sebastian666

I have a strong feeling we will be getting two Tonks minifigs this year. Like Luna, she is a fan favorite despite her relatively small role in the films. I imagine the HBP Tonks in the long red coat will come in the Attack on the Burrow set and the OotP Tonks in her iconic leather coat and purple hair will come in the CMF series with some additional hair pieces and an alternate pig face. The CMF Tonks will probably look just like she did in the latest Magical Search & Find Adventure book:

Just want to clarify that the photo shared above is not how Tonks appears in the Attack on the Burrow scene. She’s wearing a long red velvet coat. See below:

Looks great! I really like how you’ve done the recessed steps. Makes it feel very authentic to the movie. Looking forward to the final product. My favorite LEGO Harry Potter MOC artist is Bricks Unbound. He is building a massive screen-accurate, minifig scale Hogwarts that looks absolutely incredible. Check it out: He’s inspired me to expand my Hogwarts display with MOC additions. My first project is going to be the Hogwarts Viaduct Entrance with a proper Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom inside. Just ordered a second Great Hall for pieces. Any recommendations on pieces for the dragon skeleton? I really hope we get Prof. Lockhart with a Cornish pixie in the CMF. I’m want a whole swarm of those little blue buggers...

Wow! This is really well done! Almost exactly how I imagined it after reviewing the Creator city sets last night. And I love how you’ve incorporated the brick walls at the beginning and end of the block to make it feel like a tight alley. With all this talk about who the official designer of this set is going to be, I’d be perfectly happy if it was you! Can’t wait to see the finished product (and any other Harey POtter mock-ups you are working on ). Keep up the great work.

I’ve been looking at some of the recent LEGO Creator city block sets to try and wrap my head around what this D2C Diagon Alley could look like. Originally, I imagined a cleaner, pin-connected version of the 2011 DA set in an upside down V shape to create the feeling of an alley. After reviewing the Creator sets, I now think we’re going to get something that is laid out much more like the microscale DA from 2018 - a single straight street. Take a look at the Assembly Square set, which features three city buildings on a block and retails for $279: https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/assembly-square-10255 I predict our D2C Diagon Alley will be a very similar build to this (but with open back buildings) with Gringott’s as the corner building on the left, pin-connected to Ollivander’s, Flourish & Blott’s, and Quality Quidditch Supplies. I imagine there will be a fun little moving brick wall at the end of the street to symbolize the secret entrance at the back of the Leaky Cauldron. Maybe we will get WWW next Hare, along with some Otter Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley builds that can be connected to this set? I hope the size of Gringott’s is closer to the Corner Garage, though. The ground level could be a dungeon build and the second / third floor the long hallway with the chandeliers. And for $400 I want a Ukrainian Iron Belly on the roof! https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/corner-garage-10264

I hare we may be getting anotter patronus in the CMF... Ron’s Jack Russel Terrier. (My magic children’s books told me )

Double points! I think we gotter winner!

Don’t you mean “otterly” wrong. Lol

Thanks for the link. Great article. And it makes total sense that the Build Your Own Adventure books have a bit of a different process than the low-dollar activity books which are mainly illustration-based.

Wrong again. Take a closer look. New wings, new legs. No need to get personal, guy. We’re just talking about little plastic toys here. Chill out. And while you “may have an idea how they work”, I am explaining to you as someone with a business degree and a long history in print marketing and licensed publishing that these activity books are designed to sell more sets and generate excitement about new sets. They are 100% made with the guidance and direction of TLG’s marketing department, which provides the artists with names and concept sketches of characters and sets that will be important from a sales perspective in the fiscal year to come.

Wrong. The version of Buckbeak featured in that book (which predated the Hagrid’s Hut announcement) is the brand new version of Buckbeak, complete with new headmold and wings. There’s video of the book in this thread if you want to check. What is so difficult to understand here? These books are designed to sell more LEGO sets and generate excitement in new sets. Of course they are made with input from TLG’s marketing team. They are not generating significant income off $5 activity books. I wouldn’t be surprised if this year’s Advent Calendar features nearly identical artwork as that Hogsmeade winter village scene.

This is 100% accurate. I also agree that the Diagon Alley GWP microset could offer a template for the D2C set, but I have a feeling the D2C set will be V shaped and include another street across from the one featured in the microset. I also think it is possible that TLG may save WWW (or possibly Gringott’s) as a separate release to increase profitability, but we will have to wait and see.

I reckon you don’t have much of a background in business or marketing. The point of producing books like this is to increase LEGO set sales - not to sell books. They are literally designed to generate excitement about future sets and future minifigures. They are marketing pieces that we pay for. Of course TLG (and WB) have oversight and approval on the content featured in them. The “Magical Search & Find Adventure” book, for example, prominently features confirmed upcoming sets and figures like Diagon Alley, Kingsley Schacklebolt, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Bellatrix Lestrange, goblins, owls with outstretched wings, and the otter patronus. The only three settings featured in the book which are rumored but not yet fully confirmed are Gringott’s and WWW (which could be included in the Diagon Alley D2C set) and the Ministry of Magic Atrium. Other key marketing clues include a prominently featured Tonks (generating excitement for this fan favorite that has never been made in LEGO form) and tons Cornish pixies on nearly every page. As many others here have already said, I predict we will be getting a Cornish pixie in the CMF blind bag with Prof. Lockhart and the consistent display of LOTS of Cornish pixies together throughout the book will encourage kids and AFOL alike to buy LOTS of blind bags so that they can build their own Cornish pixie swarm to mimic the mischief featured in the illustrations. Again, these books are literally designed to market the line and generate excitement about future sets and minifigs.

Yes! I agree. Even if they used that horrible new build for the Basilisk with bright orange and red bricks and had flames shooting off of it, it could look awesome.

The LEGO Harry Potter “Magical Search & Find Adventure” book from October 2019 offers a glimpse at what the Ministry of Magic Atrium could look like. An emerald green brick archway with bay windows set into it, emerald green brick fountain with a pearl gold giant-fig wizard, and pearl gold witch, house elf, (and hopefully centaur now that we have the mold) minifigs atop it.

I disagree. I think most people were very surprised to be getting a relatively large Privet Drive set in a wave that is largely focused on OotP and HBP. And who would have expected a $400 D2C Diagon Alley versus individual shops that are sold separately and pinned together like the Hogwarts castle play sets? 100% in agreement here. Despite the lack of confirmation from a trusted leaker on the MoM set, I agree that this makes the most sense as the yet-to-be-revealed “underground” set. It’s the most action-packed scene in OotP and the setting is an iconic location that is used again and again throughout the rest of the series and even in Fantastic Beasts.

Here is another shot of Tonks from the Magical Search & Find Adventure Book that shows off some of the beautiful torso printing Tonks could feature:

Tonks is probably the most notable omission, and we will almost certainly be getting her in this wave. Here is an illustration of how her minifig appears in the October 2019 Magical Search & Find Adventure Book:

As a collector, I also hope that Gringott’s and WWW are included in the D2C set. As a businessman, I disagree with you completely. A D2C Diagaon Alley featuring Ollivander’s, Flourish & Blotts, Eylop’s Owl Emporium, Quality Quidditch Supplies, the Apothecary, etc. will sell like hot cakes whether it includes Gringott’s and WWW or not. TLG stands to make much more money by selling Gringott’s and WWW as separate sets (each with a much wider distribution, significantly lower price points than $400, and with much more playable, kid-friendly features than a D2C set typically offers) than it would by including them in this limited release. Anyone who can afford the D2C set will happily shill out the extra cash to by these key structures to enhance their Diagaon Alley display next year. Better start saving those coins up now, brother.

I imagine two rows of buildings forming an upside down V. The V shape creates forced perspective which will make the alley feel longer and prevent any open backs of buildings from being visible when you are looking at the set from most angles. If Gringott’s is included, I imagine it will be at the top of the upside down V. I can also easily see LEGO saving Gringott’s (and WWW) as separate releases that can be pinned-into the V base for modular expansion.

I wager the minifig _kingnono_ is hinting at is Lord Voldemort - the chief antagonist in the series. This ties in to his previous clue of “He’s back.” The only set Voldemort has been rumored to appear in so far is the Duel in the Ministry Atrium set, the climactic scene in OotP where Fudge and Percy Weasley finally see the Dark Lord in the flesh and those famous words are uttered.

I would be, too. But it would make sense if LEGO made WWW its own separate set that releases next year. A large separate Gringott’s set with a big Ukrainian Ironbelly that can be draped over the entrance dome (as it appears in Universal Studios) would also make sense from a marketing / sales point of view. The D2C set could focus primarily on the entrance into Diagonal Alley, perhaps with a small Leaky Cauldron / moving brick wall entrance and be more for the adult super fans.

I’ve also been reviewing the LEGO Harry Potter Magical Search and Find Adventure book that came out last October for clues. The cover features a Diagonal Alley build, which we now have good reason to believe will be this year’s D2C set. The shops appear to be Ollivander’s, Flourish & Blott’s, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Eylop’s Owl Emporium, and the Potions Apothecary. Some minifigs and items from the cover scene that we now know were correctly predicted include Arthur Weasley, goblins, owls with outstretched wings, and the Monster Book of Monsters. The rest of the book features some potential clues to minifigs and key locations that have been rumored, notably: Professor Lockhart, lots of blue pixies (they’re almost as common as the owls in the spreads), Goyle, a horse patronus, and the Ministry Atrium with a giant-fig pearl gold wizard, a pearl gold witch, and a pearl gold house elf. Much of what was predicted in the book has already been confirmed: Kingsley, Professor Sprout, Bellatrix, Molly Weasley, the otter patronus, and more. I recommend taking another look at this book if you have it!

Here’s a photo of the cancelled Malfoy Manor set drawing. I think this would be a great set if they added the dungeon and included the square “towers” on the exterior to make it look more like Hardwick Hall (the filming location).

Hate to break it to all the naysayers, but the Ministry of Magic is also “underground.” Harry’s first visit to the Ministry follows a ride on the London Underground, and Ministry employees literally flush themselves down a toilet to get to work everyday. This is yet another clue pointing to 75978 being the Duel in the Ministry Atrium set centered around a Fountain of Magical Brethren build.