Review: LEGO 76393 Harry Potter and Hermione Granger Buildable Minifigures

June 1, 2021 | 6

It’s always exciting when LEGO introduces new innovation with their retail sets and the new 76393 Harry Potter and Hermione Granger Buildable Minifigures are absolutely game-changing.

LEGO Minifigures are one of the most recognisable symbols belonging to The LEGO Group, so it makes sense for LEGO to leverage the iconic minifigure in the form of these super-sized LEGO Megafigures, or buildable Minifigures if you want to call them that – I prefer the term megafigures.

This 1,673-piece set is almost set to ignite a whole new subcategory of LEGO products, and MOCs from builders and after building Harry and Hermione, my mind immediately started dreaming of other LEGO Minifigures that would look brilliant in this form factor – Classic Space Megafigures? Marvel Megafigures? The sky’s the limit.

These are undoubtedly fun, and Harry Potter fans will be delighted that their theme get the first taste of these new Buildable Minifigures.

So are these megafigures worth the high price tag (AU$199.99 / US$119.99)? Let’s check out

The new 76393 Harry Potter and Hermione Granger Buildable Minifigures will be released worldwide from 1 June 2021 and will retail for US$119.99 / AU$199.99 / £119.99 and be available from LEGO.com, LEGO Brand Retail Stores, and selected toy stores.

76393 Harry Potter and Hermione Granger Set Details

Name: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger
Set Number: 76393
Pieces: 1673
Price: AU$199.99 | US$119.99 | £119.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA] [UK]
Exclusive to: N/A
Theme: Harry Potter
Release Date: 1 June 2021

The build of the Harry Potter and Hermione Granger megafigures are quite interesting, and it was quite a novel experience to see the techniques employed, especially to build the torso which has angled sides.

You can watch a speed build of how the set comes together on my Youtube channel!

Good news – there are zero stickers in the set, and the new printed faces are the most interesting addition – which really elevate the minifigure features.

They’re essentially 3x Curved 4 x 1 Double Slopes smushed together, with Harry and Hermione’s faces printed on them.

Other printed elements include a curved slope with Harry’s lightning bolt scar, and a printed panel with the Hogwarts uniform for their torsos.

Both builds are identical, and once you have the blueprint of these buildable minifigures, I can definitely see LEGO fans and builders co-opting it for their own designs, perhaps even custom-printing their own face designs to upsize all different types of minifigures.

There are 2 instruction booklets, which make this an excellent couples build/group activity for Potterheads.

Like minifigures, each limb and head can easily come apart like this, and you have full articulation of all limbs, just like an actual minifigure.

Here’s a look at the Harry Potter megafigure – it’s satisfyingly large, standing 26cm (10″) tall and quite hefty.

The LEGO designers did an incredible job getting all the proportions right for these buildable minifigures, and they look really good.

Harry comes with a fabric element for his wizard robes, and both of them come with buildable wants as well which are affixed to the studs in their hands.

Here’s a comparison with an actual LEGO Harry Potter Minifigure from Series 1, where you can see the similarities with their faces.

Here’s another look at Harry’s face and torso, which also gives you a better look at the printed Gryffindor-coloured vest and tie beneath his wizard robes.

The sculpting of Harry’s messy unkempt hair was quite tedious, with plenty of curved slopes and small tiles – they got the organic look of his hair nicely, and the small presence of studs are always welcome.

Sadly, unlike an actual minifigure, you can’t easily pop his hairpiece off as the elements are fused to his head quite firmly!

Harry’s face can also swivel, giving you more options to pose him.

And just like LEGO minifigures, they can sit as well.

Here’s a look at Hermione – the build was near-identical to Harry Pottter, except that she has a dark tan wand, and her hair is slightly more textured and involved.

One slight difference is her legs, where she has grey socks.

Here’s a closer look at Hermione’s wand – the lantern piece in dark tan is new I believe.

Wands are affixed to the minifigure hands via the studs (they have no clutch or grip).

The megafigure hands are probably the weakest part of the model as they look quite blocky and sharp, which is a far cry from the perfect curves of a regular minifigures’ hands.

Hermione’s hair was quite tedious to build as well, but are a rich source of dark reddish brown slopes. The volume is definitely larger than Harry’s but this wasn’t a fun build experience as my eyes got quite tired of building in one single colour for the final part of the build.

And here are both buildable minifigures together! When displayed together, due to their sheer size and chunkiness, they look really eye-catching.

They make for a great display centerpiece and I also liked that they are fully articulated which means you can strike multiple poses with them.

Placing them alongside regular LEGO Minifigures really accentuates just how large they are.

Unfortunately, no minifigures are included with the set, which I think is a missed opportunity as even a basic Harry or Hermione minifigure would’ve been beneficial in terms of really establishing a sense of scale.

What I liked:

• A really novel and innovative form factor that LEGO fans can adapt, and personalise
• Can build both simultaneously thanks to 2 instruction booklets
• Printed elements for their faces and torsos
• Megafigures are satisfyingly large and look great on display
• These buildable minifigures open up so many new possibilities

What I didn’t like: 

• These sets are quite expensive and not accessible to most fans
• The builds are near-identical, so building one after another gets a little tedious
• Harry’s head isn’t the most stable and gets knocked off easily

FINAL THOUGHTS:

There’s no doubt about it – these new buildable minifigures / megafigures are game-changing from LEGO.

By perfecting the form factor, instructions and commercialising the concept in a retail set, LEGO have opened the doors wide for fans and builders to take this concept and run with it – I get giddy thinking about how perfect a Classic Space megafigure would be.

Selecting Harry Potter, a licensed property as the first theme to get the megafigure treatment is interesting. The revival of LEGO Harry Potter has undoubtedly been a rousing success for LEGO, and both Harry and Hermione are instantly recognisable with typical minifigure dimensions and no accessories like helmets headpieces to get the look like – so it makes sense why LEGO would start with them.

The build was interesting, and I really like it when sets can be built together with a partner, and this would make a great couples/group activity if you want to build with your partner, or Harry Potter-obsessed kids.

These make for excellent display pieces purely because of how imposing and large they are and they make quite an impact wherever you choose to display them. Bonus points for being able to pose them just like regular minifigures.

Unfortunately, the set’s incredibly high price tag is its achilles heel. Here in Australia, the RRP is $200 and in the US its $120 which I think is a bit on the high side – based on what you get for a 1,600-piece set, I feel like LEGO should’ve priced these at AU$140 and US$99 respectively to make them more accessible – especially since you get 2 characters in a set.

There aren’t many exclusive or particularly interesting elements – the printed pieces are nice, but doesn’t really justify the high pricetag.

One can argue that the price is emblematic of the fact that this is a Harry Potter licensed set, but it’s quite jarring as LEGO Harry Potter sets have always felt like decent value, at least when compared against Marvel or Star Wars.

In a sea of so many awesome releases, and this set pushing the upper tiers of LEGO pricing, it’s quite disappointing that LEGO did not make accessibility a focus with the Harry Potter and Hermione buildable minifigures.

That said, if you can afford it and are a massive LEGO Harry Potter fan, you’ll likely be very pleased with these and will undoubtedly be wanting a Ron Weasley megafigure to complete the trio!

Rating and score: 3/5 ★★★✰✰

Build [3] – At first a novel experience, but once you’ve built Harry the novelty wears off, and the hair is quite tedious
Real Value [2] – This is way too expensive for what you’re getting, especially as you don’t get minifigures.
Innovation [4] – These are game-changing and will open up so many possibilities for LEGO to produce more megafigures, and for fans to MOC
Coolness [4] – They’re really great display models and are one of the most eye-catching sets in 2021
Keepability [4] – As stalwarts of the Harry Potter franchise, both characters are great, and this is one set you won’t take apart for parts.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed my review of 76393 Harry Potter and Hermione Granger Buildable Minifigures!

The new 76393 Harry Potter and Hermione Granger Buildable Minifigures will be released worldwide from 1 June 2021 and will retail for US$119.99 / AU$199.99 / £119.99 and be available from LEGO.com, LEGO Brand Retail Stores, and selected toy stores.

What do you think of these new Megafigures? What characters would you like to see LEGO extend this sub-theme to?

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