Oh, first year Harry Potter sets--such good Castling parts packs: arches and bricks, grey and tan, and--what's that? They have identically torsoed figs. Well, uh, that's going to be annoying soon...

I got a bunch if used 2001 HP sets this past winter, having mostly avoided them at the time, and it's very nostalgic in an "old grey parts pack" way.

Interesting head for Snape…

I was given this set as a gift, back then, I remember. I never really knew what to do with it. These add-on sets were great if you collected them all (which, obviously, was the goal) and actually assembled the Hogwarts Castle. But I never did that, so I think I just used this as a parts pack for a few years.

@Zordboy said:
"I was given this set as a gift, back then, I remember. I never really knew what to do with it. These add-on sets were great if you collected them all (which, obviously, was the goal) and actually assembled the Hogwarts Castle. But I never did that, so I think I just used this as a parts pack for a few years."

Like much of the Batman theme, the value in these sets was more in picking up the complete run of minifigs (though at least Batman has a variety of different outfits, unlike 2001’s Harry). The builds were pretty anemic, even if you tried to group them into a larger Hogwarts. Remember, every time people complain about “part bloat” in modern sets, this is what the alternative is.

Compare this to 76431 and see how far we've come!

The box art and design of this one was always weird to me. Box art in particular looks like Ron is trying to escape from Snape for some reason.

Glowing Snape because he wouldn’t look wan enough with the yellow skin is kind of genius. But messed with when it does glow in the dark, though.

This set Peeves me off.

I bought this one last year after wanting it for years! I love it, despite its shortcomings. Its muted color stands out against the other HP sets, but the roof provides just the right amount and tint of color to make it look nice. And it looks subterrean if placd under other sections because of this.

There's also the charming details here like the combined feature of an exploding couldron that can also reveal a magic scroll (the scroll is from Castle and the laddle from Fabuland), the hidden storage under the table, and the (printed!) cabinet that opens to reveal Peeves (and could function as a secret tunnel entrance).

And the way it hinges is useful here, as it can fold up to have the couldron in front of the classroom. And it's a key section to both the 2001 and 2002 combinations of Hogwarts.

So, a charming set if you ask me. It's not super filled in (the back wall of the main section successfully feels mostly filled in though) or the greatest as a standalone structure. But it's a room. And it wasn't too overly expensive precisely because they focussed on the room an the magic of its contents, rather than on filling everything in, or accuracy.

Oh, and GITD head Snape is iconic. Remember, this was designed in tandem with the first film and they didn't have anything but the books to go off of.

Not to mention that this was the 2nd major film license lego had ever done after Star Wars. In between there were only some minor ones for smaller children like 2000's Mickey Mouse (near-fabuland) and 1999's Winnie the Pooh (duplo).

I picked this up at a bootsale for £4 last weekend, along with Quidditch training and the Troll set at the same price. I know people complain about pricing and small parts of modern sets, but these vintage sets are quite boring to build compared to modern ones.

Name is inaccurate. Snape famously has no class.

@Andrusi said:
"Name is inaccurate. Snape famously has no class."

Snape IS class.

We need a new Peeves minifigure.

@Norikins said:
"We need a new Peeves minifigure."

Since he got cut from the only movie they filmed him for, I doubt he’s coming back.