Harry Potter Advent Calendar - Day 18
Posted by CapnRex101,
After completing his Hogwarts shopping, Harry next needs to board the Hogwarts Express and begin his first term at this celebrated school of witchcraft and wizardry.
King's Cross Station should be our next stop...
The beloved 'Golden Trio' inevitably appear in each Harry Potter Advent Calendar, but Ron Weasley has emerged earlier than anticipated. Admittedly, this character was introduced at King's Cross Station, but including this example wearing Hogwarts robes seems slightly odd. Nevertheless, the minifigure looks superb, featuring another unique uniform.
Nine different versions of the Gryffindor robes, for instance, have been produced since 2018. Some feature scarves, open robes or jumpers and a degree of variety is welcome, but I think those unique designs might be better used for unique characters. However, this torso, lacking any house affiliation, works nicely for Harry's initial meeting with Ron because neither character had been assigned their house.
The tiny Hogwarts crest on Ron's tie looks splendid, but I would prefer another double-sided head as this element is extremely common. As usual, the character includes a reddish brown wand and our second chocolate frog card emerges as well, alongside a chocolate frog. My tile features Severus Snape, but let us know which character you received in the comments.
Overall - 4.0 - Exclusive minifigures are certainly appreciated and this design looks excellent, although the number of different Hogwarts robes is perhaps excessive.
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20 comments on this article
Bertie Bott
I got Ollivander, and remain duplicate-free! I'm very happy about getting unsorted Hogwarts robes, as I need them for the students crossing the lake in my Hogwarts display. It does feel slightly odd getting Ron in robes before arriving at Hogwarts, but I'd rather have an «army builder» than a repeat design, which I think Ron would have for the train scene.
I got silver dumbledore card today... shame, I already had one, my first duplicate :<
Minerva McGonagall
I got Helga Hufflepuff today, still no duplicates yet
I think, after googling, i got Ollivander, can't really tell.
I got Gilderoy Lockhart, which unfortunately means both chocolate frog cards in this advent calendar have been duplicates for me.
@Hybryda said:
"I got silver dumbledore card today... shame, I already had one, my first duplicate :<"
Ron got a duplicate of Dumbledore on the first train ride to Hogwarts as well, so at least it fits the theme :)
I have Seraphina Picquery, which is nice. Now I have 2/16. I'm not collecting them...
I got Nicholas Flamel today, so far no duplicates for me, but I only have 5 now
The Dumledore with silverish top today. My second so no duplicates yet.
@Legonk said:
"Ron got a duplicate of Dumbledore on the first train ride to Hogwarts as well, so at least it fits the theme :)"
Actually, if I remember correctly, it was Harry who got a Dumbledore card with his first chocolate frog, to which Ron replied that he "got about six of him".
I got Tara Strong today. I was wrong about my partout copy. It’s the War Doctor who I got twice (with Hedwig in this copy, and with Ron in the partout copy). And with the partout copy of Hedwig, I got the Grail Knight.
@Legonk:
Harry got his first Chocolate Frog card on the train, which was Dumbledore I (silver background). Ron said he “got ‘bout six of him”, but never opens one himself in the movie. I don’t know about the book version, since I’ve never read them, but several Chocolate Frog boxes are visible on the cart, and Harry bought everything, so one would assume there were more cards obtained on the ride. We just never see them.
@Markorollo:
Dumbledore I has the only silver border. Both versions have hats and long beards, and Dumbledore II is the only one with a pinched beard.
The four House founders can be identified by the fact that the purple bits on the border are gold instead. Two males, two females, Slytherin is bald with his locket, and Ravenclaw has her diadem.
McGonagall has a white thing on her chest that looks like a Christmas wreath. Lockhart has a patterned vest, jacket, necktie, and hair that’s poofy on the right side of the image (his left side). Snape has plain robes and chin-length black hair.
Scamander has a white vest, bowtie, and hair that’s poofy on the left side of the image (his right). Flamel has plain light-colored robes and chin-length white hair (looks like a bleached Snape). Picquery has an elaborate outfit with lots of dots on the hat, and a kind of Egyptian armor look on the torso.
Sykes has an aviator cap with goggles. Bott has a striped vest, striped jacket, bowtie, short bushy beard, and hair that flares a bit on the sides (he kinda looks like Gryffindor, so the card border is the easiest way to identify which you’ve got).
Maxime has a thick fur collar on a coat that looks like cracked glass (she also looks like she has an acorn on her head). Ollivander has a plain, light-colored vest, plain jacket, plain necktie, no beard, and short hair that flares out so it has triangular bits on either side of his head.
Seraphina Picquery
I got professor McGonagall on the tile and 4 wands (2 spru’s)
@Mortimus_Brick:
They go a little crazy with the HPAC wands, for sure. 2019 had one sprue each for six characters (so 12 wands total). Possibly they had some complaints over missing wands, but 2020 gave each of six characters two sprues, for a total of 24 wands. This year Harry got none, and they only put one sprue with his wand box, Dudley and Griphook didn’t get any, of course. There should be two more minifigs, and from here on out I think Finch is the only non-mage to feature in the movie. I’m therefore expecting the wand count for this HPAC to be 14.
@Markorollo said:
"I think, after googling, i got Ollivander, can't really tell."
Here you can check it...
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=76390-17
Been a while since I read the books, but didn't Ron have hand-me-down robes on when he met Harry?
Jocunda Sykes!
@TheOtherMike:
In the movie (which is what this is based on), he had on a plaid shirt, a blue sweater, and a green sport-coat when they first met outside of Platform 9-3/4. He’s wearing the same outfit when he enters Harry’s compartment. Hermione has on her robes when she comes looking for Neville’s toad, though. Before she exits the compartment, she comments that the train will be arriving soon, and they should change into their robes before they arrive. As they arrive outside the Great Hall to get sorted into their Houses, Draco comments on the hand-me-down status of Ron’s robes.