klinton

That'x entirely subjective. Myrtle, the twins, Professor Sprout, Kingsley, a non specific Nevile, Griphook, Lily, and James are all absolutely essential characters, imho. I really could have done wihout yet another Luna though. The first one was perfect. She and Bellatrix are really the only characters here who's presence is a waste of space (given that it was inevitable that Harry, Ron, and Hermione would appear).

Hahaha. I think I'm most excited for James and Lily, tbh. James in particular (we'll now finally have all four Marauders!).

They will run an authorization straight away when you place the initial order, eh? If you've not got the funds available right now, the order likely won't go through. I'm sorry, I think I misunderstood your question. I thought you were waiting on an item you'd already previously ordered.

A couple of days before it ships they'll do an authorization. Then they'll finalize the charge after it ships.

I've no interest in any remake of the films, in any format. I'm rather attached to the characters as they appear in the existing films. The films themselves are deeply flawed, but I think the casting was rather inspired. That said, if they did decide to film a post 'Battle of Hogwarts' story, I'd hope for an original story, and certainly not the Cursed Child. I'm fine with never seeing HP on any screen ever again though. I'm enjoying the FB films as they come. That's enough of the 'Wizarding World' on screen, imho.

No, no. I know that. For some reason I was under the impression that they were going to become Lego Store/S@H exclusives though, like prior to this announcement. Perhaps I'm remembering incorrectly. /shrug

It's nice to see that the D2C Hogwarts isn't on that list yet. I'm still up in the air about getting that one (I really only want the founders, tbh), so I can put off pulling that trigger for a bit. As to the other sets, like the Great Hall, Quidditch, and the Womping Willow... aren't they simply being pulled from major retailers and becoming Lego Store exclusives, and not 'retired' completely?

I think the most obvious tell (well, here, anyhow) was the fact that stores here were all but stripped of their Lego stock during the early days of the pandemic, but there were still HS sets to be found. It was kind of eye opening for me (I freaking love this theme!). I was kind of expecting this news after seeing that. :/

It does. Both the bank and WWW have interiors. The shoppes in between are all just façades though.

Ah, I stand corrected. I've only just started reading the Pottermore books this week (I wasn't even award they existed until Saturday, hahaha). The story of McGonagall's life is my favorite so far. Thanks for the correction. :)

It's not. It's on the other side of the wall, on a muggle street. It's no more on Dagon Alley than any of of the shoppes on Nocturne Alley.

Not always. Ninjago City saw an expansion with the docks.

I do hope they make the ice cream shoppe! The bit where Harry spent his summer hanging out on that terrace was a bit of a hilight of PoA for me, reminiscent of bygone days spent haunting busy cafes. While not the most recognizable facade on the street in the public consciousness, it's place in the narrative was rather significant.

With CMFs in particular, I believe it is a necessary evil. The nature of how they're marketed is what allows the budget for the new parts and detailed new prints. If it became common place for the more exotic pieces to show up in regular sets, the market for CMFs would dwindle, taking with it the steady stream of the same new pieces and prints that you're interested in. I suppose that ultimately I don't really care either way? If something exists that I want, I will get it. It's really just children who miss out, but I don't imagine they covet 'rare' parts or minifigs much. I'm not a fan of inflated values attached to toys, but the idea of things like Lego being 'collectibles' rather than just hobby toys isn't going anywhere. The lunacy is firmly embedded in popular culture now.

Nope, on both counts. It's a very specific spell, for which the incantation is "Apparate". It's use and effects clearly described, even in the fims (Ron is injured when the spell is performed in haste while escaping the Ministry). The technicalities of which end of the act they're at don't change the fact that the spell itself is 'Apparate'. The Death Eaters don't appear out of nowhere. They're seen looming in the skies, flying over to the Burow like ominous comets. The same effect is used for Voldermort when he attacks Harry and Hagrid while they're fleeing fleeing Privet Drive, the moment in the book where they realize that he has achived the ability to fly unaided by a broom or other enchanted object. It's distinctly different from the depiction of apparating. :)

Which is fair enough. I wasn't saying people shouldn't use it or anything. I was just expressing an opinion there: that I'm not a fan. I've plowed through the entire series (first the films and then the books) over the past couple of months, so all of the minutæ is fresh in my mind at the moment, hahaha. The films have their merits, the foremost of which is establishing a design language for the characters, vehicles, and places in the HP universe. After having read the books though, I'm really not a fan of them. To each their own though, of course. My main point in that post was simply that the use of the term 'apparate' to describe the effect was incorrect, even allowing for a preference of the films over the books. I apologize for the overly geeky mincing of words there. It was just a little peeve. :)

They're not apparating, the Death Eaters, eh? I don't know why people keep saying that. When someone apparates they dissapear from one place and then reappear in another instantaneously. In the films it looks like swirls of air closing in on itself. You see it several times over the course of the series. Two occasions that come immediately to mind are when Harry and Dumbledor leave for the Horcrux cave in HBP, and when Hermione and he move on after Ron leaves in DH. You see the effect constantly in FB. More appropriate pieces to moc up a character apparating would be the power blast pieces. That the Death Eaters were able to fly about in the films was extreme cinimatic licence. The fact that Volemort alone was able to fly was a significant matter in the books, demonstrating his mastery of the magical arts. It seems a bit ridiculous that suddenly everyone was able to fly about in the films. :p I may be alone here, but I'm not a fan of incorporating the piece into HP sets.

Really? I freaking love that little guy, so more versions of him are always welcome. I like that the one in Privet Drive has a playful expression. Somber Dobby is adorable, but a happy Dobby is better (I only wish that he'd appeared on screen in his Christmas jumper and tea cosy hat, so that we might look forward to a minifig!). I think it'd be a complete travesty to limit him entirely to the CMF line. I'm sure there are kids out there that want him who didn't get him at the time. Even if they reissued the diary, they could keep the sock tile exclusive. Or exclude the scar print on the cover. I suppose it's neither here nor there though, as they didn't include it. Hahaha. What an odd thing to complain about though. It supposed it takes all kinds. /shrug.

I grabbed it this morning. It's pretty typical for those books, with photos of the various sets and minifigs accompanied by little random blurbs about them. It's odd, but the Astronomy Tower isn't featured. The Burrow is, and all of the minifigs from the tower are featured, but not the set itself. I only noticed because that is the set I'm most excited for from the new wave, so I was looking for it. It's pictured only once, in the designer interviews section, with a photo showing all of the catle sets connected. The 'Character Gallery' is really the only functionally useful portion of the book, imho. I still forget whom some of the random students are on occasion, so it's a handy reference. It doesn't include the characters from the accessory pack, oddly enough. Everyone else, up to those included in the 2020 summer sets, is present. The Riddle minifig is quite nice. He only has one face though, but it's an appropriate sneer. He's got a unique Slytherin uniform, wth an unbuttoned vest under his robes. He only comes with a wand (black, for some reason... matching neither Voldemort's white one, nor Harry's brown one that he wielded in the scene in the film). It could have been fun if they'd included the diary that came with Dobby.

It's already been established that the Philosopher's Stone is a red 'diamond' piece though. The reflection in the Mirror of Erised where Quirrel sees himself holding it clearly depicts that piece.

It comes out July 7 here in Canada, so I'd assume the 6 in the US?

I'm really enjoying the subplot with Hermione championing her little House Elf liberation effort. Dobby was far and away my favorite character in the films. Winky's freaking adorable too. I'm curious to see how this all wraps up. This is the first book in the series where I feel the film did it absolutely no justice. There was just so much left out, and I've still got most of the book to go. Right?! Aragog's Lair was a bit of a challenge to find. I was ready to just ignore it and then I actually managed to snag it from La Baie, who happened to have an odd assortment of ancient stock of several small impulse sets on offer. The Great Hall I actually stumbled across at a bookstore just last week when I went in to purchase the map. I was fully stunned to see it there, as it's completely sold out absolutely everywhere, even on their own website, hahaha. It was kind of sweet, when I called Lego CS to cancel my back order on the set, the rep who assisted me apologized for the delays and gave me the VIP points I would have earned had I bought the set from them. Other than that, it's been relatively easy to put together an instant collection, given the circumstances. While it would normally involve a single trip to TRU or the Lego Store, I've managed to piece together most of the line with minimal effort. A local quincaillerie had all but the bus from last year's sets on hand, availabe with curbside pick up. Lego shipped me the Quidditch set and the bus. I actually got an additional Quiditch set through Amazon (free of charge, no less, due to a colossal postal snafu). The Whomping Willow set I got from TRU when it randomly popped back in stock for a few hours. I even got the advent calendar and the 'Build Your Own Adventure' book and set in the same order I placed for the books. I previously had the two FB sets, and most of the CMF series (due largely to my inability to properly 'feel' the packets and a need for all of the FB characters). I am still missing three of the CMF figures and the Bricktober pack. Well, and the train, but I expect that will ship any day now. I'm not too fussed about the D2C Hogwarts. I'm already unsure where all of these HP are going to live. When Lego gets them back in stock, I'll consider it then. :)

It was actually the carriage set that got me into Harry Potter, oddly enough. I've more or less ignored the entire phenomenon all of these years. I'd enjoyed the FB films, but I'd never really paid much attention to the main HP stories. I ducked into the toy aisles looking for interesting sets to build while on a grocery run back in April, and it was one of the sets that ended up in my cart. Then I got curious as to what it was meant to be representing, so I started watching the films. Then I snagged the rest of the first two waves (well, still waiting on a backorder for the train). Then I went ahead ordered the books (I'm currently 1/3 through 'Goblet of Fire'). I've even acquired a replica of the Marauders Map along the way. It's been a very Potter quarantine for me, hahaha. All because the Beauxbaton Carriage caught my eye. :)

Don't get me wrong: I do actually believe that Diagon Alley is a high probability. I'll be a bit surprised myself if it's not. If not as a single large set, then as a modular build with a new shoppe releasing annually. I'm merely tired of reading the same handful of people (in this and other threads) adamantly arguing that X rumor has been 'proven', when all they're doing is referencing common assumption stemming from repeated speculations, without a single substantial point of reference. This bizarre behavior is the primary reason I usually tend to prefer other forums to this one. Facts are completely lost in the din created by these people who can't distinguish between wishful thinking and facts.

Because there is absolutely nothing concrete in this thread verifying that it is. There's a whole lot of speculation, and people reiterating over and over that it's been confirmed... but the only tangible 'evidence' was a single (now removed) shop listing for an unnamed set. That's it. Everything else has merely been people referencing other people's speculations as the gospel truth and compounding simple rumors into 'evidence'.