MaxHeadroom

Except it seems like both buildings only have two walls, so if you connect them there won’t be much separation between the interiors.

Not sure which Reddit this means. If anyone has them please send me them or a link to the Reddit in question.

Seeing the new sets, the remakes have certainly raised my eyebrows. Adding in a second carriage to the HE for the first time and whatever this extra building is to WWW is intriguing. I’m far more tempted now then I would’ve been had they just given us some new figures, Pygmy puffs, and a train station. The HE seems like a legitimate and desirable upgrade from the 2018 version (although I would’ve preferred to see it in dark red for once) and one actually worth buying. The problem for me of course is that the HE takes up so much horizontal space and so little vertical space, along with the Quidditch set (and the 2010 HE) it’s always been one of my least favorite sets to display because of that. Maybe I’ll get it, if I see it on a decent sale and like it when we see more of it. IMO WWW wasn’t worth a remake just yet, and this build is in line with that. I was never bothered by the head on the original or the shape of the building. This one looks very hollow, I wonder if it’s just the two walls we see in the image. That second building is certainly something though. Again maybe I’ll buy it depending on sales and what else we see in proper pictures. Maybe I’ll wait and see what happens with this DA reboot next year though before I invest in it. Remember when these Hogwarts sets were about modular interiors? I know they didn’t quite commit that first year (still advertising the exteriors on the boxes) and kind of dropped the ball on the interiors last year but here it seems like it’s completely gone. It’s an okay looking Hogwarts set awkwardly shoved into this format and I can’t help but think about how much better it might look if the designer wasn’t restricted to this style. I still love the general concept of these and wish they would’ve fully embraced it instead of going halfway and often failing and both interiors and exteriors. I think it really could’ve been great. At this point though I do hope they just throw in the towel and give us an exterior based system next year since it seems like thats what they want to do, if they can make a set like this when restricted I’d love to see what they can do with some freedom. A big success from the modular line is that they’ve proven Hogwarts buildings don’t need to be iconic (take Sirius’ Rescue) or even recognizable (Forbidden Corridor, ROR) to be sold on the front of boxes. There’s no reason we couldn’t get an exterior focused modular system more complete than the 2018-20 lineup. If they can make two sets for just the courtyard I’m sure the Great Hall itself and the staircase tower could be separate sets allowing for more detail than the 2018 versions. It would be bittersweet loosing this rectangle system but I think it would be the right thing to do. I am interested in what minimal interiors this set will contain and I’m looking forward to see how exactly it attaches to this system with its apparently hinged wings. I do currently 100% think I’ll buy it though which is a first for this Hogwarts format. The other sets are all things that exist I won’t really think twice about. The patronus looks nice and I’d want Dobby’s sock for the injoke but that’s as far as my interest goes.

Definitely started here in the halcyon days of spring 2020, well halcyon for this forum’s HP thread thanks to all those leaks and riddles that were definitely real. I’m probably wrong but I feel like it was something I may have been the one to flippantly throw it out in the first place. Perhaps a eurobricks HP historian will scour the archives for its true origin. I do wonder if a designer ever saw it since it’s been the appropriate amount of time for set development, although I think a brickbuilt Dobby with sock was inevitable. Part of me wants to buy the set in its honor so I can put a deluxe sock on display, and the other part of me likes having $40 or whatever that set costs.

Look at the levels of improvement on previous HP remakes. The only Hagrid’s Hut that wasn’t a complete redesign from the previous version was 2010, and even then that set feels relatively different to me. 2004 is the only Hogwarts Express that doesn’t seem like a substantial upgrade, and notably aside from a casual Ron all the other figures were available in other sets for collectors who were into figures making it a relatively easy set to skip. Aside from HH2010 and HE2004, are there any Harry Potter remake sets which aren’t substantially upgraded from previous ones? Of course there have been remakes in the past but the builds themselves are almost always worthwhile with LEGO HP. Yes Star Wars has tons of lazy remakes sometimes with new figures thrown in to entice collectors but do we want LEGO HP to become LEGO Star Wars?

OP didn’t count D2Cs so I didn’t either. To be fair they’re always a bit more dense than most playscale sets and the high prices make them inaccessible to many potential buyers. Personally if a remake isn’t going to make notable improvements I’d prefer if they just left the older one on the market but that’s a LEGO-wide issue that’s been a round for awhile and I appreciate the HP team sticking with the 2018 model as long as they did. I completely understand the need for the 2023 HE, as awkward as it is following on from a D2C less than a year ago and as awkward as it is for collectors who want the Hogsmeade station but don’t need another train. I think it was a solid and expected pick for 2023 but I also won’t pretend it’s an exciting one and since users here seem only interested in the set’s figures I don’t think that lack of excitement is exclusive to me. WWW meanwhile is a remake that definitely didn’t need to happen already this year, although I appreciate the new design lead starting a new system and I’m interested in seeing it. So yes while we still have 5 playscale sets which is the norm most years, two of them being our first real remakes of 2018+ stuff does understandably decrease excitement from collectors a bit. I’m sure I’ve already written a post about all the issues I have with the ROR but the pillar cabinets not having any framing is odd, the pixie sticker is out of place and tacky, the opaque friendlyfyre doesn’t quite work, the technic holes only add to the already messy build and textures of the walls/windows, and the color choices only make things more overdesigned. Some of those issues are widespread across the 2021+ system but that doesn’t make them less of a problem here. If it was just the lower section I could see it not being considered any worse than the other weakest entires into the 2021+ format but the set doesn’t end there. The sink is bad like you’ve said and could’ve been replaced with something more interesting but I do think they could’ve done better. They’ve got a superfluous side attachment turret that wasn’t needed they could’ve taken parts from, although really all the roof and sink builds were unnecessary. They could’ve just made one decent roof module or used all the parts to give the ROR a more complete wall. Even the RoR was on the level of the rest of the 2021 castle line, it and the BOH still would be part of a system that isn’t for everyone knocking off another two sets from the five we have. Yes, the second task set is great. Comparing to 2021’s lone standout the second task is half the size though. It alone can’t really compete with last year’s trio of large new desirable playscale sets or the first three years of the reboot. So yeah going back to OP’s point while we do get five playscale sets which is the norm, they’re just not as interesting and enticing as previous years. It’s nice to see the new design team mopping up things we didn’t get like Gringotts and DH2 stuff likely to varying degrees of success but I generally think this year isn’t the most exciting and was dampened quite a bit by the sets that weren’t playscale and the playscale sets themselves being a mixed bag. Looking forward to seeing what they do once they’ve found their feet a bit more beyond getting DH some representation and starting a new DA system.

Of those 5 playsets two are remakes of sets we’ve already seen in the reboot, one of which was only 3 years ago and part of a set still on shelves and the other was only just retired a few months ago and has a D2C version that just got released last year. I’d be surprised if either one had any major improvements (is switching the 2018 train’s tan to flame yellow an improvement?) over their previous iterations aside from new figures and side builds. The next two sets are part of the controversial Hogwarts rectangle line and the set that’s been released is perhaps the weakest Hogwarts set ever produced by Lego, definitely within the last two decades. Leaving us with only one of those playsets that’s an easy win for most collectors. 5 playsets isn’t bad once they’re separated from all the other junk but they’re probably not the most exciting five choices. Really the only year that’s comparable is 2021, another year with only one guaranteed fan pleasing set. In 2021’s case though the Hogwarts rectangles were still new and that was the first year of buildable creatures + fold out stuff + D2Cs that weren’t minifigscale so I don’t think people were quite as burnt out on all of it as they are now after 3 years of the line being a bit more messy.

To comment on everything else said here if the vault GWP is the Lestrange vault then that’s a huge disappointment. Surely those DH2 figures plus the dragon would be far more interesting in the main set than a Philosophers/Sorcerer’s Stone figure lineup would be. The Harry that’s already in the DA and an advent calendar (not to mention being one of many casual year 1/2 Harrys we’ve had) plus a Hagrid repeat is all it would have to offer besides goblins. The lack of owls has always been a weak point of the 2018+ revival. It’s also yet another bit of the magic of the 2001 sets that’s missing from this system meant to emulate them. Don’t think I’ve gotten a set with one apart from the Chamber of secrets with its billionth snowy owl and golden stand if you count that. It seems like now instead of tons of owls we just have frogs if anything.

Same. The Hogwarts sets really improved their exteriors last summer, even if that wasn’t meant to be the point of this system and the interiors sometimes suffered (especially Sirius Black’s Escape). The ROR which should’ve been a day one purchase especially with my favorite niche character, is just a genuine disaster inside and out. I usually can at least tell what LEGO is going for and have a lot of sympathy for the designers but I have no idea what happened there. I wish I could see the process which ended up getting us a whole 8x8 room with a sink but only half a wall and some window frames for the titular ROR. The bar is so incredibly low that I’m not sure how the Battle of Hogwarts could be worse. I completely agree here too. What are they trying to do with this line? They can’t even commit to one foldout system at a time. Once you sift through it all there really isn’t much standard playscale stuff left.

My initial thought on the reboot was that the designs were always the best thing about this franchise (that’s why I love the Lego so much) and combining those with the excellent original cast makes the movies irreplaceable. Seeing the revealed series logo reusing the castle, font, and music makes me think WB agrees with my first opinion at least. Based on her critically panned work on the FB movies I think it’s fair to say JKR is probably better at writing books than films so her involvement with this series doesn’t inspire me with confidence. The movies benefited massively from editing out things like SPEW and I’m not looking forward to seeing all that onscreen, let alone all the stuff that didn’t even make it to the books like wizards’ bathroom habits before plumbing. I really don’t think LEGO will favor this series over the original films though unless this series is massively successful. Just look at how the LEGO reboot started in the first place, technically it was for Crimes of Grindelwald but 5 out of 7 sets (plus the D2C) were for the Harry Potter movies. When Secrets of Dumbledore came out LEGO didn’t even bother making a single set. Based on that logo I think it’s safe to assume most if not all the designs from the films will stick around so everything we saw in the movies and got as Lego sets should stay relatively the same. Aside from maybe Hermionie based on Cursed Child, I think most the characters will probably still look more or less as they did in the films. They’ve already got a light nougat head with round glasses, black eyebrows, and a lightning scar, why design a new one if the same features are shared between the films and the series. At that point why not just keep making all the sets based on the movies since 90% of the designs are the same anyway. That’s not to say I think the series will have no effect on LEGO though. I’m sure we will get Sorcerer/Philosopher’s Stone sets when the relevant series is released. I could see small things that don’t necessarily contradict the films like a Peeves figure for example popping up too.

If the BOH is meant to be the Great Hall entrance (seems more likely to me) then there’s no way it’ll work with the 2021 build. If it’s the clock tower then it’s a repeat of something that’s only 2.5 years old, a set I skipped though so at least it’ll be new to me assuming I go for this. Lego HP is so overinflated with extras that they’ve outnumbered the proper minifigure scale sets. This year we’ve got 4 gimmicky fold out sets, 2 buildable creatures, and a micro scale D2C. That’s without even mentioning the brickheads or advent calendar. Meanwhile for proper sets we’ve got 2 remakes, 2 gimmicky on their own Hogwarts rectangle sets, 1 massively expensive D2C, and 1 once standard new (to the reboot) set. 6 isn’t nothing but for people who don’t want remakes, don’t want Hogwarts rectangles, or can’t afford a $400+ D2C then that whittles things down even further. Even if they aren’t taking the place of the once standard play-scale sets do we seriously need 2 different styles of foldout sets, 2 creature builds, brickheads, and a microscale D2C all in one year? Id love to see them trim the fat a bit. It all adds up and just makes it so overwhelming. Maybe the foldouts really are what most kids want and the creatures, Brickheads, and microscale stuff are what most collectors really want though.

It was weird there as I said at the time but at least with the maxifigs I get wanting a male and female character but also not wanting to increase the price to include Ron. With basic minifigures in sets though there’s really not much of an excuse. It’s not like Ron and Hermione were separated for a large chunk of it or anything, if we’ve got one we should have the other. Theres a lot of stuff I miss and took for granted with the 2018-2020 iteration of this theme (like castle builds always having one complete wall) and the Ron/Hermione balance is one of those things. Not a huge problem when we’ve at least got the relevant variants somewhere but it’s definitely annoying when it comes to stuff like this and we’re stuck with a 2/3rds complete battle of Hogwarts trio.

I really hope we get a Battle of Hogwarts Ron. It would be completely bizarre to have Harry and Hermione without him. Although, maybe it would be a nice tribute to the dimensions sets giving us DH2 Hermione but no Ron. LEGO isn’t against holding things back to use as bait later but DH2 Ron would be a really strange thing to hold back.

Surely that distant future has to just be the upcoming D2C right? No clue how they could do a $430 Gringotts without those two. As for the Battle of Hogwarts figures Harry, Ron, and Voldemort feel essential. A repeat of Neville (plus Nagini) also seems like a given if they want this to be the complete battle. That only leaves room for two more figures, both need to be villains and at least one or two probably need to be female characters. Luckily Ron and probably Voldemort are the only characters that need any new prints which should leave a decent amount of budget. Narcissa is an obvious choice imo. A character recognizable enough to make it to the pre-2018 reboot line and one collectors have been wanting. I imagine they’d go all out on this figure since it would be the one selling the set to minifig collectors. Bellatrix seems like a safe voice for the remaining villain, maybe with a printed dress this time around. The 3v3 setup makes me think this could have some kind of duel/battle function like we occasionally see in Star Wars sets. To represent the Harry/Voldemort duel this would probably be placed inside another set of courtyard modules (just what this interior focused line needs) like the Sirius Escape set had. Hopefully this time they’ll include more than half the floor so it’s actually functional vertically in the modular system. As for the rest of the interior maybe we will get a room with a random toilet to pair with our room with a random sink. My expectations are so low after the ROR I’ll be praising them if they manage to include even one complete wall.

Pretty expected since the last 3 summer waves included buildable creatures and last year’s was even upgraded to being in the main wave instead of an exclusive. Now that we know what everything is, it makes 2022’s semi-return to form seem like an accident. Gringotts is the only set I’m properly looking forward to, although including the Second Task set puts this year above 2021’s single good set. While I hate the idea of buying sets for figures the ROR does tempt me by finally including DH2 variants and Zabini, who was my one niche character I really wanted. Fingers crossed that the Hogwarts battle not only has a couple interesting figures (I’d class a Neville repeat as interesting since I didn’t bother with the advent calendar so there’s a freebie) but a semi coherent build without for example every window design that designers can come up with or an entire room dedicated to a nondescript sink no one can figure out even months later.

They could’ve easily included it without the dragon or mine-cart in the DA set, just like they did in 2011. Releasing Gringotts outside the DA they still probably could’ve gotten away with one set to go with the DA and a mine-cart set for the kids, including the dragon with whichever one they though would need an extra push. Like I said in my post though that time has passed since expectations grew after years of LEGO making us wait. I’d bet on it being DH2 because this set needs to be the most Gringotts that has ever Gringotts’ed so they’ll have to include the dragon. Not to mention the dragon could help pad out the set more to make it worth the price. There’s also the rumored vault GWP which I think could easily be the PS vault, since that would work better as a small standalone than Bellatrix’s vault. Very early to place 2023 for me but I’ll make a guess. 6. 2021 5. 2023 4. 2018 3. 2022 2. 2019 1. 2020 Gringotts is on Diagon Alley and I assume they will include some kind of cobbled path around it like they did with the DA. That leaves room for them to potentially include some other characters walking around. I wouldn’t bet on it or expect anything but I also wouldn’t completely rule it out.

Back in 2020 they maybe planned on saving Gringotts as it’s own thing for later and figured they could wait a few years and string collectors along for awhile. Then they realized they wanted to do this new playscale DA line and now have to finally finish what they started because collectors would (rightfully) be pissed if they bought a $400 setup and it was forever missing the most important part. They could’ve just made it an above ground thing for less than half the price but I think because they waited 3 years to finally do it, expectations were raised to astronomical levels. Over the last few years we’ve seen Gringotts go from something people wanted and were expecting to the most important and hyped up set of the entire line. Back in 2021 they could’ve just released an above ground D2C + a play based vault set and included the dragon with either of them and I think everyone would’ve been happy but that’s not the case anymore. It’s been so long that I’m not entirely sure if it’s even about finishing the DA, a Gringots D2C is just its own thing now which people want on it’s own. It definitely does seem like a mishmash but I’m not sure there’s any other way they can do it and satisfy fans without a time machine to go back and either release it in 2021 or make it part of the 2020 set like it probably should’ve been in the first place.

Hearing King NoNo brings back memories lmao. I’ve got two thoughts on all this, assuming it’s true 1. If they were going to make a playscale DA series they should’ve just saved the Gringotts underground for that and included a basement free Gringotts building with the 2020 DA in the first place. It would’ve saved so much time, effort, and heartache. It’s also unfortunate that we’ve got what will still probably be the best version of the buildings with the 2020 set, but we now need to track down probably $30+ worth of new parts, minifigures, and prints from the new set to perfect the original. I 100% understand making these individual sets though. Kids shouldn’t need to spend $400 to get the location of DA and experience the general wizard shops play style (although Hogsmeade covered that ground well for awhile), $90 is already more than expensive enough. It’s just frustrating for us collectors. I’m not sure if I’ll buy these remade DA sets. I guess I’ll see how they turn out or if I happen to get one as a gift or something. 2. These sets we have less info on aren’t mass retail and are more limited right? If so, why is the Express being rereleased here? Surely it’s the kind of thing that should be accessible everywhere and be on shelves for many years like the 2018 one was. I doubt I’ll get this as I’ve already got the 2010 and 2018 sets and they’re some of my least favorites because of how much horizontal space they take up instead of vertical. They always have to be at the front of a shelf if I want to see them. A hogsmeade station side build sounds okay but not cool enough that I’d spend $130 on it and want to deal with another train. Never thought the hogsmeade station was that visually interesting anyway. In general I have a very different take on remakes than most people (or the ones with the most disposable income) seem to. Personally I’d rather remakes either be so different they might as well be new (like the 2021 castle remakes on paper if they were actually focused on interiors) or I’d rather they slowly improve over time with minor new parts and techniques but not actually include anything particularly desirable in each update like a figure or side build. Id love to just have them in the background easy to ignore until one day over time they’ve naturally improved enough from the last version I bought to be worth getting again.

Apparently there’s a new Ameet book coming in June with Ron and Hermionie figures. The Hermionie figure is the Forbidden Forest one with the standard hair, but I’m not sure where the torso on the Ron figure comes from. I don’t think it has appeared in a set as far as I can remember. Is this reused from another theme or something new that we could expect to see in the summer sets?

The Hogwarts with grounds set makes far more sense to me than the original micro castle. If people want play sets they’ll buy the normal playsets (especially when they still had decent exteriors from 2018-20) so a set focused on showing the castle’s full layout makes more sense.

As someone who owns all 4 minifig scale Great Halls I’d gladly buy a UCS one as part of a UCS castle series. The 2021 version hasn’t got much for an interior, the exterior takes a lot of liberties, and its attached to the worst staircase tower Lego has ever produced. Meanwhile the 2018 version is just the wrong shape and way too short (not to mention the staircase tower there is missing some key details), The 2010 version is alright for what it is but the interior is facing the wrong way, and the 2001 version is a LEGO model from 2001. I’d love to see LEGO make a Hogwarts UCS series that’s actually planned in advance with things like all four common rooms. Even better if it’s all on top of a few BURPs like the micro scale castle. LEGO have never made a Hogwarts that feels complete to me and I’d love to finally get one so I never feel the need to buy another system. I think the issue would be selling things as standalone sets. The Great Hall/courtyard would sell well as would a staircase tower but aside from the viaduct enterance the rest of the buildings from the iconic view used for the microscale set aren’t super recognizable on their own.

Half the rooms in the current Hogwarts are empty or just random tables so no loss there.

Considering we just got a $100 set with 10 figures (9 of them new) featuring tons of new prints and an unprinted statue I think 9 figures for this $85 set (considering Harry, Hermionie, and Neville if included are repeats) is definitely possible. I’m personally expecting less but I could see anything between 6-9 figures. Usually complexity of LEGO sets increases with the age range, but you can find exceptions. Yes, that was my point and what I said. Lego marking the expecto patronum set as 14+ does not necessarily mean it’s more complex than other sets, only that it’s intended for an older audience.

Voldemort is bound to come in the battle of hogwarts set. Gold figure aside we haven’t seen him since 2019 have we? There are probably a lot of kids who got into collecting in the last few years that are without Voldemorts. Really LEGO should’ve saved the courtyard for this set since a lot happens there and they could’ve included some exploding features to make it slightly more interesting than the one we got. DH2 Ron is obviously going to be there with a repeat of DH2 Harry and probably DH2 Hermionie (they seemingly gave up on the Ron/Hermionie balance last year). Neville is also pretty important to that scene and I wouldn’t be surprised if they included last year’s advent calendar figure. So thats 5 figures already, which doesn’t leave more than another 4-5 if we’re being generous. I wouldn’t really get hopes up for the Carrows but who knows.

The Everyone is Awesome set is by far one of the least complex sets I’ve ever bought (just stacking bricks and placing tiles) and that was 18+. Subject material doesn’t completely determine the recommended age but neither does complexity. Subject matter and complex generally increase the age range but it’s a not a rule that can be used definitely. Both can factor into the decision but at the end of the day it’s based on what market LEGO wants to target. Seeing that it’s not 18+ is a good indicator that it isn’t an adult diorama focused on a quote. I’m not really sure what a 14+ set would entail though. I think the kinetic sculpture idea is a good one (and it’s something missing from this wave) but I’m not sure what exactly would raise it from 10+ all the way to14+ aside from it being slightly larger than the previous ones.