Retro Brick Reviews

I completely disagree. Just looking at the design of the building, there's no way they could do it at anything under two floors, and even then it would be rather squished. I'm expecting three floors, and that it will be the largest building in the set (counting Gringotts, as I see that as having much less space for interior, as it would just be the entrance hall rather than WWW needing space for all the merch).

If we count both releases of the Taj Mahal as one set, Diagon Alley would be the 4th-largest set ever released, behind the 2017 UCS Millenium Falcon (7,541), 2018 Hogwarts Castle (6,020), and of course the Taj Mahal (5,922, plus a brick separator in the re-release). That being said, it would quickly be knocked down to fifth place by the Roman Coliseum, which is rumoured to include over 9,000 pieces! Still, HP having two of the five largest sets would be pretty amazing.

On the topic of minifigure count, I think it's important to note that this set will have a direct competitor in terms of licensed D2C minifigure-scale display models in this price range releasing this fall- the upcoming Mos Eisley set from Star Wars. Judging by other recent D2C SW playsets, it can be predicted that that set will include somewhere in the ballpark of 16-20 minifigures. Since this set releases only one month after DA for a similar price, I think that this range is also about what could be expected from DA (If not more, as DA is more expensive and comes from a theme that is traditionally far more generous with minifigures than SW). That being said, here's my predictions: 1. Harry Potter (PS, Leaked) 2. Ron Weasley (CoS, 75964) 3. Hermione Granger (CoS, new torso) 4. Rubeus Hagrid (75954) 5. Mr. Ollivander (40289, but with a more fitting hairpiece) 6 & 7. Gringotts Goblins x2 (PS [I think Gringotts is coming, as some of the stickers on sheet A would fit better with it that Ollivander's or Scribbulus imo, and I don't think Griphook would've been in s2 if LEGO didn't have plans for that hair/ear piece. Obviously, if Gringotts isn't included, these two can be omitted]) 8. Either Rita Skeeter or the CoS Photographer [I think we'll definitely get one figure to go with the DP offices, but I doubt we'll get multiple figures from the paper.] 9. Angelina Johnson [I think she'd be the best choice to go with QQS] (torso from 75956, face from 75293) 10. Lucius Malfoy (CoS) 11. Draco Malfoy (CoS, face from 75954, torso from 75969) 12. Ginny Weasley (CoS, new face & torso) 13. Gilderoy Lockhart (Blue) 14. Florean Fortescue (Leaked) 15. Fred Weasley (WWW) 16. George Weasley (WWW) Presuming the figure count is on the higher end, some other potential spots could go to: 17. Percy Weasley (CoS) [The only figure I could think of to go with Scribbulus, plus he's a character that many serious Potterheads want but more casual fans wouldn't mind being only in one expensive set] 18. Arthur Weasley (CoS) [Important for the F&B scene, but I could see LEGO wanting to keep his character exclusive to the Burrow, as he's one of the best figures in that set] 19. Daedalus Diggle 20. Doris Crockford You'll note that I excluded characters from the LC as, unlike Gringotts, I don't feel confident that it'll be included based on the info we have. I'd love to see it, and if we do Tom the Barman probably upsteps Angelina Johnson in terms of essential characters for my list. I also didn't include aged up versions of the trio, and this is because I think that perhaps the reason the CMF included just casual variants from HBP could be to go with this set so they don't have to add to this minifig budget. They aren't perfect matches except in Ron's case, and there's a good chance it's unrelated and we will get an aged-up trio in DA as well, but those are all just my two cents.

I don't think anyone's commented on it yet, but Neville does actually have a second face. It's subtle, but he has a rather frightened look on the packet, and a more bored expression on the box group image.

Just noticed, but does anyone else find it odd that Harry in the series has a reddish-brown wand as opposed to his signature dark brown?

Weird that Luna has her 2010 hairpiece as opposed to her current one.

New images of Myrtle and Luna. Luna looks fantastic, Myrtle is just fine.

4737 Quidditch Match from 2010. I received it as a gift that year, and it was at the time my favorite set in my collection (out of the seven total sets I had at the time). The following year, I picked up Freeing Dobby, the Hogwarts Express, and Hogwarts Castle.

Well, aside from Harry Potter, my main long-term theme is Star Wars. I've been "collecting" for over a decade at this point, but I usually only get a few sets every year, due to the stupidly high prices. This year will probably be my biggest takeaway from the line in a while, since I already have the Mando BP and Mustafar, and plan on getting the AC, 501st, AAT, and AT-AT; as well as the rumoured Mos Eisley D2C if it's done well, but that probably won't be for at least a year, since I have a few other large D2Cs that take priority (Tantive IV, NES, Diagon Alley). For new themes, I am in love with LEGO Super Mario. While minifigures are of course a major part of LEGO for me, I simply adore all of the creative and unique character designs (aside from the Boos), and many of the structure builds look like they popped straight out of the games. My favorites from this year are the Guarded Fortress, Bowser's Castle, and the Whomp set... as well as the NES, but I don't really think of that in the same series as the other sets. My only real fear with LEGO Mario is that this first wave already exhausted most of the settings and characters I have interest in- the only other sets I can think of being interested in are an SMB3 Airship or Peach's Castle (unless they made sets based on the AlphaDream RPGs, but I find it very doubtful they'd do something that incredible). Those are really the only two themes aside from HP that I have plans to partake in to any serious degree, but I do still look into other themes from time-to-time. I usually get at least one Ninjago set per season, pick up the occasional Iron Man set, and once in a blue moon grab something from Minecraft. Overall, though, HP is by far my favorite theme from LEGO, and it's my current long-term collecting goal to purchase every set from the theme's run (2001-2011, 2016-2017, 2018~) by decade's end.

It was rumoured only by one person who was revealed some time ago to be a complete fraud. There is currently no valid information or rumour regarding a GWP.

Currently, we know that the sets are NOT releasing August 1. Barnes & Noble says that Hedwig is releasing September 1, and Target is releasing the Burrow August 15, so I think that they will all be out by September 1 one way or another.

A set being 18+ doesn't necessarily mean it will have the black box. Just look at the NES, that set has a custom box design, so there's no real reason DA can't as well. Yeah, I have a feeling we'll get at the very least a teaser by Thursday or Friday.

Seeing as how LEGO often has multiple different versions of a piece in use simultaneously, and I've even managed to get multiple separate versions of the same piece in the same set (albeit in different colours), I don't think it matters much at all.

Since the Burrow is a Target exclusive, it is possible that they'll release that set on August 15 (since, as a retail exclusive, LEGO would have made less copies of the set and it would therefore have been easier to produce the needed amount), and put out the rest of the sets on September 1 with B&N (or later, but I sure hope not).

They do it on occasion, but it's a very rare occurrence. In the last decade, the only times I can remember them doing it were: A. The official set images of the 2010 HP sets used some prototype figures and elements. B. The 2015 Minecraft sets at NYTF used prototype models (none of the new printed pieces were available). C. The 2018 Great Hall, as prior mentioned.

Well, the Mickey & Minnie D2C was licensed, and it came out on schedule, so I don't think we have much to worry about with when DA releases.

Yeah. I really don't see how it'd be only $15, Buckbeak is far too large to be a mini-Brickheadz.

This. While the views of Mrs. JK Rowling are harmful and hateful, these views are not represented in the Harry Potter series, books or films. As a result, it's easy to overlook her personal views in the same way one overlooks whatever stupid lore fact she's currently posting on Twitter (Wizards defecating on the floor, anyone?) I'm planning on it, but I'm still thinking of what to ask.

He's the one that set it'll come with both Patil twins and Krum. This isn't exactly the hardest thing to predict (same with which shops could be included in DA), so I still wouldn't blindly follow his info if he's right, but if he's wrong we'll all know he's another faker. (He'd previously posted that the CMF would be revealed before the visual dictionary came out, and that was obviously false.)

Nope. He's been right about a few things in other things that occurred a few hours before reveal, but all of his HP info has either been wrong or gone unproved/undisproved. I'd take this info with a severe grain of salt until they reveal the Advent Calendar, which will reveal whether he is a "complete fraud" or a "potentially good source." Let me rephrase: Of course minifigures aren't the single determining factor in whether or not a set is good... but I think LEGO'd be hard-pressed to screw up a minifigure-scale Diagon Alley. It could happen, but I have yet to think up a way in which they could goof it entirely.

While it is true that there isn't one single definition of microscale, what is irrefutable is that microscale has an upper bound- that is, a point at which the scale becomes too large to fit with nanofigures. If you look at 40289 (Micro DA), while Gringotts isn't too that point, the other four shops included in the model are at what is essentially the maximum size they can have in terms of exterior and still work with nanofigures. (Just compare a nanofig to the height of one of the doors, and you'll see that it's already larger than the ratio of a minifig to a minifig door.) If they were to increase the size of any of those buildings by even a minor margin, the model would be too large to scale with nanofigures in any realistic way. And, again, the shops in that set averaged around 70 pieces each, and seeing as how nano Hogwarts came with over 6,000 pieces... Using some simple math (and discounting the parts necessary for the cobbled Alley, plus each building now having a small interior as opposed to just GG and WWW), we can see that the set would have to include somewhere in the realm of 70-80 buildings. Even if they managed to add an unprecedented level of detail and over-doubled the average parts-per-building to 200, they'd still have to include around 30 buildings- I think Diagon Alley has maybe a dozen iconic enough for the average HP fan to recognize. And, as @Lego-Freak said, I won't believe this could be the case until I see a microscale moc of DA or something comparable in that scale. Also, seriously dude, we have minifigure leaks. The set isn't going to suck, get over it. As for releasing the Alley 1-2 buildings a year... well, modular buildings are $200 or, in most cases, less (The exception being Assembly Square, but that set is an exception in many ways). The average amount is more around $160-180. This set is $400. There's no way LEGO would release a $400 HP set every year and expect fans to buy it every year. Frankly, that's rather ludicrous. The only way I could see anything of the sort happening is if this set is based strictly on the first couple movies, and they later release (standard retail, not D2C) add-ons for shops that only appear in later films (in other words, WWW). In all seriousness, though, both of these ideas are just as likely as the other, in that they aren't in the slightest.

@Fuppylodders

How. We already have minifigure leaks, how could it be in microfig scale? Even discounting the other logical failures required to consider this an option, the minifigures alone confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that the set will be designed for minifigures.

A list of thoughts regarding Diagon Alley upon seeing the Florean minifigure: 1.AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAexcitementAAAAAAAAA 2. If we're getting a minifigure of Florean, I think it's relatively safe to say that we'll be getting his ice cream parlor. I immediately draw two conclusions and one prediction from this: a. We'll be getting MANY more shops in DA than we've been expecting. I mean, if we're going as obscure as the ice cream shop that is only briefly mentioned in the third book and BRIEFLY shown in the second film, we're probably also getting some of the more recognizable B-tier buildings as well (Eeylop's, QQS, Madam Malkin's, etc), so it's rather likely we'll be getting more than just the 4-5 shops we'd all predicted. b. Since we'll be getting more shops, they'll all likely be smaller in size than we've been expecting. I honestly don't mind this as long as they have a good level of detail and interior space, but I could see some being put off by this. c. No way of knowing whether this is the case as of yet, but I could see LEGO combining multiple shops into one building, similar to how multiple businesses usually occupy each Creator modular building. For example, I could see a building with the ice cream parlor on the bottom floor, but the Apothecary up above. Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled ravings. 3. I think this figure shows that the minifigure budget on this set is going to be INCREDIBLE. Firstly, if they're including a character as obscure as Florean Fortescue, who appears only as a minor background character in one film and a passing mention in two books, we'll probably get a pretty solid amount of figures, at least one per shop plus all the customers, and we clearly aren't afraid to delve into the highly obscure. Secondly, if such a minor character gets not just a new two-sided head, but also a new hair recolour, I have good faith that the rest of the new figures will follow suit with this high level of quality (Not expecting any bad reuses of prints). 4. Just an observation, but the Doc Brown hair mould used here is very distinctive. If they include it here, I don't really see them also including it with Ollivander, so I find it likely he'll have a different hairpiece this time around. No. The next person to nonsensically suggest Diagon Alley could be nanoscale is getting curbstomped. (Dear Mods, this is a joke, please don't ban my account.) In all seriousness, this leak really has reignited my excitement for 75978... which is why it's unfortunate that I probably won't be able to fit in the budget until 2021, especially now that the new NES set just became my top priority.

I guess that's one positive way of looking at it... ...Or not, since I feel as though a version in standard sets would have a two-sided head, to keep consistency with nearly every other character in the line. More likely, LEGO's just being very cheap with our only Tom Riddle figure for a very long time. Magical.