Wizarding World 2023 - Rumors & Discussion

[chris6507]

2 hours ago, NostalgicBricks said:

There are lots of great ideas and thoughts in this thread. We're all just passionate about this theme. 

As a way to give us something to occupy ourselves with in this thread, and to give us something constructive and positive to do, what do people hope to see in the summer wave next year? What sets and characters are we all hoping for? 

If I had to have one pick it would be Bill and Fleur's wedding. I'd imagine the wedding tent done in a similiar style to Avatar's Metkyana Reef set (however it's spelt) with minifigures of Bill, Fleur, Trio, Luna and Xenophilius.

If I had a second (more unrealistic choice) it would be a Bourgin and Burke's set to connect to the back of the Diagon Alley Weasley Wizard Wheezes. I could imagine this one with Lucius, Draco, Narcissa, Hagrid and Harry.

For a smaller set I wouldn't mind as people have suggested before a camping set from Deathly Hallows with the trio and Doe patronus.

Personally though, after Gringott's and Rita Skeeter this year I am feeling actually pretty satisfied with my LEGO Harry Potter collection. I do have some past regrets such as buying the whole modular castle and the book playsets as I really, really don't like them. At least I wisened up with the Hogwarts banners.

Getting really over Hogwarts castle at the minute. I would love in general to see a wave without any castle scenes and a whole bunch of random other sets. And please keep up the gimmicks such as buildable creatures, micro scale Hogwarts and such so I can keep saving a bit of money! :-D

[brickbride]

4 hours ago, NostalgicBricks said:

As a way to give us something to occupy ourselves with in this thread, and to give us something constructive and positive to do, what do people hope to see in the summer wave next year? What sets and characters are we all hoping for? 

Affordable (around EUR 15) sets with minifigs (don't even care which ones, just not buildable objects without any) that don't contain fricking cars.

[BrickBob Studpants]

7 hours ago, NostalgicBricks said:

[…] what do people hope to see in the summer wave next year? What sets and characters are we all hoping for? 

• Sets: Durmstrang ship, troll on the loose, third task, Lovegood house
• Minifigs: BoH Ron, Xenophilius Lovegood, Narcissa Malfoy, Bill Weasley, other variants of Lockhart with the BTS hairpiece, Karkaroff

The list gets shorter and shorter, but there are still some notable gaps I hope we can at least partialy fill next summer

[BacktoBricks]

@NostalgicBricks The Durmstrang Ship and Borgin and Burkes are the sets I would really like and feel notably absent from this reboot to me, whilst I would like minifigures of Karkaroff and Narcissa Malfoy primarily. The Second Task set this year gave me the merperson minifigure I always wanted and with the new Rita the theme is starting to feel pretty well covered. I wouldn't mind a small set with a Quirrell this summer though as he hadn't been on shelves for a while.

[TheInvisibleMan]

Well, Lego just confirmed my order is on its way! They also confirmed that the HE was out of stock have reimbursed me for it. The good news is they are still sending both the gifts with purchase even though my order is now only €40! 

[Seaber]

I picked a set for each film in like to see in the summer wave - for each film there is at least one other set I'd love to see. 

 

PS: The Chamber of Winged Keys

CS: The Duelling Club

POA: The Leaky Cauldron 

GOF: The Durmstang Ship

OOTP: The Ministry Battle

HBP: The Inferi Cave

DHI: The Wedding Tent

DHII: The Boathouse

[MaxHeadroom]

16 hours ago, mark1991t said:

The outfits they weir in their escape from 4 Privet Drive are different from the outfits we got in both the Whomping Willow and 4 Privet Drive sets.

Do we NEED them though? I know people are desperate for new figures but are these worth the budget for new prints/worth the effort for collectors to track down? We’ve already got two different pairs of casual Harry and Ron from COS and both were in multiple sets over the years and still on the market just a year ago (2018 HE, 2020 Privet Drive). They escape outfits are not really the most iconic outfits either. Not sure I’ve ever seen them featured merchandise before. Outside of minifigures I’m sure that budget could go towards more useful prints instead of stickers either in the flying car set or elsewhere in the wave. 

[BrickBob Studpants]

16 hours ago, mark1991t said:

The outfits they weir in their escape from 4 Privet Drive are different from the outfits we got in both the Whomping Willow and 4 Privet Drive sets.  The same goes with Hagrids Hut. If it will accurately represent Norbert(a)s birth scene, then the trio ánd Hagrid should feature new and exclusive outfits. Even McGonnagal could weir an exclusive outfit, in the boathouse-set, if they go by her outside dress from mostly Philosophers Stone and Chamber of Secrets.

Huh, I haven‘t realised those outfits were different! Since we most likely don‘t get any new characters in this wave, these exclusive variants are the least they can do

[Seaber]

1 hour ago, MaxHeadroom said:

Do we NEED them though? 

I say yes for two reasons - one cause I want as many variants as possible and the casual clothes the pair wear from the journey to Hogwarts are already too prevalent (3 sets each, plus Ron's torso was reused for Tiny Tim). There are old two confirmed new molds for the March wave so I imagine a fair slice of the budget will go on prints. 

The second is that there may be a 'UCS' Burrow on the way - I think there is quite a good chance it will be based on its debut in CoS. Harry and Ron wear the same outfits in that set and so that would free up print budget from that set for new molds and prints. 

[BrickBob Studpants]

1 hour ago, MaxHeadroom said:

Do we NEED them though? I know people are desperate for new figures but are these worth the budget for new prints/worth the effort for collectors to track down? 

Well, what else are they going to spend their budget on this wave?  Besides Fang and Norbert, that is. And maybe some other creatures in that forbidden forest set, but I have a feeling they‘ll mostly be brickbuilt à la Newt‘s suitcase.

I‘ll take insignificant variants over repeats any day!

Edited September 12, 2023 by BrickBob Studpants

[mark1991t]

6 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

• Sets: Durmstrang ship, troll on the loose, third task, Lovegood house
• Minifigs: BoH Ron, Xenophilius Lovegood, Narcissa Malfoy, Bill Weasley, other variants of Lockhart with the BTS hairpiece, Karkaroff

The list gets shorter and shorter, but there are still some notable gaps I hope we can at least partialy fill next summer

I want to add Umbridge office at Hogwarts to this list and then I'm good.

 

2 hours ago, MaxHeadroom said:

Do we NEED them though? 

I go with the answers from BrickBob Studpants and Seaber. For Harry, Ron and Hermione in particulier I want every possible variant, especially now with the decreasing possibility of new characters in sets, from whom there are around 60 left. 

[BrickBob Studpants]

35 minutes ago, mark1991t said:

[…] decreasing possibility of new characters in sets, from whom there are around 60 left. 

60?! Are you counting every single random background student and Death Eater?

In terms of actually important characters, it‘s closer to twenty or so.

[Seaber]

44 by my count, although since we got the Owl Post Shop Employee this number could go higher. 

PS (9): Alicia Spinnet, Tom, Dedalus Diggle, Doris Crockford, King's Cross Guard, Prof Vector, Bloody Baron, Fat Friar, Augusta Longbottom

CoS (5): Millicent Bulstrode, Mr and Mrs Mason, Ernie MacMillain, Penelope Clearwater

PoA (1): Aunt Marge

GoF (6): Roger Davies, Barry Crouch sr, Prof Karkaroff, Amos Diggory, Frank Bruce, Eloise Midgen

OotP(6): Mrs Figg, Zacharias Smith, Madam Bones, John Dawlish, Antonin Dolohov, Prof Grubbly-Plank

HBP (8): Narcissa Malfoy, Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow, Thorfinn Rowle, Leanne, Katie Bell, Cormac McLaggen, Marcus Belby

DH (9): Charity Burbage, Bill Weasley, Mundungus Fletcher, Elphius Doge, Rufus Scrimgeour, Xenophilius Lovegood, Aunt Muriel, Bathilda Bagshot, Dirk Cresswell

[mark1991t]

36 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

60?! Are you counting every single random background student and Death Eater?

In terms of actually important characters, it‘s closer to twenty or so.

I count as LEGO themselves count. As they included even Florian Fortescue or Proffessor Sinistra I have added known non-speaking characters as well. I've separated them though:

 

[Accio Lego]

6 hours ago, mark1991t said:

I count as LEGO themselves count. As they included even Florian Fortescue or Proffessor Sinistra I have added known non-speaking characters as well. I've separated them though:

 

Madam Pince was also a non speaking character in the movies, and we got a lovely rendition of her as well.

Let’s not forget Lucian Bole from the 2018 Quidditch set - an unnamed Slytherin player in the movie who lego dug through the books to find an appropriate name for. 
 

Actually, Professor Sinestra is essentially the same as well. The actress who plays ‘her’ in the movies was actually an unnamed extra in the background. Lego just thought she looked cool, so when they wanted to add some canon Professors to Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 they used that appearance for her. Presumably the fandom at large agreed that the character design was fun and distinctive, so they adopted it as well. Eventually Hogwarts Mystery came out and they used that appearance for Sinestra as well, and actually got lines and was shown teaching for the first time. And then viola, a lego Minifigure that most of us recognize. 

[Clone OPatra]

Well I for one am curious to see all of these sets, and curious as to how the year will play out, if they'll go for a full second wave with bigger sets, or just randomly release a few more later in the year.

I skipped the previous Hagrid's But, though it looked great, because I just don't have space to display it and wasn't desperate for one. I like that PoA+ hut design better than the PS/CoS one, but I'm sure they can do a good job of it. What's included sounds promising, and I do hope we get a different Hagrid print to match the scene. If we do, that could push it over the line for me, rather than trying to BL Fang.

The magical creatures set also sounds interesting and I look forward to seeing what's included.

As for the others, I'm unlikely to want them, but I like to see LEGO doing different locations in Hogwarts, and a small Ford Anglia set is a good idea in my opinion.

[Vindicare]

The more I look at Gringotts perched atop the vaults, I’m starting to come around to it. I won’t ever love it, but I’m fine with it. Even still, it’s (sort of) a $200 waste & it’s just going to sit in the corner without a purpose. 

[BrickBob Studpants]

How would you rank the 1HY wave in terms of how much you‘re looking forward to them?

My ranking goes as follows:

7) Sorting Hat. The sound brick sounds intriguing, but it doesn‘t have much going for it other than that. I thought unicoloured builds were SW‘s thing!

6) Flying Ford. As I‘ve said before, it‘s basically just a regular car. New variants of Harry and Ron would be cool, but I‘m not holding my breath.

5) Hedwig. I‘m expecting something cute along the lines of the Bruni figure from Frozen II, but it still ranks pretty low since we already had a few buildable Hedwigs.

4) Boat house. Interesting location, not so interesting minifigs. McGonagall‘s „outside outfit“ would be neat, but not scene-accurate, so I‘m instead expecting the same minifig as before. The two unknown students are either complete randos or named characters that don‘t have any new parts

3) Owlery. Nothing to write home about minifig-wise, but this should come with plenty of owls, so that‘s cool 

2) Forbidden forest. Again, boring minifigs, but I like the sound of an animal battlepack of sorts  Fingers crossed they‘re not all brickbuilt, otherwise this set will drop HARD in my ranking. Well, Aragog would have to be brickbuilt, if he‘s included. But no other brickbuilt creatures please

1) Hagrid‘s Hut. Clearly the most exciting set of the bunch. I distinctly remember being very disappointed in early 2011 when it turned out the Forbidden Forest set that year was not going to include Fang, so it‘s great to finally get him after all those years  Fingers crossed for a new Hagrid variant too

[BrickMatit]

2 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

How would you rank the 1HY wave in terms of how much you‘re looking forward to them?

My list is not so different from yours.

7) Sorting Hat
I'm not interest in set meant only to be exposed or similar, so Sorting Hat is my least favorite set of the wave. 
While I saw some people commenting positively, imagining that other sets from that famous survey will come in future, I don't think that the fact Sorting Hat is being produced strongly affectes in some way the others.
Of course, I'm ready to be surprised with a Medieval Village remake and The Burrow, but at the moment I keep my expectation very low.

6) Privet Drive Sign with Hedwig
Same considerations as the former point, but with a plus: this set could be a good gift in the future for my sister. So I'll probably end up buying it.

5) Flying Ford Anglia
Already having three Ford Anglia (2001, 2018 and 2020) I'm not so interest in this set, but I've read too much negative comments on it.

[General thoughts you can skip ON]
Of course, people that collect (nearly) everything about LEGO Harry Potter since 2018, like me, would had prefer something else. But it's not the end of the world. It seems to me that Harry Potter is a good selling theme for LEGO and I don't see them putting an end to it. In a long term, remakes are unavoidable and some sets will be nearly always be remade in some shape (Great Hall, Hagrid's Hut, Hogwarts Express...). Untill now, in my opinion, LEGO has managed to produced interesting sets, even some remakes, and I hope they will continue on this path.
[General thoughts you can skip off OFF]

My thought on this set:
- It's a low price set and, in my opinion, it's a good thing. Not everything with a LEGO mark on it has to stay behind an high price barrier.
- Kids (at least me as a kid) and some adults too have enough fantasy to play and be satisfied with this set. Ford Anglia is a car, obviously, but for a Harry Potter fan is not just a car, but a funny and important lore element in Chamber of Secrets.
- Ford Anglia could be easily paired as a set (and as a gift) with Hogwarts Express, Hagrid's Hut and an hypotetical The Burrow set too.
- LEGO could put in it a specific outfit variants for Harry and Ron and these could be reused in the hypotetical The Burrow set too.

Probably I won't buy it for me, but maybe as a gift.

4 & 3) Owlery and Boat House/Arrival at Hogwarts are interesting choiches but self-explaning enough :)
Boat House matches well with Philosopher Stone flavour we can taste in summer 2023 and march 2024 (Hogwarts Express, Hagrid's Hut, Sorting Hat, Privet Drive Sign with Hedwig, partially even Gringotts) and, in general, first three years at Hogwarts (Flying Ford Anglia, Dobby, Expecto Patronum, Forbidden Forest). Minifigures won't be so interesting, but I'd like to see the general appeareance of the set.
As for the Owlery, I expect a bunch of owl in different colour and shape. I remember only the Cho & Harry scene located in there in the 4th movie. Nice they put Filch, taken from the 5th book scene with Cho & Harry.

2) Forbidden Forest: Magical Creatures is really intriguing. The reference should be the Care of Magical Creatures lesson from Prisoner of Azkaban. I didn't buy Sirius Escape set with the Buckbeak variant (the only regular set I missed since 2018) and likely that variant will be in this new set. 
I can't wait to see this set. Will they put a different colour hippogriff with Buckbeak (I don't remember whatt colour is in the 3 book the creature Ron and Hermione work with)? Or the leakers know only that there will be a hippogrif and assume it's Buckbeak? I really don't know what to expectate... exciting.

1) Hagrids Hut should be the main dish and I strongly hope so. There's so much for me in this set!
A lot of good memories... Hagrid's Hut was my first Harry Potter set: a Christmas gift for me, my sister and little brother with Hogwarts Express and Final Challenge in 2001. In last two years I bought on Bricklink all sets that I had missed in 2001 and 2002 (and there were a lot), but a special link with my first sets is always here!
And, finally, Fang! I've expect it since 2001. And Norbert!
Having a new Hagrid variant would be cool (in that scene he wears an apron) as well as trio outfits variants.

Edited September 13, 2023 by BrickMatit

[FrkW]

Heard somewhere else that Diagon Alley is ment to retire next year, anyone know if there is any substance to the rumor? It has been out quite a while.

Guess I'll have to pull the trigger soon, but it's so expensive... 

[BacktoBricks]

2 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

How would you rank the 1HY wave in terms of how much you‘re looking forward to them?

7) Sorting Hat - I can see the designers doing a good job with the source material and it looking half decent, but this is a novelty set for me and I have no interest in buying or displaying such as set or paying a premium for the sound brick.

6) Hedwig - I have nothing against our feathery heroine, but we've had enough iterations already for a while. Again, sure it will look fine and appeal as desk decoration for some, but just not one for me.

5) Boathouse - As I don't collect the new castle modules anymore to combine I highly doubt I will care for the build presuming it will be rather plain as with the other modules. If we get some new students that would be great, but I'm expecting a repeat McGonagall and students made up of previously released school robes and parts so potentially nothing of value here for me. Which I fine with in some ways as it lowers the wave budget!

4) Owlery - As with the boathouse I can't see the build being of interest, but I'm hoping we will at least get new Cho and Harry prints. If it also gives us a HP variant of the new tiny owl that would be great.

3) Ford Anglia - this one is kind of tied with the Owlery as a set with potentially a couple of new characters variants, but it just beats is as it will be significantly cheaper. If I ever thought about downsizing my collection the vehicles like the Ford Anglia and Knight Bus would probably also be the last thing to go besides minifigures because they are such little builds for display purposes. The car will also always give me nostalgic Chamber of Secrets book cover vibes. As a kid the vehicles were also the parts of the set I gravitated towards purely because of their manoeuvrability so I can see this being a good buy for kids. It will be nice to have a other small set on shelves.

2) I'm guessing this is based on the Care of Magical Creatures scene in the forest from Prisoner of Azkaban and I'd love to get the scruffy white shirt variant of Ron. Potential new minifigures aside, I'm hoping this will be a good creature pack regardless.

1) You just can't beat a good displayable location playset and I can't see how we won't get at least new variants of the trio not to mention Norbert(a) and Fang. Add in the potential for Hagrid with his pinny (please Lego!) and you couldn't really ask for more from a Philosopher's Stone Hagrid's Hut other than the build is a good display piece and I can't see the designers letting us down in that respect. 

[TheInvisibleMan]

I’m interested to know why people are so excited about Hagrid’s hut? The previous iteration was absolutely great and I don’t think a remake was needed. Obviously Fang and Norbert are a draw, but is this the only reason people are keen for this?

[brickbride]

I think it is mainly because we haven't had one for so long, to be honest. The modular Hogwarts plus the banners, trunks, and Moments books covered most other Hogwarts locations (poorly, in some cases) but not that one.

Also we've somehow come to the point where an actual playset consisting of a recognisable location (not: half a tree means the Forbidden Forest) is the exception, not the norm.

[mark1991t]

38 minutes ago, TheInvisibleMan said:

I’m interested to know why people are so excited about Hagrid’s hut? The previous iteration was absolutely great and I don’t think a remake was needed. Obviously Fang and Norbert are a draw, but is this the only reason people are keen for this?

The previous iteration was based on the hut from Prisoner of Azkaban onwards, while the new one should be based on the one from the first 2 movies, which basically was a different hut.

[BrickMatit]

58 minutes ago, TheInvisibleMan said:

I’m interested to know why people are so excited about Hagrid’s hut? The previous iteration was absolutely great and I don’t think a remake was needed. Obviously Fang and Norbert are a draw, but is this the only reason people are keen for this?

In general, not all current Harry Potter LEGO fans, both kids or adult, was necessarily fan when the former Hagrid's Hut was on sale. And the former set retired in 2021. Supposing Harry Potter is an evergreen theme, it's unavoidable have remakes. And Hagrid and his hut are, in my opinion, iconic enough to be proposed again.

LEGO until now have done a good job, in my opinion, in covering the theme, and with no pure remakes (same location with same scene and carachters depicted). In any case, for the future, LEGO can't simply work only for people who are into the theme since 2018. I think that we could see not so far from today a new Great Hall (just a guess, not a leak  )

Secondly, and I know it can seen as like as splitting hair, the new hut should be the Philosopher Stone building (and Chamber of Secrets) and it's not the same as the Prisoner of Azkaban one.

The scene depicted may not be considered mind-blowing, but it will have Fang (never done before) and Norbert (last appearance in 2010). Who knows, maybe LEGO will give us also new outfits variants for Hagrid, Harry, Ron and Hermione. And Fang has not so many places in which it could appears apart Hagrid's Hut and Forbidden Forest scenes (maybe in future we may see Fang again in a Aragog's Lair set, but it would be another remake, or Forbidden Forest Detention set).

Personal considerations: Hagrid's hut was my first Harry Potter set in 2001 and I played a lot with my sister and brother. Hagrid, furthermore, is one of my favourite carachters in the books and movies and his hut one of my favourite locations. I appreciate the fact that other fans can have their Hagrid's Hut. This set give me positive vibes. Of course, the fact of buying it or not will depends on the final result.

In the end, it all depends on how everyone approach the theme, what one looks for in a set and so on. These are just my two cents