It’s an absolutely massive year for LEGO Harry Potter fans, the 20th anniversary celebrations, commemorative golden minifigures and now to cap off the year – an absolutely magical set in 75391 Harry Potter Hogwarts Icons – Collector’s Edition.
This 3,010 piece set is a celebration of some of the most iconic objects and artifacts from Harry Potter’s life in Hogwarts, and will be priced at US$249.99 / AU$399.99 and has a release date of 2 September 2021, where it will be available from LEGO.com
I was lucky enough to be offered an early review copy, so let’s take a look at a truly spell-binding LEGO experience!
To read about the unboxing experience, be sure to check out my Unboxing Post, which shows off the contents of the set, including the instruction manual. To see this set come together, check out my Speed Build of the set on Youtube.
Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review
76391 Hogwarts Icons – Collector’s Edition Set Details
Name: Harry Potter Hogwarts Icons Collector’s Edition
Set Number: 76391
Pieces: 3010
Price: AU$399.99 | US$249.99 | £249.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA] [UK]
Exclusive to: LEGO.com / LEGO Brand Retail Stores
Theme: Harry Potter
Release Date: 2 September 2021
LEGO Designer: Marcos Bessa, with Graphics by Djordje Djordjevic
Here’s a look at the sticker sheet – nothing too demanding here – all the stickers used are for the Potions Ingredients and vials – every other detail is printed.
Bag 1 – Harry’s Glasses, Wand and Felix Felicis
You begin Bag 1 assembling Harry Potter’s round glasses, which have almost become as iconic as Harry’s lightning bolt scar in terms of Harry’s appearance in all mediums.
The construction is simple, and while I’m not an expert on Technic elements, it feels like the round glasses are a newish part. The best part about the glasses? They are wearable! Bit flimsy, but completely wearable!
Next, you build a simple vial of Felix Felicis otherwise known as Liquid Luck, something that Harry takes before the Battle of Hogwarts, which gives him good fortune in his quest to locate Voldemort’s horcruxes.
While it isn’t shimmering or sparkling like the on-screen version, it does glow in the dark!
To close off Bag 1, you assemble Harry Potter’s wand, which like his glasses is also life-sized! For the Potterheads, you may be familiar with its properties – 11″ long, nice and supple, made of holly, and contained a single Phoenix feather in its core (from Fawkes), which had the same core as Voldemort’s wand.
The wand is quite sturdy, and has a nice size to it, and its handles have some texture to it, making it quite nice to grip.
And yes, very swishable, and makes for a great brick-built prop to go with the glasses.
Bags 2-11 – Tom Riddle’s diary, spellbooks, potion basket
A large chunk of the build is devoted to these spellbooks. On the bottom – with blank pages, a black cover and golden corner is Tom Riddle’s diary from The Chamber of Secrets.
These books are all stacked firmly together, and are held in place, but somehow manage to look like they’re haphazardly balanced on one another, which is a pretty remarkable visual effect, especially with Tom Riddle’s diary opened up in the middle.
Tom Riddle’s Diary had one of the most clever build techniques I’ve seen used in a set in a while – the page details are just tan brackets stacked on one another to create a cascading effect, and they just slide in the gap with nothing to really hold them in place!
This curve in the middle of the book was also tastefully done.
Above Tom Riddle’s diary is a Ravenclaw book. It’s an Easter Egg that references set designer Marcos Bessa’s Hogwarts house.
The maroon book above it has Gryffindor colours, and references Graphic Designer Djordje Djordjevic’s house – Gryffindor.
Above it is a small tray with ornate sides for the Potion vials. It has a printed element on the side with the initials H.G. which is a reference to Hermione Granger, the true potions master of the trio.
The initials are a nod to her potion box from The Chamber of Secrets where she first brews Polyjuice Potion.
I really like the designs of the books, and they serve as a really good “platform” for Hedwig to perch on, and make for a really good reference point to give everything a sense of scale.
The fluted bricks used for the pages work particularly well here, tricking your eyes and give it a sense of realism.
Bag 12 – 18 Hedwig and Golden Snitch
Perched atop the books in a dramatic, lifelike pose is Harry’s Snowy Owl Hedwig which is the centerpiece and focal point of the entire model and WOW.
Marcos Bessa has absolutely knocked this model out of the park, and is one of the most impressive and detailed LEGO animals of all time. It’s an incredible work of beauty and well and truly lives up to the hype.
Hedwig’s face is incredibly expressive, and I love how they captured her large, thoughtful eyes. The head, just like you’d expect from an owl can rotate 360° so you can swivel it around, and have her “look” at different angles.
Hedwig’s wingspan is just majestic, spanning close to 50cms from tip to tip. The scale of this set really allowed Marcos to go ham on the textures, and contours of the feathers, which really give it an intricate lifelike look.
Hedwig is a true 360° model and looks incredible from every single angle – here’s a look at the back, and how her black and grey flecks present themselves on her wings and tail.
Hedwig’s legs are affixed to her roost and stand, but one particularly pleasing discovery was that you can easily lift Hedwig up and out which wait for it – allows you to swoosh her around.
I’ll be posting a video review soon, but I can confirm that she is VERY swooshable.
To just illustrate just how detailed Hedwig is, here’s a side by side with last year’s 75979 Hedwig – it’s absolutely chalk and cheese, and just demonstrates how incredible the model is.
Hedwig is hands down one of the most beautiful models ever made available in a retail LEGO set and utterly sublime.
Attached to the roost is the Golden Snitch, covering Harry’s pursuits on the Quidditch pitch. It uses a mix of drum-lacquered gold elements for the sphere, and pearl gold wings, giving the entire model a bit of sparkle.
Bags 19 – Potion Vials
In Bag 19, towards the end, you assemble these 4 potion vials, which have different references inside.
You have Polyjuice Potion which allows you to temporarily take the appearance of another person (if brewed correctly), Powered Root of Asphodel and an Infusion of Wormwood, which when brewed together becomes a sleeping potion ‘so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death.
Lastly, you have a vial of Gillyweed a magical herb that lets you breathe underwater – something that Harry uses in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament.
The potion vials have series of numbers, which are all Easter Eggs left by the design team:
- 28 is a number very special to Marcos Bessa, and shows up in most of the sets he designs
- 25-03-1989 is Marcos Bessa’s birthday
- 30-10-20 is the birthday of Djordje’s baby girl who was born when they were finalising the set
- 2984 came directly from an official Harry Potter reference
- 08-02-1993 is the birthday of Peter Kjærgaard, the other graphic designer who worked on the set
- On the back of the bottle of Wormwood Infusion is “P.349” which is a typo of sorts, as it’s meant to be P.394 – a reference to Snape in The Philosopher’s stone asking 1st year students to turn to Page 394. Woops!
- 4701 is a reference to 4701 The Sorting Hat which was the first Harry Potter set released 20 years ago!
Oh and this is an unconfirmed theory, but these cones hidden in the potion bottles are likely a reference to the Portugese flag – Marcos is known to sneak in references to the Portugal flag in sets he designed, so I think these might be it!
Bag 20 – House Scarves
Sorting yourself and associating with one of the four Hogwarts houses is almost a rite of passage for any Harry Potter fan, and to allow you to make this set truly yours, you’re given elements to create any of the 4 house scarves which are attached to the base of the model.
I identify as a proud Hufflepuff, so that’s why I went with Yellow and Black, however I also had spare elements leftover to assemble either Ravenclaw or Slytherin. It’s slightly disappointing that you weren’t given enough elements for all 4 house colours.
Bag 21 – 22 Golden Minifigure Stands, Chocolate Frog, and Hogwarts Letter
Last but not least is this great display for the 3 Golden 20th Anniversary Harry Potter minifigures included in the set. You get golden versions of Professor McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore and Hagrid, which you can display in this charming stand.
The Albus Dumbledore nameplate and special LEGO Harry Potter tiles are printed which is a big plus.
The purple enclosure around Albus Dumbledore is meant to represent a Chocolate Frog Card, randomised collectable cards that come with chocolate frog – on his first trip to Hogwarts, Harry receives a Dumblefore card, hence the significance of this.
Here’s a look at the Golden McGonagall, Hagrid and Dumbledore minifigures which look terrific. If you’re collecting all the 20th Anniversary Golden minifigures, you’re 100% saving up for this set.
Here’s the backs, which have the 20 Years of LEGO Harry Potter print on all of them. Side note – I love Hagrid’s pearl gold umbrella!
Thinking of how best to display all the 20th Anniversary Golden Minifigures? LEGO has you covered, as you get provided an expanded base, to place all of them!
Here’s a look at the Chocolate Frog, which rounds out the build, and it’s a really fun way to end.
It also has a fun little Easter Egg contained inside – it has a “mint filling”!
It looks great from all angles, and I really love the gap for its mouth!
The finishing touch of the set is the Hogwarts acceptance letter, which has blank spots for you to personalise and write in – if vandalising customising LEGO is your thing. It’s a pleasure to read, and as a Harry Potter-crazed kid, I always dreamed of receiving one by Owl Post… so this should really delight longtime Harry Potter fans, and is a really poignant way to end the set.
Unfortunately there is a small typo on the set – the Hogwarts latin motto Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus which means Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon has a typo in Titillandus where there’s an O instead of a U.
It’s not been a good year for typos and errors in LEGO sets (see UCS Republic Gunship and its infamous wrong logo), and it’s kinda disappointing that no one caught this, but it’s quite tiny, and unless you go looking for it, no one is going to notice it.
What I liked:
- An exceptionally fun, varied build
- Incredible display presence
- Lots of fun little Easter Eggs and accessories that Harry Potter fans will love
- Hedwig is just sublime
- One of the best LEGO Harry Potter sets ever
What I didn’t like:
- Is quite pricey
- Hedwig would’ve been nice as a standalone set
- Typos and errors
Final Thoughts:
This is truly a magical set, and such a worthy model of the BIG 20th Anniversary LEGO Harry Potter set. Unencumbered by minifigures, or buildings, it almost feels like Marcos Bessa was given a blank slate to reimagine what a 20th Anniversary set would be, and allows him to really unleash his creativity and ingenuity in so many different unique ways.
Hedwig is just sublime, and one of the most incredible LEGO models I’ve ever built – it looks incredible on display, and its size and details are truly breathtaking.
This set has such incredible display presence, and will stand loud and proud amongst any LEGO Harry Potter collection, and is thus a must-buy for any LEGO Harry Potter fan as the centerpiece of their collection.
The little nods to each movie, and different houses, are a lot of fun, and wrap this all up by an engaging build that you can either rush through, or take your time with makes for a super fun set.
Unfortunately, I do think it’s kind of expensive, and might put it out of reach for some people, which is a shame as there’s just so much FUN and MAGIC contained in the set, but if you can, I highly recommend picking this up – it is truly one of the most impressive LEGO sets I’ve ever built and a strong contender for set of the year.
Rating and score: 5/5 ★★★★★
Build [5] – The build was was fun, with varied sections and so many cool techniques
Real Value [3] – It’s pretty pricey, and not especially good value
Innovation [5] – Hedwig is incredible, and so many cool techniques were used to bring these objects to life
Coolness [5] – One of the most unique models ever, and looks sensational on display
Keepability [5] – Exclusive 20th anniversary minifigures, and the title of one of the best LEGO Harry Potter sets make this a keeper
Thanks so much for reading – another fun thing about the set, you almost want to dress up as Harry Potter and roleplay with all the objects included, which I couldn’ resist doing!
76391 Hogwarts Icons – Collector’s Edition will be available from LEGO.com on 2 September 2021 and will retail for US$249.99 / AU$399.99.
Let me know what you think of this set in the comments!
Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review.
This set interests me but I feel like the 20th Anniversary Golden Minifigure stand might discourage people from buying the set as they will feel obligated to buy all the 20th Anniversary sets (which is stupidly expensive) or at the very least buy all the Golden minifigures separately (which is still very expensive).
Thanks for a super-detailed review as always. I can totally see your appreciation for the design and size of the big Hedwig. And the comparison to the “little” Hedwig of last year.
I’d agree just the Hedwig for a lower price would be nice, but I can understand they wanted to put it in a larger and high-priced package, plus some “gold” minifigs. For me, the “banners” and also the flasks are just not that interesting. Don’t get me started ranting about clear stickers on clear cylinders — tried that once and absolute failure for me. (or on starship canopies…) Not ever going to try that again — so these would be boring clear cylinders if I ever bought/built it.
Stickers somewhere in a folder but will degrade anyway over time. I HATE STICKERS! I was glad for the printed piece like the H.G. tile you showed. So this one’s a “maybe” for me, mostly because of the clear stickers on clear cylinders. That is actually a “price minus” for me, i.e. if it has that, it detracts a lot from my desire to get the set, even at any price.
Going straight on the Christmas list! Thanks for the detailed review!
The Golden Minifigures and Hedwig are highlights for me and I can’t wait to display this next to my Hogwarts display.
Thank you LEGO for an awesome set!
I was already convinced as to the purchase…but the stand for ALL the Golden Figures?? SOLD.
now to find the display spot…. 😉
Nice review as always, Jay. Day one buy for me.
Hedwig looks so good. This is an outstanding set and your photos really brought the scale of the set to life.