REVIEW: The Rise of Voldemort

95965 – The Rise of Voldemort

Wave 2 of the 2019 LEGO Harry Potter sets should be available in shops from today, 1 August (in parts of the world at least). Here I will take a look at the smaller of the two, which covers the graveyard where Harry and Cedric ended up after unknowingly touching a portkey at the end of the third and final challenge of the Tri-wizard Tournament. Does it capture the scene well? Read on for my full review…

Box and content

The front of the box feature the duel between Harry and Voldemort at the graveyard. It is a very dark scene in the movie, and the front box art covers it as well and as you can for a toy targeting children.

Turning it over, the back shows the key play features, with the most important one being the rise of Voldemort from the ground. It also shows how Harry can be held in place by the statue as he was in the movie (in the book he was tied to the tombstone).

Opening the box you find a booklet with instructions, a very small sticker sheet (only two stickers) and two unnumbered bags with parts.

Let’s get started!

Minifigures

For many, the key selling point of this set will be the minifigures. The set includes no less than four minifigures: Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew and a Death Eater.

In particular Peter Pettigrew stands out being by far the best presentation of him in a LEGO set with very detailed head and torso prints. Also, the Death Eater is a nice addition to my army of Death Eaters. I’ll need to order extras of the black wizard hats.

Both Harry and Pettigrew come with head pieces with dual expressions.

As it has become the norm, all four minifigures have the back of their torsos printed.

Four figures in small set is a lot, but that’s not all. As shown in the box, the tombstone has a minifig statue too and the set also includes a baby Voldemort.

With the set priced relatively low in most markets, this is good value counting the figures alone.

When reviewing this set, it is hard not to have a look at Cedric Diggory from the LEGO Harry Potter CMF series from last year (see the review here). He’s luckily a perfect match to the Potter figure included in this set, in particular when seen from the back with their family names printed as in the movie.

It is also interesting to compare the tri-wizard tournament trophy included with Cedric in the CMF with the brick built one in this set. I must say I quite like the brick built one, though a fully moulded piece does have a cleaner look to it.

The trophy is of particular importance as it was unknowingly to Harry and Cedric turned into a portkey taking them to a dark graveyard!

The graveyard

So let’s continue with the scenery included in this set. The centre of this set is the Riddle family grave located in the Little Hangleton graveyard. Here, the three Riddles, Thomas, Mary, and their son Tom Riddle (senior), were burried shortly after being murdered by Tom’s teenage son, Tom Marvolo Riddle.

The graveyard is well captured by the built with the Riddle family tombstone in particular standing out. I would probably have preferred the sides not being hinged to the centrepiece, but rather have used slopes or layered plates. And a small dark tree would have added spookiness to the scenery.

Having simultaneously touched the trophy at the end of the final task of the Tri-wizard tournament, Harry and Cedric suddenly find themselves in front Peter Pettigrew and a very little Voldemort.

Why choose a creepy graveyard? Well, we soon learned that Voldemort needed the bone of his father, which was collected from the grave. While Harry got tied to the headstone, Peter Pettigrew lit up a fire under a big cauldron and started on a potion adding the “baby” Voldemort first (Harry hoped it would drown).

“Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son! Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed, you will revive your master. Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe.“

As the Voldemort baby, the bone from Voldemort’s father, Pettigrew’s hand and Harry’s blood all make its way into the cauldron, smoke emerges and through the mist Harry sees with terror the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from cauldron. Voldemort is back!

The scenery includes additional tombstones, mostly small generic ones, but one stand out as it has the “Deathly Hallows” symbol on it.

This is an interesting reference to another graveyard. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry and Hermione come across the grave of Ignotus Peverell in the graveyard at Godric’s Hollow. Ignotus Peverell was one of the three brothers given the three deathly hallows. Ignotus’ got the invisibility cloak which Harry ultimately inherited from his father James Potter.

Summary

As mentioned, I find this set extremely good value from the figures alone. The graveyard itself is also very well made and captures the scenery well.

While the scenery may be a bit dark for many younger children, for the older ones and AFOL’s in particular, this set is highly recommended.

I’ve got heaps of ideas for how to display this. But it will have to wait till I get through the growing pile of things to review.

Till then, Build the Magic.