krimimimi

For the love of dog, not the Battle of 7 Potters. I groan almost every time we get a Harry in a set, can you imagine getting seven of them? (And you can't tell me you haven't enough of them lying about to recreate the scene anyway.) Give us a Polybag with Hagrid and his motorbike and baby Harry instead. From PS, I'd like the Troll in the Dungeons (I still can't believe we didn't get one this year, it was such a pivotal moment for the trio), and I'd love a Forbidden Forest set with Fang (and the unicorn... ). The Flying Keys are still missing, as is a small representation of the Chess Battle I no longer expect to see as a set... Given what they made out of the Devil's Snare, however, I don't know that I need or want an official set for it.

Hey now, we were complaining that they hadn't included just such a bit of wall in the DA set, and here we finally have it. I think they've nicely captured bits and bobs from the first several chapters. There's also nothing wrong with targeting a younger audience with some of the sets. This gives kids a lot of opportunities to play for a fairly low investment. We were no different back in the day. Does anyone else remember how rudimentary the old sets were? Gringotts Bank 4714 from 2002, for instance. The AC does an even better job of rendering the vault, actually.

Good point. Were the doors always all the same size? I could swear the 24th used to occasionally be larger. (Like here, St. Nick on the locomotive, Santa on a snowmobile, Santa and fireplace, Santa tree gifts & fireplace, or I remember getting this one, it was well large Santa & sled.)

Any word on if Dudley's pyjama bottoms were printed with a tail? Also, it seems a little odd to have Draco instead of Hagrid given the prominence he had in those early scenes. (I prefer Draco, though.) Love the birthday cake and the Hogwarts Express ticket. All in all, I think they've done a great job of suggesting the various scenes.

Day 1 Purchases: Hogwarts Polyjuice Potion Mistake - ordered a couple (the 25% off helped, as did the 2 for 1 minifigure aspect of the set) Hogsmeade Village Visit - ordered two and am now feeling decadent (but I already have the elf clubhouse and am "growing" my Hogsmeade Village) Hogwarts First Flying Lesson - because CoS isn't happening now, I ordered this one despite the sale price being mediocre. (-10%) Hogwarts Fluffy Encounter - also only because CoS isn't happening now. I found a sale and ordered one (really hoping @Micmac or one of you has ideas for a nice mod of Fluffy, because I'm finding him a little disappointing.) Waiting for sales: Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets - I'll have to wait at least until August to get a sale price, having waited that long, I'm not sure it will be a Day 1 purchase. That might be my Christmas present. Brickheadz - Bellatrix and co. Accessory Pack - whenever I get a good deal I'll order one. Maybe, if I get a good sale: Harry & Hermione Maxifigs - probably (I wish they'd gone for an older Hermione with different hair so you could turn her head) Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix - less likely (he's pretty, but the space...) Brickheadz - Hagrid and the trio - eh. Never: Hogwarts Wizard's Chess

Thanks, @Salix and @THELEGOBATMAN (when I look at what the postage costs from China, I don't understand how it's that high within the EU.) I've ordered it here and it's expected to ship tomorrow. (I'll let you know if they flake.)

Worth noting though that we have high VAT rates compared to the US (in Germany it's 19% tacked on; in the US, adding state and local averages, it ranges anywhere from 0 - 10%), and our VAT is included in the prices where there's is added on at point of sale. Given the existence of those variable local taxes, manufacturers probably couldn't reasonably advertise with the final prices there either. But in order to compare, at 19% VAT you'd have to deduct about 16% of the price to get to our pre-tax price. So using your example, the 140 EUR S@H charges in Germany for the CoS is 117,60 EUR pre-taxes. Still more than the US, but then our store-clerks' wages are higher, too (certainly by the time health insurance, vacation time and sick days are factored in). That needs covering. I don't know if it would help you or @THELEGOBATMAN, but given you're in neighbouring countries, maybe it might... I use brickmerge and geizhals to help track down low lego prices (and then search Smyths and jbspielwaren by hand to compare). Some of the stores ship "ins Ausland" outside of Germany. One store I was just looking at (taschengelddieb) had middling good reductions (about 15%) and free shipping to NL and Poland at the 200 price point, which (unfortunately) was all too easy to reach. (My change purse is suffering... ) CoS, as I've mentioned, doesn't presently seem to be available at a discount in Germany, however, not until August. Along those lines, I'd love to know what price tracking some of you use, as I was hoping not to wait until August. (Always ask a local...)

Thanks, @lego_guyon02

I thought the brickheadz were positioned to be a PWP rather like the 10 EUR 10th anniversary Ninjago ones? Does anyone know?

Thanks, @Salix @THELEGOBATMAN having it available at the lego S@H only made it worse as far as the boards were concerned, because the... accusations? People had claimed lego was reserving the sets for themselves and leaving the shops hung out to dry as they'd already taken orders and told customers they'd be shipping on the first. (Personally I think that depends entirely what was in the contracts, and assume we'll never know.) But the rumour that was how it was being handled (which is apparently correct) was what had given rise to further unpleasantness. If it's a production issue and not available at all, it was deemed easier to stomach, if that makes sense? At any rate, it's curious.

Definitely delayed in Germany. Not even available via Amazon(.de) proper, you have to resort to marketplace dealers, all of whom have a later shipping date and seriously inflated prices, presumably because they're ordering the sets from other countries. (I just checked, they're in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. Only one is in Germany, and they're charging 193 EUR (MRP is 140) and shipping a week after release, so clearly importing from elsewhere.) The regular toy shops (including Smyths) seem to all have August shipping dates now. There are a few electronics stores that sell lego for whatever reasons that still have 01. June listed as the probable shipping date, but also asterisk it that the shipping date is whatever the release date is. Typically they're less informed about their toy inventory and have no issue delaying shipping with little notice if they need to. So I'm going with "most likely delayed here everywhere but at lego.com or from foreign imports." Happy if you lot aren't also facing the same, though. I can enjoy vicariously.

If you mean this part, scroll down to the Wile E. Coyote entry, they have a side shot of the minifig, and I think it'll be too tight a squeeze for Hermione's hair. But! If you look at the Werewolf Drummer, you'll see the piece rotated 180 degrees along the horizontal axis, and if it were facing downwards, it wouldn't be an issue at all, which should work for a cat. The only problem is you'd see a strip of brown across her front. As you can see from the minifigs using the tail, they tend to have a fair amount of the same colour incorporated into the design, which makes that strip blend better. Cat-Hermione doesn't really have that, up to and including her peach-flesh hands. Maybe ordering matching hands would help?

If it helps, it was held on the 19th of March (with Marcos and Fiorella), twice, iirc, and they haven't even posted it amongst their FB video uploads. I'm having a poke around to see if I can find it, but sometimes knowing the date helps narrow things down.

I have my head very firmly in the sand and am pretending that isn't a rumour. (Also, I can't forget the livestream with the designers a few months back and the reaction to the Gringotts question... I live in eternal hope. Oh well, next year at the latest...) Must have missed the one about the AC's cardboard flap though. Thank you.

Legobloxian, old house! Long time no see! (Sufficiently pretended?) All 2021 sets we know about so far (you can click through the links there to see pictures for most of the sets on lego.com) except for two brickheadz sets and a misc witchards minifig Accessory Pack. Other than that, the remaining information we have: there will be an Advent Calendar, a polybag later this summer, and a D2C ($250 USD) all three of which no leakers seem to have seen yet or be able to report on, whichever. The 2021 Harry Potter Advent Calendar apparently contains 274 pieces, will sell for ca. $40 / 30 EUR (variable), and should contain the following minifigs: Harry Potter (in the Diagon Alley (75978) outfit), Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Griphook, and Dudley Dursley in his pyjamas. That's fewer minifigs than the 2019 and 2020 calendars, so... (seven in 2019 if you count the statue (or eight if you count the "snow wizard" as brickset does), six in 2020) We may not know all there is to know on that front yet. (Anniversary minifig perhaps? We've got both Quirrell and Voldemort in golden 20th anniversary editions, but we haven't got a Dumbledore yet.) The rumours we have to date say the AC is supposed to incorporate a board game. (Possibly referencing the chess challenge from Philosopher's Stone? It would tie in nicely with the Encounter with Fluffy (76387) for those of us less keen on an actual chess set (Wizard's Chess 76392).) There are a few rumours floating about for the D2C, but they seem decidedly less concrete, and I believe none yet for the polybag, iirc? Anyone?

Zusammengebaut has updated again: "Das Release-Datum des [besagten Harry Potter Sets 76389 Kammer des Schreckens] hat sich nicht aufgrund der Produktion verzögert. Der 1. Juni ist fast da und somit naht auch der Release dieses Sets." They've heard back from lego, and lego says there has been no delay in the CoS set's release date due to production problems (but weirdly doesn't address the issue wrt some delays that *are* occurring). Smyths, amongst other stores (notably everyone offering the set for less than 139,99 EUR), still has 02. August as a release date. I could maybe see some small shops shit stirring or pushing a weird agenda that's not in their best interests by having a later release date, but not Smyths, so that is definitely strange. I'd really like to know what's going on here; it feels like a pocket of local oddness not happening elsewhere.

Great set, great review. Thanks for doing these reviews, Clone OPatra. This is the set I planned on buying at least two of (by contrast I'm not sure I want the Fluffy set at all). This is a good set for its price, and the minifigs alone justify owning at least two instances. How easy will it be to close the hole in the floor? Is it light grey or blue grey?

Fwiw, the S@H in Germany still has 01. June listed as well, and neither zusammengebaut nor bricksfanatics has updated on the story (two guesses who's been checking today), but I have found a couple more stores here that had the set on pre-order that have now had to change delivery date to August (including Smyths, the TRU successor, which isn't some small shop), but on the other hand Amazon also still lists 02. June, so... This might end up being a question of lego's contracts with different stores, whom they have to deliver to first. (I'm still not buying "cash grab" as an explanation.) ETA: one listed "Verschiebung durch LEGO® auf Street Date 02.08.2021" as the reason for the delay. (Verschiebung durch LEGO = Postponed by Lego) I guess "Street Date" is a thing?

If you want a better quality builds, I think the elf club house 10275 and the gingerbread house 10267 both fit nicely into a Hogsmeade MOC.

Thanks! Great review. I think the trick for me will be to stop trying to see the Great Hall section as the Great Hall (and just use the 2018 version instead), and just treat it as another classroom, and then the small dimensions are less of an issue. With the vaulted ceiling, it would even make a nice DADA classroom complete with hanging skeleton.

But I need to know, which ones are Harry, Ron and Hermione? Yes, an unregistered user (Der Dennis) commented that the issue 1) was global and 2) included the S@H, remains to be seen if it's true. (After last year's king wotsit brouhaha, I've grown more cautious. ) Thursday onwards has been a bank holiday here and in Denmark, so I think they weren't available to comment. The timing when the news broke was unfortunate, I'm sure they'll release something Monday. As to the slight uproar, I agree with you on that score (in particular I imagine it won't be fun for the shop owners having to explain this to the disappointed customers), but the tone was immediately one of 'lego is doing this out of pure greed' etc, which is a ridiculous leap given the facts at hand. A little benefit of the doubt and kinder dispositions really wouldn't go amiss.

"Extremely toxic" no, that's a fair enough characterisation. (Ironically I was trying not to be so negative... ) I don't know if it was ever good, but it's gone very badly wrong in recent months. Yeah, I still read there, but posting...

Hey, I haven't seen anyone here mention this yet, but zusammengebaut is reporting that the 76389 Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets will be a lego S@H exclusive here in Germany and apparently at least in some of continental Europe for the first couple of months (kicking off yet another wave of anti-lego whinging; the German speaking fandom is fairly toxic ) despite being able to preorder it for several weeks now. Current release date in retail stores is the 2. August; the lego S@H still has the 1. June listed. So the chances of picking it up cheaper elsewhere (initially) just tanked. I'd be curious to hear if other areas are seeing this happen as well, or if our aforementioned toxicity is having an effect on prioritisation.

Think number of minifigs for the size of a set. If the set isn't too large, there won't be but so many, and there are characters you 'need' for certain scenes that they'd want or have to include instead. Sometimes they find ways to offer the rest elsewhere. Sort of like how nearly half the duelling scene figs are missing from the CoS set. We get Harry and Lockhart (and even Justin with the snake), but no Snape, no Malfoy. But you can pick the two of them up together and not too expensively by getting the Potions Moments set. Or the Polyjuice Mishap not including Moaning Myrtle, but we got her in the CMF instead.

Thanks, @Clone OPatra