Contents:

Introduction

It's the biggest question facing all new students when they enter Hogwarts: Which house will I end up in? Your designation is determined by the Sorting Hat, a hat sewn 1,000 years ago by Godric Gryffindor and enchanted by the 4 founders of the school, possessing their knowledge on sorting students. The hat has appeared in several sets as a minifig headgear, but despite the enchanted object playing such a major role at Hogwarts only one set has fully focussed on the hat itself. In fact: it was the very first LEGO Harry Potter set. Until now, where we get an (almost) full-size Talking Sorting Hat in set 76429-1. Please let me be Hufflepuff, please let me be Hufflepuff, please let me be Hufflepuff, please let me be Hufflepuff.

The Set

Immerse yourself in a spellbinding build with this Hogwarts™ Talking Sorting Hat™ (76429), the first-ever LEGO® Harry Potter™ set with a sound brick to bring this display model to life. Tip the top of the hat or place it on your head to activate the voice of the Sorting Hat and find out which Hogwarts house it selects for you. Listen out for the Sorting Hat Song every now and then, too.

Place the hat on the stand, which features Gryffindor™, Slytherin™, Hufflepuff™ and Ravenclaw™ crest decorations. This unique LEGO set also includes a Harry Potter character minifigure wearing a Sorting Hat to complete a special display.

This buildable, adventure movie-themed set makes a magical treat for yourself, a present for moms or dads who are into the Wizarding World and the best gift for other adult Harry Potter movie-lovers.
From LEGO.com

RRP: €99.99 / $99.99 / £89.99

The Box

The box measures 259 x 381 x 70 mm and weighs 940 grams. Inside we find 7 numbered bags, a small sticker sheet and the instructions manual. The manual spends a few pages talking about the sorting hat before building the model in 119 steps. The pdf can be downloaded here.

The Parts

The set contains 561 parts and 15 spares, in 24 colors, and 32 part categories, with a total of 173 unique parts/color combinations.
Main colors are:

• Reddish Brown: 61 unique parts, 198 quantity.
• Black: 39 unique parts, 150 quantity.
• Red: 13 unique parts, 30 quantity.

Main categories are:

• Plates: 24 unique parts, 97 quantity.
• Bricks: 16 unique parts, 62 quantity.
• Plates Special: 14 unique parts, 39 quantity.

New Parts

Sound bricks are nothing new, with the oldest I can remember being 4774c01 and 4774c02 introduced in 1986, which worked on the 9V system. Later, 'stand-alone' versions were introduced, activated by a simple button and powered by a battery. They range from simple bricks like the 55206c01 through -06 series, to bigger ones like upn0114c01 and -02 from Jack Stone and even bigger ones like 30351c01. Not counting Duplo, the most recent ones (55206c05 and 55206c06) go all the way back to 2011, so high time for a new addition.

This new addition comes in the form of 3677c01 Sound Brick 4 x 4 with Random Talking Sorting Hat Sounds, a pretty big brick capable of playing multiple sounds at random by pressing the button.

Naturally, I had to screw it open, and on the inside we find a large black speaker, 3 button batteries, a rubber/silicon button and a circuit board. The circuit board is not very complex: a chip which I assume stores the sounds, a button, and connections to the batteries and speaker. I had hoped for something that allows the brick to hook up to a computer to replace the sound. I guess you could replace the chip with a bit of soldering?

The bricks can play 31 different sounds. Since they are at random, it will take a long time to hear them all, but as far as I can find, most have one of these structures:

• The Sorting Hat Song
• Aaah
• Hmmmm
• {HOUSENAME}!
• Yes, clearly {HOUSENAME}
• You belong in {HOUSENAME}
• Ah, yes, you belong in {HOUSENAME}
• Yes, clearly you belong in {HOUSENAME}
• Ah, yes, {HOUSENAME}
• Better be {HOUSENAME}

It's a fun gimmick, I just wonder how much this one brick determines the price tag of the set.

The (as of writing) upcoming set 10334-1 Retro Radio also comes with a sound brick, so it seems the brick was not specifically designed for the Sorting Hat. A small difference between the versions is the play button. The sorting hat needs to finish the sound before the play button functions again. The radio breaks off a playing sound to start the next whenever the play button is pressed.

3677c01
Sound Brick 4 x 4 with Random Talking Sorting Hat Sounds

New Colors

40379
Animal Body Part / Plant, Tail / Claw / Horn / Branch / Tentacle, End Section
Medium Nougat

2142
Animal Body Part, Horn Stacked 45 deg. with Axle Connectors
Reddish Brown

95188
Brick Round Corner 6 x 6 with 33° Slope and Facet Cutout
Reddish Brown

4742
Cone 4 x 4 x 2 Hollow No Studs
Reddish Brown

47543
Cone Half 8 x 4 x 6
Reddish Brown

38974
Hat, Witch / Wizard (Sorting Hat)
Reddish Brown

80015
Plate Round Corner 5 x 5 with 4 x 4 Round Cutout
Medium Nougat

3297
Slope 33° 3 x 4
Reddish Brown

14413
Wedge 4 x 4 Facet
Reddish Brown

New Prints

28621pr4302
Minifig Head Harry Potter, Scar, Thick Eyebrows, Glasses, Closed Eyes, Happy Open Mouth

27925pr0015
Tile 2 x 2 Curved, Macaroni with Tan Stitches, Dark Brown Tear print

3068bpr0705
Tile 2 x 2 with Brown Badger, Hufflepuff Crest print

3068bpr0706
Tile 2 x 2 with Copper Raven, Ravenclaw Crest print

3068bpr0703
Tile 2 x 2 with Gold Lion, Gryffindor Crest print

3068bpr0704
Tile 2 x 2 with Silver Snake, Slytherin Crest print

Rare Colors and Prints

11090
Bar Holder with Clip
Medium Nougat

58846
Brick Round Corner 10 x 10 with Slope 33° Edge, Axle Hole, Facet Cutout
Reddish Brown

15571
Slope 45° 2 x 1 Triple with Inside Stud Holder
Reddish Brown

973c03h02pr5542
Torso Robes, Open over Light Bluish Gray V-Neck Sweater and Tie Print, Black Arms, Light Nougat Hands
Black

Minifigures:

1x Harry Potter, Sorting Hat

The Build

Seeing this sort of a remake of 4701-1 Sorting Hat, I'll show off that set first. it's a pretty simple yet effective build: a platform with a large disc. Spin the disc to find out which house you belong in. Harry is overseeing the sorting, wearing a regular witch hat. I guess the budget for new molds was pretty slim at that time, with only (plain) Hedwig being all new. The printed disc with the house weapons is nice though, shown here along the versions from the new set.

On to the main event, starting with a new figure. Harry comes with a new face and a recolor for the sorting hat mold. The printing technique has come a long way over the decades, but the original still has its charm.

Next up is the stand for the hat to sit on, surrounded by the shields of the different houses.

And then the hat itself. The base reminds me a bit of an AAT. At the center comes a support with room for the mechanism later on.

I wonder if these colors have a meaning? You could see a 4-leaf clover in the shape if you want to. At the underside we find some boat stud, both to add strength and in case you want to display the hat without the stand.

We get a bit technical with the mechanism that controls the sound brick. The brick is attached to an assembly that slides into the center of the hat, sticking out at the bottom, where it can be activated by 'wearing' the hat. Rubber bands keep it down.

The assembly holds onto the black connectors, so when it moves, the Reddish Brown Technic bricks which form the base of the eyebrows move too.

The mechanism gets encased inside another Technic structure, with in the center a tile with pin which will press the play button. Or rather, the play button is pressed against the pin.

Hidden in the back are the 4 items from the founders: the Sword of Gryffindor, Slytherin's Locket, Ravenclaw's Diadem and Hufflepuff's Cup. It all gets covered up, and can only be accessed by partly breaking down the hat. The mechanism is connected to an axle sticking out on the front, which will become the point of the hat.

Some final Reddish Brown parts to cover everything up, and we're done.

Conclusion

This is a fun little set. The finished model has a good likeness to the movie version, although with the shape and color you could also see it as something less tasteful. I think I would prefer Dark Brown for the main color. The mechanism inside adds playability to the set, making it more than just a display piece. The finished model is smaller than I expected, not even fit a child, so although accurate, the scale is off. Yes, this is a nice set for a RRP of around €70-80.

And that's where things go awry: the RRP is actually a whopping €99.99, or 17.8 cents per part! And that's a lot, even for a licensed set. Some of it can be explained by the sound brick, which is probably the most expensive part in the set, but even then this set is just too expensive for what you get. I've seen the set in stores for prices as low as €71.95, but I would still suggest not just to do the usual shopping around, but maybe wait for a clearance. It's a shame, because the set is otherwise a nice display piece for Harry Potter fans.

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Disclaimer: This LEGO set was kindly provided for review by The LEGO Group. Anything said in this post is the opinion of the author and not The LEGO Group.
Parts- and build photographs by Tobymac (© 2024 Rebrickable)