Review : LEGO Harry Potter 75947 Hagrid's Hut Buckbeak's Rescue

Today we are quickly interested in the LEGO Harry Potter set 75947 Hagrid's Hut Buckbeak's Rescue (496 pieces - 64.99 €), a box that allows you to reproduce a scene seen in the film Harry Potter and the Prisonnier d'Azkaban. To have fun saving the hippogriff before it falls into the hands of the executioner, we have the essentials here: A handful of characters, Rubeus Hagrid's hut, the pile of pumpkins and the pillar to which Buck is attached.

The set is quite complete and LEGO even makes the effort to offer us a well-appointed cabin with a few nods to fans who still remember the film. From the outside, the LEGO version is a simple yet believable enough reproduction of the construction seen on screen, even though it's actually only a half-hut. The roofs are a little disappointing with a few empty spaces between the different sides and a slightly light finish and the interior is as usual at LEGO very compact with some pieces of furniture that take up a lot of space, a fireplace and the essential accessories and references that appeal to fans.

There are five stickers to stick on the walls and doors of Rubeus Hagrid's hut and the two stickers that take place on the doors are too small to perfectly cover the affected rooms. LEGO has been very careful about the sizing of these two stickers with a too large cutout around the handles which spoils the "wood" effect a bit. The two stickers to stick on the walls of the cabin are doing a little better. They are in the tone of the parts to which they must be applied and the rendering is correct.

The designer left two Technic pieces exposed on the exterior walls of the cabin, I still wonder for what purpose knowing that the construction is not really intended to be connected to something else. Perhaps it was to respect the symmetry with the connection points between the two hut modules or to leave it to the fans to change the arrangement of the two "modules" of the hut.

Inside the cabin, there is a reference to the film Harry potter and the sorcerer's stone with the dragon egg (Norbert) that Hagrid keeps in his fireplace and the supplied light brick which can be activated by pressing the exterior fireplace of the construction allows to highlight the thing. The effect is very nice in the dark (see photo below) but remains anecdotal because the LEGO light bricks cannot be switched on permanently.

LEGO did not forget to provide us with Hagrid's pink umbrella, it is logically stored near the fireplace it is used to light. The copy of Daily Prophet delivered in this box is identical to the one already seen in the sets 75955 Hogwarts Express, 75953 Hogwarts Whomping Willow et 75957 The Knight Bus.

Buck (or Buckbeak) is here represented in the form of a somewhat static cast figurine. Even though the wings to clip onto the main mold are movable and the head can be oriented according to your wishes, the creature's legs are fixed. The figurine is missing in my opinion of finish while the job has been half done. The head is indeed nicely pad-printed but the body remains a slightly sad, smooth gray, with no particular reference to the creature's coat. Although this year's figure is more accomplished overall, the version of the set 4750 Draco's Encounter with Buckbeak marketed in 2004 had at least the merit of offering a little relief on the front of the body of the creature.

The pile of large pumpkins seen on the screen is here symbolized by a few orange heads and four copies of the new pumpkin, a piece also present in the trunk of Sheriff Jim Hopper's vehicle delivered in the Stranger Things set 75810 The Upside Down. The pumpkins delivered here struggle a bit to replicate the movie's pile of really large veggies, but it's still better than nothing.

To perfectly fulfill his modest mission which is to reproduce a short scene from the film Harry Potter and the Prisonnier d'Azkaban, this set could have included the scarecrow placed in the middle of the pile of pumpkins and some crows. The piece seen on the Scarecrow Head from Collectible Minifig Series 11 and Tonto's in the line of sets based on the film The Lone Ranger would have done the trick.

Tastes and colors are indisputable, some will regret that LEGO provides here only a half-hut while others will appreciate that the construction has an easily accessible interior even with big fingers of an adult fan. As far as I'm concerned, the solution offered by LEGO suits me and the cabin will look like it is placed face-on on the corner of a shelf.

On the minifig side, Albus Dumbledore is missing and the selection is therefore not fully representative of the cast at work in the scene concerned. Dumbledore is in the set 75948 Hogwarts Clocktower, you can use it to complete the scene if you invest in the Hogwarts expansion. As with the other sets in the range, it is once again very approximate in terms of the finish and the choice of outfits.

Hagrid is definitely not in the right outfit, he is not wearing his coat in the scene concerned and LEGO is lazily content to deliver us here the minifig already seen in the set 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall. It's a shame, with the set featured here only referring directly to Buck's rescue scene, Hagrid deserved to be dressed in his somewhat drab sweater and dark vest.

Regarding Harry Potter, same remark as for the other three sets in which he appears in this outfit: The white bands on the sleeves of his vest are missing and the pants are still not the right color.

Hermione Granger's minifigure is correct, we can easily recognize the outfit seen in the scene in question and the integration of the Time Turner on the character's torso is a detail that fans will love. Same observation for Ron whose minifigure is simple but consistent.

The set also allows you to obtain two additional characters that come to expand the collections of all those who swear by minifigs and who abandon the construction toy itself a little: the Minister of Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge and the Death Eater / executioner Walden Macnair.

Fudge's minifigure is generally acceptable but it lacks a black suitcase in the minister's hands and the stripes on the character's costume are absent. The shirt collar is a bit drab as it is featured as crisp white on official visuals. The head of this minifigure is not new: it is that of Ken Weathley, a character who appears in two sets of the Jurassic World range released in 2018. The legs are those of General Hux and Cédric Diggory. The alignment between the patterns of the torso and those of the hips is really very rough ...

Walden Macnair's minifigure is also more or less acceptable even if the character's face, with its very successful expression, suffers from the usual pallor of figurines whose flesh tone is pad printed on a black background. The torso benefits from a few details that are fairly faithful to the character's outfit on screen, but LEGO forgot to use two-color arms to reproduce the sleeves of the tunic.

In conclusion, the set is correct but it is sold 64.99 € by LEGO and it is in my opinion much too expensive especially if you want to tinker with a closed cabin by buying two copies of this box. I would be more indulgent on the price if the scarecrow, crows, wheelbarrow and Crockdur were provided ... As it is, it's a little minimalist in terms of the exterior environment even if the interior of the cabin is rich in furniture and other accessories. To buy in promo around 50 €.

THE SET 75947 HAGRID'S HUT BUCKBEAK'S RESCUE ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

Note: The set shown here, supplied by LEGO, is included as usual. To participate in the draw, all you have to do is post a comment (avoid "I participate, I try, etc ..." be a little more constructive) on this article before the July 23, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.