Dobby Escapes From The Malfoy's! News At 11:00!
Written: Nov 06 '02 (Updated May 26 '03)
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Pros: Two new figures, lots of cool elements, great window frames!
Cons: Dobby figure needs a little work.
The Bottom Line: A great set for collecting magic books and window elements. The introduction of Lucius and Dobby into the Harry Potter series!
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO Harry Potter Dobby's Release 4731 |
It's almost time for the new Harry Potter film to hit the big screen – so what better way is there to kill time until the big day than to check out the latest Harry Potter Lego sets! I’ve had a majority of the sets since the day they were released at the Lego website and over the past few weeks most of the major toy stores have started to stock them – not to be outdone – Wal-Mart had them before anyone else. I was a little skeptical about picking up the Dobby’s Release set since I haven’t read the book [or obviously seen the film] and wasn’t sure that the deal was with these two characters.
Since this was one of the least expensive sets in the second part of the series I figured “why not” and added it to my cyber shopping cart figuring that if it was horrid I could always use the pieces in other set. When the large box finally arrived from Lego I bypassed this set a few times since it really didn’t do anything for me until I realized that neither of these two characters were featured in the Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone series. Changing my tune rather quickly I ripped open the box and dug into the set – all the while eating my words.
Dobby’s Release
This is one of the smaller sets in the Chamber of Secrets series and with a suggested retail price of $5.99 it would serve as a good introduction set if a child is showing a moderate level of interest. The set is comprised of a small backdrop of a room [corner section], two tiled windows, a make shift desk and chair and two Lego figures. As with all Lego sets there are small pieces that could present a choking hazard so care and caution should be used when smaller children as sharing the same play area as older kids.
The corner section of the backdrop is nicely done. The best parts of this scene are the window frames and accompanying lattice woven inserts. These are wonderful pieces and I wish there were more of them included in the set. I took the liberty of enhancing the window inserts with small pieces of colored cellophane. This is a great way to make the woven sections appear as ‘stained glass’ and really helps to improve the aesthetics of the scene. The desk portion of the scene tends to get a little lost since the entire space is compact. The brown stool is a nice addition to the set and helps to trick the eye into thinking that the small stack of bricks is really a desk. If you are looking to expand an existing Hogwarts scene this one will be great for the pieces but the desk is just too small to work with the components of the other sets – it’s just too far off scale to match up with other pieces of furniture, the figures or the building.
The small spell book is a definite plus for the set and you can never have too many of these in your collection. The boys want to try to build a replica of the Gryffindor common room and need about 50 – 60 books for the shelves so they snapped up the book from this set without hesitation. In addition to the spell book that opens there is a small 1x1 flat tile with a stenciled book image on it. While its rather useless it does look good sitting on the desk. The two flames that rest in wall holders are a nice accent and can be moved to several different spots within the scene depending on your taste.
The Figures
In addition to the great pieces that were provided for the backdrop of the scene, it added two new, never before seen figures to the Harry Potter Lego line up. Having not read the book or seen the film from which this set was taken from I am relying on some information from my son [a Potter junkie] to fill in the information gaps as to whom Lucius and Dobby are in relation to this set.
Dobby
The Malfoy’s house elf that managed to escape! I’ve never been too fond of elves or trolls and even though the Lego designers did a nice job on Dobby – the figure still leaves a lot to be desired. Dobby is cream colored with a rough cloth image stenciled on the torso. The color of the elf is nice but it really comes back to bite him in the butt. Since it is a lighter color it is hard to see the detail of his face so it just looks like an ugly little creature. You have to get up pretty close to see the detail that was put into making this figure and from a distance – it looks a lot like Yoda.
Dobby comes with no accessories but he does seem rather attached to Harry Potters sock. The sock is a stenciled image on a 1x2 flat Lego tile. The gray sock has the Gryffindor crest on it with red toe and heel markings. My son explained how Harry Potter tricked Lucius Malfoy into giving Dobby one of his socks – thus breaking the Malfoy’s ownership of the house elf.
Lucius Malfoy
I wasn’t sure what to make of this figure when I first saw it out of the box. It looked too diabolical to be a student [even a Malfoy] so when my son stepped in and took the pieces off of me [saying the words ‘daft mum’ under his breath] he sat me down to tell me about the Malfoy family. Lucius is Draco’s father and that helps to explain why he isn’t in a Hogwarts or Slytherin uniform. He is shown in a gray suit with blue stenciled accents and a black cape. As per almost all sets that come with capes, this is packaged in a small white box. Make sure you find this before you start tossing out the plastic bags or you’ll find yourself digging through the garbage to retrieve it. Lucius comes with a black magic wand - some of which have a decorative accent at the end while others are plain.
One important little fact that needs to be mentioned is that some of the foreign sets were packaged incorrectly. They have Lucius with short black hair instead of the long blonde hair. This was only in the first run of the series in selected markets in Europe so if you happen to come across one of these sets it will be worth a nice sum of money to those that collect sets that are mislabeled or packaged incorrectly.
Instructions
The small instruction booklet that is provided with this set shows you how to assemble the backdrop of the scene as well as how Lucius and Dobby are built. Lucius is made up of five elements [hair, head, cape, torso and legs] while Dobby consists of three [head, torso, legs]. The background scene is completed in fifteen steps however there are some steps that need to be repeated – these are marked with ÐX” next to the illustrations. Smaller kids might need a little help with these portions of the instructions since they are a little confusing. Be sure to check out the back of the booklet for other sets available in this series. Since the booklet is small the photo of the other sets doesn’t show all the detail.
The Bottom Line
Overall I am pretty pleased with this set. The desk needs some serious work if it is to be used within a scene or added to a Hogwarts castle. The variety of pieces in this set is about average but the magic wand and spell book are two pieces that can always be used. The instructions are a little above average but for kids just getting into building Lego sets there are some parts that may be a little confusing. In order to build anything massive from this you will need to purchase at least five of these sets. This will allow you to build two complete walls with tons of windows, have extra spell books and make a better desk. Don’t worry about having too many elves – there’s always room for them in the castle or other scenes. You can opt to sell off the additional Lucius Malfoy figures to brick brokers or vendors or simply swap them for pieces that you are looking to collect.
The Stats
Set Name: Dobby’s Release
Family Set: Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets
Lego Set: 4731
Number of Pieces:
Age Recommendation: 7 - 12
Ease Of Assembly: Easy
Time Of Assembly: 10 minutes
Cost: $ 5.99
As always, thanks for the visit …
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2002 Freak369
Other Harry Potter Lego reviews ...
Slytherin House
Quality Quidditch Supplies
Quidditch Practice
Hogwarts Express
Hogwarts Castle
Hagrids Hut
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $5.99
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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