Review: 40496 Voldemort, Nagini and Bellatrix Lestrange
Posted by Huw,
Unlike 40495, which contains new versions of characters that have already received the BrickHeadz treatment, the other Wizarding World BrickHeadz set due for release on June 1st, 40496, provides us with three new figures: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, his pet snake, and one of his most loyal followers.
Lord Voldemort, the story's main antagonist, is a grotesque-looking character, with a pale reptilian complexion, no hair or lips, and snake-like slits for nostrils.
In the films he's attired in a dark green cape which has been replicated here with the help of a printed brick on his chest.
The Dark Lord's lack of hair and facial features have resulted in a very plain and boring figure, whose only saving grace is the SNOT-work at the back of his cape.
The human-turned-snake Nagini is Voldemort's pet and one of the more unusual creatures to be given the BrickHeadz treatment. I think the designer has done a great job of replicating the serpent's coiled body, neck and head, which is blocky enough for it to pass as a BrickHeadz.
Bellatrix Lestrange, memorably played by Helena Bonham Carter in the films, was a Death Eater and a fanatical follower of Lord Voldemort.
I have said this before, but I'll say it again, 'the bigger the hair, the better the BrickHeadz' and I am not disappointed here! Her long curly locks have been delightfully reproduced and this is easily the most exquisite hair possessed by any of the blocky characters.
It's constructed primarily from dark brown 1x1 and 2x2 round plates so has a texture similar to that of 70904 Clayface Splat Attack which is similarly built. I believe the character's hair is actually black, so black elements would have been more appropriate, but I don't think it would have looked so good, and of course there'd be no contrast between it and her dress.
It looks superb from every angle.
Around 100 dark brown parts have been used in its construction which is more than the total number of parts in some of the simpler BrickHeadz.
Verdict
The appeal of individual BrickHeadz very much depends on the suitability of the subject being modelled. Characters that have no interesting features whatsoever result in very plain and boring figures, whereas others with more flamboyant and distinctive characteristics end up being far more satisfactory.
Extremes of both are present in this set. Voldemort is certainly recognisable but because the character is featureless, his BrickHeadz is as a result plain and boring. Bellatrix Lestrange, on the other hand, has the main feature that separates an interesting BrickHeadz from a dull one: a large, distinctive and attractive hair-style. As a result, she is one of the best figures produced so far. That alone makes this triple-pack a must-have for fans of the square-headed figures.
40496 Voldemort, Nagini and Bellatrix Lestrange will be available at LEGO.com from 1st June.
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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32 comments on this article
I saw leaks of the Hagrid & kids set, this was a total surprise
Not a fan is sticking too many brickheadz in one set, choice of buying which you like is better. Why wasn't this a two set of Voldemort and Nagini with Bellatrix on her own.
Think the snake pushes the brickhead a bit too far for me, have it on its own and it's not clear that it's a brickhead other than the eyes.
But fun to have a review of an unseen set. Nice one Huw.
If only they reintroduced the dark green 1x2 tile for Nagini...
Nagini is adorable and I love the construction of Bellatrix’s hair! It’s great to see some new HP BrickHeadz :)
Fantastic representations of the characters, especially Nagini and Bellatrix!
Does Bellatrix have that light brown highlight in her hair? It doesn't look familiar...
Hairband perhaps?
That nagini... I want the snake, but not any of the brickheadz.
Voldemort looks short next to Bellatrix LOL
Love all 3... yes even Lord whatshisname, it is haunting enough to be great imo
Adorable snake, great Bellatrix, meh (if accurate) Voldemort.
Wow these brick heads look really good
Any price info? Two large BHs and a snake suggests maybe more than $20.
"the human turned snake Nagini"
Thank you for reminding me of that awful plot point and how much Crimes of Grindenwald singlehandedly dragged down a lot of the franchise for me. A shame too, the first Fantastic Beasts was a fun (if not perfect) wizarding romp while that second film still sticks out to me as the first thing from the Potter franchise that was honestly truly awful. It doesn't help that David Yates's directing style since Order of the Phoenix has been to edit everything into that monotone gray either, so most of my memories of Crimes are gray CGI blurred messes with the occasional actor popping up in a scene or two.
@xboxtravis7992 Yeah, I hated seeing that mentioned too. Nagini is a snake. Crimes of Grindelwald is fan fiction of the worst kind. Otherwise great review (as always).
All of the printed parts for the Minions BrickHeadz sets are currently available through Bricks & Pieces. Hopefully the Bellatrix print will be as well, so I can just make that one and not bother with the other bits.
So the only character with a nose is the person who isn’t supposed to have a nose?
It was a nice surprise to see these... not sure I'm a fan of the kids and Hagrid, but Bellatrix and Nagini are killer looking! I'll take Voldemort too I guess...
I love a good surprise. Looking forward to getting these.
Man this looks good.
So does Nagini still have the "brain" brick?
Say what you will about Voldemort, that printed nose piece looks like it might have some interesting uses.
@J0rgen said:
" @xboxtravis7992 Yeah, I hated seeing that mentioned too. Nagini is a snake. Crimes of Grindelwald is fan fiction of the worst kind. Otherwise great review (as always)."
I haven't seen/read Cursed Child but that might be even worse, this coming from someone who really disliked Crimes of Grindelwald on the first watch.
As for the actual Brickheadz, the brown color of her hair and the highlight/headband look a bit off on Bellatrix but the rest is awesome. Nagini and Voldemort are also cool and it's interesting seeing the wands used on Brickheadz (although they are admittedly a bit undersized, I'd love Brickhead-scale ones that could more accurately represent Bellatrix and Voldemort's wands).
@Trigger_ said:
" @J0rgen said:
" @xboxtravis7992 Yeah, I hated seeing that mentioned too. Nagini is a snake. Crimes of Grindelwald is fan fiction of the worst kind. Otherwise great review (as always)."
I haven't seen/read Cursed Child but that might be even worse, this coming from someone who really disliked Crimes of Grindelwald on the first watch.
As for the actual Brickheadz, the brown color of her hair and the highlight/headband look a bit off on Bellatrix but the rest is awesome. Nagini and Voldemort are also cool and it's interesting seeing the wands used on Brickheadz (although they are admittedly a bit undersized, I'd love Brickhead-scale ones that could more accurately represent Bellatrix and Voldemort's wands)."
I read it, and while the story is fan-fictiony from those I know who have gone and actually seen the play, the spectacle of the show on stage more than makes up for the weirdness of the plot and its fanservice dialed up to 1000%. I have yet to see it on stage myself, but everyone I know who has raves about the experience so that is a step up from leaving Crimes of Grindenwald bored to tears I guess!
Wow, Bellatrix is pretty neat.
And Voldemort still has a nose!
Does the dust and hair come included with the set?!
Regarding Bellatrix, if you look up photos of her, in some she has hair that is uniformly extremely dark-brown to black. In others she has brown hair that's not as dark, and with a hint of a lighter patch on the left side. They probably made that change to make her more obviously related to Narcissa.
Voldemort would look so much better if he just had tiles on top of his noggin instead of plates. Studs represent hair on Brickheadz.
Mostly I just want the snake.
@SirBrickalotOfLego said:
"Does the dust and hair come included with the set?!"
... that's not dust, it's the ash remnant of the last troll to mention dust. I think Bellatrix muttered incendio from the comments or something.
These are….very, very good.
I might have mixed some black in with that brown hair.
Eh, it’s LEGO… maybe I will. WOOHOO!
@xboxtravis7992:
@J0rgen:
@Trigger_:
It's definitely not a perfect movie. A large part of it is that it suffers from Ep3 Syndrome without the immediate payoff of knowing where things were heading because you already watched it 28 years earlier. It very much felt like the synopsis was "get from Point A to Point B", but one of the big complaints I've seen about it turns out not to be valid after all.
The biggest specific complaint I've seen, plotwise, is that Queenie loves Jacob, and yet teams up with the biggest anti-human wizard around at the time. She's a Legilimens of unparalleled power, able to read the most fleeting thoughts of anyone sitting in front of her without even trying. And yet Grindelwald had hatred for all humans bouncing around in his head, and she joined his army anyways. I was one who felt that kinda broke the movie and her character.
Then I rewatched the entire HP series and followed it up with the two FB movies...and caught a tiny hint that explains why Queenie didn't have a problem with following Grindelwald out of the amphitheater. When she first meets Newt and Jacob, she immediately knows what Jacob is thinking, but not Newt. When he asks her about it, she says she has trouble with the British, and thinks its the accent. So, there you go. She has no idea what Grindelwald is thinking, and she's a very trusting individual. But it would have really helped if they had a recap of FB1 at the start of FB2.
As for the Nagini thing, I just kinda rolled with that. I've never read the books, but the explanation given in the movie made sense, so I didn't see a reason to object.
@Havok211 said:
" @Darth_Mule said:
"So the only character with a nose is the person who isn’t supposed to have a nose?"
Chewbacca has a nose"
And Gru from Minions.
It's an amazing triple set. Far better than the new trio + Hagrid one.
I'm not entirely sold on Bellatrix's brown hair, though...I get it that they went with Helena Bonham Carter's original colour, but even in the film they made sure it was dark brown enough so that when they colour graded the pictures, on screen it looks black (as Bellatrix hair is canonically) but without clashing with the black of the dress.
I think maybe they should have done a mix of black and brown for the hair here...dunno. Will have to try it when I get the set, see how it looks.
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