Review: LEGO BrickHeadz Harry Potter 40412 Hagrid & Buckbeak

Today we are making a quick foray into the world of LEGO BrickHeadz minifigures with the Harry Potter set 40412 Hagrid & Buckbeak which will be offered from 1 to 15 September next from 100 € of purchase in products from the Harry Potter range on the official online store and in the LEGO Stores.

The BrickHeadz concept rarely leaves fans indifferent: we like it or we hate it. The versions of the two characters delivered in this new box of 270 pieces should therefore fuel a little more the endless debate about these cubic figurines which seem more or less successful depending on the starting subject.

You probably already know, I'm not a big fan of these often very approximate interpretations of the reference characters and this box is not going to change my mind. Rubeus Hagrid is a little off topic here with too dark hair and a too open face. It looks like a Demis Roussos of the great era. The coat is nicely done with clever lapels and the two accessories provided, a lamp and the pink umbrella, save the furniture a bit by allowing the character to be identified.

The Hippogriff Buck benefits in my opinion a little more from the switch to the BrickHeadz ropper with an assortment of grays that pretty much sticks to the version seen on the screen and an overall look that remains acceptable given the limitations of the format. This is often the case when it comes to characters who do not have human form. We can choose to see an artistic reinterpretation of the creature or a massacre to try to stay in the nails of the concept, it's really up to everyone to decide.

As for the assembly, no big surprise, here we find the techniques usually used for these figurines with the colored parts used to symbolize the guts and brains of the characters, the Tiles fixed on the numerous bricks with tenons on one side which confirms the "frame" of the figurine, the stacks which give a little volume to certain details, the hands a little ridiculous because summarized in their simplest expression, etc ... Regulars know that all of these figures, with a few exceptions, use similar techniques. A note in passing about the light gray colored parts that are used for the Buck figurine: The differences in color are really visible and it is very ugly.

Knowing that this box of two characters will be offered, it is difficult to complain about the price of the thing and it is always the modest sum of 19.99 € saved to agree to spend 100 € on the official store by paying a few sets of the LEGO Harry Potter range at a high price.

Those who will acquire the set 75978 Diagon Alley, which we will talk about shortly on the occasion of a Review , from its launch would undoubtedly have preferred a product offered containing at least one new minifigure, but it will be necessary to be satisfied with this Duo Pack of square minifigures that will join the other references already marketed in the LEGO Harry Potter range: Ron Weasley and Albus Dumbledore in the set 41621 (2018), Hermione Granger in the set 41616 (2018) and Harry Potter and Hedwig in the set 41615 (2018)

In short, there is no need to overdo it on this little box: it will be offered and fortunately it will be the case because in my opinion it probably does not deserve better, except perhaps for those who enjoy collecting exhaustively everything that comes out in the LEGO Harry Potter line and those who like to line up several dozen BrickHeadz figures on their shelves. I don't count those who find this range cool just because there is a LEGO logo on the box and who would find it out of date if it was offered by another brand ...

We often compare this range with that of figurines Pop! marketed by Funko, but I remain convinced that even if Funko's products are not all successful, there is still a real aesthetic bias that I do not find here. Rather, with the LEGO BrickHeadz lineup, I feel like LEGO has enthusiastically locked itself into its own format since 2016 and has struggled to come to terms with whatever the outcome ever since. Sometimes it goes, often it doesn't.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at September 5, 2020 next at 23pm.

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.