Review: LEGO Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Minifigures

August 29, 2018 | 43

The third and final LEGO Collectible Minifigures series for 2018 takes us the JK Rowling’s Wizarding World, with the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Minifigures series. 

Featuring 22 of your favourite characters from the main Harry Potter books/movies and the Fantastic Beasts movies, this series is tailor-made for Potterheads and LEGO Harry Potter fans who have been clamouring for more.

The LEGO Harry Potter minifigures accompanies the relaunched Harry Potter theme (which has 6 sets for now) and the upcoming 6,000 piece Hogwarts Castle set to round out an amazing year for LEGO Harry Potter fans.

The Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts minifigures officially released on 1 August 2018, and is the largest LEGO Minifigure Series to collect with 22 minifigures to hunt down.

Irritatingly, LEGO has continued Series 18’s gimmick of including a super-rare minifigure in each complete box of 60, this time with Percival Graves from Fantastic Beasts which I’m not too happy about. More on this later in Percival Graves section.

On the upside, this is a fantastic series for LEGO Potterheads, as it features a formidable and diverse range of characters from the Wizarding World. Curiously, this series actually contains 2 mini-series within it – 16 characters from Harry Potter and the remaining 6 characters from Fantastic Beasts.

I think this is actually quite clever that there’s some distinction and representation between the matured and fleshed out Harry Potter universe and the fledging Fantastic Beasts property, which only has 2 movies to its name (Crimes of Grindelwald releases in theatres later this year).

If you’d like to check out some of my previous LEGO Minifigure reviews, check out the Minifigure Series Reviews  section in the Review Hub. They’re what I would consider my favourite reviews to write and I put in a lot more effort than usual for these reviews 🙂

I expect a lot of new and first-time buyers of LEGO minifigures thanks to the massive cultural gravity that surrounds Harry Potter and its huge fandom.

To those who are new to LEGO’s Collectible Minifigure Series, each minifigure comes in a blind bag, which introduces a sense of “randomness” to what you’ll get. Each blind bag costs AU$5.99 (US$4 in the US and £2.99 and €3.99 respectively). You can find them at your local toy store, or on LEGO.com or even on Amazon.

For large series like these, I recommend not wasting your time (and money) by just buying a full set online. This time, I bought a full box outright from Amazon Australia – they don’t sell proper full boxes, but I just added 60 blind bags into my bag and checked out. I did so to guarantee myself a Percival Graves minifigure as I didn’t have the time to go hunting for him.

Here’s the leaflet included in each blind bag which contains a character checklist, and some simple instructions for minifigs that require some additional assembly.

As the series is split into Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, one side has all 16 Harry Potter minifigs.

On the flip side, we have the 6 characters from Fantastic Beasts, followed by some simple instructions.

Here’s the box breakdown of the Harry Potter Minifigure Series. Unlike previous series, there is really only 1 complete set per box, due to the rarity of Percival Graves, however if you consider 21 a complete set, there are 2 sets in the box.

Not a fan of this ratio, but with 22 characters in a set, you were never going to get 3 complete sets in the box. Clicking on the names of each minifig will take you straight to their respective section.

3x Harry Potter in School Robes
3x Hermione Granger in School Robes
3x Ron Weasley in School Robes
3x Draco Malfoy in Quidditch Robes
2x Luna Lovegood
3x Cho Chang
3x Neville Longbottom
3x Dean Thomas
3x Lord Voldemort
3x Dobby
2x Professor Trelawney
3x Cedric Diggory
3x Professor Flitwick
3x Mad-Eye Moody
2x Harry Potter in Pyjamas
3x Albus Dumbledore
3x Newt Scamander
3x Porpentina Goldstein
3x Jacob Kowalski
3x Queenie Goldstein
2x Credence Barebone
1x Percival Graves

If you click the name of each minifigure, you’ll instantly jump to the corresponding minifigure review! For the “feelers out there”, my reviews also contain a “How To Find One” section with actual tips on how you can best identify the minifigs in their blind bags.

If you’re new to my LEGO Minifigure reviews, I use a 5-point scale review scale to rate each minifig. Here’s what the numbers mean!

5/5 – I love it
4/5 – I really like it
3/5 – I like it
2/5 – I don’t like it
1/5 – I didn’t really like it
0/5 – I hate it

Now all the details are out of the way, let’s jump into my review of the LEGO Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts minifigures! I’m trying out something new with this review, and incorporating more moody, macro shots to show off the faces and expressions of the minifigs, so I hope you enjoy the new shots!

Harry Potter

The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter is the titular minifigure of the series and a character that has brought joy, imagination and most importantly magic to so many people in the world. Being the name and face of the JK Rowling’s Wizarding World, Harry will undoubtedly be one of the favourites in the series.

Harry is dressed in his school robes, probably from the Prisoner of Azakaban movie and beyond when the costume designers decided to contemporarise the designs, and make them look much preppier, in the style of British public school dress.

Harry’s teenage years are reflected here, with the new medium length legs (more on that later), and his Hogwarts uniforms bears the red and gold of House Gryffindor.

Harry has black “Aquaman” hair, which see his fringe swept to one side. It completely conceals his lightning scar, which isn’t ideal.

Personally, while it does match Daniel Radcliffe’s looks from the movies, I was a little sad that they didn’t actually bring back his iconic hairpiece from the previous wave of sets.

Here’s the back printing, where you can see the hood of his robe and maroon trim on the inside.

Harry comes with Hedwig, his Snowy owl (RIP) which has mostly remained unchanged, using the same owl mould from LEGO’s library. For his wand, we get a dark brown wand to represent Harry’s wand, 11″, holly with a phoenix feather core and is described as being “nice and supple”.

Here’s a comparison with some other Harry minifigures. Like I mentioned earlier, I wished they’d kept his iconic hairpiece, which does look fairly old and not as detailed as contemporary hairpieces, but to me, LEGO Harry Potter will always look like that.

What’s new in the new 2018 Harry Potter theme is the introduction of medium legs, which are in between the rigid short legs, and regular minifig legs. They to bridge the gap between kid and adult minifigs, doing a great job of representing teenage-aged characters.

Oh and they can swivel and function just like regular legs, which is a massive accomplishment!

My mate The Rambling Brick wrote a really great article on the changes with the new Harry Potter minifigs, you should go check it out.

So yeah, Harry isn’t the most remarkable minifigure, but as the face of the series, you’d be hard pressed to be disappointed in getting him. For casual fans, it’s a fairly cost-effective way to get a Harry Potter minifigure which is always great.

How To Find One: Try feeling for Hedwig, which is shaped like a vase. Just be sure it’s not Cho Chang. who also has an owl. You can tell the difference by feeling for Harry’s hard hair piece, instead of Cho Chang’s soft rubbery hair.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Hermione Granger

“I’m going to bed before either you come up with another clever way to get us killed. Or worse, expelled. “ 

Hermione Granger is the brains of the trio and widely considered to be one of the brightest witches of her generation. The muggle-born prodigy is known for her vast knowledge and studious nature, and how seriously she takes her education at Hogwarts.

Like Harry, she’s also attired in her Gryffindor-themed robes, and comes with an oatmeal-coloured wand. In the books/movies, she wields a wand that measures 10¾”, made of vine wood with a dragon heartstring core.

Here’s a look at her back printing, which is almost identical to the other students. She also comes with her pet cat, Crookshanks, which she purchased from the Magical Menagerie in Book 3.

Hermione comes with long-tousled hair, which matches Emma Watson’s appearance, more so than the mousey, frizzy hair Hermione we know from the books.

It’s a waste that Hermione didn’t come with a magical textbook (A History of Hogwarts would’ve been amazing), but Crookshanks is a nice touch, and matches the theme of the trio being partnered by their respective pets.

I really like Hermione’s overall look – she has a confident, optimistic and brave smile on her face, which matches her character really well!

She’s probably the most important character in the entire book, given her track record of bailing Harry and Ron out of many sticky situations, saving their lives constantly. Without Hermione, Harry’d be dead by Book 2.

How To Find One: Feel for Crookshanks’ cat shape, which you can reasonably tell thanks to its rigid shape, and the tail which sticks out the back.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Ron Weasley

“Don’t let the Muggles get you down.”

Ron Weasley is my favourite character out of the trio, mostly because I feel a kinship to his care-free, lazy yet loyal characteristics.

Out of the three main characters, I think Ron is easily the least-accurate character, as the minifig looks more like a red-headed Han Solo, than he does Rupert Grint.

He does have a carefree smirk which you can expect from Ron, but many of his facial features were simply lost in translation and I think the hairpiece doesn’t scream Ron to me. It’s got way too much volume and too many waves in it.

That said, his attire is quintessentially Ron, with the slightly messy tie, unironed shirt, and lack of a jumper.

Here’s a look at his back printing.

He comes with a dark brown wand. In the books, he wields a 10¾” long wand, made of vine wood, with a dragon heartstring core. This is his second wand, which was bought in Book 3.

Ron comes with his own pet, Scabbers which was secretly the Animagus Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed Harry’s parents and led to their murder by Lord Voldemort.

Scabbers makes great use of the new rat mould, which now has plenty of printing on it to give it a more accurate rat-like appearance.

I was very impressed that he even has a bald spot on his head, with a few tufts of hair missing. This places him (and the trio) in Book 3, when Scabbers started getting stressed out, losing weight and hair due to Sirius Black’s escape from Azkaban.

It’s quite a tiny insignificant detail, but I love that they added this nod in which should delight LEGO Potterheads.

Again, shame about Ron Weasley’s look. The hair just doesn’t work for me as it looks like Ron spends hours in the morning getting his hair done, where it should be unkempt and fairly messy.

With the limitations of printing minifig faces, I can understand not getting Ron’s slightly mousey look right, but I’m a little disappointed with this minifigure. Bit of a shame as I consider Ron to be one of the weakest minifigs in the series.

How To Find One: Ron’s only identifying accessory is Scabbers which can be quite hard to feel for as he’s quite small. Try feeling for a lumpy plastic bit, with a rounded piece on either end which is its tail.

Minifig Rating: 2/5

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Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy has been Harry’s number one nemesis at school since Day One, sparring against him in class and on the Quidditch pitch where their rivalry often comes to the fore.

Unlike the other Hogwarts students, Draco eschews the school robes and is dressed up in his Quidditch robes which is a nice change of pace. Like Harry, Draco plays the position of Seeker for the Slytherin team.

I love the mostly green uniform, with matching cape and broomstick. The details on his torso are really nice, I like the brown string, and the silver Slytherin coat of arms on his breast.

Here’s a look at the back printing. Unfortunately Malfoy doesn’t have an alternate face, but then again, so do most of the other characters.

Unlike the other Hogwarts characters, Malfoy comes with short legs, possibly placing him in Book 1 or 2 in their pre-teenage years.

Malfoy comes with one of my favourite new accessories, the new Golden Snitch, which is such an amazingly detailed accessory. LEGO have come a LONG way since the last wave of Harry Potter sets when a gold round 1 x 1 stud was used to represent the snitch.

The Snitch is an interesting accessory for Malfoy as he’s never mentioned to have caught the Snitch in games against Harry.

The Dark Green broomstick is also a neat new accessory, being the first time that we’ve gotten it in this shade of green. I’m pretty sure that it isn’t book/movie accurate for them to have broomsticks in house colours, but it’s a neat accessory nonetheless and it is way better than getting a plain old brown broomstick.

LEGO did a terrific job with Malfoy’s face and most importantly his hairpiece, which nails Malfoy’s blonde, swept back hairstyle. I love the Quidditch outfit as well and wish we got more characters from other teams.

Draco Malfoy is also a necessary addition to 75956 Quidditch Match for the Slytherin side which is Seeker-less.

How To Find One: Draco is easy to find – all you have to do is find his broomstick piece which has a long, thin handle and a larger end that’s shaped like a paintbruh. 

Minifig Rating: 4/5

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Luna Lovegood

 “Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect.”

Luna Lovegood is one of my favourite characters in the book, and I’ve always loved/empathised her oddball, quirky, dreamy personality. When she was introduced i Order of the Phoenix, she quickly became a fan-favourite, not only because of her eccentric  nature but because of her loyal, steadfast and always positive nature.

Unlike the main trio, she was sorted into House Ravenclaw, which fitted her inquisitive nature but she was a great addition to bring balance to the adventures of the main trio.

Her minifigure is nothing short of incredible, and is an almost perfect nod to her outfit from the opening scenes of the Half Blood Prince with her pink jacket, wonderfully fun skirt with horses, stars and hearts, as well as her purple satchel bag.

Her pale yellow hairpiece is also great, and I love her slightly dreamy face with a small smile.

Another terrific addition to the minifigure is her alternate face, where she sports her Spectrespecs, large colourful glasses that were included in an issue of The Quibbler and used to identify Wrackspurs.

For her accessory, she comes with a brown wand (unfortunately, we don’t know much about her wand), and a 2 x 3 printed tile of The Quibbler magazine, a tabloid published by her father that covered conspiracy theories and imaginary creatures.

The magazine is another 1:1 re-creation of this Quibbler cover which should send Luna Lovegood fans (of which there are many).

I’m not into fan fiction, but I distinctly remember wanting Luna Lovegood to end up with Harry as I thought she was a much better match than Ginny, which literally came out of nowhere.

In this close-up shot, you can really see the detail on her Spectrespecs, which aren’t just reflective but also have really subtle printing on them to make them look hyper-accurate.

Luna is a treat, and is undoubtedly one of my favourites in the entire series. You can tell how much love and attention went into her minifigure design.

How To Find One: Luna’s relatively easy to find, just feel for her 2 x 3 tile which is quite large and flat and you’ll have her.

Minifig Rating: 5/5

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Neville Longbottom

“We’re all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know that?” 

Neville Longbottom is the shy, slow, gentle boy that had a strange fascination with planys that got bullied in his first year of school, and then turned into a handsome, sword-wielding mega-hunk at the end of the story.

The clumsy Longbottom was frequently bullied by Snape and the Slytherin class but I’m really glad that his character arc really developed him into a strong, confident character later in life.

Neville has one of the best facial expressions in a minifig ever. His default face is one of surprise, with his buckteeth biting on his lower lip. He has a pair of protective earmuffs, which are used to shield his ears from the piercing cry of Mandrakes – weird baby-shaped plants that have piercing screams when unearthed from the ground.

Neville’s alternate face is a delight, with his eyes closed and a slightly euphoric (or high) expression on his face. He’s attired in a tan overshirt, which is used for outdoor Herbology classes.

He comes with a dark brown wand. It’s probably his first wand which he inherited from his father, as his stature and the presence of the Mandrake places Neville in the Chamber of Secrets.

Speaking of the Mandrake, this is one of the more interesting, yet bizarre LEGO accessories I’ve seen. The mandrake is made of two parts, a stalk and the actual baby itself, which I believe is printed on an brand new piece.

The printing is kinda creepy, but does match how the Mandrake appears in the movies. The minifig can grip the base as well. The mandrake is placed in a pot, which is in a shade of dark orange.

There’s lots to love about the Neville Longbottom minifigure, but I just can’t resist his alternate face, which definitely will have a myriad of uses.

How To Find One: Neville is pretty easy to identify if you just concentrate on finding the Mandrake pot, which is large and round, with a very easy to feel for opening rim.

Minifig Rating: 4/5

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Cho Chang

“Their seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on their team.“

Cho Chang was considered one of the most attractive female students at Hogwarts, and was often courted by students from all houses. She was a Ravenclaw and most notably also played Seeker.

Harry was smitted by Cho Chang during their first encounter in Book 3, where Harry caught the Snitch in the match, despite interruption from Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle who dressed up as Dementors.

Her minifigure has an olive complexion, which I guess is LEGO’s way of saying she’s Asian, and has long black hair. She uses the same rubbery hair piece as Series 12’s Spooky Girl which I can’t say I’m a fan of.

For accessories, she comes with a brown wand, and a brown owl. The owl is a great choice, as Harry and Cho’s first significant exchange that kicked off their budding romance in Book 5 occurred in the Owlery.

I also love her outfit, where she sports the standard grey jumper, which has the blue Ravenclaw trim. She also has a blue and silver tie, as well as a paper skirt, which I’m not a fan of.

Cho Chang is a decent minifigure, and due to her on-and off romance with Harry, after being together with Cedric who was murdered at the end of Book 4, has a decent fan-base or haters.

Nonetheless, she’s quite an important side character and also the source of one of the funniest Harry quotes in the book “Wangoballwime?” so I’m quite happy that we’ve finally gotten her as a LEGO minifigure which is a huge win for Harry Potter fans.

As I was never a big fan of her romance sub-plot, she’s just an okay minifigure for me. Great for completionists, but I think I would’ve warmed to her a bit more if LEGO didn’t make use of the god-awful rubbery hairpiece. Nothing against how it looks, I just hate the material.

How To Find One: Cho’s hair piece is the easiest way to find her as it’s soft, rubber and feels quite spongy. You can also try narrowing her down by finding her Owl.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Dean Thomas

Dean Thomas is a relatively minor character in the books. A Gryffindor who was in the same year as Harry, the only thing I can immediately remember about him is that he was a fan of West Ham Football Club, which he picked up from growing up in a Muggle family.

Due to his love of football, it was no surprise that he got really into Quidditch, and was always in the stands during Gryffindor Quidditch games. He eventually made the team as Chaser later in the series.

For his outfit, he bears the same Gryffindor school robes as the other students, but he has a large Gryffindor scarf draped around his neck.

Here’s a look at the back printing, which is similar to all other students. He comes with a dark brown wand.

Dean, as a Gryffindor Quidditch team super-fan comes with a flag which bears the Gryffindor coat of arms, which is a pretty great accessory with lots of utility.

Like Cho Chang, Dean Thomas has been a long-awaited Harry Potter character to be immortalised as a LEGO minifigure, so for fans clamouring to complete their collection, I’m sure he’ll be very well-received.

How To Find One: Try feeling for the flag piece, which is flat and has 2 clips on one end, or the stick piece which is long and thin. It’s much shorter than Mad-Eye Moody’s staff, so just be careful that you don’t confuse the two.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Lord Voldemort

“There is no good and evil, there is only power…and those too weak to seek it.” 

Big, bad and noseless, Tom Voldemort is Harry Potter’s prime nemesis throughout the books and movies and one of the most iconic villains in pop culture. Cold, calculating and one of the most powerful Dark Wizards to exist, Voldy was pretty terrifying as a kid.

Voldemort is dressed in his dark green robes, and is accurate to Harry’s description of him during his rebirth “Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake’s but with slits for nostrils”. 

He comes with a white wand, that represents his 13½”, yew and phoenix feather core wand.

One of the new animal moulds making their debut in 2018 is this fantastic new snake piece – which serves as his pet snake/Horcrux Nagini. I was really surprised when I got the snake in person due to how large it was.

The subtle details on the snake such as the raised eyes, and mouth are really nice. I’m a sucker for LEGO animals, so I’m glad to see innovating with the snake element.

I personally think it’s a great move to include Voldemort in the series, as it’s a really cost-effective way for fans to get their hands on him He’s also currently exclusive to the Series as he hasn’t showed up in a retail set just yet, but with how well the sets have been selling, I fully expect to see him in a set early next year.

How To Find One: Voldemort has the new dress piece, which has a curved slope and is quite easy to feel for. You can also feel for Nagini, which is long, and has curves throughout her body and feels rigid. Be sure not to confuse him with Professor Trelawney or Dumbledore.

Minifig Rating: 4/5

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Dobby

“Dobby is free.” 

Another fan-favourite character is Dobby (bless his soul), the renegade House Elf that was set free by Harry in the Chamber of Secrets. Dobby, used to be the Malfoy’s House Elf, and had a cheery personality and is best known for his undying loyalty to Harry.

I’ve never owned a Dobby minifigure, so I was naturally quite excited to add him to my collection. Dobby has undergone a bit of a facelift since his previous outing, with a much happier, and realistic face mould. His head is made out of rubbery plastic, which I don’t quite like, but I think works decently well in this case.

He’s dressed in dirty rags, in the manner of all House Elves and comes with Tom Riddle’s diary.

Here’s a look at Dobby’s back printing, which has more stains and blotches on it.

Included as Dobby’s accessory is Tom Riddle’s Diary, a Horcrux that contained a fragment of Lord Voldemort’s soul, and was destroyed in the Chamber of Secrets by Harry and Gang. It has a large gash in the middle, which was the point in which it was stabbed by a Basilisk fang, hereby destroying it.

Tom Riddle’s diary has significance to Dobby as it was used as a vehicle to grant Dobby his freedom. In the books, Harry stuffed the diary in an old sock, which he then presented to Lucius Malfoy, who then discarded the sock, which Dobby then caught to become a free Elf.

In the movies, which the sets are based of, Harry stuffed the sock inside the diary, which you can see above. The sock is printed on a 2×1 tile, and can be affixed into the diary.

The book piece is a relatively new accessory, and the fact that it’s printed is a very nice touch.

Dobby is a crowd pleaser and I’m pretty happy to be able to own him. He’s masterfully designed, and I really like the fact that LEGO went to the trouble of updating his head mould, as opposed to recycling the older one. The printing on his face, as you can see above is remarkable, making Dobby a winner in my book.

How To Find One: Try feeling for Dobby’s head, which you can tell because its slightly squishy and has ears pointing out of each end. You can also try feeling for the sock tile which is the only 2 x 1 tile in the series.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Professor Trelawney

Sybill Trelawney is the Professor of Divination at Hogwarts, known best for her bug-eyed glasses and her constant seeing of death of omens on behalf of her students.

Due to her slightly… unsubstantiated field of study Divination which attempts to unravel the mysteries of the future, she doesn’t get as much respect as Professors from other magical disciplines.

The designers nailed her look, with her large volume of frizzy hair, bandana, numerous chains and beads across her neck. I love her green dress/shawl combo which again, matches her movie appearance to a T.

Here’s a look at the back of her hair, and the great new skirt piece. Unlike previous skirt pieces, which were flimsily attached to the torso, these new curved sloped pieces now have pins, just like regular minifig legs.

Great innovation for LEGO minifigs as a whole and I’m glad that these are starting to become ubiquitous.

Aside from Trelawney’s accurate design, she comes equipped with my favourite accessory of the Series – a teacup and saucer combo!

These are a great nod to her Divination classes, where she gets students to peer into the future by reading tea leaves.

I love that LEGO went the extra mile with this accessory – they could’ve easily made a single mould and they would still be celebrated by all the tea fans out there, but the fact that they mad two distinct parts for the combo makes me really happy. I also love the printing on the saucer.

Professor Trelawney is one of the rarer minifigs in the series (2 per box), so these tea cups won’t come cheap, but they’re such a remarkable accessory and I really hope to see them in other forms.

Overall, really glad to have Trelawney in the series, especially since her only other minifigure costs something like $60 on Bricklink. Great win for the fans.

How To Find One: Trelawney is relatively easy to feel for as you can easily pick her out by feeling for her skirt, which has a very noticable curve to it, and confirming its her by feeling for her large hair piece. The teacup saucer is also quite easy to feel for as it feels like an ordinary 1 x 1 round stud.

Minifig Rating: 4/5

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Cedric Diggory

“Right. Hey, listen, about the badges. I’ve asked them not to wear them… ”

Cedric Diggory was the Hogwarts Triwizard Champion, prefect, Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and all around good guy. His amiable personality and dashing good looks made him one of the most popular students at Hogwarts, and the subject of affection from most of the female student body.

Cedric is outfitted in his Triwizard tournament jersey, which bears the yellow and black of the mighty House Hufflepuff. On his right breast is the Hogwarts coat of arms. He has stylish wavy hair and a pretty dashing smile.

Here’s a look at the back of his torso, which has his name on it and I also love the yellow stripes down his pants which are movie-accurate.

For accessories, Cedric comes with his wand, which is 12¼” long, made from ash, and contained a Unicorn hair core. More interestingly, he comes with the Triwizard Cup, which he and Harry both won together in the Goblet of Fire.

Unbeknownst to them, the Triwizard Cup was actually a portkey and transported them to the Riddle family graveyard where Voldemort was resurrected. Unfortunately for Cedric, he was murdered by Peter Pettigrew upon his arrival with Harry.

Like most other characters, Cedric Diggory is a fan favourite who makes his long-awaited debut as a LEGO minifigure, which I’m very pleased about. I really love that they depicted him in his Triwizard Tournament uniform and more or less captured his dashing good looks.

A great inclusion in the series, and one that most Potter fans will be very happy with.

How To Find One: To find Cedric, find the Triwizard Cup which is quite large and has easily identifiable handles.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Professor Flitwick

Apart from his wand, Professor Flitwick comes with a new bullhorn accessory, which he uses to catch the attention of his students.

He also comes with some fabric that act as coattails, which I feel are a little unnecessary but nonetheless add a bit more detail to his minifigure.

This is Professor Flitwick’s second outing as a minifigure, and once again, I’m very impressed by how well the designers captured his look. His facial expression is almost perfect and I really like his new hair piece, which as of now, is unique to Professor Flitwick.

How To Find One: Flitwick is relatively easy to find, as long as you can locate his bullhorn which is cone-shaped. He is one of the 4 minifigures with short, rigid legs, so that’s not a particularly reliable way to find him.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Mad-Eye Moody

“CONSTANT VIGILANCE!”

Alastor Moody is one of the most accomplished Aurors (government dark wizard hunters) in the Harry Potter universe, whose claim to fame was being a pivotal member of the Order of the Phoenix during the first and second Wizarding Wars.

He’s single-handedly responsible for filling up half the cells in Azkaban, and as a result grew enormously paranoid, leading to his signature quote CONSTANT VIGILANCE.

Mad-Eye Moody as he is affectionately known because of his magical eye (he lost his eye, and numerous body parts), which was electric blue and allowed him to see through solid objects.

The designers did a pretty great job with his minifigure, capturing the grizzled veteran’s key features such as his wild, unkempt hair and scars on his face, as well as his rugged outfit that just screams “Dark Wizard hunter”.

He also has a wooden leg, which is represented by a silver section. It’s supposed to be wooden, but they gave him a metal leg in the movies for an unknown reason.

For accessories, aside from his staff, and a dark brown wand, Moody comes with a flask of polyjuice potion, which ingeniously makes use of a single maraca held upside down. It has a pearl gold album, that makes it look like the stopper.

It’s a really clever use of an existing accessory and in my opinion, a testament to the creativity and improvisation of LEGO designers.

Polyjuice potion allows the drinker to assume the identity of another person, and in the Goblet of Fire, the focal point of the movie comes when Mad-Eye Moody, who was Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is revealed to be Barty Crouch Jr, a Death Eater who was instrumental in getting Harry into the Triwizard Tournament to eventually resurrect Voldemort.

Moody has an alternate Barty Crouch face, and a second hairpiece to assume his other identity. I love this “two characters in one minifigure” trend, as it buffs up the total number of characters in the series.

Mad-Eye Moody is one of the highlights in the series for me, because of his near-perfect design – his scarred face is terrifying to behold, and I also love his new hairpiece. My only complaint is that his eye isn’t the right colour – it should’ve been electric blue, which I feel was a huge oversight (heh) by the designers.

How To Find One: Alastor Moody is quite easy to find, thanks to his staff, which feels like a long rod and is the only accessory of its kind in the series.

Minifig Rating: 4/5

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Harry Potter in Pyjamas

We get another variant of Harry Potter, a younger version from his first year at Hogwarts, with his Invisibility Cloak and Pyjamas. This version is a lot lot more charming – I love the short legs on him, as well as the new Harry Potter hair-piece which is messy, and has a small break where his lightning-shaped scar peeks through.

For fans of the movie, this version of Harry is a nod to the scene from the Philosopher’s Stone movie where he shows off his Invisibility Cloak to Ron in their room.

Here’s a look at Harry’s pyjamas, and the inside of the invisibility cloak. I love the pattern on the cloak, which is movie-accurate and is a huge upgrade to the previous Invisibility Cloak piece.

On the outside, the cloak is reflective, giving Harry a nice shimmery effect when he has his cloak on.

Here’s a look at the back printing. The pyjamas are great, and are a really versatile piece, but disappointingly, his legs are solid in colour. It’s such a waste that they didn’t manage to print the pyjama stripes down to his legs as well.

Here’s a comparison of the new Invisibility Cloak and the older version, which was just a shimmery, translucent fabric piece. The newer cloak feels much more like an actual LEGO accessory.

Being an actual cloak, you can actually wrap it around Harry’s body to re-create the “floating head” look, which is a really iconic shot from the movies.

Overall, really happy with Harry in his Invisibility Cloak, although this one will be quite hard to find given that he’s one of the rarer minifigs in the series, with only 2 in each box.

How To Find One: Harry in his Pyjamas is one of the harder minifigures to find, as there aren’t any identifying accessories, so you’ll have to find him by process of elimination. Firstly, feel for his short legs, and ensure that it isn’t Flitwick, Malfoy or Dobby by their accessories.

Minifig Rating: 4/5

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Albus Dumbledore

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Albus Dumbledore is considered the greatest wizards of his time. His legendary magical prowess was such that it was said that he was the only wizard that Voldemort feared. Albus is best known for his role as Headmaster of Hogwarts, and a friend/mentor to Harry.

This version of Dumblefore is hard to place, but I’m going to take a stab and say that it’s Dumbledore from the Order of the Phoenix, thanks his light blue robes, which have a remarkable level of fabric detail on them, along with some golden trim. He wears a hat,with a golden tassel on it.

For accessories, Dumbledore comes with his wand, which is oatmeal-coloured to represent the Elder Wand which was 15″, made of Elderwood, with a Thestral tail hair core. It’s considered the most powerful wand ever, and has a unique appearance, although its shape doesn’t translate to the LEGO version. He also comes with a Pensieve, which is a dish used to view memories. 

Here’s a look at the details of his torso, where you can appreciate the really intricate printed details on his robes. Without his beard, you can also see full face, which does a great job of capturing Dumbledore’s calm, kind and thoughtful appearance.

I really like Dumbledore’s new beard, which is a new accessory and perfectly matches Michael Gambon’s beard, with the beard-tie (?). The little indent for his mouth is also a very nice touch.

Can’t be too unhappy with Dumbledore’s minifigure, especially one as so nicely designed as this. Albus definitely wins my vote for wizard sartorial excellence, with one of the best outfits in this series.

How To Find One: Dumbledore is quite easy to find, with his sloped dress piece. Feel for the pensieve which feels like a shallow dish to confirm him.

Minifig Rating: 4/5 

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So that wraps up all 16 minifigures from the Harry Potter component of the series. Overall, it’s a pretty good mix of long-awaited characters, and updates to existing favourites. I’d really have liked more teaching staff of Hogwarts, but if you’d asked any Potterhead, they’d probably be very happy with the characters represented here.

The biggest (in a literal sense) omission for me is Hagrid, but he shows up in the Great Hall set, which might make it tricky for fans who are on a budget and just want to collect the minifigures. Sirius Black is another glaring omission for me, but I hope to see him in a future set.

Newt Scamander

The spearhead of the next generation of JK Rowling’s Wizarding World legacy is Newton “Newt” Scamander, the acclaimed author of Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them and Magizoologist. He’s also the protagonist and lead character of the ongoing Fantastic Beasts movie series.

Eccentric, kind and a little aloof, I’ve fast become a fan of Eddie Redmayne’s portrayal of Newt on the silver screen. This version of Newt features him in his dark blue coat, complete with an orange vest and dark brown pants. He also has Pickett, his pet Bowtruckle emerging out of his coat, which is a really cool nod to the movies.

For accessories, he comes with a new briefcase piece, which is a fantastic new accessory, even if it’s a little big and unwieldy for minifigs. It has a handle, and can open up, just like a normal briefcase with a small space on the inside to store things. Unfortunately, Newt doesn’t come with any accessories inside the briefcase. 

Like the Harry Potter trio, Newt also comes with his own adorable animal companion, a Niffler! Nifflers are something of a cross between a mole, platypus and truffle-hunting pig – small magical creatures that can help sniff out shiny objects.

The Niffler is quite possibly the cutest LEGO animal ever, and LEGO did an incredible job with capturing the Niffler’s distinct features on such a tiny element.

Here’s the Niffler in my stash of golden LEGO coins. You can tell its in a state of bliss.

I really like this version of Newt – I think his facial expressions are on-point and the inclusion of the Niffler is a great touch, especially for fans who just want a Newt minifigure without having to resort to buying a full set.

How To Find One: Newt’s briefcase is the easiest accessory to feel for. It’s rectangular shape is quite easy to make out, but do remember that it will most likely be in two pieces. The only other character with the same briefcase piece is Jacob, however he has 2 1 x 1 round tiles in his bag, whereas Newt has a wand and the Niffler. The Niffler is quite rounded, and is only slightly smaller than a minifig head.

Minifig Rating: 4/5 

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Tina Goldstein

Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein is an American auror and romantic love interest of Newt Scamander. She has a no-nonsense type personality and was instrumental in apprehending Percival Graves/Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.

Tina Goldstein is a remarkable reflection of her on-screen character, with the designers capturing all of the actresses’ features and costume design to perfection. She comes with a great hairpiece in dark blue, which has her hair fused to her cloche hat.

She has a strange choice of accessory, a wand and a hot dog. In case you’re befuddled by the bizarre accessory, it’s a reference to this scene from the movie where she’s trying to blend in with muggles to observe a rally when Newt awkwardly bumps into her.

Here’s a look at her back printing.

It remains to be seen if she gets a bigger role in the Crimes of Grindelwald, but Tina seems to be pretty popular with the fanbase and this is an excellent minifigure, purely because of how well they captured her look, especially her distinct hair style.

Tina is one of my surprise favourites from this series, as I didn’t think much of her before but now regard her as one of the best minifigs in this series.

How To Find One: Try feeling for her hot dog piece, specifically the sausage which is thin and has a slight curve.

Minifig Rating: 4/5 

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Jacob Kowalski

“I want to be a wizard.”

Jacob Kowalski is the jovial baker that became an unexpected companion of Newt Scamander in his maiden journey to America. He’s a Muggle (or No-Maj as they call it in the states) and is one of the key sources of humour in the movie.

Jacob is a portly man with a magnificent moustache, and his appearance is reflected well with his minifigure. As he’s a muggle, he’s dressed in a grey suit, with a light blue vest and a spotted red tie.

Like Newt, Jacob comes with a briefcase, but his is filled with two pastry tiles which are brand new and thus far unique to this minifigure. They fit comfortably within the suitcase.

Jacob’s face is a little weird. The designers nailed the moustache but the over-exaggerated eyebags are a little weird and make it seem like he’s sleep deprived.

As he was an integral part of the first Fantastic Beasts movie, it’s still really neat to have him appear in this series. Another variant of Jacob also shows up in set 75952 Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures but this is clearly the definitive Jacob.

How To Find One: Just like Newt, try and feel for his rectangular-shaped briefcase, but be sure to confirm that its Jacob by ensuring that you can feel for the pastry 1 x 1 round tiles.

Minifig Rating: 3/5 

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Queenie Goldstein

“People are easiest to read when they’re hurting”

Queenie Goldstein is Tina’s younger sister, who was considered extremely attractive – being described as a bombshell. She is also an accomplished Legillimens, which gives her the ability to read minds and feelings.

Like her sister Tina, Queenie is also another great rendition of her on-screen character. She has a sultry smile, and a fantastic hairpiece that’s surprisingly accurate. Love the pale orange colour.

Her dress is also really close to the movie costume, except for a minor colour variation with the colour of her slip inside. She comes with a black wand, which is fairly uncommon in this series, as well as a large loaf.

There is a bit of romantic tension with Jacob Kowalski and in the ending scene of Fantastic Beasts, she visits Jacob in his new bakery after his memory is wiped – one of the more tender parts of the film which I really enjoyed.

Here’s a look at her back printing.

LEGO minifigure designs for licensed characters are often hit and miss, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well they managed to capture Queenie’s facial features despite not having a lot to work with.

Overall, feel like she’s a really strong inclusion in this series, and that new bread piece is simply divine. It’s one of the most underrated new accessories introduced in this series.

How To Find One: Try and find Queenie’s pastry, which is quite long, about 70% of the length of a minifig, and has easily identifiable ridges and bumps across the piece, with a hollow underside.

Minifig Rating: 3/5 

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Credence Barebone

“His name’s Credence. His mother beats him. She beats all those kids she adopted, but she seems to hate him the most.”

Credence Barebone is mysterious character that played a pivotal role in Fantastic Beasts, not because he was a traditional villain with evil intentions, but provided much of the tension and danger due to him being an Obscurial – basically a host to a parasitical manifestation of dark magic.

Appearance-wise, he doesn’t particularly look like Credence, mostly because his hair. The style is right, but it’s a little too large and mushroom-y which gives it a bit of an odd look.

Credence also comes with a printed 2 x 1 tile, which has a flyer from the New Salem Philanthropic Society, which was an anti-witchcraft group.

Credence has an alternate face with white pupils, which is meant to represent his transformation to his Obscurial form. It’s a nice touch on an otherwise fairly boring minifigure.

Credence wasn’t a particularly interesting character in the movies to me, especially since his non-Obscurial form character didn’t have as much airtime and wasn’t given enough attention. That said, this is the only minifigure of his character, so completionists and fans of the movie will be happy to have him.

How To Find One: Feel for Credence’s 2 x 1 tile, which is unique to his minifigure. There are only 2 Credences per box which makes him relatively rare.

Minifig Rating: 2/5 

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Percival Graves/Gellert Grindelwald

” law that has us scuttling like rats in the gutter. A law that demands that we conceal our true nature. A law that directs those under its dominion to cower in fear, lest we risk discovery. I ask you, Madam President, I ask all of you… Who does this law protect? Us? Or them? I refuse to bow down any longer.”

The final and most contentious minifigure in this series is none other than Percival Graves, the chase minifigure in this series. I’ll save my commentary on his rarity at the end, and would rather focus on the minifig design first.

I’m a huge fan of Collin Farrell ever since phone booth, and he’s one of the actors that I wish had more work. Graves was an accomplished Auror – highly skilled in magic, he was also a dashing and suave gentleman.

His minifigure has a good-natured smile, and the printed design on his torso and legs are sublime. They nailed his outfit, which consists of a black overcoat and his signature scarf. I also really like the red and white trim on his jacket.

Graves also has arm printing, with a white trip that extends to his wrist, as well as back printing as well. He comes with an oatmeal-coloured wand, and in this view, you can also see his fantastic two-toned hairpiece which has bits of greying hair to complete the look.

One of the big reveals of the movie is of course that Percival Graves isn’t Percival Graves, but Gellert Grindelwald, one of the most terrifying dark wizards in history who had assumed his identity through Transfiguration magic.

As such, he has an alternate face, with Grindelwald’s face which is noticeably older and has a white moustache, as well as an all-white hairpiece to complete the look.

The double-identity minifigure is pretty cool and I really enjoy this concept, which like Mad-Eye Moody effectively means that you get an extra unique character.

Percival Graves was (to me) the standout character in the movie, largely due to Collin Farrell’s electric charisma, and I was a little disappointed that he turned into Johnny Depp at the end, but I’m largely very happy with his inclusion as a character.

On the rarity front, which has LEGO continuing the trend that began in Series 18 of including a super rare one-in-a-box minifigure, I’m starting to dislike it more and more. For a special commemorative series like Series 18, sure, add it in as a gimmick, but for a pivotal series like Harry Potter, this is a calculated money-making move.

I also find LEGO’s decision to fix his position in each box (he’s located in the left row, towards the back) absolutely baffling as that just makes it so easy for people to profiteer over the artificial scarcity of this minifigure by zero-ing straight on to his location, as opposed to having to put in work to feel through a box for him.

LEGO, if you’re going to do this in all minifigures series, at least randomise the layout of boxes to prevent people gaming the system.

The frustrating thing is that for named characters like this, it makes it so much harder for fans to obtain complete sets without having to either buy an entire box, or pay about $50 on eBay for him.

It’s a great business decision for sure, as it increases the likelihood of fans buying sealed boxes instead of just one complete set (I fell for this too), in addition to increasing the size of complete sets to 22 in this series.

It just isn’t a good experience for fans, who just simply want to get their hands on a complete set of Fantastic Beasts characters. As a small consolation, you can get Grindelwald in a small set, but for Collin Farrell/Percival Graves fans, you’re pretty much out of luck.

How To Find One: Unless you’re coming upon a fresh box of Harry Potter minifigs, chances are that an enterprising reseller or collector has already gone through it to find the prized minifigure. If you’re lucky enough to find a sealed or newly opened box, start by looking in the left-most row of the box from the back. He should be about 4 or 5 minifigures deep.

To feel for him, Graves has 2 hair pieces, both of which are really smooth and round.

Minifig Rating: 4/5 

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That’s it for the 6 minifigures from Fantastic Beasts. Given the property is still in its infancy, and people not having made emotional connections to the characters, unlike the ones from the main Harry Potter series, 6 is a nice enough number with most of the main characters covered here.

The designs on each minifig are superb, with really high quality printing, especially Tina, Percival and Newt. Accessories-wise, it’s just okay for me. The new briefcases are really cool, and so is the Niffler but nothing stands out in particular here.

Final Thoughts: I think LEGO did a commendable job with this series, striking a nice balance between must-have main characters, and the introduction of ones that have never been made in minifigure form like Dean Thomas, Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang.

It’s not unexpected, but the Harry Potter minifigures are definitely my favourite, with a great mix of popular characters, balanced quite well between Hogwarts students and teaching staff.

I do think that the Series is a little too large – 22 characters is a lot to collect, which also really increases the price of a full set, but on the flipside, I do like the diversity of characters and the ease of which fans can just buy the ones they want, without having to drop hundreds of dollars on LEGO sets to get characters like the Trio, Voldemort, or fan favourites like Luna and Dobby.

As a Harry Potter fan, I am nothing short of delighted with the set. It hits all the right spots for me, and I love all the fan service that was thrown into the minifigures.

You can tell that the team that worked on this series are incredibly passionate about JK Rowling’s works, with a great deal of love, care and attention thrown into the minifigures, updating them with all the crispy details that you’d come to expect from a minifigure in 2018.

My only complaint, and this is relatively minor is that I wish that we had gotten special baseplates for this series. After Batman Series 2 and Series 18, I’ve really come to like special base plates to further differentiate each series – feel that there was a huge missed opportunity here for the Wizarding World logo, or even Harry’s lightning scar.

I usually don’t like licensed series, but I really loved this series – mostly because Harry Potter was a huge part of my adolescence, but also because objectively, these are some of the best-designed minifigures in a licensed series.

If I were to rank my top 5 minifigures for this series, they’d be:

1. 1. Luna Lovegood
   2. Neville Longbottom
   3. Albus Dumbledore
   4. Newt Scamander
   5. Harry in Pyjamas

So that’s it! Hope you enjoyed my review of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Minifigures Series. I’d love to know what your favourites from this series were, as well as your thoughts on Percival Graves. Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading! I’ll be working on some Harry Potter set reviews in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for those!