Review: LEGO 5005254 Harry Potter Professors Minifigures Pack
I visited Hamleys in London in Autumn 2019 and I found the LEGO 5005254 Harry Potter Professors Minifigures Pack. I was not aware of the availability of this fantastic set of minifigures after the Bricktober period. So, I was sure I missed it, unless looking for it on Bricklink or similar.
These pack was available in October 2018 in the former Toy R Us store. Currently, it is available at Hamleys in Reagent street in London, UK, and also in all the Hamleys shops in the London Airports. At leat I found them in both Heathrow and Luton Airports. Likewise, you will find them also on Amazon sent directly by LEGO.
As an Harry Potter fan, on Christmas 2019, I did my Harry Potter Advent Calendar daily count down review. Now, I will go on with the review of these 4 Harry Potter Professors Minifigures: Madam Rolanda Hooch, Professor Horace Slughorn, Dolores Umbridge and Boggart Snape.
In the LEGO 5005254 Harry Potter Professors Minifigures Pack there are characters not common in the other Harry Potter sets and I believe that this is the beauty of the set. Perhaps, these minifigures must be in your Harry Potter collection.
General Overview
Thanks to the transparent cover, the pack gives you already a nice overview of the minifigures and unpacking you will find more details and surprises.
So, let’s proceed unpacking and facing all the characters. As expected, they look great, the level of details of their dresses are impressive and also all the accessories.
Each minifigure has the double face with really well done expressions and details. As far as the double face is concerned, there is a relaxed face, as they are in the pack, and one in a more emotional situation. As said, they all look great, in their act to cast magic against Voldemort or his followers.
In short, in my post I would like to show you as much as possible the Harry Potter Professors in this set, so you can discover all the details of the minifigures, one by one.
Madam Rolanda Hooch
The first minifigure is Madam Rolanda Hooch, she is the flight instructor, Quiddich referee and coach at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Madam Hooch is presented in her black flight instructor uniform with the Hogwarts crest, her magic wand, the magic broomstick and the black cloak.
In her relaxed face, she looks very similar to Zoë Wanamaker, the actress who plays Madam Hooch in the movie: “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone“. On the other hand, the second face reveals an unexpected surprise, at least for me. Madam Hooch has her flying goggles on and it is really ready to jump on the broomstick and fly!
Removing the black cloak, you can see also the back side of the minifigure and it is very well detailed. Likewise, the back is not simply black but it is really the continuation of the front part.
In conclusion, I like a lot this minifigure, in particular the second face, with the flight goggles on. I found this minifigure full of very nice details and well done.
I think it is a must for any LEGO Harry Potter collection.
Professor Horace Slughorn
The minifigure is very similar to the Harry Potter movie character, in particular in the dress and accessories. Professor Slughorn served in Hogwarts School as potion master. It is clear why the minifigure is completed with a green potion and the wand, as accessories.
Further, the second face shows Professor Slughorn casting some magic. Despite his interest to work in background, this face probably reflects what happened during the Battle of Hogwarts. Where he fight against Lord Voldemort and his Deatheaters.
Like for Madam Hooch, the back part is completed and well detailed.
In short, I like this minifigure. It is not my favourite of the set, but it is really appreciated. In general, this Professor is not a special character itself but it is a nice to have .
Dolores Umbridge
We have here the third minifigure of the set of Harry Potter Professors Minifigures: Professor Dolores Umbridge. She is a special case of professor because she was first of all a member of the British Ministry of Magic. Later on, she was ordered to serve as professor at the Hogwarts School. Even if the story of Mrs Umbridge is relevant for the Harry Potter saga, I will skip it and I will focus on the minifigure review.
As you can see, the minifigure has its pink dress with the wand and the cup of tea. There is also a cat pin in her front torso, which could be a recall to her Persian cat patronus. Among the accessories, the cup of tea is a key element of the character: she has this unhealthy habit of drinking a small cup of tea with three spoons of sugar.
As for the other minifigures, Dolores is completed with her wand, too. Moreover, turning the minifigure, the details in the back are again really accurate.
Last but not least, the second face, is an angry Dolores which is really threatening.
In conclusion, I like this minifigure for the level of detail. In particular, I like the angry face. It is again a secondary character, but a nice to have.
Boggart Snape
The forth minifigure is not really a Professor by itself, but it is a magic creature that takes shape based on the person it encounters. We are talking about a Boggart, an amortal shape-shifting non-being that takes on the form of it’s observer’s worst fear. To defeat the Boggart, the observer has to cast the spell Riddikulus. The spell causes the creature to assume a form that is humorous along with a whip-crack noise, thereby taking away the Boggart’s ability to terrorise.
In the book “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban “, during the lesson of Defence Against the Dark Arts of Professor Remus Lupin, the students face a Boggart. Among all, Neville Longbottom faces it. In this encounter, the Boggart turned as Professor Severus Snape and then, Neville casts Riddikulus. The Boggart Snape turned in Neville’s grandmother dresses: with a vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag.
The minifigure itself
So, the minifigure, represents Boggart Professor Severus Snape after Neville spells Riddikulus on it. In short, we have a wired green dresses minifigure with Snape’s face, the big red bag, a cat around the neck and a black hat.
As for the other minifigures, also Boggart Snape has a double face: a very angry one!
The details in the torso and in the back of the minifigure are very accurate. The collar accessory is completed with the face of a cat biting a mouse painted on the minifigure torso.
Finally, I noticed that the hat is the main discrepancy between the Boggart Snape described in the book and the minifigure. In the book description, the Boggart has a vulture on top of its hat, which is missing in the minifigure. It is not a big loss, of course, but it could have been a nice extra detail, to make it further unique.
Final Considerations
To conclude my review of the Harry Potter Professors Minifigures, I will summarise here my main comments.
I start saying that I really like this set of minifigures. If you are a fan of LEGO Harry Potter, I think this set must be in your collection.
The minifigures are well done, and I really like the choice to have not common characters that you can find in other sets. I really appreciate the high level of details in each minifigure and the accessories. However, as anticipated, I think that the hat of Boggart Snape is the main inaccuracy and missing of the entire set.
I have also some small concerns about the “Limited Edition” label in the box. I believe that it was supposed to be a limited edition, but I think that the box will stay available for a while and these minifigures will not become rare immediately.
In conclusion, I think now it is clear how much I like these four minifigures and I really believe that they are a must for every minifigure collector and Harry Potter fan.
Finally, I invite you to add your comments on my review if you already have this nice set of minifigures, or if you are planning to add it to your collection.
Cheers!
