With the return of LEGO Harry Potter sets in 2018, many had their eyes on the Great Hall. However, what I consider the best set of the wave is the 75956 Quidditch Match. At 40 dollars, this is an AMAZING deal.

Minifigures

This set doesn't have the most amazing figure selection, but the quantity of 6 figures is quite good for a 40-dollar range set. The standout figure would have to be Marcus Flint, who has only appeared in 1 set other than this. Harry and Oliver in their Quidditch robes are good, and while Hermione and Snape are nice, they are in multiple sets of this wave.

Build

While this build contains 4 of the same basic Quidditch viewing stands, they have diverse enough features that it doesn't get repetitive. The Hufflepuff stand has a scoreboard, the Slytherin stand has a fire function for Snape, gryffindor has a swingy thing for the quidditch players to fly through. Ravenclaw is the only one that doesn't really have any special functions.

The quidditch field itself is quite nice with the three hoops, and the function of turning the technic piece at the back to make Wood swing and defend is nice.

This set also has all the quidditch balls including the new at the time golden snitch.

Verdict

this is pretty much the best LEGO set.

I have been trying to collect the new Wizarding World theme, working up from the smaller sets up towards the more expensive ones (except that giant $400 castle... probably not going for that one). Since I have the two smaller sets out of the way I decided to grab the next moderately priced set, the $40 Quidditch Match. To be honest, the Quidditch figures looked like a great addition to the collection and I wanted the new Snape; but I wasn't expecting to much from the model itself. I was pleasantly surprised, let me explain!

Minifigures

Harry Potter; this Quidditch uniform variant of Harry is exclusive to this set. The face and hair are identical to other Harry figures in the wave, but the torso print is new. I like the nice dark red color, and the newer spongy cloak style is used well here. My only complaint with the figure is shared with all the other Quidditch players in this set... Lego's broom pieces are made of a slightly softer plastic which tends to scratch when placed in a minifigure hand. Not a new issue though, its been happening since the original Harry Potter sets since 2001... but with all the new efforts to upgrade Lego's plastics recently its a pity this issue still remains after all these years. This is especially problematic here since to pose the Quidditch figures needs to move the broom around to get them in more dynamic looks for display meaning more opportunities to further scratch the handle.

Oliver Wood; The torso is the same design as Harry Potter's and Oliver uses the same brown broom. The head has been used in previous licensed sets and the hair is pretty common. While the parts aren't super uncommon, its a good combination here to recreate Oliver in Lego form. Having the pieces not super unique is not a bad thing either, a Lego fan can buy two or three copies of this set and use their own collections of Lego pieces to swap out head and hair pieces to expand the Quidditch teams.

Lucian Bole; one of the two Slytherin Quidditch players included in this set. Lucian's torso is the same design as the one used by Draco Malfoy in the Collectible Minifigure series. He has spikey hair and a doublesided head which is the same head recently used by Ant-Man in the Superhero themes.

Marcus Flint; First off I find it entertaining how Marcus uses a black re-color of the old hair piece used for Ron back in 2001! Pretty neat to see this piece still in use for the Wizarding World, albeit for a different character. Marcus uses the same torso as Lucian, and the same black broom... but also has a clip on stud shooter that can attach to his broom to launch a Quaffle from... more on that later...

Hermione Granger; Lego really hit it out of the park recreating Hermione from the first two Harry Potter films in the re-launched theme. The hair is a new piece and combined with the head create a pretty decent representation of the character. Hermione comes with a wand, the new type that comes in a dual sprue giving us an extra wand. From what I understand this same figure is also available in the two Hogwarts themed sets, but this is the cheapest set to get her in.

Severus Snape; (RIP Alan Rickman) so this is my first Snape figure since the original in 2001 which had a glow in the dark face. Soooo glad that glowing face is gone! The prints on the black torso and legs of Snape are pretty good, and the hair is probably the best Lego piece to give it that greasy Snape look. But I wish we had some more variations in the face, we have a subtle face and an angry face but neither really capture that Snape 'sneering' look I want to see in Lego so much.

Build

Probably one of the most tedious parts of the set is how the build can feel repetitive with the similarities between the four towers included. There are some small variations, but its not the most exciting part of the model. The goal hoops are a little bit more fun to build at the end just for the sake of them being different than the four towers previously built.

Finished Model

Once built though, this has a surprisingly good display and play value. The towers are a great place to seat minifigures from the sets and Collectible Minfigure line. Surprisingly when I bought this set I really wasn't to excited about it because I thought there wouldn't be much display value... however not only did I think it looked better than I expected when finished, when I went back and looked at the two prior sets here on Brickset, I was surprised at how much this design has improved. Heck, the price per piece ratio in this set at 8 cents per piece blows the 2010 set's 13 cents per piece ratio out of the water!

But the real value here is in the play features! In addition to Flint's Quaffle launcher another stud shooter on the ground near the hoops can launch studs to represent Bludgers. A small lever allows the goal keeper to protect the goal hoops from the Quaffle, and a Golden Snitch piece is included for Harry (and Draco if he has been acquired from the Collectible line) to play the role of Seeker in the game. A door can open on the Gryffindor tower to let figures on brooms 'fly' through, and score can be kept using the pegs and studs on display on the Hufflepuff tower. The play features have me a little bit tempted to buy a second copy of the set to form the 'other side' of the pitch and get a few additional figures to round out the teams, then play some sort of table Quidditch with friends using the set! Overall I am impressed with how much playability has been packed into this model using simple methods. The only thing I really wish could have been improved would have been some more seating room inside the towers, and some additional clear stands to allow more of the Quidditch players to be displayed 'flying' like the goal keeper while on display.

While I don't think this set is the standout in the wave, its a pretty good play set with some unique opportunities for display. I am sure many kids (and some adults to) will enjoy this set for the ability to play 'table Quidditch' with their family and friends. Its further evidence suggesting that the relaunched Wizarding World theme is the must buy theme of the year!