We Build LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle - The Main Tower

The Main Tower, retired now, is the 2nd large acceptable successful this interlocking system, which besides includes an assortment of ancillary buildings and classrooms sold separately, specified arsenic Hogwarts Castle: Potions Class (Set #76431), Hogwarts Castle Owlery (Set #76430), Hogwarts Castle: Flying Lessons (Set #76447), and Hogwarts Castle Boathouse (Set #76426).

But the Main Tower besides works arsenic an autarkic playset, particularly if you're a instrumentality of the archetypal publication and its movie adaptation, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The Main Tower, similar the Great Hall earlier it, opens successful the backmost to uncover a fig of rooms and dioramas that picture the movies' events. The bottom-most rooms, which you physique first, are underground chambers that pb to the Sorcerer's Stone. From near to right, you person the Devil's Snare room, past the Flying Keys room, and past the monolithic Chess Set room.

Each country has interactive, movable elements. The Devil's Snare flips up oregon down from the room's ceiling via a cleverly disguised power that's built into the stone facade. The Flying Keys rotate connected a pedestal to make the content of flight. And the elephantine pieces connected the Chess Set are autarkic and movable.

You get LEGO minifigures for Harry, Hermione, and Ron, which is bully – these rooms look their champion erstwhile the trio is straight interacting with them. LEGO did not plan this portion of the castle with functionality and installation successful mind; each country depicts a circumstantial publication scene, alternatively than functioning arsenic a neutral roleplay country for caller scenarios. In summation to the trio, the acceptable contains 9 much LEGO minifigures for a full of 12: Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Marcus Flint, Percy Weasley, Ernie Macmillan, Lisa Turpin, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Kettleburn, and Nearly Headless Nick.

Directly supra the Devil's Snare country is Fluffy, Hagrid's three-headed dog. He's lying connected apical of a trap door, which opens to uncover the underground chambers. In the back-right country of Fluffy's country is simply a harp, which Professor Quirrel plays to enactment Fluffy to sleep. The harp's plan is particularly creative; 2 abstracted builds travel unneurotic connected hinges to make the instrument's signature shape. A doorway opens connected the right-hand side, which leads into a constrictive hallway, which successful crook leads to a balcony/vista connected the building's exterior.

Above Fluffy's country is the Gryffindor communal room, decked retired successful its signature reddish and golden trimmings. It includes a chamber with 2 beds, and to the close of it, 2 casual chairs and a fireplace. The level is uneven, truthful that the surviving country appears sunken into a good successful the floor, which gives the country a much intimate, cozy feeling.

All of these idiosyncratic rooms are abstracted builds with abstracted acquisition booklets, which means that if you privation to physique with a partner, oregon a friend, oregon arsenic 1 fractional of a father-son squad (as I did), you tin easy merge and stack your seperate elements unneurotic aft they're complete. The rooms are mounted connected 1 different via a fistful of transportation points, which means they are easy separable from 1 another. If you request much country to airs scenes oregon individually play with the set's antithetic components, this gives you easier access. Typically, sets of this complexity and magnitude are 18+ successful property range. But the Main Tower and each the different Hogwarts Castle sets are 10+, which means they straddle the enactment betwixt play and show a spot much evenly.

You physique a extortion implicit these elements, and past you physique the existent Main Tower. It stacks 5 rooms. 1 connected apical of the other. The archetypal 3 rooms incorporate the iconic Hogwarts moving staircases, designed by Rowena Ravenclaw herself. Two of them are mounted onto rotating platforms, allowing them to pivot. Portraits bent connected the walls. On the 3rd level is simply a gargoyle, which guards the concealed entryway to Professor Dumbledore's office.

The aforementioned bureau is connected the 4th floor. It's covered with portraits of erstwhile Headmasters, and it's stuffed with the assorted magical knick knacks that marque it truthful absorbing to work astir and ticker connected screen. To the close of Dumbledore's table is the sword of Godric Gryffindor and the Pensieve. To the near of the table is the Sorting Hat, implicit with a rima adjacent its brim. Dumbledore's bureau is astir apt my favourite portion of the set. It's furnished beautifully and it provides an fantabulous spot for Harry and Dumbledore to person their evening lessons together.

Lastly, you physique the monolithic spire that caps the tower, and wrong the spire is the 5th and last country containing the Mirror of Erised. The reflector mounts connected a rotating platform, which allows you to swap 2 antithetic images. On 1 broadside is Harry with his parent and father. On the different broadside is Harry holding the Sorcerer's Stone.

The Main Tower's size is impressive; it's implicit 2 feet successful height, from the bottommost of the stone facade to the highest of the operation itself. And erstwhile you merge it with the Great Hall, it's adjacent much impressive; the 2 sets harvester to signifier a seamless exterior facade. The interiors, taken together, are adjacent much awesome – it's a sensory overload to spot each these iconic Hogwarts scenes successful specified a tiny magnitude of space.

There's not overmuch much to say, different than this: I privation to spot more. The past clip LEGO created a monolithic Hogwarts Castle, it felt a spot cobbled unneurotic aft the fact. There was nary "official" mode to enactment it each together, and fans resorted to squinting astatine promotional materials to fig retired the champion mode to assemble each the sets together.

But this go-around? It feels similar there's a maestro plan; I powerfully fishy there's a "complete" Hogwarts Castle determination successful LEGO headquarters, whether successful carnal signifier oregon connected a hard drive. The designers are not 'winging it' – they person a last result, nevertheless rough, that they're moving towards.

It's going to instrumentality them years to get there. But if the LEGO designers support this level of item and spot it each the mode through? It's going to beryllium an unparalleled achievement. To beryllium continued.

LEGO Hogwarts Castle: The Main Tower, Set #76454, retails for $259.99, and it is composed of 2135 pieces. It is available now.

Interested successful much LEGO? Check retired our roundup of the champion Harry Potter sets. And enactment tuned – we'll beryllium publishing a completist's buying usher for the modular LEGO Hogwarts Castle aboriginal this week.

Kevin Wong is simply a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing successful LEGO. He's besides been published successful Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him connected Twitter astatine @kevinjameswong.