Harry Potter 2021 - Rumors & Discussion

[Clone OPatra]

1 hour ago, MaxHeadroom said:

Now that we know the 2018 iteration of the theme is definitely complete, I can confidently say that the 2010-11 line remains the definitive iteration of the theme.

So, that line is your definitive iteration because it kind of nodded to all of the films (at a stretch)? Despite having (for the most part) non-specific character designs and lacking heaps of the stuff that LEGO gave us from 18-20?

At the time, I loved what LEGO did from 2010-11, but compared to 18-20, nah. Them not finishing it out with DH material at this point in time doesn't undercut the brilliant wealth of stuff they have given us: so many accurate character designs, new characters and places they never covered before, pretty much all of the important faculty of Hogwarts, beautifully done Hogwarts sections, etc. etc.

[BrickBob Studpants]

I’m with @Clone OPatra, claiming that the 2010/11 iteration was the definitive one makes little sense to me. How the iteration that used the same Harry across all movies, featured one of the most laughable creature builds ever, completely ignored GoF and OotP, introduced virtually no new moulds (Bellatrix’ hairpiece being one of the few exceptions), didn’t include Umbridge, Moody, Slughorn, Quirrell, Lockhart, Myrtle, Viktor, Fleur, Cedric, Buckbeak, Tonks, Kingsley, Grawp, Fudge, the Basilisk, or centaurs could ever be considered the best one is a mystery to me  All it had the current one’s missing is Norbert, Mrs Norris, the gray owl, DH Neville, Narcissa, Gringotts, and DH part 2 stuff (DH part 1 was ignored by that iteration as well).

[Robert8]

The 2018-2020 version is better in pretty much everything, except of course the lack of DH sets. 

 

[Brickroll]

30 minutes ago, Robert8 said:

The 2018-2020 version is better in pretty much everything, except of course the lack of DH sets. 

 

I have some old sets so maybe I’m nostalgic but aside from Harry/Hermionie, the old wave had characters pretty much on par and several that I think were better than  the modern ones. The new waves are probably better with builds, though.

[Prometheus87]

2 hours ago, lego_guyon02 said:

That would be an interesting thing to know for sure. I can only speak for myself ofc but for me 2021 is the year that violently kicked this theme off the pedestal it's been sitting on for the past 3 years. I've been trying my best to look at the future of this theme with an optimistic mindset but if this year is representative of what we'll get in the years to come I would've preferred it if they had just given us a Deathly Hallows wave and pulled the plug then and there.

I feel the same. I have bought only one set (Hogsmeade) so far. I only plan on buying other sets when they are on a sale, and even then, I may not and just buy some pieces i want. I'm waiting to see what 2022 sets will be like and if it's basically the same as 2021, I'm not buying more and will focus on other series, especially if other licensed franchises are redone. I've already broken down numerous sets from 2018-2020 and stored them and my attention is elsewhere due to my waning excitement. I came in only last year during lockdown and felt so much joy collecting all the series with only the small Diagon alley set left to get and feel the attitude from Lego on HP took a lot of that wind from my excitement. I may not be optimistic, but I am still hopeful 2022 is better than this year. 

Anecdotally, I've seen TONS of people selling their entire HP sets online for the past year when this wasn't the case before - I have no evidence, but my gut is saying that HP has taken a financial hit this year and this quote recently about the line is them attempting (and failing) to soften the blow. 

[Clone OPatra]

1 hour ago, Brickroll said:

I have some old sets so maybe I’m nostalgic but aside from Harry/Hermionie, the old wave had characters pretty much on par and several that I think were better than  the modern ones. The new waves are probably better with builds, though.

Minifigure design had already reached modern standards by 2010 that have stayed consistent since then (besides extra things like dual moulding and more side printing), so the old characters still fit in with new ones. I agree a few were better than newer ones or had better faces, though really only Ginny from the Burrow and Lucius' and Bellatrix' heads come to mind as better. Also partial to that Dumbledore's head underneath his beard, though I like the newer beards and hair. Others were on par (Luna, Weasley parents, Snape for instance) or certainly not quite as good (Hagrid, Lupin who looked nothing like Lupin, Dobby to name a few).

And by no means were those sets bad - they've just been far surpassed by the newer ones. Just compare the Burrow sets, or Hagrid's Huts. And some people say the 2018-20 Hogwarts sets besides the Great Hall didn't have much interior space, but just look at the 2010 big Hogwarts... very little truly playable space at all.

 

With LEGO I can never truly understand the attitude that something you formerly thought was good is now bad because something else hasn't been made. If you think the Harry Potter LEGO stuff you got from 2018-20 was great, it's still great! You can have an amazing Hogwarts or Harry Potter display with tons of characters, and it's still amazing! How does lacking DH material devalue the rest of it?

This isn't like, for instance, a film trilogy with an ok first film and terrible ending that makes you never want to watch the first one again because you know the story is going nowhere. It's more like saying, well, I better get rid of my Fellowship of the Ring sets because LEGO never made Eowyn, Faramir and Minas Tirith.

[Retro Brick Reviews]

While this is a good discussion (and one I might join in on myself tomorrow after my first day of classes), I'd like to draw everyone's attention to the fact that a user on Instagram (@phoenix_makes) has acquired an early copy of the new Advent Calendar. In addition to providing better looks at all the new prints (that Express ticket looks so beautiful), a few things of note are that Dudley does indeed get his pig tail, Griphook now has an alternate face print (judging by the official pics he has the 2020 face on the other side), the set includes at least two wand boxes (one on Harry's cart and one for Griphook's stool), and the fireplace has a simple feature to have letters shoot out of it. This is definitely one of the best calendars they've ever done, I just adore everything about it!

[lego_guyon02]

I guess it's nice to see that Griphook now has an alternate face but why even bother when it's almost exactly the same as the standard one?  LEGO never fails to surprise me with odd decisions.

[Clone OPatra]

That advent calendar is excellent. Special stuff from Diagon Alley, Griphook, the ticket, Hagrid's cake, pre-sorting robes and little builds that go with the scenes.. really great stuff.

[BrickBob Studpants]

2 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

That advent calendar is excellent. Special stuff from Diagon Alley, Griphook, the ticket, Hagrid's cake, pre-sorting robes and little builds that go with the scenes.. really great stuff.

And don’t forget Dudley’s pigtail  I’m really impressed with all the details they included here

Edited August 23, 2021 by BrickBob Studpants

[Retro Brick Reviews]

3 hours ago, lego_guyon02 said:

I guess it's nice to see that Griphook now has an alternate face but why even bother when it's almost exactly the same as the standard one?  LEGO never fails to surprise me with odd decisions.

While I agree in a lot of situations, here the face does look pretty different and adds a lot of character, so imo it was a worthwhile inclusion.

[chris6507]

I'm quite surprised by how positive people are about this year advent calendar. I'm not going to be negative or anything, but it was actually the first one I was strongly considering skipping. There's only one real new minifigure of any interest and I thought all the builds were pretty much useless. Very happy for you all that love it. Just really, really surprised! 

[Ringwraith]

19 hours ago, krimimimi said:

So I don't see the sets so much as PS & CoS builds as a Wizarding World starter kit. Moving forward, I'd appreciate more small sets that permitted us to update the existing sets on our own. 

Yeah I hadn't thought of it like that which does make it much more understandable why they focus on the first few films. 

[lego_guyon02]

11 minutes ago, chris6507 said:

I'm quite surprised by how positive people are about this year advent calendar. I'm not going to be negative or anything, but it was actually the first one I was strongly considering skipping. There's only one real new minifigure of any interest and I thought all the builds were pretty much useless. Very happy for you all that love it. Just really, really surprised! 

It's not particularly amazing or anything but it does it's job and has some neat new printed parts to offer. 

[Bugbot20082]

I like the trend that the AC’s are going all out in detail on something specific, such as a specific party scene or in this case Harry’s journey in Y1 from receiving his first letter to getting sorted.

It ensures longevity and lots of unexpected prints etc we never would have got otherwise (Yule Ball invitation, Birthday Cake etc).

Great to see Griphook has another expression, the CMF  figure should have had that! 

Edited August 23, 2021 by Bugbot20082

[Salix]

56 minutes ago, Bugbot20082 said:

I like the trend that the AC’s are going all out in detail on something specific, such as a specific party scene or in this case Harry’s journey in Y1 from receiving his first letter to getting sorted.

It ensures longevity and lots of unexpected prints etc we never would have got otherwise (Yule Ball invitation, Birthday Cake etc).

Great to see Griphook has another expression, the CMF  figure should have had that! 

That is indeed nice. Even if this wasn't during Christmas. :P

[Scuhro52]

3 hours ago, Bugbot20082 said:

I like the trend that the AC’s are going all out in detail on something specific, such as a specific party scene or in this case Harry’s journey in Y1 from receiving his first letter to getting sorted.

It ensures longevity and lots of unexpected prints etc we never would have got otherwise (Yule Ball invitation, Birthday Cake etc).

Great to see Griphook has another expression, the CMF  figure should have had that! 

If we Don't get a Grimmauld Place set Anytime Soon,I'd like an Advent Calendar one.It could Include:

-New Sirius Black

-Arthur Weasley in Recovery

-Fred/George with Extending Ear

-KREACHER

-Paintings of Black Family

-Any Random Order Member (Tonks or Fletcher are my Choices)

-The Flying Santa Toy

That is Of Course,if they don't make it a Set.Which I would Prefer.

[Juve]

I would definitely say that the 18-20 sets are the best that we ve gotten and I even think they wont be able to do any better. If I had to choose one set its the Great Hall I mean I dont know what else can you do to improve it. If you dont collect HP sets but want only one set its the first one on the list. I got the new CoS and its cool but just cant be compared with the older ones

[krimimimi]

On 8/23/2021 at 9:03 AM, lego_guyon02 said:

I guess it's nice to see that Griphook now has an alternate face but why even bother when it's almost exactly the same as the standard one?  LEGO never fails to surprise me with odd decisions.

I think it will help flesh out Gringotts builds, because (speaking as a Muggle, obviously) the goblins looked mostly alike, just a little different, so a number of Griphooks with different expressions is probably the least expensive option they could have come up with to achieve the best results. They were hardly going to give us a bunch of head moulds, and I think this is more satisfying than the previous versions which basically swapped out the torsos or legs, although I won't mind some options there, too, when the set inevitably comes. hp078/hp079 or hp117/hp118 (where they even share a torso with Flitwick (nice way to suggest a tie in to the Goblin blood, though))

 

@Clone OPatra, sorry if this isn't the place to ask, but is there any chance of getting a subforum for Harry Potter material in the LEGO licensed forum like the pirates and Star Wars themes have in theirs? I feel like a bunch of neat content often gets overlooked buried as it is amongst other themes, and that that in turn may discourage people from posting content, both of which seem like a shame. 

[BrickBob Studpants]

1 hour ago, krimimimi said:

@Clone OPatra, sorry if this isn't the place to ask, but is there any chance of getting a subforum for Harry Potter material in the LEGO licensed forum like the pirates and Star Wars themes have in theirs?

Not a bad idea, but it‘s a bit of a slippery slope, innit? If we got a separate subforum, Marvel and DC fans would certainly want one as well, and fans of other franchises probably too  

[Clone OPatra]

We have thought about a number of subforum ideas over the years, and even come quite close to creating a Superheroes subforum when both of those themes were even hotter (though Marvel is getting hot again), but ultimately haven't seen the true need.

There simply isn't as much building and posting of creations in Licensed as there is in other themes, so there's not as much to go in its own section. Sure there are multiple discussions about certain themes, but to compensate we've gotten a little looser and allowed more speculation and general discussion in the yearly Rumors & Discussion threads.

I'm not sure what subforums within Star Wars you mean either (there are contests and factions), but Star Wars is its own forum because there weren't many other licensed themes at the time that decision was made, and it's held true to today that LEGO Star Wars is simply a massive fandom for AFOLs with lots and lots of activity. Looking at all the MOCs/MODs etc that people make and post here for Star Wars, no other licensed theme remotely comes close.

However as more and more of LEGO's business seems to be focussed on licenses, we're definitely still open to making some structural changes when/if the need arises.

[gryffindorbrickkid]

7 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

We have thought about a number of subforum ideas over the years, and even come quite close to creating a Superheroes subforum when both of those themes were even hotter (though Marvel is getting hot again), but ultimately haven't seen the true need.

There simply isn't as much building and posting of creations in Licensed as there is in other themes, so there's not as much to go in its own section. Sure there are multiple discussions about certain themes, but to compensate we've gotten a little looser and allowed more speculation and general discussion in the yearly Rumors & Discussion threads.

I'm not sure what subforums within Star Wars you mean either (there are contests and factions), but Star Wars is its own forum because there weren't many other licensed themes at the time that decision was made, and it's held true to today that LEGO Star Wars is simply a massive fandom for AFOLs with lots and lots of activity. Looking at all the MOCs/MODs etc that people make and post here for Star Wars, no other licensed theme remotely comes close.

However as more and more of LEGO's business seems to be focussed on licenses, we're definitely still open to making some structural changes when/if the need arises.

It is sad the amount of mocs posted but when their are they are amazing so just focus on that

[Darth Caedus]

Called my local Lego store to ask if they'd have the Icons on September 2nd. They told me it's delayed for a week or maybe longer, didn't have an ETA - apparently there's container ship gridlock that's messing up global shipping. Not too worried, it'll give me time to catch up on more August stuff that's still out of stock...

[Prometheus87]

55 minutes ago, Darth Caedus said:

Called my local Lego store to ask if they'd have the Icons on September 2nd. They told me it's delayed for a week or maybe longer, didn't have an ETA - apparently there's container ship gridlock that's messing up global shipping. Not too worried, it'll give me time to catch up on more August stuff that's still out of stock...

Read an article yesterday referring to major shipping delays across the board. The article suggests people should prepare early for christmas gifts due to this and stating things could take 4 to 6 weeks. Makes me think this is why it's taken weeks to get the August 1st releases - just got some of them just today. 

[BacktoBricks]

If anybody in the UK still needs to pick up the Great Hall, Argos have it reduced to £60! And there seems to be a good supply of stock in certain areas.