2019 Harry Potter Wave
The Wave in a Nutshell:
75945 Expecto Patronum: $19.99 USD; 121 pieces; 4 minifigures
75946 Hungarian Horntail Triwizard Challenge: $29.99 USD; 265 pieces; 4 minifigures
75948 Hogwarts Clock Tower: $89.99 USD; 922 pieces; 8 minifigures
75957 The Knight Bus: $39.99 USD; 403 pieces; 3 minifigures
75958 Beauxbatons’ Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts: $49.99 USD; 430 pieces; 4 minifigures
75964 Harry Potter Advent Calendar: $39.99 USD; 305 pieces; 8 minifigures
75965 The Rise of Voldemort: $19.99 USD; 184 pieces; 6 minifigures
4695 Knight Bus: In-Store Build; 58 pieces; no minifigures
Looking back to 2019, this was a very solid second year for the Second Revival of the LEGO Harry Potter theme. After 2018 focused on the movies “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” 2019 focused on “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” This was also the first year that an advent calendar was introduced into the LEGO Harry Potter lineup! Personally, I have not yet purchased a LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar as I typically stick to chocolate advent calendars, however, it is a pretty genius idea!
As for the sets themselves I love the price points, as well as the number of sets in this wave. 75948 Hogwarts Clock Tower is by far the most expensive set in this wave at $89.99 USD, however, it is a beautiful set! The set is based on the “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” movie in that is includes minifigures and decoration items that are ready for the Yule Ball. Madame Maxime is by far my favorite. It also includes Dumbledore’s office, the Hospital Wing, the Prefect’s bathroom and the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It incorporates a lot of details into the set and with a total of eight minifigures it is a complete knockout!
As for other “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” inspired sets, the wave includes 75946 Hungarian Horntail Triwizard Challenge, 75958 Beauxbatons’ Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts and 75965 The Rise of Voldemort. All three are beautiful sets! The Horntail is an amazing build, and the golden egg is magnificent. The Beauxbatons’ Carriage has the unique powder blue color and looks very regal – arriving in style is an understatement! The Rise of Voldemort was one of my earliest sets that I had, and I have always found that it encompasses the scene very well. The set feels dark and somber, but not too dark and not too somber – just the perfect LEGO balance. As many other reviewers have noted, Cedric Diggory is missing from the set. Unfortunately, Cedric wasn’t alive too long in the scene at the Riddle family graveyard before Peter Pettigrew used the Avada Kedavra curse on him. So, I can understand why LEGO would have omitted his minifigure from the set. The most unique part of the set is that it includes a “baby” Voldemort! Just so many details packed into such a small set and the price was just the cherry on top - $19.99 USD!
The only thing that may have been missing from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” inspired sets, which has been done by LEGO before, was the Durmstrang Ship. It’s sad that a new one has not been released since the original in 2005 (I am writing this in early April 2022 and not all the information for the 2022 wave had been released yet)! However, who knows how much the ship may have cost in 2019, so possibly to keep the wave on the smaller side and prices within reason, a possible Durmstrang Ship may have been omitted.
As for “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” this wave didn’t offer too much. 75945 Expecto Patronum and 75957 The Knight Bus were the only two sets inspired by the movie. “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is one of my favorite movies in the franchise, so I am very confused why only two sets were included. However, both sets were well done, and I enjoy them both. The Expecto Patronum set has some unique blue, sparkly pieces (Harry’s Patronum the Stag) and who doesn’t love the Knight Bus! Both sets are very well priced, and I would purchase them again any time. I especially like the Sirius Black minifigure in the Expecto Patronum set, which I believe is one of the only times he has appeared as a minifigure in the Second Revival (as of April 2022).
Some of the sets that I can think of that could have been made – possibly the Leaky Cauldron. Harry needs to be dropped off somewhere by the Knight Bus, so what better than the Leaky Cauldron? Another set, which would have been a remake in 2019 is the Shrieking Shack. So much happened in the shack in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” that I am very surprised that it isn’t part of this wave. Again, as mentioned for “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” I am sure LEGO wanted to keep the 2019 within a certain size and a certain price point and possibly may have omitted some larger sets.
Overall, I think this is a great wave that captures some great scenes in amazing detail! Even though there are some scenes that would have lend themselves to make great LEGO sets, I am glad this wave is on the smaller side (when comparing it to 2021 wave size) and the price point is also consumer friendly. I think that is why I like the 2019 wave so much, the sets are based on scenes that are easily recognizable, the prices are great especially with the most expensive set being $89.99 USD (nothing over $100 USD), and the number of sets isn’t overwhelming. As more sets are released for a theme, there is a certain anxiety of trying to get all the sets that you want before they retire and that is why I like smaller waves much more, you just don’t feel necessarily overwhelmed in trying to collect all the sets.
VERDICT: Perfect blend of consumer friendly pricing, easily recognizable sets with great details and enough sets to build out the LEGO Harry Potter world at home!