Indexed
4736 Freeing Dobby
Price: $10.99
Pieces: 73
Price Per Piece: $.15
Minifigures: 3
LEGO Description:
Found this set at my local Walmart, a long with Hagrid's Hut, which I didn't purchase, along with the Quidditch Match, which I did buy. I am extremely satisfied with this set, if not completely wowed.With the help of Harry Potter, free Dobby from his master Lucius Malfoy!
Trick Lucius Malfoy into freeing Dobby , the house elf! Then use Dobby to protect Harry Potter and send Lucius flying down the hall with a magic blast as he tries to get revenge in this Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets scene. Includes 3 minifigures: Harry Potter , Lucius Malfoy and Dobby Blast Lucius Malfoy with magic using the push function! Present Dobby with a LEGO sock and set him free! Special set elements include spiders, flames and Tom Riddle's Diary
I normally don't say too much on the boxes, mostly because you don't buy a LEGO set for the box (if you do, can I have the LEGO pieces you don't need?) but this box is exceptional. It really has a nice color and background, and it has a good Harry Potter feel to it. The actual picture of the set seems strange to me though because it is on the background of the castle, which looks nothing like the set.
Also Dobby has to be some sort of Jedi. How else could he use Force Lightning?
Obligatory back printing showing the playability feature. Also Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater (Spoilers).
Now onto the minifigures.
I don't think that I'm saying anything particularly shocking when I say that this set is a minifigure set. You're only going to buy this set for the minifigures. There are no particularly surprising 'must have' 'rare' or 'sought after' pieces in this set. You get three minifigures, Harry Potter, Lucious Malfoy and Dobby the House Elf. There are no surprises here.
Harry returns in flesh color and in his school uniform. Right now he is sporting his frumpy angry face. The printing is pretty good, no complaints here.
The back printing on the minifigure isn't the most detailed in the world, but every bit helps. It's just some folds. Harry also sports his happy face on the other side. He's a pretty good minifigure, although his scar sort of limits his reusability, seeing that everyone will see the lightning bolt shaped scar and assume that that is Harry Potter in the scene.
Sadly the wand is his only accessory and it is still huge. They should really switch it out for a smaller sized stick, like the ones they include with some of the smaller Collectible Minifigures.
Lucius Malfoy is up next and he is looking fabulous and like a WASP as usual. Kudos to LEGO for the well dressed minifigure torsos they have been cranking out lately. I approve. His face sports the 'annoyed with the world look' and I could find a million uses for it. His wand is black (although in the movies it's actually a cane with a gem on top, a pity they couldn't recreate that for LEGO. This seems a bit like a cop out.)
Of course, after lavishing so much praise on the front of the torso there is no back printing It doesn't matter too much though. After all he is wearing a cape. His alternative face is more what should be looked it. It's the Death Eater's mask from the movie. This is a good move by LEGO. People who want to recreate HP scenes are going to need multiple Death Eater faces and by putting one in the cheapest set it makes it more accessible.
Here's Dobby. He comes with little tiny child legs that don't bend I don't have anything against them but they're so...rigid. I like shorter LEGO minifigures for variety but the sacrifice is great for pose-ability. This new Dobby though is a vast improvement on the previous one, as there is actual printing on it vs. no printing. The torso is great too, although I'm not sure how to reuse the 'wearing a towel' look. Maybe a hobo?
A word of caution though: The eyes on Dobby rub off, so be careful.
He does have back printing, very nice detailed back printing.
He's also equipped with a book, like one that you actually open and store stuff in. Inside is a printed tile of a sock, just like the original Freeing Dobby set. However, unlike the original set, the book has no printing on it. It's just black, inside and out, no detail otherwise.
The actual set itself is pretty much an after thought to the minifigures. There is not much here. There are some dark gray bricks, some light gray bricks, and some tan bricks. Like I said at the beginning, this set offers no surprises with pieces.
The sand green pieces are two cones and three roofing/slope pieces.
I'm not sure why there is a gold stud on the side. I really have no idea.
Sorry for this one being out of focus. From the back you can see that there are some, accented bricks? I'm not sure what to call them. The bricks have little dips in them. There are 4 1x2 gray pieces like this in this set.
The set also comes with a broom and a spider. Why a broom and a spider? Because it is Harry Potter. There is a broom or a spider in every single Harry Potter set, sometimes, usually both. The Quidditch Match comes with 5 brooms, the Hagrid's Hut set comes with 3 spider, etc. etc. You get the idea. If you get all of these sets, you will have A LOT of brooms and spiders. Enjoy them.
I haven't mentioned the hair until now. Lucius is sporting long blonde hair like I haven't seen before. I can't say that it's new, but I definitely don't have any like his. It's a solid piece, no braiding, just blonde hair straight back. Only problem though is that it doesn't stay on with his cape behind him. You have to move Lucius' cape off to the side in order for his hair to stay on. Harry's hair is shaggy black and round.
The 'play' feature in the set is a function to mimic Dobby shooting back Lucius Malfoy. If you remember the large giant stick from the back of the set, this is what it is used for.
Bam, on his back/side. That will show him for being evil and killing puppies, or polluting the environment or whatever dastardly things Voldemort tells him to do. Voldemort kills puppies, right?
So here's the rundown on this set.
I would recommend it. It's a good solid set, pretty great for being in the $10-$11. The pieces aren't amazing but the minifigures are worth getting at least one of these sets. Lucius doesn't come in anything else except Diagon Alley and Dobby doesn't appear anywhere else at all. The book is a nice piece and it can never hurt to have more tan pieces in my opinion.
I would recommend ignoring the Price Per Piece. It is high, but I think this set was worth it. You should probably think of this set more of a battle pack than a regular old set, not saying that it's an army builder but more a 'buy it for the minifigures' sort of deal.
Go out and get this set. I recommend it.