As per usual, with all four of the 2019 Advent Calendars, I’ll be updating this post daily. Each day will have an image of the day’s build, a quick comment, with a final overall review at the end of the month. If you want to keep up to date with the post, use the link to the right of the page – it’ll be there for the duration of December. I won’t be posting any pics on social media, so it won’t get spoilt by me!
Theme: Seasonal; Harry Potter
No: 75964
Release Year: 2019
Cost: AUD $49.95
Pieces: 305 (with eight minifigures)
Well this is new and exciting! LEGO Harry Potter gets it’s own advent calendar. It’s not something many Advent Calendar fans were expecting, but I’m thrilled! Let’s dive in.
The display stand looks great – the inside of the Great Hall, all ready for Christmas, and some snow and Hogwarts Castle visible on the right. This is my favourite display stand for a while!
Day 1: Harry Potter
Day one is an apt start, with Harry Potter himself, and a great one at that! He’s got his Weasley Christmas sweater (knitted by Mrs Weasley – remember?) and it’s unique to this set. He’s also got tan pants and his brown wand, and a reversible face, with a shocked expression on the other side. The sweater also has stars on the back. This is a great start. A unique minifigure, with a clever reference to the books. This is exciting!
Day 2: Hogwarts Express
This one is spectacular! A microscale Hogwarts Express! The shape of the whole thing is amazing, and it just pops! The use of the semi-circle tiles in the boiler are spot on. I love this!
Day 3: Christmas Trees
We’re getting Christmas trees early this year! Usually these appear in the last few days, but these are a little different to what we’re used to – much more natural. I really like the design of the snow covered tops, with some bottom leaves showing. They’re very nicely done. While it’s not strictly Harry Potter, Hogwarts Castle does get decorated very nicely during Christmas, so these are a nice fit.
Day 4: Big Christmas Tree
This one is pretty. We’ve got an upgrade to yesterday’s small Christmas trees with a big one. There’s some gold decorations on it, some different coloured leaves, a bit of snow here and there, and a gold star. I like this one. This calendar has been my favourite so far!
Day 5: Gryffindor Banner
Well this one’s not exciting. A couple of flags on a couple of sticks. Let’s hope tomorrow is better. I sure hope we don’t get all four houses like this. Man, that’d be a waste!
Day 6: Professor McGonagall
Professor Minerva McGonagall is a crowd favourite, so it’s great to see her here, especially after the Gryffindor banner yesterday. We’ve seen this minifigure design before, in 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall. It’s a beautiful print, and from a big set last year, so it may not be in everyone’s collections.
Day 7: Great Hall Table
This is a bit more of a dull one – a Great Hall table. Nothing special with this one. I wonder if we’ll get some food for it soon? It is filling in that hall nicely though.
Day 8: Christmas Turkey & Potatoes
No building today (well, apart from attaching the legs to the turkey). It’s a little dull as there’s no building, but the parts aren’t too bad. Whole turkeys are not too common, and I like getting more food related elements anyway, so it’s a win for me. Maybe something a little exciting tomorrow?
Day 9: Slytherin Banner
That’s a no. Mimicking Day 5, we’ve got another boring house banner, this time from Slytherin. It’s identical to the Gryffindor one, but with different flags. Whoop-de-doo. They should have had these all in one day.
Day 10: Ron Weasley
This is a bit better! We’ve got Ron with his Weasley sweater on, and I absolutely love that the R’s a bit wonky, as Ron and his brothers all thought Harry got the best one. This is another brilliant minifigure, and now all we need is Hermione!
Day 11: Great Hall Table
We’ve extended the table from earlier in the calendar. Now we’ve got a candlestick and holder as well. Another simple build, but there’s now room for the turkey! It’s just not hygienic leaving it on the floor.
Day 12: Dessert and Goblets
After yesterday’s table, we’ve got more food and some cups. It’s not overly interesting, although the pie is a nice addition. It’s not been seen very much, only appearing in five sets in the last five years.
Day 13: Ravenclaw Banner
Uuuugh. Another banner. How original. This is ridiculous. Put them all together LEGO! C’mon…
At least we know there’s only one more to go.
Day 14: Hermione Granger
We’ve completed our trio of heroes today with Hermione. She’s got her Gryffindor robes on, and a scarf to match. She’s also got an alternate face, with a scared look on the other side.
What do we get tomorrow? Hopefully not a banner.
Day 15: Snowman
Nope, not a banner, but a snowman! He’s fairly standard, but has a wizard hat and an orange scarf to mix things up. It’s always good to get another scarf, so happy days!
Day 16: Wizard’s Chess
Finally a return to form, with a Wizard’s chess board! This looks great! There’s a lot of little parts, with a 4×4 plate. I particularly like the microfigures, both of which come with a spare. I’m looking forward to tomorrow!
Day 17: Hufflepuff Banner
Well, at least it’s the last one.
Day 18: Professor Flitwick
Another member of the faculty – Professor Filius Flitwick, the Charms professor. He looks great! He’s got a very nice vest print, an alternate shocked face, and two spare bow-ties – brilliant!
Day 19: Fireplace
I like this! A simple fireplace with some holly and a wreath. The brickwork on the sides is very nice.
Day 20: Pedestal
This is nice! A pedestal for a statue (I guess that’s tomorrow then), with printed tiles of each of the Hogwarts houses. Printed tiles? Yes please! They don’t come around very often in these types of sets, so that’s a big bonus.
Day 21: Hogwarts Architect Statue
Now this is good. The statue of the Architect of Hogwarts is at the Entrance Hall, and he’s holding a model of Hogwarts in his hand, and some charts in the other. It’s awesome to see a fully gold minifigure, complete with golden Dumbledore beard!
Day 22: Christmas Presents
We’ve gone a little simpler today, but I don’t mind it. Hogwarts House wrapped Christmas presents! We’ve got one for each house, with a couple of nice letter 1×2 tiles as well. Two days to go!
Day 23: Albus Dumbledore
The penultimate day of the Harry Potter Advent Calendar brings us the head of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. He’s got his dark red robes on, so this is the Richard Harris version of Dumbledore, from the first two films. The robes are stunning – the printing is amazing, and is also the same as from 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall. He’s also carrying the elder wand. We’ve got one day left!
Day 24: Packing for Hogwarts
I’m not really sure what this is called exactly, but I’m going with “Packing for Hogwarts”. We’ve got a chest, some chocolate (not of the frog variety), a spell book for wingardium leviosa – the levitation spell, Hedwig – Harry’s owl, a couple of wands, and a beautiful invitation letter!
The letter is also readable to an extent:
Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that as you have now turned eleven years of age and have the necessary talents (?), you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Sincerely,
McGonagall
This is seriously awesome. I love this! The printing detail is beautiful.
This has been one heck of a calendar. Yes we had the pathetic house banners, and the tables weren’t all that exciting, but the rest has been strong. Some solid minifigures, beautiful builds and that invitation letter now, has been really good.
The favourites have to be the statue, the chessboard and the Hogwarts Express. It also works as a big scene.
Thank you so much to all of you that have followed on this year. December is always a blast in my house, as it’s chock full of LEGO fun! My daughter has had a ball helping her Daddy build the sets, and she’s only 2 and a half. We’ve got some fun years ahead!
I hope Christmas brings you lots of laughs and love, and plenty of LEGO!
I am a huge Harry Potter fan and have an almost complete collection of Harry Potter Lego. I bought the Advent Calendar and am equally impressed and excited at the prospect of unearthing some new Lego every day and gradually completing the Great Hall Christmas scene, probably with some additions of my own!