Harry Potter 2019 - Rumors & discussion

[Accio Lego]

18 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

The pics from the July calendar are out but I can’t tell if there are any double VIP points, the quality isn’t good enough. Anybody know?

I’ve downloaded it on my laptop. Doesn’t look like there are any double points on all purchases like there was last year, but there also isn’t anything about the monthly 2x points sets. I wouldn’t be completely surprised if they decided to stop putting the VIP points promotions on the calendars altogether, since they’d already stopped naming the specific sets that would be double points each month and we’ve only finally gotten the gift with purchase promos back on the calendars. 

[RogueTwo]

To those outside of North America: how long were the sets available on release date?  Was the LEGO website a glitchy, under stocked mess as usual?   

I really want to get at least Hagrid’s Hut and Expecto Patronum on release day, but now I’m worried that I’ll have to stake out the website midnight eastern time (Sunday night).  I know that’s paranoid and obsessive, but I’m really excited!!

[BacktoBricks]

34 minutes ago, RogueTwo said:

To those outside of North America: how long were the sets available on release date?  Was the LEGO website a glitchy, under stocked mess as usual?   

I really want to get at least Hagrid’s Hut and Expecto Patronum on release day, but now I’m worried that I’ll have to stake out the website midnight eastern time (Sunday night).  I know that’s paranoid and obsessive, but I’m really excited!!

I'm in the UK and preordered because I was mainly using VIP points so didn't mind paying full RRP and going on the rate at which the HP sets went to backorder last year thought I might as well preorder. But in the end it got me nowhere really. The sets never went to backorder in the first 24 hours and, although I haven't checked constantly, they haven't since (or if they have it has been a very small window). Preordering also meant that I missed out on the promo they unexpectedly released on release date and they also took quite a few days after release to even ship my order. North America might be a totally different scenario, but I get the feeling Lego was more prepared for the demand this year.

[The Pearson]

I realize this is very off-topic but was unsure where else to post.

Does anyone have any info on the Toys R Us Quidditch Tower from 2002? The Bricklink page says it has a sticker sheet and I have been following it on Bricklink with no listings.

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=TRU01-1

[lego_guyon02]

2 hours ago, RogueTwo said:

To those outside of North America: how long were the sets available on release date?  Was the LEGO website a glitchy, under stocked mess as usual?   

I really want to get at least Hagrid’s Hut and Expecto Patronum on release day, but now I’m worried that I’ll have to stake out the website midnight eastern time (Sunday night).  I know that’s paranoid and obsessive, but I’m really excited!!

As far as I know only Hagrid's Hut and the Clocktower we're sold out rather quickly, Expecto Patronum took a few days

[RogueTwo]

2 hours ago, BacktoBricks said:

I'm in the UK and preordered because I was mainly using VIP points so didn't mind paying full RRP and going on the rate at which the HP sets went to backorder last year thought I might as well preorder. But in the end it got me nowhere really. The sets never went to backorder in the first 24 hours and, although I haven't checked constantly, they haven't since (or if they have it has been a very small window). Preordering also meant that I missed out on the promo they unexpectedly released on release date and they also took quite a few days after release to even ship my order. North America might be a totally different scenario, but I get the feeling Lego was more prepared for the demand this year.

Thank you so much for your reply!  Preorder is not available in the US anyway, but I’m glad things went pretty smoothly in the UK  Sorry about the way they handled the preorders, though.  That’s really weak, especially if they wouldn’t honor the promo...

2 minutes ago, Guyon2002 said:

As far as I know only Hagrid's Hut and the Clocktower we're sold out rather quickly, Expecto Patronum took a few days

Good to know, thanks!  I know those are the two most desirable sets.  I assume the Knight Bus and Horntail weren’t as popular, then?

[BacktoBricks]

1 hour ago, The Pearson said:

I realize this is very off-topic but was unsure where else to post.

Does anyone have any info on the Toys R Us Quidditch Tower from 2002? The Bricklink page says it has a sticker sheet and I have been following it on Bricklink with no listings.

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=TRU01-1

Is the 'sticker' sheet possibly the instructions? 

[Kyp]

1 hour ago, The Pearson said:

I realize this is very off-topic but was unsure where else to post.

Does anyone have any info on the Toys R Us Quidditch Tower from 2002? The Bricklink page says it has a sticker sheet and I have been following it on Bricklink with no listings.

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=TRU01-1

I got that during some Toys R Us promotion and remember beeing disappointed because it looked so boring. I used the bricks otherwise and I am 99% sure there was no sticker sheet included. Definitly not a cool one, like Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw crests or anything. IF I am mistaken and there really were stickers, they were so unintresting that I never applied them. And i'm one of the few guys who likes stickers.

[RogueTwo]

2 minutes ago, Kyp said:

I got that during some Toys R Us promotion and remember beeing disappointed because it looked so boring. I used the bricks otherwise and I am 99% sure there was no sticker sheet included. Definitly not a cool one, like Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw crests or anything. IF I am mistaken and there really were stickers, they were so unintresting that I never applied them. And i'm one of the few guys who likes stickers.

The stickers could have been promotional LEGO HP designs (logos, characters, etc) on the side.  If any of the bricks had a sticker on it, I’m almost positive I would have seen something in my 15+ years of browsing for LEGO HP.  

[RogueTwo]

Sorry for the double post, but for those in the US, Barnes and Noble will apparently put the new sets on hold for people, stock allowing, to be picked up on Monday.  They have a three day hold period, so this is the first day that this would work.  

Fingers crossed they will actually have the sets at the counter for me.  Still no Expecto Patronum, though.  

The funny thing is that the bookseller clearly didn’t know a thing about Harry Potter.    They were very helpful, though!

[Balrogofmorgoth]

Just a few more days. I’ve done some serious missing of the Horntail in physical parts and on LDD. I had to experiment with the Thunderbird head since LDD doesn’t have that piece. But it’s looking really good, I can’t wait to apply it all to the actual set. I’ve added tail segments, neck segments, lots of spikes on the head, neck, tail, and back, dark brown ball joints for the legs and wings, completely redid the legs, and made some minor color changes throughout. I’m very interested to see how it all will look on the final product.

[Accio Lego]

1 hour ago, RogueTwo said:

Sorry for the double post, but for those in the US, Barnes and Noble will apparently put the new sets on hold for people, stock allowing, to be picked up on Monday.  They have a three day hold period, so this is the first day that this would work.  

Fingers crossed they will actually have the sets at the counter for me.  Still no Expecto Patronum, though.  

The funny thing is that the bookseller clearly didn’t know a thing about Harry Potter.    They were very helpful, though!

I can’t imagine working and the biggest chain bookstore in the country and somehow not knowing anything about Harry Potter. Between the special displays most stores have up full time now and the regular Harry Potter events many have you’d think it would be hard not to pick things up by osmosis if nothing else. At least they helped you with your reservations :). 

It’s interesting that Barnes and Noble doesn’t seem to be getting the Expecto Patronum set at all, or at least not early with the rest of the sets. It might have something to do with it’s size - I noticed that the Aragog and Grindelwald sets tend to linger longer on the shelves, and a market analyst might see that and think the lowest price point set won’t be as popular, without realizing that the subject matter of this one will make it much more tempting. 

[RogueTwo]

1 hour ago, Accio Lego said:

I can’t imagine working and the biggest chain bookstore in the country and somehow not knowing anything about Harry Potter. Between the special displays most stores have up full time now and the regular Harry Potter events many have you’d think it would be hard not to pick things up by osmosis if nothing else. At least they helped you with your reservations :). 

It’s interesting that Barnes and Noble doesn’t seem to be getting the Expecto Patronum set at all, or at least not early with the rest of the sets. It might have something to do with it’s size - I noticed that the Aragog and Grindelwald sets tend to linger longer on the shelves, and a market analyst might see that and think the lowest price point set won’t be as popular, without realizing that the subject matter of this one will make it much more tempting. 

Sorry, I should have not been so hyperbolic; the employee was obviously aware of HP, but they said “Hungarian Horntail” and “Hagrid’s Hut” like they’d never heard it before, so either it was a very tired morning or they aren’t very familiar with the story.  

That last thought about price point is really interesting.  You may be right about that error of logic.  I think it’s more likely, though, that LEGO wants at least one store/website exclusive until they’re available everywhere.  My local LEGO Store manager didn’t know that Barnes and Noble wasn’t getting the Patronus set, but confirmed that all five sets will be available in LEGO Stores on July 1 (I honestly thought they might be website exclusives for the first month). 

[lego_guyon02]

5 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Just a few more days. I’ve done some serious missing of the Horntail in physical parts and on LDD. I had to experiment with the Thunderbird head since LDD doesn’t have that piece. But it’s looking really good, I can’t wait to apply it all to the actual set. I’ve added tail segments, neck segments, lots of spikes on the head, neck, tail, and back, dark brown ball joints for the legs and wings, completely redid the legs, and made some minor color changes throughout. I’m very interested to see how it all will look on the final product.

Be sure to post some pictures when you've build it, I'd love to see it!

[Balrogofmorgoth]

24 minutes ago, Guyon2002 said:

Be sure to post some pictures when you've build it, I'd love to see it!

I’ll try, but I’m about as tech savvy as a toadfish

[Accio Lego]

On 6/24/2019 at 11:33 AM, Accio Lego said:

I’ve downloaded it on my laptop. Doesn’t look like there are any double points on all purchases like there was last year, but there also isn’t anything about the monthly 2x points sets. I wouldn’t be completely surprised if they decided to stop putting the VIP points promotions on the calendars altogether, since they’d already stopped naming the specific sets that would be double points each month and we’ve only finally gotten the gift with purchase promos back on the calendars. 

So the July calendar didn’t have anything but this the latest VIP email says there will be double points starting July 1st. 

[RogueTwo]

5 hours ago, Accio Lego said:

So the July calendar didn’t have anything but this the latest VIP email says there will be double points starting July 1st. 

Wow, nice catch!  I deleted that email because I thought it was only about the Droid Commander set.  I have a VIP credit which I was going to use to order Expecto Patronum, but this just sweetens the deal!

Edited June 29, 2019 by RogueTwo

[Retro Brick Reviews]

Not sure if this is consistent across the US, but both of the LEGO brand stores in my relative area claim to have twelve-to-sixteen copies of each of the five sets. Just posting in case anyone wanted to know potential stock (Which seems to be way better than last year.)

[Balrogofmorgoth]

35 minutes ago, Retro Brick Reviews said:

Not sure if this is consistent across the US, but both of the LEGO brand stores in my relative area claim to have twelve-to-sixteen copies of each of the five sets. Just posting in case anyone wanted to know potential stock (Which seems to be way better than last year.)

I can’t make it to a lego store until Tuesday so hopefully they still have them on day two

[Accio Lego]

2 hours ago, RogueTwo said:

Wow, nice catch!  I deleted that email because I thought it was only about the Droid Commander set.  I have a VIP credit which I was going to use to order Expecto Patronum, but this just sweetens the deal!

Yeah, it was buried way down at the bottom. I’m not even sure why I scrolled that far but a real nice surprise nonetheless. Between the points from the July sets and the ones I got from waiting to buy the Hogwarts Castle until it was double points in November plus a few things in the meantime I’ll have enough to get both the August sets with VIP credit  so I’m pumped. 

[RogueTwo]

4 hours ago, Accio Lego said:

Yeah, it was buried way down at the bottom. I’m not even sure why I scrolled that far but a real nice surprise nonetheless. Between the points from the July sets and the ones I got from waiting to buy the Hogwarts Castle until it was double points in November plus a few things in the meantime I’ll have enough to get both the August sets with VIP credit  so I’m pumped. 

I ended up buying the UCS Castle as well, and I love it, but I feel like an idiot for buying it in between double VIP promotions.  

Good on you for playing the long game, especially since I don’t think we’ll ever see triple points again.  

[Accio Lego]

55 minutes ago, RogueTwo said:

I ended up buying the UCS Castle as well, and I love it, but I feel like an idiot for buying it in between double VIP promotions.  

Good on you for playing the long game, especially since I don’t think we’ll ever see triple points again.  

Honestly, I only ended up waiting until November because I wanted to get the little Diagon Alley gwp set. I just really lucked out because the Castle ended up being one of the double points sets that month. I love my micro Harry Potter display though, gave me the perfect place to put the tiny Knight Bus I got back in 2004. 

[lego_guyon02]

2 hours ago, RogueTwo said:

I ended up buying the UCS Castle as well, and I love it, but I feel like an idiot for buying it in between double VIP promotions.  

Good on you for playing the long game, especially since I don’t think we’ll ever see triple points again.  

I miss the triple points events so much, I got the Silent Mary during one of those

[Balrogofmorgoth]

I don’t remember ever seeing triple points in the US

[RogueTwo]

24 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I don’t remember ever seeing triple points in the US

It was probably at least four years ago, and I think they only did it twice or something.  Someone should probably face check that, though.  I missed out, sadly.