Now, this is something we haven’t seen before. At least in this form. Though it isn’t classified in the Hogwarts Momemnts line, this delightful little playset fits in well with the motif. The scaling is a bit off (it’d be more of a pencil case in comparison) but, what can you do? If I were 8 years old and in love with the Harry Potter franchise, I’d definitely lug this and the others around from daycare to my grandma’s house just to play. Don’t worry, though 76398 Hogwarts Magical Trunk may be 8+, there are a ton of great grabs in there for the pluses. Adults and kids can find one of the coolest sticker sheets ever laden with Harry Potter art, not to mention all the extra pieces, giving you tons of ways to customize your trunk and show your House pride. Oh, and I almost forgot about the plethora of minifigure heads and hairs to customize your own Hogwarts students. This 603-piece-set is available March 1st for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99.
Unboxing the set and contents
Okay, so here’s the front and back. They both just show off the features of the set which includes tons of customization and a locking mechanism for securing the contents of the folding playset.
The first thing you’ll notice is the Hogwarts letter style of the instruction booklet. It’s a fun way to introduce the set, given that this is meant to be a customizable item for each individual. The letter is something I always wanted to get but the sticker sheet we get is a bonus that most Hogwarts students probably don’t. From Hogwarts house memorabilia to Triwizard Cups and love potions, there are 37 different stickers (with some repeats) for you to use at your discretion.
The build
First off are four dual-sided pieces of…furniture? The fireplace may be just a grey wall on the other side but House Point tracker has a bookcase on the other side.
The other two are wardrobes with tan walls and candlestick stickers. Here they are with the rest of the small builds included in the set. Some of these items, like the couch and the benches, can be rebuilt into other items like these comfy chairs and this chess set. We get a recoloring of the owl with spread wings as well as a Sorting hat. There’s also a golden chest with a flat lid and two new 2×3 printed tiles of the Mauraders’ Map and the Quibbler covers. The sticker for Advanced Potion Making is a new version of the book cover, with the previous one coming in powdered blue with reminiscent art and no words. I’m glad we’re given a legible version, but I think both of them make for usable props since Ron and Harry fight over the “newer” one first anyway. Most interesting though is the keyring and key piece. Let’s build the trunk so I can show you how it works!
The locking mechanism makes use of a new round 2x2x2/3 plate with a hook attached to a turntable. There is a crossbar hole in the center, like most regular round 2×2 plates, which the key just fits into. The piece is structured in such a way that it won’t stay in the hole, just engage the mechanism.
This fits into the center of the bottom section with two handle builds attached to either side and a bunch of brackets. Those come in handy later for the decorative portion.
The top of the trunk is composed of the new tan road plate (which I hope is a precursor of various styles yet to come) and new 4×8 inverted tiles in nougat.
After attaching this portion to jointed arms connected to the bottom, you fill out the front with more brackets for decoration. A 1×4 plate with an attached bar is also added, complimenting the locking mechanism on the other side. Truth be told, I thought it would be more complicated than this but the lock is really that simple.
You can see them lined up after you fold the build and unite the two sides to decorate. After making the darker bands and putting the Hogwarts label over the gap to hide it, you can stick your key into the special socket piece and lock the two sides together. Blank gold oval tiles above the handles give you a place to put the blank label stickers that LEGO provided. You have 4 stickers which you can write your name on with a permanent marker.
Now you can cover the tan section with whatever pattern you prefer. I went for one celebrating all Houses but there are enough pieces to dedicate it to one or to achieve a ton of other patterns. I’m sure people will love showing off their individual trunks, especially when you remember that you have all of those stickers to further customize it! I saved mine…for reasons…but I’m sure a few will make their way onto the trunk eventually. I’m also sure I won’t be alone in this practice given the utility that these stickers provide.
There you have it! Kind of, I mean. All of the previously shown furniture and extra pieces fit tightly inside with the fireplace, House Points, and cabinets lining the middle. Keep in mind that everything needs to say on the bottom side of the hinged section for the folding function to work. Those large elements form the back of the build and hold everything in place when it’s closed. It’s admittedly not very pretty but it does the trick and keeps everything in there as long as you don’t pack too many minfigures in there too.
The Minifigures
Building a custom minifigure just got a lot easier for a decent portion of the world. Outside of the wealth of minifigure hairpieces in various colors, LEGO has also introduced a new skin tone for this set. Color #370, called Medium Brown, fits nicely between reddish-brown and medium nougat. There are still plenty of other skin tones that LEGO can strive to provide in the future but this is a good step towards being more inclusive.
There are 12 different heads with two alternate faces for each one, including the Harry and McGonagall faces. Each skin tone has four different possible faces thanks to alternate prints for all of them.
The major downfall of these prints is that they’re obviously made for children. Adult LEGO fans will have to wait for more heads in the new skin tone to get more mature faces. Still, kids can have lots of fun making stories of their own. All the extra hairpieces let you remix the students as much as you like and there’s plenty of setup for fallen candy, dubious potions, and odd publications given all the extra accessories.
There are a few rare hair colors, such as the pink bun shown here, but I’d love to see LEGO include more natural hairstyles along with newer skin tones. Instead, we get hair so that we can recreate characters like Draco Malfoy. Kids wishing to play through the series will surely enjoy this but I found it most fun to help him trick everyone else into eating nasty Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans after he ate one himself.
The completed model, conclusion recommendation
The main allure of this set is that its interior can be used as a blank slate to recreate multiple scenes from the franchise. It’s almost like the Class sets built like books that work as portable playsets. What’s different is this is meant, at least according to the box art and instruction, to be the Great Hall or “the Common Room” (that looks more like a dorm room given that there is a bed in the middle of it). The large hinged panels with stickers on both sides allow you to decorate the hall or the room as you see fit, extending the build a bit more vertically. They work best in these two versions of the Great Hall.
Otherwise, you can end up with very confusing scenarios like this where a Ravenclaw is decorating a room with a Gryffindor banner on the wall. Or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention? Oops. To be fair, this scene requires you to rebuild the benches into a bed and a table so maybe I just got distracted. This is possible for the kiddos to do with all the normal pieces that would fit in the Trunk. Each bench actually has different colored modified plates for each house stacked and hidden underneath it. The same can be said of the chess set and chairs which use only pieces from the couch. You can see that in the gallery below.
It’s hard to say if this set is worth the price point but I think it’s easily excused given the wealth of custom stickers. Certainly, the number of pieces matches the price and since you won’t really end up using all of them, this could be a good parts booster for Harry Potter builders. Like the books, I’m sure some kids will take these around but while the lock is certainly tight, the back enclosure isn’t super secure. I packed it full of all the minifigures and though I could get it closed, the back elements were bulging out. There aren’t many connection points after all. I’m sure someone will end up buying a bunch of these and making some pretty cool builds out of them though so I’m actually rather glad this set is coming. I can’t wait to see what you make!
76399 Hogwarts Magical Trunk contains 603 pieces and is available from the LEGO Shop and worldwide starting March 1st for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99 or from Amazon. It is also available from third-party sellers on eBay.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Check out the gallery for even more images: