Review: 40770 Hogwarts Castle: Room of Requirement
Posted by CapnRex101,
I am surprised LEGO has chosen the Room of Requirement for a promotional set, given this location's importance. 40770 Hogwarts Castle: Room of Requirement includes the necessary details though, based on the scene of Harry's return in The Deathly Hallows.
Beyond looking good, the model seems quite substantial for a gift-with-purchase, especially one available with a fairly modest spend of £115, $130 or €130, albeit limited to Harry Potter sets, on LEGO.com.
Summary
40770 Hogwarts Castle: Room of Requirement, 202 pieces.
This is a lovely set, although I disagree with making it a gift-with-purchase
- Fresh design for this location
- Plenty of detail
- Compatible with other Hogwarts Castle sets
- Linked to 76457 Hogsmeade Village - Collectors' Edition
- This should arguably be a normal set
- Neville minifigure could be better
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigure
Neville Longbottom meets Harry, Ron and Hermione when the trio return to Hogwarts to find one of Voldemort's horcruxes, bringing them into the castle via the Room of Requirement. This minifigure lacks any exclusive pieces or his accurate jumper earlier seen in 76415 The Battle of Hogwarts, although the grey jumper produced for 10325 Alpine Lodge seems reasonable.
Moreover, this double-sided head has only appeared once before, in 76449 Chomping Monster Book of Monsters. The design suits Neville perfectly, capturing his smile particularly well. A dark brown wand is included and the hair element looks nice as well, shared by almost all versions of Neville.
The Completed Model
As the name suggests, the Room of Requirement changes to meet the needs of whomever is using it, hence this version is adapted for Hogwarts students to hide from Death Eaters, which differs from previous sets. The space is probably more recognisable as featured in Order of the Phoenix, but I welcome the change, filled with scattered accessories to provide some colour.
Among those accessories is a clever representation of Neville's Mimbulus Mimbletonia, using the bubbling element introduced in 76431 Hogwarts Castle: Potions Class, now in olive green. There is also a speaker, an opening chest and a bed, which definitely needs to be at least one stud longer.
Three stickers decorate the model, the first of which presents a broken radio, a light bulb and a blackboard featuring the Dark Mark. I vaguely recognise the spindly symbol alongside the Dark Mark as well, but cannot remember where from.
Dark green canopy elements, usually found on LEGO helicopters, form hammocks suspended around the room. These are an ideal size for minifigures to lie down and I love their dark green colour, which helps to break up the tan walls.
40770 Hogwarts Castle: Room of Requirement will be launched alongside 76457 Hogsmeade Village - Collectors' Edition, which is appropriate because the locations are linked via a hidden passage. The tunnel begins behind a portrait of Ariana Dumbledore and ends at this painting of three characters walking along a secret passage, with a ladder to reach it underneath.
The sticker is placed on a window piece, so the painting opens, just like the image of Ariana in 76457 Hogsmeade Village - Collectors' Edition. This is a neat function and I always appreciate gifts-with-purchase that relate to other sets, irritating though it is to limit availability of the Room of Requirement.
Another sticker adds extra detail to the model's final section, including a cheeky Cornish Pixie and multiple books on shelves. These stickers blend quite well with the brick-built accessories, notably including a chess set and another of those tiny beds.
The only features on the other side of the wall are some Technic pin holes and rails where the Room of Requirement slides into larger Hogwarts sets. The chamber folds into a box, which is compatible with any of 76435 Hogwarts Castle: The Great Hall, 76447 Hogwarts Castle: Flying Lessons or 76454 Hogwarts Castle: The Main Tower.
Overall
Though I welcome the connection between this set and 76457 Hogsmeade Village - Collectors' Edition, making a major location like the Room of Requirement a promotional set seems wrong to me. Perhaps the corridor housing the One-Eyed Witch Statue, which also hides a passage to Hogsmeade, would have been a better choice instead.
That being said, 40770 Hogwarts Castle: Room of Requirement is an appealing set and I think £115, $130 or €130 is an acceptable threshold for a set of this size. The Room of Requirement will be released on September 1st, forming part of the annual 'Back to Hogwarts' promotions on LEGO.com.
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16 comments on this article
It looks like one of those £18 sets from a few years ago, just with a single minifig instead of 4.
Not without merits, but to me this just looks like a mess.
Nice but I allready have 75966
Love the hammocks.
"Lightning has struck. Repeat, lightning has struck!"
I don't think any set that is part of an ongoing collectible series should be released as a GWP - just seems like a crass marketing strategy
Given the rune-like look of that spindly symbol I wonder if it’s one of Sirius’ tattoos, he does seem to be covered in things like that
Shame they made no effort to add the connecting pegs.
@emQ said:
"Shame they made no effort to add the connecting pegs."
The system has the pegs inbuilt into the larger structures, so this was unnecessary.
I don't think it's bad, but seems like the type of thing people could take or leave.
I guess the good thing about the Room of Requirement is that there are at least two other versions they could release as retail sets later on….
I haven't bought anything all summer. This nice GWP paired with points should get my wallet moving.
I think I just bought that sweater.
@StyleCounselor said:
"I haven't bought anything all summer. This nice GWP paired with points should get my wallet moving.
I think I just bought that sweater. "
Too bad the sweater doesn't come in your size.
ANother set that should have been a normal set instead of those awful statues.
Decent set. Shame it's a GWP. I didn't find the connection all that clear anyway.
Looks like a nice set, once the beds are lengthened. Love the hammocks. But it's yet another Hogwarts room that technically doesn't have a place to go in the castle without dislodging another room (or hallway). I wonder if they'd ever release a Hogwarts set that is just a framework to hold the extra rooms.
This isn't nearly as egregious a subject matter as 40577 was. That was the first set to include the Fat Lady's portrait since 2001, and only this year in 76454 did she return.
This kind of feels too niche for them to make a retail set of considering how brief its appearance was and how similar it is to the "junk room" incarnation of the Room.
What's the point of reviewing a GWP set? Does Lego genuinely believe people will spend the money to reach the criteria for it, which these days is normally hundreds of dollars, based on a favorable review for what is meant to be a bonus?
It makes no logical sense.