DarkLordSauron

Is it just me or does this feel smaller than City? Like, it's about 1000 pieces more, but City feels more... bulky? Like there's more there? idk maybe better pictures or the back will explain it

Yeah I kinda feel the same way. I was actually super excited for this set, but it feels like a lot of mostly empty rooms with not enough minifigures to fill them up. Diagon Alley is supposed to be a crowded, bustling place. This is a great modular creator set. But I'm just not feeling it as a Harry Potter set. And yeah, Ninjago City is a super high bar to live up to, but still. That set was $100 less. This set feels good... but I'm not blown away. (The Lucius minifigure is a huge step up though, he looks beautiful!!)

I guess I'm in the minority who really likes the twins' design? I think they're very good figures. I'd start by saying a lot of CMF series have characters that come in pairs or sets, like in Disney, or the Harry/Ron/Hermione combos, so I much prefer this to having just one CMF playing both roles. Personally I really like the design, I'm not always on the dual molded hype train, but in this case I think the dual molded legs work really well, the unique prints that go together but are still distinct is nice, even on their hats. They look good imo Yeah, I agree... I'd rather have an original, years 1-3 Diagon Alley than WWW... speaking of which, I know people were bummed about not getting a Lockhart in this wave. Lockhart, of course, first appears in Diagon Alley. So maybe that's a possibility?? Not to get hopes up, but maybe the twins were included in the CMF and Lockhart in DA, reversing our expectations.

I agree to the extent that this CMF line is does not have many new characters. There's a bit of providing characters that are exclusive to expensive sets to people who don't want to pay that much (Ginny, Bellatrix). I think there's a bit of a problem with doing this. Ginny, for example: I've never understood why Lego makes her so rare, going back years and years. She's a very common, prominent character in the source material. And then there's Luna, who will have three versions of her available this year... there could be some better planning overall across sets and CMFs. lol I know, I know, I'm just sour about Slughorn's party being the scene they went with for the flagship set of the wave. I do think we should've gotten Ginny in Hogwarts robes a wave or two ago so we'd already have that version and they could do new versions of her now. Lego is just bizarrely stingy with Ginnys. Does anyone know if the book that comes with Harry has any indication it's the Half-Blood Prince's?

The CMFs look good. I'm especially impressed at how they continue to add stuff that makes the obligatory inclusions more appealing. Never thought I'd go out of my way to acquire yet another Hermione or Ron but I just might pick one of the two up for a butterbeer. They do seem to be leaning hard into rereleasing characters already in sets (Main three, Luna, Ginny, Neville, Dumbledore) and while the figures look great, it would've been nice for them to find a place for a Ginny in another set under $100 instead of taking up a place in the CMF. Also picking Slughorn's party Ginny instead of a Hogwarts robes Ginny is not a choice I'm a fan of, but that's just nitpicking. Yeah definitely Pomfrey and Lockhard. I honestly can't wrap my head around how they haven't come out with a Pomfrey yet after making the Hospital Wing in Clock Tower. They could've added her to that set or released her this CMF, doesn't make sense to me. idk her hat is so big, I'd be worried she would topple over easily with a 1x2

If the rumors are true and it is Tatooine/Mos Eisley, I struggle to imagine what would justify a $350 price tag. The last Cantina was $80, right? So that would be 4.5 times more expensive. Which leads me to think there's a space port... which leads me to think there could be a smaller sized Falcon in the vein of the Cloud City Slave I. Also, someone above mentioned all the possible minifigs--don't forget Jabba. This could be the first time we're getting him in a while.

I'd just point out there are more CW sets than any other movie, TV show, or other subtheme, so clearly they didn't sell horribly. That said, I've always felt like Lego's timing has been a bit off when it comes to matching ages with themes. When CW came out and Rebels came out, the source material was for children. I understand there are some more privileged children out there, but for the most part, elementary/middle schoolers aren't buying $80+ sets. They're buying battle packs or getting mid-sized sets for their birthdays. Based on my personal experience, the $100+ price range should be mostly for teens and the small contingent of AFOLs. They're probably not interested in the more childish source material. So when Lego released a $90 Ghost set, it definitely fits into my logical cross-section of what wouldn't sell well. So color me unsurprised if CW and Rebels didn't outpace expectations when the bulk of their sets were released when the target audience was eight. Bringing it back to this wave, on a personal note, I'm at the age where I can start buying the larger sets in the star wars line, and I'm more interested in reissues of CW era sets like the Resolute than I am in an AT-AT. That said, obviously Lego has to re-release an AT-AT every once in a while. But recently we've gotten a re-released Slave I, we're getting a re-release of the final duel set, a fourth millennium falcon in as many years--point is there's plenty of room for them to do re-releases of other, more rare, things too. But again, just my personal taste, Lego knows what sells best. On the other hand, the CW sets in this wave seem clearly geared toward children, while the TROS sets seem more geared toward teens and adults. Obviously, the 501st battle pack is a nice bone thrown to those campaigning for it, but I think the point still stands. It seems like children would be more interested in the sequel products and teens more interested in CW... but eh, what do I know? (And that doesn't even get into the quality of the actual sets, which I think has been well-vetted here as lackluster.) I would've spent some money on new builds for CW, or for locations, that's all I'm saying. I'm not going to buy any of the sets in this wave over $50. It's just a little frustrating that there's plenty I really want to buy from the star wars universe but every wave feels like the creativity in what's included has drained more and more.

Haha yeah, actually, that's exactly my age group. I try to be conscientious of Lego having a difficult time trying to please everyone and different age group having different interests. But to speak to my own interests for a minute, I grew up with the prequels and TCW, so that's where all the nostalgia is for me. I'd happily shell out $250+ for a Jedi Temple, that absurd $90 price tag on Palpatine's Arrest if they re-released that, or for a re-release of the Venator. (I even went back and bought Palpatine's Arrest without the figs on ebay years later.) I have no hate for OT or even the Sequels, but I'm just not invested in spending that kind of money on them. I mean, if Lego can sell AT-AT after AT-AT, more power to them, I'm not trying to be grumpy lol. I just know people my age in general are primarily invested prequel-era, and from what I can tell those younger are invested in the sequel era since that's what they're growing up with. Lego's affinity for Hoth will never cease to puzzle me, but hey, if it sells, it sells.

Yeah, I totally agree here, they pretty much have to keep shelves stocked with the same few sets re-released every few years. On the other hand, most kids these days are not hard core ESB fans/will spend $160 on an AT-AT. Same goes for a RotJ nearing $100. IDK it just seems weird when we have new content specifically for kids released recently. And again, totally get that there will be TROS sets in every wave for the foreseeable future, but the night buzzard would seem low on the priority list. I guess I view OT sets as mainly in the market for AFOLs and the night buzzard was obviously pushed by AFOLs, not kids, so I guess I just have a hard time understanding the rationale behind this wave. But Lego are the experts at what sells. Also, just noticed they did away with the terrible clone wars eyes. Very happy about that.

Good, sometimes I worry I'm just irrationally nit-picky with Lego, but I was so ready for a TCW/Mandolorian wave and most of it is just weird re-releases. A big let down. I don't know if I'm just out of touch with what people like or if I don't understand Lego's rationale for set selection, but I can't imagine the Night Buzzard will sell better than exogol or a siege of mandalore set. Of course, the obvious explanation is the Night Buzzard is a ship and lego has a clear affinity for ships over locations, even if the ship gets 0.5 seconds of screentime (literally, as in the case of the quadjumper). Meanwhile cloud city comes around once every decade, we've never gotten a Jedi Temple, Mandalore architecture would be an AWESOME lego build... they just don't like locations. Maybe the sales data backs it up idk

Is this wave a bit heavy on re-releases? Or maybe it just feels that way to me because the re-releases we are getting are (mostly) pretty exact replicas of old ones. Really, the only builds that aren't some sort of re-release are the night buzzard and the resistance ship. Personally, I don't know what Lego was thinking when they picked those. Some have mentioned a final duel set in place of the RotJ one; if they were looking for a TRoS set, I don't know why Exogol wouldn't be their first choice instead of the night buzzard. I really don't know what kid will remember that ship in particular from the movie. Seems like something only AFOLs or people buying the whole wave would buy... in which case, it's still a weird choice. Also, how many Anakin starfighters are we going to get? We've had three now in the past, what, four years? Another Jedi would be nice. If they're going to do a re-release like this one that's a near-exact replica, I think they had a good thing going when they included Nute Gunray in the interceptor way back when. Wish they'd mixed up the minifigs with something like that. I really like the final duel set... but it really just feels like a let down in a wave dominated by builds we've gotten before. Would be nice to see Lego show some creativity with this line sooner or later. If they need ideas, I'm sure we can help lol Really just kinda disappointing in general bc we just had the last season of clone wars, this is probably it for the subtheme other than remakes, and the biggest sets are a re-released AT-AT, a TROS, and a replica of RotJ final duel. Meh.

TGH Tower was definitely underwhelming--but I was OK with that because the great hall was very good and very updated compared to what we'd gotten before. I feel like the last two hogwarts flagship sets were weird mashups of different locations. If Lego wants to make a set about the Yule Ball, I'd rather have one really well-done, complete rendition of the Yule Ball instead of a small Yule Ball and an incomplete Dumbledore's office. The Astronomy Tower is marketed as the Astronomy Tower. Great--I would love to see a Lego rendition of that. Completed, with a vanishing cabinet and death eaters. But this model feels like a weird collection of odds and ends: Ravenclaw Common Room, the Greenhouse, Slughorn's office. And to be clear, I really like the inclusion of all those (or at least the first two), but not if the focal point of the set itself is lacking. Also, even just modest improvements to Slughorn's office would be a huge step up, especially since that's where the setting for the scene the minifigures included is based around. IDK I guess what I'm trying to say is I'd prefer them to do one highly detailed part of the castle instead of a montage of incomplete sections. I get that criticizing the set for being focused on Slughorn's party sounds like a criticism of only the minifigures, but I think the minifigures inform what story the set tells. Both this and the Clock Tower feel like they're trying to build a quarter of four different stories each rather than one cohesive part of the Harry Potter story. As for the architecture itself, I didn't think the Clock Tower was anything special but that's just my opinion. The Astronomy Tower is really big and interesting to build and display, at least from the outside. I just don't know that it's iconic enough to pull the weight of a lackluster interior/minifig selection. It's definitely true that we've gotten our fill of Dumbledores. I think including his office and the CMF1 in this set would make the most sense, then maybe take him out of CT and replace with Pomfrey. Obviously that's a lot of moving stuff around and most of it we get anyway, but I'm just saying I don't get the logic of where he's included and where he isn't.

The latest iteration of HP started out so unbelievably amazing and there are still some real gems in this wave, but I can't help but feel like the theme is starting to lose its way a bit. When the first wave with sets like The Great Hall and Qudditch Match came out, they were improving leaps and bounds over anything HP had seen before and the sets were irresistible. But as the theme's gone on, everything just feels less compelling. Privot Drive is amazing--the cupboard under the stairs, letters in the fireplace, and window feature are great details that really emulate where this line started. Sadly I'm not too interested in its subject matter. The rest of the sets just feel kind of average. I mean, which Lego executive looked at the Half Blood Prince and said, you know what scene in that movie would really sell? Slughorn's dinner party. Seriously?? Why did we not get Dumbledore and Snape in this set? The previous Snape was great but there definitely is room to make a new iteration! How about Dumbledore? We got him in the Yule Ball (over Pomfrey and Moaning Myrtle, I might add), but his inclusion in a set literally titled Astronomy Tower isn't warranted? Really? I don't want a waiter Neville, especially when we still don't have a Neville in regular Hogwarts robes. And how many dresses do we need for Hermione? This HP theme is more mature than previous years; I know Lego shies away from death scenes, but an Astronomy Tower set should be based around the battle there. Dumbledore, Snape, two Death Eaters, maybe Crabbe and Goyle would've been much preferred to this lineup. Even Professor Sprout instead of being in the CMF wave could've been included, since we get the greenhouse here. It's not like they left out a Snape repeat for characters we don't already have. This is the fourth Luna, second Neville, and third Hermione this wave alone. I know some people have been knocking the Ravenclaw common room; for me, it's one of the redeeming rooms in this set, but either way, none of the Hogwarts sets have matched The Great Hall yet. Dumbledore's office last wave was disappointing and crammed into a tiny tower. Why not save it for this set? No one would miss Slughorn's office and few would miss the Ravenclaw dorm if they were to be replaced by it. We go from a $130 Hogwarts to a $350 (and counting) Hogwarts and somehow the quality of one of the most iconic places in the castle has arguably gone down. It would be great to have that in this set. Or any other combination of improvements--the interior just feels very underwhelming. And get rid of the white door frames. I just can't shake the thought of how awesome it would've been to get a Dumbledore with some sort of visible curse on his hand, his office with the pensive, locket, ring, the vanishing cabinet (there's an empty hallway right there), Death Eaters (Borgin), etc. That would be a killer set. I have the old burrow and this one is a HUGE improvement on the interior. (Not sure it's worth the pricetag or how it got the highest piece count, but I'll let that go.) But once again, I can't help but feel disappointed. Bellatrix is a clear step back. Almost exactly the same figure, but without printing on the dress, and IMO that does make a fair amount of difference for the quality of this particular figure. Same goes for Molly, who probably shouldn't have a dress piece to begin with. I also prefer the old Ginny and Greyback figures. I just feel like that's a huge mistake for Lego to make, since my impression of these waves is such a stark improvement over prior versions, especially in terms of minifigures. These figures, at worst, should be roughly equivalent to the old ones, certainly not a clear downgrade. Again, I can't help but think back to the first wave. The new Filch, the new Hagrid, Quirrel, Nearly Headless Nick, even the new Lupin and dementors, not to mention the CMF, or wave two's Maxime, Dumbledore, and honestly so many others. They found a way to improve on figures that didn't even need improving. Between the two Hogwarts sets this wave, there are only two exclusive characters total: Slughorn and Lavander (and some already have Slughorn). There were four in TGH alone. Where did that kind of attention to minifigures go? I just don't look at these sets and say, wow, Lego has really outdone themselves this time and these are must-buys for me. They met expectations.

Yup. That's what I heard.

Awesome! Microbuilding at its finest, and I was especially impressed by the hair pieces used as trees!