LEGO Harry Potter Diagon Alley Review: Immerse Yourself in an Iconic Locale

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has been enchanting young fans for decades, and for good reason. In addition to the storylines focusing on young wizards, their journeys over the years reflect the journeys of readers, as they age and face similar challenges to the characters they’re reading about (though maybe these fictional characters experience a bit more magic). While the series focuses on younger characters, the imaginative adventures of the series have also appealed to older audiences, making it a narrative for the whole family. As compared to other LEGO sets that honor the Wizarding World, LEGO’s new Diagon Alley Wizarding Shops set is a more complex and sophisticated build, with the final product being something that will likely be more looked at and less touched than other LEGO offerings. That said, the intricate build results in an impressive display for older Harry Potter fans as compared to the line’s more playful builds.

The set comes in at 2,750 pieces and, as advertised on its packaging, is intended for fans 18 and up. This is likely due not only to how intricate the build is, but also to how small of a scale the set is. As compared to the standard scale, Diagon Alley is to LEGO’s microscale, which is roughly 1:48 of its normal sets. Even if the scale of the set is smaller, the construction process is still lengthy, as the 21 bags can take an average builder 8-9 hours to complete. The smaller scale means that fans can build more than a dozen iconic shops found in Diagon Alley, ranging from the Leaky Cauldron to Ollivanders wand shop to Gringott’s Wizarding Bank.

One drawback to the scale of the set is that, rather than getting minifigs, the set includes microfigs. As you can see above, fans will get microfigs honoring iconic characters like Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, but the scale makes it difficult to differentiate who any of the characters are. Given the small stature of the microfigs, as well as many of them sporting similar color schemes, you just have to believe you’re really looking at the advertised characters.

The sprawling set is broken down into five major sections, with each chunk earning its own instruction manual to keep you from getting overwhelmed. A unique feature of the set is that, when each building is completed, the instruction manual includes a brief description of the structure you just built and its significance to the Wizarding World. When completed, the sections can be connected to one another in different layouts, whether you want to expand the set laterally or make the shops face each other to more authentically replicate the bustling streets of Diagon Alley. This layout will also save you plenty of space, as the full length of the set measures just under three feet when stretched end to end.

As compared to some other LEGO Harry Potter sets, Diagon Alley will get off to a bit of a rockier start. One reason is due to the smaller scale and the inherent challenges of physically constructing it, as it’s more precise than an average set. Another reason being that, while fans might be familiar with the names of various shops on Diagon Alley, they might not be as recognizable as a place like Hogwarts, so it might not evoke the same sense of nostalgia when piecing together a relatively nondescript location. LEGO did make it a point to try to make each building stand out from one another, not only to give each building its own identity but also to avoid being too repetitive, though there’s less of a “wow” factor as compared to more significant locales.

The scale of the set means that the representations of even the most important of locales is that they’re a bit less literal and a bit more impressionistic. It requires a bit of imagination on the part of the builder to interpret ambiguous bricks as important artifacts, but by the end of the fifth bag, the first chunk of buildings gets small details that really elevate the architecture. This batch of buildings also comes with the construction of the beloved Night Bus, which is entirely satisfying not just to build but also to witness.

While the first batch of buildings is five bags, the next batch is only three. The nondescript nature of those first buildings comes to an end when you move on to the next batch, because by the end of bag eight, you’ve put together a total of eight buildings, all of which have a slightly different infrastructure. Builders might still be overwhelmed by the architecture-oriented building strategy, but the more buildings you construct, the more you realize each building does come with its own quirks and challenges.

Bag 9 marks the beginning of the build on Gringott’s, which consists of four bags. In addition to the iconic bank being constructed with unique architecture, resulting in a marked difference from the previous buildings you put together, the scale is slightly larger to authentically replicate the bank’s in-world appearance. Taking the bank to an even higher level is the dragon that you build for the top of Gringott’s, which has an unexpected build process, though when it’s finally placed on top of the bank, it fully completes the landmark.

What’s also worth noting is that not only do you build intricate facades of the various buildings, but you also construct their interiors. This means that, depending on how you display the build, you can expose a different angle of the structures to fully enjoy all of the minute details. While there are mechanisms in place that allow each of the five sections to connect to one another, they also don’t need to be attached, allowing you to inspect all corners of the build more fully.

The construction of the back half of the set is similar to the first, in that each building itself feels slightly different from its predecessor, yet still channels an impressionist interpretation of ice cream parlors to wand shops. In this sense, we would recommend trying to spread out the overall build over as many building sessions as possible to avoid the feeling of redundancy, approaching each bag as an entirely unique process. One point worth noting is that, with the smaller size of each piece, each bag will leave you with more additional pieces than a standard set, as you’ll amass dozens of 1×1 plates and similarly sized bricks. You might also encounter more bricks that are the correct size the instructions ask for, but with a slightly different color than is required. The small scale of the set and each building not necessarily having a recognizable color scheme means your build might have the wrong colors in some places, but they won’t be distractingly incorrect.

When the build is complete, the frustrations of repetitive architecture or pieces having the incorrect colors will be forgotten, as Diagon Alley is an impressive sight to behold. No matter what angle you look at it from, no matter what building it is, the overall impressionistic interpretation of the shops manages to convey a number of details. From quills on desks to wands and robes and quidditch supplies, it all comes together in an impressive way.

Depending on where you display Diagon Alley, it’s a real showstopper and not a journey to embark upon for the more casual LEGO fan or lackluster Harry Potter enthusiast. It’s an intense build with lots of intricate details, and while it’s intimidating to put together, the journey fully pays off with a set piece that makes for a detailed and delightful display. If you’re up for the challenge, you can pick up the set here at LEGO for $199.99.