Random set of the day: The Chamber of Secrets
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 4730 The Chamber of Secrets, released in 2002. It's one of 17 Harry Potter sets produced that year. It contains 591 pieces and 5 minifigs, and its retail price was US$70/£59.99.
It's owned by 3011 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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26 comments on this article
On the one hand, I never cared for the first version of the Hogwarts castle. It felt very bitsy, lots of large pieces used to build half a wall, and a piece of roof, and what might've been a balcony. A structure with, paradoxically, very little structure to it.
OTOH, I liked how the sets all stacked and configured. The Chamber of Secrets, from memory, was deliberately constructed to act as a basement level to the main hall, from the initial castle set.
Parts Analysis: Oh Boy! This set has a riddikulus (get it?) number of rare, exclusive, and expensive parts. Here are some highlights: Fawkes alone is worth over $16 used. Dagger pieces appear exclusively in glow-in-the-dark, serving as basilisk fangs and worth $10+. Speaking of basilisks, a complete used one could set you back a "whomping" $33!
We need a new lockhart!
I always loved that Basilisk. It's not as good as the one from the TT Videogame, but it's better than the one from the latest Great Hall set.
Also we really need a new Gilderoy Lockhart figure. It's been way too long!
Oh my gosh, we need a remake of this. I really want Lockhart and a better basilisk. Because of the upcoming Privet Drive set, maybe we can see this soon.
This is great anyway.
@Veyniac said:
"Parts Analysis: Oh Boy! This set has a riddikulus (get it?) number of rare, exclusive, and expensive parts. Here are some highlights: Fawkes alone is worth over $16 used. Dagger pieces appear exclusively in glow-in-the-dark, serving as basilisk fangs and worth $10+. Speaking of basilisks, a complete used one could set you back a "whomping" $33!"
Have no fear, Fawkes is coming back in the next Potter CMF series
@madforLEGO said:
"Have no fear, Fawkes is coming back in the next Potter CMF series"
And he looks fantastic!
Hope they will make a new COS soon, maybe next year :) They could very easy make a moulded basilisk with only 2-3 new different parts. One with the head, then a body-part they could add several of like this "(" just turn every other piece around like this ")" to make the snake shape "s" and maybe a tail piece if they can not use any part they have)..
Seeing the other sets with big creatures it will probably one have a moulded head and the rest are brick built :S
Life was better before fleshies.
The only set with a sand red minifig.
We need a new Chamber of Secrets, NOW!
Really hope we can get a new chamber of Secrets. Although with a tom riddle minifigure coming in a book I fear we may not get one anytime soon
Hogwarts has the worst spa, ever...
Of all the original Harry Potter themed sets, The Chamber of Secrets was one of the best. Well designed, sturdy enough to support the weight of the other castle sections, amazing parts, character selection, printed parts, visual appeal... I truly love this set.
Weirdly packed this away from display yesterday! Got it for a steal way back when, brand new discounted to half price as a local toy shop was getting rid of stock
@Veyniac said:
"Parts Analysis: Oh Boy! This set has a riddikulus (get it?) number of rare, exclusive, and expensive parts. Here are some highlights: Fawkes alone is worth over $16 used. Dagger pieces appear exclusively in glow-in-the-dark, serving as basilisk fangs and worth $10+. Speaking of basilisks, a complete used one could set you back a "whomping" $33!"
And don’t forget the minifigs. We’ve had very few of Lockhart, Riddle or Ginny. I’m pretty sure these versions of those characters are unique
Ahh this set, nice Ginny, nice Tom, brilliant Fawkes and amazing Lockhart!
I have parts of this set but it’s sadly incomplete
However, I have hope lego will remake this and the lack of a new Ginny gives it a chance
Nice to see one of my favourite characters show up :D
I had no interest in Harry Potter at the time, so I paid this line no attention way back when; but when I eventually did delve into the movies and books, several years ago now, I made sure to buy myself the Ginny minifigure loose, as she became my favourite of the supporting cast.
Which makes her the only yellow-flesh HP minifigure I own, interestingly enough.
On another note, I can't decide whether I like the design of this set or not. It doesn't feel very faithful to the movie, imo, wherein the single path through the chamber is shown as down the middle, surrounded by water (and half-submerged snake statues) on either side. I don't think this set really conveys that well; but I also suppose that the Lego designers may well have been working from unfinalised concept art, rather than having the finished movie to reference. With that fact taken into account, it's really not a bad representation at all ^^
The Ginny minifigure has sand red, which is a very rare color that only appeared in a few early 2000's sets.
This set is awesome. When I was younger I coveted it, and a few years ago I was finally able to get it.
The set consists of 4 parts plus 3 towers. The two sides are wide, and have printed walls with snake statues. On each side is half a path. Place them together, and you have a wide, open space with a path down the middle with statues lining the sides, with the Salazar statue at the end. Just like the movie.
The statue is awesome btw. So many curved parts to build the beard! It looks best when closed.
The set also has surprisingly many play features. The walls with slytherin heads pop off when you push a lever on one side. The walls on the other side hinge forward by pushing something. The toilet area turns into a slide.
Finally, it looks nice. It is darker than the other HP sets. But the turrets and the bathroom tower bring a nice warm colour to it, as if the sun is going down behind a hill and can only illuminate the top parts of the structure.
Another thing is the parts! Slytherin shields, fawkes, the printed walls, the chrome sword, the glow-in-the-dark knives for the fangs, the basilisk parts, the black baseplates (bricks), ginny's hair, the sand red cape and minifig parts for lockheart... need I go on?
I own this set, and I love it! I also like that all the comments here are praising the set and have nothing negative to say about it. I also want to comment on the fact that those wall sections are some of the greatest exclusive prints that Lego has ever done.
This happened when I was loving spiders (I still do) and I wanted to buy this but my mother wasn't a fan of me buying wizard items so I now bougnt Aragog Lair and I hope a new Chamber of Secrets does come back.
@LegoDavid said:
"The Ginny minifigure has sand red, which is a very rare color that only appeared in a few early 2000's sets. "
Not Ginny, but Lockhart.
The modular nature of the old Harry Potter sets made them a joy to collect as a kid. I loved being able to connect the different Hogwarts models, stack them on top of one another, and arrange the castle however I wanted.
I've always wanted this set. I think it has great parts and characters. It has an ample amount of towers, too.
Woah...some mad nostalgia right here. I saved up all my allowance money and searched high and low for this set. Finally found it on sale at a Wal-Mart. One of the happiest LEGO buys still to this day, but especially at that time. A great set- as someone said, the original HP sets all stacked and configured together, which was really cool, although I was never fortunate enough to get them all. Some classic parts in this set, without a doubt. Great memories.
Ah, the good ol days- kinda crazy I'm saying that about HP and a set released in 2002, but time flies, man. Enjoy it.
Hope everyone is staying safe and building lots of LEGO. Cheers.
@The_Teenage_Brickster:
Wait...when was that exactly? That basilisk looks like it at an entire cow.
@Legodud9898:
I was just noting the other day that he's the only HP character besides Harry's uncle who exists solely in yellow form, and the first wave of Wizarding World sets would have been the most logical time to update him. Now it might only happen if they stick him in a CMF series.
@Brickalili:
Lockhart had two minifigs from the HP2 wave of sets (there's a green one in the Dueling Club). Riddle just had his second minifig announced with the upcoming book. There was a different version of a Gryffindor Ginny in the third Hogwarts Express (the one that came with Luna and the Weasley car), and a "civilian" Ginny in the Weasley's Burrow. But yes, they were effectively unique. The Ginny and Riddle minifigs did appear in Harry Potter Galleries 3 and 4, respectively, but those were only given out in Hong Kong.
@tarnizhed_bricks:
On the contrary, the very first dual-sided minifig head was a minifig from the HP1 sets. It had a yellow head.