LEGO Harry Potter has been around as early as 2001, just when the first Harry Potter movie was released. The theme is one of LEGO's first major licenses that was initially discontinued in 2007. The Harry Potter themed sets returned in 2010 to coincide with the release of the last three installments of the series. This year, LEGO announced that it would introduce new sets based on the Harry Potter franchise, including the first Fantastic Beast movie, and its sequel. With all the Harry Potter sets that covered each movie release, one of our top picks is the LEGO® Harry Potter™ Quidditch™ Match, which featured authentic details of the Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff house towers. Here, we will take a closer look at the features of the set, as well as the building process, and parts included.

The packaging

The 500-piece set comes in a medium to large sized box. The front of the packaging displays the content of the set including the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and the minifigures that you can find inside the box. You will also see a picture of Harry, Ron, and Hermione on the top corner of the packaging. The set's play features are found on the reverse of the packaging. The LEGO bricks are split into numbered bags, with the first two bags containing the pieces needed to build the Quidditch towers for each Hogwarts House. The third numbered bag builds the three goalposts. The sticker sheet and two instruction booklets can be found inside the box.

The build

Set number 75956 is not the first LEGO set released that features the Wizarding World's most popular sport. The LEGO Harry Potter Quidditch Match (4737) was released in 2010, making this new set a 're-issue' that packs new elements and boasts of a wide range of play features.

This set can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to complete. The first bag contains the Hermione and Snape minifigures and the pieces required to build the spectator towers for both Gryffindor and Slytherin. The Harry Potter and Lucian Bole minifigures are in bag number 2, which also contains the LEGO bricks used for putting together the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff towers. Finally, there is bag number 3 that contains the parts needed for the end-of-game trophy and for the Quidditch Goals. The last bag also includes the Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint minifigures.

The towers are built in a similar fashion, with each one sitting on a 6×6 baseplate. But while they follow the same pattern, there are differences in some of the details and play features. For example, the Gryffindor tower is the only one that has an opening flap from which the Gryffindor players can fly out on their racing brooms. A unique feature of the Hufflepuff tower is the scoreboard, while the Ravenclaw tower has a megaphone on the side. Finally, the Slytherin tower has a mechanism on the back that sets Professor Snape's robes on fire, to recreate the scene from the first Harry Potter movie where Hermione cast the Lacarnum Inflamari on Snape’s cloak to save Harry’s life.

What we love about the towers is that although they look similar, there is no sense of repetitiveness, as each one creates a gorgeous chequerboard effect because of the primary colors that go all the way up to the flag. The stickers in front of the towers add a Potteresque detail, but can be a source of frustration for young LEGO builders, as the large stickers are a bit challenging to attach to a LEGO piece that is almost exactly the same size. To make it easier for young LEGO builders to attach the sticker to the glass panel, we recommend sticking it to the panel first, then putting it in the window frame after.

The goalpost is upgraded in this set, and is now equipped with the LEGO Black Tire for Wedge-Belt Wheel Tires in a new color. The LEGO Harry Potter 2018 Quidditch Match is set up for play, and we were delighted to see that it is possible to block the quaffle of the opponent from entering the hoops by moving the keeper back and forth. The brooms used by the players have a mounted shooting function that allows you to shoot the Quaffle through the hoops.

The Minifigures

The minifigures also got an upgrade in this set, starting with Hermione that has a new hair piece, and Professor Snape that now comes with a redesigned leg and torso prints. However, there are changes to the minifigures that we are not huge fans of like the kid's leg element on the Harry Potter minifigure, which does not allow him to straddle his broomstick. We are not going to lie though, because we love the brand new hairpiece that Harry gets in this set. It reveals his infamous scar that symbolizes the curse given by the Dark Lord. The Oliver Wood minifigure wears the same Gryffindor Quidditch uniform that Harry is wearing. The uniform consists of white trousers, a thick jumper, and dark red robe that stays faithful to the robes we see on the first two Harry Potter movies. Out of six minifigures, only four get angry/scared face variants. The Marcus Flint and Oliver Wood minifigures only have single expressions.

Parts

The addition of an actual wand element into the fray is impressive because now the minifigures can point their wands in different angles, making it easier to play out the duels in Harry Potter films that highlight brisk wand movements.

There is not a lot of new parts in this model. But we found a few notable pieces including the pearl gold rubber rings, the new wand elements, A-frame angled plates, and the new molded Golden Snitch that is exclusive to this set (naturally).

Final thoughts

Overall, the LEGO Harry Potter™ Quidditch™ Match set has a great selection of minifigures, and introduce new elements that make the set a magnificent addition to the LEGO Harry Potter product line. It is a well-balanced set that successfully improves upon the previous versions and adds great play features, which LEGO fans of all ages can enjoy.