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LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Astronomy Tower Review

A really nice feature of the LEGO Harry Potter sets that has been released in the past few years is that they were specifically designed to be compatible and combinable for a larger layout. On the image below, you can see the #75948 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Clock Tower from 2019, combined with the #75953 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Whomping Willow and #75954 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall from 2018, as well as the #75969 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Astronomy Tower from 2020.

And on the following picture three 2021 LEGO Harry Potter sets are combined; the #76386 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Polyjuice Potion, the #76387 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Fluffy Encounter, and the #76389 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets.

Even though all the sets could be combined, as you can see on the images above, there is a bit of reset between the 2018-2020 sets compared to the 2021 sets. The earlier sets feature dark-gray roofs, whereas the 2021 sets switch over to sand-green roof elements. To smooth out this transition, the #75969 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Astronomy Tower features mostly dark-gray roofs, but with sand-green accents. Thus, this is an important set if you have been collecting and combining the LEGO Harry Potter sets from the past few years.

The LEGO Harry Potter sets aren’t just combinable, but they have modular features even within the set. At least the larger models are built in sections and they can be connected in different ways. The #75969 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Astronomy Tower is an excellent set in this regard as well. It is built of three separate sections with LEGO Technic pin and brick with hole connections, so you can orient them in various ways.

In the video below, JANGBRiCKS will show you all the details, play-features  and minifigs from the set, as well as demonstrate how the sections can be displayed in different configurations.

As you can see in the video above, the #75969 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Astronomy Tower is full of nice little details. I especially like the table with the chocolate fountain and the astrolabe. The set also has excellent minifig section with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Horace Slughorn, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Lavender Brown, Draco Malfoy, many of them with exclusive printing.

I wanted to highlight this set, as I know some LEGO Harry Potter fans are unhappy about the color change and they don’t know how to effectively combine the earlier sets with the ones from this year. This set combines both roof colors, so you can place it in between the other sets to tie together the two colors for a smoother transition. Or perhaps even better, you can use the color combination techniques in this set, and introduce them to the other sets as well. In other words, you could make all the roofs dark-gray with sand-green accents for a more uniform look.

In summary, this is a nice set in itself with good playability, useful pieces, and awesome accessories. But it is even more. It ties together some of the earlier and later LEGO Harry Potter sets released in the past few years. If you would like to check it out, it’s available at the LEGO Harry Potter section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? Do you have some of the LEGO Harry Potter sets from the past few years? How do you handle the different roof colors? And how do you like the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower? Feel free to share your own reviews and ideas in the comment section below!

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LEGO FC Barcelona Camp Mou Stadium & More!

To celebrate the launch of the new #10284 LEGO FC Barcelona Camp Nou set, the LEGO Group and FC Barcelona are searching for the club’s super fans through a competition where the winners will be rewarded with the new set, a personalized minifigure in the famous red and blue football strip, and a certificate recognizing your super fan status.

FC Barcelona was founded in 1899 and is unique in many ways. The Club is owned by its more than 144,000 members. Since season 2004/05 they have won four of the Club’s five Champions League titles and ten of their 26 domestic league titles. Due to its very special personality, Barça is recognized as being ‘More than a club’. The team’s distinctive style of play is projected around the world by the best players and coaches of their time in combination with club’s famous reliance on home-grown talent.

All of this goes hand in hand with its ongoing ambition to become the most admired, beloved and global sports institution on the planet. This mission is supported by such core principles as humility, effort, ambition, respect, and teamwork, while the club is also famed for its commitment to society, which is channelled through the FC Barcelona Foundation and its work to educate children through the positive values of sport. Such unstoppable growth in recent years has led to a global reach of more than 400 million fans on social media, being the sports club with the most followers on social networks.

The new #10284 LEGO FC Barcelona Camp Nou set allows you to create a spectacular 5,509-piece model that is sure to take center stage in any fan’s home. To mark the occasion, the LEGO Group and FC Barcelona are putting football fans to the test with a special quiz. Featuring 10 questions about the great football club, the quiz has been designed by FC Barcelona historians and can be taken at LEGO.com/FC-Barcelona. Get all 10 questions correct and you could be in with a chance with winning. You need to be a LEGO VIP member (sign up is free) to enter the competition and be in with the chance of winning one of the 46 prizes – one prize for each of the members of FC Barcelona’s female and male first team squads. Terms and conditions apply.

The new #10284 LEGO FC Barcelona Camp Nou set is fantastically detailed featuring the stands, pitch, team tunnel, media boxes, and even the team’s coach. The model measures: 8in (20cm) high, 19in (49cm) wide, and 18in (46cm) deep. The score board also references the club’s momentous 5-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in 2010 and two of the stands proudly feature the “Mes que un Club” motto that is known by fans around the world.

Talking about how he approached the design of the set, Rok Zgalin Kobe, LEGO Set Designer commented: “To create the Camp Nou in LEGO form was a really enjoyable challenge, from bringing the stands to life to envisaging the players walking down the tunnel to the pitch, you can almost feel the atmosphere of a roaring home game.  It is an impressive build – perfect for both FC Barcelona and LEGO fans.”

The 5,509-piece #10284 LEGO FC Barcelona Camp Nou is the second recently released modern stadium set, after the #10272 LEGO Old Trafford – Manchester United with 3,898 pieces, measuring 6.5in (18.5cm) high, 18in (47cm) long, and 15in (39cm) wide for the price of $299.99. And talking about stadiums, a similar set is the #10276 LEGO Colosseum which still remains the largest with 9,036 pieces, measuring over 10.5in (27cm) high, 20.5in (52cm) wide, and 23.5” (59cm) deep for the price of $549.99. All three sets are available at the LEGO Creator Expert section of the Online LEGO Shop.

The  #10284 LEGO FC Barcelona Camp Nou set is now available both at official LEGO stores and the Online LEGO Shop. Prices are as follows: $349.99 / £299.99 / €329.99 / 499.99 AUD / 449.99 CAD. To find out more about the competition, sign up to LEGO VIP, and to purchase the LEGO FC Barcelona Camp Nou set, visit the LEGO Creator Expert section of the Online LEGO Shop.

But wait, there is more! A related gift-with-purchase is the  #40485 LEGO FC Barcelona Celebration set featuring the ornate Font de Canaletes fountain/lamp post, which has been a fixture of Barça football matches since the 1930s. The set includes five joyful minifigs wearing team jerseys and carrying banners (the banners are stickered).

What do you think? How do you like this new stadium set? What other sports facilities would you like to see? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!

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