AJB

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is coming out on 16 November 2018. I'd be very surprised if Lego didn't have any plans to release 1 or 2 FB sets in the winter. After all, these new HP/FB sets are driven in large part by the new FB films. Also, what about the Diagon Alley set sold in Slovenia? That strongly indicates that Lego have more sets coming in the near future. So I'm still very confident we'll get 5 new sets in winter.

I think we'll get a Duelling Club set for three reasons: 1) Looking through Book 2, it's one of the most memorable and fun scenes. 2) Lego like to produce fun, smaller sets for kids, with action scenes and play features. It's hard to think of another scene in Book 2 which could be adapted for this purpose. 3) The Duelling Club took place in the Great Hall, and the prototype Great Hall set had a feature with Harry v Draco - but that was taken out. I think Lego took it out so that the Great Hall could be left for display, such as eating a feast. The Duelling Club set could re-use this feature as a standalone set.

Absolutely! I'm actually tempted to buy another copy of the set (without minifigs) so that I can have a couple of carriages on their way to Hogwarts. But for the casual, less obsessed fan, I can totally see why it's not a popular set. Even when the next FB film comes out (which presumably contains a scene with "Grindelwald's Escape") I suspect it will still not sell. Yes, all of that is true. They can just put the Chamber set next to the Great Hall, and no-one will really have a problem with that. This is why I suspect the Chamber will be one of the Winter sets. My only real doubt is that the Basilisk was contained with the Great Hall set (which didn't really make any sense). I think we're getting 5 sets. I guess 2 will be based on the new FB film, leaving 3 HP sets. However, the Diagon Alley mini-set that was spotted in Slovenia may not count towards that total - it's microscale and might be a freebie. So I'm hoping we get 3 other sets. If I had to put money on it, I'd guess Hagrid's Hut (mid-size), Chamber of Secrets (large) and Duelling Club (small). I'd love the first two, and my 5 year old son would love all of them, especially the Duelling Club, so Lego would be hitting on all demographics and releasing at a variety of price points. They can leave the Burrow to be released next year. I'm sure they'll do another Knight Bus set. The Hogwarts Express set creeped into Book 3 with Lupin, Sirius Black poster and Dementors, so maybe the next wave will include sets from Book 3? If so, then the Knight Bus is very likely. Personally, I'd rather if Lego took it slow and kept the focus on Books 1-2 for the next wave, and then turned to Books 3-4 in the Summer. If they focus on 2 books a year, that will keep the line fresh for at least a few years.

That's probably right. Although (again anecdotally) the FB sets haven't been selling as well. Newt's suitcase is good, but the Grindelwald escape one doesn't seem to interest anyone I know (I have one, but I intend to adapt the Thestral for Hogwarts rather than keep it for Grindelwald).

Yes, where I live (London) the sets are insanely popular. The Great Hall and Hogwarts Express sold out at my local Lego shop in a few days (and the Hogwarts Express was out of stock online until recently). According to Lego store staff, the minifigures are the most popular they've ever had. At my Lego group on Monday night, pretty much everyone was raving about the sets and the minifigs. All of this is anecdotal of course, but I think it's pretty safe to assume these sets have been a success. As for this winter's sets, my guesses are: 1) Hagrid's Hut. This is a popular location, and it would fit with Aragog's Lair and the Whomping Willow in providing grounds for Hogwarts. If we're lucky we'll get a new Buckbeak, or (if they focus on the early books) maybe Fang, Fluffy or Norbet. 2) The Chamber of Secrets. Lego are probably still going to focus on the early books, as they don't want to rush through them. This is *the* iconic location from Book 2. My only doubts about this are that (a) we already had a Basilisk in the Great Hall set; and (b) the Chamber would ideally go underneath the Great Hall, but it wouldn't fit there and would ruin the little dock for the boat. I still think this set is likely though, hopefully with Lockhart and Tom Riddle minifigs. 3) The Burrow. This would be a larger set, and could have a lot of crossover appeal - maybe even as a modular. It could come with the Weasley family as minifigs. 4) Diagon Alley. We already know about the small set - available in Slovenia. Hopefully they do a larger one, but I doubt they'd release a small and large set at the same time. 5) Duelling Club. A small set focused on play features, with Harry, Draco and a snake. This would be priced the same as the current Aragog's Lair set. All just guesses, no inside info I'm afraid!