Set information

Name: 75955: Hogwarts Express
Theme: Wizarding World
Year: 2018
Pieces: 801
Price: $79.99, GBP xx.xx, xx.xx€
Resources: Brickset, BrickLink

Hello Everyone and welcome to my review of the Hogwarts Express! Before we begin I want to give a very special thank you to LEGO for providing these sets for our reviews! This makes Hogwarts Express #5 (or #, if you count that old polybag...) and what a journey it has been. Take a look below at all of the variations of this iconic train that have been released;

 

So how does the new one stack up? Let's find out.

The Box

Front

We of course see the Wizarding World logo and the harry-Potter specific box art. Do take note that this is the European version of the packaging and thus is lacking some information such as parts count.

Back

The back of the box showcases the set's features. There is one small feature that is not noted here, I will get to that soon.

Minifigures

First up we have Ron, Harry and Hermoine with short legs. Harry and Ron feature the same torsos as in Aragog's Lair. They each come with a different color of wand, and each wand comes 2-per-color. (Though Lupin uses Ron's second wand.)

Alternate Expressions

If you are collecting the Wizarding World sets, you'll likely be amassing many of these three. They all have scared alternative expressions.

Back Printing

Here are their back printings, I removed Hermoine's hair to showcase the full printing.

Dementor, Remus Lupin, Trolley Witch

Next up we have some of the more unique figures. First is the Dementor figure, which makes good use of the ghostly leg piece. Lupin looks pretty good, certainly being a minifigure we take some liberties in terms of movie-accuracy here, but a good figure nonetheless. Finally we have the trolley witch, definitely the most unique figure to this set.

Alternate Expressions

Here we have the alternate expressions for Lupin and the Trolley Witch. The Dementor doesn't have an alternate face, however I did remove the hood to better showcase that headprint.

Back Printing

The backprinting for Lupin and the Trolley Witch- the Dementor does not have any.

Carts

Here we have two little builds, a luggage cart for Ron with the Scabbers mold, as well as the trolley for the Trolley Witch, complete with chocolate frog!

Station

Next we have this little station build which begins with the 9 3/4 platform. The build is pretty straightforward save for one action feature, which we will get to. One complain I have here is the signs for "9" and "10" - they just don't look very accurate to me in their current position.

Kings Cross

I should mention that other than the newspaper stand, all of the designs on this part of the set are stickers.

Gimmick

The station does have one gimmick; you can get to platform 9 3/4 by a simple swinging wall. The function is simple enough and doesn't retract from the set, though I do wish there was a bit more room between the stairs and the wall.

Platform 9 3/4

Here we have the other side of that wall; again the only non-sticker element here is the Daily Prophet pieces.

 

Other side

Here we have the other side of the platform, nothing too exciting here.

Crossover

This section allows people to walk over where the train would be. A simple build again, though I do like the custom clock (

element.)

Combining the modules:

We can then combine these together to complete the station.

 

 

Engine

Now we move on to the Engine. I have to say this is the best looking engine of any of the previous iterations of this train that LEGO has created. The shaping is great, the colors are much more accurate and of course, the wheels are finally correct. Worth mentioning is that the center dish and the curved tiles along the sides that read "Hogwarts Express" are printed.

Rear

As you can see, this one has a boiler room, but unfortunately, no conductor/engineer is included in this set. Why? We have gotten so many iterations of this set, and yet I do not believe any of them have included such a figure.

Wheel lock

Previously I mentioned that there was a feature that had been glossed over; the front of the engine has a locking mechanism for the "truck." This is great, it allows you to be able to transition this between track play and rolling this thing around on a carpet, which is ideal for kids. 

 

Tender

Next we have the Tender. it's a simple build and looks pretty good. The main inaccuracy here is that it only has two wheels whereas the real deal has three. Ordinarily this wouldn't be that big of an issue, but as you'll see below, a bit more size wold have done this some good. I do slightly prefer the tender from 10132, however.

Opening hatch

The top hatch can open. No coal or anything to be seen here, and honestly this thing is basically a storage case. So what's the issue? Well, nothing about this train is set up to allow for a power functions conversion. I don't have a track setup or anything, so for me this isn't a deal-breaker, but for many I can see this as being a major downside. in order to set this train up with power functions, you are definitely going to have to do some extensive modifications to do so.

 

Passenger Car

Like all of the previous Hogwarts Expresses, you only get one passenger car. I really wish we had gotten a second for a bump in price; otherwise it'll be costly to get a second set or to try to bricklink one of these. 

The passenger car does have opening windows which is neat. Something I'm not a fan of is how the back of the car is completely open, since the build is symmetrical. 

Interior

Lego managed to find a great way to allow for easy access inside of the passenger car- a removable roof and a removable wall. This allows plenty of room to stage your figures..

Trolley

Though do keep in mind that when you go to put the train wall back on, your scene might not work out, like this scene here. 

Interior

Speaking of the interior, it's not bad- the sand blue is a nice color, and the builds of the seats are good enough, though this of course doesn't have the "cabin style" seats that the real deal had. Oh the limitations of this scale... but hey the Trolley has a nice snug spot to sit!

Overall train

The overall train is without a doubt the best looking of the 5 different variations so far. I still wish it had some extra length/cars to it to truly blow away the past ones, though. I just realized the tender is backwards, though it's mostly symmetrical which can be easy to miss.

 

Complete set

At $80 and 801 pieces, this is yet another set that sits right on the standard PPR ratio. For $80 though, you do get a lot of content- a fairly large train and a station that is far more than just a side build. This is the best looking Hogwarts Express thus far overall, though I do wish even more cars had been added to this to really spice it up. I do wish the set had at least one more figure (engineer), and for many the lack of power function compatibility could be a major deal-breaker. Recommended to Harry Potter fans, less so to hardcore train enthusiasts. (Unless you just really like this train's design or have been itching for more new sets.)

What do you think? How does this set stack up to your expectations based on the previous HE sets we have received?

Dear Eurobricks, this review is now live for your viewing!

looks like a good set, but I agree with the fact that it should have a bit more room for power functions... other than that, it looks great! I love the way Lupin was designed, he looks great.

Nice set and nice review VBBN! Must have for a Train fan like me ;)

I love how the minifigures for this set are actually in the CMF line (Hermione, Ron and Harry) so you have to get both

 

Oh LEGO.... you did it again 

 

I wish they had produced like an "expansion" set with 1 wagon and maybe a random Hogwarts student. So you can make the train as long as you want

 

My favorite minifigure is the Dementor

 

Thanks for the review 

I won't be collecting the HP range... However... I'll certainly be making an exception for this set, I think it's a really nice looking train set, and good value for money considering the licence it is. 

This review helped make my mind up for me! 

I think they did well to pack so much into a cheap (by LEGO train standards) set. A large wheeled Steam Locomotive that can work on track or carpet, tender, passenger car and station seems an amazing deal for US$70.

My only complaint is couldn't they have just done a little extra work and designed it to easily motorise. The Jang video showing it motorised with a PF 1.0 M-Motor, Sensor and Battery Box is the best solution I've seen so far. I understand LEGO fans will always find a way, but it would be good for those adults who just wish to provide instructions for their children keen to do it themselves.

Edited July 25, 20186 yr by bigginsd

thank you for the review.

I knew that i would buy it but with the detail i want to buy it now....

Looks outstanding! The Lone Ranger locomotive was great, but this is the best we've had in almost a decade. More sets like this Lego! I hope the Harry Potter & Train fan numbers are enough to make this a big hit, with more steam locomotives to come.

The square windows on the passenger car are a disappointment. Otherwise this is clearly the best Hogwarts they've made so far, both in playability and appearance.

I'm glad it has the large wheels and the platform, but this train looks off.  It is too "stubby" looking compared to the source material.  The engine needs to be at least four studs longer, the tender two studs longer, and the passenger car 2-4 studs longer.  This looks to be a great play set, but not the greatest of trains.  

This is one of those sets where you buy two of them to build what you actually want

Thank you for the review. It sure looks like a nice affordable playset. The minifigs are great.

I only miss the typical generic train parts: train windows and train buffers with magnets. The train wheels however are included. So that's a big extra.

It's the other way around compared to the first Hogwarts Express (4708): that set had the train windows and the train buffers with magnets but no train wheels.  

I noticed the simple wagon connection method in this new set. Does this method works well with motorised trains on rails? I can't recall a motorised lego train set that uses this method.

Nice review. I had the old Hogwarts Express and I am still thinking if I like to have this in my collection. The train head is much nicer in this improved version plus there's a King Cross train station platform. The old ones had an excellent minifigs assortment, whereas these are quite average in my opinion. However, it appears the passenger cabin can be integrated with the old one together to make the Hogwarts Express longer. I am still undecided yet largely due to space constrain and other sets' considerations. Your review does helps in deciding and I will wait till this set is in stores. 

Thanks for the review! 

I think this looks like a great set, and I really like that they included the platform. Minifigures looks good too, looking forward to getting a Lupin fig.

The train/cart could be bigger of course, but that's easy to remedy if one wants to. Train windows would improve the look quite a bit though, so that is a little disappointing.

Will definitely get this set!

I love the detailed review. I think this is a great incarnation. Yes the carriage could be improved but for the price point it is a great model. 

On 7/25/2018 at 11:42 AM, Doom2099 said:

Looks outstanding! The Lone Ranger locomotive was great, but this is the best we've had in almost a decade. More sets like this Lego! I hope the Harry Potter & Train fan numbers are enough to make this a big hit, with more steam locomotives to come.

As far as trains go, the Lone Ranger locomotive is still my favorite steam engine, even over the EN.  I will get this set, as I have the first and last ones made, and am a big train fan - especially steam.

However, that said, I still think it's a big disappointment for those who want a reasonably accurate set.  I think the engine, overall, is too small.  I think if they made the front more accurate (some separation between the first two wheels on the front bogie) it would have been maybe a couple of studs longer and looked a whole lot better.  Then there's the tender, which has been done better in the past, and the car, which looks smaller even than past sets (and somehow even boxier, despite the curved roof - I don't know why).

I get it - they're not going to make a $200 HE for kids to play with, but $10 more could have made a world of difference.  I do hope someday they do a UCS Hogwarts Express.  The "Ruby' version of the Emerald Night would be a good starting place.

 

Hello all!

My almost-9-year-old wants "Harry Potter LEGO" for his upcoming birthday, but when asked which one will say "all of them" 

I plan on collecting them all myself, but have held off for economic reasons - it's both a blessing and a curse that so many awesome sets have come out in 2018.  I'm considering the Hogwarts Express for him, for playability - other option would be Quidditch.

For those of you that have one or both of these sets, which do you think would be better for a kid this age?

TIA!