BrickMatit

Unibrick on IG has this update on creator ship: "The Pirate ship is a near spitting image of the last Creator Pirate ship". It's hard to imagine how much a spitting image is spitting, I suppose.

I perfectly know that I will never be able to display all the sets together in the suggested way and there's no way I can have more than the front line of the layout - so no Hospital Wing displayed. Living with a family means making compromises on the use of space. Anyway, I and my brother - with whom I share the collection - think that this will be the definitive Hogwarts Castle - at least for us. My Great Hall, Boathouse and Main Tower stands at the top of a living room cupboard and the Main Tower is missing the top, 'cause there's the ceiling. I have space at least for the Viaduct Entrance section, not aligned correctly with the rest of the castle and maybe the Astronomy Tower, reduced in height. In future, we're thinking about making room on a square coffee table in the living room, next to the sofa and put there all the castle.

On contrary, I don't see the Astronomy Tower has a D2C set. It has a different shape from the main tower, but its size isn't so different, so it could be simply part of the regular sets. Furthermore, having a black-box set to complete a regular set is not something we've seen until now for LEGO Harry Potter. Usually they're set that stand on its own - being microfigure, so really different from playsets (Hogwarts Castle and Grounds or Diagon Alley) or being targeted at adult collectors more than to Hogwarts castle completist (Hogsmeade, Burrow, Gringotts, Hogwarts Express).

At this point, I'd say it will likely have both Viaduct Entrance and Astronomy Tower - set CoS based.

A good remake, of course for people who have not the 2022 previous one, would be a Shrieking Shak + Whomping Willow. It could easily merge with the Hogsmeade set and add the tree as part of Hogwarts fields.

On Tiago Catarino Youtube channel a 30 minutes long review of all january wave.

The retiring of the Great Hall would certainly be indicative.

On Cheesey Studio youtube channel there's a video with all the sets put together.

Oh, thank you. I had no time to search the source of that image, but I still considered it too strange for Hogwarts - really nothing I would have called Hogwarts.

@krimimimi in general, I can think to a lot of features that a smart play system and smart bricks could add to LEGO Harry Potter and I'd likely not appreciate any of them Cost of having them in sets is, in my opinion, the main limit on what LEGO could and would put inside. We've already seen a sound brick in the Sorting Hhat set. My main fear is, of course, that future sets - not only Harry Potter's ones - will cost more and offer less than today in term of bricks, buildings, structures and minifigures. The idea of future sets being connected through an online application or that need an application to perfectly work is not something that excites me. I buy my set to build them - well, of course - to expose them and to play with them and I don't think this smart play system would add something relevant at my relationship with LEGO.

From here: LEGO Smart Play: What to Expect from LEGO’s Main Selling Point in 2026 LEGO describes it as "the smartest LEGO brick we’ve ever built." The Smart Brick reacts to everything builders do, from how it is held, moved, or incorporated into a build. Its main features include: LED Lighting and Sounds: The Smart brick adds a new dynamic to play with lights, character sounds and environmental effects. Sensors and Scannable Tags: Much like the technology used in the LEGO Super Mario theme, the Smart Brick will be able to detect colours, barcodes and RFID-enabled LEGO Minifigures. Electronic Minifigure Integration: Certain Smart Play Minifigures will be fully interactive, triggering effects on the Smart Brick and possibly responding to app-based events. These figures will have completely modified parts compared to standard LEGO Minifigures, resulting in the torso and legs being permanently attached. Wireless Charging: Smart Play and the Smart Brick will feature wireless charging, ensuring the brick can be used for extended periods of play. Reports claim this will involve a charging pad which creates a charging field, allowing built models with the brick to be placed on the pad.

Yes, not sure how much of a hint is the LEGO box, but I think at least Viaduct Entrance is pretty certain. Not sure about Astronomy Tower: the 71043_Hogwarts Castle hadn't it and it doesn't appear on the background silhouette you find in instruction booklet, but it appears in the background of the Main Tower box. Probably 'cause it would appeared too much out of position, considering they're trying to give us "the most detailed Hogwarts castle" and following the real castle silhouette.

It's the central part of the Viaduct Entrance. You can see it in LEGO form in Castello di Hogwarts™ 71043 | Harry Potter™ | LEGO® Shop ufficiale IT.

So, as expected, the set is the eastern part of the Quad. The position under the roof sacrifices the Ravenclaw Common Room even more than how much was sacrificed the Hufflepuff Common Room under the Great Hall: just one seat and a really tiny entrance - was Flitwick the designer? Hospital Wing without Madam Pomfrey was already described as not so good, but this time the Hospital has also a small bookcase where you can store potions, lotions and so on. The set, based on PoA, has strong references to CoS - Grey Lady, Penelope Clearwater, the Skele-Gro - so having also Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be out of case even if she doesn't appear - as I remember - in PoA movie. Likely the choice of having Ravenclaw in this set allocated budget towards the new Grey Lady, making impossible to have also Madam Pomfrey. I already commented some time ago the strange decision of putting Ravenclaw in this set. Great to have the Grey Lady from the first movies. LEGO is going full on PS, CoS and PoA! At this point it's pretty certain we'll see also Bloody Baron and I expect it to appear in the summer 2026 set, that I think will represent the Chamber of Secrets and Slytherin Common Room: a logical thougth, I believe. DADA classroom is a good playable part with the big spider and the dementor. The big well-done wardrobe makes the interior of the class less lacking than other swappable modules in bigger sets. Now, with DADA, we can complete waht I considered the major teachings in Hogwarts (Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms, Potions and DADA). In the end, I think it's a good addon to the castle.

Not that I know of.