Magic floats in the air! From the philosopher's stone to the chamber of horrors
Have you always wanted to follow in the mystical footsteps of Harry Potter and visit Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with him? The Lego® 71043 Hogwarts™ Castle makes this dream come true! At least as a miniature version for your Lego minifigures.
In this review, we will find out whether the Lego 71043 Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle is suitable for an investment and what makes it special.
Lego® Harry Potter: a popular themed series
With the start of the Harry Potter film series, a licensing business with Lego® also began. Lego produced matching sets for the first four films. This has continued until today, with Lego regularly presenting new Harry Potter sets to its fans, which not only make the hearts of collectors beat faster. The fan base is huge; besides Lego fans, the kits are also popular with Harry Potter devotees.
Appreciation of previous sets
The Lego® 71043 Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle is not the first of its kind, as a spin-off of the castle appeared on the market as early as 2001 in the form of Hogwarts Castle Hogwarts Castle 4709. Further sets followed in 2004 Hogwarts Castle 4757, 2007 Hogwarts Castle 5378 , 2010 Hogwarts Castle 4842 , 2011 Hogwarts Castle 4867 and finally 2018 Hogwarts Castle 71043.
The previous models had an average RRP of around €90 and a part count of 466 to 1289 pieces. In contrast, the current Hogwarts Castle has an RRP of €419.99 and has 6020 parts. This makes it the largest, most expensive, but also most detailed set in the series.
Despite the new editions, the castles have performed well without exception, with each set at least doubling its RRP after it went EOL. It should be noted, however, that the previous sets were smaller and had a lower RRP. Doubling was therefore easier.
71043 Hogwarts Castle: Facts & Figures
The set has a Harry Potter licence and is distributed as a D2C set. The average part price of 6.98 ct/part is a fair value and good for a licensed set of this size.
The 4 exclusive minifigures are the founders of the castle: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw. Each figure has a retail value of just over €20, making a total of at least €80 just for the minifigures. However, the retail value of the figures only applies if Lego does not re-release them in the future and they are then part of a cheaper set, for example. In such a case, the minifigures would no longer be exclusive and their value would decrease. From an investment point of view, the set should not be bought exclusively because of the minifigures it contains.
The Part Out Value of the set on Bricklink is 765€, which is a solid value for the set size. It is a D2C set, so it is only available at Lego® and exclusive partners like Müller or Galeria.
Hogwarts Castle is the largest Lego Harry Potter set to date and takes up several smaller sets in the series, such as the 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall or 75947 Hagrid's Hut: Buckbeak's Rescue .
Big, Bigger, Hogwarts Castle
The Lego® 71043 Hogwarts Castle is the largest Harry Potter set of all time and also compares well with other themed worlds. In the Lego ranking, it occupies 5th place (as of 11.04.2022), as a possible investment object, this is an important point.
A Lego® set with many details
It is not only a large set, but also one with many details. Lego® fans praise the light reflections of the windows in the great hall. As mentioned before, the Hogwarts castle includes several small side buildings. In addition to the Great Hall and Hagrid's Hut, there is also the Whomping Willow to discover. Especially for fans who are known to pay attention to details, these are positive points.
Despite all the attention to detail, Lego relies on a lot of stickers, which not only affects the value, but is also rather sobering for fans and collectors. Harry Potter fans also complain about the lack of components that would make Hogwarts Castle more authentic, such as the Quidditch tournament or the greenhouses.
The sheer size of Hogwarts Castle attracts Lego collectors as well as fans of the Harry Potter films. Conversely, a large fan base also means that the sales market is large. Fans in particular like to spend a few euros more, which is an advantage for us Lego investors.
Lego® Harry Potter: A play world or model?
In this case, it is difficult to classify them. On the one hand, the set has more than 30 figures, which theoretically invites people to play. On the other hand, only 4 of the figures are so-called minifigures in conventional size. The rest are micro-figures, so it's questionable whether they're really fun to play with.
The dimensions of the Lego® Hogwarts Castle are 58 x 69 x 43 cm (height x width x depth), so it definitely fits into a display case and can be displayed. In addition, it can be staged, e.g. with retrofittable lighting, which makes collectors' hearts beat faster. The box of the kit has dimensions of 60 x 51.4 x 20 cm. These points make it clear that the set tends to be considered a model.
In our opinion, building fun is guaranteed, because thanks to the two building sections with a total of 4 instructions, it is possible for several people to build the set at the same time. The overall construction consists of two parts that can be pushed together.
Comparable sets to the 71043 Hogwarts Castle
Comparing the 71043 Hogwarts Castle with a similar set does not seem so easy at first. There had never been such a large set in the Harry Potter series before.
The comparison with the Lego® Hogwarts Castle 4842 from 2010 seems the most obvious. This set was released at an RRP of €129.99 and, with 1290 pieces, was the most detailed and largest Hogwarts Castle in the Lego series to date. After the official EOL in July 2012, the price rose immediately and doubled within ½ year to a price of about 260€. This represents a good performance after such a short time.
The fanbase at that time was certainly as large as it is today, even if the current 71043 Hogwarts Castle is even more detailed and larger, the comparison should be taken with a grain of salt. Doubling a set with slightly less than ⅕ the number of parts and a much lower MSRP happens much faster. Nevertheless, a solid price increase can be expected for the 71043 Hogwarts Castle after EOL, as the starting point including the level of detail, fanbase and size is a similar one.
Large Lego® Sets
The fact that Lego fans are fond of large and detailed sets is also proven by the Lego® 10276 Colosseum or the Lego 10294 Titanic. After the release of both kits, there were quickly supply bottlenecks and prices rose, although availability was only affected for a short time.
When will the 6th Lego® Hogwarts Castle be retired?
In the past, the Lego® Harry Potter series has shown that remakes of popular sets are released at regular intervals. The same is to be expected with the current castle. The usual retention period of the predecessors was about 1 to 2.5 years, with 2 exceptions. The Hogwarts Castle 4867 went EOL in July 2012, after which there was no comparable set on the market until the release of the current version.
The current retention period of already 3.5 years seems long. We assume that the 71043 Hogwarts Castle will go EOL in 2022 to 2023. In addition, the film scene is currently speculating about a new part of the cult films; if Lego remains true to itself, it would not be unlikely that we will then be able to experience a remake.
Conclusion
The Lego® Harry Potter 71043 Hogwarts Castle stands unrivalled, the licensed castle is not only one of the greatest Lego sets of all time, but also a remake with more detail than ever before. The large number of micro-figures disturbs and hinders the fun for children. More than 60 stickers certainly don't please every fan. For Lego collectors and Harry Potter fans, this set is certainly a must. Beautiful side buildings like Hagrid's hut round off the overall package.
With the POV of the last 6 months of €765, we find the RRP of €419.99 acceptable. We assume that the EOL date will be reached between 2022 and 2023. If you are interested in investing, you still have a little time to look for good offers. At an offer price below €380.00, we consider the set worth buying.
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Due to the rich detail, huge fanbase and size, the 71043 Hogwarts Castle is very well suited for an investment. At a good purchase price, we give the iconic Lego® Harry Potter 71043 Hogwarts Castle a clear buy recommendation for Lego® investors!
