REVIEW: Hogwarts Moments – Herbology Class

76384: Hogwarts Moments – Herbology Class

Thanks to LEGO’s AFOL Engagement Team, I have had the opportunity to have a look at the new Hogwarts Moments series before they hit the shelves in January 2021. There will be four of those sets, one for each of the Hogwarts Houses. In this first post, I’ll have a look at the Hufflepuff set, which is centred around a Herbology Class. Enjoy…

As we close in on 2021, the LEGO Harry Potter world seems to be centred around books – brick build ones I should add. First we got the surprise Monster Book of Monsters, and then the news of four buildable books in a new Hogwarts Moments series due in stores in January 2021.

Each book covers one of the four Hogwarts houses, and feature its head of house and two students.

I’ve been provided early access to these. And rather than start with the usual Gryffindor, I’ll first take a look at one of the houses that are heavily underrepresented in LEGO: Hufflepuff.

Box and content

The box is “book shaped” in the sense it is taller than it is wide. At least that is how it is shown from the front, which feature a large photo of the book, with the usual list of minifigures in the lower left corner and an insert photo to the right, teasing what the set looks like when the book is opened up.

Turning over the box, we get to see that in more detail. Interestingly, the back is in landscape mode as usual, most likely because the set is best shown when folded out in that format. The back is dominated by a large photo of the book opened up with all the small models spread out to show a herbology class in progress. Two small insert photos show that the book can be opened – and that there will be four of them (encouraging you to “collect them all”).

Inside the box you find two numbered bags, three plates (including two of the new book cover pieces), the instructions and a small sticker sheet. The latter is loose within the box, but was in perfect shape when I unpacked. It may of course not always be the case…

As seen, one cover piece is printed, the other is not. It is an interesting new piece, and I’m curious to see what it will be used for in the future.

Minifigures

The set includes three figures, Professor Pomona Sprout (Head of Hufflepuff), Cedric Diggory and Neville Longbottom. Of course, Neville is from Gryffindor, and all four books include a Gryffindor student – probably to include well known characters for new collectors of Harry Potter sets.

Neville is an excellent choice for a Herbology class, a subject he ended up excelling in. I’m more surprised about Cedric, who has featured quite a lot in recent sets, and doesn’t feature in the books in the context of Herbology. Justin Finch-Fletchley would have been a better choice, having been grouped with Harry in one of the classes in the Chamber of Secrets, and would have been a new character to finally appear as minifigure.

Anyway, this is what the figures look like. Nicely printed, in particular I love the detail on Sprout’s torso. Her legs are dual moulded (two colour plastic, rather than printing), is is her hat/hair piece. The uniforms for Cedric and Neville are identical, but the have different sized leg pieces, with Neville having the old fixed kids legs and Cedric the newer posable teenage legs.

The photo shows their alternative face prints. It also shows the students without the earmuffs. As seen, the uniforms are generic. The herbology class version of Neville from the CMF series 1 had a Gryffindor tie printed, a lovely detail, but it was making it harder to use for other houses. So a generic uniform is great. Check this post, which looks at the difference between the new and the previous version.

The torsos are also printed on the back, which gives a nice complete look.

Let us hurry on to the actual build.

The Build

Bag 1 gives you two of the figures, and otherwise get you building a few small models and then the book cover. The small models include a water tap and a small vegetable garden. We also get a mandrake in a pot.

The book cover itself is quickly built, due to the large cover pieces, but it does look nice when completed.

• 

• 

Bag 2, started with the dreaded moment of applying the four large stickers. I did find they were quite easy to apply within the rectangles though.

• 

• 

The parts in bag 2 is mainly for the greenhouse walls plus adding a small cupboard and a table that can be folded up against the wall.

The build is interesting, with many hinges to allow the long wall to be positioned as you want it, but most importantly to ensure it can be folded into the book. Here is what the book looks like folded up completely and opened, but with all content still packed up. This doesn’t leave room for the figures unfortunately, so if kids are bringing them along for a trip, you’ll need a bag for the extra parts.

• 

• 

Here are some close up photos of the completed model.

• 

• 

And here is an overview photo of the book setup for play/display.

Conclusion

When I first heard about these sets, I was a bit unsure how they would work. I think they have turned out very well though, with the books looking impressive both when folded up and on display. And my daughter have had great fun playing with it. In terms of design, the only flaw I can think of is the lack of space to store the three figures included, when the book is folded up.

It will definitely attract collectors and look great on display. The sets will also be good beginner sets for young Harry Potter fans. Those who are mainly interested in the castle sets or other “realistic” minifigure sets, they may choose to skip these sets.

There are three more sets to review. Check the reviews page – they should be available over the next few days.

Till then, Build the Magic!