Wizarding World 2024 - Rumors & Discussion

[Clone OPatra]

5 minutes ago, Accio Lego said:

I think you’re right. That mold is a braid and shorter than Luna’s hair in DH2 but it works better than their choice for Narcissa’s hair I guess. 

Yeah I'm very disappointed in Narcissa's hair. It was cool in 2011 (and I have and like that figure very much) but they could do much better in 2025.

[joeee]

Out of curiosity: what are your guys' opinions about the microscale DA?

[Accio Lego]

5 minutes ago, joeee said:

Out of curiosity: what are your guys' opinions about the microscale DA?

Pretty mixed honestly. It looks nice for what it is – a microscale street scene. And as nice as seeing the entirety of both sides of the street is, the lack of prints/stickers means that even the super fans will struggle to identify some of the shops. I can make a solid go at it, but even I can’t make out what the ones closest to Gringotts are supposed to be (although that might just be because of the perspective on the image we have). With no sign of an exclusive minifig in sight like the previous microscale castles, I’m not sure how well this will sell. 

[THELEGOBATMAN]

2 hours ago, joeee said:

Out of curiosity: what are your guys' opinions about the microscale DA?

It looks bad. The layout is awful, and feels like a big waste of space.

The set itself is incredibly unappealing too. Nothing interesting going on at all.

Edited November 22, 2024 by THELEGOBATMAN

[brickbride]

I'm baffled that it's 2.750 pieces, from what it looks like it feels like a lot less.

@Accio LegoCould you tell me which shops you can identify? I'm especially curious which one's QQS, since the pink front from the 2020 Diagon Alley set seems to be missing entirely.

Edited November 22, 2024 by brickbride

[Accio Lego]

32 minutes ago, brickbride said:

I'm baffled that it's 2.000 pieces, from what it looks like it feels like a lot less.

@Accio LegoCould you tell me which shops you can identify? I'm especially curious which one's QQS, since the pink front from the 2020 Diagon Alley set seems to be missing entirely.

QQS is actually one of the easiest to identify. It’s midway along the left side of the street – you can see the golden snitch repurposed as a giant sign with a set of hoops (1x1 round plate with bar) above it. I can’t identify anything to the right of QQS, but to the left we have Madame Malkin’s (shades of purple), the Magical Menagerie (kitten used as an oversized figural sign), and the Leaky Cauldron with the Knight Bus parked out front. On the other side, after the muggle world facade (with tiny phone booth) you can easily see WWW (color palette and top hat), Flourish and Blotts (greens), Fortescue’s Ice cream Parlor (light yellow with a brown roof), an unidentified blue building (might be Wiseacres Wizarding Equipment?), Ollivander’s, Scribbulus (light blue with a quill for a sign), and then another unidentified building at the end before Gringott’s.

Edited November 22, 2024 by Accio Lego

[brickbride]

Thank you! Good spot on the kitten, too. The gray made it hard for me. And that's supposed to be a phone booth? Honestly I wouldn't have guessed but it makes sense.

Going by the sets we have had so far, the Daily Prophet (from the 2020 Diagon Alley set) and the Owl Post Office (from 2023's WWW) should be somewhere in there as well. As well as Sugarplum's based on a sign in the WWW set.

Edited November 22, 2024 by brickbride

[Bobdapeach]

I actually really like the brick built motorbike set. It’s not going to be a set I’ll purchase (unless I find it on hella mad sale), but I don’t hate it like I thought I would when we first heard it would be brick built

it’s a very unique, stylised build - almost porcelain looking - that actually works really well, it looks like a toy and it’s not trying to hide that. I love the recent hedwig privet drive one, but it’s very “cursed ugly cute”, the same goes for dobby and buckbeak. They have this weird, chibi, cutesy style to them that looks very odd and jarring

but yeah, this one, it’s stylised so well and comes across very doll like. I feel the only reason people don’t like it is the fact it’s not what they wanted and they have this weird objection against brick built stuff when they could be minifigs instead.

Edited November 22, 2024 by Bobdapeach

[brickbride]

11 minutes ago, Bobdapeach said:

I feel the only reason people don’t like it is the fact it’s not what they wanted and they have this weird objection against brick built stuff when they could be minifigs instead.

Nope. For the record I wouldn't have bought it with minifigs either, vehicles simply aren't my thing. But given that minifigs are LEGO's best argument against people turning to other brands I don't understand their reluctance to include them in sets from a business perspective.

And the Icons Hedwig looked great and I actually own the Hungarian Horntail, I'm just against LEGO flooding us with brick-built crap that either doesn't need to be brick-built or should never have been made, period (like the Sorting Hat) at the expense of everything else.

The set is plain ugly. It looks like a cheap knock-off. We're allowed to feel this way.

Edited November 22, 2024 by brickbride

[brickbride]

3 hours ago, Accio Lego said:

QQS is actually one of the easiest to identify. It’s midway along the left side of the street – you can see the golden snitch repurposed as a giant sign with a set of hoops (1x1 round plate with bar) above it. I can’t identify anything to the right of QQS, but to the left we have Madame Malkin’s (shades of purple), the Magical Menagerie (kitten used as an oversized figural sign), and the Leaky Cauldron with the Knight Bus parked out front. On the other side, after the muggle world facade (with tiny phone booth) you can easily see WWW (color palette and top hat), Flourish and Blotts (greens), Fortescue’s Ice cream Parlor (light yellow with a brown roof), an unidentified blue building (might be Wiseacres Wizarding Equipment?), Ollivander’s, Scribbulus (light blue with a quill for a sign), and then another unidentified building at the end before Gringott’s.

Sugarplum's (for which we had a sign in the 2023 WWW set) is pink at the bottom according to photographs, so I guess it could be one of the unidentified buildings to the right of QQS.

Another one that's pink at the bottom is the Fountain of Fair Fortune, I guess that could be the one next to it?

Wiseacre's is indeed blue and could be either of the unidentified blue buildings (next to either QQS or Ollivander's).

The Owl Post Office could possibly be the tall, narrow facade next to Flourish & Blotts. The gold in the windows would fit, though I don't actually see any owls in the microscale set.

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-owl-post-in-diagon-alley-at-the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-expansion-73591439.html

We're also missing the Daily Prophet from the 2020 DC, though that building's fairly inconspicious (I'm always going by the previous set/Florida Wizarding World versions). Any ideas where it might be?

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2024 by brickbride

[Ferder]

14 hours ago, Accio Lego said:

QQS is actually one of the easiest to identify. It’s midway along the left side of the street – you can see the golden snitch repurposed as a giant sign with a set of hoops (1x1 round plate with bar) above it. I can’t identify anything to the right of QQS, but to the left we have Madame Malkin’s (shades of purple), the Magical Menagerie (kitten used as an oversized figural sign), and the Leaky Cauldron with the Knight Bus parked out front. On the other side, after the muggle world facade (with tiny phone booth) you can easily see WWW (color palette and top hat), Flourish and Blotts (greens), Fortescue’s Ice cream Parlor (light yellow with a brown roof), an unidentified blue building (might be Wiseacres Wizarding Equipment?), Ollivander’s, Scribbulus (light blue with a quill for a sign), and then another unidentified building at the end before Gringott’s.

There's also the fact that the position of shops in Diagon Alley not only changes from film to film, but the version in the Orlando theme park has its own layout as well. Once we get clearer images I'll try and see which version it matches the closest, or if it's an amalgamation of several different versions. 

[Kaijumeister]

On 11/22/2024 at 2:06 AM, Clone OPatra said:

Yeah I'm very disappointed in Narcissa's hair. It was cool in 2011 (and I have and like that figure very much) but they could do much better in 2025.

I feel like that mould has probably been one of the most overused wig pieces since it debuted in 2009. Marvel certainly loves it.

These sets look okay IMO, I would’ve loved to get a ‘proper’ Hagrid’s Motorcycle set based on the opening of Deathly Hallows Part 1 with a few Death Eaters thrown in as opposed to what we’re actually getting. 

Edited November 23, 2024 by Kaijumeister

[brickbride]

8 hours ago, Ferder said:

There's also the fact that the position of shops in Diagon Alley not only changes from film to film, but the version in the Orlando theme park has its own layout as well. Once we get clearer images I'll try and see which version it matches the closest, or if it's an amalgamation of several different versions. 

I think it's an amalgamation. It certainly doesn't match the layout of the newer LEGO sets (for example the Magical Menagerie came with Gringotts in 2023, but is now located elsewhere, and Madam Malkin's came with Ollivander's in 2024 but they're not even on the same side of the street) and only partly matches the layout of the 2020 one (for example Fortescue's is still next to Flourish & Blotts and Ollivander's is next to Scribbulus, but QQS looks completely different now and doesn't seem to adjoin the Daily Prophet either). Nor does it match the layout of Wizarding World Florida where, for example, QQS would be located next to WWW.

That said, @Accio Legohas already identified a lot of the shops. If I'm right about the Owl Post Office that would mean all the playset shops starting from 2023 are in there, and it would then make sense to me that LEGO are using the same layout here that will be the eventual endgame of the playset line. So we should definitely get Sugarplum's (which has been teased in the WWW set) as well as the Daily Prophet (which has not yet been identified here but was in the 2020 set and should therefore eventually show up in the playset line. Plus then they could reuse the existing Rita Skeeter figure).

[brickbride]

'Tis the time of year again for Christmas wish and EOL lists, and 2023's Diagon Alley: WWW is on the latter.

I wouldn't have expected this. Shouldn't a Diagon Alley set have a longer running time? The 2020 D2C is still on shelves! And WWW was followed by Ollivander's and Madam Malkin's just this year!

If the information is right, I can think of three scenarios:

1) LEGO are continuing with the Diagon Alley playset series but are weaponizing FOMO (Fear of missing out), wanting us to buy each new entry as soon as it hits the shelves instead of stopping to think of the price or how the end result (the completed Alley) might look. If you're a latecomer who only starts collecting in 2025 and therefore misses out on one of the most iconic shops? Tough luck.

2) WWW sold way below expectations and they are discontinuing the series. One piece of evidence for this might be that the newer set is in fact just called "Ollivander's and Madam Malkin's", not "Diagon Alley: Ollivander's and MM's" the way WWW was.

3) They are going to reboot the Diagon Alley playset series already starting (again) with WWW, the most iconic location next to Gringotts.

3) sounds unlikely to me, since that would mean we'd either get two different WWW's within the space of three years or there'd be no WWW on the shelves at all despite Diagon Alley sets doing well (since if they were intending on redoing it later than 2025 they could push back the EOL date by at least a year). 1) and 2) sound about equally likely to me, leaning slightly towards 2) based on purely anecdotal evidence. It's worth noting that WWW is among the sets currently discounted for LEGO's Insiders Weekend at least in Germany. This might point to it not selling that well, though it's currently one of only two discounted sets that have sold out (the other being the beloved Ninjago City Gardens).

What do you think?

Edited November 23, 2024 by brickbride

[Gorilla94]

6 hours ago, Kaijumeister said:

I would’ve loved to get a ‘proper’ Hagrid’s Motorcycle set based on the opening of Deathly Hallows Part 1 with a few Death Eaters thrown in

I doubt it is possible to do that because of the way they made the Hagrid´s minifigure. If they wanted to, they would have to make a new mould for a sitting Hagrid.

[Kaijumeister]

24 minutes ago, Gorilla94 said:

I doubt it is possible to do that because of the way they made the Hagrid´s minifigure. If they wanted to, they would have to make a new mould for a sitting Hagrid.

Whilst true, we’ve seen with the upcoming Mario Kart lineup that Lego can make brickbuilt vehicles for larger figures (or figure equivalents in that case). 

[mark1991t]

According to Jedijacpenguin in his stories on Insta, the new Knight Bus has minifigures of Harry, Ernie and Stan alongside the Grim (animal figure) ánd a sleeping wizard.

Edited November 23, 2024 by mark1991t
1 typo fixed. There's more probably

[BacktoBricks]

13 minutes ago, mark1991t said:

According to Jedijacpenguin in his stories on Insta, the new Knight Bus has minifigures of Harry, Ernie and Stan alongside the Grim (animal figure) ánd a sleeping wizard.

The Grim and the sleeping wizard are more than I expected so that is a welcome surprise. Would be even better if they used the new wolf mold for the Grim!

[mark1991t]

37 minutes ago, BacktoBricks said:

Would be even better if they used the new wolf mold for the Grim!

Yeah, I'm hoping for that one aswell, but I'm not expecting it.

[BacktoBricks]

1 hour ago, mark1991t said:

Yeah, I'm hoping for that one aswell, but I'm not expecting it.

Exactly how I feel, which is a shame really that we kind of expect the better not to be made. Let's hope we're proved wrong!

[brickbride]

I've posted earlier about WWW being on this year's EOL list and what this might mean for the future of the playset Diagon Alley series. For what it's worth, both Hogsmeade Village Visit and the Shrieking Shack (with the Whomping Willow) are on the EOL list, too. This probably means the end of further Hogsmeade expansions at least in the current iteration (since three of the most popular locations go EOL and one of the remaining ones is a pub which LEGO seem to have serious reservations about). Currently, all that's left on shelves of Hogsmeade will be the station (with the Hogwarts Express).

Also on the list are the cobbled-together Forbidden Forest: Magical Creatures set and the Draco polybag, both of which didn't even make it a year from their March 2024 release date (though I'm less surprised by a polybag not having a long shelf life). Expecto Patronum, the Quidditch Trunk, and the Second Task from the Triwizard Tournament didn't make it all that much longer (as did the latest expansions to the 2021 modular Hogwarts, but in their case it makes sense to clear the shelves for the new system).

Edited November 23, 2024 by brickbride

[Black Falcon]

13 hours ago, brickbride said:

'Tis the time of year again for Christmas wish and EOL lists, and 2023's Diagon Alley: WWW is on the latter.

I wouldn't have expected this. Shouldn't a Diagon Alley set have a longer running time? The 2020 D2C is still on shelves! And WWW was followed by Ollivander's and Madam Malkin's just this year!

The Big Diagon Alley Set and WWW are two completely different things and I think you are putting to much weigth on the location it is displaying. Big D2C-Sets are more likely to get longer time in production and WWW is just a normal playset and the time it was on shelves is actually normal for those. 

Aside from that, if I am not mistaken, the retirement date for the set was the same from the beginning and wasn´t changed. To me the retirement looks pretty normal actually.

[brickbride]

33 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

The Big Diagon Alley Set and WWW are two completely different things and I think you are putting to much weigth on the location it is displaying. Big D2C-Sets are more likely to get longer time in production and WWW is just a normal playset and the time it was on shelves is actually normal for those. 

Aside from that, if I am not mistaken, the retirement date for the set was the same from the beginning and wasn´t changed. To me the retirement looks pretty normal actually.

Yes, I'm not saying I'd have expected WWW to make it as long as the D2C. The latter has had an extraordinarily long running time and I think it was extended because of Gringotts, too.

But like I've said, WWW started off a modular series which was continued in 2024 and which I guess most of us would have expected to further continue in 2025, and now it's going EOL. If you look at, say, the modular Hogwarts system, 2021's Chamber of Secrets is only going EOL now that the 2024 replacement starter set (the Great Hall) has arrived. And all the remaining expansions for the 2021 system are going with it, even the recent ones (which gives some of them a pretty short running time, but I can understand retailers not wanting two different modular Hogwarts systems competing for shelf space). That makes sense! What wouldn't make sense to me would be continuing with a modular Diagon Alley system where one of two existing sets (and the one that started the series) is already going EOL.

The more I think on it, the more I expect that both the playset Diagon Alley and the playset Hogsmeade Village are over and done with. Which in the case of Hogsmeade might well be because they hit the end of their planned run. I know a lot of us expected another expansion with Zonko's and the Hog's Head, but that might never have been in the works given Zonko's not that iconic and the Hog's Head is a pub (which LEGO doesn't like).

But in the case of Diagon Alley I'd rather expect it to be because of poor sales, as starting the series in 2023 and adding to it in 2024 and then pulling the plug on WWW by the end of 2024 while there's still so much ground to cover seems pretty odd.

Edited November 23, 2024 by brickbride

[AD_Bricks]

On 11/22/2024 at 10:19 AM, BrickBob Studpants said:

Bellatrix's is definitely new, but Lucius' still looks like the good ol' Bruce Wayne face to me.

I took a peek at the highest resolution image I could find and I'm 90% sure Lucius has something other than the bruce wayne face. Wahoo! Smaller eyebrows and smaller mouth. Looks at least a bit closer to how he looks in the movies.

[THELEGOBATMAN]

Looks like we'll be getting another 4 Privet Drive set in the Summer—but this time based on the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Balloon Aunt Marge has been teased by maxbautde on Instagram.