Tag Archives: Wizarding World

Perfect LEGO patronus is a potent Potter protector

Builder Chi Hsin Wei has been on an absolute roll lately, churning out some truly brilliant LEGO creations over the last few months. But this latest ode to Harry Potter may be my favorite work of the bunch! Improving significantly over the recent 76414 Expecto Patronum set, this glorious stag of light blue brick utilizes an array of curved slopes and clip hinges to bring the translucent beast to life. And the spell’s caster is no slouch either with their flowing black robes. It’s quite the difficult task to replicate loose clothing in the LEGO medium, but Wei handles it like a pro!

Elegant Patronus

LEGO reveals 76417 Gringotts™ Wizarding Bank – Collectors’ Edition, available this fall [News]

Earlier today, LEGO announced the next set in the Harry Potter theme: 76417 Gringotts™ Wizarding Bank – Collectors’ Edition. Consisting of 4,803 pieces, this mammoth construction features both the above-ground wizarding bank and the catacomb of vaults below. All told, the set is an impressive 29.5″ (75 cm) tall, 12.5″ (32 cm) wide, and 10″ (25 cm) deep, and comes with 13 minifigures including Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Bellatrix, and Griphook. The set also includes the iconic Ukrainian Ironbelly that the Golden Trio ride out of the top of Gringotts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Designed to be compatible with 75978 Harry Potter Diagon Alley, 76417 Gringotts™ Wizarding Bank – Collectors’ Edition will be available for purchase through LEGO stores and their website on September 4 (September 1 for VIPs), and will retail for US $429.99 | CAN $559.99 | UK £369.99.

Take a stroll through the bank below

LEGO Harry Potter 76422 Diagon Alley: Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes [Review]

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.

Read the full review

LEGO Harry Potter 76414 Expecto Patronum [Review]

LEGO has given us large-format winged creatures from the Harry Potter series, each with an integrated flapping mechanism, and with 76414 Expecto Patronum, the series continues at least somewhat in spirit. There is no movement mechanism, but the “Expecto Patronum” is similar to the name plates on the winged creatures. And in a bit of a surprise, it’s a 2-in-1 set, offering the option of building either Harry’s stag patronus or Remus Lupin’s wolf. Here’s our review of the set, which contains 754 pieces and 2 minifigures, and is available now for US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £62.99.

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.

Read the full review

A “little dueling club” with a lot of action

Return to the second book of the Harry Potter series in this outstanding LEGO Dueling Club by Alex Lam. The tan background is outstanding, employing a variety of structural techniques to recreate the Hogwarts hall. I particularly like the design of the lion’s head braziers, with school banners hung beneath. But amongst the throng of minifigures is the real highlight of the build: the dueling platform. This diorama of moon phases in purple and pearl gold is excellent, a perfect recreation from the movies. There’s quite a bit of skill in the use of those gold plates and tiles in the designs going from waxing to waning crescent, as the part availability is limited in that color.

dueling_club 1

I know the first image is a bit stationary, and my title did promise some action, so how about about a second shot with a bit more punch? Nothing beats watching the overly-pompous Lockhart get his butt kicked. Check out even more shots of the build on Alex’s Flickr page.

dueling_club 6

LEGO Harry Potter 76420 Triwizard Tournament: The Black Lake [Review]

The March 2023 Harry Potter wave includes one more playset, 76420 Triwizard Tournament: The Black Lake. This returns to a scene that LEGO has only depicted once before, almost 20 years ago (!) in 2005. This version takes advantage of the reintroduction of dark turquoise, which was just leaving the LEGO color palette back when 4762 Rescue from the Merpeople was released. Here’s our review of the set, which contains 349 pieces, 5 minifigures, and a Grindylow, and is available now for US $44.99 | CAN $59.99 | UK £39.99.

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.

Read the full review

Albus Dumbledore and the Office of Secrets

After years of rereading, rewatching, and relistening to the series, Dumbledore’s Office evokes a certain brand of nostalgia for me. It’s an emotion somewhere between being in the Principle’s office and sitting down for tea with my quirky grandmother. Seeing it built with such detail at this scale makes me think of how I felt at twelve years old when the Chamber of Secrets was released, and I watched Harry enter the office for the first time. Even as an adult, rewatching the series on repeat with my brother during quarantine, the stories told and secrets shared in this office are plastered on the walls of my mind. Builder Stefan Johansson uses some magical techniques to create this massive model of Dumbledore’s office.

Continue reading →

LEGO Harry Potter 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors’ Edition: best exclusive set for a beginner? [Review]

Gone are the days when typical LEGO sets were all about buildings and vehicles. Today, the nearest toy store welcomes you with either an iconic soccer stadium, a sitcom studio, or even a 1:1 Adidas sneaker. Joining the company this fall is yet another unconventional building concept — a magic owl on top of books surrounded by a bunch of accessories from the Wizarding world. If this sounds good to you, you should definitely take a closer look at the new LEGO Harry Potter 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors’ Edition, which is available September 2, for US $249.99 | UK £249.99. As the set is aimed at a broad group of new-to-hobby customers, let’s see if Hogwarts Icons can be a great start for someone at the beginning of their collection of massive LEGO exclusives.

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.

Click here to read the review…

The Hogwarts Entrance Hall to rule all entrance halls

Have you ever had that friend who you try to act all cool around, but who’s definitely much cooler and more talented than you? Well, I have a few, actually, but when it comes to LEGO Harry Potter, there is only one true master. Eric Law has awed and inspired many times over with his dazzling and ginormous recreations of the Wizarding World. This time, he brings us an exceptional model of the Hogwarts Entrance Hall. There is so much going on here, it’s a little shocking. Dare you to take the time to count all the frames!

“But wait, Bre! Do the stairs actually move?” You bet your Firebolt they do! Here is a short snippet GIF, but you should definitely check out the full video on Eric’s Instagram page.

Can’t get enough Harry Potter builds? We have you covered!

LEGO Harry Potter reveals 8 new sets for Summer 2021, available to pre-order now [News]

The core Harry Potter books and movies may be wrapped up now, but the merchandising is still chugging along at top speed. Today, LEGO has unveiled the summer 2021 wave of Harry Potter sets, which brings new additions to the modular Hogwarts castle series, a chess set, and even a totally new series: giant brick-built minifigures. LEGO says that a selection of the sets is available for pre-order starting today, though at the time of writing they haven’t clarified specifically which sets will be available. With prices ranging from $20 to $130 USD, all of the sets will be released on June 1, though most of them are exclusive to specific retailers until August 1.

Click to see all the details on the Summer 2021 Harry Potter sets

What a charming charmed tent!

One of the things in the Harry Potter universe that always caught my attention was the charmed tents. Nothing as magical as 3 people entering a really small tent to discover that it is very spacious on the inside. Caleb Schilling takes this setting and gives us the Quidditch World Cup scene where the Weasley family camps in a borrowed charmed tent during the sport event. The tent is made of fabric, which is really hard to create with a hard plastic construction toy. However, Caleb managed to make the flowing fabric feel come across quite beautifully thanks to the round wall, patterns on all the walls, and the curtains hanging from the ceiling. The tent has everything a family needs to camp in comfort: beds, couches, chairs, tables, a heating stove, and even a rug with fringe!

Tent

Herbology class is in session

Since 2018 the LEGO wizarding world has been expanding via collectible minifigure series as well as sets based on the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films. All of the newly available minifigures and elements have really stirred up the imaginations of Potterheads and have inspired some great work. One of these exemplary builders is Kale Frost who invites us to sit in on a lesson at Hogwarts with his build of a Herbology classroom.

Professor Pomona Sprout

Kale’s brick-built greenhouse is a truly magical creation, the stars of the scene I would say are some of the newer elements he included as well as the latest Professor Pomona Sprout minifigure. Also from the second Harry Potter collectible minifigures series, is the potions book featured in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He incorporates elements from other themes such as the geode from LEGO City Space and the teal headphones from Monkie Kid, both pieces also being fairly new. This vignette certainly makes me wish I was a minifigure, I could throw on those teal headphones and cultivate some mandrakes to whip up various restorative potions.