My, my, my – could it be that Epinions finally succumbed to my repeated requests to add the new Harry Potter line of Lego’s to the website? Something tells me that my letters were ignored as usual but someone took pity on me and updated the database to keep me from submitted the same letter over and over again. First off – the new Harry Potty line is hot! Wal-Mart can hardly keep the shelves stocked and Amazon.com is listing these as top sellers. No wonder – the movie is due out soon and the marketing and merchandising is phenomenal. If it has the Harry Potter logo on it – chances are it will be in great demand this holiday season.

But Epinions isn’t off the hook just yet, while they are adding new products to the site, they are incorrectly naming them. Epinions lists this set as Harry Potter The Room Of Winged Keys when in fact the name of it is The Chamber of the Winged Keys. It might not make a difference to most people, but those looking for the specific product by a specific name might not be able to find it.

This sets makes a new era for the Lego system. The Chamber of the Winged Keys is one set of ten that – when combined – creates a complete, functional castle. Now, other sets attempted this, but the Harry Potter line perfected it. This set is shown as the second from the left [upper gallery of the castle] and is necessary to complete the connections between set number 4706 and 4709. If this sounds confusing, check out the back of any of the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Lego sets to see exactly what I am referring to.

The Room Of Winged Keys is a mid sized set containing a whopping 175 pieces of varying sizes, shapes and colors. Being that this is a new set in a new series, some of the pieces are all new to the Lego line. My personal favorite is the white ghost with silver crown – and please don’t bombard me with hate mail if I inaccurately label some of the pieces – I am still new to this whole Harry Potter craze.

Harry Potter and Friends

In this set you get three Lego figures; Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and the white ghost. Harry comes with stenciled glasses, the all too common uniform as well as an awesome cloth cape [black with dark gray stars]. And for those curious folks, Harry does indeed have that scar on his forehead in this set. Ron [which I first thought was a girl] also comes with a cape and stars but has less detail stenciled on the face and breastplate. The ghost is completely white with no images or facial features. The silver crown is a nice touch – but again it has a metallic finish so be sure to give it a coat of clear nail polish to preserve the color. The ghost also comes with a white staff – it’s rumored that some of these glow in the dark but the three sets I purchased were all plain white [the glow in the dark ones have a light green hue to them].

These characters are a welcomed changed to the usual Lego people that come in most sets. The body types remain the same but for once the Lego bodies match the Lego legs.

The Chamber

The chamber can be built in so many different ways that I lost track after 8 – but if you want it to connect the two portions of the castle you have to follow the enclosed instructions. It’s the small little details that really make this set unique. In the left portion of the chamber the black and white tiled floor [checkerboard design] is all made from small individual pieces rather than one large piece. This really expands the sets play value since you can rearrange the floor any way you like it or even have it break apart and start up in another area of the chamber.

The winged keys are also simply awesome! [Can you tell I am just a little too excited about this?] They are white and when I first saw them I assumed they were rabbit ears [get it – magic, rabbits, magic hat and rabbits] until I was rudely corrected by a Harry Potter fan. The wings clip on to the keys, which can be hidden all over the chamber including the wall, spider web and flip top roof.

The spider web [gray] and spider [clear yellow] just add to the magic of this set. The spider web can be built several ways – movable or stationary. The movable design also serves as a trap door of sorts – all the better to catch small Lego people. You can also use the spider web as a bridge of sorts [almost like a ramp] to connect smaller sets to this in the event that the larger sets are unavailable.

The Lego website [www.lego.com] has several different designs on the site for this set but you shouldn’t have any trouble creating a one of a kind masterpiece if you just play around with it for a while.

What good is a chamber without some fire? Included with this set are five clear red flames with base pods of assorted colors. They can be scattered around the chamber or clustered together around the spider web to form a hidden room.

On the top of the chamber there is a small green roof tile that can lift up to reveal hidden keys, fire or even the evil spider. With a little help from other Lego sets you can adorn the roof tile with small gems, crystal or diamonds. This is a very nice touch and really expands the set. When assembled with the rest of the castle the roof tile acts as a covering for the gateway between Snape’s Classroom and The Final Challenge. Again, if this sounds confusing, check out the back of the box.

The chamber can also be built as a corridor with a trap door, as a tower with a collapsible floor or as a dungeon. There really aren’t any limits with this set and as the brood have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt – this is the set to have in the series. Then again, who am I kidding, I’ll get them all – in triplicate – and write reviews on all of them [Sorry, that means more Lego reviews for you to endure].

The Keys

Since we have three sets opened it’s kind of hard to establish how many keys there really are but my best guess is that there are six keys. Four gray, one white and one silver. Again, the silver key is metallic so give it a quick hit of clear nail polish to keep it looking brand new. The keys are designed to fit into special bricks [almost like how a key fits into a lock] but there are so many different ways to store the keys – one of the best we’ve found was shown on the back of the box. Using one of the brown poles simply stack the keys on top of each other through the loop on the end of the key.

The Magic

The real magic isn’t locked up in a box of plastic bricks – it’s in the minds of children that will certainly have hours of playtime with this set. My boys gladly stepped away from the Star Wars and Dinosaur Lego’s to test drive the Harry Potter sets and if their enthusiasm could be rated on a scale of 1 – 10 … I would have to say they hit 20. Their eyes lit up, they started tearing apart other sets and digging in the bins of Lego’s looking for just the right piece to add here or there.

All this magic doesn’t come free. This set ran $19.99 at Wal-Mart but I have seen it since then for $14.99 - $16.99 at Target. The Lego site has it listed at $19.99 [plus shipping] so feel free to check around so you get the best price. I have to give this set the highest rating of two, extra large, almost grotesque thumbs up. This set is a must have for any fan of Harry Potter or large scale Lego themes. But buyer beware, collecting all the sets will set you back over $600.00 and that isn’t including the sets that haven’t been released yet.

I highly recommend this set to anyone that will listen. If you are only looking to buy one set in the series – this one is by far the one that will give you the most for your money as well as the set that gives you the most freedom with design. I might be jumping the gun on this prediction – but here it goes any way – this will be so hard to find this holiday season that people will be fighting over them like The Cabbage Patch Kids many, many moons ago. Avoid the hassle and rush and shop early [and in my case often]!


The Stats

Set Name: The Chamber of the Winged Keys
Family Set: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Lego Set: 4704
Number of Pieces: 175
Age Recommendation: 7 - 12
Ease Of Assembly: Not that hard
Time Of Assembly: 15 minutes
Cost: $19..99


As always, thanks for the read!

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2004 Freak369


Other Harry Potter Lego reviews ...

Sorting Hat
The Final Challenge
Snape’s Classroom
Hagrids Hut
Hogwarts Express
Hogwarts Castle
The Flying Lesson
Troll on The Loose
Quality Quidditch Supplies
Gryffindor House
Diagon Alley Shops
Quidditch Practice
Dobby’s Release
The Dueling Club
Slytherin House
Quality Quidditch Supplies




Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $19.99
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family