Rediscovered LEGO as an Adult—Need Advice on an Incomplete Hogwarts Castle (71043) Set
Hi all,
I recently rediscovered LEGO as an adult and I’m evaluating a potentially daunting project. My question is essentially, “is it worth it to identify and purchase the parts to a large and incomplete set?”
My niece and nephew gave me their partially built Hogwarts Castle (71043) set, and I accepted thinking I could enjoy building it and then return it to them completed.
When they got it for Xmas, they were too young to have the patience for such a big set. Over time, some bags were opened, and the pieces got scattered and mixed with other LEGO sets.
Here’s what I know: • Complete set: ~6,000 pieces across 37 bags. • What I have: 29 unopened bags (about 80% of the set) and possibly half of the pieces I could find from the opened bags. The opened bags are mostly from the first 12 bags.
I estimate I might be missing 600–1,000 pieces. At around $0.10 per piece, that’s roughly $60–$100 worth of missing pieces to replace.
My questions are:
Is it worth it? Given the effort of sorting mixed pieces that I do have, identifying what’s missing, and paying for replacements, is this a project you think is worth it?
If so, how would you approach this?
I’m not sure what I’m getting into here but would love to hear your advice, especially from anyone who’s dealt with incomplete sets before.
Thanks in advance!