Best Gift Ideas - Best Price - Harry Potter LEGOs - Hogwart's Express 4841 (Motor sold separately)

Lego and Harry Potter.  Take two winners, put them together, and it's a can't-miss gift idea.  Legos have been around for ages.  I played with them as a child.  So did my son.  As a matter of fact, I remember coming home at times to find my college-age son building lego creations on the living room floor… with his college age friends!  (The acorn didn't fall far from this tree… he likes toys nearly as much as I do.)

And Harry Potter… wow, what can I say?  The books are awesome, and the Harry Potter movies are about as good as it gets for keeping true to the spirit of the books.  When the final Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, came out, Monique and I each bought a copy. We took time off from work to sit side by side and read together.  It took me 7 hours of straight reading to finish it, and I had to immediately zip back through and re-read my favorite parts. 

Coming from that background, the Lego Harry Potter Hogwart's Express (4841 model, there are more than one version) just hits on all cylinders.

I'm sure you remember the scene with Mr. Weasley's flying Ford Anglia… When Ron and Harry missed the Hogwarts Express and decided to steal the car to catch up.  Relive the scene here in full Lego glory!  For added fun, watch the movie as you recreate the scene.  Can you imagine, you and your children duplicating the entire scene with the train and the car while it's actually playing?  That's the kind of thing great memories are made of.

One nice thing about Harry Potter Legos is the quality and detail.  I've read that J.K. Rowling has final say on anything Harry Potter.  She's wisely kept full control of her concepts, and she obviously cares that the Harry Potter Lego merchandise lives up to high standards. 

The Harry Potter Legos Hogwarts Express Set is a fine example; there are a total of 646 Lego pieces in the set.  5 minifigures - Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna Lovegood, and Draco Malfoy.  Accessories for the Express include a food trolley, suitcases, ice cream, owls, Harry's invisibility cloak, and other items.  The passenger car roof comes off to show interior details.  The train cars are connected by magnets; the luggage includes trunks with wands.

The main pieces consist of a locomotive, tender, and austere coach. TRACK AND MOTOR ARE NOT INCLUDED. (Sorry for caps, just wanted to make sure you caught that!) Total length is around 21 inches.

This release is the 4th version of Lego's Hogwarts Express. The first three were versions 4708, 4758, and 10132. (See video directly above for the current version assembly in time-lapse video; see the video below all the way at the bottom of the hub for a compressed-time movie of 4708 being assembled.)

Assembly time is two or three evenings, possibly 6 or 7 hours on the average. Not too difficult for a child of 6 or seven, younger children may need assistance. (Besides… you know you want to get down there and play with it, too!) Bear in mind, it has small parts, and is a choking hazard for children 3 and under.

Playability is great; for any Harry Potter Legos set there's a high replay value, but for the Hogwarts Express it's especially notable in the access points. The top is easily removed to place the characters and accessories inside. Many favorite scenes can be restaged for a static display or just having fun with the pieces to hand. Possibly a little added creativity might be required for even more scenes.

For the main three train assemblies, the connecting magnets are a bit weak for normal play. If you buy add-on track for it, that can help.

For further play possibilities, Lego offers separately sold track and motors. With a bit of effort, you could turn your Lego Hogwarts Express into an actual electric train. That's beyond the scope of this hub, but I wanted to let you know it's a legitimate option as provided by Lego. For a good beginning point, there's a good user-submitted opinion on the Amazon Lego Hogwarts Express page that goes into excellent detail of what you might need, and why.

If you're like me, you might be more interested in the Lego Hogwarts Express as a display. Truth is, I do play with my toys occasionally, especially if they're interactive, like my Buzz Lightyear figures that respond to different input. But most of the time, my toys are on display. The favorites are rotated to the computer room, the rest are in a separate room where I can enjoy them as a full collection. For the Harry Potter Legos sets, the display value in general is excellent. The Hogwarts Express particularly has crisp, rich vivid colors, pieces fit well, and the sculpt is spot on for what it tries to be, which is a really cool Lego construction set with Harry Potter.

With so many options, it's hard to know what to do… Play with it, display it?  Maybe build a track to push it around on?  How about motorizing it?  So many scenes from the Harry Potter books and movies that can be recreated;  For fans of Harry Potter, Legos, or both at once - the Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Express is a great set.  Not just for children, either.  A fabulous way to spend fun time with your children building memories you'll all treasure… or even just having a bit of fun for your own guilty pleasure!