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Several new hair pieces have been created for the Wizarding World theme, including Hermione's wavy style. This reddish brown element is cast in a hard plastic and looks fantastic in relation to the source material, featuring some lovely textured detail and hanging naturally over the minifigure's shoulders. The head is nicely decorated with two different expressions and Hermione carries a dark tan wand, a spare of which is also included.
The yellow and dark blue decoration on each torso looks superb, alongside accurate icons for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. While their part numbers are new, both elements return from 76389 Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets. Additionally, these double-sided heads are quite uncommon, as the male design has appeared twice before, while the female head is found in 76399 Hogwarts Magical Trunk.New torsos have been created for each character though, including the young Albus Severus Potter, whose time at Hogwarts is just starting. His striped shirt looks good and I think this hair piece works well, while the double-sided head brilliantly conveys Albus' apprehension at leaving for school. Great review! It shows really well the unique strengths and flaws of this set. And it's great to see it next to that smaller set, as this really shows the massive size and also makes very clear why it wouldn't have been feasible to make this into a running model. The pilot wheels, at the front of the locomotive, are the least successful compromise in my judgement. It feels as though the need for those wheels to be able to pivot independently of the main frame was recognized, but there wasn’t a solution that gave it enough stability, so the choice was made to secure it in place, but also allow flipping it over for when you need to turn? It’s the first time I can remember seeing something like this in a LEGO train, and I have to guess that the pilot will simply be discarded or go missing in a lot of kids’ play.
Lupin is a werewolf so features a double-sided head, showing a kindly expression with some scratches and stubble on one side while the other depicts Remus during his transformation. His pale yellow eyes and pained expression look brilliant and I hope we see a full werewolf minifigure in a future Wizarding World set. A reddish brown wand completes the figure. Regarding the length of the passenger car, I could swear the length of the coaches changes over the series of films. Maybe I’m thinking of the real-world train rides, but in most shots it looks like the coach is longer than the engine, but shorter than the engine plus tender. I’ve seen something that shows the coaches on the viaduct being about twice as long as they look in some of the films. biggest - : a Lego train not compatible with any other Lego train. Because that's what Lego is about: modularity, compatibility. They actually should have included a warning on the box: caution not compatible with Lego City trains. I wouldn't have noticed this without reading the review just from the store description and the official images - who counts studs to see if this train has a different gauge from all the other trains?Moving on, bag three builds the tender (or in the LEGO description, coal car), which also has the correct number of wheels compared to the prototype (original real-world object). It’s a basic lil’ guy, and maybe could be a bit longer, but it gets the job done. Unfortunately it really doesn’t have enough room in it to hide a battery box, which is one of the primary ways that this size of LEGO steam locomotive gets motorized. Folks who want this train to run under power will likely need to expand the tender significantly, or motorize one of the coaches instead. Another interesting parts decision is that the whole train uses technic connectors between cars, instead of the magnet couplers that have been used in other train sets through last year’s. Maybe it’s a cost saving measure? Or maybe the magnets would have looked awkward with the tiny coaches with a single wheelset at each end. It’s a little unfortunate since as a British train the Hogwarts Express coaches should have the buffers that have always been molded in to LEGO’s magnet couplers. Beyond the various improvements in detail, increasing the scale has required the designer to construct certain features that would commonly be represented by a specialised piece. These include the frame and coil springs on the bogies, which both look tremendous. The tan Technic elements are rather conspicuous, but brighter colours have been avoided. Draco Malfoy accordingly joins Harry, wearing a fitting Slytherin-themed suit. The dark green shirt introduces a welcome splash of colour, but my favourite detail is the silver serpent pin on Draco's tie. Even though its size is substantially exaggerated, I am glad this was included. The character's unpleasant facial expressions are perfect too. And one minor but understandable flaw: all of the smaller wheels on the train are the smaller size driving wheels, with a hole for the side rods, but also a counterweight. This most visible at the pilot wheels, as on the tender and carriage they are somewhat obscured.
The third group of minifigures, including another Harry Potter, is inspired by The Half-Blood Prince. Harry's torso is unique and corresponds with the character's onscreen garb, while the double-sided head presents a face with broken glasses. These denote Draco's use of the Body-Bind Curse, which paralyses Harry aboard the Hogwarts Express.A printed 4x4 dish forms the front of the cylindrical boiler, featuring the Hogwarts Express branding and an accurate locomotive identification number. I like the pearl gold decoration on top, situated alongside a simple chimney and a golden safety valve which releases excess pressure from the boiler. Moreover, the pearl gold 1x1 round plates fitted towards the rear of the boiler represent the train's whistles. Since this set was revealed it has been interesting to see all the complaints about the size and it not being Lego standard size, but basically nothing about the fact that this is almost exactly G scale - a standard scale in model trains that predates Lego's selection of their standard rail guage (the distance between the rails). Platform 9 ¾, on the other hand, includes a series of trans-yellow light fixtures to reflect the change in environment. Minifigures must pass through the wall between the two Muggle platforms to access the Hogwarts Express and the wall is accordingly mounted on two Technic pins so will swing open neatly, as demonstrated in the image below. 4708 Hogwarts Express from 2001 also included a hidden wall panel but this example is less conspicuous. Flame yellowish orange rings are situated along the boiler, which realistically narrows towards the front. They are gold on the original train, but I think flame yellowish orange is a satisfactory alternative. Moreover, these rings help to disguise the unavoidable steps as the boiler becomes gradually narrower, so the transition between each section is relatively subtle. The omission of Hermione and Ron makes more sense when you factor in their two kids, plus Draco and his family, at which point the platform becomes dangerously crowded.
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