4738 Hagrid's Hut

 
This new set, 4738 Hagrid's Hut, is the third attempt to recreate Hagrid's home in brick, and there are 442 pieces, including 4 minifigs, selling for $39.99 here in the USA. That's assuming you aren't buying them from TOYSRUS where it's $44.99. I rarely shop there but I'm lucky to have a LEGO store in the neighborhood. Anything to help keep the price per piece down. It's either that or begging. Maybe if I place a subliminal message in this blog I can convince people to send me free LEGO. This set has a slightly better cost per piece, under a dime, than the first two sets in the new HP line. Send me LEGO! There are a lot of small pieces in a pretty good mix as well as a few nice bigger bits. It would be a good set for the castle person. There's a good bit of the light blay and a little bit of the dark blay, a dollop of reddish brown, a bit of tan, some sand green slopes that are always great to have, a few good minifig accessories, and a big sheet of stickers. There's one sticker for each corner and the two smaller ones go on the chimney. I built the set but didn't put on the stickers. I rarely use the stickers. What if it goes on crooked? Then it's ruined. There's some critters. A nice Norbert the baby Dragon in dark green, a light blay rat which could be Scabbers, three little black spiders, two really nice new owls and a brick built Aragog. I really like the new owl, which has been resculpted to be a tiny bit shorter. Even so that's still about a 2 1/4 foot high owl. That's one figgin' big owl. This set has one in dark blay and the another is reddish brown. I think they are impressive. The printing on their bodies is stupendous and each color of bird has different markings. Look at those eyes. There's a couple of the orange pumpkin heads and a couple of the red mushroom dishes. It has a design that's like the ones that Brickarms makes.

  
 

 

There's a new door, which is kind of like the old door, but has a thicker outer edge. I like that door style, especially the violet one which came from the 4721 Hogwarts Classroom set, it's great for ancient themed builds. Not as sure if I like the new hinge, it's much more noticible than the older version. I am guessing it was easier for kids to attach a door than the old version. There's a pearl gold insert for the window that looks nice. The sets got a light brick for lighting up Hagrid's fireplace. That brown wedge is specially printed for Aragog, as is the spider's face. It's kind of flat, huh. It's not a bad giant spider. Might be fun to play with or bury. Sadly, only Hagrid likes the spider Aragog. Not surprising really, that spider would have his kids eat you if you happened by, unless you were accompanied by Hagrid. Best to stay out of the dark forest. There's some dangerousness going on in there.

 
There's a new Hagrid. The printing on his torso is the best of the three versions of Hagrid. It's coloring is more subdued than the previous figures, and there's a new belt buckle. He's flesh colored like the 2004 version, but he has a new face. The 2001 version had a yellow head and brown hands. Speaking of hands, Hagrid actually looks like he has fingers on his hands. You need to look close. The 2004 figure had the same hands and on the 2001 version they were slightly different and brown. Hagrid looks too pinkish for his job. He'd have tanned hands and the same goes for that last open bit of face that peaks out.

 

All the trio have Gryffindor sweaters on. The design is nice, new, and printed on both sides. All of the trio have two sided heads, newly designed for this series. Harry and Hermione have happy and mad faces but Ron has a sort of smirky type of expression and a worried or scared look. What's up with picking on Won Won. I'm sure he'd want you to: Send me LEGO. Not sure I like the Hagrid face, for Hagrid anyway. Doesn't quite express the hard life he's lived. Let's assume they didn't want to scare the children with what might be under that beard. Only Ron has a new hair piece.

 

The first version was 4707 Hagrid's Hut and it came out in 2001. It's got 298 parts and two minifigs, Hagrid and Dumbledore, in his rockin' purple outfit. It's a nice little set, there's a hut that opens up, a little cart, and a cage for trapping animals. Norbert is sand green in color, there's a tan owl, a trans-neon orange spider, and a white rat. I have no idea what Harry Potter book that trans-neon orange spider is supposed to be from, but I'm going to guess none of them, and that rat, that wouldn't be Scabbers, he's gray. That roof is pretty odd, it's made out of die cut plastic laminated paper. It's more like the roof in the movies than either of the two following versions. Still, some people prefer the brick built roof. I have mixed feelings about stud out roofs using plates, even over a printed piece, but the exclusive use of slopes can limit a guys roof style choices. The set opens with 8 hinged sections, one of which has the only door. There's a fireplace and table with some odd accessories but no bed. Where's the big guy to sleep? Man, half-giants get no respect. There are some nice accessories to use. I especially like the dragon book. There's a big Fabuland Axe, a couple of printed walls, that door that I like in brown, a cup, 5 bamboo leaf pieces, a pickaxe, 2 flames, and a couple of chrome keys. Here's Hagrid and Dumbledore followed by the Hagrid and Hermione from the 2nd edition below.

 

  
 
The reddish brown coat on Hagrid looks worse than than the previous brown version. There's too much red in it and the printed part is too bright. The time turner printed on Hermione's torso doesn't look that good and it makes the piece harder to use for anything else. That's not the best Hermione face either. Hagrid still gets a chrome key to carry around. Those were nice keys but I have to admit I'm a sucker for the chromed parts.

 

That's the box and interior to 4754 Hagrid's Hut. It came out in 2004 and has 302 pieces including the two minifigs, which are now flesh colored. Totally different design for the hut this time around. It's very much like the 3rd version. Still no bed for some reason. Another glaring admission, Fang. What's up with that LEGO? The house comes in two parts and has a plate roof with a hole at the peak. There's a 100% increase in the number of doors, a front and a back, making the hut like the book and the movie for the first time. Only four facets to the roof, half the previous, same as the following set. I like the addition of the sand green for the roof. That's one of my favorite colors. The grays are now blays, there's a bit of tan and reddish brown, and the sand green roof pieces have corners in this set. Very handy. The Fabuland axe has disappeared and a regular minifig axe replaced it. There are still some other good accessories but nothing too exciting. There's a bat, yay, a reddish brown rat, not Scabbers, and an orange spider. Is plain orange spider an improvement over the trans-neon orange spider of the previous set? I can't figure that one out. Like the first Hagrid's Hut this was priced at 30 bucks and it's a nice little playset. The Harry Potter branding had changed to a blue based edge. I didn't like it as much but I liked the parts inside the box.