dobby is awsome and i didnt expect them to make a mf of him. this is an excelent building because it doesnt have massive gaps in the walls like all other hp sets! i love this set and it is realy cool! i would recomend it

A great little set with 2 whole new important figs Dobby and his former evil master Lucius. The windows are great. The griffondor sock is Marvellous. When they were less than half prized I've bought +/- 6 of them

Set #4731 Dobby's Release: This set is a great value for your money. It was the original version of the new Freeing Dobby set from this past year and it is the only set to feature the Dobby Mini-Figure. (Well it was until the re-make in 2010.)

Dobby's Release includes a small model to build with a bit of a wall. According to the large poster included with certain Harry Potter sets it was meant to be attached to your Hogwarts Castle I believe on top of a piece from The Dueling Club. The model included a hidden spot where you could put the little square tile with the printed detail on it. (I'm not sure what it was meant to represent.)

Riddle's Destroyed Diary was kept on the table, but for an added play feature you could take the sock tile and hide it behind a sliding piece of wall. (Which doesn't make much sense in the context of the scene this set is meant to represent, but it's a fun little feature that could be used to store some things.)

Overall I'd have to say this is a great set to own, a source of some great pieces to add to Hogwarts Castle and some Mini-Figures that aren't that easy to come by in the larger sets. Of course if you already own Freeing Dobby from 2010 this set is one you could choose to skip.

What made this set cool, was the minifigures. At the time of it's release this was the only set with Lucius Malfoy. He was included in 4720-Knockturn Alley, the following year. There's also been some flesh-coloured versions, in 4766-Graveyard Duel, the recent remake of this set, 4736-Freeing Dobby and 10217-Diagon Alley. This was the only version of Dobby, until he too got a make-over, in the previously mentioned remake, Freeing Dobby.

Lucius Malfoy was a really good minifigure, but I always thought his hair looked a bit short, that's why I thought the blonde "Dumbledore-hair" he got in Graveyard Duel looked better.

Dobby was perfect, I didn't miss any printing on his face, even though I understand why they did it for the new one. He's entirely tan, as most creatures of similar flesh-tones were at the time, like the Gringotts goblins or Jar-Jar Binks. His clothing consists only of a dirty towel, printed on the front of his torso. I used to dress him in various, weird clothes, as that's what he wears from Goblet of Fire and on out.

The set consists of a small parlor of sorts, it's not excactly taken from the books nor the films, but it fitted in nicely in the Hogwarts castle, so it was ok.

Before finishing of this review, I have to tell the story of how I got this set: It was Christmas 2002 and we'd been away from home for a while. The door to our house had been locked with both the normal lock and the security lock, no one should be able to get in there, right? Well, when we got inside, we saw that someone had hung stockings by the fireplace and that they had been filled, inside mine was, you've obviously guessed it, this set. A real Christmas miracle? I remember wondering how it had gotten there for a long time, until I learned our neighbour had the key to our house. What I never learned, however, was wether he had both keys or just the normal one... I choose to think he only had the one, better story that way.

This was my first ever LEGO as a child, I was simply thrilled with it! Dobby and Lucius make a good addition to any minfigure collection, and I was fascinated by the fact that this 'room' connected to the rest of Hogwarts!

Pros

• Dobby and Lucius Malfoy minifigures
• Good playability, especially when put with your Hogwarts castle!
• Some interesting elements, including Harry's sock, Tom Riddle's diary and a bag of magic bones!

Cons

• None!

If you ever come across this set by luck, buy it before someone else beats you to it! This is a charming little set that adds to anybody's collection. Happy building :)