76453 lego harry potter malfoy manor review 1

Today we take a very quick look at the contents of the LEGO Harry Potter set. 76453 Malfoy Manor, a box of 1601 pieces available since January 1, 2025 at the public price of €149,99. Speaking of shopping around, it's best not to go around the product offered here too much at the risk of being a little disappointed...

The main construction of the set is indeed a paradox in itself: it offers a rather detailed facade with some nice techniques and a very acceptable rendering for a playset intended for the youngest, the interior of the manor could also almost convince with the necessary furniture and other decorative elements but it is by observing this "manor" from the side that we realize that we must once again be content with a simple cinema set without real depth.

We know that LEGO generally does not hesitate to play on the depth of its constructions to limit the inventory but this example will be a landmark as this mansion is surprisingly fine. It would have been necessary to title this product differently so as not to put the building at the center of the set and make it only a simple element of the promised playability.

The facade is, as I said above, detailed with some interesting architectural finds. It is of a very good level and we find most of the significant attributes seen on the screen, even if everything is often summarized in a rather symbolic way. Inside the places, LEGO makes use of the available space by filling spaces with a very limited surface area and even finds a solution to add some playability elements by extending the playset beyond the walls of the manor.

So we end up with a large room that overflows into the void and two very basic staircases to allow access to it. LEGO sells us these stairs as an access to the cellar of the place with its cells, but this one is actually on the same level as the entrance to the mansion. It's confusing.

Children who will actually play with this playset (who are they?) will probably see in this extension of the space which in principle allows for a bit of fun a solution facilitating the installation of the figurines provided but it is far from the opulent dollhouse. I would like to point out in passing that the recurring joke at LEGO which consists of integrating toilets into almost all the buildings falls flat here in my opinion. These toilets in fact occupy a room which could have been devoted to something else and the available spaces are not really legion in this construction.

For €150, one could legitimately hope for better than this simple façade, certainly inspired but much too thin to embody a manor that gives its name to the product. The independent portal does not save the day even if it allows to give a little depth artificially to the scene.

76453 lego harry potter malfoy manor review 2

76453 lego harry potter malfoy manor review 3

This place, which still plays an important role in the Harry Potter saga, probably deserved better than this rickety playset without much interest in terms of play, and it is the architecture of the place that should have been highlighted instead of trying to reproduce the different spaces that host scenes seen on screen. No one will really play at knocking down the chandelier, locking Harry and his friends in or questioning Hermione in the main room. I really want to meet these children who will spend a few hours reproducing these scenes after their parents have spent €150.

In my opinion, we should frankly choose between one approach or the other instead of trying to combine the two in a playset ersatz whose only noteworthy feature is its finesse, which smells of saving on parts. LEGO's wringing out of the Harry Potter universe with the desire to flood the shelves with numerous products at least twice a year is also responsible for what we get here.

This product would have required a much larger inventory to resemble the idea that we could have of it, but each wave of sets sees the planned references positioned in their respective price ranges and here it was necessary to stay around €150. At this price and with nine figurines in the box, it is difficult to expect more than what LEGO offers us.

The minifig endowment is indeed quite substantial here with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Luna Lovegood, Lord Voldemort and Dobby. These figurines are well executed and those that benefit from a new torso are graphically very successful. Collectors will have here some new characters to get their hands on, those who even line up the variants of characters seen and reviewed will be in heaven.

Draco, who is the only one to reuse a torso already seen, is here delivered with his parents Lucius and Narcissa, Bellatrix Lestrange benefits from a new torso frankly successful and even allows herself the luxury of being the only one to be equipped with pad-printed legs, Voldemort, Harry, Hermione, Dobby and Luna Lovegood are also new in this form. Many fans will come to the usual inevitable conclusion: with so many minifigures and a majority of them being new, LEGO has necessarily made concessions elsewhere in the product and it is logically the manor that pays the price.

76453 lego harry potter malfoy manor review 9

It is not with this box that I will change my mind about the current policy at LEGO which would consist of surrounding a large handful of pretty new figurines with a few pieces because the manufacturer has understood what makes its products sell in mass, the mansion to be built here is ultimately only a luxury setting for the characters sold in this box which nevertheless bears its name without even a mention of the type "Adventures in Malfoy Manor" For example.

We can console ourselves by saying that this is still the first time that the place has benefited from such treatment and that the door is now open to reissues and other more or less opulent interpretations of the building. The architecture of the manor would almost justify an adult version with fewer toilets and more walls, we may be entitled to it one day.

In the meantime, it is the minifig endowment that pulls the product up here despite a facade that seems very successful to me for a simple playset intended for children. Out of the question to spend €150 for that, the product will sooner or later end up being available for much less elsewhere than at LEGO.

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LEGO Harry Potter Malfoy Manor - Collector's Building Set for Boys and Girls Ages 10 and Up - 9 Minifigures Including Dobby and Lord Voldemort 76453

LEGO Harry Potter 76453 Malfoy Manor

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149.99 127.99
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Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 23th January 2025 at 23:59 pm. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid "I'm participating" or "I'm trying my luck", we suspect that this is the case.

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