REVIEW: Advent calendar 9 December 2021

Yesterday, we saw the smallest model to date – and it triggered the lowest score yet in our review of the 2021 advent calendar. Is today any better? Read on to see what we got…

Thankfully, opening today’s door revealed a much more full plastic bag than yesterday’s rather disappointing gift.

9 December model

Behind door number 9, we got the brick wall that reveals the entrance to Diagon Alley from the back yard of the Leaky Cauldron.

With 23 bricks (just one is a spare), this is the largest model to date in this year’s calendar.

From these you build two identical wall sections.

With one being placed upside down, they close together perfectly.

Here is how it looks on the game board.

Harry seems to wonder how to open the wall.

“Three up… two across…” he muttered. “Right, stand back, Harry.”

He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. The brick he had touched quivered – it wriggled – in the middle, a small hole appeared – it grew wider and wider – a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archy on to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.

“Welcome,” said Hagrid, “to Diagon Alley.”

Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone

With the wall open, Harry can now leave the Leaky Cauldron behind and enter one of my favourite places in the Harry Potter universe: Diagon Alley. (In fact I love it so much that I’ve build a large custom model if it – as shown here).

Summary

Today’s score reflects the model being a rather large in terms of piece count and it does work really well as an opening brick wall. It does miss the “wow” factor or the interesting rare parts that would give top marks though, so the score today is 4 out of 5 house points.

What will tomorrow bring? It seems like we are leaving the Leaky Cauldron behind, so I assume tomorrow will be a welcome to Diagon Alley. Check back tomorrow on the advent calendar review page to see where we ended up…

Till then – Build the Magic!