75968 4 Privet Drive

The set in a Nutshell:

Name: 75968 4 Privet Drive

Pieces: 797

Minifigures: 6 minifigures

Original Price: $69.99 USD

Recommended Age: 8+ years of age

The best surprise in the 2020 Wave was probably this set – at least to me. The wave mainly focused on the “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” movies, however, somehow this “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” set made it into the lineup.

I received this set as a gift, so I didn’t make the conscious decision to purchase it. However, considering how important the Dursley’s home is to the Harry Potter franchise, I am sure I would have picked it up on my own accord. While I don’t play with the LEGO sets, I do want to have sets that create the Harry Potter World on my shelf, so I want to make sure that even the Dursley home – as depressing as it may be – is represented.

There isn’t anything I could say about the Dursleys that hasn’t been said before, so I am not going to say anything regarding the characters at all. I am just going to say that if the Dursleys would have met Professor Umbridge, they may have been more open to magic.

What really makes this set stand out to me is the fact that in this wave we also got the Weasley’s home in the 75980 Attack on the Burrow set. I absolutely adore the Burrow, there is even a warmth in the design to it. The first time I saw a picture of the Attack on the Burrow set I was in awe! The colors, the design, the details – everything is just charming like the Weasley family. In contrast, while 4 Privet Drive is also very detailed and an amazing set, it is much more orderly and proper. The LEGO design team really captured the essence of both homes and that is what makes both very strong sets in my opinion.

One of the design aspects that 75968 4 Privet Drive really captured is the above-mentioned orderliness of the home. Everything about it is very prim and proper, that is until you add Dobby, the floating cake, the letters that are rushing in, Ron Weasley breaking Harry Potter free – the Wizarding World is wreaking havoc on this home and this Muggle family! It is true, that if only the Dursleys would have embraced the magic their lives would have been much different and I am sure Uncle Vernon would have had lower blood pressure, but their reluctance to the Wizarding World is so perfectly captured in the design choices of this set.

It starts with the outside of the house – it looks so common and ordinary. In the movies, 4 Privet Drive is shown as a townhouse in a community full of houses that look just like it. Nothing uncommon to be found here and this ordinariness is well incorporated into the design. There is nothing unusual about 4 Privet Drive. The bush is well groomed, the flowers are well cared for – it is just like any other home on Privet Drive. The details that stuck out to me for the outside is that even downspouts and a TV antenna are included! Those to me are the perfect details to include in a house that is the epitome of Muggle life!

However, there are some traces of the Wizarding World on the outside – there is a brown owl calmly sitting on the “Privet Drive” sign and letters are trying to squeeze through the letter slot on the front door. It is a sticker, and I tried my best to place it as even as possible. While I am not a big fan of stickers, this one made me snicker.

When we turn the set around, we are welcomed into the Dursley home! On the inside of the front door, we can already see that Uncle Vernon nailed a piece of wood over the letter slot – again a sticker, but it does add much detail to the set. The bottom floor of the house holds the living room with a nice rug, a purple couch and matching armchair, a floor lamp, a side table with an indoor plant, a fireplace, and a lovely Durley family portrait over the fireplace. Most importantly the downstairs also houses the famous Cupboard under the Stairs!

At first, I didn’t fully understand why the stairs and entryway were blue, however, upon doing some research it does look like the Durley’s home has a blue carpet in those areas! That to me is LEGO going above and beyond in their design choices. The fireplace also has a wheel that may be turned so the Hogwarts letters can enter the house through the fireplace. (The letters can be pushed into the fireplace from a slot on the outside of the house). I know that is more “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” but when it comes to the Durley house, how can you not include that debacle?

The Cupboard under the Stairs can be easily accessed through a hidden door on the outside of the set. Essentially you pull on the lantern on the side and the wall magically opens. I had forgotten I had put the Harry Potter minifigure there, so it took me a while before I discovered him hidden there!

Upstairs is Harry’s bedroom, which includes a desk, and a bed. We can find a picture of Harry’s parents on the desk and the Daily Prophet on his nightstand. The windows behind Harry’s bed are sealed with “metal” bars – as you know Uncle Vernon wants to keep Harry locked inside and far away from Hogwarts after the delicious cake, that Aunt Petunia prepared, magically floated and dropped onto Mrs. Mason (thanks to Dobby, of course).

While we don’t get Fred and George Weasley minifigures in this set, we do get Ron and the Ford Anglia. The Ford is amazing looking and even comes with a suitcase for the trunk. In the trunk we also find the chain that can be connected to the bars on Harry’s windows - the windows can be pulled out to make Harry’s escape perfect!

The set includes six minifigures: Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, Dudley, Ron, Harry, and Dobby. I do like the array of minifigures and appreciate that I have the whole Dursley family now! Well, not Marge Dursley, but that was another movie. The cake is cool, it comes on a tall, clear plastic stand, so it does evoke the feeling that the cake is floating!

Dobby is the one minifigure that doesn’t have an alternate face print on the back of his head, however, that is due to how his head is designed. His head comes with the big, long ears, so he can’t really have an alternate face print. I like that I have the Dobby minifigure in my collection, however, it does creep me out a little bit. I am not sure what it is about the minifigure, and I am not sure how else you could have done a Dobby minifigure, but just something about it gives me the creeps.

Overall, I think it is a great set to have in your collection and I also think there is a great playability factor to it. I do wish, and I can’t believe I am saying this, that it would have had some modular features so later additional rooms could have been added (I am really missing the sunroom, which was shown more in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”). Though for display purposes, this set looks wonderful and does take you into 4 Privet Drive!

VERDICT: This set is a great to round out the LEGO Harry Potter world and bring a little bit of Muggle Magic into the Wizarding World!

The Minifigures

4 Privet Drive

Ford Anglia

The Rescue!