The June 2023 Harry Potter wave included a standalone version of a shop that LEGO has produced once before: 76422 Diagon Alley: Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. We reviewed the full 75978 Diagon Alley set before – though it’s price has increased by $50 since then – so of course we’ll look at how this compares to the version in that set. Not everyone can afford or wants the whole Diagon Alley set, either, so is this a good value on its own? Here’s our review of the set, which contains 834 pieces and 7 minifigures, and is available from LEGO.com for US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £84.99.
This set is based on a license The LEGO Group has with the Warner Brothers films, not J.K. Rowling directly. The transphobic views expressed by Rowling do not reflect the values of The Brothers Brick or, indeed, those of The LEGO Group. The magical world Rowling created, in which many who felt a bit different could see themselves, meant a great deal to so many people, including those that Rowling now demeans. TBB affirms each individual LEGO fan’s choice to claim a piece of the world for themselves, or to reject it entirely.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
The box and contents
The front and back of the box show off the front and back of the buildings. The back makes clear that there are a ton of details inside, as well as how what you get is sort of a quarter shell of the building; 75978 Diagon Alley is about three quarters, with just an open back wall.
Inside are ten numbered bags, two sticker sheets, and the instructions. With all of the signs on the outside of the shop, and products inside, there are more stickers than one might hope.
The build
The first two bags build the small Owl Post building. This location is only mentioned in the source material, not shown, but it is clearly meant to match the building at Universal Studios. The color matches, the owl perches are scaled down but very recognizable, and the sign is the same. There should however be shutters that open to reveal a kiosk counter at waist height; instead a full door opens to reveal what could be the side of a kiosk, but with just bare studs on top of it. The back of the building is very plain, and the side is weirdly messy with 2×3 slopes because of a feature where you drop mail through the red window frame built into the roof, and it bounces around before falling to the floor or out of the side of the building. This is mentioned on LEGO.com’s description as “a mail drop feature” but it’s not convincing us.
The remainder of the bags build the two-walled, quarter façade of the joke shop. There are some nice techniques used here, such as how the curved quarter-circle window pieces are placed at an angle to make the bay windows on the sides of the building.
2×2 round jumper plates help to bind those tall bay windows back into grid at the top, and a 1×2 jumper at the “neck” level of the tall Weasley behind the front corner windows allows a 4×4 round plate to be supported and lock the statue into the rest of the building solidly.
Up towards the roof, headlight bricks and 1×1 SNOT bricks combine to carefully place double bow tiles and a 45 degree slope to model a rounded facing. They’re also used to completely hide two round plates – green on top of purple – that are certainly an Easter egg. Perhaps an homage to Fred Weasley?
From the back, the interior isn’t overly cluttered, but looks extremely colorful and well stocked. There are, unsurprisingly, a ton of stickers used for the stock of products. When we looked at the exclusive 75978 Diagon Alley set, we weren’t entirely convinced by the interiors. So while this one is significantly scaled down (in particular there’s less depth, one less floor, and despite having bannisters, there are no stairs!) it’s hard to call it a step back on that account.
The finished front looks quite good. Even though the larger set uses more elaborate techniques for the window frames, sills, and trim, it’s easy to think that the designers would take advantage of the 3×3 rounded window piece if they’d had it available (it was only introduced in 2021, a year late for Diagon Alley). The animatronic Weasley lacks the technic mechanism in the larger build, so the poor rabbit is exposed to the rain. Speaking of the rabbit – that’s a Friends piece! Unprinted – which makes it a new, unique part – but the same mold. How often has a Friends-style animal shown up in a non-minidoll set? (We’re specifying minidoll, and not Friends, since the Disney minidoll sets tend to share the same animal molds.) Ahem. Also the rest of the roof is missing, but it’s a solid façade.
The minifigures
Fred and George Weasley – according to the box, Fred has the green shirt while George has orange – whoops we need to stop there again! These are, in fact, the same torsos that were previously exclusive to the $450 larger Diagon Alley set, but in that one, Fred had the orange shirt while George had the green. Between the sets, the hairpieces are the same, the legs are still unprinted, and the heads are the same as well (they’re twins, so it doesn’t matter which is which, but for what it’s worth, the heads stay consistent with the character name – it’s just the shirts that switch). Those minifigures were quite popular, and the torso prints in particular are very detailed, so getting them in a cheaper set – even by each other’s names – is great.
Ginny and Ron are the other included Weasleys. Both feature torsos that appear to be new prints. They each are completely reusable, having a modern-ish feel and no flesh printing, making them easy to combine with your City or other figures to add variety. The dark blue cardigan and the striped sweater are each quite nice as well. Both characters hair is consistently used, both heads have appeared before in Attack on the Burrow, and the legs are unprinted. Strong torsos are becoming a theme here.
Our cast is filled out with Lavender Brown, Romilda Vane, and a generic Owl Post Worker. Romilda appears for the first time in LEGO form, as does any kind of Owl Post employee; Lavender appeared in the Astronomy Tower in a different outfit. All three torsos appear to be new, sporting different sorts of cardigans. Again the torsos are good and easy to re-use with any flesh color minifigure, and Romilda and the Owl Post worker have head colors that are less common than light nougat, but the legs are all plain and the worker doesn’t even get an alternate expression. They’re definitely not the main characters or the highlights here.
Conclusion and recommendation
This set would be easier to assess if it was clear what it was meant to go with, if anything. There are technic pins to attach the Owl Post building to either side, but it really feels like its meant to be combined with other buildings. If only there were a collection of the shops on Diagon Alley… oh right, that’s the $450 set that this is a smaller version of, and not compatible with this one.
It’s still a pretty nice and (given the license inflation) not badly priced standalone set – it just doesn’t feel like it’s meant to be standalone. Maybe there will be more similar buildings coming – there are always Gringotts rumors, though more likely to match up with the large Diagon Alley than a smaller set of streetscapes – but until then: if you have the large Diagon Alley, there’s very little reason to get this set. If you don’t, then this is a much more affordable way to get the Fred and George torsos and a representation of their shop. We might be able to recommend it more if the Owl Post pieces had gone into rounding the shop out more – maybe adding stairs – but the facades do look good together. It’s solid – we just wish it had friends.
76422 Diagon Alley: Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes contains 834 pieces and 7 minifigures. It is available from the LEGO Shop and worldwide for US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £84.99 or from Amazon. It may also be available from third-party sellers on eBay.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
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