Six of the best features in the LEGO Harry Potter January wave

LEGO Harry Potter is set to welcome a diverse range of sets come January 1, including some tempting display and play features.

We're just a couple of weeks away from over 150 new LEGO sets launching on January 1 with the start of the new year. That includes a wave of LEGO Harry Potter sets, ranging from cheap and cheerful playsets to some impressively detailed display models.

If you're still forming your Day One wishlist, we've picked out some of the best features you might have missed so you know what to keep your eyes on.

That's one powerful motorbike

First up is a surprisingly effective feature in 76459 Hagrid & Harry's Privet Drive Escape, where the 'flame' on the back of the bike can tip over a flowerbed. It's a simple function that takes the lightest flick, but it does help bring this basic set to life and adds a bit of drama to what could otherwise be a forgettable addition to the wave.

Cornish pixie's display stand

Next up is not a play function, but a display one that manages to trick the eye into seeing movement. Anyone who knows Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets will remember the chaotic energy of the Cornish pixies, and 76461 Cornish Pixie captures that well with the devilish grin on the buildable creature's face.

Some of the mischief it causes has also been recreated in bricks, with a wand knocking a jar of ink askew. The trans black ink spill really does look like it's mid-flight, while the use of transparent curved elements to make the objects look like they're suspended in mid-air only adds to the effect.

Exploding boot

Returning to more interactive features, the boot and doors of 76470 Enchanted Flying Ford Anglia can fly open. It takes a little bit of learning the knack, as you need to prime them by pushing in the rear bumper and then the front bumper to activate, but once you've got it done, it really does look exactly like the on-screen magic you might remember.

Spin for your house

Another play feature that takes a cheap and cheerful LEGO Harry Potter set up a notch can be found in 76460 Hogwarts Castle: Sorting Hat Ceremony. A simple wheel can decide your Hogwarts house, with tiny crests for each house. The build is surprisingly sturdy for its size, so you can give it a real good spin for extra dramatic tension as well.

Brick-built Boggart

The bottom floor of 76463 Hogwarts Castle: Hospital Wing is devoted to Professor Lupin's Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, complete with not one, but two versions of the Boggart. You can either use Ron's overgrown spider, complete with rollerblades, or see Harry face down a Dementor.

While there aren't specific play functions, the display options are clear, and the entire classroom can slide out from the main set for easy access. It's very neatly done, and the buildable nature of the spider Boggart is a delight to put together.

Troll punching the side of the trunk

There are three key functions in 76466 Philosopher's Stone Collectors' Edition, but the best of them is the hidden troll club that can punch out the side of the trunk at the turn of a knob. At first, it looks like part of the set has exploded off. It's only when you look closer that you see that it's the troll's own club that knocked off the wall to reveal the action-packed scene from the girls' bathroom.

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