LegoFjotten

Those (mostly) small pieces are nowhere near enough to make a closed back.

Thanks for the review! I pretty much agree with @Roebuck on this one, it looks good, but the nanofigs & interiors aren't that interesting to me - I love minifigures. I think the designer did a great job with the interiors considering the scale, but at the end of the day microscale is more about nice piece usage than interesting techniques. Still, looking at the bigger picture I think this is an outstanding set even if it isn't exactly what I wanted. I understand the decision to make it microscale, and the desire to have a go at nanofig interiors. The fact that it has an open back doesn't bother me at all, closed back would just mean more pieces & higher price, or less of the castle. Personally I would prefer something like the previous Diagon Alley (just double the piece count, add some more minifigs), or my favourite for a large D2C set - the Burrow. I will probably get this set too, but I'm not rushing out to get it. In short: I'm glad they made this set, kudos to the designer - great job, and I hope the next D2C is system scale.

Just saw the alternate face for Luke, love it!

This set is just the kind of playset I was expecting. The key minifigures all looks great; Han, Lando, Luke & Leia - finally a big gaping hole in the minifig lineup will be filled. The set looks pretty good as playsets go, covering a lot of scenes from the movie. I will definitely get it, and it moves straight to the top of my purchase list. The main draw for me is certainly the minifigures though, but I'm sure I will enjoy the build as well. Very happy that they finally made a new Cloud City set. ...and can we not have a useless discussion about UCS vs MBS vs whatever please? If you like it, buy it - if you don't like it, don't buy it.

None of us know if that is the actual set, or that it is going to be a D2C set. It is probably a hint that we will get some parts of Diagon Alley in a set, but we didn't really need a hint for that did we? It is after all one of the more interesting locations, and it's well suited to both a regular set or a D2C. From something like the 79109 Colby City Showdown to something like the previous Diagon Alley set. Naturally I'm hoping for the latter since that is one of my favourite HP sets.

So you guessed right once and now you declare yourself a soothsayer? Don't say things are 100% without anything other than your own predictions to back it up, that's just spreading false rumours IMO.

I prefer not having a hard surface for sorting, less chance of pieces rolling off the table. My desk is black, with a black IKEA mat on top so I can rotate whatever I'm building without scratching the finish on the desk. No problem sorting with a black table, I'd just get whatever table I think looks better in the room.

Room of requirements sounds pretty unlikely at this point, so not convinced by that list. A Chamber of Secrets set could still happen I think. The next wave may not be just from books 3-4, it could include something from 1-2 as well. Hopefully we will get Gilderoy in some set or in a second CMF series, Ginny is sure to appear at some point. A new Diagon Alley D2C would be great, time will show if it is real.

Not too much exciting on that list for OT fans. A Praetorian battle pack would be great though. Juniors sets could be an interesting way to get new figures without having to buy remakes of sets you already have, but it remains to be seen if they have regular figures or "<insert that tiresome argument>" ones. 4 microfighters, 4 juniors sets, 2 battle packs and only 3 regular sets, but that's how the cookie crumbles I guess. No SW constraction figures, is that how it usually goes for the winter wave or have they stopped doing them?

Stickers looks ok to me. They went with a style that fits LEGO Harry Potter IMO, and should you wish to they can just be left out. As for a Hogwart's Castle extension it is just not going to happen, the reasons listed by Roebuck are spot on. Someone is bound to have their go at building the rest though, and it shouldn't be too difficult either continuing with the same techniques that are in the set.

Got around to building this set today, and I think it's pretty good! I like the car and the tree more than I thought I would. The castle sections are somewhat small and the build is basic, but the interiors have a decent amount of stuff in them. Figures are great, a little shame that Hermione is a repeat from 2 other sets, and a character with a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw sweater would have been better than one more Gryffindor student. Filch is awesome, one of my favourites from this wave. Paired with the Great Hall it really is an awesome playset for kids. If I had been a kid when Harry Potter came out and I'd gotten this set I would have loved it for sure!

A huge wave covering all movies makes no sense to me, the sets would just be competing with each other. If LEGO didn't think they would do well, they wouldn't make Harry Potter sets. What they do now is follow their own formulae, 5-6 sets per wave spread across a price range.

New molds are way more expensive than that. At a factory tour I think I heard 500 000 DKK for one of the more complex ones ($75 000). The prices varies based on complexity, size and to which spec it is built. Something that is considered a "one-off" mold (say for example a Chima helmet that they don't plan to use once the theme ends) is not made to last as long as the mold for a regular 2x4 brick. They don't create molds for videos, probably just use 3D models.

Sure you can, most of the customers will be new. Just look how often police & fire sets come out. I think we will get at least 3 waves of Harry Potter sets. Due to the long design/production time of the sets they can't really make one wave, see how it goes, and then design another wave. The design of the 2nd has probably been completed some time already, and the third wave is most likely well underway. Basically, in for a penny in for a pound. Hopefully that will cover most of the movies and give us a really good collection of figures for mocs. I for one am extremely happy with the number of good minifigures we get just in this wave + CMF series, so a few more waves + hopefully a second CMF series would be excellent!

It would be pretty weird if the remaining TRU stores would not carry the promotion I think. If LEGO runs the same promotion that is great, I'm all for good availability for these packs - but until something solid is posted I'm assuming they will be available at TRU too.