When Did the Mold for Tower Roof Change? (Part 33215)

[Vorkosigan]

When doing a mod recently I was surprised at how dramatically the part 33215 changed between the Scooby Doo Mystery Mansion in 2015 and the Harry Potter Hogwarts in 2011. Is this a new change with this set? The changes are:

1. The height of the turrets were lowered 1 plate height.
   
2. The width next to the turrets was increased to allow placement of square bricks next to the sides (but still not the interior corner). Note the brown 2x2 L shaped brick. You can't place this on the 2011 version, only round bricks. You can see this effect on the interior too.
   
3. The way the turrets protrude from the tower is significantly different.
   
4. The embossing is slightly different, less 3D, and sharper edged.
   

The first item especially seems like enough to change the part number, but admittedly I'm not an expert on part alternates. Didn't see anything obvious on bricklink about the versions.

[x105Black]

That's really interesting. I don't have either one, so I wouldn't have noticed, but you've definitely given me some food for thought on which ones to purchase in the future.

Thanks for the analysis.

[xboxtravis7992]

I have the old sand green one, the new mold looks like an improvement!

[Vorkosigan]

From what I can tell by looking through bricklink, this new version is only guaranteed to be released in purple. Its possible that the "Serious Play" set 2000430 has the new version in black, but I doubt many of those have been parted out and I can't tell for sure from the stock pictures of it. The next older set is the Vampyre Castle in 2012 and that has the old version in black.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Vorkosigan

[Lyichir]

This is a really interesting change, and one I wasn't aware of. Thanks for the pics!