The Harry Potter Lego revival is in full swing for 2018, and this is our quick look at 75953 – The Hogwarts Whomping Willow. This is a 753 piece set which retails for 59.99 in the UK and 69.99 in the US and Europe. Although that’s already being slightly discounted.
Watch our video review or read on…
753 pieces isn’t very much, but the finished model does an excellent job of making it look like there’s a lot more. I’ll admit to being skeptical as I put it together, as it didn’t seem like much from the photographs, but the final effect is spot on. I’m especially impressed with the Ford Anglia embedded in the Whomping Willow itself. I’ve seen this done by various Lego fans over the years, and this is one of the best I’ve seen, it’s the perfect translation of an iconic scene into Lego form. Although it is proof that having access to rarer parts does help.
The willow can be made to spin using a wheel at the bottom, and you could absolutely put the car in there and spin it until it came flying out. Although let’s not try. And despite the low piece count, the car still manages to have an opening boot/trunk at the rear, and to also put the wing mirrors correctly half way down the bonnet.
The castle part is split into 5 sections, each of which is joined with Technic pins. It could be easily shuffled around, or can be expanded with the purchase of 75954 The Great Hall, which will happily clip in on the left. A combination of orange textured brick pieces and stickers do a good job of breaking up what would otherwise be just a wall of cream coloured bricks, although the numbering of the sticker sheet versus the manual didn’t seem quite right.
From the rear, each section is open and has lots of little details. From Snape’s office, to Harry and Ron’s bedroom, a kitchen area and a potions classroom. Bottles, multi-coloured glasses, hanging lights, pots, tools and paintings on the wall all go a long way to creating the overall effect. And right up the top in the attic is Hedwig.
Six minifigures are included – Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Seamus Finnigan, Argus Filch and Severus Snape. So often we see Lego split figures up between sets, so it’s great to see that you can get the three main characters in one place.
It’s not the cheapest of the Harry Potter sets, and it’s not anywhere near the most expensive, but the value on this one seems to be in the right place, especially if you waited a few months for the inevitable Amazon discounts. With all that’s going on in this set, it’s a great toy, and one that’s sure to give Potter fans plenty to smile about.
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