REVIEW: Advent calendar 13 December 2023

I wasn’t a bit fan of yesterday’s model. Hopefully, we’ll get something more substantial today. So with eager fingers I reach out for door number 13 on the calendar to open it. Read on to see what was behind it…

We did get another minifigure today, which was in line with my guess from yesterday.

For those who hasn’t checked the box in detail, this might look like Professor Albus Dumbledore. And with its dark purple colour, it does resemble the early versions of Albus Dumbledore we got around in the very early days of LEGO Harry Potter (2001-02), though the heads and hands were still yellow in those days.

But as we can see on the side of the box, this is Albus’ younger brother, Aberforth Dumbledore, who is the owner of the Hog’s Head Inn in Hogsmeade (and who was also a member of the original Order of the Phoenix). He does appear in the later books/movies and it is great finally getting him as a minifigure!

So while getting a reasonably well known figure for the first time is a great start, is the representation of him any good?

As seen on the photos below, we get a minifigure with long grey beard and hair, and with both torso and head dual printed on front and back. It would have been great with legs printed as well, but the printing we get is pretty detailed, though we can’t see much of it on the torso due to the big beard.

Instead of the usual wand, we get a glass goblet as accessory. A butter beer glass would have been even better, but not sure if they are currently in production.

Overall, it is a nice representation of Aberforth (see photo from the movies below), though the use of dark purple isn’t a perfect match for his dress – but to be honest, I’m not sure what colour would have been any better.

Now I just need to add Hog’s Head to my custom Hogsmeade display. My brain is already working on ideas (I’ve been wanting to expand on this for years)

Summary

I am really happy to get Aberforth for the first time as minifigure. And given it’s a pretty good representation of him, I’ll hand out a top score of five out of five house points. Others may not be quite as excited as me, but I always appreciate when there is one more character from the movies represented as minifigure.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring? With Aberforth’s inclusion today, I would guess that it will be some interior model for Hog’s Head, but I could be wrong of course. Check back tomorrow on the 2023 Advent Calendar page to see what we got.

Till then, Build the Magic!