Wizarding World 2026 - Rumors & Discussion

[RODDY]

12 minutes ago, Accio Lego said:

He’s a complete copy paste from the Hogsmeade set last year it makes more sense budget-wise to stick him here. 

He has a new face print which is a vast improvement over the last one. 

[brickbride]

Well that's a new low: putting the pathetic version of the fountain in the EUR 430 set and the rest of it in the GWP.

Anyone here still sticking with "Oh but the set is complete, the Atrium hasn't bern left deliberately empty, it's not like you're meant to incorporate the GWP into the actual set"?

Edited Wednesday at 09:10 AM by brickbride

[BrickBob Studpants]

4 hours ago, RODDY said:

He has a new face print which is a vast improvement over the last one. 

A blank head would be an improvement so then you could at least imagine something actually presentable  The Picard face is a solid choice, albeit a bit too chipper for the perma-frowny-faced Fudge. Miles better in any case!

Love the GWP! I didn‘t expect 3 minifigs and part of the fountain as well!

Edited Wednesday at 07:32 AM by BrickBob Studpants

[BrickBob Studpants]

17 minutes ago, brickbride said:

[…] it's not like you're meant to incorporate the GWP into the actual set […]

Is there enough space for it though? Sure, with some modification, but to me it doesn’t look like you can just easily plonk the GWP in there  

[Borex]

To be honest i think it’s a shame that they make gwp’s like this. Sure it looks cool, but to put pressure on buying expensive stuff or else you would miss out is a strategy that i find very low. 
I read that it will be given away for harry potter purchases above 120 and not only the set that it belongs to, so that is somewhat positive i guess, but to leave out an important figure from an expensive set just to boost sales. I don’t like it. 

[BrickMatit]

3 hours ago, brickbride said:

Oh but the set is complete, the Atrium hasn't bern left deliberately empty, it's not like you're meant to incorporate the GWP into the actual set

Not that the simple fact the Minister of Magic isn't in a Ministry of Magic Collectors' $450 set show exactly the same point.

A choice that disappoints me.

 

[BrickBob Studpants]

3 minutes ago, BrickMatit said:

A choice that disappoints me.

On the one hand, not including the Minister of Magic in the Ministry of Magic set is pretty silly. On the other, it‘s a kitbash of pretty common parts, so it‘s not like you‘d be missing out on much

The only exclusive part in the GWP is the Barbara Gordon hairpiece in pearl gold.

[brickbride]

12 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

The only exclusive part in the GWP is the Barbara Gordon hairpiece in pearl gold.

Not the Ministry Munchies sticker?

[BrickBob Studpants]

11 minutes ago, brickbride said:

Not the Ministry Munchies sticker?

I don‘t count stickers as parts

[BacktoBricks]

34 minutes ago, BrickMatit said:

Not that the simple fact the Minister of Magic isn't in a Ministry of Magic Collectors' $450 set show exactly the same point.

A choice that disappoints me.

I'm not sure why we expected anything else. Pomfrey wasn't in the Hospital Wing after all.  Definitely disappointing to be sure and just glaring cost cutting in my opinion. Kit bashed or not, the minifigure would still cost you enough to acquire that it should just have been in the set.

At least the GWP is not Ministry linked so no rush to buy the expensive Ministry just to avoid the risk of not getting the Minister of Magic. I might get Dumbledore's Office book nook to qualify for the GWP as in the the UK it is only available direct from Lego and from Very, an online retailer I don't shop with. I am not interested in the book nook itself,  but that Dumbledore minifigure is so detailed.

[mark1991t]

I think at least the fountain and Fudge should have been part of the actuel Ministry set, for the very high price that the set was given. 

However, for people that own the previous Ministry set, this makes an interesting GWP, because everything in this set is new in comparison to the old Ministry set, so you could add this easily to the old set.

[Virginia_Bricks]

2 minutes ago, mark1991t said:

I think at least the fountain and Fudge should have been part of the actuel Ministry set, for the very high price that the set was given. 

However, for people that own the previous Ministry set, this makes an interesting GWP, because everything in this set is new in comparison to the old Ministry set, so you could add this easily to the old set.

Ah, the curse of a good GWP. If too connected to the set, "it should have been included" or if part of the modular series "it should have been sold separately".

[BrickMatit]

43 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

On the one hand, not including the Minister of Magic in the Ministry of Magic set is pretty silly.

I completely disagree.

Selling a set labeled "Collectors'" for a high price, already higher than similar products from a couple of years ago, and incomplete shouldn't be easily accepted by buyers.

And that it's incomplete is indisputable. The Minister of Magic is not only the Minister of Magic - which is why one would expect him to appear in a Ministry of Magic set - but he's also a prominent character in Order of the Phoenix and even appears in the courtroom scene where, on the box, LEGO ridiculously included Umbridge questioning Mrs. Figg.

The fact that the parts are common, but not all of them, matters little. In effect, LEGO is selling an incomplete set - and, since it's a marketing strategy, they're well aware of this - and it can only be completed by purchasing the set at full price on day one, other sets, or on the secondary market. I'm not the one who has to work hard to complete the set, especially considering it's sold as a collector's item.

That GWPs aren't gifts, as many persist in believing, but rather a marketing strategy is clear and acceptable, even though I'd always prefer the sets to be put up for sale... but selling an incomplete set is truly a shameful strategy.

And I say this as a long time LEGO and LEGO Harry Potter buyer, so I'm seasoned enough not to fall into the FOMO trap.

18 minutes ago, BacktoBricks said:

Definitely disappointing to be sure and just glaring cost cutting in my opinion.

No, it's not cost cutting, beacuse the GWP is still a cost for LEGO, so they must make money somewhere. It's a strategy to push buyers - many only buy the Ministry of Magic - to purchase it at full price from LEGO in the early days.

Edited Wednesday at 12:32 PM by BrickMatit

[BacktoBricks]

1 hour ago, BrickMatit said:

No, it's not cost cutting, beacuse the GWP is still a cost for LEGO, so they must make money somewhere. It's a strategy to push buyers - many only buy the Ministry of Magic - to purchase it at full price from LEGO in the early days.

It's plain cost cutting to me because there will plenty of other times where that GWP will not be available and Fudge still won't be in the set. Marketing strategy or not, that is cost cutting. They could have done another GWP with a similarly desirable character who wasn't so intertwined with the actual name of the building to entice buyers. I think from comments I have read that Bellatrix would have been more desirable in a GWP, but other characters could work too. Then you would have had a Ministry with a Minster, plus a GWP. But that would have cost them more. The GWP is certainly a strategy to push buyers, but it doesn't have to come at the expense of illogical minifigure choices. Lego is definitely making their money regardless.

Edited Wednesday at 02:21 PM by BacktoBricks

[Tariq j]

2 hours ago, mark1991t said:

I think at least the fountain and Fudge should have been part of the actuel Ministry set, for the very high price that the set was given. 

I agree and especially since it’s billed as a “Collector’s edition”. I’m glad that it’s not exclusive to the Ministry but I do think everything in that GWP could have been included in original set. 

[Accio Lego]

7 hours ago, brickbride said:

Well that's a new low: putting the pathetic version of the fountain in the EUR 430 set and the rest of it in the GWP.

Anyone here still sticking with "Oh but the set is complete, the Atrium hasn't bern left deliberately empty, it's not like you're meant to incorporate the GWP into the actual set, if you say otherwise you're a dushonest liar"?

Please feel free to use any physical or digital method you’d like to show how the floor space of the atrium in this set could fit both sections of fountain while still leaving literally any room for minifigures to be shown walking around and fighting. Because it sure as hell doesn’t look like there’s room to me. 
 

It seems crazy to me to be so up in arms over Lego not giving us a ridiculously overcrowded and therefore completely unusable atrium while putting the ‘missing’ elements in a separate gwp. Was anyone here complaining that this summer’s Borgin and Burke’s had a truly awful floo fireplace that looks like a barely considered afterthought? No. Because if you want a B&B fireplace with a solid floo play function that matches the Collector’s Edition Burrow then there’s a gwp that came out at the same time. We’ve acknowledged for years that the sets just don’t have unlimited room and budget, why attack the Lego designers when they use the preexisting gwp system to make things they literally couldn’t fit elsewhere. 
 

The only element of this gwp I’ll concede could have been in the main set is Fudge – but I’d bet if we put up a poll on who people would want if the set had just one more minifigure, Bellatrix would beat him hands down. He simply doesn’t do enough compared to literally everyone else in the set, but Lego does have a problem with shortchanging us on minifigures. (Harry Potter specifically too, The Daily Bugle coming out with 25 minifigures for less than Diagon Alley did with 17 the year before was a bit of a slap in the face)

[Virginia_Bricks]

9 minutes ago, Accio Lego said:

Please feel free to use any physical or digital method you’d like to show how the floor space of the atrium in this set could fit both sections of fountain while still leaving literally any room for minifigures to be shown walking around and fighting. Because it sure as hell doesn’t look like there’s room to me. 
 

It seems crazy to me to be so up in arms over Lego not giving us a ridiculously overcrowded and therefore completely unusable atrium while putting the ‘missing’ elements in a separate gwp. Was anyone here complaining that this summer’s Borgin and Burke’s had a truly awful floo fireplace that looks like a barely considered afterthought? No. Because if you want a B&B fireplace with a solid floo play function that matches the Collector’s Edition Burrow then there’s a gwp that came out at the same time. We’ve acknowledged for years that the sets just don’t have unlimited room and budget, why attack the Lego designers when they use the preexisting gwp system to make things they literally couldn’t fit elsewhere. 
 

The only element of this gwp I’ll concede could have been in the main set is Fudge – but I’d bet if we put up a poll on who people would want if the set had just one more minifigure, Bellatrix would beat him hands down. He simply doesn’t do enough compared to literally everyone else in the set, but Lego does have a problem with shortchanging us on minifigures. (Harry Potter specifically too, The Daily Bugle coming out with 25 minifigures for less than Diagon Alley did with 17 the year before was a bit of a slap in the face)

It seems the fountain in the GWP is 14 studs wide and 8 studs deep, so it might fit in front of the other fountain and have like 1 stud of breathing room in between. But absolutely no room for mini-figures and would look cramped.

Mini-figure counts aren't predictable in D2Cs either. 10 in Minas Tirith this year at $600, Main Street has 16 at $400, the Creel House had 13 at $300, the Poke Ball has 3 at $300, Shopping Street has 7 at $250. Yeah, they could have added 2 for Fudge and Bellatrix. But then people would complain even more as the price goes up around $10-20 USD.

[brickbride]

1 hour ago, Accio Lego said:

Was anyone here complaining that this summer’s Borgin and Burke’s had a truly awful floo fireplace that looks like a barely considered afterthought? No.

Well I think all the playset DA sets have been pretty poorly designed, B&B was actually one of the better ones. It's also in no way, shape or form connected to the GWP which didn't even remotely come out at the same time or in the same year, so I'm not sure what you're using that as an example for.

56 minutes ago, Virginia_Bricks said:

so it might fit in front of the other fountain and have like 1 stud of breathing room in between. But absolutely no room for mini-figures and would look cramped.

That's pretty standard for LEGO sets, then.

Edited Wednesday at 04:47 PM by brickbride

[Accio Lego]

50 minutes ago, brickbride said:

Well I think all the playset DA sets have been pretty poorly designed, B&B was actually one of the better ones. It's also in no way, shape or form connected to the GWP which didn't even remotely come out at the same time or in the same year, so I'm not sure what you're using that as an example for.

The point is that Borgin & Burke’s IS still a good set and nobody is arguing otherwise despite the fact that the element that introduced it to the story is basically a doggy door with a sticker instead of anything resembling a proper fireplace. We’ve all accepted that there are some things in every set that Lego will not have the space or budget to do in full, and part of the reason we accept it is because the designers often go out of their way to try and include some of the missing pieces elsewhere. The B&B gwp might have come out a few years ago, for instance, but I doubt the designers of the time weren’t aware that any future playset version in the style of the Diagon Alley subtheme would have room for a full floo fireplace that worked the same as the one in the Burrow, so they made one as a gwp. 
 

 

In other news:

The metal D2C specific gwp has been revealed via an official Lego announcement. Like the last two it’s a flat upright display – this time depicting Harry in the visitors’ entrance phone both with a slider function that lets it go up and down. 
 

There’s also going to be a bauble ornament available from the Insiders reward center for 1700 points. One side features the trio in their SS third floor corridor outfits and the year, while the other side has the 25 Years of Magic logo. The ribbon is white with black stars and a Lego Insiders logo, so it’s possible we’ll be seeing more ornaments from different themes in the rewards center in the future. 

[RODDY]

On the one hand Fudge should have been included in the Ministry but so should have Belatrix, the Silver Trio, Percy, Lupin, and the Ministry worker as well to make up for that $100 overcharge. But on the other hand I am happy it is Fudge who doesn’t have any real unique parts in this GWP rather than say a new exclusive OoTP muggle clothes variant of one of the Silver Trio which to me really would have been annoying. So I think this is a fine GWP, not essential to the main build because it clearly doesn’t fit in the set and doesn’t have a really exclusive minifig. 

[Accio Lego]

Just saw a build video of the Ministry and Harry has a new alternate face to represent when he gets possessed at the end of the final battle in OotP. That’s a really nice extra detail, especially since otherwise he’d be the most basic minifig in the set. 

[Virginia_Bricks]

11 hours ago, Accio Lego said:

Just saw a build video of the Ministry and Harry has a new alternate face to represent when he gets possessed at the end of the final battle in OotP. That’s a really nice extra detail, especially since otherwise he’d be the most basic minifig in the set. 

Also in that video it appears the veil is a fully printed semi-transparent piece. The Minister banner also doesn't appear to be cloth but some form of thin, transparent plastic.

[mark1991t]

More reviews are out. In this one, a comparison with other Collectors Edition sets, like Gringotts and Hogsmeade and with the Main Tower. We also see whats in the room above the station (nothing interesting)

 

In this one a comparison between the old Ministry set and the new one:

 

Edited Thursday at 03:45 PM by mark1991t

[RODDY]

1 hour ago, mark1991t said:

More reviews are out. In this one, a comparison with other Collectors Edition sets, like Gringotts and Hogsmeade and with the Main Tower. 

The comparison between the Main Tower and the Ministry is just jaw dropping to me just how close in size the two sets are despite an almost $200 difference between them. And Cheesy’s comparison really just gave me a lot of newfound appreciation for the playset version of the Ministry. I actually like the playset Hall of Prophecy better than the new one. It’s sad really I was hyped for a Ministry D2C but this just falls so flat. 

[Tariq j]

Insane that the telephone box is more detailed in the playset than the in the new one. It’s a shame so many objects are stickers in the set. I can sort of understand things like pictures or signposts but did Arthur’s entire cabinet really need to be one giant sticker? Surely they could have included brick built version of the post boxes and the fan.