Valerian70
Top 25 Contributor
Share Valerian70's profile
Valerian70's Stats
Valerian70's Stats
- 4.9Average Rating
- 1,397Helpfulness Votes
- 0Featured Reviews
- 146Review Count
- August 16, 2020First Review
- May 6, 2021Last Review
Posted:September 3, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Cupboard Under The Stairs
" Do not be fooled - I kept saying I didn't fancy this kit as it was "just a house" and I figured it would be a really boring build. There is SO much going on in this set that it is a really engrossing build and full of surprises. It manages to merge Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets beautifully.
You can post little lego letters through the fireplace. The back of the letterbox in the door is blocked up. Harry has his cupboard under the stairs. Harry also has his bedroom from the second book and the inclusion of a Ford Anglia (not as nice a modelling as the one in the Whomping Willow Set) that really does pull the window out to set Harry free.
The inclusion of Dobby is such a great idea. I don't have him from any other set so that made me very happy.
Plenty of play value and the build itself is far more enjoyable than I really expected.
Number Of Pieces: 797
Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.08
Build Time: 2 Hours 40 Minutes
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
02
hrs
Build Time:
40
mins
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Average
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+16points
18of 20found this review helpful.
Quidditch™ Match
Quidditch™ Match
Posted:September 3, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Dodge The Bludger
" I loved the bright colours of the towers for the supporters but kept putting off purchasing this kit as I thought it was going to be a repetitive build. Not so, each tower is built slightly differently which surprised me in a very good way.
Even better, you can attach Oliver Wood to a clear plastic strut that allows him to properly guard the hoops. Yes, I sat controlling Mr Wood whilst the other half flicked tiny scrunched up paper balls at the hoops. I am pleased to report nothing got past me (but that could have just been because his aim was atrocious).
Lots of little details on the build that surprised me. You can even fly through the Gryffindor tower.
Number Of Pieces: 500
Average Price Per Piece: £0.07
Build Time: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
01
hrs
Build Time:
40
mins
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Average
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+6points
6of 6found this review helpful.
Hungarian Horntail Triwizard Challenge
Hungarian Horntail Triwizard Challenge
Posted:September 3, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Get The Egg
" The main focus of this kit is the dragon itself. I have to admit it is a great looking dragon that is truly poseable. The problem I have is the spines on the head kept falling out every time I posed him. Not a massive problem for me as it is ultimately going in my display cabinet with the rest of my Lego Wizarding World Of Harry Potter constructions. In fact, I only really got this because I am up to date with the larger builds and decided to start getting the smaller kits for completeness sake.
I did like the reproduction of the challenge tent, especially as it folds away so looks just like a little square until you open it up. Even have the little cot where they treat Cedric Diggory for his burns from his attempt at the challenge.
Apart from the spine shedding it does have loads of play value.
Number of Pieces: 265
Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.11
Build Time: 1 Hour
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
01
hrs
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Average
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+5points
6of 7found this review helpful.
Posted:September 2, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Wonderful Weasleys
" To date this has to be one of my favourite Lego Wizarding World Of Harry Potter Kits that I've built. There are so many little details included in The Burrow that I was constantly going "oooohhhhh" as I built it. My particular favourite is the fireplace because you can change it from orange flames to green flames for when they use those all important pinches of Floo Powder.
The only downsides to it that I could find where the number of stickers included with the kit - I have sausage fingers and trying to put stickers on accurately just doesn't happen so my builds never look as good as they could. The second one (and final) was that the clock is a standard clock and not the magical one detailed in the books and films.
I thoroughly enjoyed the build from start to finish and was actually quite disappointed when I finished it. There is a lot of play value with all the little rooms and included figures but you need to be careful as it is a little fragile unless you glue it together as you build.
Number Of Pieces: 1047
Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.09
Build Time: 33/4 Hours
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
03
hrs
Build Time:
45
mins
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Challenging
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+52points
55of 58found this review helpful.
Posted:August 23, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
My First Technic
" The other half has been saying I need to try the Technic's kits but I have been resisting as all those tiny little gears and cogs were putting me off. Why? Why did I let that put me off?
This was a really fun build although the fact that it comes with a plethora of bags (okay i think it was 4) that are not numbered so you need to open them all before you start the build. My table was covered in pieces because I have to lay everything out in colour and piece order. Yes, it makes building easier for me but it also looks kind of pretty on the table. No joke, half an hour of the build time was just me sorting pieces before I even opened the booklet.
I'm not sure how close the finished product is to a genuine Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 but it looks great on my shelf which could just be due to the colour as the orange is really bright. I was going to break it down and download the Hot Rod instructions but I didn't have the heart once it was finished. May buy a second version of the kit just to do the Hot Rod but we shall see.
Number Of Pieces: 579
Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.07
Build Time: 3 Hours 10 Minutes
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
03
hrs
Build Time:
10
mins
Play Experience (Optional):
4
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Challenging
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+7points
8of 9found this review helpful.
Posted:August 22, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Impressive
" Bit of a step up from my usual kits but as soon as I saw this it lodged in my brain and kept niggling at me. Did a bit of maths and decided that seeing as there was not going to be a holiday this year or even a weekend getaway I could take the plunge and purchase this huge set. Yes, it IS expensive but it is definitely worth every penny; never mind the actual pieces and the build instruction booklets the engineering and design that have gone in to this are incredible.
The mistake I made with this was attempting to construct it over only two days. I did manage to complete it but I will readily admit I was exhausted at the end of each build session. There is a lot of repetitive building of the support struts but I didn't find it boring in the slightest, the only problem for me was my finger tips became sore from pushing all the blocks together. Well worth it because the completed structure is really sturdy and it needs to be because you need to use some force to attach the red tracks as they have a tendency to want to spring back as you attach them.
When I first ran the Coaster it pulled to the top of the lift hill just fine but when it got to the top the bumper was running anti-clockwise so it was trying to push it back down. On removing the bumper I disassembled and carefully rebuilt from the instructions in Booklet 1 and it still happened. After 90 minutes of frustration trying to figure out what went wrong I searched online for the problem and came across someone who had the same problem but had figured out the diagrams for the three bumpers had one of the cogs in the wrong place. I removed each of the bumpers and rebuilt with the amended cog position and lo and behold it worked. So you can add another 2 Hours to my posted build time.
Still not marking it down though as I am genuinely impressed with the overall build. It just fits on a shelf in my living room and I can actually run it from it's new location. Including moving the second train on to the tracks - I was thrilled by the sliding mechanism for this as it does replicate genuine roller coasters train switching systems.
Number Of Pieces: 4124
Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.07
Build Time: 16.5 Hours
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
16
hrs
Build Time:
30
mins
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Challenging
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+5points
6of 7found this review helpful.
Posted:August 21, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Tick Tock
" Lots of fun details in this kit that is definitely based around the Yule Ball that takes place in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The little tables with the icicle detailing are so cute looking and the first thing you build so it gives you hope for the set being highly detailed and kind of sweet. The next part of the build is building a dance floor and it is built from interconnecting cogs that mean as you move one the full set of 4 move as does the dancefloor so it gives the effect of the minifigures waltzing around. Throw in the detailing of the Prefect's Bathroom and the running taps and even if the rest of it was a cop out on the detailing it would still be a good buy. This is Lego though so there is definitely no copping out going on.
This was a really fun build and I took my time with it to draw out the set a little so lots of little breaks to sit back and gloat over my build. The build time I posted is the actual time spent building and not including all my little breaks which pushed it to over 5 Hours.
Links really well with the other sets and has a high amount of play value.
Number of Pieces: 922
Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.09
Build Time: 3.25 Hours
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
My Product Recommendations
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
03
hrs
Build Time:
15
mins
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Average
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+8points
12of 16found this review helpful.
Posted:August 17, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Mail Delivery
" This is a relatively complicated build. You start by building the gear mechanism that moves Hedwig's wings on the stand. To be honest this went together much more smoothly than I anticipated, admittedly I checked that the gears worked correctly each and every step of the way so that I would hopefully not have any problems when the build was completed. I am pleased to say that I didn't, the wings move quite well but the operation isn't particularly smooth.
Making and attaching the feathers is also quite fiddly as there are so many tiny pieces involved. Definitely one you need to build on a table top rather than cross legged on the floor. Well worth all the work that goes in to it though, not really a lot of play value but it looks fantastic on my shelf.
Number Of Pieces: 630
Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.06
Build Time: 2.5 Hours
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
02
hrs
Build Time:
30
mins
Play Experience (Optional):
2
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Challenging
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+18points
19of 20found this review helpful.
Posted:August 17, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Ford Anglia!
" There were two reasons I decided to purchase this kit; partly for the fact it links to the Great Hall but mainly for the Ford Anglia. I was not disappointed at all, the detail on the Ford Anglia is wonderfully done and I was really happy with how it looked when it was built. The Whomping Willow looks incredible when built but getting the green leaf pieces to stay in place when you rotate it can be a bit of a chore, you need to really push them in VERY firmly and then cross your fingers.
Once you have the car and tree built you then move on to what I can only describe as the ramparts. To say this is primarily a linking kit there is a lot of details in the set. The main tower which forms the owlery is a real pain to attach and it took me several goes and still I couldn't do much more than balance it on. It wasn't until I built another kit that I figured out how to snap the pieces together so it is now secure instead of just balancing on top precariously.
Number Of Pieces: 753
Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.08
Build Time:
Car and Whomping Willow - 1 Hour
Ramparts - 13/4 Hours "
Car and Whomping Willow - 1 Hour
Ramparts - 13/4 Hours "
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
My Product Recommendations
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
02
hrs
Build Time:
45
mins
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Average
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+11points
13of 15found this review helpful.
Posted:August 17, 2020
Valerian70
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Stargazing
" There is a lot going on in this set which makes for a lot of play value. I think my favourite bit is the little greenhouse with the Mandrakes in their pots - okay, so the other half didn't appreciate me pulling them out and screaming each time but I was playing!
Comes with a lot of little rooms which I didn't really expect. You get Professor Slughorn's office and the Ravenclaw Dormitory along with one room for the Orrery and one for the telescope. They are all small but you can get at least one mini figure in each along with their furnishings. There is a central hall portion with some cute shelves but the best bit is the little table with the chocolate fountain the middle.
The build takes time but the instructions are clear, detailed and really are step by step so it feels relatively simple to construct. It is a little bit fragile like all large Lego buildings and you have to exercise some caution when playing. If you are going to leave it built up for game play it may be worth gluing it together but it is sturdy enough for a display shelf without that or for delicate play.
Number Of Pieces: 971
Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.09
Build Time: 3.5 Hours
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
My Product Recommendations
From: Accrington
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Intermediate LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
03
hrs
Build Time:
30
mins
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Average
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+23points
28of 33found this review helpful.