The Lab, Set #30111, a LEGO Harry Potter Review

Feb 5, 2012
William Reed

The Lab, Set #30111, a LEGO Harry Potter set - Sarah Reed

This obscure little set holds some treasure and fun for LEGO Harry Potter fans. Read on to see if this set is worth getting, now that it's so hard to find.

Fans of LEGO’s Harry Potter series were happy to get another series of sets released in 2011. Sadly it looks as though production of these sets will end and be taken out of LEGO’s product line by July of 2012. This means there is a point in which Harry Potter sets will see a marked increase in price on the secondary market.

Some of these sets saw less shelf life than others. This is especially the case with the small bagged sets like The Lab and Trolley. Therefore, in order to avoid heavy mark ups, grabbing these sets as soon as possible will probably be your best option. Of course, that assumes these sets are worth your time.

Building The Lab, a LEGO Harry Potter Set

As with all small sets, there is not a whole lot to build. In this set you will primarily build the shelving unit and the ingredients that go on it. This will probably take you the same amount of time as opening the bag and separating the pieces.

This is by no means a complicated build. However, it does make a very nice piece of furniture. You may want to use this design to populate the interiors of your own buildings.

Playing with The Lab, a LEGO Harry Potter Set

This set mainly thrives on the use of your imagination. All the ingredients are available to make a super potion. Although, there is one small play element that is not entirely obvious. The bottom most level of the shelving unit contains a hidden compartment.

Accessing the hidden space is as easy as lifting the shelves off of the base. It is designed to only be held on by two studs. You’ll find this same technique was used in Dumbledore’s office in Hogwarts Castle (set #4842).

Interesting Parts of The Lab, a LEGO Harry Potter Set

The main draw of this set is the parts that make up the ingredients. Among these there are transparent bricks in various colors. You’ll also get a frog, a spider, a small fang, and an envelope. As for the rest of the parts, they’re useful but not really special in any way.

Minifigures in The Lab, a LEGO Harry Potter Set

The only minifigure is Harry Potter. He has black hips and legs. His torso is that of a dark bluish gray uniform with the stripe and shield pattern found on Gryffindor students. His head is flesh colored with glasses and lightning bolt pattern on the forehead. He also has two expressions. One side is smiling while the other side is frowning. His hair piece is black and done in a short tousled style.

Ratings for The Lab, a LEGO Harry Potter Set

Originality: 3.5 out of 5 Studs. The designs have been similarly used in larger sets. It’s just nice to see it done in a small scale.

Play Value: 3 out of 5 Studs. This set has a lot of potential, but it is a bit limited due to its size.

Design: 3 out of 5 Studs. It’s a nice model, but does not do anything out of the ordinary.

Unique Parts: 3.5 out of 5 Studs. The transparent bricks are nice, but there is nothing remarkable that would make this set impossible to make.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Studs. It’s a nice small set for the price. You can probably make it out of spare parts though.

Recommendations

This set had a very limited release. If you must have it to complete a collection, you’ll want to look at secondary sellers. However, don’t pay too much for it since there’s nothing extraordinary about it.

List of Harry Potter LEGO Sets

The following list is organized by set number. Also note that this is not an exhaustive list of every Harry Potter LEGO set ever made. This only reflects the sets released in 2010-2011.