Wizarding World 2023 - Rumors & Discussion

[Frizzlefry25]

I can feel the custom tables being built now to display all of the bank and alley above, while allowing the track beneath!

[mirkwoodspiders]

15 minutes ago, Frizzlefry25 said:

I can feel the custom tables being built now to display all of the bank and alley above, while allowing the track beneath!

Let us know when your design is finalized!  That does sound like a cool idea.

[BrickBob Studpants]

55 minutes ago, PavillionDweller said:

In one of the promo images (the close-up of Griphook with the sword of Gryffindor in the cart parked outside the lower most vault), you can see a goblet piece clipped to the wall so unless there's something not shown the "surprise" would be Hufflepuff's cup (singular).

Maybe there's a turntable inside, with two cups on the other side?  That would explain why the cup is attached to a clip.

I just measured the space above my display cabinet, and it's 72cm  Still undecided whether I'll display the set in its stacked composition with the Ironbelly placed on the underground section, or have the bank next to the mines with the dragon perched on top 

[mirkwoodspiders]

1 hour ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

I just measured the space above my display cabinet, and it's 72cm  Still undecided whether I'll display the set in its stacked composition with the Ironbelly placed on the underground section, or have the bank next to the mines with the dragon perched on top 

That's my only big issue with the set - display-ability. I have nowhere that fits the footprint and height well together. I tend to think I'll do the bank alone with the dragon on top, pulling out the vaults for an impressive party trick from time to time. It's cool, but the vault is just not terribly pleasing to the eye in my opinion.

Also, I have the larger DA set and want to have the bank with that more than anything else.

[Rolyat24]

Might as well share my thoughts since everyone’s talking about it.

Pros:

- The overall shape of the full design works surprisingly well. I was worried it would end up looking more like a Rancor pit scenario with a big gray box sitting below the bank. This is actually sleek and interesting to look at!

- The minifig lineup is top-notch. Probably couldn’t have been better unless they included Bill, which was always a long shot.

- It’s fully compatible with Diagon Alley, which wasn’t guaranteed. I think I need to wait to see pictures of other configurations of the complete Alley, because the official picture doesn’t look great, but I think if you put Gringotts on one of the ends it’ll be much better! 
 

Cons:

- That front entrance sticker is just so bad. The designers should have either printed the lettering or designed a way to have a single sticker. As it is now, it’s really inexcusable in a set of this size/price.

- The mine cart starts at a random floating point in the bottom half. The track probably should have been connected to the inside of the main building in some capacity. 
- If displaying with Diagon Alley, there really isn’t a place to put the lower half of this set. I was originally thinking it could attach to the side or back of the building, but that doesn’t seem like a real option with the way it was designed. 
- When displayed without Diagon Alley, the side builds at street level are awkward and distract from the silhouette of the bank. 
- For a set of this price, it really does feel like it’s lacking a certain “oomph” in building style. Compared to sets like the microscale Hogwarts, UCS Hogwarts Express, or even LotR’s Rivendell, the other sets all look like artwork deserving of a premium price tag, whereas this looks more like a really expensive playset. I guess the same can be said of Diagon Alley, but because of the sheer number of buildings in that set it felt more worth it.

Overall, I’m glad LEGO was able to make something that fully represents Gringotts while still having the option to integrate it with DA, but it does feel like compromises were made in order to do both. I’ll be interested to see reviews and hopefully the build in person sometime at the LEGO Store. 

 

[Scarilian]

I feel for the sake of making it compatable they've sacrificed the scale and accuracy needed to make this desirable. Every aspect feels like it's a weaker version of what we should have gotten. Probably should have been three or four seperate sets.

1 hour ago, Frizzlefry25 said:

I can feel the custom tables being built now to display all of the bank and alley above, while allowing the track beneath!

Honestly, most people would make a massive underground cave system to go beneath all of Diagon Alley along with the secret passages, tunnels and basements that the movie implies.

[karrit]

I'm definitely getting this set.  Not sure if it will be day 1 because if the GWP isn't offered with it for the VIP pre-sale that will be an issue for me.  Not buying it without a GWP even though I'll be cashing in a lot of VIP points.

My nit-picks:

The Gringot  ts Bank sticker.

The super skinny white exterior columns.

Building should have been a little bit taller I think.

No apparent access to the interior of the Magical Menagerie

No Bill (he's becoming the Goat of the Harry Potter theme)

 

I hope they release a designer video soon so we can maybe see a few more details.

[Brick Clicker]

3 hours ago, Surge said:

lego.com says the release date is the 4th, I thought it was the 1st? any chance it ends up having a vip release on the 1st? kinda hard to get to the lego store on a monday and also twice in 4 days lol

Should be the 1st for VIPS :)

[Roebuck]

10 minutes ago, karrit said:

No apparent access to the interior of the Magical Menagerie

I see now that there is a door in the ally to the shop so still hope for some interior, but it is really small so may not fit much inside..

[Dwarfy]

6 hours ago, chris6507 said:

Personally, considering all the other Diagon Alley shops we have are all from the same side of the street i'm going to display mine all in a line with Gringotts on the Left hand end. Makes sense in terms of the layout in the movies, fits on a straight shelf and helps excuse the Magical Menagerie as it'll probably be right on the edge of the shelf and will just look like it's cut off due to the shelf width. Lol.

My only question if anyone knows... What's with the white wall on the right hand side of the set? From all the videos I can see from the movies there is no wall there, it's just another alleyway. That wall is the only thing that's baffling me. In movie stills from Philosophers stone there's an alley with a skybridge further down and some images have shops tucked further back. But nothing with a wall that matches the colour and architecture of Gringotts.

Its the entrance to the locker room at universal 

[Ferder]

6 hours ago, FrkW said:

And I don't love how it looks with the DA in the 'home enviroment' photo, the size bother me less than the akward way it cuts of the street and messes with the lines. 

The box art shows the movie-accurate placement of the set, attached to Olivanders. There's a connection point on its own by the teetering cauldrons (which, by the way is such a quintessential Diagon Alley detail)  which lines up perfectly with the single connection pin on the left side of Olivanders. 

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Ferder

[GoldenNinja3000]

Holy cow, this set is insane! It's everything I wanted from a D2C Gringotts so I'm pretty happy. I definitely agree that the bank could've been bigger, but I think it looks good next to the rest of Diagon Alley and I love that it's actually fully compatible. That's something I wasn't expecting since LEGO doesn't usually advertise full compatibility with a set from three years ago, but it must mean Diagon Alley isn't retiring anytime soon. The way it connects at an angle is really nice although I've got no clue how I'd display that. 

Putting such an extensive cart system below the bank is what really blows me away. It looks like a lot of MOCs and I never thought LEGO would make a Gringotts set in this style, especially considering it's still on a baseplate! It's a very striking display piece. I do wonder if doing two sets would've been better (like Jabba's Palace and the Rancor Pit, but with each being $200), but I don't think too many corners were cut by doing everything in a single set. The dragon looks a little small to me but is a pretty nice build - I love the folding wings and molded head. The Gringotts sticker is the worst part of the set by far and disappointing since it ruins the look a bit, but at least there aren't bigger issues. My only other gripe is that the area under the dome looks basic compared to the detailing on the rest of the building. 

The interior seemed cramped at first glance but looks pretty deep in the 360 video on Shop@Home. I'm waiting for reviews so we can get a better idea of the interior space but it seems cavernous and grand enough despite the building not being huge. My only big complaint about the actual build is that the track system should go right up to the edge of the baseplate. I don't like how it starts in mid-air several inches below the floor. I'm sure the designer tried to bring it higher and maybe the track simply became too delicate at those heights, but I want to try modifying that area. 

The minifigures are perfect. I'm happy to see so many, although we usually get a decent number in large Harry Potter sets anyway. Dress printing for Bellatrix! New face prints for the trio! Plenty of goblins! That Death Eater is amazing! The price seems okay for what you get. The building looks like it would be a $250 set on its own, the dragon would be a $40 set, and $140 for the cart system seems fair given the number of pieces and complexity put into it. I can't wait to get this set. I didn't think I'd love it this much! 

[Dwarfy]

1 hour ago, karrit said:

I'm definitely getting this set.  Not sure if it will be day 1 because if the GWP isn't offered with it for the VIP pre-sale that will be an issue for me.  Not buying it without a GWP even though I'll be cashing in a lot of VIP points.

My nit-picks:

The Gringot  ts Bank sticker.

The super skinny white exterior columns.

Building should have been a little bit taller I think.

No apparent access to the interior of the Magical Menagerie

No Bill (he's becoming the Goat of the Harry Potter theme)

 

I hope they release a designer video soon so we can maybe see a few more details.

The wall pulls away for access

[BrickBob Studpants]

After ogling at all of the pictures for a while, I hereby declare this my favourite set of the year. It has easily surpassed my expectations, and those were really high to begin with. The three year wait was worth it!

It also single-handedly raises HP to my second-favourite theme of the year  It’s still behind Disney 100, but now ahead of LotR

[NostalgicBricks]

33 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

After ogling at all of the pictures for a while, I hereby declare this my favourite set of the year. It has easily surpassed my expectations, and those were really high to begin with. The three year wait was worth it!

Agreed. 

[strangely]

Examining the pictures closely there are some visible objects inside the Magical Menagerie (though I can't really make out what they are. It also seems the back wall of the shop is removable. Hopefully there's a couple surprises inside.

I'm a bit mixed on Gringotts itself. The columns look too skinny, and the dome looks a bit underwhelming. I also really hate that they created steps up into the bank and then back down inside, it kind of feels cheap that they just didn't match the floor to the door on the inside. I do like the interior column and desk designs though. I think with a couple of mods I'll be happier with the build.

I do really like the underground portion. The play feature is perfect and I think the overall build really captures that cavern feeling.

For once I actually feel like they portrayed Hermione perfectly (they usually phone it in with the hairpiece choice). Bellatrix and Ron are perfect. The Goblins look good, though I'm a little disappointed they didn't include a PS version of Griphook.

[Shiva]

3 hours ago, Rolyat24 said:

Cons:

- If displaying with Diagon Alley, there really isn’t a place to put the lower half of this set. I was originally thinking it could attach to the side or back of the building, but that doesn’t seem like a real option with the way it was designed. 
- When displayed without Diagon Alley, the side builds at street level are awkward and distract from the silhouette of the bank. 

Overall, I’m glad LEGO was able to make something that fully represents Gringotts while still having the option to integrate it with DA, but it does feel like compromises were made in order to do both. I’ll be interested to see reviews and hopefully the build in person sometime at the LEGO Store. 

 

A bookcase or glass cabinet, deep and wide enough, with glass shelves, could be perfect for this. Bank on the shelf above the the cave.

There seem to be connection points on the back side of the bank too. Are those if one wants to add to the bank? or will LEGO release something else, that can connect to those?

[Micmac]

11 hours ago, RODDY said:

I wonder if the wall portion on the left of Gringotts is able to connect to Olivanders in the straight line format because that’s the way I would ideally display it and the mine cart would be displayed separately. 

So on second look the pet shop is part of the set so if you want it gone you will need to slightly modify it. Doesn't look hard. I whipped up a picture with the bank at end of street. 

Other nit picks on looking at better pictures:

All the side windows are stickers 

The skinny pillars

The dragon looks like he squished the building, it should be taller.

That gringot ts sign

I would have love a new dome shape for roof with printing.

The steps up and then down into bank. 

That pet shops shows the new scale of design and when you add it to the alley its just too small

The unnecessary underground section.

The top mostly empty room of the bank.

I just don't think most of this set was necessary and the main part, the bank, has really suffered because of it. 

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Micmac

[Surge]

2 hours ago, Micmac said:

The unnecessary underground section.

I just don't think most of this set was necessary and the main part, the bank, has really suffered because of it.

feel the same way

would hjave much rather a more detailed set that was just the bank for like half the price

[Roebuck]

When can we expect reviews to pop up? Maybe we must wait several weeks

[Chris10]

10 hours ago, Micmac said:

So on second look the pet shop is part of the set so if you want it gone you will need to slightly modify it. Doesn't look hard. I whipped up a picture with the bank at end of street. 

 

 

That is a much better way of displaying it in my opinion, thank you for rustling this up! 
 

Keeping it away from the quidditch shop definitely helps with the scale. 

[RODDY]

17 hours ago, Micmac said:

So on second look the pet shop is part of the set so if you want it gone you will need to slightly modify it. Doesn't look hard. I whipped up a picture with the bank at end of street. 

 

Looks as good as I imagined it, thanks for making the edit! 

[karrit]

Don't know why they show it in the middle.  It looks much better at one end the way it's supposed to be.  I may detach Magical Menagerie to make it larger & try to create some shops for the other side of the street.

[steam235]

Looks like Targets exclusive windows for the June sets is ending, my retailer just got Dobby The quidditch Trunk and battle for hogwarts. But they are still unlisted on our website. Nothing is stopping us at POS but I’m guessing they are officially Aug 1 street dates

[Brickity]

I find it odd how they finally gave themselves an opportunity to create a new face for Bellatrix, yet created it based on Mantis. Same for every new face print they’ve made for Hermione. They’re basically new expressions for Carina Smith haha. 

Regarding the build, it’s so beautiful I would purchase it without needing to get Diagon Alley.

Edited July 19, 2023 by Brickity