Harry Potter madness is getting ready to go into full swing with the arrival of the much-anticipated second series from Lego. Not only do you get an enhanced series of figures but more buildings, creepy creatures and Slytherin House. The first set I came across at the Lego website was the Quidditch Practice and at first glance I thought it would be a very cheesy set up with substandard goals and elements. Ripping the box open a few days ago I quickly ate my words as I started to go through the bags of pieces and read the instructions.

I fell in love with the Quidditch scenes from the first movie and can’t wait to see how they are depicted when the next film is released – especially the face off between Draco and Harry – both of which are seekers on their respective house Quidditch teams. The premise of this set is the actual game of Quidditch but there is also a target practice catapult that you can use to see if you are good enough to make it on to a team.


Quidditch Playing Field

The three Quidditch goals vary in height and can be adjusted by adding more bricks to the base. Each of the three goals can be rotated to make scoring easier or more difficult depending on your skill level. The goals are built on top of small green “mounds” that can be adjusted to make them higher or lower. If you have other green 2x2 and 2x4 pieces you can use them to raise the goals higher but remember to keep the green sloped pieces for the post anchor to be attached to.

If you are going to try to replicate an actual Quidditch field you will need to pick up two sets since you need three goals for each side. Initially I only ordered one set from the Lego website but since they have recently been added to the stock at Wal-Mart I’ve picked up a few more to try and build an “authentic” scene. The small target practice catapults are nice but I found that breaking them down and using them in other parts of the scene were more beneficial than having five or six catapults sitting around.

Quidditch Elements

The quaffle [red] and bludgers [black] are nice additions to the Harry Potter series and are necessary elements to this set. After all, you can’t exactly play a game of Quidditch without them now can you? The Golden Snitch is small and will more than likely get lost if you take your eyes off of it for more than a few minutes. No beaters are provided with this set however there has been talk about them being released in a Harry Potter Accessories set from Lego early next year. The quaffle and bludgers are stored in a small brown chest [basic Lego treasure chest] with not additional stenciling or markings. If you want to accent the chest you can use a gold metallic marker on the corners to give it a worn look. The Golden Snitch is a basic Lego pod element that has been coated in gold. If you anticipate this getting a lot of use I suggest that you give it a thin coating of clear nail polish to protect the color and keep it from chipping, peeling or fading.

The Figures

I was really hoping that the Lego designers would create new – or at the very least improved – figures for the second Harry Potter series. While there isn’t a tremendous amount of difference between the first and second series, there are enough small changes that you don’t feel cheated paying the suggested retail price. In additional to the minor cosmetic changes, there have also been a ton of new characters added, one of my favorite being the strange Madame Hooch!

Madame Hooch
This is a new character in the Lego Harry Potter series and she was replicated in grand fashion. She is presented in full uniform with a very nicely stenciled shirt [complete with tie] and the Hogwarts crest on the torso. Her cape comes boxed just like Draco and Harry’s so make sure you find the small white box that it is packed in before you start tossing out the plastic bags. Madame Hooch also comes with her own broomstick and since the set comes with two brown brooms and one black one you can play around with the colors. Personally I liked to have Hooch use the black broom instead of Draco – it went better with her outfit. Her face is stenciled with ruby red lipstick and her trademark goggles. I would have liked to have seen her with goggles that were removable but that is just my own personal take.

Draco Malfoy
Wearing the Slytherin Quidditch uniform, Draco’s figure is extremely nice. The contrast between the green of the uniform and the gray stenciled detail on the torso gives him a very nice first impression. The green cape adds to the overall aesthetics of the figure as well as his hair that looks almost identical to how it is presented in the film. Draco comes with a black broom but as I mentioned above, this is all left to your own personal choice. Draco is comprised of five pieces [hair, head, cape, torso and legs] and is easy to build. He is the only figure that’s assembly shown in the beginning of the instruction booklet so make sure if younger kids are building this they are given a little extra guidance when assembling the other figures in the set.

Harry Potter
I was really impressed with the Harry Potter figure included with this set. Finally we get something different than the standard black cape, Gryffindor uniform and magic wand style that was featured in the first series. Harry is shown in the Gryffindor Quidditch uniform complete with the house crest on the torso. His stenciled glasses help to set him apart from the other figures in the series but picking him out of this particular set is easy because of the black funky hair piece. Harry comes with one broom and again, there are three brooms supplied with the set so you can choose one of the two brown brooms or the black broom to use with this figure.


Things To Know

I ordered the sets as soon as they were listed at the Lego website due to the fact that most stores wouldn’t receive their stock for about two weeks after the nationwide release. Unlike the first series, there is no mention of The Chamber of Secrets on the box. The first series featured the Harry Potter logo as well as the words And The Sorcerer’s Stone under it, these sets do not have this distinguishing characteristic so know your sets before you start to collect them.

There is no solid playing field provided with this set so you might want to pick up a large green base plate to arrange the Quidditch goals on. This isn’t necessary in the very least, but it will eliminate having to pick up the goals if they fall over from getting hit with the quaffle. If you have Soccer sets – especially the larger ones – you can use the base plates from these sets of purchase the stand-alone plates.

If you are going to try to build an exact replica of the Quidditch playing field you will have to purchase multiple sets to build the grandstands and team columns. If you really want to go all out you can study the scene from the first film and add the necessary Lego elements to the play scene – I added some small thin strips of ribbon to the goals and even though the brood initially hated the idea [it makes it look girlie] they eventually admitted that it looked better.

Instructions

The sixteen page booklet carries you through the building of the figures, Quidditch goals and Quidditch trunk, grandstand and target practice catapult. These instructions are much nicer and more detailed than the ones provided in the first series and would be great for those just getting into the Lego system or crossing over from Duplo sets. The three figures that are included with this set [Potter, Malfoy and Hooch] are featured at the beginning of the booklet and while Draco is the only one that is given a complete breakdown on assemble, the two other figures are essentially built the same exact way. The Quidditch chest is also shown at the beginning of the booklet and show the proper way to store the quaffle and

The only suggestion I will make in respect to the construction of the set is to lay out all the pieces that are needed and work from there. Check the bottom of the pages for the long thin ribbed column pieces that are needed to build the goals – they come in different sizes and a size key is provided at the bottom of the pages. The target practice catapult is assembled in seven simple steps but if you are going to purchase several of these sets and don’t want additional catapults cluttering up your area you can use the green 4x6 plates on the field or to raise up the goals. The grandstand tower looks a lot more difficult to build than it really is – this is mainly due to the multitude of different colored blocks that are used during assembly.

Be sure to check out the back cover to see the fully assembled Hogwarts School and surrounding buildings. The photo shows sets from the first and second series and one of the many ways that can be joined together to create a most impressive play scene.


Bottom Line

I was really excited to see this set listed at the website, featured in the Lego Magazine and finally on the shelves at Wal-Mart. If you have a fan of the Harry Potter films and books that also has a love for Lego’s then this would be a great set to invest in! If you want to invest in several sets you can build your very own Quidditch playing field and be the envy of everyone in your neighborhood. In my opinion this is well worth the suggested retail price of $9.99 and with the holidays coming up you can expect the price to drop a few dollars when the toys sale wars start.



The Stats

Set Name: Quidditch Practice
Family Set: Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets
Lego Set: 4726
Number of Pieces: 128
Age Recommendation: 7 - 12
Ease Of Assembly: Easy
Time Of Assembly: 10 minutes
Cost: $ 9.99



As always, thanks for the visit …

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2002 Freak369





Sorting Hat
The Final Challenge
Snape's Classroom
Hagrid's 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
Chamber of the Winged Keys
Rescue From The Merpeople
Gringotts Bank

Dumbledore Key Chain
Harry Potter Key Chain
Hermione Key Chain
Harry Potter Lego Spell Books

Harry Potter Lego Professor Quirrell Mini Figure
Harry Potter Lego Potter / Goyle Mini Figure
Harry Potter Lego Dementor Mini Figure
Harry Potter Lego Peeves Mini Figure
Harry Potter Lego Peter Pettigrew Mini Figure
Harry Potter Lego Professor Snape Mini Figure
Harry Potter Lego Goblin Mini Figure


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $9.99
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family