One of three free LEGO Harry Potter gifts with purchase available during this year’s Back to Hogwarts event, 40695 Borgin and Burke’s Floo Network is a clever little set.
The LEGO Group’s new annual promotional period to celebrate all LEGO Harry Potter products includes three gifts with purchase, available from 1 to 10 September or while stocks last.
Anyone who spends £35/$40/€40 on LEGO Harry Potter products in LEGO Stores or on LEGO.com will receive a free copy of 30677 Draco in the Forbidden Forest, and anyone who spends £120/$130/€130 on LEGO Harry Potter will also receive a copy of 40695 Borgin and Burkes: Floo Network.
Finally, anyone who purchases 76437 The Burrow Collectors’ Edition automatically qualifies for both (as it costs £219.99 / $259.99 / €259.99) and also receives 5009008 Weasley Collectible Watch. For more details on the promotions during Back to Hogwarts, click here.
Of the three freebies available at the start of the month, it’s the middle-of-the-range promotional item, Borgin and Burke’s Floo (40695), that’s likely to end up in most people’s collections, and not just because LEGO Harry Potter is so easy to find in stores for £120.
Much like last year’s Potter-inspired GWP 40598 Gringotts Vault, which was available at almost the same time and was deliberately designed as a clever complement to the flagship 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors’ Edition, 40695 Borgin and Burkes: Floo Network cleverly ties in with this year’s big September 1st release, 76437 The Burrow Collectors’ Edition.
Although the two sets aren’t directly connected and actually depict completely different locations, they are linked in their histories in the books and films, and cleverly done so in LEGO form. Representing the moment at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry first uses the Floo at the Burrow under the supervision of the Weasleys, the Collector’s Edition (76437) includes a cleverly designed play feature built into the chimney that allows a minifigure to be lifted up the chimney as if travelling on the magical transport at the turn of a knob.
And it is this play feature that is the central design point of 40695 Borgin and Burke’s Floo. It offers a snapshot of the dark and mysterious shop in Knockturn Alley, based on the same structure of a chimney with Floo tower. It works in the same way, has the same effect, and so simply and effectively continues the story of Harry’s misadventure in LEGO.
He starts at the Burrow and mispronounces his intended destination, Diagon Alley, as “Diagon.” He ends up at Borgin and Burkes, where he eventually spots Lucius Malfoy, who seems to be up to no good in the shop.
What you read in the book and saw in the film is now being continued for the first time in LEGO, in 76437 The Burrow Collectors’ Edition and 40695 Borgin and Burke’s Floo Network. It’s a wonderful and very simple way of combining two sets in a unique and effective way. The LEGO Group’s gifts with purchase have generally been of high quality over the last two years, especially those related to Harry Potter, and 40695 Borgin and Burke’s Floo Network continues that trend very well.
With its affordable purchase decision, 40695 Borgin and Burke’s Floo Network is a solid LEGO standalone piece with the potential to combine with an already brilliant larger model. It makes a perfect gift when purchasing LEGO Harry Potter and fits perfectly into the Back to Hogwarts promotional period.
40695 Borgin and Burkes: Floo Network is available with purchases of £120 / $130 / €130 of LEGO Harry Potter products in LEGO stores or on LEGO.com from 1st to 10th September (or while stocks last). Find more details of all LEGO Harry Potter promotions running during this period here. You can also read our review of 76437 The Burrow Collectors’ Edition here.
This set was provided for review by LEGO UK.
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As one half of Tiro Media Ltd, I combine a passion for producing print and digital media with a deep love of LEGO and can often be found on these pages praising LEGO Batman, delving deeper into the inner workings of the LEGO Group or simply complaining about the price of the latest LEGO Star Wars set. Make a great impression when you meet me in person by praising EXO-FORCE as the best LEGO theme ever. Follow me on Twitter @RobPaton or send me an email to (email protected).
