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Lego Harry Potter Review – Hogwarts Castle 4842

Harry Potter finally made its return to Lego in 2010, after five years of absence in which it was sorely missed by fans. This set has been extremely well received and you can read more reviews here.

With six sets in the initial wave, the largest and most distinctive is the iconic building, Hogwarts Castle.

Lego has produced 3 previous versions of the famous castle over the years (interestingly coming out every 3 years from 2001 onwards) but this latest one is without a doubt the definitive version. At 1290 pieces and with 10 minifigures it is the largest Harry Potter Lego set ever, having almost double the amount of pieces as the original castle.

New figures in this set include Professor Flitwick and Argus Filch (along with his creepy cat Mrs Norris). Other figures include Lord Voldemort, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and two Dementors.

Rather than having the set coming from one film, it seems to cover a few different films. For example, it features appearances from “He Who Must Not Be Named”, who only came to Hogwarts in the final book, as well as a tile featuring Sirius in the fire (from the fourth film).

Other notable features include a printed Sorting Hat, Gryffindor’s Sword (silver!), a Basilisk fang, Harry’s invisibility cloak, sliding stairs and too many more to mention.

There are features aplenty in this set and, for true fans of Lego and Harry Potter, an amazing amount of unique printed pieces. Notable amongst them – a copy of The Marauder’s Map, The Daily Prophet (“Mass Breakout From Azkaban”), The Qubblier (“Harry Potter Speaks Out At Last”) and the Hogwarts Crest.

While there are a number of great printed parts there are also stickers (but not too many) including ones for a shield featuring the name of Harry’s father, James, as Gryffindor Seeker and the Slytherin and Gryffindor great hall hangings. The school owls and Mrs Norris all come with fully painted faces as does the Sorting Hat and many of the figures some with full torso printing, leg printing and/or double sided head pieces.

Rooms include Dumbledore’s office, the restricted section of the library, the Room of Requirement (featuring a vanishing cabinet), the astronomy tower, Slytherin and Gryffindor common rooms and of course the Great Hall complete with food and seating areas.

Our Recommendation: Hogwarts Castle 4842

Rating:

There is heaps of  playability in this set and Harry Potter fans will go crazy over the amount of detail the designers have put into this latest (and last?) HP castle. Lego have really outdone themselves here and set 4842 is well worth the $129 price tag.

Basically its alot of fun for kids, you get heaps of figures and a big playset – perfect for hours of independent play, what more could you want?

Also, a seemingly small thing , but when you pick up the box it feels full and heavy, unlike the majority of Lego sets these days that seem to be boxed with alot of expensive air inside.

I imagine this set will sell like Chocolate Frogs.

Where To Purchase Lego Hogwarts Castle

Like most sets you can pick this up at a number of places but here are the three we recommend.

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Lego Harry Potter Review – The Burrow Set 4840

When Lego announced they were revisiting the popular Harry Potter licence in 2010, fans were eagerly guessing which set the company would make while adding input on their own desired sets.

One of those dream sets and without a doubt one of the most loved designs of the Harry Potter universe is the haphazard Weasley Family Home, lovingly known as the Burrow and its addition to the Lego universe in 2010 is well deserved.

Minifigures

One of the most notable features of set 4840 is the minifigures. The set comes with six minifigures and, at the time of release, five of those six are exclusive to this set. And what minifigures they are.

Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort’s favourite Death Eater (with hair to die for), Fenrir Greyback (also with hair to die for, but most of it on his chest!) and on the side of good first time appearances of Arthur and Molly Weasley as well as Ginny Weasley and a Harry Potter figure to round out the set.

The figures themselves are absolutely stunning up close and Lego have gone to great lengths to make them instantly identifiable as their movie counterparts with torso, leg, hair and head-piece detail (both front and back). The bad guys look the part and are so full of detail (Bellatrix both front and back) and the Weasley family is as endearing as can be.

Ginny looks very cool, and I can imagine it was hard to capture her character in a minifig as the subtleties of her personality are hard to convey in a few line strokes but Lego have excelled here. Arthur Weasley looks great in an apple green jacket and Molly has beautiful designs on her apron which extend down to her legs. There is no Ron in the set which feels a little strange but I doubt too many fans will be complaining. There are also two of the new printed owls and a pig included.

The Burrow

The house itself is a fair miniaturized version of the Burrow. Though not quite accurate it captures the ramshackle feel of the Burrow very well and the whole thing looks like more rooms were added together haphazardly to accommodate more baby Weasleys as they came along. It is asymmetrical but Lego have managed to do all this without making it look like something Crookshanks coughed up.

The colors tone in well to each other and the three-level building is made with a mixture of dark red, orangey brown, tan, white and blue. Lots of details distinguish this from other, more regular houses like 2010’s Apple Tree Cottage and there are too many to mention here. For AFOLs it should be noted there are a mix of printed and stickered pieces in the set.

The ground floor is a kitchen and living room area while the second floor is Ron’s bedroom (complete with bunks and a Chudley Cannons poster) while the top floor (really tiny!) is another bedroom.

Outside there is a pig pen, a fire place (complete with floo powder action!) as well as a swamp area where a battle between Bellatrix and Harry took place in the Half Blood Prince.

Overall Verdict – The Burrow Set 4840

Overall this a set that fans of the films and books will appreciate while fans of Lego will love. Highly recommended!

Where To Purchase The Burrow

Like most sets you can pick this up at a number of places but here are the three we recommend.