Harry Potter Legos - Opinions please

[Colleen1011]

My son is really into Harry Potter now. I did not buy any legos for christmas as his present was a laptop and ipod touch. Now I am looking at birthday and easter present but I know nothing about legos, he never has shown an interest before.
What are the must haves in terms of Harry Potter legos?
Also what is the average price for Hogwarts castle? I have seen a wide variety of prices and I don't know what a good deal would be?
Any advice would be appreciated so I can start to budget for these events

Thanks

 

[pigletto]

My son loves loves loves the sets he got for Christmas. We designed a Lego table for him and added storage to his room this Christmas as well. Each lego set has it's own bin with a picture of the set on the front. All manuals are stored in a Binder with plastic sleeves. We keep the boxes as well. The whole idea behind this was for a few reasons.
1. A great space to play
2. The pieces won't get all mixed up, lost and spread all over the house making him unable to build the sets
3. Once he's older and tiring of the Harry Potter stuff, we can use something like Craigslist to make some of the money back towards a new series (Starwars or whatever). He doesn't have to sell them. Just if he gets bored with them.

This whole idea was a way to take the sting out of what amounts to hundreds of dollars (if not more) for a hobby.

So far it is working perfectly.
I am in Canada but live close to the border. Before Christmas Target had the best prices I could find ANYWHERE on the castle. I paid just under a hundred for it with a sale and a coupon. It was 150 almost everywhere here. So look there first.
The sets have been well worth it. We have Hogwarts, Hogwarts add on, Quidditch Match, Forbidden Forest, The Burrow, and the Hogwarts Express. The next big one he will want is Diagon Alley. That was sold out everywhere around Christmas though.

 

[LocaRoja]

Please send your Santa to my house next year!! I want a laptop and ipod touch too!!!!

 

[Misskitty3]

Hogwarts Castle is really fun! DS got it last year for Christmas and it is still assembled and played with regularly. I bought it at Borders with a 40% off coupon. Obviously, Borders isn't around anymore but keep an eye out for sales or coupons.

 

[sksjasams]

You should know there are two sets called Hogwarts Castle -
Lego 4842 and Lego 4867

Lego 4842 is an amazingly detailed castle and really a wonderful set. It has 1290 pieces.
Lego 4867 is a smaller version could be added on to the large castle, or it could be played with on its own. It has 466 pieces.

Since your son has not shown any previous interest and does not have any experience building, I would go with the smaller set. If he enjoys it, you could go with the bigger set down the road. I asked my DS13, a huge lego fan, and he also said to go with the smaller set. The big set would be too overwhelming.

Here is link on lego.com to some HP sets. He might like the book or video game as well.

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/catalog/productListing.jsp?_requestid=23508274

Hope this helps

 

[bumbershoot]

The HP legos are FABULOUS.

FYI, since you haven't been involved in the Lego world yet...they get discontinued. And then the price skyrockets. I'm already worried about the set called The Burrow, because it disappeared from the Lego site, and it's actually one that I want!

DS got the two current castle sets someone mentioned below for Yule. They were SO much fun to put together. He's actually quite good at putting them together now (he's had two years of practice and we, um, really enjoy buying him sets, so he might have a few sets of Legos, LOL) but he asked me to be part of putting together the big castle, and it took hours and hours of mother/son time, absolutely precious time to me.

The smaller set is commonly known as "battle for hogwarts", and includes an "exploding" bridge, and is a great addition to the bigger one. We're only reading the 5th story now, so he has NO idea about the battle, but he still loves doing it!

So if you even think he might like the current HP legos, and if you CAN, just get them. You can find them in various places, but if you buy directly from Lego (if you have a store nearby or through lego online) you can join their VIP program and get points, which can then get you discounts on future purchases. If you buy some and hold some back, waiting to see if he likes it, then you've got them if he does (in case they are discontinued), or you have a stash to sell later. An unopened set can end up being worth quite a bit.

Right now I'm bemoaning not buying all the available Indiana Jones sets available as DS got into it, because they are ALL discontinued now and go for far too much money.


If you go to the Lego store online and check out the harry potter section, you can see what's available. Ask him what things he would like.

 

[walkdmc]

Of all the HP sets I got my DS, we like Diagon Alley the most. I think I paid nearly $150 but it may be cheaper elsewhere (I bought directly from Lego). I know this set was hard to find around the holidays but it may be easy to find now.

 

[Janepod]

A lot of the HP sets are being discontinued so don't delay if you really want them.

(I'm not sure which, but the discussion boards on Brickset can help out.)

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

For Christmas and Birthday (in December too) DD got

The Burrows - I paid $59 or $69 can't remember which

The smaller Hogwarts Castle - paid $39 plus tax

The larger Hogwarts Castle - paid $119 plus tax

Got all 3 at Wal-Mart online - their prices (at that time) were $10 cheaper / set than in the stores. I also selected same day store pick up which means basically I placed the order online then they e-mailed me once they had taken it off the shelf and put it in the back for me.

She's done each set several times and yes mixed them all together. She's now building a tree house with them - it currently has 22 "rooms" - too much fun!!

 

[Hmom]

Since your son has not shown any previous interest and does not have any experience building, I would go with the smaller set. If he enjoys it, you could go with the bigger set down the road. I asked my DS13, a huge lego fan, and he also said to go with the smaller set. The big set would be too overwhelming.

I agree with sksjasams - a big set would be overwhelming. I received Diagon Alley for Christmas & am still working on it - been sick! The Knight Bus was together Christmas morning & DS was playing with it, although it isn't allowed on the old train (now lego) table with his Star Wars legos. Mom's legos can't invade Star Wars land In return for my help maintaining Star Wars land, I get to keep any girl figures that come with his sets, except Princess Leia (sp??).

The Battle of Endor (Star Wars) took several hours over several days to put together. I can only put together legos for so long at one sitting

The Quidditch (sp?) lego set is fun. It comes with several figures, brooms, hoops, etc... Super easy build.

 

[alh921]

I own all of the HP lego sets from the 2010-2011 releases, and they are all very nice.

I really think the Burrow (4840) is a unique set. It has a good collection of mini-figures and the structure is a nice interpretation of the Burrow in the movie/books. It was fun to build. MSRP is $60. They have it online at Barnes & Noble.

If you want bang for your buck, the Quidditch set (4737) is nice because you get a lot of mini-figs for a low cost. It isn't much of a building set, though, since it has fewer bricks in it. It would be more geared towards someone who wants to collect the mini figures, or display a nice looking set, for a lower price point. MSRP is $20, and this one is on shop.lego, amazon, etc.

Like a PP mentioned, Diagon Alley (10217) is a very nice set if you are looking to get something with a lot of bricks to build with at a higher price point. The buildings are very cool and it comes with a lot of neat bricks, plus a bunch of mini-figs. This is a Lego store exclusive, MSRP $150.

The Forbidden Forest (4865) is another good one for a starter set because it's cheap and comes with a good number of mini-figs. I love the little box sets because of this reason -- they are easy to collect. Not really much of a brick building set, though. MSRP $12 but it's on amazon right now for under $11.

I love Lego vehicles, so I also like the Knight Bus (4866) and the Hogwarts Express (4866). Both of these are re-releases of sets they came out with in prior years. I have the older Hogwarts Express and the new one, and they are very similar. The Knight Bus is great because it's a unique vehicle to begin with -- triple-decker bus :-D Very cool. The Hogwarts Express MRSP is $80, but it looks like it might be easier to find at a brick&mortar store right now -- seems out of stock online right now except for Toys R Us (where it's price is inflated). MRSP on the Knight Bus is $35 and they have it at shop.lego.

I saw the smaller Hogwarts Castle Expansion set the PP mentioned at Costco for $25 in my local area. That's essentially half price, so that was a steal. I would suggest checking your local Costco or equivalent membership stores if you can, just in case they have any left in stock.

Toys R Us occasionally runs BOGO 1/2 off sales on legos, but it's only worth while if you buy sets that are about equally valued. Also, Toys R Us inflates the price of Legos quite a bit higher than MSRP, so unless they have a set you want that you can't get anywhere else, I don't ever buy from them unless they have their sale.

I always check Amazon. When they aren't low on stock or in super high demand, they often have things cheaper than MSRP and it's tax free for most states. Just be careful because they have 3rd party sellers on there who will sometimes have crazy inflated prices, and who also sell the older sets that are no longer made (and therefor they charge a fortune for them)

If I am looking to get a set and not worried about waiting for a sale, I always default to the Lego store. You can get a membership card and earn some rewards. This is convenient for me, though, because I have one locally near me. They have a nice website you can order online, though.

I also check Walmart, Target, and KMart for Legos -- all of those stores run sales and clearances on Legos occasionally.

If you like the hunt, you can also comb craigslist and ebay for loose lego bricks and minifigs, used sets, etc.

 

[alh921]

A lot of the HP sets are being discontinued so don't delay if you really want them.

(I'm not sure which, but the discussion boards on Brickset can help out.)

This is good advice. LEGO always retires the sets, and with no more HP movies to come out, it is unknown whether they will make new sets in the future or just retire the whole theme.

 

[susianew]

A lot of the HP sets are being discontinued so don't delay if you really want them.

I bought the entire line (on sale, of course) of the most recent releases of Harry Potter legos for DS 2, just in case

If you do go through the Lego online store, you can link through Discover & get 5% back.

 

[walkdmc]

Not to scare the OP but have you seen what happens to discontinued Lego sets?

DS asked for the Carousel he saw in a cataloge. I naively thought I could find it anywhere and only saw it on ebay for over $900!!! The same thing happened with the Garden Grocer set I thought I'd get for myself although that's going for just over $400 now.

How does one break the Lego addiction? I feel a compulsion to buy every set in a collection, just in case.....

 

[DVCBELLE]

My son got The Knight Bus for Christmas and he loves it...he put it together by himself - first set he has done and it is pretty cool.

It is a nice beginner set...

 

[walkdmc]

Curse you Budget Board!!!! I just bought The Burrows and Hogwarts Express from Amazon. I swear this board is the opposite of "budget" in my world.

Just an FYI for the OP, Overstock.com seems to carry some of the sets.

 

[MAH4546]

Wal-Mart and Target have many on clearence right now. I bought The Burrow for $30 and the Hogwarts train for $40 at Wal Mart last week. Of course, they aren't very easy to find in stock. Target has the castle at 30% off right now, but keep in mind Target clearance prices vary store-by-store.

 

[jacksmomma]

My son loves loves loves the sets he got for Christmas. We designed a Lego table for him and added storage to his room this Christmas as well. Each lego set has it's own bin with a picture of the set on the front. All manuals are stored in a Binder with plastic sleeves. We keep the boxes as well. The whole idea behind this was for a few reasons.
1. A great space to play
2. The pieces won't get all mixed up, lost and spread all over the house making him unable to build the sets
3. Once he's older and tiring of the Harry Potter stuff, we can use something like Craigslist to make some of the money back towards a new series (Starwars or whatever). He doesn't have to sell them. Just if he gets bored with them.

This whole idea was a way to take the sting out of what amounts to hundreds of dollars (if not more) for a hobby.

So far it is working perfectly.
I am in Canada but live close to the border. Before Christmas Target had the best prices I could find ANYWHERE on the castle. I paid just under a hundred for it with a sale and a coupon. It was 150 almost everywhere here. So look there first.
The sets have been well worth it. We have Hogwarts, Hogwarts add on, Quidditch Match, Forbidden Forest, The Burrow, and the Hogwarts Express. The next big one he will want is Diagon Alley. That was sold out everywhere around Christmas though.

Could you post pictures of your lego table set up? We are researching building one for DS. Thank you!

 

[JoiseyMom]

My DS10 has all the HP sets for this year but 3. I still need to get Diagon Alley (I wish I had gotten it for 134.99 late last year), Quidditch and Hagrids Hut. Earlier last year he bought with his bday gift cards/money The smaller Hogwarts set, The train and I think one other. For Chaunkah he got The Burrow, The big Hogwarts castle, the Knight bus, Forbidden Forest and Freeing Dobby. I got some deals through TRU, where I don't ususally shop, but I hit it right (and got Star Wars Millenium for 80.00! too).

If you see them now, BUY THEM! I know I am going to have to bite the bullet on DA, right now I am hoping for FS from Lego.com, or I will drive north to one of their stores.

 

[pigletto]

Could you post pictures of your lego table set up? We are researching building one for DS. Thank you!

I would but you might be a little underwhelmed

I found many different designs at IkeaHackers website. Our full intention was a lego table just designed for Lego. What we ended up with was different but suited our needs much better. We bought an Ikea desk. It lets you choose your own legs in the design. So one side is legs, and the other side is a drawer unit. The desk piece sits on top. The drawer side has 6 drawers for more storage.

Then we got a piece of board that would fit 6 of the Lego baseplates. I used gorilla glue to glue the pieces to the board. It provides a large surface area for building. It is on the desk top. We keep it from scratching or shifting with rubber shelf liner (found at most dollar stores).

The entire piece can be removed and slid behind the desk for homework space. I also bought a clip on desk lamp for good lighting.

I saw so many designed tables with great Lego storage. But in the end that's all they could be.. lego storage. My son has a very small room and is 8. So his needs are changing to need more workspace as well as play space. This set up provides both for not much more cost.
We added wall and closet shelving to hold the plastic storage bins for legos, board games, etc.

If you need space for Lego and only Lego, check out Ikea hackers (just google). If you have a small space like we do, that needs to suit a variety of needs, a removable base plate board is the way to go!

The irony in all of this is that we have a GIANT (almost half the lower level of a 1400 square foot upstairs) play room!! But I do daycare for a living, and he needs to keep the things that are special to him separate. It's ok to have items he doesn't want to share with all the other kids, but they need to be in his own room only to be fair.