Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms (40452) is a gift-with-purchase included with any Harry Potter purchase of $130 CAD or more on the LEGO® website. This latest GWP promotion runs from October 25 to November 7, or while supplies last. Originally listed on the October in-store calendar, it was silently removed a short time later without explanation. And again, without explanation, the promotion is back on. While there are quite a few theories out there as to why, let’s focus on the good news and be happy things are back on schedule.
NOTE: This set was provided by The LEGO® Group to True North Bricks for review. This does not guarantee a favourable review and all opinions are my own. For a breakdown of the rating system, please click here.
SET SUMMARY
- NAME: Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms
- SET #: 40452
- THEME: Harry Potter
- COST: Free with qualifying Harry Potter purchases of $130 CAD or more
- BRICK COUNT: 148
- MINIFIGURES: 2
- Availability: October 25th – November 7th (while supplies last)
QUICK REVIEW
- VALUE: 75% (good cost-per-brick value but unsurprisingly low build-time score)
- BUILD: 80% (quick, fun build with some nice techniques and designs)
- MINIFIGURES: 70% (good figs, but not exclusive and 3rd reuse of both in this set)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 90% (great addition to 20th anniversary Hogwarts modular sets)
- OVERALL SCORE: 78% (great GWP for the theme, ties in nicely with other sets)
VALUE: 75%
Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms, like any GWP, is a bit tricky to assign a value since it’s “free” with your purchase. For the purposes of this review, I will give it a price of $19.99 based on brick count and size. Taking that info into my handy-dandy spreadsheet gives us a cost-per-brick value of $0.13. With a score of 80%, this is spot-on the average mark for the reviewed sets in the theme thus far. My start-to-finish build time was exactly 15 minutes with a cost-per-minute of $1.33 overall. Less impressively, this equates to a barely passing score of 55% – but it’s not unexpected with such a low piece count. I will upgrade the final value score however to a modest 75% as that feels more warranted.
BUILD: 80%
The Gryffindor Dorms come packaged in the standard Harry Potter/Wizarding World box but omits the 20th anniversary logo. It’s a curious detail given this is a modular expansion of the current Hogwarts sets, but, let’s move on. Inside are 3 unnumbered bags, 2 plates (8×8 and 8×16), 2 bricks (1×14 with groove and 1×16) and a 46 page instruction booklet. It all comes together very smoothly and very simply. With such a small set, I wasn’t expecting much variety, but I am happily surprised at some of the build techniques.
The beds are built with minimal pieces, but really fun details. The pearl gold lightsaber handles are a great way to create a canopied bed design. And the simple red and white colours stand out nicely with the tan and gold. The scale of the beds works just enough for a small minifigure but I hope to see an expanded design someday. The back wall also has some nice details. I like the use of the small fence pieces placed vertically recreating a skinny gothic window. You don’t see them once the big 8×8 plate is slid in, but they do a good job fitting in with the rest of Hogwarts.
MINIFIGURES: 70%
Two minifigures are included with the Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms GWP. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are chilling out in their casual clothes from The Chamber of Secrets film. Neither are exclusive and in fact, both figures have appeared together in 2 separate sets – 4 Privet Drive (75968) and Hogwarts Whomping Willow (75953). I, like many others, enjoy getting exclusive figs in a set, but I’m happy to have that not be the case all the time. It’s frustrating to miss out on minifigures for a collection because of limited availability. This no doubt also keeps the pricing down on creating these sets.
Aside from having a 3rd copy of each fig in your collection, they’re still pretty great figs. Each figure has back and front torso printing, dual-sided faces and the requisite wand. Ron also gets a chocolate frog that ties in nicely to the wizarding card tiles that also come with this set. The 20th anniversary sets include randomized wizarding cards printed on 2×2 tiles. There are 16 to collect in total across 7 sets now. 4 are included with this GWP. Like the ‘real’ cards from the films, they are meant to be traded. So hopefully the other collectors in your life can help you catch ’em all when you get the dreaded duplicates.
ENTERTAINMENT: 90%
Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms will definitely appeal to anyone who has at least one other 20th anniversary set. It’s a smart call to make it a modular expansion, immediately creating some more demand from the completionists out there. It’s also a nice size that feels more substantial than the average polybag or similar sized set. There are simple but fun play elements, so I think this will appeal to kids and Harry Potter fans. The AFOL collector will also enjoy adding this to the other modular Hogwarts sections.
As a small build on its own, it’s a cute vignette, but there’s not much in the way of displayability. I myself don’t have any other 20th anniversary Hogwarts sets so I sadly can’t enjoy it on more levels. For those in the same boat, it’s not as big a draw. But if you have to buy Harry Potter sets to get the GWP, then chances are strong that you’re a fan. Anyone that waited to pull the trigger on buying the new wave will have a nice incentive to finally pull the trigger. It’s also a smart time to maybe grab a bigger set like Diagon Alley (75978) or Hogwarts Icons (76391).
OVERALL: 78%
For a GWP, Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms is pretty decent. At first glance it’s fairly simple. But thanks to it being able to incorporate into the larger 20th anniversary sets, it’s a solid value and draw for collectors. The inclusion of the wizard card tile wall is pretty smart too. It’s a nice way to tie in with the other sets and make the collectable cards a focal point. It’s very similar in concept to the expandable golden minifigure display stand from the Hogwarts Icons set. Just a nice way to make everything connect together, even if you’re only collecting the 20th anniversary sets. On the less attractive side are the reused minifigures (3 times now?) and fairly high price threshold to get the set. Despite these minor issues, it’s a pretty fun set and worth the buy if you’re looking to add to your Harry Potter collection.
What do you all think? Are you keen on this latest GWP? Have you already bought EVERY Harry Potter set and feel left out? Have you acquired all 16 wizard card tiles? Please share your thoughts with us and let us know in comments. And as always, keep on brickin’.
-Frank
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