't have enough clutch. The figures have loose parts, as well. I'll stick with the excellently clutching LEGO.

Just don't touch it! It's not very difficult to avoid the eyes. Perhaps the fact that it's backordered means that it's selling well, which could be a sign to TLG that making more HP sets is a good option. However, knowing that it takes years to design LEGO sets, I'm sure they already decided a long time ago if more sets are coming after these or not.

I'm on a kick of flooding Licensed with Harry Potter reviews. And why not! Don't worry, soon enough I'll have run clean out of new HP sets to review, but for now let me turn my attention to… Set Title: Freeing Dobby Set #: 4736 Theme: Harry Potter Film Connections: Chamber of Secrets, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix Pieces: 73 Minifigures: 3 Year of Release: 2010 Price at Release: USD 11, GBP 10, CAD 15, EUR 14 Buy it? Inventory? LEGO.com Bricklink INTRODUCTION Freeing Dobby seemed like an odd choice for this new line of Harry Potter sets, since it is very movie specific, while the other sets aren't, for the most part. Still, I had no reservations about buying it whatsoever, since it seemed like a good set for figures. I'll easily drop $11 for a new Lucius and Dobby. Hey, I paid more than that for a single Luna on Bricklink! But I realize that not everybody is the same way, and some people actually care about what comes in a set besides for the figures. So, with any luck, I'll show you what you're really getting if you purchase Freeing Dobby… BOX There's nothing like shiny cardboard! The front sports a fairly comedic picture, with Dobby blasting Mr. Malfoy into the air. The corridor in the background is some beautiful artwork, but of course it doesn't really fit with the odd archway thing that constitutes the non-figure part of the set. This is the only new HP set to feature punch-tabs, which I did not punch. The back reveals Lucius' Death Eater mask, as well as illustrating the play feature. Some nice art, as usual. Harry surveys his Hogwarts approved actual size portrait with scorn. "Why would I look that happy," he mutters to himself. INSTRUCTIONS For some reason, LEGO always bothers to fold its booklets neatly in half for small sets. The front shows off more of the corridor painting. The steps progress pretty slowly, but it's still fast to build because the set is so small to start with. The trio picture that I always like to point out is much less intimidating at the small size. The parts list doesn't take up very much room, being so short. MINIFIGURES In the film, this scene featured Lucius Malfoy, Harry Potter, and Dobby, so LEGO gives us… Lucius Malfoy, Harry Potter, and Dobby. Nobody got left out, for once. The figures will get their own sections, except for Harry. I exhausted everything I had to say about him in my Hagrid's Hut review. Dobby's dirty sack continues on his back, as does Harry's sweater. No back for Mr. Malfoy, but he's got a cape and some luscious blonde hair anyway. Luscious, get it? Hahahaha… *ahem* Dobby Though you might have thought that both the old and new Dobby head moulds were exactly the same, they are actually a tiny bit different. The old one has extremely disturbing holes in his eyes. I do actually quite like the old torso print, and I think it has a lot of applications, but I must admit that the new one matches the film much better. Dobby himself looks much more realistic in flesh, and his huge orb eyes are eerily exquisite. WARNING: do not touch the eyes, they may rub off easily! Lucius Mr. Malfoy is on his third generation, although he was released with two different outfits the first time around. I found it more applicable to show the outfit he came with in the original version of this set. As you can see, the first two versions (from left) are very similar, and neither very accurate. I like the torso prints themselves, especially the shiny chrome vest on the original, but they don't really match Lucius in the films. The old face sort of matches Lucius' demeanor, but his eyebrows are a little too wonky for my taste. The new one is a drastic improvement. His eyebrows keep the same general expression as the older ones, but are much less severe. His mouth is much more detailed, and those cheek lines add more character to his face. I only wish the one I'd received didn't have its face printed so far down on the head. Both flesh versions have Death Eater masks on the back of their heads. (Film Connection: Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix) The new one is a better replica of Malfoy's mask in the movies, but the older one looks a little more LEGO-y to me, and I like seeing the eyes through the slits. The problem with the older figure is that it used a dementor cape, which doesn't work for normal-sized figures. The new mask looks a little small with Malfoy's hair attached, but under a hood it looks just fine. They're drastically different, but I like them both. It's a shame I don't have the OotP Death Eater to compare as well. (The figure on the left is my own design) ACCESSORIES There are, of course, oversized wands for the wizards. Now, we all know that Lucius has a cane wand, but I never expected LEGO to make it. It's really ok, it probably would've been too big anyway. A Freeing Dobby scene would not be complete without Riddle's Diary. Harry gives it to Dobby. "But how can Dobby carry it, Harry Potter sir? It is almost as large as Dobby!" "Master has given Dobby a huge printed sock tile!" SET Ok, onto the what you actually build. It's a… archway thingy. There are actually some nice pieces worked into this, like two colors of arch, some sand green, a few bley "log" pieces. Still, the model isn't really anything you can compare to something in any film. Harry has hidden his golden Snitch on the side of the arch. Honestly, it's the same piece as is used in the Quidditch set. There's also quite a long technic bit with a red bit on the end, but I'll get to what that's all about later. From the back you get a full face-full of red technic bit. Not much to see from this angle, except for the fact that LEGO at least worked some nice pieces into this. The other side features a spider and another broomstick, which LEGO has decided must be included in every Harry Potter set, except the Hogwarts Express. Once you're done freeing Dobby, you can plop Harry onto his broom and start chasing that Snitch. PLAY FEATURE That's in the singular, since there is only one. But hey, considering Hogwarts only has about three, that's not bad! So how does it work? First, you put a figure (Malfoy) on the jumper plate. And then you push the red technic bit, and Malfoy gets zapped. No tampering has been done. He went that far. CONCLUSION Well, I'm pleased with the figures. Each of them is quite good, and three is a nice number for $11. The arch might not be so interesting for display purposes, and it doesn't relate to anything in the films, but LEGO did a good job of packing it with some interesting parts. Perhaps there aren't so many parts for the price, but it's not like there are too few. I suppose in the old days this set would've been just a few bucks cheaper, but that's really the only flaw. Not a bad buy at all. RATINGS Minifigures: 10/10 - All of the right figures included, and they're all well designed. They even threw in a Death Eater mask for Malfoy. Nothing to complain about. Pieces: 9/10 - The selection is actually more than I would expect from a set this size. Design: 8/10 - Again, this thing actually looks designed, not just slapped together, although the back is a bit bare, and the gold bit doesn't make sense. Playability: 8.5/10 - It has a play feature that actually works and is pretty fun a few times. I couldn't expect more. Price: 7.5/10 - For the amount of pieces, this set really should've been about $9, but I understand that with two exclusive figures (disregarding Diagon Alley) $11 is what is to be expected given current trends. Overall: 8.6/10 - For anybody craving the figures, just buy it. You won't do better on Bricklink. For anyone else, it's just a tad overpriced, but really not too bad. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Well, hopefully I haven't tired you out to much with all of these HP reviews. If there's anything else you'd like to see in relation to this set, just let me know and I'll try to pull it together. Different angles, more comparisons, etc. I will take everything into account and decide if it's feasible for me to do. Enjoy!

Well, he was basically following the same of thought that I have in my review. I suppose you're right, that this Castle is as playable as a Hogwarts could be, but that makes it not all that playable in my mind. It really just comes down to imagination for playing with this set, but even then the space is so tight on the interior of some sections that role-playing with the figures is probably difficult and constricted. You know, I really haven't tried closing it up very much. Using the connectors the way the instructions tell you to, it really isn't all that easy, and doesn't look very good anyway. Even if they were used differently the back of the Great Hall would still constrict movement because it sticks out so much. I also didn't think that "closing it up" looked very good because Hogwarts itself is not circular, so it doesn't make that much sense. Folding it outward to create a courtyard does look better, but I didn't think it was that necessary for the review. Perhaps I will snap a few more "complete set" pics at some point to show different possibilities. If I was to buy Diagon Alley, I would surely review it, but I do not plan on buying it. It just doesn't interest me enough for the amount of money. If you'd like me to review it, though, I would heartily accept your donation

No, I can't let this happen. No disappointment allowed! How do you like it now?

It's the fourth version. It's more expensive than any regular-release Star Wars set. LEGO calls it the "essential Harry Potter set." That's right, it's the… Set Title: Hogwarts Castle Set #: 4842 Theme: Harry Potter Film Connections: Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows Part II Pieces: 1290 Minifigures: 11 Year of Release: 2010 Price at Release: USD $130 GBP 100 EUR 130 Buy it? Inventory? LEGO.com Bricklink INTRODUCTION If you hadn't noticed, yours truly likes Harry Potter sets. I've already reviewed Hagrid's Hut and The Burrow, so I thought it was high time to review the real big one. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I would get this set because of the price, but sometimes things just work out. Though this set is in a different scale than the past versions, I had high hopes that the newest Hogwarts Castle would still be awesome, judging from the official pictures. And those figures looked like they were to die for. So, were my hopes met? You'll have to read on… You may also notice that I listed every single film (except Hallows Part I) as referenced in this set, and some of you are probably incredulous about some of those connections. But I found them, and I'll be highlighting them all as I take you through the Castle on a detailed tour, CloneyO style… BOX I may not have actually mentioned it extensively in my other HP reviews so far, but these boxes are simply works of art! Like The Burrow and Hagrid's Hut, the Castle has a spooky, night-time background. And it's gorgeous. These boxes are pure eye-candy. Though the art on the back is pretty as well, the back betrays the fact that there really aren't very many exciting features built in. No trap doors or anything, just a few opening or turning things. Also notice that LEGO forgot to apply the painting stickers on either side of the rotating staircase. The box denies the Knight Statue as a minifigure of the set, only showing the other ten. The top shows them in what it claims to be a 1:1 picture, but you can tell they've made McGonagall smaller since she's taller than everybody else. In case you were wondering, the box is a standard large size for LEGO. Though it costs $30 extra and has 300 more pieces, the Castle's box is the same size as that of Battle of Endor. INSTRUCTIONS There are three booklets for this set, the first two of which have darker contrast on their covers than the third one. In the set I got, anyway. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of steps filling the pages during some parts of the build Still not nearly as many steps as in older sets like Flying Ninja's Fortress, but still more than I'm used to seeing in recent times, in the era of big blank single-step pages. Unlike the instructions for the other HP sets I have, this one actually includes some ads. I like the CG for the HP ad, although Hermione looks quite messed up. Obviously, anybody interested in HP sets probably wants Atlantis as well. The parts spread is filled to the brim. STICKER SHEET This one is large. Quite large. It caught me off guard. Originally, I thought: "since there are so many of those wall pieces in this set, why couldn't LEGO just print them?" Well, it turns out LEGO wanted four different designs for the wall pieces. So, what is better, four different sticker designs, or a single printed design? I don't care, you answer that question for yourself. MINIFIGURES The set shines in this section. Everybody is new, of course, but there are also two characters that have never been made before at all (Filch and Flitwick), and one that only appeared in one set in yellow a long time ago (McGonagall). Being a minifigure man, the spread is getting me excited! I'll start with the teachers. There has never been a single set before with this many core staff members of Hogwarts. Gosh, these figures look great. McGonagall's face is perfect for her, as are her dark green robes. The only things I could wish for McGonagall would be LEGO finally designing a skirt piece the same height as legs, and including a bun for her, since her hat covers up her eyebrows. The Dastan hair in Black works perfectly for Snape, and Flitwick is so ridiculously cute. Dumbledore will get his own glory section. None of these figures have reverse heads or back prints, except Dumby. Dumbledore can take his glasses off too! Is he related to Flich maybe? They have the same hair… Filch is awesome. His suit is appropriately rumpled, and though his face is extremely cartoony, I like that silly touch in this case. It's only his hair that doesn't fit the character; Filch has greasy just-past-shoulder-length hair in the films. No back on this fig either. Then there are the baddies. Generously, two Dementors, and a Voldemort that kicks the pants off of any other villian before. LEGO didn't go cheap with an all-black torso, and his face is cutely evil. Those two adjectives don't usually go together, but they do this time. Each of the Dementors has a double-sided head, with mouth open or closed. The kids are the standard versions and not too exciting, and I won't go into them here. If you want to see figure comparisons and read my thoughts on the kids, check my Hagrid's Hut review. The only clear problem in this set with the kids is that there is no Ron! This is the first Castle not to include Ron, and it really doesn't make sense not to. But, I guess that's what Hagrid's Hut is for. The statue is pretty unexciting as well, although it gives people without any Kingdoms sets a chance to get the bucket helmet. As you likely well know, the kids have nice back-of-sweater prints as well. Not a minifigure, but Mrs. Norris is a named character. She really doesn't remind me of Mrs. Norris, who is kind of gray and freaky looking, but I'll welcome a cute kitty any time. She surprisingly doesn't come in a CSI bag. Snape For a complete look at the four different Snapes, check Bricklink. I unfortunately, don't have them all. However, I can show you how this Snape compares to the original one. That's a really big difference right now. To ascertain which one is better, let me run through a short list of questions: Does the film Snape wear a purple suit? No. Does the film Snape have grey hands? No. Does the film Snape's head glow in the dark? Nope. The truth is that neither Snape's hair is perfect, since the old one's hair is a little to girly, but the new one is too voluminous. The girly hair is a little closer to the film Snape's thin, greasy hair, but I'd much rather have black Dastan hair. Dumbledore This new Dumbledore is superbly detailed, so he needs some exposure! His torso has tiny embroidery, and his glasses-less face is pleasantly senior-citizen-y. I can envision this guy as my grandpa. But the embroidery doesn't stop at the front! There's more on the back. This level of detail blows me away every time. An HP review from me wouldn't be complete without some comparisons, would it? Nope! The level of detail on every facet of this fig surpasses the old ones so much it's insane. I used to love the old Dumbledore, but look how simple and lifeless those old ones seem compared to the new guy. Yowzah! I conceded that the second (middle) Dumbledore had some minute details on his torso too, but not nearly like the new one has. And the original Dumbledore had a shirt that was The old Dumbledore looks so flat and crappy compared to the new one. Just look at the new multi-layered eyebrows compared to the black-outlined old ones. What is with those zany mouths on the old ones? Dementors (Film Connection: Prisoner of Azkaban) While I always like me some sand green, I must admit I like dark bley better for dementors. Black suits them better compared to their movie counterparts, and their tattered capes and zombie arms are far more foreboding than the floppy old ones. I loved getting a dark bley hood on that old one, but the new ones work much better. Voldemort (Film Connection: Deathly Hallows Part II) Dumbledore might've changed from his past iterations, but nothing like this! The original Voldemort on the back of Quirrel didn't look like the movie, but it was scary and suited the style of the original HP figures well enough. I have no quibble with it. The second one, though, which came with the Graveyard Duel, is so bad! LEGO was obviously styling him after the original face they'd created, but it didn't work compared to Ralph Fiennes' stunning Voldemort at all! Additionally, the dementor cloak and blank body were annoying and didn't fit with the film either. Finally, LEGO has rectified their mistake. The newest one is cartoony with those perfectly round eyes and heavy eye shadow, but it works as a toy representation of the scary Voldemort in the films. The new Voldemort is truly master of his Death Eaters, who clearly all like to wear black. ACCESSORIES There aren't a ton of figure accessories in this set, and there certainly aren't any that you can't see from the promotional photos, unlike Battle of Alamut. Anyhow, there are wands for all of the wizards but McGonagall, which is odd. LEGO must be sexist, because they forgot Mrs. Weasley wand-wise also. The set also includes an "Invisibility Cloak," and Harry's broom, featuring a silver cone, only in this set. Maybe his broom has that because it is his Firebolt, whereas the Quidditch set, coming from the second film, should only have his Nimbus 2000. BUILD and STUFF Besides ten bags (which you can find pics of in my Flickr Set), there are also three loose parts in the box: two green roofs, and a big plate. For some reason LEGO decided to scrap this "slate" roof piece in favor of a round and smooth one on the last two Hogwarts Castles, but now it's back! As I said before, the build is split over ten bags, and is pretty darn straightforward. This is a Castle, after all; there are a ton of bricks, and you build it from the bottom up. Not a lot of repetition, and certainly no techniques that are very interesting. It turns out you don't really need advanced techniques to make good little details sometimes, but I'll get to that. There are a few interesting things I noticed about the bags that I got. For one, bag 7 came inside out! There were also some tiny bags packed very full, like this: I don't really understand LEGO's choices in terms of bag sizes. If you take a look at the bag pics in my Flickr Set, you will notice that some of the numbered bags are rather large and empty, while others are small and full (at least as full as 7, above). Why does LEGO vary it up so much? I have no idea; I guess you'd have to ask them… HOGWARTS CASTLE - By Parts Before I show you the entire Castle together, I will take you through the different buildings separately in build order, so you can get some sense of how the build goes. Connector Bits The first thing to build are the modular connector bits. While it was a nice idea and all to connect the Castle up and make it modular, since each of these only connects in one place (with two prongs) to a Castle part, they become hard to detach and you may end up ripping bricks off of them rather than actually pulling them out. It's happened to me many times already. Since they're so difficult to pull out, I'm not sure what these actually accomplish. You could just as easily arrange the buildings however you want without physically connecting them. It worked well enough for the other Hogwarts Castles. Astronomy Tower Next up is the Astronomy Tower. That place where Dumbledore got murdered, right? True, but it didn't look like this in the films. The exterior is quite pleasing, with the two shades of tan complementing each other well. The crossed axes (a technique used in Drawbridge Defense too) add nice detail. The interior looks bare at a glance. The entire bottom level is taken up by… a big vanishing cabinet. (Film Connection: Half-Blood Prince) The shape is correct, but the film version didn't have huge silver ornaments. You can sort of remove it if you want to, although it was probably not intended to be removable. Whoops, looks like we disturbed Snape brooding in there. Here's the thing about the cabinet. You put in a figure, close the doors, open the doors, and it's still there. I've repeated this process many times and the figure did not vanish. Duh, right? Well, wouldn't a revolving wall on the other side to "vanish" the figure have been cool? Otherwise, your first floor is taken up by just a big cabinet. The second floor is filled with… this thing. It's apparently the "restricted section of the library." (Film Connection: Sorcerer's Stone) It's basically a large black box with window pieces, containing three identical, blank brown books. It's also got some anachronistic handcuffs. Oh, I see, it's a play feature! You can slide the glass apart. Looks like a did it wrong, since you're supposed to take the cuffs off I think. Now my cuffs are close to smashing. Don't try it my way! The problem with this thing is that it's huge and bare, and pretty useless. LEGO could've put two little classrooms in this tower, or at least an interesting Hogwarts "corridor" type setup, but instead they filled both interior floors with big, space-wasting pieces of kitsch. That's what MODing is for, of course, but it disappoints me. The top at least has a cool, fully realized telescope for filling out some star charts. Main Tower I can't call this Gryffindor tower, since it isn't exclusively for Gryffindor in the set. It's aesthetically pleasing, and the stickers help it out for looking Castle-like. I love the triple parapet design coming off the one side. The tower squeezes in on the middle level, which is a cool design in my opinion. It makes it not so regular. Here's the back overview. Looks tightly packed, doesn't it? Or maybe the correct description would be lacking space… I'll go bottom to top, logically. Look at the space being wasted in there! Sure, I like the snakes and the Slytherin crest sticker, but they bump the sitting space to outside. The Quibbler (Film Connection: Order of the Phoenix) has to overhang the baseplate! It kinda looks like a Slytherin common room (Film Connection: Chamber of Secrets), but I'm feeling it's a poor design. (And, there are no Slytherins to put in this common room included in the set) Maybe the second level will be more promising… It's got… a statue and a spider. Really? Is that it? Oh, it's another play feature! It spins around to reveal… Tom Riddle's Diary? (Film Connection: Chamber of Secrets) What now? This is so lame; if you wanted to make a hiding space for Riddle's Diary, LEGO, why couldn't you have made a small bathroom on this floor? That would've been cool, wouldn't it? Hmmph, level up. The Gryffindor common room is significantly better. Still tiny, with no floor space, but at least it looks like a little fireside table. The fireplace is well designed, and the emblem is a nice sticker. Note that the Marauder's Map from the Hogwarts game is there too. By pushing in a protrusion on the outside of the Castle, you can make Sirius' face pop out of the fire. Obviously that doesn't make so much sense, since why would his face come out of the fire, but I can live with it. Now I wish we could get a new Sirius that looks like that. (Film Connection: Goblet of Fire) The owlery up top ain't bad; you get all three printed owls, and it even has owl droppings! Neat. Overall, the tower is better than the wasted Astronomy Tower, but the second floor is wasted and the Slytherin Common Room is poor. And besides that, there's so little space even in the Gryffindor common room that there isn't much to do. Great Hall (For more pictures of the Great Hall than I will use here, see my Flickr Set) Alrighty, on to the good parts of the Castle. The Great Hall's a beauty, isn't she? All of those brown frames are very pleasant, as are the stained-glass windows, in trans orange and blue. The door has a cute sand green awning too. The Hall looks great from all angles. The asymmetry of the turrets is cool, and the color scheme is pleasant. The inside is nice and roomy. This Hall might be shorter than the original iteration, but it's still tall enough to be majestic. The candles look more like a chandelier than floating candles, but it's better than the original attempt at floating flames. The hangings are nice, and the tans-pieces are gorgeous. There's plenty of room to place the figures and let them eat the huge cake, turkey, croissant, and cherries. The only problem is the strange wooden chairs for the teachers. None of the teachers can sit in them, since McGonagall has a dress, Flitwick has short legs, Snape has a stiff cape, and Dumbledore's hair is too large. They're nice looking set pieces though, if useless. Dumbledore's Office That's what this section really is: Dumbledore's Office. It's looking good from the exterior, and you can see it makes use of the printed Hogwarts crest also from the Hogwarts game. That's a nice print right there. The only bit that I think doesn't fit is the light bley around the door. It seems LEGO only makes light bley clip bricks. It looks pretty packed from the back. That staircase is short, but what would Hogwarts be without at least one short spinning staircase? The problem with the staircase is that it makes it extremely difficult to play inside the ground floor entrance way. Here I've removed the staircase so you can see what's in there: a trophy stand and a chest. There are also two cute stickered paintings. Inside the chest are the printed Kingdoms wizard piece and a ruby. "Hagrid, did you leave the Sorcerer's Stone lying around again?" The second floor has the office. Oohhh, that's a high level of detail right there. I love those trans jars. This chair fits Dumbledore (if it didn't that would be a problem). Dumbledore has a nice candle in an orb on his desk, as well as a foreboding issue of the Daily Prophet that he seems to be perusing. (Film Connection: Order of the Phoenix) I was a bit dumbfounded about the "Basilisk Fang" in the catalog description, but it turns out it's stashed in one of the shelving units. (Film Connection: Chamber of Secrets) The other one has a sealed letter. The top contains the printed sorting hat (Film Connection: Sorcerer's Stone/Chamber of Secrets/Deathly Hallows Part II) and shiny chrome Gryffindor sword. Yay, finally a real sorting hat! HOGWARTS CASTLE - Connected Here it is, the big thing put all together. It's really a pleasing set to the eye, for a Hogwarts Castle anyway. It's still nowhere near as pretty as the Alamut, but it has its own aesthetic. Certainly a lot better than the last Castle (or two or three). The truth is, there isn't a lot to do with this Castle play-wise besides role-playing. But hey, little kids can role-play! For instance, you can setup Voldemort having a snack in a quiet corner. Mmmmm, chicken. For more fun role-playing, check my Flickr. CONCLUSION If I didn't lose you halfway back somewhere, you've probably figured out that I find this set to be quite a mixed bag. The figures are excellent, besides for the fact that LEGO skimped on Ron (again) and Draco, who had come with all of the past Castles. I would've taken Draco over Ron, actually, since Draco in his school uniform only comes in the train, which I have no interest in purchasing. Pieces-wise (not function), this set is a treasure trove of tan bricks of all sorts, as well as some other stuff. The price is actually right for 1290 pieces, which makes it a bit pricey just because it's $130. Not pricey as in over-priced, just pricey as in not cheap. The design of the Castle itself is mixed. All of the exteriors are good, but the Astronomy Tower's interior is a failure, and the tall tower is only a little bit better. In terms of play-features, this set is very lacking. I'm not sure if kids will mind that or not, but I have a feeling (cue music) that this set will not seem appealing to most little boys compared to Star Wars (of course) and even Kingdoms, with all its firing catapults and conflict and stuff. The things is, if you are an HP fan who really only wants the figures, BL might be the way to go, although even that will be a nice sum of money. If you do want the Castle as a nice set piece to display, go ahead, but you might be less than thrilled with parts of the interior. RATINGS Minifigures: 9/10 - I love all of the ones that you get, but an extra kid should've been included (maybe in place of the Knight). Pieces: 9/10 - There's a lot of tan, and a lot of bricks, and a nice amount of trans pieces. Cool. Design: 6/10 - This is a hard one to rate because half the Castle has a good design, while the other half doesn't really. I pushed it over the 50% mark because the tower has parts that are tolerable. Playability: 4/10 - Eh. There are next to no play features, and no interesting ones anyway. If I was a kid, I would probably find this set a bit dull, apart from the figures. I've always loved figures. Price: 8/10 - I know I said in my conclusion that it's the right price for the amount of parts, but I still wouldn't want to pay it for a set that is somewhat disappointing anyway. That's why this gets knocked down. Overall: 7.2/10 - That's a 'C' grade where I come from, and that's certainly right for this set. Is it better than the past Hogwarts Castles? Maybe. It's better than the first one, and that's the only other one I have. But it's still not that great; maybe Hogwarts just can't be, in a set anyway. Whew. CloneyO doesn't really like reviewing such big sets. I think I'll go review Freeing Dobby now. That should be a more palatable size. See you next time!

Happy Birthday ZO6! I hope you have some fun adventures on this adventurous day, you adventurer you.

Don't forget the green one from the Republic Cruiser, and the dark green one in the most recent ARC-170. Yes, they aren't from the OT films, but they are in the OT style, not the CW printing style.

I never doubted that there was, but I didn't see it in your first set of pics. Thanks for the new pics. Your model looks great all around!

I'm sorry to hear this indeed! It can't be a universal problem, since all of the pieces in my set were just fine, but that is a shame. Also, I got the old arch piece, and not the new one. I would send an email to LEGO customer service about your problems if you haven't already done so; they are always nice about that sort of thing.

I believe it was just a hopeful suggestions. There is no build your own droid currently.

You have created a splendid representation right there. I always hated the cheesy, plastic look of the Batmobile in those films, but that doesn't detract from your model in the slightest. Excellent work! Is there an interior?

I really can't understand some of your points here. First of all, if you consider the different versions of the figs next to each other the GoF ones are barely detailed at all. There aren't extra bits and lines showing off expressions; they're really pretty basic, but, at the same time, convey that the characters are slightly older. I have never seen a minifigure that looked like it had a photograph of an actor wrapped around its head. Ok, the NBA figures were pretty dumb (nice for some diversity though), but if you take a look at the HP figures they've never looked like that. Minifigures are cartoony no matter what, and they obviously don't resemble their actors too closely (except Dr. Jones, I could see Sean Connery right there). I cannot see how you think the GoF figures were "excessively detailed," they look very simple to me. My gripe with the current Harry is not only that his mouth is too close to his glasses, but also his excessive smile. If you notice, the original Harry's smile was not as close to his glasses as this new one, and it was certainly not as "smiley." As to Hermione, I don't think she resembles the pictures much at all, especially not her happy face. Overall, I understand that you are of a different opinion, but I think you have gone overboard in trying to defend the new figs. I don't see the older figures being at all how you described them.

I agree that the torsos are great, but for the characters I find Hermione's face to be all wrong, and so this greatly detracts from the figure. Truly, I don't rate figures by parts; rather, on their whole look. Though I do make my own figures with the different parts, when rating them for a review I decide how well the figure rates as a whole. Maybe that's not the best way to go about it, but that's the way I like to do it.

126.9 - Probably my actual weight.

That looks brilliant! I really like it. So is that some sort of custom-molded thing? I'm sure those would be widely popular if they were sold in quantities.

Brickbuilder, your BARC looks very nice, but it's slightly hard to see in your picture. The design looks nice and slim, but I really wish you'd taken a pic that showed off your great design better. Welcome to EB, and keep on MOCing!

Sorry, The Red Brick, the staff gives you a title of their own creation when they wish to. Members are not able to think of their own titles. This thread is for archiving new titles once you notice you've received one from a staff member.

Well, I must say I do have spectacles old chap, and they sharpen it all quite rightly. Without my spectacles I may hit a sticky spot, though, so your comment is still in the affirmative. Truly superb deducting skills.

These frequent hallucinations among our members is truly and in all ways diabolical! I firmly believe a trip to a psychoanalyst post-haste may prove the most effective remedy for these boggled minds.

Usually I don't buy multiple sets at one time. But not this time! I saw Harry Potter, and I jumped! I've already reviewed The Burrow, so now it's time to downgrade to… Set Title: Hagrid's Hut Set #: 4738 Theme: Harry Potter Films Referenced: Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone, Chamber of Secrets Pieces: 442 Minifigures: 4 Year of Release: 2010 Price at Release: USD $40, GBP 40, CAD 55, EUR 50 Buy It? Inventory? LEGO Bricklink INTRODUCTION Some of you may have seen prelim pics of this set and went: "Hagrid's Hut?" Another one? Seriously? … and what's with that stupid looking spider anyway? Yes, it's true, this Hagrid's Hut doesn't look all that different from the last one in pictures, but, not owning the last one myself, I can't really tell you how they compare. Since I never bought the previous two Hagrid's Huts, I thought it was high time I found out what this "rustic lodge" was truly like. This set is also the best way to get the main trio, since, excluding Diagon Alley, this is the only new set to have all three. If you are still skeptical about this set because you don't feel you need yet another Hagrid's Hut, come with me as I take you through a detailed look at it. That's why I bought it: so you wouldn't have to. Or maybe so that I could convince you that you want it. Or I dunno. Enough introduction anyway… BOX Here's a good place to start, the packaging! Like I said in my Burrow Review, it's kind of rare that LEGO puts out dark, night-themed packaging, but three of the six new HP sets are that way. I dig it. It's spooky and it's dark, but Harry Potter isn't exactly the brightest source material, you know? The background painting is beautiful. The back has the usual pasted-in-parchment over glorious red design, and it shows off the very limited amount of play features, including the swinging cauldron and light-up brick. There's also the splayed out Acromantula, looking silly. The top of the box has the 1:1 fig pics, although Hagrid is a bit too big. Notice how even here the figs have their non-happy faces displayed. There is not a single place on the box with their happy faces. INSTRUCTIONS Unless you're that kind of chap (or lass) that doesn't even bother building a set and just parts out all the pieces, instructions are mighty important. I'm talking, wouldn't want to build a set without them. Anywho, the front is the same as the box, except that since the instructions are large and square you get more of the pretty artwork to admire. I wouldn't mind a blown-up wall-poster of this, sans the set number. Steps are straight-forward and the pages are pretty empty. The emptier ones get the ominous photo of the trio, looking severe. The pieces take up a double page towards the back, and there are no ads for the other sets. STICKER SHEET Out of the box falls the… very crumpled sticker sheet. It didn't look so crumpled by the time I took the pic, but that took some serious flattening-out work. Why can't LEGO work up a better system than just throwing it in by now? In this set, if you don't like stickers, it really doesn't look too bad without them. These stickers really aren't so bad, though, and add good detail. Sure, I love printed parts too, but I've come to terms with the fact that it just ain't going to happen on big parts anymore. MINIFIGURES Ah, the night is young and we've already arrived at my favorite section. Since this set is the only new (non-exclusive) one to feature the trio, I thought I'd take this opportunity to compare them with their past incarnations, and see which versions of the figs are best. Be warned: this will take a little time, but certainly not time wasted. This is the first Hagrid's Hut to feature so many figs. The first one just came with Hagrid and Dumbledore, while the second one featured Hagrid and Hermione. This time, I guess LEGO thought it made the most sense to throw in the whole trio because they skimped on Ron in the Castle, so we get all four. Hey, that's fine with me! I'm going to talk about these guys way more extensively in their own sub-sections, but for now, obviously Hagrid isn't big enough, but oh well. The figures look nice in their school outfits. This is a great way to collect some Gryffindor torsos. The kids all have alternate expressions, while Hagrid has a ridiculously jolly face under that beard. That face is really not how I think of Hagrid at all, but since mostly it's hidden by the beard it is alright. At least the eyes and eyebrows are great. That scared face on Ron is superb as well. As you probably already knew, the kids have simple back prints as well. I love that hair on Ron; it looks great all the way around. Now I want all the other colors of it! That's them together. Now, let me delve into comparisons… Hagrid This is the third Hagrid, but the first two were very similar. The only differences were reddish-brown body, flesh colored face, and fleshy movable hands. I don't have the second one, so I'll merely compare the new one with the original. Wow! That's some difference! The new one's body has such a higher level of detail it is incredible. The old one with its brown hands and utterly simplistic print looks shamed. I might've said the new one looked too happy, but at least it looks way more appropriate than that old one! The old's one vacant eyes and tiny eyebrows don't work for Hagrid at all. What was LEGO thinking? Harry For all of the kids, I am skipping the flesh versions that are the same print as their yellow counterparts. Anyway, Harry's the main kid, so you would think LEGO would care a lot about making a perfect fig for him. Eh, or not, in 2001 anyway. Really, that original print sucks! That mouth is ridiculous. LEGO did get it right for the Goblet of Fire sets. The middle Harry looks mature and believable. A bit happy, yes, but I can certainly see this figure as the Harry battling Voldemort (if he had better hair). The new Harry, though… he does look way too young. It'll work just fine for MOCs relating to the first two books, maybe three, but after that it fails. Luckily, the angry reverse face looks a little older, so you could use the middle Harry for his happy moments, and the new angry side for the unhappy moments. Winner: GoF/OotP Harry Ron The original Ron had a terrible mouth too. Who was designing this figs, and why was he/she high at the time? Did somebody's hand slip on those original figs? LEGO went an interesting direction with the first redesigned Ron, making him look pretty dopey. The hair was all wrong by this point, but the face does suit Ron's typical obliviousness. It has a sleepy side too. Though I thought I'd hate the new one, it turns out to be the opposite. New Ron's smile is very subtle, his freckles are perfect, and his overall face is calm and subdued. I think it works perfectly for Ron, and the new hair is the best! Winner: New Ron Hermione Here's where it gets sticky. The original Hermione wasn't great, but her mouth wasn't wacked-out and her overall look kinda fit the character. Kinda. The redesigned Hermione, while she had the wrong hair for GoF, had a very snarky, Hermione-esque look. Truly, the character of Hermione is one that is extremely bossy, so those raised "huh" eyebrows and questioning smile work well for the character. And then, the new one. WTF LEGO? You're trying to tell me that's Hermione? That looks NOTHING like Hermione at all! That looks like your standard female face with brown lips instead of red! Doesn't this Hermione look just like a non-made-up version of Tamina? She sure does to me! That is totally unacceptable. I don't care what Tamina looks like, she's just some throwaway character in a throwaway movie, but Hermione is a major character in some awesome pieces of work! LEGO's laziness with this fig seriously pisses me off… Winner: GoF/OotP Hermione ACCESSORIES and ANIMALS Ok, I overcame my mad fit about Hermione, so now I can move on in the review. LEGO gives us three spiders which are tiny if they're supposed to be acromantula, a rat that is very likely Scabbers by the way Ron is shown with him on the back of the box, a dark green Norbert hailing from his cousins in the land of Kingdoms, and the grey and brown owls. Norbert's mould hasn't changed since the original one, though he was sand green back then, and though he's too big that's just the way it goes with LEGO. They can't possibly make a tiny dragon. There are plenty of accessories included for play fun with the figures, including three wands, an axe, a crossbow, a cauldron, a plate and mug, a drumstick and fish, a lantern, multiple keys, a barrel, and finally, Hagrid's fun pink Umbrella. Nice to have that thrown in. There are also eight swords, though they're not used as swords of course. Since all of the promotional photos of this set show the old octagonal hilts on the swords, I was wondering about what they would truly turn out to be. The PoP sets showed the octagonal hilts too. Well, it turns out, I got seven of the new square hilts, and one octagonal one. I highly doubt this is what everybody will get, but I suppose it means that all of the swords are mixed together, and that LEGO only molds the square ones these days. There were also some elements that surprised me, like the pumpkins. I had no idea they would have faces. It turns out LEGO just used the pumpkins they had already designed for Monster 4, which is pretty clever if you ask me. It opens up the possibilities for alternate figures, like so: But wait, did you strangely feel that something was missing? Ok, you probably didn't, so I'll remind you… FANG! LEGO left him out again! I cannot understand why LEGO keeps doing this; Fang is a very important character in Hagrid's Hut! They could've just used the old Belville dog if they wanted to be lazy; at least that would've been something! I have a feeling we will never see Fang realized in LEGO… ACROMANTULA Yes, LEGO calls the spider Aragog on their website, but I have decided they got it wrong and this is really just a stock Acromantula. Why? Well, for one thing, it's not big enough to be Aragog, and it's not blind, like Aragog is. Also, not calling it Aragog makes it seem like slightly less of a fail. Aragog or not, this acromantula is a bit off mark. But it has printed parts! But it's lame. In the films, the spider's legs clearly go up before bending back down. This looks like some stupid tall thing on sticks. Sorry, spiders don't look like that. Since it's legs are also not level with each other, the acromantula totters one way or another. That's pretty dumb. The back is ok though. Maybe that's because there isn't much to see. You might think the forehead looks ridiculously stupid, but I still like the printed face. It's pretty freaky. I think the problem is that this acromantula looks too cartoony for the source material. As it's own, LEGO thing, it looks cute and fine, but once you consider what it should look like, it fails. Harry and Ron bravely (or not so bravely) take on the giant spider! HUT - Exterior If there had been two 't's there, that would be the Star Wars sluggy thingamabob. But no, I'm talking about the 'rustic lodge' sort of hut. This hut is very hut-like. It looks slapped together out of stone and some wood-work, just as Hagrid's Hut should look. The stickers aid the stoney look. The steps and slight awning over the door are pleasant and welcoming. I don't know what sort of stone the sand green is supposed to be, but a little color is nice anyway, and sand green is certainly not too garrish. As I've said before, the new doors look a lot more solid than those thin older ones. I'm not sure if this is a problem or not, but Hagrid can barely fit through his own doorway! Not sure where Hagrid got the brass for his windows, but alright. I'm liking those different types of bley pieces used towards the bottom, and the fact that they went with both bleys for the hinges. It helps make the hut look less clean and more "carved-from-stone." The orange rounds are superb for growing pumpkins as well. The back side is plainer but not bad-looking, and those mushrooms are truly excellent back here. Looks like I turned one of the pumpkins the wrong way. But hey, I would be grumpy if I had a big green stalk sticking out of my head too. Now this side is ugly. The big red technic bit for the light-up-brick is garrish, and those piled-up plates are an eyesore. HUT - Interior As you likely already know, the hut open up to reveal a cramped but somewhat detailed interior. It looks plenty rustic on the inside, overall. Let's turn our attention to the back half. I don't really imagine Hagrid as the sort of guy who puts up paintings, so I'm not sure what's with that sticker there. The hanging accessories and multi-colored table are pleasant rustic details, though. I think LEGO just wanted to put a broom in every HP set, so they've stuck one in here too, but there's nothing keeping it in place. You just stand it there. There's a little bit of a 'play feature' here since the whatever-that-is comes off to reveal Hagrid's hidden stash of money and a letter. Perhaps Hagrid is waiting to deliver Harry's letter in Sorcerer's Stone? Is that the Sorcerer's Stone itself thrown in there? I also like the carrot top stuck in a bottle. Not sure what it is, but I'll take it. Time to turn over to the front half. Since there were steps going up, there are steps coming down, which is certainly a bit odd. I don't remember that from the films. Hagrid also seems to like to hang his food from the ceiling, which is also a sloppy practice, and looks dumb. The token 'play feature' over here is a cauldron that is on a hinge so it swings away from the fire, revealing the light-up brick. While that's not so interesting, I really dig the colored jars of stuff up on the shelf. Great detail right there. The light-up brick's casing, interestingly enough, is modular! I don't know why you'd want to take it off though, unless to replace it with a non-light-up equivalent. Let's test it… ooh, not-very-bright… The problem is that fires aren't yellow, so you get these trans-orange fire bits and then a yellow light behind them. It really doesn't look so good at all, and is not even so bright. The good news is that this set is superbly priced, even with a PF brick. Now let me put some figures inside. Obviously, when it's opened up there is plenty of room to play and recreate your favorite film scenes, or make up new ones! Here, Hagrid takes oversized-Norbert from the pot. There isn't a lot of space for all of the figures, but there is enough. Maybe Ron's scared since he's vomiting slugs, and Hermione is angry about being called a 'Mudblood.' Looking down, though, there is really very little floor space at all. I know the hut is small in the films, but I would say that it is bigger than this. CONCLUSION Overall, not a bad entry into the HP line. The hut itself is certainly pleasing from the outside, and probably has as many little details as is reasonable for LEGO to cram in on the inside. Still, it's a bit dull I'd say for the kiddies, and the inside really looks tiny when closed up. Putting all of the figures inside doesn't work that well when it's split apart anyway, because then it looks like they're shouting across the room. The Acromantula is honestly a poorly designed piece of work. Sure, you can tell it's a big spider, but it looks nothing like the spiders in the film. Those might be too freaky for little kids, though. Still, this spider is not so hot. Then there are the figures, which I find a very mixed bag. Ron and Hagrid are great, Harry is average, and Hermione is freaking terrible. The selection of figures is good, but Hermione is just designed excruciatingly poorly. RATINGS Parts: 9/10 - Some great stuff here like the pumpkins and mushroom caps, plenty of accessories, stone pieces, etc. Use of swords as spider legs is lame though, and the light-up brick is extraneous. Design: 6.5/10 - That's quite low for me, but the spider does suck majorly. The exterior of the hut is great, but the fireplace side of the interior isn't too hot. (Like that pun there?) Minifigures: 6/10 - Selection good, but Hermione horrendous and Harry meh. Playability: 5/10 - I'm not seeing much here. A light-up brick and swinging cauldron? That's not very many play features. This set is left up to role play with the characters, but the way the hut opens up makes it difficult for you to play with them altogether in one space. Price: 10/10 - If I'm miffed about all the other sections, then why full marks here? Because it's 442 pieces, for $40. As Ron would say: brilliant! Overall: 7.3/10 - In U.S. terms, that's just a pass. Not a failure, but just scraping by. That reflects how I feel about this set well; it certainly doesn't suck, but there's not much to do with the model, the spider is poor, and Hermione pisses me off. Well, that's a wrap on my second HP review. As I said in my Burrow Review, I'm going to be reviewing more HP sets, so you can look forward to it. I'm not sure Harry's too happy about me not liking his new face so much though…