Retro Brick Reviews

@Guyon2002 after realizing that he's revealed 75% of the August wave:

Um... Because the chess pieces are SEVERAL TIMES TALLER THAN THE TRIO in the movie, i.e. not life-size. You don't do a minifig for a 20 foot tall statue. The height of a statue in a $20 set 20 years ago has absolutely no bearing on how it will be depicted in a super-accurate $250 D2C set. Sure, if the kids were 18 inches tall apiece.

The chess pieces would not work as minifigs, because scale, because accuracy, and because price.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Quirrell, Spirit Voldemort, McGonagall (it is her chess set, after all), and Golden Dumbledore, plus the Knight Horse Rider statues will likely be minifigs as well for scale. That's 11.

Well, the Chess Set is one, Quidditch is two, and 76394 will probably be three. There you go. (Pat, pat.)

76390 is the Advent Calendar, and 76395 is the (non-Moments) Quidditch Class. Advent

@Guyon2002 Wait, so if you can confirm for us that 76392 is a buildable Fawkes and that 76393 is a pair of buildable figures, in addition to around a week ago when you essentially confirmed that 76395 is a Quidditch Class set, at this point is there any reason you can't just reveal the full names? You're already halfway there.

I agree with that, it's just that I literally can't think of a single thing from the first two movies that could make a $40 set that isn't too recent to get again, and didn't want to leave that spot empty.

Considering all of the concrete info and cryptic hints we've received today, here's my new prediction list for August: 76391 ($250) Hogwarts Wizard Chess Challenge (Confirmed) - Will be a large chessboard with brickbuilt pieces. Will have a detachable castle backdrop which will feature the Chamber of Winged Keys and a spot to attach the Forbidden Corridor if you so wish. Will also have an attachment for the mirror room at the far end of the board. Figures include new trio variants, updated Quirrell with centered Voldy face, >themeanestghost!Voldy, McGonagall, figures for the Knight Horserider statues, and Golden Dumbledore. 76392 ($60) Brickbuilt Fawkes (According to FF, Fawkes is specifically not the $120 set, but it was worded in a way to imply that he will be coming elsewhere)- Will be similar to Hedwig, with a wing-flapping feature. Similar to Hedwig's letter, it will come carrying a midi-scale Sorting Hat with sword. The base will be designed to look like the Basilisk's head (i.e. Fawkes is flying out of danger, dynamic pose, etc.) Will include a new Dumbledore variant and flying Fawkes. No golden figure, since it wouldn't be part of the main anniversary line much like how the Hedwig and Monster Book weren't part of the main HP line (different box style and logo). 76393 ($120) - As explained in detail below, I believe this will be a brickbuilt giant minifigure Harry. He would come with a few brickbuilt accessories, such as a wand and broomstick meant to emulate the LEGO pieces. The only figure would be a minifigure Harry to match. No golden figure, for same reasons as Fawkes. 76394 ($40) - This is the only one I don't have any super-solid ideas on, but my best guess is that it could be a new Dumbledore's Office. The build would be a tall (and rather inaccurate) tower, with a small corridor section off to the side. Figures could include Harry, Dumbledore, perched Fawkes (same from CMF), Lucius (same from DA, unfortunately), and Dobby...'s Sock. (I had to.) Oh, and a Golden Snape. 76395 ($30) - Hogwarts Quidditch Class (Soft-Confirmed) (We know one of these sets is Quidditch, and @Guyon2002 had to check his sources for the rumor that the $30 set was a Quidditch Class Moments, which makes me think that it is a $30 Quidditch set, just not Moments). New-style castle module, based on the location of Quidditch Practice from PS, but also including a small tower, which will include McGonagall's office. Not sure what the lower interior could include. Figures (not including the statue) would be the new Hooch, Neville (w/ Remembrall and new face), Harry, and Golden Draco. Again, 76391 is confirmed to be Wizard Chess, 76395 is essentially confirmed to be a Flying Lesson, and one of the remaining three is hinted to be a brickbuilt Fawkes. The rest is all speculation. My apologies to Golden Hagrid. Though he would be the jewel of my collection, I just can't see LEGO making four recolors for a one-off special figure. But that's my list. I think it's a good blend of cool anniversary sets people will incessantly whine about and cool non-minifig-scale brickbuilds people will whine about. Below is my mini-dissertation on why I think 76393 will be a giant brickbuilt Harry minifig.

LEGO 20 years ago is very different to LEGO today.

Thanks for clarifying, even though that should've been ruled out by the fact that that's 3x the price of the Hedwig set.

Shoot, I'd actually thought of that, but just forgotten to type it out. Yeah, that's another figure we could potentially see, since it would only require a new torso and head, and would be a super special figure to get (just as special and cool as Golden Dumbledore imo).

Gotta say, while I understand the disappointment, I'm super stoked for the Chess set. I've wanted a giant LEGO Wizard Chess set ever since I first saw Sorcerer's Stone (how I first saw it) well over a decade ago, but it's something I never thought they'd ever actually make. While I am disappointed by the lack of Gringotts, the difference is that Gringotts was just deferred- even if it's not coming in 2021, there's no way they'd just skip Gringotts entirely, and, judging by Marcos Bessa's attitude on the matter during the recent livestream, it seems as though it's in the works as we type. On the other hand, the Wizard's Chess scene is something LEGO has no obligation to make, and it's something that could have never happened at all. So, with the 20th Anniversary of the film that made me love Harry Potter (my mother didn't let me read the books), I'm so happy that this is what we're getting. For the build, all of the pieces have to be brickbuilt for scale, and I'm really excited to see how they've interpreted them. The only exception is the little statues which ride the Knight horses, which I imagine will be minifigures, both for scale and because the horses need to accommodate a figure so Ron can ride one. As for the potential of other chambers, I think it's fairly likely. The set will probably have some form of backdrop, and I imagine they could have the Chamber of the Winged Keys on the reverse. Also, I imagine the exit door at the far side of the board will lead to the Mirror Room, as some have guessed. Since that already features a wall of fire, I could also see them plopping the potions table in there at the top of the stairs. We'll have already had Fluffy and the Devil's Snare in the Forbidden Corridor set, so that would be every challenge (Except the dead troll, but I somewhat doubt that'll be included). As for minifigures (in addition to the aforementioned Horse Riders), I imagine we'll get new versions of the Golden Trio. I imagine Ron and Hermione will use their same torsos from the Forbidden Corridor (Hermione will have a new print, Ron will reuse Harry's torso from 75953 and 75968), but Harry will have his battle damage. Harry and Ron also need new faces: Harry has a big cut on his face (or, a second big cut, rather, haha), and he'll probably get new expressions (angry frown on one side, "NEVA" shout on the other). Ron needs a face for after he's been knocked unconscious, and his other face could be a determined look. Hermione doesn't require a new face, but I could see her getting one, just so that she's not left out. If that's the case, I could see one side with a teary smile for the "Books and Cleverness" scene, and the other being a puzzling expression for the Potions challenge. For other figures, Quirrell is a near-definite, presumably with a new centered Voldemort face to match the golden variant. His main face could be a more cruel look, which would fit the scene better than his timid face from 2018. McGonagall would be a good pick, since it is her chessboard. And I still think the D2C will include a Golden Dumbledore. Also, while I won't write it here, I think @sebastian666 has made some other great points regarding why this set is so great, and why it will likely sell very well. Overall, super excited for this one, and I think it has the potential to be one of the best LEGO D2Cs, period.

So, the $120 set isn't a minifig-scale set. It's also not quite a brickbuilt creature or bust. It's probably also not a brickbuilt Sword of Gryffindor, since that's not a feasible LEGO set, or a brickbuilt Sorting Hat, since that would look awful. Here's my prediction. So, back in 2001, LEGO did a giveaway at ToysRUs stores where the grand prize was a large brickbuilt statue of a minifigure Harry Potter (image above). My prediction is that the $120 set will be a throwback to this, and will be a modernized brickbuilt version of the 2018 Harry figure. This is something that I could imagine many people finding to be extremely disappointing (though I, personally, would love it). A giant LEGO Harry figure is something kids would love, hence why LEGO would see it as a good thing to produce. This fits the parameters of being a brickbuilt... something that isn't a bust or creature. And $120 is the same price as the LEGO Originals Wooden Minifigure. This is definitely a bit far-fetched, but I'm starting to think it or something of this ilk might be coming.

Ah, my mistake.

Thinking about it, if Tom's pants will be grey, does that mean his (printed) jumper will also be grey? I doubt they'd make the legs a lighter color than the jumper, that'd look really off.

Exactly. Love or hate the builds, it's undeniable that the selection of new figures and molds in these sets easily trump what we've been getting before. We're getting entirely new printsets for existing characters like Hooch, extremely minor characters like the Flumes and Sinistra, new creature molds for Fluffy, Cat Hermione, and the Basilisk... Just compare that to how poor most of the figures have been in 2019 and 2020, and even in some of the 2018 sets, where we couldn't get new prints for characters like Krum, Lavender, Molly, Ginny (CoS or HBP), Bellatrix, etc. Even excluding the golden figs, this is still shaping up to be easily the best wave (excluding CMFs) for Harry Potter minifigs ever, and I for one am very excited. According to mini_legogo, the CoS will include a new variant of Tom Riddle, with the badge on his torso and a grey base color for the legs.

Well, I'm not hearing a "no"...

Oof, not a fan of the metallic gold printing carrying down from the pearl gold turban. That certainly could have been done better.

Nope, because the Dursleys were awful in chapter 1 of book 1, before they'd ever even met Harry. Also, if this were the case, Harry would've had a negative effect on Ron, Hermione, Neville, Hagrid, McGonagall, etc. Not a bad theory in concept, but it just doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Well, the only DH set that would really make sense for McGonagall would be a big Battle of Hogwarts set, so I don't think there would've been that much hoopla over it.

I disagree with this. Firstly, because it was supposed to go EOL prior to the sets last summer, and only stuck around because of great sales. Heck, who's to say that it wouldn't have stuck around until 2022 if they hadn't chosen to put out a new version this year? Secondly, and going on with that, a Great Hall remake was inevitable at some point soon, because LEGO's not going to want the most iconic piece of Hogwarts off-shelves at any point. They could've maybe pushed it off to 2022, but I think that was just our collective blind optimism making few people suspect a 2021 GH remake. So, with a remake, they'd either have to just essentially rerelease the 2018 set with different figures, or do something different. Something like the Anniversary sets. In my opinion, that's why the new Great Hall set is so different, and so much closer to the 2001 sets in vibe and 2010 sets in style, complete with the classic green roofs. It allows them to put out a remake that many people who own the 2018 set will still want to buy, and one that will appeal even more to LEGO's target audience- y'know, the kiddos. In 2022, I'd bet my bottom dollar that they go back to the previous style, because there's no nostalgic feeling to go along with the Battle of Hogwarts, or at least not the same sort of feeling. The 2021 sets, love them or hate them, are near-certainly a one-time deal, and I only expect they'll become the new style if they sell exponentially better than the previous sets, which is unlikely.

Okay, that Quidditch pack selection is rather disappointing. Smith is exciting, but I'd have much preferred to have gotten ANYONE else for Gryffindor and Slytherin. That being said, I think we could potentially see new face prints for a couple of these characters, since Accessory packs usually include 2-3 new prints, and for this we know that none of the torsos would be new. Maybe we could get a Harry face printed with his goggles from PoA? Also, maybe we'll finally get the legs printed with kneepads, since that's a new print they can use on all four figures. Also, not to alarm anyone, but Pawnyeye (a.k.a. KingNoNo's new account) posted this exact figure list for the accessory pack about 3 weeks ago. We know from last year that he's not reliable, but I'm starting to think that he actually does have sources, and just goes back and forth between leaking legit information and trolling.

Well, your comparison point was the first LEGO System Winnie the Pooh set, so it's a fair comparison. Both were $100 sets to introduce/reintroduce a new license. WtP got 5 new molds (7 if you count the new shorter sleeve right and left arms), and the GH got 14. Of course newer HP sets don't include so many new molds, it isn't really necessary in most cases, and they've been very generous with new molds in most cases. Prints, however, are another thing entirely, but most themes are starting to suffer from that.

Yes. I know it's in both the Visual Dictionary and Chararcter Encyclopedia, and I imagine it was mentioned at the time in retail catalogues. Also, there was a LEGO Creator game based on PS, so he also might have been name dropped in there.

Yeah, there's no chance this could ever happen. People seem to forget rather often, but LEGO's main goal is to make money. If they couldn't sell buildable action figures with cool play features in one of their most popular lines with characters that make sense, no designer would even propose they do the same thing with HP, a theme for which most of the above doesn't even apply. Honestly, people here need to stop doomsdaying and assuming that LEGO wants to make sets everyone will hate, because this forum's starting to get to be as toxic as the LEGO Star Wars fandom.