Harry Potter

Platform 9 3/4 is the one scene every Harry Potter reader can picture without effort. The LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Express 75955 rebuilds it in 801 pieces, and unlike most licensed display sets, it is genuinely built to be played with afterwards.

What comes in the box

• 801 pieces, recommended for ages 8 and up.
• The locomotive and carriage, plus a section of railway bridge.
• Platform 9 3/4, including the brick wall the trolley passes through.
• Six minifigures: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Remus Lupin, the Trolley Witch and a Dementor.

Six minifigures, and one of them earns its place

Minifigure counts are usually padding. Here the Dementor is the reason the set works as a toy rather than a shelf piece - it turns a train into the scene from Prisoner of Azkaban, which is the moment most children want to replay. The Trolley Witch is a nice touch too, and rarer than the main three.

Built to be opened

The roof lifts off and a side panel comes away, so the carriage interior is reachable rather than sealed. That single design choice is what separates this from sets that get built once and never touched. Children can put figures inside and move them around, which is what they were going to try to do regardless.

The catch

It is not motorised, and the included track is a short display length rather than a circuit, so the train is pushed by hand. If someone is expecting a running model railway, this is not that. The bridge section also takes up more shelf depth than the photos suggest.

Verdict

The strongest mid-size Harry Potter set for a child who will actually play with it, and one of the few that holds up as a display model at the same time. At 801 pieces it sits in a comfortable range: substantial enough to feel like an occasion, small enough to finish in an afternoon.

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