Review:4866 The Knight Bus
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$34.99
€39.99
£29.99
$39.99
Reviews
Berrybrick
Country: America the Beautiful Gender: Male
Joined: February 2010 
№ of Reviews: 46 
№ of Featured reviews: 1
Building Experience: Enough is enough
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I ordered this along with 4865 and 4867 from Shop@Home on June 30th and it arrived on the 6th of July. I would of been disappointed with the arrival date, if I hadn't been out of town from the 31st until the 6th, as it only used to take three to four days rather than a whole week.
This is the second LEGO minifigure-scale model of the Knight Bus. The first was released back in 2004 with the Prisoner of Azkaban wave. I believe that the reason we got the Knight Bus as a set rather than say, Malfoy Manor, is because LEGO loves to make veichles, which Hp really isn't full of. As we got the Hogwarts Express and Flying Ford last year, the next most memorable vehicle would probably be the purple, triple-decker Knight Bus complete with a talking Shrunken Head.
Here are pictures of the set and its predecessor.
Box/Instructions
The front of the box and instruction booklet is the Knight Bus speeding down a London street. In the corner of the box, there is parchment square in the lower right-hand corner which shows the three minifigures, and also gives the French names for Ernie and Stan. One thing I find interesting about the box is that Harry and Hedwig (the snowy owl) seem to be floating, there is no floor below Harry, and Hedwig is not that tall. On the top of the box there is a 1:1 image of Harry, Stan, and Ernie. On the back is the normal parchment background, with another view of the bus, play features, and accessories. On the back of the instruction manual, we have the normal WIN! advertisement with some random kid screaming at you. Not very attractive at all.
Parts
According to the box, there are 281 pieces, which would be more ideal for a $30 set. The majority of the pieces are purple, but black and transparent are also widely used. Brown, gray, tan, white, and blue are also used in the chasis and in some of the furniture. Hedwig is also included, and I think this is the cheapest set to get her in (save for the promotional Trolley). There is also and exclusive Shrunken Head from the movie adaptions, which on the previous Knight Bus was only a sticker on the window. There is also a chest for holding two included printed sock tiles. Only Harry has a wand, which is understandable, but it would be nice if Stan did.
Minifigures
This set includes three minifigures: The standard Harry Potter, a redesigned Stan Shunpike, and the all new Ernie Prang. Unless I have something to say that I feel is necessary, I will let the pictures do the talking.
Harry Potter:
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| Original | 2005 Redesign | Current |
The latest variation has back printing (a blue stripe on the back of his jacket) and a double sided head happy/angry.
Stan Shunpike:
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| Original | Current |
The new Stan Shunpike also had back printing, which continues the brown strap on his back. I really do hate the new face that Stan has, because he is supposed to be young and pimply, whereas his face is borrowed from a more generic, middle-aged character, the The Cook from PotC.
I would actually prefer that they just reuse either Bruce Wayne's or Mutt Williams' heads.
Ernie Prang:
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Ernie has back printing, which continues the design on the back of his jacket. He really is a great figure, but I was a little disappointed with mine, because I found that looking closely on his head, there are a few thin, stray, black lines around his eyes.
In a set of this size, I wouldn't normally say that it is a problem that there are only three minifigures, but considering that the smallest set in the wave has one more, I would have to say that it would be nice if Sirius Black was included, or the grim at least.
The build
Nothing really stand-out, save for the front, which as an Adventurers fan, I must say will probably be useful. The build itself is mostly just purple bricklaying once you complete the chasis, but it is fun to build with purple as a dominant color for a change.
The completed model
The Completed model is pretty much just as it looks in the pictures. It has two play features.
1. As the bus moves, the chandelier will swing back and forth 2. As the bus moves, the bed will slide from behind Ernie's seat to the back of the bus I would of liked another 1x4x3 window (with corresponding glass) to put to Ernie's right, because otherwise it is empty. It would of also been nice if there were more seats on the top floor, because only one doesn't really feel complete.
Summary
Really a nice set in my opinion, but I do have a few fixes above in the Completed Model section. Ernie and the Shrunken head are really great and the whole set could be used to compliment 10217 Diagon AlleyI would recomned picking this up while it lasts, even if it is just for parts, because who knows when the next time a LEGO set will have so many purple parts as this one does.
| Overall: |   4 / 5 |
|---|---|
| Building Experience: |  3½ / 5 |
| Parts: | 5 / 5 |
| Playability: | 3 / 5 |
| Minifigures: | 4 / 5 |
| Value for Money: | 4½ / 5 |
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