The original first year of sets were truly unique, as they didn't emulate the movies, instead grabbing inspirations from the books, even having some doll house elements with the individual golden trio sets.

I didn't grow up with the books or the movie but I did have the lego catalogs. For me, the depiction of the world through the sets is how I saw Harry Potter. As an adult, me and friends had a movie marathon where we watched all the films. We got to the 3rd film when I finally asked if Snape ever glows in the dark

The early Lego HP sets have a simple and elegant charm to them. The new ones are probably better in terms of objectivity but the old ones have a magical feel to them

Peeves and Ron teaming up to kill Snape will never not be funny to me 😂

This is one of the best LEGO videos I’ve seen in a while. Seeing these funky sets broken down with Cheesey’s excellent production quality is such a treat. I love the early licensed themes because they have that delightful classic LEGO look and design, but often had consistent support with big waves, and an unmatched set variety for the time. The language of old with the scope of new. The best of both worlds.

yo you know you're deep in the lego community when they do a collab and you recognize everyone love it when the lego youtubers collab together, always so fun! would be kinda interesting to see caleb and just2good collab on something...

Finally found the time to watch this one - what a fantastic showcase of what is certainly one of LEGO's most unique eras when it comes to licensed themes! Well done as always, Caleb! I've actually had all these sets for years now but have never been able to find the opportunity to show them off properly; now, I don't have to, haha! The way you connected them all together on your table is exactly how I imagined it from looking at those old promotional photos from 2001. 😊 For parts nerds like us, these sets are like candy! So many cool, interesting, and/or obscure elements to them - I love it! For as much as I love the "dollhouse" sets, I think I too would have to vouch for Snape's Classroom being the "set to get" of the bunch. It's a great bang for your buck and seems to encapsulate all of the best aspects of this magical first wave. ❤ Looking forward to seeing you explore more of the series!

I remember when I got the original castle on Christmas in 2001. Ironically I found a picture some days ago my parents made of me with the sets in my arms and a huge smile in my face. The sets from the first three movies have such a huge nostalgic point in my heart and I lovely think about being a kid at the time watching the movies and play with those sets during Christmas holidays in 2001 to 2004. Thanks for this flashback and I´m looking forward to see part 2...

I never owned any of the classic harry potter sets (yellow era) but i am so nostalgic for them because my pre-school had nearly the entire wave of sets for the kids to play with. Those figs bring back so many memories for me!

These sets are genuinely so nostalgic and full of personality. The transparent spiders and unique printed pieces make everything feel so original and i wish we got more of that with newer lego sets

Didn't know I was gonna sit down and watch a 1:14:28 long video today, but this has been one of the most captivating videos I've seen in a long while. Great description of the sets, great showcase and a great interaction with other Lego KZfaqrs. I had completely forgotten about the 2x1 with the molded ball piece if it wasn't for this video! And I completely agree that Lego should bring back alternative builds in more than their Lego Creative theme. And the craziest thing if I might add, is that I've ever only owned a single Harry Potter set! And it was that flying sport tournament (please don't attack me for not knowing what it's called) from (I think) 2011. Even though I've only ever owned one set, I grew up seeing all of the films and playing the Lego Harry Potter videogames, and I still admire the theme. The only reason I have never gotten more into it, is because I think it's too late and that I can't catch up to the theme, with all of the sets that've already released and gone off shelves the past years. And if anyone made it this far in my comment, then I thank you and appreciate your time to read my rambling lol Have a great day!

Those printed books are what made me obsessed with them. My first HP set was that one with Lucius and Dobby, from 2012, but they are not even CLOSE to the charm of the accessories and beauty of the original wave. I love these dollhouse sets with the paper backgrounds that simulated a random room for Rony, Harry and Hermione. The specialized old pieces borrowed from other themes, the new colours; I can't even describe the wonder they all bring to my adult brain.

Thanks for having me! This was such a great video; was super fun to try and pick one favorite set from 2001!

I don’t even know Harry Potter but I love the looks of these sets. So classic, and the old colours are just so good. Same with the early Star Wars sets.

I keep coming back to this video over and over again. This is so well edited, very cozy too

This is awesome! I love these retrospective videos. Can't wait for part 2!

I really hope we see videos about Lego Lord of the Rings and Lego Hobbit. Middle-Earth was always my favourite Lego theme, as it is my favourite franchise ever. Really like this format of video: summarising history of whole theme

I didn't grow up reading harry potter and only recently watched through the movies post-covid, but even so I can feel the nostalgia oozing from these sets. If anything it's that simple but playable design philosophy that was ever present in that lego era that was also in all the sets I owned as a kid. Love it.

These sets are so nostalgic for me! I never had any of the original wave, but as a kid I loved browsing the Lego site and looking through them. Is secondhand nostalgia a thing?

Can't wait to see part 2. I had the Chamber of Secrets set as a kid and this has been a nice little jump back in time.

Ah, the Devil's Snare eating Ron, an absolute Cheesey Studios classic! Honestly this was my favourite revisiting video you made so far, maybe it's just because I love these sets so much, they really have a sense of magic none of the future sets had! I definitely have to get these one day - there's not many for sale in my country so maybe I'll start picking up some of the pieces when I buy on BrickLink. Can't wait for these to continue! :D

Used to be crazy about these as a kid, loved to see you both go through them so thoroughly!

I can't wait for part 2. I loved this Video so much! Such a calm but interesting setting and style of editing!

Seeing these sets bring back so many memories, what a wonderful time it was to be a kid playing with them, really enjoyed this video and subbed looking forward to part 2.

Lots of memories here. I got several of these sets. They have many useful parts for castle building. Even the specialized pieces are versatile. The sand green rooftops and the doorframe with molded stone wall look good on many different buildings. My favorite was 4702 The final Challenge. Although rather small, I liked the compact design. And the Quirrell minifig with the double face pring was awesome.

I just discovered your channel and I just want to say thank you for this awesome video. I recently emerged from the Lego dark ages (I’m 29) and have rediscovered my love for Lego, especially with all the amazing adult focused sets they produce now. However, watching this video brought me back and reminded me of how magical of a time it was to build these sets, especially as a kid who loved the books and I can feel that nostalgia big time looking at the original sets in your video. Well done and thank you!

This video was like a review of all the early sets! I love it! Great job!

I just started reading the Harry Potter books and there sooo good! I read the 1st two books in like 5 1/2 days. I understand why people like them so much now, and I’m dying to watch the movies. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was seriously one of the highest quality videos I've seen on the platform lately, good stuff man keep it up! I subbed

Another brilliant video. I love a good trip down memory lane! Looking forward to the next one in this series

I've been binging your "retrospective" videos lately, your professional quality is impeccable. After only watching about 20 or so of your videos, I'd put you in the upper echelons with JangBricks in the "lego youtuber quality" category. Fantastic work!!!! My favorite videos so far were your power miners reviews, can't get enough of that theme

Awesome video! This was actually really cool to see. I had most of these, and lots more to come. I remember the arguing with the parents because they said they were expensive. When i got older, my parents sold ALL my legos for like $100 to "clear space". It's really cool seeing the detail they put in the old sets.

1:06:54 has an super aswome detail! gryffindor banner with what i assume to be housepoints. the final sets dont show that banner. very intressting. thanks a lot for the video it bought me much joy as i played with gringotts and fluffy as a kid and recently bought the modern counterparts to sets i didnt have as a kid. i spend hours looking at the poster of the combined castle.even tho i have a lot of nostalgia for these older sets i prefer most of the new ones but maybe thats bc im an adult now. cant wait for part two since dumbledors office was my main hogwarts caslte for many years till the halfblood prince set and i recently acqiured the! chamber of secrest that its miles ahead of its modern version. thanks again for the high quality videos on some of the themes i loved the most

Love the modular original sets even more with your commentary!

That dramatic pause before "Troll on the Loose" had me in stitches, lol! xD

This video was truly exceptional. So well done, never thought an hour could go by so quick 💪

I had a number of these and am SO nostalgia for them. The 90s/early 2000s style of Lego sets and minifigs is so iconic.

I had all these sets collected over a few years as a young teenager and I absolutely loved revisiting them through this video

i love that late 90s early 2000s clip art 3d sorta style the art on the prints and minifigures had, so wonderful and nostalgic, peeves was most likely included as a mini figure because as we know these sets were released before the movie, the character was a big part of the early books and was sadly cut from the philosophers stone , a really interesting fact, his dialogue and actor were so funny the kids couldn't stop laughing at his scenes making them almost impossible to film, its so interesting to see lego constantly including stuff that doesn't make the cut for licensed movie themes even two decades later.

Listening to this and having been 4 when these sets began to release... an absolute FLOOD of lego memories and sets began to come back.

This is such a great early theme. It has such a unique aesthetic that Lego has never really matched or replicated!

I must have been five years old when these sets came out but I still vividly remember when and how I got every single one of them and where I put them together for the first time. I have so many strong memories attached to all these sets and I think they were really what got me hooked on Harry Potter.

I always love these revisiting videos of yours, it's cool to see old themes be seen by people who have never seen them before.

I like how the winged keys are built, although the key with the broken wing is the blue one, which its wings are not broken looking for some reason.

20:00 god these are my fav alternate builds and I am obsessed with them

I remember seeing these sets when they first released but not being a huge fan of mixing the cardboard and vinyl with the bricks... so despite loving Harry Potter, I didn't actually purchase a set until the 2007 castle! However I did love your deep dive into them, they definitely had some charm and great pieces that are missed at first glance. Fascinating video, can't wait for part 2 😊

I definitely collected a lot of these back in the day and especially if they had a character that I didn't have before or if a character was unique to a set, like for example Quirrell, but also Escape from Privet Drive which had Uncle Vernon and, being a bit of a Dursleys fan, I was excited to see that character represented in Lego.

awesome look on the older sets, the only set from the early 2000s i had was the 2002 Flying Lesson set but i can't help but imagine that the entire instructions with real images were built together with their own instructions for the photographer.

Just completed my boxed collection of 2001-2003 Harry Potter set collection. Glad to see them getting more love

Just got some of the 2001 Harry Potter minifigs and I love them. They have a charm to them that I don't get with the newer sets.

I can't wait for part 2. Chamber of Secrets was one of my favorite waves

I'm brand new to the Lego set deep dive corner of KZfaq, but I think I'm addicted. I also wasn't allowed to have anything related to Harry Potter as a kid, so my only exposure was seeing the sets in my Lego magazines and wondering things like "Why does that guy have a glow in the dark head?" and "is that wizard in pink robes and blonde hair a guy or girl?" This was so fun to watch.

Wow, some really unique and amazing sets. Especially the 3 girls sets with the cardboard backdrop.

These are truly great. I never had many of these, but they have that early 2000s charm that I love so much. Great to see such a thorough review! A goal of mine is to get one of these sets sealed

This video was so good and informative!! Hope it gets more views! Very nostalgic while I never even had a Lego Harry Potter set haha

Yesss! Very amazing video! Als an unexpected but very welcome surprise to colab with various other LEGO fans and channel! Recognized pretty much all of them! Hope you keep this up with the next waves 😊

Loved this- Can’t wait for the next installment!

They did an amazing job capturing the essence of these early sets in later sets and especially in the Harry Potter video games. I can't think of specific examples atm but I know there are at least a few easter egg references to these here and there throughout the games. LEGO might iterate and move on from early designs but they don't necessarily forget them. Great video.

What a great video. I think this video truly captures the unchallenged magic of the classic Harry Potter sets. Classic Harry Potter will forever be my favourite licensed theme and never beat by the new sets, so many wonderful memories these sets give me and I absolutely love those weird parts that every classic Harry Potter set incorporates. I’ve loved lego hairy potter since i was four and this video made me so happy and gave me so much nostalgia. On a different note I’d pove to see the newly revealed Animal crossing sets reviewed here with Audrey ( not to replace the legendary Clickits advent calendar lol) great vid as always Cheesey came up a day before my bday so that was a fun surprise ❤❤❤❤

Loved this video. Those of us collecting Harry Potter haven't seen these sets...enjoyed it.

I have many of these sets - just now digging them out of my attic! You're right, the imagination and charm of these sets really sets them apart from the modern ones, and the capes for each character were a lovely inclusion. Excited to be rebuilding them soon. I will be uploading the full build videos to my channel, in case anyone is interested :)

32:07 oh man that's fun, the trolley is almost exactly the same build as the trolleys in the modern sets. I think there might even be one with the exact same build. The more things change and so on

I would adore a revisit of the beginning of Star Wars like this! I find yellow skin Star Wars super charming.

I got most of the first sets in 2001, and after a few exciting years I outgrew it late 2005. Set 4762 'Rescue from the Merpeople' was my last one. It wasn't until late 2020 I fell back into it thanks to ERB's 'Harry Potter vs Luke Skywalker'. I was blown away by how much the theme had grown since then, although the first sets really were magical in addition to the first two movies.

Thank you for putting this together, very well done! And apologies for the thought dump, but hey, a 1.25 hour video gives plenty of times for me to have thoughts LOL The general change in interior / play feature focus to exterior aesthetics is interesting and especially apparent in these sets particularly when compared to later Harry Potter sets. As I've grown with the LEGO brand, I'm far more interested in a good exterior aesthetic than I am a filled-out and play-feature filled interior...but I can't help but wonder if the LEGO experience for newer / younger fans is lacking some of the play features and creativity in older sets like these (especially with those alternate builds!). This was a FANTASTIC wave of movie-tie in sets. Admittedly, something like HP was a huge franchise-beginning tie in, but still, I do miss the fantastic waves of sets we *sometimes* got. The first Harry Potter and Star Wars Revenge of the Sith are two of the more notable ones that I remember, in terms of really covering all the ground I'd have expected. And the product life cycle was also interesting, that these sets would all come out before the movie. Compared to now, when everything is under wraps until later so we'll have things like an Ahsoka tie-in that only has half of the main settings and characters because 'oh no, it's a spoiler'...it's just such a different way of treating things. The collectability of minifigures, or rather lack of it, is also noted here. The big set of the wave technically has one unique minifigure, but also it's just...a suit of armor. The biggest set of a product wave not having exclusive / super desirable minifigures spread throughout the wave sure seems like a retroactive breath of fresh air compared to most Star Wars / Marvel / even Harry Potter sets they make now. Also interesting that all of the minifigures were in bag one and built in the first step...somewhere along the way they started spreading them out by bags, which I don't have any problems with, but it's still interesting. Also, are you actively looking to collect the instructions for the sets you don't have? I have most of the instructions from this first wave, and most should be in good condition, too. I've recently pulled all my instructions out thinking I'd go through and sell some of the ones that have at least some value...but also I haven't gotten anywhere with that yet. If you're actively looking for any that I have, I'd be happy to send those over if they help complete your collection!

Remembering the hours of playing with a few of these sets when I was a kid. Loved using the bits and making wizard and wand shops like diagon alley. Fighting with my brother's as to who got the best HP items to put in our lego shops😅

Just recently collected all these sets, some of my favorite in my collection

Good times. Great childhood. Had a lot of the Harry Potter lego sets back in the early 2000s. Remember my mate had an entire pool table with a blanket over it, and had a lot of the sets on it.

I have so much nostalgia for these sets but I never owned them nor was alive when they came out (born in 04.) I was buying lego mainly in the early 2010's but would watch constant videos on these early sets and loved the more simple artstyle and yellow mini figs and that grey robe

Love the HP sets and collected from the very beginning. I have them all and for 2001 still hold up today! The hogwarts castle still looks iconic and holds much more than we needed like the owlery and library!

i love these older sets. the prints and pieces and colours give the 2001-2003 era so much style

Absolutely wonderful! Lego harry potter is by far my favorite theme. I think by far the early Lego harry potter line showed the best of what Lego in general could be. The set that I think captures this best is 4757 Hogwarts Castle. Its building style is a blend between classic Lego design and new designs. It still has a lot of basic pieces that are to be able to do so much more with so little. I really miss that with newer Lego sets. sometimes less is more. For me all the special pieces and fun little secrets is what makes the Harry Potter set so wonderful and makes them feel so much like a adventure. I 100% agree that the alt builds need to come back. they were some of the best features of this line. What I would do as a kid was try and challenge myself to make a new set out of just the one set's pieces. classic Harry Potter was the most fun to do this because the pieces used a lot of basic parts so you were able to make a lot out of each set and for me I think that added even more playability to each set.

awesome video, please continue this series!

i love the gradient of the walls to simulate shadow and the dark corners of the ceilings

I remember never being able to get the roof on Hagrid's hut to work, so I'm fine with the boxier designs of later sets of it.

Where is part 2? Really truly gratefully appreciate this video BTW, brought back so many memories! I literally have all the sets except for the Hogwarts classrooms and Gringotts!

Something that I really love about the original 2001/2002 wave of Hogwarts sets compared to the more recent remakes is the sense of scale. The older castle modules are just so much larger/taller compared to the remakes, and I think it makes a huge difference in presentation. The Great Hall is a good example, but so many of the other sets are just much taller. Also, there's a lot more variation in the color in the original sets. While the remakes are mostly just tan and sand green, the originals have splashes of grey, dark grey, and black mixed in with the tan and sand green. Take the Potions Class for example, the grey and black really help to sell it as a dark and gloomy part of the dungeons.

59:13 I just love how you had to open the see through chest to see what's inside of it!

I had, and still own, every single one of the sets from the first 2 movies. I love seeing people appreciate the early years of licensed LEGO sets. Back then, even though they were licensed, they were 100% for play, not display. Good childhood memories with all of these sets. I actually own 2 copies of The Final Challenge set. One of them still sealed brand new.

This brings me back to my childhood. I have all the HP Lego sets from Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone to Goblet of Fire (technically the HP for Girls subtheme sets belong to my sister). I was the perfect age (9 years old) for when the first wave of HP sets were released. I think the only HP set from the first four films I don't have is the Hogwarts Express 2nd Edition from 2004, mainly because I got the 10132 motorized version instead.

I remember longing for these sets, starring at them in the LEGO catalogs. Never got a chance to own any of them, so instead made my own with the LEGO I already had (1999 Jar Jar Binks was known to me as Dobby the Elf) 😅. Thanks again for a fantastic retrospective

Love this video format

My mom made a lot of those sets into a DIY advent calendar for me, every day a few bricks and steps neatly packaged up in a numbered bag, long before Lego caught on to that idea haha And because back then the steps didn't include a box with the pieces needed, she had to half assemble, then take apart each step and also guess which bricks were used, which caused only a minor bit of early morning chaos and drama when a brick was missing :(

I rebought most of the 2001 line new in box back in 2021 for its 20th anniversary and i remember how difficult putting Hagrids roof on was 😂

OOOHHHH I had the Lego Harry Potter Creator game on PC so I recognize so many of these pieces from that game. It realy was just so unique compared too today

Great video! What music did you use for the background?

You deserve order of merlin first class for this video!!!!, my very first lego HP set was the sorting hat, makes me nostalgic, the magic was captured perfectly in this wave of sets, but my favourite was always chamber of secrets sets, looking forward fot the next video

This is my new favorite video on KZfaq I could fall asleep to this

Thing that was so fantastic about the phase one Harry Potter sets is they were designed to be put together to make a full castle with levels. something I wish Lego would do more

I'm really surprised Professor McGonagall never showed up in the first wave. In fact the only sets she came in for the first 10 years where Dumbledore's office (2002) and Hogwarts Castle (2010)

My brother had the set with the mirror, and I had the Hogwarts set with the staircase. I miss the good ol days, great video 😊

I love the appreciation you showed to the “girls” sets. I have the classroom one (minus the cardboard) and I love the weirdness and charm of it.

I remember my only connection to the Harry Potter Franchise being some of these sets. Absolutely great theme with so much creativity in it.

Dont know anything abt Harry Potter save from Lego, but i always have loved these early sets. I may pick up a couple after watching this

I really want to see scans of those backdrops for the Belleville-like sets

Im excited for the next parts!!

I can tell how much effort went into this video. Good job mate.

Wow thank you for this! Brought me back to my childhood :)

I was lucky enough to have all of these sets when I was young. I therefore ended up with multiple Harry/Ron/Hermione figures, so I'd swap about their heads and hair pieces to create other 'students'. Ginger Harry, long haired Ron, etc. Thanks for the memories and great video :-)

The cracking and peeling of stickers in the early 2000s is why I still avoid stickers about 9.9 times out of 10. Whether it’s the old stickers peeling, cracking, or being placed on multiple bricks, to the more plastic stickers lego uses now which I’ve found tend to not stay adhered to rounded surfaces and collect dust around the edges, prints are the way to go. If only they could get the paint opacity perfect on printed parts…