Harry Potter Lego: Chamber of Secrets
Written: Dec 31 '02
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Pros: huge set, 5 minifigs, tons of extras
Cons: instructions tricky at times
The Bottom Line: This is the ultimate Harry Potter Lego set. It is not as big as Hogwarts castle, but it is full of fun and surprises.
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| GravityGirl's Full Review: LEGO Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets K4730 |
I am a big Harry Potter fan. I have read all four books several times and I am anxiously awaiting the fifth installment. I have seen both Harry Potter movies on opening night. I don't know why it took me this long to move onto Legos, but it all started with an $8 Dobby's Release set. I think that for a long time I really didn't like Legos because I couldn't follow the instructions as a kid. I loved the idea of building sets and creating something big, but I just couldn't follow the instructions. In any case, by buying Legos now, I am investing in my future. My husband and I plan to have children in the future and we plan to expose our children to both Legos and Harry Potter. By the time any children of ours are old enough to play with Legos, the current Harry Potter sets will be discontinued and rare and expensive. So, we have purchased some of the sets now and we have a lot of fun putting them together.
The Chamber of Secrets is the second biggest Harry Potter sets. It is fairly expensive ($70 at Toys R Us) but it is a really great set.
Information
Set Name: The Chamber of Secrets. La camara de los Secretos, La Chambre des secrets
Set Number: 4730
Number of Pieces: 591
Ages: 8-12
How does this set relate to the Harry Potter series
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a mysterious monster is attacking students at Harry's boarding school (Hogwarts). According to legend, this monster lives in the Chamber of Secrets and is controlled by the Heir of Slytherin. Once again, it is up to Harry and his friend Ron Weasley to find and enter the chamber and stop the monster from killing. Also, the monster has kidnapped Ron's sister Ginny, so their quest has become even more personal.
Minifig Madness
This set includes 5 minifigs. Harry Potter is the bespectacled hero, who appears complete with a tiny scar on his minifig forehead. Harry appears in his Gryffindor uniform consisting of light grey pants, light grey v-neck jumper (sweater) with gold trim and a gold tie. Harry also has black hair.
Ron and Ginny Weasley have ginger colored hair and they also appear in Gryffindor uniforms. You can tell which minifig head is Ginny's because she has a little pink mouth and Ron has a black line for a mouth. Ron also has shorter hair than Ginny.
Gilderoy Lockheart appears in a light purple outfit with purple pants and jacket and a cream colored paisley vest. His hair is blond and heavily styled.
Tom Riddle is also included in this set. If you don't know who Tom Riddle is, I am not going to ruin things for you. He is a very important part of the story and this is the only set in which you can find Tom and the only set in which you will ever be able to find Tom unless he returns in subsequent books which is highly unlikely if not impossible. Tom is wearing a Slytherin school uniform (which is just like Gryffindor's except for green trim on the jumper and a green tie) and a sour expression on his face.
All minifigs also have felt-like capes and magic wands.
In addition to five minifigs, this set also includes Fawkes the phoenix and the basilisk, a large snake who comes complete with detachable dagger-fangs. Extra accessories include a sword, a goblet, and Tom Riddle's diary
Set Details
By following the detailed instructions, you will be able to put together one huge Lego playground that can be divided into four distinct parts. The first part is a small two story structure consisting of a bathroom with a trapdoor. This is the entrance to the Chamber. You can place innocent minifigs on a black and white tiled floor and then send them tumbling down into the chamber. While it would have been nice if the entrance to the chamber would have been super cool like it was in the movie, I can imagine that would have been very difficult to replicate in Lego format, so I must be content with my trapdoor. The bathroom building also has a green roof and a window that really opens. The trapdoor does not always work because when the latch is released, it usually causes the trapdoor to come down on my fingers. It doesn't hurt and it doesn't pinch (and it wouldn't hurt/pinch a younger user) but it does cause minifigs to get stuck. They are quickly dislodged, but this is a minor annoyance.
The second piece is a large skull whose mouth swings open to allow the basilisk to travel through. This is very impressive looking and it is not that scary- I don't know how likely it is that a child would be playing with Harry Potter Legos if they have not read the books and/or seen the movies. So, while a snake coming out of a skull's mouth is kinda scary, it is likely that this is a scene that children are familiar with.
The last two pieces are halves of a hallway. There is a definite snake motif to the hallway- snake shields, pictures of snakes on the walls, etc. One of the hallways has a little niche with a goblet. If you push a lever, the wall panels flip around to reveal a snake and a sword. This sword is just what Harry needs to defeat the basilisk. There are two little towers that go on top of one of the hallway pieces. These towers have little balconies that are just the right size for minifigs to stand. The other hallway gets a larger tower that has a stained glass effect thanks to some red and green clear blocks.
Putting it Together
It took my husband and I 3-4 hours to put everything together. We didn't work continuously, but we did have some difficulties. While the instructions were very detailed in helping assemble the structures, I did find them to be a little lacking. For example, they don't show you how to attach the towers to the hallway pieces. Also, the four pieces assemble into one super set, but they don't really show you how to get everything just right. There is an aerial picture of the set with arrows showing where the pieces go, but they don't really show how everything attaches. We were able to figure it out fairly quickly, but a younger child might have more difficulty.
Final Thoughts
Although this set is expensive, it is well worth the price. In fact, I recommend this set more than Dumbledore's Office which is $50. We bought Dumbledore's Office at the same time as Chamber of Secrets and since Toys R Us was selling Legos for "Buy 1 Get 1 50% Off" we only paid $25. I will be posting a Dumbledore's Office epinion in the next couple of days but I'm very glad that we got the set for $25. I feel that Chamber of Secrets is a better value because of all the great pieces. If your Harry Potter fan wants to build creatively, the possibilities are endless. Also, Legos are durable and can withstand years of use and abuse. This set does have a lot of small pieces, so please be careful when playing and always check the floor after playing because Legos hurt when they are stepped on with bare feet. Also, small pieces are a choking hazard.
This is one of my favorite sets. It was a lot of fun to assemble and it is very visually appealing. I highly recommend Harry Potter Lego Chamber of Secrets. Technically, I'd like to give it 4.5 stars, but I am unable to rate ½ stars.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 69.99
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