Review : LEGO Harry Potter 76405 Hogwarts Express Collector's Edition

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Harry Potter set 76405 Hogwarts Express Collector's Edition, a very large box of 5129 pieces which will be available from August 31 at the retail price of €499.99. Those who can go to a LEGO Store on Wednesday August 31 can therefore try to quickly assemble the train for a departure on September 1 at 11:00 a.m., like in the movies. Others will have to wait for the delivery of their package. It should also be noted that this product is the testament set of designer Marcos Bessa who managed the return to favor of the LEGO Harry Potter range and who is now changing position within the LEGO group.

This is not the first time that LEGO has dealt with the subject, but until now it had to be satisfied with more or less detailed playsets which sometimes had difficulty satisfying fans dreaming of a more successful version than those of the usual toys. The first interpretation of the train dates from 2001 with the set 4708 Hogwarts Express, it was followed in 2004 by that of the set 4758 Hogwarts Express, then that of the set 4841 Hogwarts Express in 2010, the motorized version of the set 10132 Motorized Hogwarts Express in 2004 and the most recent version dates from 2018 with the set 75955 Hogwarts Express.

According to the designers that I was able to interview with other members of the LAN, this new interpretation of the train was never designed to be motorized and it is simply an exhibition model. static which is not intended to circulate on a circuit of conventional rails. The width of the train was chosen based on the space needed in the passenger car with cabins spacious enough to accommodate the minifigs that populate the different scenes and the possibility of leaving a side corridor for circulation. Many fans were hoping for a motorized or motorizable version that was compatible with the LEGO rail ecosystem, but they paid for it. One question will remain unanswered: is there any point in offering a LEGO train if it cannot be used as a LEGO train?

Let's get rid of the subject of the color of the train right away: we can legitimately wonder why LEGO did not opt ​​for a color Dark Red (dark red) which seems a priori more appropriate for a reproduction of the train seen on the screen and the designers invoke the fact that this color, darker than the classic red, can sometimes take on a brown hue depending on the lighting used. They therefore justify the choice of Ferrari red which for its part could simply become a little darker, always depending on the ambient lighting and thus correspond to the version of the saga.

Why not, we'll settle for this official explanation even if I think the designers also wanted to save themselves the usual drama around the tint Dark Red which is not perfectly uniform depending on the parts. Those who assembled the set 10290 Pickup Truck necessarily remember the glaring differences in color on the vehicle body. And that's not to mention the fragility of some batches of these pieces.

Regarding the dark yellow elements used on the different sections of the locomotive and on the sides of the tender and the wagon, the designers simply invoke the difficulty of producing certain golden parts to justify this aesthetic choice. In the end, we still see that the official visuals have been extensively retouched to let us believe that the train is darker and more golden than it actually is.

The assembly process is divided into four separate instruction booklets, so it will be possible to build this model with several, each dealing with the choice of the locomotive of the Hogwarts Express, the passenger car, platform 9¾ of King's Cross or the tender (the coal wagon) and the rails. There is therefore plenty to share the experience with friends even if the locomotive and the passenger car remain the most interesting modules to assemble.

The locomotive of the Hogwarts Express indeed offers its share of very entertaining subsections with some good ideas to obtain the final result even if I do not find on the screen the funnel effect present on the boiler of the LEGO version. The locomotive is by the way the only element of the train that integrates a real mechanical functionality: you can turn the new large wheels of the locomotive using the small black crank placed on the boiler.

The effect is interesting, although far from being as "hypnotic" as LEGO claims, knowing that the locomotive does not roll because it is held in suspension above the rails by some supports placed between the sleepers. It will be enough to go there with an enthusiastic "tchou-tchou" while milling to impress your friends.

The assembly of the two sections of rails that will have to be joined together to obtain the nearly 1m20 long display stand is the most repetitive step of the set. Everything is built in a few minutes and you really realize that you will have to find a lot of space to display this model. This long section of rails can be separated into two parts to facilitate transport and storage of the model, but it will be difficult to display the train on the two separate parts of the display: two pieces of rail straddle the junction.

The 9¾ platform seems to me a little too compact when it is staged with the rest of the product, it is barely longer than the tender. No "magical" passage through the wall and the designers justify the reduced size of the thing by invoking the obligation to remain "reasonable" in terms of the inventory used in this box. The same argument is invoked to justify the absence of rooms under the platform on the side which will be connected to the rails. It's a bit petty when you know that the public price of this high-end product is set at 499.99 € and some may try to plug the hole or lengthen the existing section by duplicating the construction which has nothing very complex. Nothing serious though, there is often a vacuum under the platform of a real station. Note that you can install the dock wherever you want along the display, the latter being provided with the necessary fixing holes along its entire length.

The single passenger car provided in this box is also very pleasant to assemble with some interesting techniques at the level of the seats and the access to the cabins. Two out of three cabins are identical with attractive pad-printed sliding doors. The cabin which allows to stage Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood and Draco Malfoy (Draco Malfoy) as in the sixth installment of the saga, is arranged differently to conform to the scene seen on the screen.

Each of the three scenes is lit by a classic luminous brick and it will therefore be necessary to hold the finger on the button which protrudes from the roof of the wagon to add a small luminous touch to the scene. If you do not intend to content yourself with admiring your minifigs through the windows of the wagon, you can always remove the removable side sections which allow access to the different spaces. The tender, for its part, goes straight to the point: the interior of the wagon is empty and a few black parts vaguely embody the pieces of coal on the surface.

Some would no doubt have preferred to obtain an additional wagon by sacrificing the level of detail of the internal fittings. The model is already 1m20 long, a few tens of centimeters more would not have changed much and the train would have looked a little more substantial.

The bogies of each of the train's modules are on the whole aesthetically very successful, even if the most keen on the railway world may find them a little too simplified. However, they create an illusion when the model is observed from a certain distance, and that is the main thing. I also think that some fans may be a little disappointed by the general simplicity of the construction by expecting much more elaborate techniques. We stack a lot of smooth surfaces or large sub-assemblies and even if some steps are in my opinion very creative, I can understand the disappointment of some. The inverted assembly of the arches of the quay is rather well thought out, I leave the pleasure of discovering this section to those who will buy the set.

The sheet of stickers here is relatively substantial, especially for a pure display product sold for €500. The stickers on a red background are fortunately matched with the color of the rooms that host these stickers and the model is also flanked by a small presentation plate which brings together a few "facts" of little interest and whose role is above all to give a collector side to the product.

It failed, there are two errors on this plate: The Hogwarts Express locomotive is class 4900 and not 5900 and the station is called King's Cross and not King Cross. These two errors should be corrected soon. Three stickers also show lines of dialogue from the various scenes evoked in the cabins of the train and you will have to be a fan of watching the original version of the films on a loop to really remember these sentences. If you prefer Hogwarts to Hogwarts, these few sentences in English will probably not remind you of much.

The set also includes a life-size ticket in addition to the two minifig-scale copies, the plate is nicely pad-printed and was originally to come with the LEGO Harry Potter set 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collector's Edition. You will easily find a place for it next to Hedwig and the various accessories stacked on the pile of books in the set, there is nothing planned anyway to place it next to the train of this new box.

In the box, 20 minifigs: The train driver, The Trolley Witch, four different versions of Harry Potter, two versions of Ron Weasley, two versions of Hermione Granger, Remus Lupin, a Dementor, Luna Lovegood, Draco Malfoy (Draco Malfoy), Ginny Weasley, Albus Severus Potter, Lily Luna Potter, James Sirius Potter, a student from Ravenclaw house (Ravenclaw) and a student from Hufflepuff house (Hufflepuff).

Nothing crazy about these figurines with a large Harry Potter handle and a large majority of neutral legs whose size varies according to the period concerned as in the rest of the range. The designers specify that the set is an ode to the epic of the young Harry Potter and to the various appearances of the Hogwarts Express through the years and the films, until the epilogue. We will therefore do with this explanation and these figurines.

As you will have understood, it is a question here of staging these different minifigs with the model to populate this station platform and the train parked in front of it. The idea is not bad with a somewhat empty construction without all these characters, but the public price of the set is necessarily affected by the presence of this quantity of figurines. Many fans will think that it was not necessary to provide these minifigs that any good collector of the range already has multiple copies in his drawers but this product is not intended for them. LEGO is here aimed at the more dilettante fans who only spend their money on a few high-end products to decorate their shelves and who ignore the myriad of small playsets marketed each year and which make it possible to obtain all these characters. It's not a toy, it's a model.

Do not look for a particular explanation for the presence of the two anonymous students in uniform, LEGO confirms having simply added these two figurines to please the fans of the houses concerned and to compensate for the presence of many characters in street clothes. If you are also wondering where the driver delivered in this box and yet never seen on screen comes from, it was added by the designers who claim to have been inspired by the costume worn by Warner Bros. employees. Studio Tour of London who play the role of the driver of the Hogwarts Express.

To conclude, it seems obvious to me that this product is tailor-made for a clientele that is not necessarily the one we usually think of when it comes to plastic toys. This exhibition model and its slew of figurines is aimed at a very specific audience who has the means (and the space) to afford this type of decorative object and who would not have bought a motorized train to watch it anyway. turn in circles on a circuit.

If the set does not convince you, it may not be for you. The fact remains that apart from its few aesthetic errors, its usual syntax or documentation errors and its many slightly scratched black parts, this train to be exhibited is, in my opinion, a fine demonstration of force on the part of LEGO which, even if it was not to break sales records, is a great marketing tool for the brand: even if it was ultimately only to be used to get people talking about LEGO, the objective would, in my opinion, be largely achieved for Billund strategists. I'm not worried for the fans of motorized trains, LEGO will no doubt hear the relative disappointment of the latter and will offer them the expected train in the years to come.

Personally, I'm not a fan enough of the Harry Potter universe to spend €500 on this model train. I prefer to reserve this financial effort for a model of the Star Wars range, even if it is ugly and gray. Everyone has their favorite worlds.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 4, 2022 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate.

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