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LEGO Harry Potter Castle available now!

Just a quick reminder that the beautiful and massive #71043 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle is now available for LEGO VIP members, two weeks before wider release. We talked about the set previously when it was first announced (see links at the end of this post), and since then, the designer-video became available well. Below, I have included the official description of the set from the press-release for your convenience, as well as the designer-video. Enjoy! 🙂

Here is the official description of the set: Make the magic come alive at the #71043 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle! This highly detailed LEGO Harry Potter collectible has over 6,000 pieces and offers a rewarding build experience. It comes packed with highlights from the Harry Potter series, where you will discover towers, turrets, chambers, classrooms, creatures, the Whomping Willow and Hagrid´s hut, plus many more iconic features. Includes 4 minifigures: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw, with a buildable minifigure display stand. Also features 27 microfigures: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Professor Dolores Umbridge, Argus Filch, Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, 3 students from each of the 4 houses, 2 chess pieces and the Architect of Hogwarts statue, and 5 Dementors, plus Aragog the spider and the Basilisk figures, and a buildable Hungarian Horntail dragon. Hogwarts Castle measures over 22” (58cm) high, 27” (69cm) wide and 16” (43cm) deep. 6,020 pieces. Price: $399.99 – BUY HERE

In the designer-video below, LEGO designer Justin Ramsden and graphic designer Crystal Fontan discuss their work on the #71043 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle. It’s really great to see their enthusiasm, and how deeply they are into the Harry Potter saga. Their insights into becoming a LEGO designer are also interesting.

The #71043 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful LEGO sets ever released, and also the largest LEGO castle to date. Harry Potter fans will be able to recognize all the key places and characters from the books and films, while those who don’t care for Harry Potter can still enjoy the set as a generic castle.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the #71043 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle is available to LEGO VIP members starting today. If you want to purchase this set before Christmas, I highly suggest getting it within the LEGO VIP early access period. It could very well have the same kind of long shortages as the #75192 LEGO Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon. You can find it listed at the LEGO Harry Potter section of the Online LEGO Shop.

Also, remember that during the month of August, LEGO VIP members can earn Double VIP Points on two LEGO Harry Potter sets; the #75952 LEGO Harry Potter Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures, and the #75953 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Whomping Willow. Both available at the LEGO Harry Potter section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle? Is it going on your wish list? And how did you like the designer-video? Did you learn something interesting? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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As you probably know already, Toys’R’Us went bankrupt and closed all of its stores in the United States and some other countries (see: Troubles in the Toy Word & at Toys’R’Us). Before all the troubles began, LEGO was planning to release a small set, featuring Geoffrey, the Toys’R’Us mascot. Unfortunately, it seems like we are not going to see this set materialize, although there is still a possibility that they may appear at Toys’R’Us stores that haven’t closed. 🙂

LEGO had a long lasting relationship with Toys’R’Us, and they released a number of sets through the years featuring Toys’R’Us stores, trucks, and the Toys’R’Us mascot. Three of these sets exclusively feature Geoffrey. This includes the #40077 LEGO Geoffrey set from 2013 with a brick-built giraffe neck and head, the #40228 LEGO Geoffrey & Friends set from 2016 featuring Geoffrey with LEGO Mixels articulation and two minifigs, and the unreleased #40316 LEGO Geoffrey set under the LEGO BrickHeadz line.

It seems like LEGO was really close to releasing the #40316 LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey, as they even uploaded the building instructions for a brief period. However, there has been no sign of this set even at Toys’R’Us stores that remained open. If he does end up getting released at limited locations, I’m sure collectors will gobble up whatever stock they can find.

Fortunately, with the instructions available, we can build our own Geoffrey. On the unfortunate side, the original set includes some unique printed pieces; six 1×1 bricks and 10 1×2 bricks with a star pattern. The #40228 LEGO Geoffrey & Friends set does include a sticker-sheet that you can repurpose for the LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey, or you can just replace the printed parts with plain bricks in bright-light-orange and regular orange (to add a bit of pattern).

Besides the printed elements, the rest of Geoffrey uses common bricks, plates, tiles, and slopes, plus a few modified (but also commonly available) pieces. The prominent color is bright-light-orange for the body, and there are also a few brown pieces for the hair, a black base, and a couple of pieces for the internal structure (which could be any color). If you already own some LEGO BrickHeadz, you will have an easier time, as the printed eyes, the base, and many of the internal parts are the same in almost all of the sets. Bright-light-orange is a commonly available color, so you probably have some already, but if not, the LEGO Classic brick boxes are a great source. And you can also just use yellow, as the two colors are quite close.

As I mentioned above, LEGO uploaded the instructions for a brief period, but since then they have removed them. I was able to download the PDF version before it disappeared, so I will share the pages here. All you need to do is gather the parts, and start building to have your very own Geoffrey!

If you feel nostalgic about Toy’R’Us and Geoffrey, both the #40077 LEGO Geoffrey set from 2013, and the #40228 LEGO Geoffrey & Friends set from 2016 are available on eBay. It might also be a good idea to set up a saved search for the #40316 LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey. Who knows? We may spot him in the wild one day. You can find the currently available eBay listings here:

What do you think? How do you like the LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey? Would you want to add him to your collection? And if that’s not possible, are you planning to build him? What other Toys’R’Us-branded LEGO sets do you have or would like to have? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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