Mordarch

I remember before the return of the Harry Potter theme it was preceded by some brickheads, but there were only a few months between the release of the BHs and the actual sets, so these were probably in production at the same time. It still baffles me that they didn't attempt to release even a small wave of playsets and the big D2C for LotR. This would've been the perfect test to see if they should continue with playsets, D2Cs or both. They did it with the HP line and to a lesser extend even with the Indiana Jones.

I have been wondering about that as well. What could they do to pad out the waves besides regular storybased set? I'm mainly thinking battlepacks. I was wondering what they could do similar to the books/banners from Harry Potter. The only thing I could really come up with is a sort of Hobbiton collection, with different Hobbit holes, but I doubt that would be popular if you only get random Hobbits.

I managed to get my hands on a sealed 79006 The Council of Elrond this week and am now considering slowly gathering the rest of the sets even though the prices of some of these sets are insane. This set did make me realise why they moved away from the rubber hairpieces, the Arwen hairpiece was a bit bent out of shape, nothing too major and putting it on the figure does straighten it out well enough. I'm also glad to have my first ever Gimli, the amount of detail in the helmet is amazing. When I eventually get the big Rivendell set I'll definitely have to consider which pieces I should use from the older figures and which of the newer. (Arwen's hair is definitely going to get changed, face probably too)

I'm in the same boat, I was too young with not enough money or apreciation of the LotR brand, I only bought the Shelob and Wizard battle set in the end, mainly due to the cheap way of getting great figures. Now I'm hoping they bring back the theme in a similar capacity, now that I can actually buy the sets.

I actually think they might still use molded pieces for armour, LEGO has been kinda good at making lots of new molds lately, there might also still be some current pieces that could be used for orc armour, the Marrok shoulder/chest piece comes to mind for instance.

To me it just seemed a bit foolish to release a super expensive set and base the popularity and possible return of a theme on the sales of that item. The way they handled Harry Potter is how they should handle every new or returning (licensed) theme. release a few normal sets that both kids and adults can enjoy, with enough detail and minifigures to satisfy any fan and release an expensive D2C to really gauge how popular the theme could be and how much people would spend on it. Afterwards you can decide what to do with the theme. I don't think anyone expected the HP theme to be so popular as to become an evergreen theme. (is that the term?) And I think the way that theme launched is a big factor for this, good quality all around and a good mix for all fans, if they would do this for LotR they could really hit a goldmine.

Hey guys, I'm new to this discussion so I was wonder if there have been any rumours for more sets besides the Barad-Dûr D2C? I hope they won't focus exclusively on big budget D2C sets, but LEGO might not consider the LotR franchise viable enough (popular with kids) to do a HP-style run of regular sets and one D2C per year. I consider the old LotR sets to be of an amazing quality for regular sets and hope to see it return in such a way.

That's exactly it, you can never guarantee perfect prints or cuts so designer have to give the stickers either a margin or make the design bigger than the cut to prevent an outline on the sticker itself. This is also why a print would not have worked lego bricks also tend to have a little margin around the edge where it cannot be printed or the mistakes would be too distracting. The only two ways they could've done the 'Gringotts Bank' differently is to shift the text, but this would've made it off-centre or introduce a new solid piece for the curve so it could be one sticker. The latter one would be the prefered choice.

I just built the new Hogwarts model and it's a great looking model. Whilst I apreciate the little texts explaining locations in and around Hogwarts in the instruction manual, there's a few that are just plain wrong. They put a few events from the wooden bridge at the viaduct and some of the Clocktower courtyard scenes at the Quad. It's funny that all these events happen near the Clocktower, which is the one part they chose to omit in the actual model. The spelling mistake with the Mirror of Erised is also a bit embarassing, even if it's just a small bit.

I consider Half-Blood Prince to be the definitive version of the castle, this is also the version that is depicted on the model at the HP studios and is the version of the castle that this new model is based on (inclusion of Astronomy tower and viaduct placement). I was going to say the bigger D2C castle is also based on this model (which I think it is), but the earliest model it can be is the Goblet of Fire version (Great Hall courtyard was introduced in this film) since we can't see the big additions from the earlier or later films (clocktower and astronomy tower)

Watching a review of the new Hogwarts Architecture-style set, it looks really great and I'm definitely getting it. I am however still a bit disappointed though. They were so close to finally giving us a complete Hogwarts castle. The only part they're missing is the Clocktower (which is one of my favourite parts of the castle), they're also missing the owlery, but I see it as a separate building. (I know in the books it's actually part of the castle itself) I'm guessing they didn't include the Owlery to limit the depth of the set, which would make it difficult to put on a shelf. I might actually look into adding the Clocktower later on though.

I'm just starting to doubt they'll release an entire (albeit small) addition to the D2C set as a GWP. Lots of people were sure we would get a wall/part of Leaky couldron GWP with Diagon Alley back then too.

The Deatheater looks super weird without a cape, so I'll definitely be adding one when I get the set.

I was about to post that LEGO might be able to reveal a set without any images leaking beforehand for once, but the leakers foiled them again at the 11th hour, haha! I'm excited to see the high-res images (hopfully) later today. The shops to the side do make me curious. I'm guessing they're there to make it connect more organically to the Diagon Alley set. The way they're positioned makes me think it's going to be a splayed-out version of Diagon Alley instead of the more closed 'Alley' style I've displayed mine so far. I do hope we're able to close up the stores so we can make it more accurate to the films and it's only splayed out when you want to display it on top of the vaults. As for GWP, I wouldn't assume it's going to be anything big, especially story-wise. The GWP up to now have all been rather "insignificant" to the overall HP story, as to not make them essential to have a complete display. It'll probably be something minor, like a regular vault or minecart or something. Nice to add, but not something essential people might miss out on.

I hope we at least get a couple of spare "casting wands" to give some of the other figures the ability to cast too. I don't know if someone already adressed this, but I've been wondering why we haven't gotten any post GoF masked Deatheaters. They're the perfect figures for army builders and it would be fun to fill out the Battle of Hogwarts a bit. If they ever do release any I hope we can get a few different mask designs, but at least one masked Deatheater from OotP and on would be great.

As some of the others here, I also got the Black Lake set. I have it displayed with some extra figures like the Fred & George CMFs and the Gabrielle Delacour figure with the sleeping face now really comes in handy (I love that LEGO made sure to include that when the carriage released). I would love a Fleur and Cedric 2nd task versions though. I've no plans to buy a second Black Lake set, but if you want to display all the prisoners it might be the best option, a second tower also gives you more place for figures.

So, I just built Grimauld Place and Sirus' Rescue and I have to say I just love GP, it's probably one of my favourite non-D2C sets, the hiding and revealing of the house is just so well done. SR on the other hand is kinda disappointing, the figures are decent (even if two of them aren't exclusive), the set is kinda empty and I absolutely hate the new Buckbeak, the white is way too bright, as far as I remember it's only the back end that's white, the grey one just looked better. I did swap the wings of the Hagrid's Hut version with these ones, to make that one better, because the shiny wings feel more like the feathers to me. I felt like some people thought the white colour was better, did I imagine that or do people really like this version more than the previous one?

The Timeturner looks like a pearl gold stud with a gold ring (LotR-type) on top. Might need to wait for official pictures to get a good look at it.

Some people consider it the potion riddle defending the Philosopher's Stone (from the book). Others see it as a simple small potion room. I think it's the latter, the pot feels out of place otherwise. It could still be a reference though.

I just built the polyjuice and Fluffy sets and I encountered the duality of the randomised cards within them. The Fluffy set came with two Snapes and with the Bathroom I got the Silver Dumbledore. I don't even know if that Dumbledore is rare or not, but the fact I had a duplicate in the first set I opened reminded me why I dislike randomised stuff like this.

I made this little stand for my Fawkes with some of my leftover pieces, it's not super accurate, but I like it and it fits inside the Headmaster's Office from the Clocktower set.

I usually like to keep the boxes and store them on top of my wardrobe, but these boxes will probably be hidden away somewhere dark. I just can't look at that horrible Ron face...

Wow a bunch of new leaks now. Buildable figures: I really love them, there's something weirdly fun about large buildable minifigures. The fact that the wands also resemble the ones we get in the sets is just amazing. I don't think the cape piece looks good though. I'd rather they give us the original one that attaches to the neck. I always think it looks weird in people's custom figs and it still looks weird? Chess set: This one disappoints me a bit compared to the leaked image. The fact the pieces can't be secured is unfortunate, The chess pieces look good, but could've benefited from a bigger budget with actual minifig pieces to represent the bodies. I doubt Ron will fit on a horse if you remove the rider. I still like it enough to eventually buy it, but It'll probably not be one of the ones I get first. Fawkes: This looks great, I loved the Hedwig build especially with the flying wings, which we get here too. It's also not one of the ones I'll get first, but I'll definitely get it. I don't the mini fawkes being the CMF one. I don't think they'd make a fawkes with wings spread for only 1 set (or 2 if they would've included it in CoS). The Hedwig with spread wings was one that they used a lot since it released so that's not a 'wasted' mould for LEGO. I'm in love with this wave, I know there are some nay-sayers, but I love what we're getting. The amount of creativity show in this theme is amazing.

Also, can we just acknowledge the absolute horrible photoshop of Ron on the packaging. It seems to me they tried to put Philosopher's Stone Ron's face on Order of the Phoenix Ron's body.... I'm gonna have nightmares tonight.

Are those new archway pieces used in the CoS set? (where the Snake heads stand, the exit of the slide and the sides of the castle itself)