Cool Stuff: New Harry Potter LEGO Hogwarts Castle Is The Second Largest Set Ever Created

Back in February, we told you that a bunch of new Harry Potter LEGO sets were on the way. Several of the new sets are already on sale, but LEGO just revealed what will undoubtedly be the crown jewel of their new Harry Potter LEGO sets.

A new Harry Potter LEGO Hogwarts Castle set has been revealed, and with 6,020 pieces, it will be the second largest LEGO set ever created by the building block company, just behind the Ultimate Collector's Series Millennium Falcon. This is the most accurate LEGO recreation of Hogwarts. However, there is one major difference between this version and the previous editions of LEGO Hogwarts, and it might disappoint some collectors and fans.

While this version of Hogwarts provides far more detail and space on the inside of the castle than previous versions, if you look at the rooms, you'll notice that the minifigures inside are not the traditional LEGO minifigures that usually come with the playsets. Instead, the new Harry Potter LEGO Hogwarts Castle comes with the microfigures, not unlike those included with the massive LEGO SHIELD Helicarrier from The Avengers.

The lack of regular LEGO minifigures is disappointing, but it makes sense considering that a LEGO Hogwarts Castle made to the scale of those minifigures would need to be much bigger, especially with all the rooms in Hogwarts. At the very least, the set still comes with four regular minifigures, each representing Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw, the founders of Hogwarts.

Upon closer inspection of the Harry Potter LEGO Hogwarts, some of that disappointment goes away. Check out all the rooms and details that have been included in this playset – towers, turrets, chambers, classrooms, students, professors, creatures...even includes the Whomping Willow and Hagrid's hut! Here are some of the finer details:

As we said, this LEGO set is 6,020 pieces, and that might sound daunting to some of you casual LEGO builders out there. But after building the Ghostbusters LEGO Firehouse with 4,634 pieces over a year ago, I can tell you that building one of these big sets is rather peaceful and almost therapeutic. Going through the manual and building these sets little by little is more fun than you'd think, simply because with these larger sets, you don't always know which part of the playset you're building until it's finished.

Of course, one thing that won't be fun is shelling out the $399.99 it will cost to bring this set home. LEGO VIP members will be able to pick it up starting on August 15, but the rest of the LEGO building public will have to wait until September 1.

For those curious as to what the entire set entails, here's the official product description:

Explore the magic of Hogwarts™ Castle!

Make the magic come alive at the LEGO® Harry Potter™ 71043 Hogwarts™ Castle! This highly detailed LEGO Harry Potter collectible has over 6,000 pieces and offers a rewarding build experience. It comes packed with highlights from the Harry Potter series, where you will discover towers, turrets, chambers, classrooms, creatures, the Whomping Willow™ and Hagrid´s hut, plus many more iconic features. And with 4 minifigures, 27 microfigures featuring students, professors and statues, plus 5 Dementors, this advanced building set makes the perfect Harry Potter gift.