Clone OPatra

A wild non-Hogwarts set has appeared in the June 2021 lineup. Let's take a look! 76388 Hogsmeade Village Visit | 2021 | 851 Pieces | 6 + 1 Minifigures USD $80 | GBP 70 | EUR 80 (variable) | CAD 120 | AUS$ 130 __________________________ Thanks once again to LEGO for providing these four Harry Potter sets for review. Check out my Hogwarts reviews if you haven't already: 76386, 76387, 76389 and combining them all. When images for the June 2021 Harry Potter wave came out, one set stood apart for NOT being a departure from the standards maintained for this rebooted theme since 2018. 76388 looks to contain two highly detailed buildings in a location that has never been done apart from a small Honeydukes included as a side build in 2004's 4756 Shrieking Shack. There are unique characters in screen-accurate outfits, and details aplenty. Is 76388 Hogsmeade Village Visit as good as it looks? __________________________ THE BUILD & PARTS The build for this set feels more in line with the majority of this line prior to this year, with lots of fiddly bits added for detailing, and such things as the angled roofs which satisfyingly fall into place with each other once they are all added. The buildings still make use of a few larger parts, but the build progresses more slowly and intricately than this year's Hogwarts sets. One of the best aspects of the build is that two instruction manuals are included, one for each building, making this set ideal to split and build alongside a partner or friend or family member. Here are the excellent spare parts, which include an unprinted white bowl, still-rare 1x1 stud with bar attachment in black, that printed 1x1 tile with a heart previously found in four Friends sets, the 1x1 with red swirl (not rare but mostly used in Friends), and cherries in red and magenta - always nice to have. In my reviews I actually haven't touched much on the Chocolate Frog cards. They're a nice little bonus but don't excite me personally. I hope they don't excite you too much either, because they are nearly impossible to collect without resorting to Bricklink (once they become widely available). In this set, I got duplicate McGonagalls. __________________________ THE MINIFIGURES The particular Hogsmeade Village Visit being depicted in this set comes from Prison of Azkaban, and minifigures have thus been chosen somewhat appropriately. The Students For Hogwarts students we get Harry and Dean Thomas in civvies, plus Goldenron. I always appreciate getting students other than Ron and Hermione, though they visited Hogsmeade at the same time, and Dean gets a lovely exclusive head and very repurpose-able torso. Harry has all re-used parts which aren't completely accurate, but not too bad really. Dean was barely glimpsed in this outfit in the film, if at all, but again he's so nicely done that that doesn't bother me. He was seen in Honeydukes, so he's a good choice as he can be browsing there while Harry is taking care of business in the Three Broomsticks. Dean's other face bears striking resemblance to his previous LEGO appearance, in the first Wizarding World CMF series. The only difference is the lack of cheek lines. Oddly, this is the second time in this theme that LEGO has changed a character's hair colour from dark brown to black: first with Madame Maxime, and now with Dean. The Adults For adults, we get Madame Rosmerta, the landlady of the Three Broomsticks; McGonagall in the outfit she wore when Harry eavesdrops on her, Madame Rosmerta and Minister of Magic Fudge discussing Sirius Black at the Three Broomsticks; and the Flumes, who run Honeydukes. All of these figures have outstanding details, though Fudge truly is missing to complete that scene. All four of these include brand new body prints that closely match their on-screen appearances. All four hair and hat pieces are recolours so far exclusive to this set, and Mr Flume gets a new double-sided head. The reused Mantis head works better for Rosmerta than it did for Bellatrix, and though Mrs Flume reuses the Helga Hufflepuff print which has already been reused for Mrs Weasley, I'd care more about Mrs Weasley getting an exclusive print than Mrs Flume. I'm happy as well for a repeat of this McGonagall face from her Hogwarts Moments book set, as those weren't everyone's cup of tea. All of them have delightful back of torso prints, McGonagall especially. You'll see lots of accessories within the builds, but Madame Rosmerta also gets a hammer - maybe to ward off unruly customers? Only the students and McGonagall get wands, which I haven't bothered to show. The acid pops head is much more enticing, and two are included. __________________________ HONEYDUKES Both of the builds included are obviously going to have details reduced from their on-screen appearances, and some incorrect proportions - it's a LEGO set after all. That fact alone doesn't bother me, and I will judge them both on their own merits and their success at capturing the essence of the source material. Exterior Honeydukes looks quaint and charming from the outside, with good asymmetrical detailing ranging from the mismatched chimneys to the snow on the roof to minor details like the placement of 1x1 grey tiles for added texture. The asymmetry continues on either side as stickered brick details and more 1x1 grey tiles are placed in different positions. The roof angles come together quite well too, forming somewhat complex shaping. There's an elephant in the room detracting from the exterior of the model, though, and not the cool new moulded elephant from the City line. It's the stickers. I don't mind stickered detail. They're not going to print things like 2x2 tiles all the time, or stickers like those used for minor brick detailing on the side of the building, and that's just fine. Honeydukes, however, is 100% reliant on the stickers. Without them, you'd have no lattice on the windows, and no pink at all. If you screw up their placement, the thing is doomed. And, even if you DON'T screw up the placement, you could very easily have trapped finger prints and air bubbles in your massive windows, like I have. I tried to be as careful as I could, and my alignment is ok, but the result is still very hazy and looks even worse in person. Interior The vibrant ground floor candy store and storage room above comprise the interior of Honeydukes. Let's take a closer look. The ground floor is filled with a variety of sweets along the walls and bigger displays of chocolate fondue and a glittery opalescent ball in the windows. It also has a removable sort of aquarium stickered on both sides that can be placed in the centre. I thought I knew the Harry Potter franchise well, but my knowledge has failed me again with this one! Both sides have further stickered details on the wall panels, which are easy to apply and create a fine illusion of a more packed store. The cash register area also has a few pleasing details such as the white bowl for weighing, and a couple of stickers. In my Chamber of Secrets review I wrote about the "usable space" test, and I'm happy to report that Honeydukes has plenty of usable space for posing figures. The 2x2 jumper plates were a good choice, and Honeydukes is surely often packed with candy-hungry students anyway. The upstairs simply has fireplaces on both sides. a Honeydukes storage box, a bucket and pot, and some more old bits and bobs stowed in the rafters. It too has enough room for a couple of figures, and would have more with the box removed. All in all, Honeydukes has great exterior shaping and detailing, and the interior offers lots of sweets in eye-catching colours with space to pose figures, but the massive, integral stickers are an equally massive pain. __________________________ THE THREE BROOMSTICKS In the films, The Three Broomsticks looks rather gnarly and has lots of odd angles, all of which have been straightened up for this set. Some people might wish that this location got the D2C treatment so that it could be reproduced more faithfully, but I think having varied locations at more reasonable and accessible price points is better. Exterior This building provides excellent contrast against Honeydukes, with a completely different style. There's still lovely asymmetry to be found, and sloped roofs intersected by windows, resulting in a building that looks eye-catching despite its muted colour scheme and not at all boxy, as one might expect a LEGO set to be. Stickers provide minor details on the front and sides, and are easy enough to apply. Once again, even stickers aside the build feels complex with lots of good detailing and a distinct look. Interior The ground floor, while fairly small, displays the pub portion of the Three Broomsticks, with a combination of brick-built and stickered detail. The stickered shrunken heads and painting are nice touches, while the high bar looks good with a slightly raised area for Madame Rosmerta behind it. Like Honeydukes, both side walls utilise stickers for extra depth and detail, and I'm fine with that. There's obviously not a tremendous amount of seating provided, though The Three Broomsticks feels like a communal enough place that separate parties could sit at the same table, like I've done here. There's also enough floor space for a few other customers, and for Madame Rosmerta herself. I also can't forget to mention the butterbeer mugs, appropriately making their next appearance after the second CMF series. Love as many of those as I can get, and the 1x1 white studs make excellent head on the beer! Upstairs contains a private room, presumably the one where Harry overhears Rosmerta, McGonagall and Fudge. There's a large, roaring fireplace in the centre with holly and a cup above, and a comfy arm-chair to one side with a sticker behind it. The other side has a small chest of drawers and stool, and a sticker that's quite difficult to see. I've boosted the brightness on the second photo so that you can see it's a Hogwarts skyline. This room also contains plenty of open space for staging figures. Madame Rosmerta isn't happy about that. __________________________ SET DRESSINGS In addition to the two buildings, the set also contains three small side builds to set the Hogsmeade scene: a lamppost, a bench, and a sign-board. All are simply but well designed. The signboard has stickers for both sides, with a more enraged Sirius on the reverse. __________________________ FINAL THOUGHTS & RATING All in all, 76388 Hogsmeade Village Visit meets and exceeds my personal expectations. It continues the high level of detail expected for the Harry Potter theme since 2018, with two intricate, visually varied models that complement each other and create a lovely little slice of Hogsmeade along with the snowy side builds. Parts-wise, it includes a wealth of useful parts in dark tan, including arches appearing in that colour for the first time, and the large rounded trans-clear pieces used for Honeydukes windows could be useful without their bothersome stickers. There's also the exclusive acid pops head, butterbeer mugs, and minifigure-scale candy aplenty. On the minifigure front, getting three unique characters is always delightful, while McGonagall and Dean provide excellent new prints. Even if you don't care for the characters, they have useful and not terribly specific prints, as well as some hair and hat pieces in exclusive colours. There's just one thing about the design that detracts from this set, and it's the massive bloody stickers on Honeydukes. Even though they're bad, I wouldn't go so far as to say they ruin the set. If displaying is your aim, from a distance the stickered windows have the desired effect, but up closer at all and they look subpar. They really needed to be prints to alleviate their issues. One other pretty minor gripe I got thinking about is the lack of animals. An owl, mouse, rat, frog or two or three etc would've been great and felt very Harry Potter-y. Minifigures: 9.8/10 - Harry is bland and somewhat inaccurate, and Fudge should've been included to complete the scene, but really these minifigures are fantastic. Pieces: 9.6/10 - Good variety including some exclusive recolours and prints, as well as thankfully two butterbeer mugs and plenty of accessories in Honeydukes. Lacking animals, though!  Design: 7/10 - It's only fair to knock this down because of the Honeydukes windows, which play a prominent role in the set. Every other design choice is good, though. Playability: 8/10 - Unlike Hogwarts, which is itself a magical building and thus should have more play features built in, these two shops are shops, so playability will all come down to using them like doll-houses and enacting scenarios. There's mostly enough space for that, though the seating area in the pub and the upstairs of Honeydukes are limiting. Price: 10/10 - I haven't touched on price until now, but it feels like a fine USD price for the volume of stuff and level of detail, as well as all of the well-done minifigures and accessories. Overall: 8.9/10 - This is a very strong score, though not perfect, for a very strong though not perfect set. Given all of the well-done design choices, I wouldn't want to ding it too badly because of the Honeydukes windows, though they are a real shame. Still, I heartily recommend this set for either what it is or as a parts pack. Though I ended up liking the new Hogwarts sets more than I expected to, more of this please LEGO! __________________ This concludes my reviews of new 2021 Harry Potter sets for now. I hope I provided some useful insights for you, and let me know if there's anything you'd like to see with any of these sets that I haven't already covered. Please leave a comment with your thoughts on the sets and/or my reviews, and also let me know if you'd like me to cover any of the other sets once they're available for purchase. I'll definitely be getting the chess one!

$60 in Australia and no chance of a discount! Oh well, there are lots of good parts in this set.

I'm surprised he specifically mentions Trafalgar Square, as that was one where a huge homophobic ruckus broke out in the Brickset comments over a 1x1 tile with rainbow print. I thought it was those people reading into it, but it seems intentional after all.

In case anyone still didn't think this set was being overt about its message: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/20/everyone-is-awesome-lego-launch-first-lgbtq-set Now I'm just waiting for the AUD price!

Perhaps it saves a bit during the production/sorting side of the packaging process, but the other torso I'm suggesting already exists and is even in print still. Not a big deal anyway. The floor is sand blue, and closing the gap wouldn't be difficult at all, since it's just a rectangular space that they've left open. You'd simply need a longer plate.

There have been a fair number of solid-colour, unprinted dual-moulded legs at BAM, but there's really no way to predict what will pop up there next.

On the contrary, it's a glorified minifigure pack - if I get it I'll be playing around with those minifig parts like wild! A space team would've been great though... maybe the sequel to this set?

Thanks both of you! That wig is definitely a detail I missed. Thanks! I think you can stop seeing this Great Hall as THE Great Hall quite easily. The exterior's details are simplified enough that it works as something else. Thank you! I tried Cho's head on Lockhart's body to check this, and the colours either don't match perfectly or my eyes are playing tricks. Cho's head and hands are ever-so-slightly darker. Now, I only have CMF1 Cho, so it could be down to the different production location making the colour ever so slightly different? I'm not sure. Thank you! Having played around with the sets more, I've found that the grill pieces used are actually beneficial for posing minifigures with short legs. You're much more limited in how you can pose them on regular plates. Thank you! Yes indeed, the amount of usable space is a big plus of this new system.

Somehow it didn't register to me that the Iron Monger was as big as it is. It's not necessarily bad value at all, it's just that I didn't need a USD $40 price-point Iron Monger. At 70 AUD (crysad), I don't think there will ever be a sale hefty enough to warrant it, when all I truly want is Jeff Bridges' face. The Dragon Flyer, though a totally unmemorable vehicle, makes a lovely $20 set on the other hand. The Final Battle is definitely so much better than the original one and the USD value isn't too bad (over 100% more in dollar amount AUD, not to mention some of the EUR prices though...). My favourite things are Thanos and the van, though the van's interior is a bit sad. Not even a real chair! I'm keen to reenact the scene where they put Thanos and a Chitauri in a holding cell so that Black Panther can drink coffee through his mask and chillax for a bit.

Fun with Modular Hogwarts Now that I've covered the three 2021 Hogwarts sets sent in separate reviews, it's time to look at the new modular Hogwarts system as a whole. Click here to see lots of combinations along with my thoughts on how the system looks and plays both from the exterior and interior. Here are a few wacky combinations you'll find in the article:

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

Ah fair enough. I definitely remember either reading or watching an interview with Filoni (or someone else involved) citing initial problems animating the bubble turrets. It's been a long time since then and memory is an unreliable thing!

Where is Bricklink updated and how can that be seen? Looks the same on my phone as past weeks to me. Personally when I use BL I always go straight to the Catalog to find what I want. It has all the search-ability I could possibly need and is really the only part of BL I use, both for research purposes and as a starting point for compiling things I might want to buy. As long as they never ruin the Catalog, I'll be happy.

Earlier seasons of TCW didn't have turrets because they didn't have the budget/time to make the animation work with all of the "turret glass". The per-episode budget increased and the animation got more sophisticated as the show went on, so they were able to add the turrets back in later. So basically, the gunship is always supposed to have turrets, but it just didn't in TCW for a while because of real-world reasons and not in-universe reasons.

Are you sure it wasn't Russia with the Crystal Skull sets, rather than Germany with the other ones? I remember something about it. Regardless, I found your initial post very well put personally.

This is no longer the thread to discuss the Everyone is Awesome set. There is now a dedicated thread, linked above. Please continue to use THIS thread for its original purpose, discussing upcoming CMF lines.

Done!

It's a series of minifigures! ... but they're monochrome.

Love that car, and the film camera looks ace! Adventurers builds always hit right in the feels.

Our next stop on the Harry Potter review train is the smallest set: 76386 Hogwarts: Polyjuice Potion Mistake. It's fantastic - click to read my review and find out why I think so!

That's a very fair point. It wouldn't change my overall recommendation of course, but you're right that getting just one is a bit of a bummer, certainly on par with my complaint about torsos. The regular trans-orange mug is available on B&P now though, and still only found in Harry Potter sets as far as I'm aware, so hopefully this one will become available too.

Now for the smallest of the three new Hogwarts sets LEGO sent for review, it's... 76386 Hogwarts: Polyjuice Potion Mistake | 2021 | 217 Pieces | 3 + 1 Minifigures USD $20 | GBP 18 | EUR 20 (variable) | CAD 25 | AUS$ 33 __________________________ Three minifigures with "alternate" identities, a new minifigure part, recoloured butterbeer mug, attractive-looking design and price... Wait, am I already at the end of the review? Indeed we're just at the beginning, but all of those factors are self-evident from pictures of this set. Could anything go wrong? (Spoiler alert: no) __________________________ THE BUILD & PARTS This being a relatively small set, one wouldn't expect much from the build, but in fact there are lots of pleasing details that come together - more than 76387 that's for sure! Quite a good little variety of parts is also on offer, such as the sand blue, the gold taps, and the accessories. Here are the leftovers: __________________________ THE MINIFIGURES The minifigures included here are fantastic for a number of reasons, as are the polyjuice-potion-making equipment including the exclusively recoloured butterbeer mug. For starters, this is the highest quantity of Slytherin robes included in a set since the spiritual ancestor of this set - 2002's 4735 Slytherin. That's 19 years to wait for another set with more than one Slytherin school robe (not counting Quidditch)! Secondly, we get fantastic alternate expressions for young Harry and Ron. Not for Hermione unfortunately, as her face gets covered so they didn't need to make a new head. Then there's the fact that they can all be transformed, and the extra hair pieces are included (though the ones for Crabbe and Goyle aren't the most accurate) - AND it's the first Crabbe in 19 years as well! The new Cat-mione piece looks delightfully cute and sorry for herself. One of my favourite LEGO hair-piece things is when one piece incorporates the shape of another, such as these two hat-hairs incorporating the Elizabeth Swan hair, and the Cat-mione piece incorporates the shape of her regular hair-piece wonderfully. This set's special 20th Anniversary figure is Garry - that is, Golden Harry, who is nice and all. Besides Hermione's understandable lack of new face print and the Slytherin boys' dubious choice of hair, the only other nitpick I could have with the minifigures is that the set could've included one of the open-fronted Slytherin robe print, currently only available in the Astronomy Tower. It matches these perfectly well in style, and would've added variety and accuracy, as bother Harry and Ron have their robes open in the scene. It's not a big deal at all, though. __________________________ THE GIRLS' BATHROOM For the actual build of the set, it's a single new Hogwarts module representing key details of the Polyjuice Potion scene. Of course in the film, the sinks go around in a full 360 degree circle, and there are lots of bathroom stalls that look nothing like this one, but it doesn't matter. The details included evoke exactly what they need to evoke, and do so with a fantastic level of detail what with the various parts that go into the sinks, the sand blue flooring, and the grill tiles at the edge. The stall includes a fantastic little old school toilet tank and flush, built into the wall with parts going multiple directions. Short-legged minifigures do look slightly odd standing on the toilet, since they can't sit, but figures with medium and regular legs look good. Here's missing Moaning Myrtle to demonstrate. The centre sink flips up, revealing the hole to combine with the slide included in 76389. This too is not a perfect recreation of how it works in the movie, but it does its job and I'm glad for anything that moves in one of these Harry Potter sets. If you've looked at the official pictures, you might have noticed something oddly missing (also missing from the box) - the outside of the build! It's only viewable in the 360 spin on LEGO.com. But it turns out LEGO has nothing to hid - the outside is perfectly respectable and has a good little window build and brick detailing to break up what could've been a monotonous wall. Only the grey piece that goes into the toilet build sticks out slightly. __________________________  FINAL THOUGHTS & RATING 76386 Hogwarts: Polyjuice Potion Mistake is a perfect USD $20 price point set. Unlike 76387 Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter, with which this has being part of the new modular system in common, this one completely works as the scene it's covering while also adding play value if combined with 76389, has good detail packed into it, has an exterior with some variety to it, and has three desirable minifigures with exclusive parts. It's a real winner. Minifigures: 9.8/10 - One different existing torso print for variety would've been welcome, but otherwise these minifigures offer a lot of value. Pieces: 10/10 - Good variety, including the exclusively recoloured butterbeer mug, the exclusive Cat-mione piece, and all of the required alternate hairpieces. Design: 10/10 - The build hits all the rights notes, having variety and representing all of the key details of the scene, all packed into one contained build. Playability: 10/10 - For what it is, this set offers plenty of playability, allowing you to re-enact the polyjuice transformations, talking to Hermione through the bathroom stall, looking in the mirror, etc. It also includes the function needed for the scene entering the Chamber of Secrets. Price: 10/10 - It's a perfect price point for the amount of parts and everything desirable included. Overall: 9.96/10 - Let's round and call it a perfect score. Why not? I wholeheartedly recommend this set. What do you think? __________________________ Up next, a look at combining the Hogwarts sets before reviewing 76388 Hogsmeade Village Visit.

The butterbeer cup isn't CMF exclusive anymore, which is probably why it has snuck into availability. It's in the upcoming Hogsmeade set. People on here have been buying the CMF centaur parts recently, at least the legs.

From one of the best self-contained Hogwarts sets to... possibly one of the worst? Read our Eurobricks review of 76387 Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter to find out my thoughts!

After the big Chamber of Secrets, here's the second largest (but much much smaller) Hogwarts set of the June 2021 range. Straight out of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, it's: 76387 Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter | 2021 | 397 Pieces | 3 + 1 Minifigures USD $40 | GBP 35 | EUR 40 (variable) | CAD 50 | AUS$ 70 __________________________ With 397 pieces, 3 minifigures plus a special golden one, and a USD price of $40, this set looks like a good deal on paper. However, Fluffy looks a bit iffy in the official pictures, details appear to be lacking. Will that be the case in actuality? __________________________ THE BUILD & PARTS The build is split over just three bags, and progresses quickly and unremarkably. Besides Fluffy, you can easily tell how this set is built just by looking at it; secrets do not lie within. There's little in the way of truly interesting parts, though what is here would be good for castle builders. The clear flag piece used in the harp is cool, though I stickered it as instructed for the review. Here are the leftovers: __________________________ THE MINIFIGURES The minifigures here look good for what they are. They sport both new designs of Gryffindor robes, and are appropriate for the scene where the trio encounter Fluffy (just like the set name, hey!) for the first time. This whole wave has less Rons and Hermiones, and arguably even Harrys, than usual, so it's always good to have a set available with all three of them. Golden Hermione is a nice novelty, based on the Hogwarts Moments design with added sparkles. While all of these figures are good and appropriate, they're also not exciting. Gryffindor robes are available in the larger Chamber of Secrets and smaller Quidditch Practice, and LEGO has done a bunch of iterations of them including in the first and second CMF. The character faces also remain unchanged for this age since 2018. The harp build looks quite out of not too many parts, and the solution for the strings is great. That sticker is thankfully easy to attach. __________________________ FLUFFY Fluffy is actually the first build of the set (before the harp, which is in bag 2), and I must say, despite earlier reservations.... he's truly delightful. In photos, it's easy to look at the build and think too hard about it, noticing all the choppiness that comes with being a brick-build as opposed to a mould. However, in person Fluffy is just so pose-able and fun that that doesn't matter, because he wouldn't be anywhere near this playable as a moulded creature even with separate new heady, body and leg pieces. I had way too much fun posing him for the review, so here's a dump of photos if you're not convinced: Now, there are two negatives to him, one which is pretty objective and one which is a matter of personal preference. The first is the light-grey, colour locked small ball socket pieces (originally from Mixels). They stand out like such a massive sore thumb. If LEGO could even tolerance test them in black, that would be so beneficial in so many builds; light grey just does not integrate with this colour scheme at all. The second possible negative is that they've done three different head prints to make it so that Fluffy is awake from one side and asleep from the other. Some might prefer him to be all awake and menacing, or have a disconnect about it, but personally I like and it maximises his potential, even if from only one side at a time. You might have noticed that his heads are hollow. They won't fit over every minifigure hair, though they do Ron's, and I'm sure an optimal one could be found for this purpose: __________________________ HOGWARTS I've covered Fluffy, who is the thing being encountered, so now it's time for where he's encountered: Hogwarts. This set is $40 after all, so it can't all be for Fluffy! This new for June 2021 Hogwarts system revolves around modularity, and this contains a total of five modules: two 8x8 rooms, an 8x16 hallway, an 8x16 roof, and an 8x8 tower top. Before I get into arranging them, let's look at each on their own merits or lack thereof. The Corridor The corridor looks rather bare from the outside as seen above, with large gaps and relying on stickers to add some detail. This is unlike the Chamber of Secrets, which had no stickered exterior detail. The interior is just as bare, simply containing a chicken leg and trap door. The candles on the roof module do the job just fine (though the black liftarm-like pieces would have been more magical in trans-clear. I must say the bareness isn't inaccurate, just uninteresting, though it leaves room to fit Fluffy inside along with the harp (for which a leftover stud could be used to stick it down at an angle. Fitting Fluffy with the trio presents a trickier proposition, but we'll come to that later. The Balcony and Devil's Snare The 8x8 section contain a random Hogwarts space with a balcony and removable torches, and a very pitiful Devil's Snare. When something from 2001 looks a whole lot better, that's usually a problem (like the laughable Basilisk in the 2018 Great Hall, though that's been rectified now). There's a single extra bone for detail, and that's that. One word: sad. I haven't touched on the use of 8x8 grill plates, which I initially balked at. While Marcos Bessa mentioned it was for budget reasons, they actually work better for dynamic posing of short-legged minifigures. I didn't take any pictures to that effect, but it's true, as minifigures with short legs can't be stood on only one legs and thus are contained to right angles on full plates. The Tower Top The tower top contains a little room with some potion-making going on, and includes that same printed jar head from the Chamber of Secrets set. I found the sticker difficult to apply and had put it on askew before I knew it, but since it depicts hanging parchments it luckily still looks fine even at an angle. There's enough space to play with some figures here, though they are mostly outside of the physical tower, so you have to stretch your imagination as to whether they're inside or outside. __________________________ ARRANGING THE MODULES Perceptive fans will notice that the official pictures display this set in two different arrangements. The front of the box shows the corridor segment on its own, with the others arranged into a tower. (The set does contain technic pins for attaching them together.) That arrangement looks fine, though the corridor section itself is plain an a bit ugly no matter how you look at it. However, it presents a problem because it places the trap door over your surface, not over the included Devil's Snare. Therefore the back of the box shows this arrangement (though only from the interior): Now the trap door is above the Devil's Snare, which is good, but the placement of the other two is a bit silly. We have a balcony at ground level and a tower top sitting by itself. Combined with the other modular Hogwarts sets, a better solution could be found, but looking at this set alone it's almost like you're stuck as to what to do with all the segments. There is one solution for getting the trap door above the Devil's Snare and the other segments off the ground, but it's precarious and ridiculous in its own right. There's enough weight on the tower side to keep it upright, but if you started to play with it, it's probably topple over. Here are two other possible configurations, though neither has the trap door above the Devil's Snare. __________________________ THE PLAY FEATURE Now howabout that Devil's Snare? It doesn't look godt, but does is Leg Godt (play well)? First of all, the trapdoor is completely manual; you have to open it yourself. The "play feature" such that it is is also manual: you have to drop a figure down there and see if they're caught. I tried this numerous times, and it proved frustrating numerous times. Finally Hermione fell in and plunked like this, but most of the time the figure simply bounced off the top. So does it work? Not really. Is it fun? Definitely not. __________________________ FINAL THOUGHTS & RATING I mentioned above that the corridor had enough space for Fluffy, but not really with Fluffy and the trio. Another knock against it. Overall, there's one great thing about this set, and only one: Fluffy. Even if he looks a bit wonky in pictures, he's so fun to play around with and has all the right choices in my opinion, besides the unfortunate grey joints. Pretty much everything about the Hogwarts portions, on the other hand, let you down. They can't all be configured in a combination that works within this set alone, and everything besides the tower top is quite bare, plus it's just a small tower top that's not even enclosed. The Devil's Snare is pitiful and doesn't work; I don't think it'd even be recognisable without the context. As for the minifigures, they're fine. They are correct but they do not uplift a poor set. Now, if Fluffy is the only good thing, one could ask why a set with him should be injected with builds up to a $40 price point. The truth is, a Forbidden Corridor set could be a fantastic $40 set, IF it had some good play features to properly and enjoyable recreate the trio being caught in the Devil's Snare. This set isn't it. Minifigures: 5/10 - Straight average for straight average minifigures Pieces: 6/10 - All fine parts with a few gems and nothing else remarkable Design: 3/10 - Fluffy and the harp are good, but the flaws of the rest are enough for me to feel justified bumping it down to this level. Playability: 4/10 - You can play with Fluffy. You can't easily play with Hogwarts. Price: 7/10 - This is a tricky one because the amount of parts and volume of stuff you get is a good value, so from that angle it should almost be 10/10, but it's not a good value when a good chunk of the set needs an overhaul. Overall: 5/10 - To me a 5/10 is a failing grade, though you might also look at it as excruciatingly average. It's a shame because Fluffy himself is so fun, but I can't recommend the set as a whole as it is. Later on I'll see how useful the Hogwarts segments are when combined with the other sets, but by itself, this set doesn't work. Up next...