Slytherin House - Masters of The Dark Arts
Written: Nov 05 '02 (Updated Dec 28 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great two-faced figures [that’s a good thing], Slytherin accessories, great assortment of pieces.
Cons: Needs to be a little bigger to be the common room of Slytherin house.
The Bottom Line: A nice little set to add to the Hogwarts castle!
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| Freak369's Full Review: |
In the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, we were treated to seeing the Gryffindor dormitory as well as the common area. While appearing dark and drabby it did add to the overall flavor of the film as well as helping to reinforce what was presented in the book. Now we are allowed to enter Slytherin, the house that seems to cater to the darer side of witchcraft and wizardry. Through this set you are allowed some creative liberties that weren't available in the first installment of sets. If you are purchasing this to add to an existing Hogwarts scene you will find that for the most part this will match to scale all of the other sets from the first and second part of the series.
With the addition of this set to the Lego Harry Potter series you are given another level of the Hogwarts experience. As with all the sets you can build them however you like or create your own personal translations of what you think different areas of the castle and school look like. For a small investment you get a set that has a lot of potential and lots of replay value.
Slytherin House
Well, for all intents and purposes, this isn't really Slytherin House but more of a part of the common area. The base of the room is made up of a 6x14 flat base plate [dark gray] from which the rest of the structure is built upon. The most unique aspect of the room is the stenciled and highly detailed wall panel that features a stone brick pattern with a shield. When you look at the room from the front you are almost immediately drawn to the dark green bricks that help to form the top portion of the area. This shade works very well with the different gray bricks and the large stenciled backdrop. The two green translucent discs that serve as lights only help to add to the overall mystique of this set.
Depending on how you choose to arrange the internal pieces of the room, you can make a small alter for the stenciled spell book, a shelf for the clear goblet or even a seating area for one of the figures. The two snakes that hang from the front wall panels help to define this as Slytherin but the element that seals the deal is the crest of Slytherin house that rests in the middle of the scene. Not to be outdone, the black owl perched at the top of the room gives it a dark feel – making it creepy and spooky – just like the students that live there.
The stand alone bench is pretty small and without a little bit of enhancement it has a very limited use within the scene. It can hold the goblet or small black mug nicely but anything else placed there will make it too crowded. If you have other Lego sets you can make the table bigger so that it can serve some practical use within the scene. If this is the only set you have to work with you can use the pieces from inside the room and combine them with the freestanding bench to make a useful piece of furniture.
The Figures
This was one set that I definitely wanted to get my hands on! The simple fact that you get three figures with this set – two of which have double sided faces – made me squeal with delight [much to the chagrin of the brood]. Considering that this set retails for $9.99 you are getting a good deal overall. Three figures plus the Slytherin elements and the two reversible heads makes it a good value in my book. If you plan on purchasing multiples of this set you can swap out the head pieces with other ‘normal’ one sided faces to create a large group of Slytherin students. Until recently the only way to collect the Slytherin uniform was to purchase sets that featured Draco Malfoy.
Harry Potter / Gregory Goyle
The first of two figures in this set that feature a reversible head. On one side you have Harry Potter with his stenciled glasses and scar on the forehead and on the other side you have Goyle with a rather plain looking face. Since there are two different hair pieces that can be sued for Goyle and Crabbe you have a little bit of freedom in the respect of the finished product. The Slytherin uniform is gray with the logo of the house stenciled on the torso. The Potter / Goyle figure comes with a standard issue student cape / robe that has a nice star design on it. This can be worn with the pattern inside or out – adding slightly to the replay value of the figures.
Ron Weasley / Vincent Crabbe
The second figure in this set to feature the reversible head piece is that of Ron and Vincent Crabbe. The one thing that bothered me about this combination is that Ron is known for his red hair – so unless he is bewitched during the film [or possibly in the book] it makes little sense that he could pass for Crabbe who has dark hair. [Note: My son asked me to mention that the potion used to convince Malfoy that Potter and Weasley were Crabbe and Goyle is called Polyjuice and helps to make a person or object appear differently] Presented in the usual Slytherin uniform, the gray torso and leg pieces work well with the provided black cape that also has the star pattern stenciled on one side. Since all three wands that are included with this set are brown you don’t have much variety in this area but at least you don’t have to sit there and figure out which figure gets which wand.
Turning the heads of both figures is easy but you might want to take off the hair piece first before you start twisting the heads. This will keep the stenciled face images from getting marred or scratched and help to preserve the piece. You’ll also have an easier time positioning the faces correctly if you first remove the hair.
Animals & Extras
The black owl isn't exactly rare but it's more common to find a white or cream colored owl in the Harry potter sets. The black owl has a nice appearance but if you are building a large scene the owl tends to get lost since there aren't any accenting marks to it. The snakes are common Lego snakes which were in abundance in the Adventurers series. The real attraction to the snakes is that they can be positioned in the scene, held in a figures hand or snapped into a wall prong commonly used for holding torches. They are highly detailed and feature a small slithering tongue just for effect.
One of my favorite pieces from this set is the clear goblet. These have so many uses in scenes and no matter how many of these I purchase I never seem to have enough. The goblet can be attached to any of a number of places in the scene or snapped into a figures hand. The same can be said for the very attractive sword that is provided with this set. Small compared to most swords, this one is perfect for hanging on the wall or used for a small playful sword fight. Rounding out the ‘extras’ portion of the review I have to mention the magic wands that appear in this set. These really are great pieces to stock up on and can be used for a variety of applications including walking sticks, spoons for a cauldron, a make shift ladder, bars for a window or for fighting off dragons or trolls.
The "Chamber of Secrets" Lego Series
4719 Quality Quidditch Supplies
4720 Knockturn Alley
4726 Quidditch Practice
4727 Aragog in the Dark Forest
4728 Escape from Privet Drive
4729 Dumbledore's Office
4730 The Chamber of Secrets
4731 Dobby's Release
4733 The Dueling Club
4735 Slytherin House
The Bottom Line
Overall this is a great small set that could serve as a great introduction set to the second part of the series. It can be built a variety of ways and adapted for use throughout the Hogwarts castle. The large wall sections and pillars are pieces that can always be used to reinforce any portion of the castle and since they are gray in color, they blend in easily with other elements used for similar purposes.
This would be great to use with the Gryffindor House [4722] or Snape's Classroom [4705] since they all match to scale perfectly. Both of these sets have a suggest retail price of $9.99 but with the holiday season drawing near you can more than likely expect to find them on sale soon.
The Stats
Set Name: Slytherin
[also listed as Slytherin House]
Family Set: Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets
Lego Set: 4735
Number of Pieces: 90
Age Recommendation: 6 - 10
Ease Of Assembly: Easy to moderate
Time Of Assembly: 10 – 15 minutes
Cost: $ 9.99
As always, thanks for the visit ...
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Other Harry Potter Lego set reviews...
Hogwarts Express
Hogwarts Castle
Quidditch Practice
Dobby’s Release
The Dueling Club
The Flying Lesson
Troll on The Loose
Quality Quidditch Supplies
Recommended:
Yes
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