REVIEW: Voldemort, Nagini and Bellatrix Brickheadz – Hands-on review

Set 40496

LEGO has revealed two new LEGO Harry Potter themed Brickheadz sets to become available from 1 June 2021. Ahead of the global launch, I’ve been lucky enough to be sent the sets for review. I’ll start with the one containing Voldemort, his snake Nagini and Bellatrix Lestrange. Here is what you get…

LEGO released three Brickheadz sets in 2018, which contained Harry with his owl Hedwig, Hermione, Ron and Albus Dumbledore respectively. In 2020, we finally got a new set containing Hagrid and Buckbeak. Reviews of these are available of the Reviews page.

Because of these earlier sets, LEGO Harry Potter collectors are no strangers to Brickheadz, and I was thrilled when I learned that LEGO was to release new sets in the series in 2021, and that I was going to review them. So a Sunday morning, I sat down to build the two sets.

The set subject for this particular review gives us three new characters in the Funko-pop style Brickheadz format. These are Lord Voldemort, his snake Nagini and Bellatrix Lestrange.

Box and content

The front of the box shows us the three figures along with the names of the characters and their Brickheadz numbers (relevant for those trying to have the full collection of Brickheadz – with 145 released, I’m glad I’m not one of them).

The back of the box doesn’t really add much, showing the figures from a slightly different angle, though a small insert photo does illustrate that they come with small stands. It would have made more sense showing front and side views rather than an angle so similar to the front.

At the side of the box is a photo of the included characters, as they appeared in the movies, similar to what we have seen on previous LEGO Harry Potter Brickheadz sets.

Opening the box, we find three instruction manuals (one for each included characters) and four numbered plastic bags with parts. As normal for Brickheadz sets, all parts are printed – no stickers (yeah!).

Voldemort

I’m not going to cover the building process in much detail, as this follows how these figures generally are built. The torso base is 4×4 studs, and build with studs exposed on sides to attach arms/hands, and other torso details. The head adds many more studs on side, as the key focus of the Brickheadz figures is indeed the head, which is a caricature of the subject, capturing the key characteristics in an often exaggerated way.

And as a trade-mark (almost) for these, a pink brick is used where the brain sits. The photos below shows some “work in progress” photos of the build.

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Voldemort was quickly finished, and is by far the least interesting in this pack, with a bald head with few features.

Below are a series of photos of the completed model.

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I’m puzzled why they have used a 4×4 plate on top of the head rather than two 2×4 white tiles, which would have given a smoother look. Also, I would have preferred a more detailed face, but I know that the LEGO standard for these have been followed, and generally doesn’t allow for adding eyebrows, nostrils, etc, which in this case however would have been great, as those are really what characterise Voldemort’s head. Maybe simply changing the eyes to something more snakelike would have made the trick.

Without those details, the face doesn’t really look like an evil wizard, but rather a dog begging for food.

After a quick search through my bricks collection, I came up with this as alternative. I’m sure it can be done much better, but it does show that this character in particular may benefit from moving away from LEGO’s standard flat faced figures.

Nagini

Moving on to Nagini, it is a smaller build, similar in scale to Hedwig from the 2018 Brickheadz sets (3×3 studs head). This model is totally different from the other two and I really liked building this one. Here are a few photos of the build.

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And here is a series of photos of the completed model.

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Overall, I think it looks pretty amazing as a curled up snake. Maybe too cute looking for a vicious snake, but still an awesome sidekick for Voldemort.

Bellatrix

Last but not least is Bellatrix Lestrange. She is the star in this pack, and partwise she is probably using the same amount of bricks as the other two combined, if not more. And this is all driven by her hair.

Below a few photos from the building process, as some interesting techniques are used for the body (upside down) and to create a lot more attachment points for the hair than normal models.

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The hair is mostly made up of 2×2 round plates in dark brown, with additional detail added by 1×1 round plates, curved slopes and a few dark tan stripes. A lot of parts are used, which makes for an exiting build, but I did find it hard to read the instructions, as dark brown on dark brown blends in easily.

Here are a few photos of the completed model. Note the dark tan background around the eyes, which makes them look shaded, as they appeared in the movie.

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I must say, this may be my favourite Brickheadz model to date. Both body and hair really captures the character well, and is the result of an interesting build process.

Conclusion

Overall, I’m generally positive, though the characters have been a bit of a mixed bag. Voldemort doesn’t really come out that well (as mentioned above), though still obviously recognisable. Nagini does look great (if anything, slightly too cute) and is a nice addition to the set, but Bellatrix is really a fantastic model and steals the show.

One may consider remodelling Voldemort’s face, but many may keep it as is, for consistency with the other official LEGO Brickheadz figures.

Overall, this is a nice addition to the existing LEGO Harry Potter Brickheadz sets, with the dark side finally represented.

The review of the other set, containing Hagrid, Harry, Ron and Hermione, will be up shortly.

Till then, Build the Magic!

(Note that this set was kindly provided by LEGO for review. The views expressed here are my own however).