Finally! Real Deals on LEGO Sets... or are they? (Nov 2023)

If you can remember back a few years, 2020 was the pandemic and people were at home with a bunch of US government stimulus checks and nothing else to do. Many of them resorted to ordering LEGO sets to build in order to pass the time. As a LEGO fan, this is an awesome thing to happen. It’s great to see more people join the hobby and get into building. The downside was the pricing on LEGO sets. With high demand, sets flew off the shelves and the LEGO company could barely keep up. There was no need to have a sale or offer discounts. Then in August 2022, prices on a number of sets went up by around 25%.

It was a depressing and expensive time to be a LEGO fan, but great if you were the LEGO company raking in the profits.

I’m writing this post in November 2023. The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates in an effort to fight inflation and the rampant spending on LEGO sets has dampened. A few years ago, new release sets were on backorder within a few hours of their release on LEGO Shop @ Home. That’s not happening as much anymore.

The big retailers in the US (Walmart, Target, Amazon) have been running sales for a few months now. Sales have been on everything from small CITY sets to larger Ideas and even UCS Star Wars sets. Definitely shop around before you pay full price on a set. Even some of the sets released in 2023 are being discounted already.

LEGO has been increasing sales as well. We’ve seen more discounts on and a lot of GWP offers with sometimes more than one GWP at a time if you spend a specific amount. This weekend is the LEGO® Insiders Weekend 2023 sales event. You can redeem codes to snag discounts on some bigger sets, grab 2X point on all sets and 3X or 4X points on a select few. This is along with GWPs at specific price points and I saw something about maybe being able to redeem fewer points for discounts. I suspect we’ll see a bunch of items go on sale as well.

However, I am calling foul on a few of the sales at LEGO this weekend.

#10255-1: Assembly Square is set to retire this year. It originally retailed for $279.99 in the US. In August 2022, the price increased to $299.99. This weekend there is an offer to redeem a $60 off the set. So LEGO raised the price and now they’re offering a sale on it.

#21325-1: Medieval Blacksmith is also set to retire this year. It originally retailed for $149.99 and then the price increased to $179.99. Now it’s $35 off. I guess it’s a deal now, but that’s just bringing it back to the price it was before the price went up. How come there isn’t a bigger discount on this one?

In the end, I guess we should be glad for any discount at this point. Oh well. Happy shopping so you can have some happy building!

Bricklink is Back Up and Running! Thank you Bricklink Team!

After a brief hiatus, Bricklink is back up and running. If you missed it, a brief synopsis of the situation is that the Bricklink became aware of some fraudulent activity going on in October. Apparently people were listing sets at very cheap prices, accepting payment, and then not delivering. These payments were not through PayPal or Stripe, but instead through direct fund transfers (having lived in Europe, I’m familiar with this process). This activity culminated in a ransom letter being delivered to Bricklink threatening to start taking out the larger stores until the funds were paid.

Out of precaution, the Bricklink team put the site in maintenance mode to update their security protocols. The site went back online on 8 November 2023 with a requirement to update your password before moving forward. I updated my information and logged in with no issue. The Bricks for Bricks store is still there with the full inventory listed. It is back open so check it out! The forums have more details on what happened and the response if you want more information.

A big shout out to the Bricklink team for working through the issue. Thanks to them for fixing the situation, protecting the site, and keeping it all operational.

Happy building!

Set Review - BrickCon 2023 - Convention Model

I’m a little late on this one as BrickCon 2023 was earlier last month (September 2023). The convention model for this set was of the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington. This is the location where the convention moved in 2023 after being elsewhere for a long time. The set contains 492 pieces and was exclusive to the convention so unless you find someone selling it on the secondary market somewhere, you won’t be able to pick it up anytime soon. You could source the majority of the pieces with the exception of the custom printed BrickCon tile.

The top of the box has a picture of the set and the set name. The bottom of the box has the BrickCon logo. I included a picture of the side of the box as I received set number 82 of only 250 produced. How about that for rare?

The set contains a Ziploc bag of parts. BrickCon sources it’s parts through the LUG Bulk program via LEGO and then volunteers sort through it all. So while it’s not the professional looking sealed bag, it works for this set. Of note, the volunteers missed putting in two of the 2x2 blue plates needed for the set. Thankfully, I had some on hand so I was able to complete the build as described in the instructions.

Here’s the final build. It looks to be a similar scale to the Architecture theme. Maybe? The front captures some of the key building details quite well. They also got the sidewalks and roads pretty accurate. The printed tile is a nice addition to replicate the electronic billboard out front. Why the odd seams you ask? Let’s move on…

If you didn’t notice from the last picture, there are some red plates and tiles sticking out the back of the building. These parts can be pushed in through a slot in the back of the building. This then pushes out a small 3D representation of the BrickCon logo via some Technic pieces. This also pushes open the front of the building which is connected with hinge pieces so it opens up. This is a pretty clever design and something that was not mentioned when the set was released so a fun surprise after building it.

It was actually a challenging build. The instructions are designed to save space and so there are a lot of steps crammed onto each page. I missed a few parts early on and have to tear it apart to get it just right so the mechanism would work.

Great job BrickCon team! I look forward to attending next year and building another convention model.

Happy building!

My Bricklink Designer Program Round 3 Picks

This isn’t my first post on the Bricklink Designer Program so I’m not going to go into all the details again. I’m hoping you’re up to speed by now. Voting ends on 20 October 2023 so go cast your votes now! The link is here.

And as a shameless plug, while you’re at Bricklink, you can check out the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink store to see what retired sets and minifigures are there. .

My top five picks to become sets are below (not in any particular order). For the past two rounds, I’ve gone one for five so let’s see if everyone agrees with me or not this round.

American Steam Locomotive

By Bricklink User: stijnd

Contains 2,141 pieces

As a train fan, I’d love to see more trains. This rendition of a steam locomotive is incredible and would look great going around your CITY layout. LEGO won’t produce trains that we want so let’s create some as a fan community. I haven’t seen a video of this one working, but it would look great even as a display piece or in a rail yard.

Octan Highway Truck

By Bricklink User: el_presidente0

Contains 531 pieces

The Octan brand is pretty classic and I think this set represents the brand well. Plus this one doesn’t have a ton of pieces so the cost should be lower. Maybe they’ll be able to add a logo into the final design. Even if it’s a sticker.

Picturesque Italy

By Bricklink User: levsi54

Contains 3,908 pieces

There were a lot of modulars in this round again. I didn’t want to pick a bunch again, but I really like this one. It has a good mix of buildings and would help to make your CITY look better with the addition of three well designed buildings instead of just one.

The Art of Chocolate

By Bricklink User: Bricester

Contains 2,574 pieces

This one could fit in a CITY, in a Winter Village, or just on it’s own. There are a bunch of play features and it is a great display piece. I think it would look great if you lit it up too. It’s fun to see a different theme as we haven’t seen something like this before.

Two-Seat Biplane 2.0

By Bricklink User: EmanueLego

Contains 2,268 pieces

I recommended a biplane before and I’ll try again. I like this design. It’s a great display piece and it looks like a fun build.

Set Review: #76413-1 - Hogwart's: Room of Requirements - Harry Potter

Here’s a review for #76413-1: Hogwarts™: Room of Requirements. This one was released on 1 March 2023 and retails for $49.99 in the US. It contains 587 pieces which puts it at $0.085 per piece. I grabbed this one on sale from LEGO Shop @ Home with GWPs so even better. This is not the first venture into this section of the castle. This set focuses on a scene from the last book/movie “The Deathly Hallows”, but we had #75966-1 back in 2020 which was from “The Order of the Phoenix” book/movie which focuses on a separate scene in the room with a different purpose.

Nothing overly special about the box. It is pretty standard with how the front and back usually look for a Harry Potter themed set.

The set contains four numbered parts bags, and instruction booklet, and a sticker sheet. My sticker sheet was smashed into the box and had a pretty sharp crease in it. I was not happy with that, but thankfully, it didn’t wreck the overall look of the set when I was done putting it together.

Unlike most Harry Potter sets, the first bag actually starts with the top of the structure. You build a small roof section and then a larger one with a spire. The one with the spire has a space underneath the spire where a scroll is set for reading. I’m not sure what the reference is to in the movie exactly so it’s relevance in the set is unknown to me.

You get two minifigures in this bag. One is Harry and the other is “The Grey Lady” (Rowena Ravenclaw’s deceased daughter).

The second bag assembles the ground floor of the build. This is the entrance to the Room of Requirements. There is a door (with stickers that you put on both sides) and then the inside starts to build all of the various things that are stored in the room with two cases with cups in them.

There are some straight and curved tiles placed around the door frame on the inside of the room. These tiles have stickers. I had a challenging time putting the stickers on the 1x6 pieces and an even harder time trying to line up the curved stickers on the curved tiles.

The Draco Malfoy minifigure comes with this bag.

The third bag adds more to the room to make it taller. You also tack on a few more stickers for details. You see a number of Technic axle and pin holes throughout the build which will make more sense after the next bag.

On the outside of the build you put together some doors/wall pieces that slide back and forth so you can cover the door to the room similar to the movie. It’s not flush with the wall like in the movie, but it gets the job done considering the cost of the set and the space available for the build.

The Hermione minifigure comes in this bag.

The last bag wraps up the set with a lot of the various items inside the room of requirements to include boxes, books, a chair, a helmet, a record player, and the lost diadem that they are searching for in the movie/book.

The minifigure in this bag is Blaise Zabini who I don’t remember from any of the other movies, but it could just be me.

Lastly you build the fire dragon that Blaise casts in the Room. You can have the dragon as one long piece or you can split it up. The set comes with some extra Technic pins so you can connect the dragon to the various pin holes around the set. This is a fun play feature and I like how the designers added this one in.

5 minifigures in this set. All are exclusive so even if you thought you had all of the Harry Potter minifigures, there is yet another one. No major complaints here, but nothing super exciting.

Here’s the final build. Like the other sets, this one is modular and connects to the various Harry Potter sets to help you build out a full Hogwart’s Castle however you want to. The set has some good play features with the moveable doors in the front, the fire dragon that can be moved around, and some stuff to scatter around the room. You can also use your own pieces to add to the clutter in the room.

Overall, it’s not a bad set and the price per piece isn’t too bad. It’s gone on sale once so wait for another round of sales before you grab this one.

Happy building!

Set Review - #76420-1: Triwizard Tournament: The Black Lake - Harry Potter

Another Harry Potter set…. This one is #76420-1: Triwizard Tournament: The Black Lake. It was released on 1 March 2023 and it contains 349 pieces. It retails in the US for $44.99 which puts it at $0.129 per piece. I picked this one up on sale during the Back to Hogwarts event LEGO held for $5 off and with two GWP sets. It’s priced pretty high from a price per piece standpoint.

The box is pretty similar to most. The front shows the set apart with the above water section separated from the below water section. All of the minifigures are shown under water. It has the standard logos for Harry Potter sets. And the warning that the boat doesn’t float. The back shows some more play details for the set.

This set contains four numbered parts bags, an 8x16 plate, and the instruction booklet.

The first bag assembles the first section “above the water” for the set. This portion is just the structure for the upper level and then the stand where the characters jump into the water. There is a fairly simple Technic build that can be used to tip up a tile to have the characters “jump.” Additionally, this bag comes with a small row boat that fits one or two minifigures. The Harry Potter minifigure comes in this bag. His head is dual sided with the gills from eating the gillyweed. One side is smiling and the other is mad. His outfit is a red shirt with his house logo on the front and his last name printed on the back. He also comes with some skin colored fins to look like how his feet change into fins after eating the gillyweed. He also has a wand.

The second bag builds the upper level. This section comes with some great sand green colored pieces that look like they came from an Asian themed build. Inside the stand is a table with some mugs, a tea/coffee pot, and a container of sorts on the floor. There is a ladder piece to allow characters to climb up. The top of the structure has a printed clock tile piece. This piece is hooked to a Technic pin and then a ball on the back to spin the clock around. Viktor Krum comes as a minifigure in this bag. He has a face and hair piece and then you can spin his head to show a tongue that fits in with the shark piece to fit over his head.

The third bag starts the under water section of the build. It uses a few BURPs (or are they LURPs?) and then other dark blue and sand green pieces. You attach the chains to be where two of the figures are put under a spell to be rescued by the tournament participants. There are a few plants and then a crab and a fish as well. This bag contains Ron and Hermione along with one of the under water creatures (not sure of the official name). Ron and Hermione both have dual printed heads. One side is the underwater, asleep face and the other is the awake and smiling face.

The fourth bag finishes the build by completing the arch piece under water. It uses great colors to include sand green and teal. I like the use of the brick textured sand green pieces. This bag also comes with a mermaid minifigure. She has a dual printed head and comes with a trident. I forgot to throw her in this picture, but you’ll see her later.

Here are the minifigures. They are original to this set so a must buy if you collect Harry Potter minifigures. Otherwise, it’s just more Harry, Ron, and Hermione minifigures. Victor isn’t one you get often and the mermaid is also an original. Plus the shark part is cool. It’s disappointing they didn’t include Fleur and her sister. I’m sure that was due to cost and wanting to keep the price of the set at a specific level.

Here’s the final set. Overall, it’s a decent small build with some okay techniques besides just stacking bricks. You get some good piece colors and some unique minifigures so that’s a bonus as well. I do think the set is overpriced for what you are getting so look for opportunities to grab this one on sale or with GWPs. If it already went on sale once and it was just released in March, I’m pretty sure you’ll see it on sale again and it’s not even near the end of its shelf life.

Happy building!

Set Review - #71039 - Marvel Studios - Series 2 - Collectible Minifigures

More collectible minifigures! This series is #71039 - Marvel Studios - Series 2. This set of 12 minifigures was released on 1 September 2023 for $4.99 each. Instead of bags, this series comes in cardboard boxes in order to save on the environment. I applaud the initiative, but if you haven’t seen any of the pictures online, the world has torn open the packages to find the minifigures they wanted since the feel technique doesn’t work anymore.. I purchased three packages of six minifigures each online. Surprisingly, with 18 minifigures, I managed to get all 12 in the series so that was a bonus.

I’m not a fan of Marvel so I can’t tell you details on these minifigures or how close or not they are to the actual characters. In this review, I’ll just point out some of the things I noticed about each figure.

Overall, no major complaints on this series. I recommend it for Marvel fans or CMF collectors. Otherwise, save your money for others.

Happy building!

Agatha Harkness - This minifigure comes with a book, cape, and two flicker shooter pieces (not sure of the official term). It comes with a jumper plate and one of the pieces to make it poseable, but she has a slope brick for a dress so you can’t really pose her. They could have done without the poseable piece for this one.

Moon Knight - I’m not sure who this minifigure is, but the little gold moon piece and coin is interesting.

She-Hulk - This minifigure comes with a few printed tiles so that’s a bonus. I like the face color and the hair piece color as well.

Hawkeye - The character doesn’t interest me much, but it comes with a small owl, which is great!

Kate Bishop - The printed tile pizza box is great. The dog has one eye printed on it, which I guess is on par with the actual character from what I read and is not a misprint.

Goliath - This one looks cool Not sure who he is. You can put the hair piece on if you don’t want the helmet.

Echo - I have no idea what this minifigure is holding. The printing on the pants and torso are interesting.

Beast - Again, no idea who this character is, but the blue hair piece and face look cool.

Mr. Knight - I like the fish tank printed on the 1x2 clear brick. The minifigure doesn’t do much for me.

The Werewolf - I’m not a fan of this minifigure, but I also don’t know the character so maybe that’s why.

Storm - The white hair piece is a cool piece.

Wolverine - I’ve seen Wolverine minifigures in the past. I’m not sure how this one compares, but it looks okay Like some of the previous ones, you get a hair piece and the mask.

BrickCon 2023 - Attending Virtually Was Awesome

I attended BrickCon virtually from 7 through 10 September 2023 and had a blast as a third time attendee. This year I applied for, interviewed, and was selected to be a part of the virtual staff. In the past, I have done posts about all the activities I participated in. This year, my focus was more on making sure everything went smoothly in virtual land so I don’t have too much to post about specific presentations. I do have a bunch to share though.

Con Printed Program

This year’s theme was “Journeys” as the convention moved from it’s prior location in of many years in WA to the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, WA. I had never been to the previous location, but we got a virtual tour of the new location and it looked like a great facility. The wifi there was better too which helped for Zoom connections.

Virtually we started with to tour of the facility, we got to see MOCs being set up, and we got an insider look at the Swag bags and convention model.

As mentioned, I didn’t participate in a ton of presentations, but I did get to participate in a number of the games. We had a 150 piece free build to a theme (pick any 150 pieces in your collection and build to the theme in 1 hour). We also had attendees go out and get set #31135-1: Vintage Motorcycle. We did a number of games with this set to include a speed build of an alternate set found on rebrickable.com, a sock build of one of the models, a sock unbuild of the main model, an alternate build with your own background using any parts in 45 minutes, and finally the free build with your own collection of parts to a theme within 1.5 hours. They were a lot of fun to host and watch and I think the participants enjoyed themselves. We had a lot of talented and creative builders.

One new thing we did this year was hold a Virtual AFOL Spotlight. This was an opportunity to either share pictures or take your web camera and show some builds you were working on or sets you had on display. A bunch of us had a great time chatting and showing off bricks. Hopefully we can continue this event into the future.

Screen shot of Robein Sather’s opening slide from his keynote presentation

This year, the keynote speaker was Robin Sather. He is a LEGO Certified Professional from Canada and a super talented builder. He brought a bunch of large scale Duplo builds to the convention (and there are some videos out there of him crashing it after the show ended). His presentation went though the history of AFOLs, his building history, and his involvement in LEGO Masters New Zealand. Below is a picture of one of his Duplo builds from his presentation. Overall, his talk was great and well received by the virtual attendees.

Picture of a build by Robin Sather from his BrickCon 2023 presentation.

One of the highlights I always enjoy is the swag and merch from BrickCon. Here’s a quick rundown of everything I ordered.

Here’s the convention t-shirt. I thought the logo was great. I like the sea monster in there.

There was another string back pack this year to carry all of the swag. The biggest item was a notebook with a pen and some sticky notes inside. It says it’s for travel plans to conventions and to put down ideas for future MOCs.

This year included two stickers. One from the Brothers Brick and the other being the BrickCon logo.

Also included was a lanyard from Bricks and Minifigs and then a retractable brick separator clip which was awesome.

We got a few items from vendors to include a pack from Brick Warriors with some custom minifigure hair pieces, some printed bricks from the Brick Chick, and some custom capes/aprons from Cape Madness.

Similar to last year, we got a buildable BrickCon logo. Then we got some parts for trading. At the convention attendees can swap parts. As a virtual attendee, you just keep them all unless you have friends to trade with.

Lastly, there was a small build of a minifigure scale moving dolly, a bunch of printed parts from various sets, a custom printed tile with the BrickCon ‘23 logo, another BrickCon custom printed part for a box to carry with the dolly, and then my printed bricks that I ordered.

I also purchased the BrickCon convention model, but I’ll do a separate review on that one another time.

Sorry, not a detailed post for this year. I highly recommend you attend next year. It was only $25 to register for the virtual session so it’s pretty affordable. Hopefully the price remains the same next year. You can follow updates for 2024 and sign up for the mailing list here. I hope to see you in virtual attendance in 2024!
Happy building!

Set Review - 2023 Harry Potter Brickheadz Sets - #40616-1, #40617-1, and #40618-1

Three Harry Potter themed Brickheadz sets were released for 2023 on 1 June. Instead of three separate reviews, I decided to combine them all into one. I don’t collect all of the Brickheadz sets, but I do get the ones that interest me. As a Harry Potter fan, I grabbed these during the LEGO “Back to Hogwarts” sale event. Overall, they are in line with the Brickheadz theme. If you aren’t a fan of them or of Harry Potter, don’t bother with these. If you are a fan, look for an opportunity to grab them. Maybe during a double VIP point event or if you can find them on sale somewhere.

The first one is #40616-1: Harry Potter and Cho Chang. These are Brickheadz numbers 207 and 208. The set contains 267 pieces and retails for $19.99 which works out to $0.074 per piece. The box front shows the two characters. The back (not pictured) shows the same and how you can place the characters on a plate as a base. The set comes with four parts bags numbered one and two. There are two instruction booklets included. One for each character.

Not too much to talk about for the build. They are the standard Brickheadz build. Both characters come with printed tiles for the eyes and front of the shirt. Harry has a printed tile for the scar on his forehead. Harry’s face is a fun build as you install some pieces that are not clipped in by stud connections. They just rest in place and then other pieces hold them there. A fun little technique. If you don’t like the characters, LEGO always puts a few interesting colored pieces in the center and then I’m a fan of the dark red and blue colors as you get a few of those as well.

Next up is #40617-1 - Draco Malfoy and Cedric Diggory. Draco is #209 and Cedric #210. This set also retails for $19.99 and contains 262 pieces. This works out to $0.076 per piece. Similar to the previous set, the box has the characters on the front and the numbers and names of each on the bottom of the front. Inside are four parts bags numbered one and two with two bags for each number. There is an instruction booklet for each character.

The builds for these are not super interesting. Their hair is slightly different, but beyond that and brick colors, these builds are pretty similar. I guess the goal was to get students from each house so students from two houses in the last set and then the last two houses here. One difference is Draco is holding a gold trophy cup so you do get that additional part. As I mentioned at the beginning, if you’re a Brickheadz collector or a Harry Potter fan, then go get this set. If not, I’d avoid this one as it’s not super exciting to build and doesn’t have a ton of unique pieces.

Last set is #40618-1 - Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks. Kingsley is #211 and Nymphadora is #212. This set also retails for $19.99 and contains 250 pieces. It has the lowest piece count of the three sets which puts it at $0.079 per piece. Still not bad, but the worst ratio of the three. As with the other two sets, similar box art and contents inside the box.

Of the three sets, I enjoyed building this one the most. Kingsley has his head cover which is a cool looking printed, sloped piece that goes all around his head. It’s obviously not completely round, but I like how they created that effect. Nymphadora uses a fun lighter colored purple for the hair which was a nice change to see a different color. Beyond these two bits, they still mostly follow the Brickheadz standard so you’re not getting much else super exciting. Like the other two sets, great for Brickheadz and Potter fans, not so much for everyone else. Thankfully, there is a ton of other sets out there you can pick up based on what you like so it’s not a big deal.

Happy building!

Set Review - #76402-1: Hogwart's: Dumbledore's Office - Harry Potter

As we approach the time period closer to Christmas, a lot of retailers are putting more items on sale to include LEGO sets. #76402-1: Hogwart’s: Dumbledore’s Office was released back on 1 June 2022 in the US for $79.99. It contains 654 pieces which works out to $0.122 per piece. I this this is too steep. I picked it up on sale for $64 at Walmart, which works out to a more reasonable $0.097 per piece. Keep waiting and maybe you’ll see it go on sale for even more as it should be retiring at the end of this year.

This set connects to other sets in the line in a modular fashion so if you’ve been collecting them all, you can add this one to the bunch. You get six minifigures in this set and three of the printed collectible tiles. I started the build with 14 of the 16 tiles and picked up one more. I’m still short one tile, but I’m not bothered by this.

The box is pretty standard with the full set on the front, Harry Potter logo, a minifigure line up, and pictures of the movie characters. The back shows some play details and the back of the set along with a note about the printed tiles. Maybe it’s just me, but the box feels kind of small for a $80 set. Onto the review…

The set contains five numbered parts bags. The instructions are bagged along with the stickers. There is also an 8x16 tan plate.

The first bag starts to build where the actual desk of Dumbledore goes. It builds a small platform and includes some clear pieces as two flask type items. This bag comes with a Harry Potter minifigure wearing the cloak of invisibility and holding a wand and lamp. It also comes with Dumbledore.

The second bag wraps up most of the office area. It builds up two book shelves, some props on the desk, and has a place for the sorting hat and a small Fawkes to sit on a perch. This bag comes with a Mr. Filch minifigure and his cat.

The third bag adds another level with the pensieve (bowl you can drop tears into to view memories). This doesn’t quite match the movie as the pensieve is actually in the office and not a level above. On top of this level is another level with the sword of Gryffindor. Again, the sword, when it’s in the office, is in the office and not on a separate floor. From the front, it’s a decent design with the elements you’d expect in a Hogwart’s type build. This bag comes with a Professor Snape minifigure.

The fourth bag builds the bottom layer of the set which is the library. This bag builds the floor and a book shelf. As part of the book shelf, you attach some books to leaf pieces on the outer wall. The leaf is attached to a tile that can slide in and out to make the book pop off the shelf. This is done twice.

The Madame Pince minifigure comes in this set. I had to look up who she is in the books/movies. Apparently she’s the librarian. Shows how much I know…

The fifth and final bag wraps up the build with completing the bottom floor. It adds a few desks in the library and sections of the library that are on plates connected by hinges to the rest of the build. You can fold them in or out depending on how you want to play with the set. A Hermione minifigure comes with this bag.

As mentioned at the beginning, the set comes with six minifigures. They are all pretty common except for Madame Pince so nothing to get too excited over. Harry does come with the cloak of invisibility, but you would already have it if you collected Series 1 of the Harry Potter minifigures (although that Harry is wearing pajamas in the CMF series).

Here’s the final build. I don’t have the other sets built to show the connection, but alone, I wasn’t too impressed by this set. The minifigures were just okay. You do get a few fun pieces like a small Fawkes and the sorting hat. If you’re looking to pick this one up to add to your castle, definitely don’t pay full retail price. Look for a sale or some good deal to cut down on the price.

Happy building!