With the upcoming release of the second Fantastic Beasts movie, the LEGO Group is reviving the old Harry Potter theme alongside new sets for the new movies. Part of this return to the Wizarding World is the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts LEGO Minifigures series, which includes 16 characters from the original series and 6 from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
I have versions of many of these characters from other sets--some dating all the way back to the first LEGO Harry Potter sets from 2001--so I do not intend to collect all 22 minifigures. Those that I have acquired are marked with an asterisk (*) below. I've consulted the excellent Brothers Brick review of this series for a few details of figures I have not yet seen in the plastic pink flesh.
This series nicely showcases some new features of the Harry Potter theme:
- The new wands are no longer just a simple bar, and can be posed in at least two positions in a minifigure's hand (as shown in my photo above). The wands come as a pair on a sprue, so even casual collectors will soon accumulate a large supply of extras in various colors (mostly shades of brown).
- Characters dressed in full-length robes or dresses have a new part for the lower half of the minifigure. Unlike the printed sloped brick skirts used before now, the new piece is the same height as standard minifigure legs. It also has larger pegs instead of studs, which helps keep the figure securely attached at the waist. The back of the skirt falls in a slight curve to a short train, which covers the same 2x2 space as the older trapezoidal brick, but looks more natural.
- Some characters have new, shorter jointed legs that are midway between the size of the traditional minifigure legs assembly and the immobile short legs piece. This allows Harry and his friends to be depicted at three different heights as they grow up over the course of theitr years at Hogwarts. (Harry himself appears in two sizes in this series.) As someone pointed out on the LEGO Dungeons & Dragons Facebook group, these new legs are also perfect for making dwarves, who are shorter than humans but taller than hobbits.
Fantastic Beasts
I find the characters of the movie Fantastic Beasts rather disappointing compared to the far more compelling heroes and villains of the Harry Potter series. I bought Newt's Case of Magical Creatures solely for the excellent creature models, not the characters. Thanks to that set (and Grindelwald's Escape), I already had versions of most of the characters who appear in this Minifigures series, so have no real interest in acquiring more of them. I did, however, buy Newt for the minifigure-scale briefcase and an extra Niffler.Credence Barebone: Credence wears a staid 1920s suit and has the old Ron Weasley bowl-cut hair in black. His only accessory is a tile printed as a "Witches Are Among Us" pamphlet. Like all of the Fantastic Beasts characters, he would make a good Depression-era Call of Cthulhu mini, but is a bit boring. (He does, however, have a double-sided head with glowing eyes on one face.)
Jacob Kowalski: Kowalski's briefcase is rather nice, with a hinged lid and a hollow interior big enough for a 1x2 tile; his comes with two round 1x1 tiles decorated as pastries.
*Newt Scamander: Newt's briefcase is identical to Kowalski's, but doesn't include any contents. His printed torso has a Bowtruckle peeking out of his pocket, but the star of this mystery bag is the Niffler, which stands about 1 brick high. It would make an excellent mini for a mole or platypus familiar.
Percival Graves: Graves wears an expensive-looking suit, but has no accessory except for his wand. However, he comes with a double-sided head and two hair pieces: the silver-templed black hair he has for most of the film, and a white wig for the big reveal at the end.
Queenie Goldstein and Tina Goldstein apparently eat quite well after meeting the baker Kowalski. Tina comes with a hot dog and bun, Queenie with a large strudel. (I can't help thinking that the big segmented pastry could be used as a giant maggot mini.)
Harry Potter
Albus Dumbledore: Dumbledore has a nicely sculpted hat with flowing hair and a beard gathered in a tie towards the bottom. He also has dapper blue robes with the new skirt piece. His accessories include a wand and a silver dish printed with a swirling blue design: the Pensieve.
Cedric Diggory: This is Cedric's long-awaited debut as a minifigure, finally addressing a criminal oversight in the eyes of all Hufflepuff fans. He is dressed in his Tri-Wizard outfit, and comes with a large Tri-Wizard Cup trophy. Cedric is older than Harry, so has full-size adult legs. His hair and smiling face will serve well for other handsome male characters.
Cho Chang: Cho's light brown skin is rare among LEGO minifigures, especially women. Her long, straight hairdo has appeared elsewhere (Spooky Girl, in Series 12) but is still a nice piece worth acquiring. Cho also comes with a gray fabric skirt, the new shorter jointed legs, and an owl.
*Dean Thomas: Like Cho, Dean's minifigure is interesting primarily for his skin color and hair (a short, nappy style). He has the new legs as well, though his have the end of his colorful scarf printed on them. He carries a Gryffyndor pennant as well as a wand.
*Dobby: This minifigure is a slight update to two older versions of the character. There are very slight changes to the printing on his face and torso, and the 1x2 tile with a printed sock. His legs are cast in two colors, tan and pink flesh, and the diary is a newer design, with a hinged cover and two studs inside to hold the sock tile securely in place.
Draco Malfoy: Draco appears in his Slytherin Seeker robes, with a soft cloth cape, a green broomstick, and a very detailed Golden Snitch. The Snitch has a small post on the bottom so it can be held by the minifigure. This would also allow it to be mounted on a base and used as a mini for a tiny flying creature, such as an arbiter inevitable or a 4E arcane eye familiar.
This series includes two versions of Harry Potter. The first is Harry Potter in Pajamas, which includes the invisibility cloak (made from two shiny cape accessories). This Harry is obviously new to Hogwarts, as he has the shortest of the three leg options. The second, Harry Potter in School Robes, comes with Hedwig as well as the new legs assembly. (I have so many Harrys from older sets--with both yellow and pink skin--that the cloak would be the only reason for me to consider buying either of these versions.)
*Hermione Granger in School Robes: Hermione comes with the new jointed legs, as well as her cat Crookshanks and a wand. (My kids think the cat mini looks suitably grumpy-looking for the part.) Her neat robes form a nice contrast to Ron and Harry's more rumpled appearance.
*Lord Voldemort: You Know Who has a stark white head and hands, and the only white wand available at this time. He has a dark green robe, with the new skirt piece. He is accompanied by Nagini, which is a very handsome large snake piece. However, I wish Nagini had been designed with at least one attachment point--there are no anti-studs or other legal connection points. The tail has a short segment that looks like it's meant to be grasped by a minifigure hand, but it's actually a little thicker than a bar, so could cause that hand to break if done incautiously, or too often. (To quote the Brothers Brick review, "Nagini is a great looking snake, but a poor LEGO element.") The Nagini piece also seems to be identical to the Basilisk from the massive microscale Hogwarts Castle set, though the two serpents are different shades of green.
*Luna Lovegood: Luna comes with bluejeans (with the new legs), a colorful fabric skirt, a pink jacket, and a new blonde hairpiece that fits over the strap of her shoulder bag. Her head is double-sided, with one side wearing SpectreSpecs, and she carries a copy of the Quibbler printed on a 2x3 tile.
Mad-Eye Moody: Moody comes with a wand as well as a staff and a potion flask. He also comes with a double-sided head and two hairpieces, for when the imposter is exposed.
*Neville Longbottom: Neville wears earmuffs and gloves while tending to a young mandrake. His head is double-sided, with the other face showing him fainting. The mandrake is a nice feature, with a plume of leaves and a bulbous root-like head/body. It would make a great head for a small plant creature, such as vegepygmy, by inserting the pin at the bottom into a brick with a hollow stud. Between the mandrake and Neville's short jointed legs--which lack the printing most of the other students' legs have--this is the character I could most easily justify buying multiple copies.
Professor Flitwick: Flitwick is a tiny man, with the older short legs piece. Besides his wand, he has a bow tie, fabric coattails, a megaphone, and dandyish hair.
Professor Trelawney: Sybil wears a somewhat frumpy dress that uses the new skirt piece. Her huge mop of curls includes a brightly patterned headband, and would look great on any vaguely hippy-ish character. She also comes with a rather nice-looking teacup and saucer.
*Ron Weasley in School Robes: Ron's messy orange hair (apparently the same as Han Solo's, in a new color) is a vast improvement over the old bowl-cut his minifigures used to sport. Like Hermione, Dean, and the taller Harry, he has short jointed legs printed with the bottom part of his Hogwarts robes. He also comes with his rat Scabbers, which is (perhaps ironically) a much nicer looking rat figure than either the classic Castle rat or the previous version of Scabbers (both of which were monotone and lacked printing).
Past Collectible Minifigures Reviews
LEGO Minifigures Series 14: Monsters!Series 15 Minifigures
Disney Minifigures
LEGO Minifigures Series 16
The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures
The LEGO Ninjago Movie Minifigures
The LEGO Batman Movie Series 2
LEGO Minifigures Series 18: Party
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