Harry Potter 2021 - Rumors & Discussion

[1234567892022]

I'm not expecting Gringotts. But pleaaase be minifigure-scale! 

[Textorix]

4 minutes ago, BrickFunatic said:

I'm not expecting Gringotts. But pleaaase be minifigure-scale! 

Yes, that honestly is my only criterion for it to not be disappointing. I mean we already have two, actually three brickbuild sets in that wave so please its enough of that :D

[BrickBob Studpants]

7 minutes ago, BrickFunatic said:

I'm not expecting Gringotts. But pleaaase be minifigure-scale! 

I can't think of anything minifig-scaled that would make sense at a $250 price point, especially since Hogsmeade has already been taken care of. Given how laser-focused everything released this year is on PS/CS (with the exception of Hogsmeade), I would expect the D2C to be based on either of these two films as well 

[Falconfan1414]

[1234567892022]

12 minutes ago, Lego-Freak said:

I can't think of anything minifig-scaled that would make sense at a $250 price point, especially since Hogsmeade has already been taken care of. Given how laser-focused everything released this year is on PS/CS (with the exception of Hogsmeade), I would expect the D2C to be based on either of these two films as well 

So you're expecting micro scale?

[Textorix]

13 minutes ago, Lego-Freak said:

I can't think of anything minifig-scaled that would make sense at a $250 price point, especially since Hogsmeade has already been taken care of. Given how laser-focused everything released this year is on PS/CS (with the exception of Hogsmeade), I would expect the D2C to be based on either of these two films as well 

Anything except DA expansion with Leaky Cauldron and some other building

[BrickBob Studpants]

Just now, BrickFunatic said:

So you're expecting micro scale?

Nope, brick-built creature(s) or character(s). Fits with the rest of the rubbish 

[1234567892022]

8 minutes ago, Lego-Freak said:

Nope, brick-built creature(s) or character(s). Fits with the rest of the rubbish 

Hmm, I'm not that pessimistic yet.

[BrickBob Studpants]

Or maybe the real April Fool’s prank today was that the Hogwarts Express rumour wasn’t a prank  Lying by saying the truth, sort of 

[sebastian666]

In case anyone missed the news today, Marcos Bessa (who is the design manager of the LEGO Harry Potter line) announced that he is stepping aside from his role as a LEGO Design Manager and taking on an exciting new role as a LEGO Design Master. He posted a very thoughtful essay on Instagram about why he and the LEGO management made this decision, which is an interesting read if you have some time. Ultimately, it sounds like he did not enjoy the responsibility of managing a team last year (notably the team that produced this polarizing LEGO Harry Potter 20th Anniversary series) and will now be focused on builds and creative design. I really do hope Marcos still gets to work on the LEGO Harry Potter line in the future... He is hands down my favorite LEGO designer. If anyone here has any more insight on the role of a Design Master, I’d be interested to learn more. Here is the link to his announcement:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNH9xQhJ1vH/?igshid=1tqxg20g83suj

[Prometheus87]

24 minutes ago, sebastian666 said:

In case anyone missed the news today, Marcos Bessa (who is the design manager of the LEGO Harry Potter line) announced that he is stepping aside from his role as a LEGO Design Manager and taking on an exciting new role as a LEGO Design Master. He posted a very thoughtful essay on Instagram about why he and the LEGO management made this decision, which is an interesting read if you have some time. Ultimately, it sounds like he did not enjoy the responsibility of managing a team last year (notably the team that produced this polarizing LEGO Harry Potter 20th Anniversary series) and will now be focused on builds and creative design. I really do hope Marcos still gets to work on the LEGO Harry Potter line in the future... He is hands down my favorite LEGO designer. If anyone here has any more insight on the role of a Design Master, I’d be interested to learn more. Here is the link to his announcement:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNH9xQhJ1vH/?igshid=1tqxg20g83suj

Yikes, was he new to the HP team last year? I always suspected there was some changes or drama in the team of HP that led to the differences for 2021. 

[sebastian666]

6 minutes ago, Prometheus87 said:

Yikes, was he new to the HP team last year? I always suspected there was some changes or drama in the team of HP that led to the differences for 2021. 

No, not new. Marcos was in charge of the LEGO Harry Potter relaunch in 2018 and oversaw the 2019 series, the 2020 series, and the controversial 2021 anniversary series. He is a flawless designer, but I also sensed something was off with this year’s process. While I’m sure the sets won’t be as bad as we have been led to believe, what we’ve seen and heard rumors about so far seems so bizarre and disjointed. You can almost feel the tension that there must have been within the team and with LEGO management in these sets.

Edited April 2, 2021 by sebastian666

[2lazeetomakeaname]

Why is everyone so obsessed with Marcus? Hes a great designer but the love this page has for him is kinda creepy

[Modal]

1 hour ago, sebastian666 said:

In case anyone missed the news today, Marcos Bessa (who is the design manager of the LEGO Harry Potter line) announced that he is stepping aside from his role as a LEGO Design Manager and taking on an exciting new role as a LEGO Design Master. He posted a very thoughtful essay on Instagram about why he and the LEGO management made this decision, which is an interesting read if you have some time. Ultimately, it sounds like he did not enjoy the responsibility of managing a team last year (notably the team that produced this polarizing LEGO Harry Potter 20th Anniversary series) and will now be focused on builds and creative design. I really do hope Marcos still gets to work on the LEGO Harry Potter line in the future... He is hands down my favorite LEGO designer. If anyone here has any more insight on the role of a Design Master, I’d be interested to learn more. Here is the link to his announcement:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNH9xQhJ1vH/?igshid=1tqxg20g83suj

I know we’re likely never to know company politics or what really went down, but all I have to say is that I hope Marcos leaving that Creative Lead role for the HP line doesn’t symbolize what I believe could be a negative turning point for the theme. 

Based on the past few years you would think LEGO had nailed it when it comes to understanding the HP fan base. I really don’t know what the reason was for a drastic change, except for it being the 20th Anniversary, an anniversary that many people don’t get in the first place. I guess we’ll have a better idea of the LEGO team’s vision for the future when we see what they do for the 2022 wave.

[Prometheus87]

39 minutes ago, sebastian666 said:

No, not new. Marcos was in charge of the LEGO Harry Potter relaunch in 2018 and oversaw the 2019 series, the 2020 series, and the controversial 2021 anniversary series. He is a flawless designer, but I also sensed something was off with this year’s process. While I’m sure the sets won’t be as bad as we have been led to believe, what we’ve seen and heard rumors about so far seems so bizarre and disjointed. You can almost feel the tension that there must have been within the team and with LEGO management in these sets.

Oh good. Wonder what happened behind the scenes then! Definitely agree there was tension that shows in the sets. From what I know of his stuff, he's fantastic and hope he can continue this in his new role. 

[sebastian666]

10 minutes ago, Modal said:

I hope Marcos leaving that Creative Lead role for the HP line doesn’t symbolize what I believe could be a negative turning point for the theme. 

I was thinking the exact same thing... Hopefully the 2022 sets prove us wrong. 

10 minutes ago, Prometheus87 said:

From what I know of his stuff, he's fantastic and hope he can continue this in his new role. 

When he was just a designer and not a manager, Marcos created sets like the Ewok Village 10236 and the Disney Castle 71040 - arguably two of the greatest LEGO sets of the last decade (maybe of all time). Maybe he will be the design master tasked with giving us Gringott’s in 2022 if we don’t get it this year. I would be over the moon.

[YetiZombie]

1 hour ago, sebastian666 said:

No, not new. Marcos was in charge of the LEGO Harry Potter relaunch in 2018 and oversaw the 2019 series, the 2020 series, and the controversial 2021 anniversary series. He is a flawless designer, but I also sensed something was off with this year’s process. While I’m sure the sets won’t be as bad as we have been led to believe, what we’ve seen and heard rumors about so far seems so bizarre and disjointed. You can almost feel the tension that there must have been within the team and with LEGO management in these sets.

I think a lot of this is a stretch if you're basing it on his announcement. The post made it pretty clear that he's been wanting to move away from a managerial role for more than just a year. I work in tech and this happens all the time - a strong individual contributor goes into management and then realizes they love building more than managing, so they side-step into a master role where they can be an individual contributor again. I didn't see this as him moving on due to the direction of the team, so coming to that conclusion would be pure speculation.

[Bugbot20082]

So with Looney Toons revealed as a 12 figure line up it confirms then that even licensed CMFs will go with the new reduced amount. 
I’m disappointed with that but can live with it if it means more parts for each character and increased budget for new mould’s etc for each series overall.

I’ll expect 12 figures then for Disney series 3 and HP series 3. 
Going by the table of characters I made a while back I Hope it means that there will be no more compulsory Neville, Luna and Dumbledore slots

https://flic.kr/p/2konoQL

 

 

[1234567892022]

3 minutes ago, Bugbot20082 said:

I’m disappointed with that but can live with it if it means more parts for each character and increased budget for new mould’s etc for each series overall.

 

 

Is that how it works? 

[Bugbot20082]

46 minutes ago, BrickFunatic said:

Is that how it works? 

It seems to be the trend... series 21 had at least 1 new mould for each figure except for 3, and those 3 have either large, high value parts (dolphin and centaur body), or at least a lot of parts (10 total for the space police man). Granted looking back series 20 was very good by the same measure too :/

Looney toons has I count 14 new moulds across the figures, most with elaborate printing/duel moulding like the Simpson’s heads but most have a lot more accessories compared to that line and past similar figures from the un-licensed even if they are just bricks in existing colours.

Taz has 3 things and even a tail by the looks of it (compare that to chip & dale) we got 3 bits of cheese with Speedy (they could easily just have done 1), Road Runner has a bowl of food even though he can’t hold it (compare that to the similar chicken suit guy from series 9) and look at the number of parts going into the other side builds (mallet, anvil etc).

Side note I’m so glad they didn’t made a new anvil mould that would have been annoying 😅

[1234567892022]

Hmm, interesting. Well we can cross off two moulds that would have been likely (and my most wanted) to appear in a potential third CMF series: Cornish Pixies and Cat Hermione. 

My most wanted now are Fang, Pygmy Puffs (printed bludgers or new moulded) and a proper Crookshanks (not sure if that last one is likely). 

[Balrogofmorgoth]

7 minutes ago, BrickFunatic said:

Hmm, interesting. Well we can cross off two moulds that would have been likely (and my most wanted) to appear in a potential third CMF series: Cornish Pixies and Cat Hermione. 

My most wanted now are Fang, Pygmy Puffs (printed bludgers or new moulded) and a proper Crookshanks (not sure if that last one is likely). 

I’m with you here. I would love some Pygmy puffs, even if they’re just printed bludgers  like you said. And Crookshanks and Fang as well. Wouldn’t mind Sirius in dog form as well

[1234567892022]

3 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I’m with you here. I would love some Pygmy puffs, even if they’re just printed bludgers  like you said. And Crookshanks and Fang as well. Wouldn’t mind Sirius in dog form as well

Yes, dog Sirius and Werwolf Lupin are close seconds for me. I also want some representation of cat McGonagall and Mrs. Norris (a sitting cat would be great and be great for several different themes). 

Shark Krum and some Grindylows/Merpeople would be great, too. 

And Kreacher! 

[Prometheus87]

43 minutes ago, BrickFunatic said:

Yes, dog Sirius and Werwolf Lupin are close seconds for me. I also want some representation of cat McGonagall and Mrs. Norris (a sitting cat would be great and be great for several different themes). 

Shark Krum and some Grindylows/Merpeople would be great, too. 

And Kreacher! 

Mrs. Norris accessory would be fantastic. 

[Seaber]

A big fluffy cat mold would be great for Crookshanks (Dark Orange) and Mrs Norris (Dark Tan with black printing).