LEGO's New Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle Is A Laborious But Wonderful Build
LEGO has been churning out "Harry Potter" franchise building brick playsets ever since "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" launched into theaters back in 2001. At the time, LEGO was still producing minifigures that were all yellow, and they had not yet regularly crafted minifigures with accurate skin colors and features. But that's not the only advancement that LEGO has seen in the two decades since the LEGO Harry Potter collection began. Building brick technology and engineering have made it so the latest LEGO sets inspired by the Wizarding World can bring the franchise's magic to life with impressive detail, and their latest release is no exception, even if it's on a much smaller scale.
On September 1, LEGO is releasing the Hogwarts Castle and Grounds as a 2,660-piece micro-scale model that allows fans to build the entire wizarding school castle and some of the surrounding geography, complete with some fun franchise Easter eggs sprinkled throughout. LEGO was kind enough to send this set over in advance for /Film to build, and I can tell you this is a much smaller micro-scale approach to the castle, even more than the previously released 6,020-piece Hogwarts Castle, which is why it costs a fraction of that massive LEGO set. Because of that, the model is mostly comprised of tiny little pieces that create as much detail on this scale as possible. That makes it quite the laborious affair, with very few easygoing moments for building and lots of meticulous attention required to the manual to make sure you're placing each and every piece in the correct spot.
Let's take a closer look at the new LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle and Grounds playset, shall we?
The foundation of magic
Because this is a display model, the LEGO Hogwarts Castle and Grounds begins by constructing the display base and the grounds for the foundation on top of which the entire castle and surrounding areas will sit. LEGO is smart enough to use a variety of bright and bold colors for the pieces that are intended to create the base of the model, not only to differentiate between these necessary construction pieces and any of the castle's detail, but also to make it easy to pinpoint where pieces need to be placed. If all of these pieces were the same color, it would be much harder to determine where to set all of these small pieces that create Hogwarts and the grounds.
In this beginning phase, you'll be using a lot of wedge pieces to create the look of the rocks, hills, and cliffside upon which Hogwarts sits. Along with the actual grounds, you're also building the surface upon which the castle will be built, as well as the walking paths through the school campus and grounds. If there's one part of the building process that cuts you a bit of a break from the careful plotting of hundreds of tiny pieces, it's using the transparent blue and clear pieces to create the Black Lake that surrounds Hogwarts.
Ethan Anderton
However, no matter how tedious the tiny pieces make this process, it's a LEGO set after all, and it's still fun to piece together. LEGO makes the experience an educational one too, because as you build various parts of the model, you get a mini-history of Hogwarts, especially when you get to building some of the secrets that Hogwarts holds. Within the foundation of Hogwarts (on the right side of the model), there are also some secret rooms that you can see on a small scale. For example, there's the Chamber of Secrets, which has perfectly placed gaps just above it on the model's surface that allow light to shine in and illuminate the face sculpture where Tom Riddle and the basilisk attack Harry.
Ethan Anderton
Other compartments include the Devil's Snare, the room holding the Mirror of Erised, and the giant wizard's chess board, all part of the Sorcerer's Stone finale. There's also the potions classroom where Snape has kept a watchful eye over Mr. Potter.
Small but spectacular
What makes LEGO's Hogwarts Castle and Grounds model truly great to me is how economical it is compared to the larger micro-scale set. As someone who has quite a growing LEGO collection, finding space to display the larger modular sets, even on a micro-scale, can be challenging. But this model allows you to put the entire Hogwarts castle on display without taking up a huge area. It can act as the anchor of a cool Harry Potter display next to your collection of books or even the center of your own LEGO collection featuring some of the smaller playsets that bring to life the interiors of Hogwarts. In fact, because this set is smaller than the other Hogwarts LEGO build, it actually features even more of the castle and grounds, including the greenhouses and other towers.
Ethan Anderton
However, though this model has a larger scope, it's still missing one key element, and that's Hagrid's Hut. I believe that's because the hut is too far off the grounds to actually fit within the parameters of the model's geography, but it would have been nice if it was included as a separate piece or even on a small offshoot path from the primary model display. Thankfully, there are some other cool details that fill in the surrounding areas of Hogwarts.
Ethan Anderton
For example, inspired by "Goblet of Fire," you'll see the old ship that the Durmstrang wizarding school uses to magically arrive in the Black Lake, complete with some surging water surrounding it, as well as the flying carriage that brings the Beauxbatons school to Hogwarts, suspended in the air near the Great Hall.
Ethan Anderton
But I think my personal favorite touch, because it's just so tiny and cute, is the Whomping Willow hanging out in the corner of the model, including three small pieces that provide the tiniest representation of the Weasleys' flying Ford Anglia from "Chamber of Secrets."
Ethan Anderton
As a bonus, the set also features a golden statue minifigure of The Architect of Hogwarts, the wizard responsible for building the school with founder Rowena Ravenclaw. The Architect is never referred to by name, but you can see the statue in "Chamber of Secrets," "Order of the Phoenix," and "The Half-Blood Prince." There are a couple of spots on the model's frame where this figure can be situated to complete the display.
Ethan Anderton
If you're a LEGO collector and a Harry Potter fan who is short on space and trying to avoid spending hundreds more dollars on all the other Hogwarts LEGO sets out there, this is a satisfying and cool build that will look good on the shelf. You can order it now for $169.99 from The LEGO Shop.