Final Curtain for the Calendar...
Ages ago, adafrog had asked if all of the builds together make a final scene, or if they're self-contained. I figured it might help to do a last shot of everything together to better illustrate the answer. (And let the players take their bows... 😉)
I had added a few extra bits along the way, so this should make it easier to see what was included. Not counting the extra parts, this is everything that was in the box:
Lego makes an effort to group things in the calendars. A number of years back, they actually had a little police station to build in one, but that particular concept doesn't seem to have taken off. These days, for the most part, they seem to rely on the boxes providing the atmosphere, and they really do a phenomenal job with the artwork.
You can see where putting those same pieces against the backdrop of the box makes a huge difference, they blend right in, and I thought it was quite clever that they provided an indoor and outdoor play area.
It does a pretty good job of capturing elements needed for the first or second year Christmas celebrations. (First year, Hermione hadn't stayed for the hols, but that's when Harry gets his Wizard's Chess set from a Wizard Cracker.) With the exception of the chocolate bar and the nano Hogwarts Express (but, hey, trains are Christmasy), these are all things that play a role or make for decent background material. The second year Christmas is when HRH are using Polyjuice to try to interrogate Draco about the Heir of Slytherin. Draco might have been an obvious choice for this one, but there are plenty of him in other sets, so I was glad they didn't go there. I think they really missed a chance to include a cat girl head and the tail piece they already have to show Hermione's failed transformation. Funny hats would have been an easy bet. Moaning Myrtle or Poppy would have made a lot more sense to me as inclusions than Filius, but designing new figs is expensive, so that wasn't probable. (The other major Christmas release this year, the Clock Tower, manages to have an Infirmary but bizarrely still no Poppy. I guess old ladies are out. And you can probably guess my thoughts on that... 😐)
Here's a detail I really love, the square minifig footprints in the snow, complete with the marks the snow leaves behind when it falls off your shoes back into the fresh snow ❤️, and I swear that's a minifig attempt at a snow angel in there, or someone got knocked over, whichevs... Nicely done.
Obviously I also added the Severus and Sybill minifigs from other sets, adult Hermione is a mash up of other Hermione figs, and Ms. Bred and Poppy are (sadly 😉) OC's, cobbled together from other minifigs. (Mostly Draco, Harry and Ron, which tells you everything you need to know about my priorities. 😊 Oh! And the heads were Umbridge's and Scooby Doo's Daphne Blake's. I guess I really don't think about faces much...)
It retailed for 25 EUR, dipped in price (if you kept an eye out) to under 20 EUR, and I have literally now spent hours interacting or creating because of it, so I'm going to say that it was well worth it. Here's hoping you've gotten my money's worth out of it too... lol
And that's about it. The minifig team thanks you for reading. ❤️
Oh, and there was one last outtake, Filius had invited Minerva round to his the other night and was pleasantly surprised when she whipped him into shape. Oo'er, Missus!
(His little surprise face! And the whip! Seriously, it's an original Lego part, the cat / tiger lady's whip. Man, I love Lego to itty bitty bits.)
I had added a few extra bits along the way, so this should make it easier to see what was included. Not counting the extra parts, this is everything that was in the box:
Lego makes an effort to group things in the calendars. A number of years back, they actually had a little police station to build in one, but that particular concept doesn't seem to have taken off. These days, for the most part, they seem to rely on the boxes providing the atmosphere, and they really do a phenomenal job with the artwork.
You can see where putting those same pieces against the backdrop of the box makes a huge difference, they blend right in, and I thought it was quite clever that they provided an indoor and outdoor play area.
It does a pretty good job of capturing elements needed for the first or second year Christmas celebrations. (First year, Hermione hadn't stayed for the hols, but that's when Harry gets his Wizard's Chess set from a Wizard Cracker.) With the exception of the chocolate bar and the nano Hogwarts Express (but, hey, trains are Christmasy), these are all things that play a role or make for decent background material. The second year Christmas is when HRH are using Polyjuice to try to interrogate Draco about the Heir of Slytherin. Draco might have been an obvious choice for this one, but there are plenty of him in other sets, so I was glad they didn't go there. I think they really missed a chance to include a cat girl head and the tail piece they already have to show Hermione's failed transformation. Funny hats would have been an easy bet. Moaning Myrtle or Poppy would have made a lot more sense to me as inclusions than Filius, but designing new figs is expensive, so that wasn't probable. (The other major Christmas release this year, the Clock Tower, manages to have an Infirmary but bizarrely still no Poppy. I guess old ladies are out. And you can probably guess my thoughts on that... 😐)
Here's a detail I really love, the square minifig footprints in the snow, complete with the marks the snow leaves behind when it falls off your shoes back into the fresh snow ❤️, and I swear that's a minifig attempt at a snow angel in there, or someone got knocked over, whichevs... Nicely done.
Obviously I also added the Severus and Sybill minifigs from other sets, adult Hermione is a mash up of other Hermione figs, and Ms. Bred and Poppy are (sadly 😉) OC's, cobbled together from other minifigs. (Mostly Draco, Harry and Ron, which tells you everything you need to know about my priorities. 😊 Oh! And the heads were Umbridge's and Scooby Doo's Daphne Blake's. I guess I really don't think about faces much...)
It retailed for 25 EUR, dipped in price (if you kept an eye out) to under 20 EUR, and I have literally now spent hours interacting or creating because of it, so I'm going to say that it was well worth it. Here's hoping you've gotten my money's worth out of it too... lol
And that's about it. The minifig team thanks you for reading. ❤️
Oh, and there was one last outtake, Filius had invited Minerva round to his the other night and was pleasantly surprised when she whipped him into shape. Oo'er, Missus!
(His little surprise face! And the whip! Seriously, it's an original Lego part, the cat / tiger lady's whip. Man, I love Lego to itty bitty bits.)
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