For Harry Potter fans who missed the first wave of LEGO sets (which were on store shelves when the movies were first hitting the theaters), the toy aisles have been sadly bereft of magical LEGO from the wizarding world for far too long.

No more! Thanks to the success of the Fantastic Beasts films, the franchise is once again a hot commodity. And far be it from LEGO to miss such a golden opportunity.

But we’re all the richer for it. An entire generation of kids who grew up and discovered Harry Potter in the years since 2011 (when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 was released), can now spend their hard-earned cash on some truly fantastic LEGO sets.

I’ll admit that I totally missed the first round of LEGO Harry Potter sets. Though I’ve long admired them from afar (inflated eBay prices are not my jam), we’ve never had any in our collection.

Until now.

The newest wave of Wizarding World sets includes a few amazing builds…and one knockout set that will drop your jaw to the floor.

Hogwarts Great Hall, the Whomping Willow (with the Weasley’s flying car!), the Quidditch Match, and Grindelwald’s Escape are all pretty awesome sets. And the phenomenally large (and expensive) Hogwarts Castle is sure to be on MANY holidays lists this year.

But today we’re looking at the spectacular Hogwarts Express.

Specs:

• Item #75955
• 801 pieces (in 7 bags)
• 6 minifigures (Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Remus Lupin, Trolley Witch, Dementor)
• $79.99

In a series of films with so many iconic images, characters, and events, I think it’s fair to say that the Hogwarts Express ranks pretty high on the list. It’s in almost every movie, it plays a pivotal role in the story, and it’s one of the must-ride attractions at Universal Studios, connecting Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

So how is the LEGO version of the train? In a word: fan-freaking-tastic.

It’s a really fun build, and both the train and the train station platform include a bunch of super fun details.

Coolest Features:

• Come on, are you serious? Have you looked at this thing? The entire thing is cool!
• Platform 9 3/4: The platform re-creates King’s Cross station in London and includes a swinging door between platforms 9 and 10 that leads to the infamous Platform 9 3/4.
• Newsstand with copies of the Daily Prophet that have “The Boy Who Lived!” headline.
• Sirius Black’s wanted poster.
• SIX minifigures, incuding “little kid” versions of all three main characters! Ron comes with his rat Scabbers, and the Trolley Witch comes with a cart full of goodies (including a chocolate frog)!
• The flip-side of Lupin’s face is his werewolf version.
• The train itself, which is composed of three separate cars: the engine, a coal car, and a passenger car (that opens up to expose seating inside).

Playability: Are you kidding me? I want to sit down and play with this train all the time. I make chugga-chugga-choo-choo noises every time I walk near it.

Our only (minor) gripe is that the set doesn’t come with any railroad track. But realistically, they couldn’t include enough to make a whole layout anyway, and including just a few pieces would be useless.

Despite that, this is a GREAT set. Unless you’re going to splurge a bit more for the Hogwarts Great Hall (which has a nicer selection of minifigures), THIS is the set to get from the currently available Wizarding World sets. (And even though the $400 Hogwarts Castle is drool-worthy, it only comes with four minifigures. They’re the four house founders, which is cool, but you’re not even getting any favorite characters.)

In my completely honest opinion, the Hogwarts Express set is a complete winner. You should buy it. You should buy two. You should make sure it’s on every birthday and holiday gift list for the next year. Buy it for your kids. Buy it for your neighbors. Buy it for yourself.

Enjoy the heck out of it.