Harry Potter 2021 - Rumors & Discussion

[KA1]

I dont see much sense in pre ordering. There will be probably GWP so maybe its better to save purchase with official launch..

[ankayeb]

2 hours ago, TheLegoDr said:

I realize the advantage of pre-ordering to make sure you get the set immediately. But I've noticed this earlier wave has been available from the start and still sitting on shelves...Is it because people don't like the memory books as much?

I think part of the problem of the Hogwarts Moments sets sitting on shelves at this point, at least in the US, is the price. I've seen discount after discount on them shared in the UK, but in the US, it's only recently (within the past two weeks or so) that 3 of the 4 of them had any discount at all on them, and that was only at Best Buy and Amazon price-matching Best Buy. And I still haven't seen the Herbology one discounted anywhere, aside from some regional buy one, get one 40 percent off store promotions that haven't been available in my area that the Moments sets were included in. I had been waiting for them to be discounted to get them because I do feel the retail price is a little high, and I snapped up the 3 that were discounted the second I saw them at 20 percent off. 

Edited April 19, 2021 by ankayeb

[Retro Brick Reviews]

I just messaged Marcos Bessa on Instagram to ask him about why they chose to use grated 8x8 plates for the new Hogwarts expansion modules instead of standard plates, and here was his response:

"The answer to the first question is price. The “grated” plate is cheaper and allows me as a designer to include other details in the model instead of having to pay more for a regular plate that would do basically the same job."

Honestly, it makes sense, and, while it definitely isn't as visually appealing or versatile as a full plate, I'll accept it if it's part of why the Chamber of Secrets feels so detailed and complete.

[Textorix]

Guys, for those who were sad that we are getting different style of Hogwarts sets and remake of Great Hall and are possessed with dream of having movie accurate minifigure scale Hogwarts castle, I have something for you. I made 3D model of Hogwarts castle layout from all sets including the new ones in studio program. This is my vision, my plan how to connect them all once I will have all Hogwarts sets. Whille making this I tried to find balance between movie accuracy and ideal placement for each different buildings so obviously not eveything is in exact same position as in movies (Clock Tower should be behind Great Hall and face opposite). It took me about 3 days to build everything up and to find the best layout. Honestly I was really suprised (in a good way) how compatibile new sets were with 2018-2020 ones. I am not a fan of changing official sets so I also did almost no customizations except changing big roof parts in new sets for dark bluish grey ones and that way those sets look amazing. After I made this model I am 100% decided to buy new sets and I started to like them more. I even found the way how to use that new Great Hall remake while not breaking consistency of entire layout. I cant wait to make this with real sets and I hope you will find maybe some inspiration in this. This layout is made in a way that it is best looking from the front but also from the sides so backside should be hidden. Obviously it is not very space friendly and specialy not something for those who display their sets on smaller shelves..... I still have to figure out where and how to place Chamber of Secrets and find the way how to lift up entire castle....oh and somehow I forgot about Room of Requirement :D

When june sets release I will post updated version of this as I wasnt able to finish tower from COS set due to new window piece which isnt in the piece database yet.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Textorix

[BrickMatit]

3 minutes ago, Textorix said:

It took me about 3 days to build everything up and to find the best layout.

Wow, you worked hard, but what a great result! 

5 minutes ago, Textorix said:

Honestly I was really suprised (in a good way) how compatibile new sets were with 2018-2020 ones.

5 minutes ago, Textorix said:

After I made this model I am 100% decided to buy new sets and I started to like them more.

I'm so happy to read you're finding out a way to appreciate this wave and building your own Hogwarts  I hope other will find inspiration from your layout.

In my case, not having so much space, I will simply build two Hogwarts, each on a different shelf 

But I have to say again, great, great work! 

[501bricks]

Sorry if I might have missed this, but are the new type of modulars compatible with the old ones (2018), or would I need to mod it?

[Retro Brick Reviews]

2 minutes ago, 501bricks said:

Sorry if I might have missed this, but are the new type of modulars compatible with the old ones (2018), or would I need to mod it?

They are directly compatible, yes.

[501bricks]

Thanks! I think that's a great move so that collectors can add on to their existing castles, and new people can get the great hall and some classrooms.

[Textorix]

33 minutes ago, BrickMatit said:

But I have to say again, great, great work! 

Thx man, I really appreciate it :) 

[Brickroll]

@Textorix holy cow, that’s noice (Jake Peralta voice here). That is honestly perfect.

[RoyL]

That actually fits together much better than I expected. Kinda curious to see what it's gonna look like with the green roofs, cause I'm probably gonna leave them on  

[Textorix]

1 minute ago, RoyL said:

That actually fits together much better than I expected. Kinda curious to see what it's gonna look like with the green roofs, cause I'm probably gonna leave them on  

I can make green roof variant and post it here as well tomorrow ;)

42 minutes ago, Brickroll said:

@Textorix holy cow, that’s noice (Jake Peralta voice here). That is honestly perfect.

I am happy you like it 

[joeee]

@Textorix, that looks AMAZING! This is a great solution to the new sets being a different style.

By the way, I love that you kept part of the staircase tower of the 2021 set to have sand green wedges under the gray tower roof. It matches the gray/green combination of the building (apologies, the name of that building is escaping me) that came with the Astronomy Tower.

Edit: Nevermind, deleting my question because I found my answer on Bricklink

Edited April 19, 2021 by joeee

[sebastian666]

2 hours ago, Textorix said:

 

@Textorix this is AMAZING! I keep zooming in to check out all the details. And I’m so happy you’ve come around on the new sets! Can’t wait to see how you incorporate the rest of the new elements here. Thanks for sharing. 

[Axxe90]

3 hours ago, Textorix said:

I made 3D model of Hogwarts castle layout from all sets including the new ones in studio program.

Damn respect, did you recreate all the existing sets from 2018-2020 in studio? Or is there a way to download the 3D model of those sets?

Anyways, looks really nice! 

[Clone OPatra]

5 hours ago, Retro Brick Reviews said:

I just messaged Marcos Bessa on Instagram to ask him about why they chose to use grated 8x8 plates for the new Hogwarts expansion modules instead of standard plates, and here was his response:

"The answer to the first question is price. The “grated” plate is cheaper and allows me as a designer to include other details in the model instead of having to pay more for a regular plate that would do basically the same job."

Honestly, it makes sense, and, while it definitely isn't as visually appealing or versatile as a full plate, I'll accept it if it's part of why the Chamber of Secrets feels so detailed and complete.

This is corporate greed 101. I am glad LEGO as a company is now financially managed well and has great profits - obviously without that we wouldn't be getting much of this stuff or any at all if they tanked and folded. BUT...

From the designer's perspective, I get it. They're most often given fairly strict budgets and they so they have to make tough choices. But really, on the corporate side you're telling me that the few pennies different for a regular plate vs a grill plate would be so detrimental to the bottom line? LEGO is such a high ticket luxury toy as it is.

It's just like the designers' response when people ask for a goat: "we can't do a goat because the mould broke". You make new moulds all the time! What they mean is, they've never been able to present a good enough business case to the budgeting side, or something like that.

A fairly minor point to be sure, but when the budget constraints imposed on the designers for a high-priced luxury toy are felt obviously in the finished product, it does get to be a problem.

[Prometheus87]

13 minutes ago, Clone OPatra said:

This is corporate greed 101. I am glad LEGO as a company is now financially managed well and has great profits - obviously without that we wouldn't be getting much of this stuff or any at all if they tanked and folded. BUT...

From the designer's perspective, I get it. They're most often given fairly strict budgets and they so they have to make tough choices. But really, on the corporate side you're telling me that the few pennies different for a regular plate vs a grill plate would be so detrimental to the bottom line? LEGO is such a high ticket luxury toy as it is.

It's just like the designers' response when people ask for a goat: "we can't do a goat because the mould broke". You make new moulds all the time! What they mean is, they've never been able to present a good enough business case to the budgeting side, or something like that.

A fairly minor point to be sure, but when the budget constraints imposed on the designers for a high-priced luxury toy are felt obviously in the finished product, it does get to be a problem.

This is what I don't get since a perfect business case could be made based on the data from bricklink. Both the current rate of cost, units exchanged and the trendlines could all be gleamed publically...so that excuse is baloney. Also find this the case for the insane amount of stickers we get...

Also, i'd imagine given there's multiple factories in the world, wouldn't there be multiple moulds? 

[MaxHeadroom]

6 hours ago, Retro Brick Reviews said:

I just messaged Marcos Bessa on Instagram to ask him about why they chose to use grated 8x8 plates for the new Hogwarts expansion modules instead of standard plates, and here was his response:

"The answer to the first question is price. The “grated” plate is cheaper and allows me as a designer to include other details in the model instead of having to pay more for a regular plate that would do basically the same job."

Honestly, it makes sense, and, while it definitely isn't as visually appealing or versatile as a full plate, I'll accept it if it's part of why the Chamber of Secrets feels so detailed and complete.

Another benefit that hasn't been mentioned yet is how the grates let more light into the tower floors. I like them when they're used on the balconies since there isn't much that needs to go on those but I'm really not a fan of their use in the devils snare room. Everything  else I'm ambivalent towards. 
 

The more I see the Forbidden corridor set the more disappointed I am that it wasn't given just a bit more budget (maybe $50 instead of $40). That set could've been really good with an improved devil's snare and some extra heads for fluffy (along with a few other upgrades to fluffy if possible). I also wouldn't have minded a simple 8x8 flying keys room with 3 keys, a broom, and a door although that probably would've increased the price even more. 

[BenderBrau]

2 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

From the designer's perspective, I get it. They're most often given fairly strict budgets and they so they have to make tough choices. But really, on the corporate side you're telling me that the few pennies different for a regular plate vs a grill plate would be so detrimental to the bottom line? LEGO is such a high ticket luxury toy as it is.

But on the other hand - does that grilled plate really tips the scale and you decide not to buy the set because of it? I'm not trying to defend Lego, I too hate when budgetary cuts are obvious, but this is probably the smallest problem of this entire wave. Honestly I'd rather have the entire castle section, including walls and roofs, made with those plates if it meant we'd be given a fully molded Fluffy, similar to dinosaurs.

Speaking of creatures, I'm not so keen on the basilisk either. It absolutely should've been dark green and that middle section, while I understand it's meant to recreate the original, it just looks ugly. I will try to create the whole body with just those bent tubes, whatever that part is called.

[Clone OPatra]

26 minutes ago, BenderBrau said:

But on the other hand - does that grilled plate really tips the scale and you decide not to buy the set because of it?

No (wasn't going to purchase the Chamber of Secrets or Forbidden Corridor anyway), but it does inhibit playability and displayability, severely reducing the amount of places where you can stick down and pose figures and other objects. It also doesn't make sense from a play standpoint in all of the dark tan sections: why are there holes in the floor of Hogwarts? Holes in the Chamber of Secrets floor is ok.

[Roebuck]

5 hours ago, Prometheus87 said:

Also, i'd imagine given there's multiple factories in the world, wouldn't there be multiple moulds? 

I do not think that is the case for rare moulds like e.g. the goat. I assume they have one run at one factory then are either packed into sets there or shipped to other factory's that pack the sets. The rest are put into storage and if someone somewhere in Lego need goats they are shipped to them. When the mould broke, the part were probably of limits to designers so they could not include it in a set unless they had the budget to make a new mould 

6 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

It's just like the designers' response when people ask for a goat: "we can't do a goat because the mould broke". You make new moulds all the time! What they mean is, they've never been able to present a good enough business case to the budgeting side, or something like that.

That is right, the Ideas team tried to include the goat in the blacksmith set, but no luck because TLG assumed it would sell fine without it also. While other Ideas sets like Sesame street and Winnie the pooh get several new moulds because the sets would probably sell a lot less if they where not included.

COS have not a good price per piece ratio, but that is probably because the designer used a lot of the budget on the basilisk, pixies and the new owl. If those parts where not included I guess it could have had a lot more normal bricks instead. Do not get me wrong I think they did the right decision and if I must pay extra for animals etc in sets then I will rather than less with no animal moulds, but should it really be necessary for the designer to make the choice like @Clone OPatra say:

6 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

A fairly minor point to be sure, but when the budget constraints imposed on the designers for a high-priced luxury toy are felt obviously in the finished product, it does get to be a problem.

 

[Textorix]

7 hours ago, Axxe90 said:

Damn respect, did you recreate all the existing sets from 2018-2020 in studio? Or is there a way to download the 3D model of those sets?

Anyways, looks really nice! 

Thx, yes I had to build all 2018-2020 sets in studio by instructions because there were no models to download. New sets were more difficult tho because they dont have inatructions available yet so I had to build them just by looking at pictures.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Textorix

[Textorix]

9 hours ago, sebastian666 said:

@Textorix this is AMAZING! I keep zooming in to check out all the details. And I’m so happy you’ve come around on the new sets! Can’t wait to see how you incorporate the rest of the new elements here. Thanks for sharing. 

Thank you! Yeah, I will add Room of Requirement, Whomping Whillow tree and Chamber of Secrets, but for that I need to build huge rock foundatiom first.

[Xcube]

I had a similar idea :) I added the chess set to the layout and made already a mocced part to connect the great hall with the forbidden corridor. The RoR isn't on the final position, but I will probably make there a wall, that look similar.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Xcube

[evanevanevan]

Gonna be a bit contrarian here, but I'm a fan of the grilled pieces. I like being able to display minifigures at more irregular angles to make the scenes look more natural, and the grilled pieces are great for that. With a regular tile, all of the figures have to be placed in a very stoic formation, if you get what I mean

Also wow all of your mockups are so good!

Edited April 20, 2021 by evanevanevan