"A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen."
Well, we all know how that turned out, don't we?
Astonishing things originated from 4 Privot Drive, and now LEGO has given us the opportunity to travel back to where the Harry Potter story began.
This LEGO set is based on the iconic Dursley family home, which, as LEGO states, is "bursting with imaginative fun and adventures for Harry Potter fans to explore." LEGO also promises this set will provide endless fun for Harry Potter fans with various rooms, fun characters, and a flying car. Were we excited to receive this set? No. We were ECSTATIC. Our only complaint was that LEGO didn't offer 'Accio' (summoning spell) as a delivery option... we had to wait for the postman like everyone else.
Quite literally tearing into this LEGO set we discovered it included six Minifigures: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Dudley Dursley, Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley, Dobby, and Harry's pet owl, Hedwig. The detailing of these Minifigures deserves a round of applause. If those inclusions weren't exciting enough, LEGO also included the Hogwarts acceptance letters to re-create one of the most memorable moments in the entire series!
The Dursley home itself recreates the two-story residence complete with a detailed interior, including the living room, bedroom, and Harry's cupboard under the stairs allowing endless opportunities for creative play and recreating the movie scenes.
"The magical excitement continues outdoors when Ron appears at the upstairs window with the flying Ford Anglia. Kids open the trunk to attach a chain to its hook and, very soon, the window is dragged off and Harry escapes!" explains the LEGO team.
Anyone else immediately go to the escape scene when Harry says this to Ron:
"Ron, I should tell you, most Muggles aren't exactly accustomed to seeing a flying car."
All in all, LEGO has done an excellent job of bringing the magic of Harry Potter to life with this set. However, we never feel like a LEGO set is complete until our lighting technicians get their hands on it and add some extra magic of their own...
LIGHTING IT UP
With limited space to work with, adding the lighting additions was no easy feat... but who doesn't love a challenge?
The main issue was the car stuck to the window that pulled out. So we had to run the cable around the chain and through the window to the board. We left some length to allow it to be pulled out a bit. Finally, we brought the Ford Anglia car to life by adding two Yellow Bit Lights in the car headlights and two Red Bit Lights in the brake lights.
Lighting the rest of the Dursley home was pretty straightforward. We added some more Yellow Bit Lights in the outdoor lamps, a Large White Bit Light in the living room lamp, yet another Yellow under the stairs, and a Strip Light in Harry's room.
As the Dursley home was on the smaller side when it comes to LEGO sets, we feel the lighting additions we made really bring out the life of Pivot Drive and give it that 'lived in' feeling.
LEGO has done an excellent job of capturing the essence of the Harry Potter story with this set, and it will make a great addition to any fan's collection. Overall this is an excellent set for LEGO and Harry Potter fans alike.
