About this blog

Welcome to my blog!

This started as a Facebook page for the Hogwarts castle I was building in LEGO – Blockwarts seemed like a good name. It got well received but I noted there seemed to be just as much interest in general LEGO related Harry Potter information, hence I changed to scope to focus on the intersection of the two topics together (noting there are plenty of blogs covering the topics independently). As part of the transition, I decided to make it a real website blog too.

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Blockwarts – first time on display at Brisbane Model Train Show, May 2018

History leading up to the creation of Blockwarts

  • My Dark age ended just around the time the first era of Harry Potter sets came to an end (around 2010-11).
  • At that time my oldest daughter was very much into Harry Potter and we collected most of the last series sets.
  • In 2013, by expanding on the sets, I built a Hogwarts castle for display at a LEGO Expo. I felt it was big back then – covering about 18 baseplates. It was shown twice (in 2013 and 2014) and then packed away for years.
  • Late 2017 I decided to do a Hogwarts display again. I dusted it off (very much required after years of neglect) and made plans to enlarge it. I got carried away, and realising I couldn’t possible do it all myself, I teamed up with my good friend Russell, and combined we and ended up with a 96 baseplate display! The feedback from visitors when shown was amazing.

Recognised LEGO Fan Media site 2020-2022

After two years of existence, Blockwarts became a Recognised LEGO Fan Media (RLFM) site in July 2020.

RLFM is a relatively new program offered by LEGO to support sites that contribute to the LEGO fan community. These come in all sizes (Brickset and Brothers Brick are among the largest, with Blockwarts being in the very small category). Being an RLFM has great benefits including:

  • Occasionally early access to press releases as well as sets for reviews.
  • Direct communication with LEGO and other recognised LEGO clubs/sites.
  • Participation in LEGO working groups ran by LEGO’s Community Engagement team.

As seen, Blockwarts occasionally got sets for review. In those cases, it is listed at the bottom of the review, and in any case the views/opinions raised in the reviews remained my own.

In 2022 there was a refocus of sites part of the RLFM program and as result, Blockwarts was no longer part of the program from 31 December that year.

The running of Blockswarts is funded by myself. To recover some of those costs you can support the site with your online shopping, by clicking through to your shop below – depending on which country you are in. Over time I’ll add more retailers/countries. Basically, I will earn a minor commission for any subsequent sales. Please note, these affiliate links rely on third party cookies to work. See our Privacy Policy for more.