Review: LEGO Harry Potter 76399 Hogwarts Magical Trunk

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Harry Potter set 76399 Hogwarts Magical Trunk, a box of 603 pieces sold at the public price of €59.99 since March 1, 2022. The product is original enough to stand out among the usual sets, so it remains to be checked that the small trunk keeps the promise made by LEGO to 'get a product that "...has a magical mix of locations and characters to customize...".

We quickly realize that the trunk, which seemed more imposing to me on the official visuals and the packaging of the product, is in fact only a very small box 17 cm long, 7 cm wide and 6 cm high. high. The object assembly is quickly shipped with symmetrical or mirrored sub-assemblies that will form the shell, a road plate Dark Tan for the bottom, a closing mechanism with a unique hook attached to a Turntable on the front and it's over.

The trunk can then be customized in the colors of your favorite house, LEGO provides all the necessary parts for each of the four combinations. This dressing is only present at the front of the box, the other three sides will remain identical. You can then choose between the three interior layouts offered: the sorting ceremony with the Sorting Hat, the start of the year party and the common room.

Assembling the furniture that will serve as a backdrop for the various proposed scenes is a little more fun. Some elements are designed to have two different sides which will be used in one or other of the settings and will also serve as the back of the trunk: the bookcase with the hourglasses of the Four Houses Cup on the other side , the cupboards with walls flanked by candles on the other side or the fireplace with a neutral wall on the back.

The other pieces of furniture will have to be dismantled and then reassembled to adapt them to the setting in question: the purple sofa, for example, turns into a pair of armchairs to put in front of the chess game hidden under the starting piece of furniture and the tables of the Great Hall with their benches become a bed and a desk.

Under the two tables to disassemble you will also find something to dress the beds in the colors of the chosen house. The product is therefore "modular" but you will have to keep the instructions handy or learn the different modifications by heart before going on vacation with the object under your arm.

It was undoubtedly inevitable, the possibilities of personalization promised pass in particular here by two enormous sheets of stickers with a total of sixty stickers including eight which dress large flags with a neutral face based on stained glass and candles and the other face in the colors of one of the four houses. These flags are there to give a little volume to the scene, however I find the rendering a little disappointing with these four too thin panels simply attached to the sides of the box. LEGO includes a second sheet of stickers that will allow the youngest to personalize their trunk, their school notebooks or the fridge door a little more.

I rarely talk about the sets' packaging or instruction booklets, but the booklet provided here is beautifully illustrated in the style of a Hogwarts admission letter. The logo that was already present on the letter of the LEGO Harry Potter set 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collector's Edition is repeated here but the spelling mistake has fortunately been corrected on the mention "Draco dormiens nunquam titillanso"(Never tickle a sleeping dragon).

As for the minifigs, there is only Minerva McGonagall who is a character defined from the start and the figurine is identical to that of the set 76382 Hogwarts Moment: Transfiguration Class. The character is accompanied by a pretty owl which is also delivered in the set 76398 Hogwarts Hospital Wing.

The rest of the inventory allows you to choose which characters you want to stage with 5 pairs of small legs, 2 skirts, 5 different torsos, 11 heads, 17 hairs and 5 wands. Diversity is on the program and there is something for everyone with a wide range of skin colors including a new color Medium Brown, blue or pink hair, male or female faces, glasses, etc... You will have calculated it, it is only possible to assemble in all cases five complete minifigs at a time. So don't expect to fill the large room with students from the same house, it's impossible with a single torso from each of the houses in the box.

Don't expect to take the trunk, its furniture and all the parts needed to assemble the minifigures either, not everything fits in the small suitcase without forcing a little on the structure. It should also be noted that the four pieces of furniture which also serve as the back of the trunk are not fixed to the structure from above, they will sometimes tend to come off during handling.

The unmodified starting furniture can be stored with a specific layout, the lock mechanism is efficient and the box will remain securely closed during transport. For those who wonder where the ring attached to the pretty key comes from, it is an element available since 2021 in the DOTS range. If you lose the key, a simple Technic axis will suffice to open the trunk.

The set benefits from an attractive aesthetic and the highlighting of the many possibilities offered combined with a public price which remains almost reasonable will be enough to trigger the purchase. In practice, this derivative product is aimed in my opinion especially at the youngest who will be able to really exploit all the customization options offered to their heart's content.

It will be necessary to disassemble and reassemble certain sub-assemblies using the instructions in the booklet to change the scene and this little trunk will quickly no longer have much magic when it comes to deciding to modify the interior staging, but the product is original, it is well executed despite its few flaws and its price seems correct to me given the playability offered. There's actually no good reason not to make it a nice birthday present or a premium reward for a good report card.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at March 21, 2022 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment (something to say what) under the article to participate.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.