spiderfan2000

I'd like to have the pictures DM'd. I only briefly got to examine them on Instagram before they got taken down. Thanks in advance!

So let's see here: Korg headpiece (confirmed not to be from CMF, Advent Calendar, or Thor 4 sets) Black Panther tease from LEGO_Fulcrum Avengers Endgame logo used in preliminary placeholder boxart (might not mean anything) I sure hope this is pointing towards Endgame being revisited this year.

I'll probably end up buying all the sets, though Hogsmeade is the definite winner here. I really hope the Forbidden Corridor set has the trio in the casual clothes they were actually wearing in the scene instead of the jumpers the preliminary pictures have them in. To get around the issue of having two Great Halls in my display, I'll probably try putting them back to back. Hopefully they're not too different in height. The new one has the rock base that the 2018 one doesn't have, but the actual castle section of the 2021 version looks shorter than the 2018 version, so maybe it'll balance out enough to work. That's...not reassuring.

I think the biggest shock would be if the sets were Cursed Child or Hogwarts Mystery based. Or if the D2C was something like Azkaban. That would be way more random compared to Gringotts.

It's a shame that WB lost the rights to make future LEGO films, because I really think the originally planned sequel to the LEGO Batman Movie would have been our best opportunity to get more obscure heroes and villains. Unless that somehow gets made, the best option left is to hope for another CMF series.

This is a good point. Even if we don't get exactly what some of us were wanting, the August sets will probably end up being good for whatever they are. There is a plausible chance of getting more remake sets this year, considering that the 2018 sets were apparently expected to have been discontinued last year, considering that in addition to the Great Hall, the Whomping Willow set wasn't expected to still be on shelves when the Privet Drive set came out, but now we have two sets with the Ford Anglia available at the same time. If we don't see more remake sets this year, we are likely to see them next year. Remakes can still have merit if they find ways to change them up the way they seem to be doing with the Great Hall (Sharing only a few common minifigures, including new characters like Sinistra and Justin, basing it on CoS than the mostly SS based 2018 version, incorporating the Chamber of Secrets into the build and addressing the Basilisk that people complained about last time)

I definitely wouldn't be opposed to getting more Fantastic Beasts sets. The the first movie was represented fairly well between the Suitcase set and the 1st CMF series, but all we got from the second movie was the Thestral Carriage from the opening scene, with nothing from the rest of the film. One of my biggest complaints of the CMF 2 series was that it reduced the lineup from 22 to 16 and didn't include any Crimes of Grindelwald characters, so hopefully they catch up with that movie a bit next year.

I'm wondering if we're just going to get a bunch of remakes with minimal DH content in August. That could easily be viewed as underwheming Being only half-serious with my speculating, maybe we'll end up with something like: $29.99 The Forest Tent (with no doe) $39.99 Quidditch Match...again (maybe based off POA so LEGO has an excuse to include Quidditch Cedric) $59.99 Hagrid's Hut...again (First two movies design) $119.99 Undersized Gringotts with underwheming dragon (reusing the same Thunderbird/Occamy/Horntail head) $249.99 Motorized Hogwarts Express I feel like that would be a lineup that would disappoint people on here.

This is essentially my position on the idea of the Hogwarts Express being a D2C. I definitely wouldn't be as excited for that as I would be for a Gringotts/DA expansion. The only way I'd be hyped on the minifigure selection would be if they based it off the 19 Years Later Epilogue, but I feel like that would be quite unlikely to happen.

Yeah, I really don't think the Harry Potter theme will be discontinued anytime soon. I'd be surprised if they stop making sets before the Fantastic Beasts series is concluded anyways. If other media such as Hogwarts Legacy or the HBO Max series is successful and long-lasting enough, LEGO might be encouraged to continue making new sets for a very long time.

I agree that the Transfiguration set is probably the best one to go with. All the sets have solid builds, but McGonagall is the clear standout minifigure of the wave.

That version of Harry is prominent enough in the first movie that it would have seemed weird if it stayed exclusive to a $400 set. I'm assuming that the Harry and SS Griphook from the Advent Calendar are meant to be used with the constantly-speculated Gringotts set (which seems more likely to include DH minifigures instead of SS versions). If the Ron and Hermione in the Advent Calendar are from the Hogwarts Express scene from the first movie, that would be an additional reason to reuse that Harry to go with them.

I personally have no problem getting very minor characters as minifigures. I think they fit well with the sets LEGO includes them in, and complement the increased attention to detail that has been demonstrated with this theme since the 2018 relaunch started. There should be plenty of opportunities in the future to get more prominent characters/variants, as all signs point towards this theme lasting for years to come. LEGO clearly has a great deal of faith in the license, considering the sheer number of sets, CMF series, D2Cs, and even advent calendars we've gotten since 2018. If LEGO is releasing all these obscure characters now, then they are practically guaranteed to eventually release more notable characters later on, unless the theme somehow starts doing poorly and gets cut short (which seems rather unlikely). Spacing out desirable characters/variants should also help demand for sets in the long-term more efficiently than the front-loaded approach of releasing every wanted minifigure immediately would provide. LEGO is clearly playing the long game with this relaunch, and this gives them the opportunity to be far more thorough with included characters and details than ever before. The only downside is having to wait, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

Hopefully the diary in the set will at least fix the inaccuracy the last CMF version had with Tom Riddle's name being put on the wrong side.

The Stonewars article states that The Three Broomsticks will not be "in its full width". I wonder how much of the building will actually be present in the set.

Either that and/or we get an updated version of the House Cup awarding outfit that we got in the previous Great Hall set, but with a skirt piece this time

I sure hope that's true. That would make it even more likely that this new basilisk will combine the best elements of the previous versions to be something really amazing.

I'm fully expecting to see the locket and the cup appear this year, though I'm less certain on the diadem, unless they make another Room of Requirement set. With it's very limited screentime, the ring would probably have to show up in a future CMF, as there were not any set-worthy scenes with it that I recall.

My current prediction is that the Advent Calendar versions of Ron and Hermione will be based on the Hogwarts Express scene from the Sorcerer's Stone. It would fit with the variant of Harry that's being included. For the remaining unidentified sets, I'm thinking that three will be from Deathly Hallows Part 1, and two will be based on Part 2. For Part 1, the Tent, possibly with a small lake build, would be fun to get at the $29.99, especially if it includes the doe patronus. Alternatively, the motorbike chase would have good play value as a set, provide a chance at getting a post-GoF masked Death Eater, and would be an easy way to include Hagrid and (non-gold) Voldemort this year, neither of whom have been in a non-D2C set since 2019. The Ministry of Magic would be a fun medium set at $59.99 that could feature a good variety of characters, and it's a prominent location that's never been done before. Alternatively, the Wedding Tent would go well with the Burrow we just got, and would feature unique minifigures. I believe that Malfoy Manor has a good chance of being the $119.99 set, and again could feature plenty of new minifigures. For Part 2, because we're already getting a big Hogwarts Castle this year in the anniversary line, I'm not expecting a large Battle of Hogwarts build. I'm predicting/hoping that we get some sort of army builder-esque set at the $39.99 price point with the essentials for filling out armies to compliment the existing Hogwarts builds (Knight statues, Death Eaters, brick-built giant, perhaps an Acromantula),with perhaps a modular castle wall or something. I suspect that Gringotts will be the $249.99 set, as I would be shocked if it wasn't released this year, and that price point would probably do it the most justice. Perhaps they could even throw in an extra shop. It'll definitely be interesting to see what they go with for the rest of the sets for the year. At this point, the theme looks to have a very promising future.

It definitely is a bit odd that Percy hasn't appeared yet. I was hoping he would be included in Diagon Alley, but that didn't happen. With how many far more obscure characters we've gotten, I expect to see Percy get a minifigure sooner than later. I'm assuming that they're just going back to Philosopher's Stone to go with the 20th anniversary subtheme for the year. Presumably we'll get a Burrow/Grimmauld Place/Slug Club AC for 2022. I doubt the Hogsmeade set this year will be the only one they put out for the theme. I suspect they'll release more locations within it over time. The Hog's Head and the Shrieking Shack are both prominent enough to warrant getting their own individual sets later on. If we get a new Hogwarts Express in the next year or two (which seems likely considering we're already getting a new Great Hall), they could make it different by including Hogsmeade Station instead of King's Cross.

All the new information on the anniversary line makes it a little easier to narrow down speculation on the rest of the sets for the year, which I'm going to assume are all Deathly Hallows themed. The fact that we're getting a whopping three Hogwarts Castle-based sets in the anniversary line makes me think there won't be a substantial Battle of Hogwarts-themed build this year. At least, I can't really picture the unknown $119.99 set being a Hogwarts set when the $129.99 is also confirmed to a Hogwarts set. I could see one of the smaller sets being a army-builder type set to compliment the larger builds we're already getting. I currently think there's a better chance of the $119.99 set being Malfoy Manor. With Hogsmeade now confirmed as being a $79.99 set, Gringotts as the $249.99 set seems more likely.

I wonder how many straight up repeat minifigures will be included in the anniversary wave. It sounds like Advent Calendar Harry and Nearly Headless Nick at least will be unchanged repeats, and I'm assuming that Harry and Tom Riddle from the Castle could also be repeats. Everything else is either new or has decent potential to be new in some way.

Either that or Pearlmione Goldger.

How about Rongold Weasley?

Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) is easily the most prominent character from the game who was left out of the 2020 sets, and I'm not sure why she wasn't included.