brickbride

Minecraft Advent Calendar has leaked. That should put the discussion as to whether or not LEGO are still doing ACs to rest. Also it's reportedly USD 45 for 300 pieces so nope, not backing down on the pricing either. Like I've said - easy money for LEGO and not (yet) enough of a retailer's problem for it to need fixing, apparently.

I think 2024's pretty much done anyway, shouldn't we have a 2025 thread by now with what we know of the January and Summer waves? Can anyone make one or does it have to be a mod?

Given that we're already getting a) a Sony Spider-Man themed CMF series and b) apparently no Marvel advent calendar (after this year's Spider-Man themed one), I'd not hold my breath for much more Spider-Man themed content. Especially Sony Spider-Man! (Spidey and his Amazing Friends are seperate from this, as they're for a different target group; as are MCU legacy sets where Spider-Man happens to play a role.)

SW is absurdly expensive even by LEGO standards. The fact that their battlepacks still sell for less than HP's is kind of hilarious to me. The last similar HP set I can recall, 75945 Expecto Patronum, also sold for EUR 5 less. That one had four figs as well (and a more attractive selection IMO), one of which was exclusive and two of which had fabric capes. Fewer pieces, and no prints, but I'd say the giant glittery exclusive moulded bonus stag more than makes up for it. Alternatively: Polyjuice Potions Mistake. four figs including the exclusive golden Harry, printed chocolate frog cards, extra hair pieces for the boys and a printed cat head for Hermione, a really nice dual-moulded potions cup, and well over 200 pieces. Also EUR 5 less than what we get here!

A major chain store in my town had two different Friends calendars on offer this season, with last year's calendar priced at a regular EUR 15 (before additional store discounts). That's roughly 44% off and a year's worth of storage space wasted. In addition to likely complaints from customers that their kid already had the 2023 calendar, since nowhere on either the shelf or the set itself it says "2023" - though notably on the 2024 calendar it does! Another chain store still has the 2023 Friends calendar available at full price! If their stocks haven't been depleted now, in mid-December 2024, it might end up clogging their storage facilities for a whopping two years. And yet we got another Friends calendar this year. It's a problem for retailers right now. It might turn into a problem for LEGO if they keep up their pricing. It also might lead to a decrease in the number of advent calendars. But like I've said (and like @Swordyseems to agree), I don't think LEGO'll stop with either the pricing or the advent calendars in 2025 (sure they might weed out one or two but given that in 2024 we have six (!), that's still a significant amount overall). LEGO are very close-lipped about their prices, and apparently forbid retailers from disclosing them, but from comments I've heard over the years retailers ought to get the products at a discount of roughly 20-30%. Which means that at least in German-speaking countries, Amazon would sell most sets at at loss (unless they get considerably more of a discount than others giving their purchasing power). Most physical stores - both smaller ones and chain stores - carry the sets at list price. But between marking down individual sets that don't sell well and general promotions like "20% off all toys" before holidays, they cannot make all that much of a profit on them either. Honestly, I doubt that any regular toy store or chain carries LEGO for the profits! However, LEGO is - at current - still a major toy brand, and a toy store that doesn't carry any LEGO would be considered to have a poor selection which in turn would hurt the rest of their sales. Which is, presumably, why retailers put up with LEGO's increasingly ridiculous list prices. Including the ones for their advent calendars. But this position depends on LEGO being able to a) defend its market share with kids, and b) keep the more affordable alternatives out of toy aisles, so we'll see how long it lasts. I don't think LEGO are going to be focusing on making affordable playset for kids anytime soon, with the exception of stuff like EUR 10 Friends sets which are often decent value for money. The new Hogwarts Great Hall set is EUR 200 and next year's Main Tower is supposed to be EUR 250 - again, for playsets! Even worse, for playsets with removable sections which you're supposed to replace with additional sets to be sold seperately! Right now, LEGO seem to be focusing mainly on sueing competitors in order to keep them out, along with catering to the AFOL market. Which works but only as long as there are enough affluent, brand-conscious AFOLs around. From what I see in daily life, LEGO are slowly but surely losing relevance among kids. That's of course just a limited perspective given where I live and who I interact with - but pretty much the only kids I know who are into LEGO are those with AFOL parents, and then not all of them. Others might have the odd small set they've been given by their peers at a birthday party, and that's it. Overall, kids seem to be less into building bricks in the first place (which might well account for LEGO's increasingly frantic attempts to push their apps and online series) and then to care less about specifically getting LEGO sets as opposed to any other brand. So I'd be really interested in hearing what LEGO's long-term strategy is. Their main AFOL target group of nostalgic 90s kids is going to dry up eventually.

Well that's a retailers' problem, not so much LEGO 's. The only one LEGO themselves has discounted this heavily was, I think, the Marvel one (which might well be the reason why Marvel reputedly won't get one in 2025). Plus, again, given the price-to-pieces ratio EUR 20 isn't that unreasonable a price, so even if LEGO themselves sold them for that they'd likely still make a profit. The larger issue is that retailers might sell them at a loss but that's probably true of a lot of LEGO Sets, not just advent calendars.

No surprise here. The Marvel calendar was already criticised for having too-common figs, I don't think a collection of like three Batmans and three Jokers would go over any better. ;-)

Like I've said in the HP thread, I cannot imagine they'd stop with them completely. (You also forgot Disney in your list, yes, there's another one now!). Advent calendars are easy money for LEGO given the price-content ratio. And more importantly, everyone is doing them! By "everyone" I mean both other brick companies (Bluebrixx, for example, had a bunch of them this year) and other toy companies like Playmobil or Schleich. If LEGO stop doing them, people won't stop buying advent calendars, but they'll grab a Playmobil or Schleich one (or for the AFOLs a Bluebrixx one) instead, so LEGO would really only play into the competitors' hands. I can imagine them taking a break for single themes like Marvel, especially if the last one didn't sell, or to switch one theme for another with a fairly close target group - like Friends and Disney might not need one each, or maybe we'll get a Ninjago or even DC one instead of Marvel? But I cannot imagine they'll stop doing them completely. Besides, the HP one this year was just stuff for people to beef up their Hogwarts Castle Great Halls (which had a list price of EUR 200 to begin with) and the summer wave includes the Hogwarts Castle Main Tower with a list price of EUR 250, so there should be plenty of empty space again that needs filling, too.

First of all, LEGO doesn't make sets solely for movie-goers. The books are still a thing, new boxed editions are being released pretty regularly for both kids and adults, and those do factor into our enjoyment of the sets. It's not just Harry's incessant whining in OotP - the books (and movies) generally become a lot less fun after GoF. Just compare Lockhart and Umbridge, the teacher foils in CoS and OotP! Both are despicable people but Lockhart's despicable in a hilarious way with his incompetence and his obsession with looking good and his hints to Harry about being famous and his pride in having won an award for his smile. With Umbridge, all you get is Dumbledore handing over Hogwarts to a child abuser. In addition, the focus on classes becomes less with each book, mostly just one or two classes per book (Divination and DADA in PoA, DADA in GoF and OotP, Potions in HBP), whereas the first book introduces plenty of classes, even ones LEGO has never done (such as Binn's History class). So yes, like most everything else HP (Hagrid's Hut, the Burrow, Hedwig ...) PS and CoS themed Castle expansions have been done to death, but that's because the earliest books are the best suited to them (with later books filiing in gaps such as Divination). I don't think LEGO's all that interested in taking risks with the theme these days. Even Malfoy Manor neatly fits with the Ministry and Grimmauld Place in a mini series of dark location sets. They'll do one every other year - Lovegood House or possibly Spinner's End might well be next - but other than that it's the same old, same old.

Well to be fair, OotP is easily the worst of the books next to DH. There's a limit to how much of Harry's whining, Hermione's crying, and Ron's being a jealous megablocks the average reader is willing to endure. We've slogged through it because we'd already come this far, but PS and CoS are much more accessible on several levels, and much more accessible to a younger audience especially - thus of more interest to what is, after all, still a toy company. The 2007 Hogwarts Castle which is based on OotP came out in 2007 when the movie was newly released - that's a very different thing from making OotP the focus of a large castle set now. Though I do think the "most detailed Hogwarts ever" should have Umbridge somewhere in it. How about an Umbridge's Office to swap with Dumbledore's?

LEGO might well give us that scene soon. Since their new line is apparently "HP: Death Scenes" between Hedwig in the motorcycle set and Dobby in the Manor. I agree that a Ministry sounds awesome and like something that could really benefit from the larger scope of a D2C. However, I doubt LEGO would take the risk. We've had the Ministry olny once before, that set was heavily criticised and I cannot imagine it sold well. Plus it's kind of the bad guy lair in story terms. Much safer, in recent years, for LEGO to limit their D2Cs to generelly well-regarded concepts like Hogwarts Castle, the Hogwarts Express, the Burrow, or Diagon Alley/Gringotts (the latter was probably the biggest risk and I cannot imagine they would have taken it if not for the success of Diagon Alley, which probably explains the long wait). I mean the Hogwarts Express one kind of failed but that was due to execution only - when they first announced a Hogwarts Express D2C everyone was thrilled.

I've read somewhere that the designers deliberately left out Gringotts initially because it was the only thing iconic enough that it could be done later, on its own. Nothing else really qualifies. Not many people are going to want to start their DAs with Potage's Cauldrons and a bunch of other shops that are seen on-screen for half a second only from the outside, while missing out on the likes of Ollivander's and WWW. And LEGO don't do pubs even with the expert modulars, it's getting kind of noticeable. The latest one has something that very, very much looks like a pub but calls itself an inn. The only instance I can think of where they did a building that explicitly serves alcohol was the Hogsmeade Village Visit, and I guess no-one had told them that in JK's world, the go-to drink for thirteen-year-olds is supposed to be alcoholic. Don't get me wrong, I'd love seeing a DA Expansion! I just don't think we will.

Unlikely IMO. The D2C Alley retires at the end of 2025, making another add-on for it in mid-2025 seems like a bit of a weird decision. Plus the Leaky Cauldron is a pub and LEGO isn't fond of those.

Meh. I've seen them both displayed. The D2C Alley is lovely, lots of detail and interesting techniques. The Great Hall is just an oversized, rather empty playset. They may have a similar footprint but I don’t really think they play in the same league design-wise. The same for the modular comparison - these days modular buildings are crammed to the rafters with detail. You can't compare that to a sparsely decorated "starter set" even if they are outwardly roughly the same size. I don't know, but I have a suspicion what they will put in the AC: stuff to beef up the EUR 250 Main Tower. Seriously, no way are we not getting a bunch of ACs. I don't know about Marvel but in general that's really easy money for LEGO (given the prices and the fact that it's just minibuilds and minifigs) and everyone else is doing them - even other brick companies such as Bluebrixx- so they'd just leave the field to the competitors if they opted out.

I'd assumed those leaks came from retailers, so that might explain the lack of D2Cs. As for the AC, maybe it's a scheduling thing? Like maybe those sets are all June releases and the ACs come in September? Just a wild guess

How is EUR 100 cheap? The playset DA sets have all been horribly overpriced so far. Ollivander's and MM's had a list price of EUR 90 for 700+ pieces, WWW a list price of EUR 95 for 800+ pieces. I'm assuming that QQS won't look like its D2C counterpart but like its counterpart in the microscale DA (with the blue and the hoops upstairs). If we go by that, it seems to be one of the larger buildings there but not as large as WWW. And Fortescue's in the same set is tiny! Together, I doubt those two could have much more of a footprint than Ollivander's and MM's. I'm curious about the Monster Book. At EUR 60 it had better be substantial. Maybe it's sort of a follow-up to those trunk sets - a book as a container where you can store buildable monsters and take them out to play with them? True, the quality of the 2021 Hogwarts system varies. Though I'd rate the Room of Requirement among the good sets as well, I actually like it better than the Hospital Wing. Also the Chamber of Secrets set itself was pretty good (if overpriced). But there's a large gulf between addressing the previous complaints (that is: not using gridded plates, making the modules a tad bigger, and not churning out lackluster efforts like the Fluffy Encounter or Sirius Black's Rescue) and expecting us to pay a total of EUR 450 for just TWO parts of the castle - the same parts that were (apart from the underground section) both done in a single EUR 100 set in 2018! Or to pay around EUR 40 for a single class module (EUR 20 for a half-module), effectively doubling the prices of the 2021 system. That's just ridiculously expensive for playsets. There has to be some kind of middle ground. To put things in perspective: EUR 450 (the price of the Great Hall and Staircase Tower) will get you the D2C Diagon Alley, even at its increased list price (it used to be just EUR 400). It pretty much gets you the entire microscale D2C castle at over 6.000 pieces. The lastest modular building, 2025's Tudor Corner, is EUR 230 - cheaper than the Staircase Tower! And those are all well-designed, finished sets which you aren't supposed to improve by replacing parts of them with additional sets! We're straying far from playset pricing here.

I cannot imagine that they'd include the Chamber of Secrets in a tower set, surely that will be its own location. Dumbledore's Office and the Gryffindor common room/Gryfindor dorms all sound fairly likely, and I'm assuming that they'll be switchable (read: look very sparse), too. Or maybe we'd get one of them in the set, say, a sparse Gryffindor common room (akin to the Hufflepuff one), which you can then switch with an additional Gryffindor dorm set?

That was me. Based on the fact that there's already a competing product which does (by Reobrix).Though that one is over 3.000 pieces, I'm assuming LEGO's version will have a lot less. Still, I think it's another instance of LEGO looking towards the competition, gauging which of their products sell and trying to include them in their own portfolio so as to prevent customers from straying.

I think us getting new random bystanders in QQS is all but certain, they've done it for every one of the DA playsets so far (the Owl Post employee, the student in the wheelchair, the flower-selling witch) and are continuing the trend with the sleeping witch in the Knight Bus. Yes. A tower filled with stairs and portraits is hardly the most exciting thing, they have to combine it with something in order to be able to give us a halfway decent interior. I'll leave you with a MOC by BonkersBricks:

The usual place, HP subsection. If the Aunt Marge set is indeed Privet Drive, I'd expect its full name to be something like "Privet Drive: Aunt Marge's Visit" akin to what we've had with Hagrid’s Hut. Otherwise it might well be another buildable atrocity like the motorcycle set with Harry, Marge, and Ripper. I also don't see why they'd give us Marge in minifig form since that would defeat the point of including her at all (as her only iconic scene is her getting blown up).

It doesn't actually have to be Privet Drive just from the set name. Might still be a buildable figure of Aunt Marge or, like someone else has said, just a scene with part of the house in it. Technically we did get a greenhouse with the Astronomy Tower! (Before that with the OotP castle, but that's a long way back.) I'm assuming the lesson will be Mandrakes again because what else would it be. Meh, I hope not. That is, if we do get him in that form I hope he'll at least look better! They have done Hedwig to death (literally since the last set she's in is her death scene), is Fawkes the new Hedwig? Also, someone on Reddit pointed out that "Dumbledore's Phoenix" instead of "Fawkes" is an odd set name and that the description could possibly refer to Dumbledore's phoenix patronus as well (akin to the Expecto Patronum set which is retiring by the end of the year). I'm really amazed that they're continuing with the series. I can't imagine the sets sell well at those prices! I also notice that - like with Ollivander's and Madam Malkin's before - they've dropped the "Diagon Alley:" part of the name. This time not even Fortescue's name is in it! As for the combination, if LEGO loves anything it's cafés and the like. The other options for non-plot relevant, secondary shops - like Slug and Jigger's, Mr Mulpepper's, Potage's and so on - are all fairly obscure with fairly "boring" (to kids!) wares. Though you're right that for anyone who owns the D2C this sounds like an easy skip. Any guesses about pricing? The Book Nook and Main Tower sound like they'd be well over EUR 100 each (the tower could well be over EUR 200 depending on size). The DA set will probably be at least EUR 80 again. As for the others it really depends on execution.

And even more limited for actual clothes if their only option is the LEGO version of Madam Malkin's. Which sells stuff like caps, top hats, and tuxedos, but very little in the way of, you know, robes, witches' hats, and other wizarding apparel.

Yes. They're called Umbridge. Though, no, she's actually referred to as a pink toad. ;-)

@Accio LegoYou may be right! The unicorn horn kind of makes sense that way as well (but only kind of, since if it represents an actual horn it's way oversized for the scale). I really think they chose poorly trying to do DA shop interiors in miniscale, given that they cannot go below 1x1 stud pieces and given that most of the shops' wares are already small even in minifig-scale. The exteriors are fine, but the interiors seem severely lacking to me. For the first time ever, I'm kind of wishing LEGO had limited themselves to exteriors on this one.

Thanks for the help, @mark1991tand @Black Falconand @Accio Lego! I've edited my earlier post in order to include your findings. So to recap, the microscale Diagon Alley seems to consist of: Left side: Leaky Cauldron with the Knight Bus, Magical Menagerie (available as part of the Gringotts D2C set), Madam Malkin's (available as a playset with Ollivander's), QQS (available as part of the 2020 D2C set), Eeyelops, Fountain of Fair Fortune? (or apothecary, possibly Slug and Jigger's or Mulpepper's, according to @Accio Lego), Sugarplum's?, Borgin and Burke's (has not been available as part of a larger set since 2011, though there was the recent floo GWP) Middle: Gringotts (available as a D2C set) Right side: Owl Post Office? (available as a playset with WWW), Scribbulus (availale as part of the 2020 D2C set), Ollivander's (available as a playset with Madam Malkin's and also as part of the 2020 D2C set), Wiseacre's, Fortescue's (available as part of the 2020 D2C set), Flourish and Blotts (available as part of the 2020 D2C set), entrance to Knockturn Alley (available as part of the 2020 D2C set and also: This doesn't correspond with Borgin and Burke's location at all!), WWW (available as a playset with the Owl Post Office and also as part of the 2020 D2C set) So the following sets are included but not available in a larger version: Leaky Cauldron, Eeyelops, Fountain of Fair Fortune?, Sugarplum's?, Borgin and Burke's, Wiseacre's In addition, the following have not been made into playsets: Magical Menagerie, QQS, Gringotts, Scribbulus, Fortescue's, Flourish and Blotts, entrance to Knockturn Alley Honestly, I'd be surprised if we got any of the missing sets as playsets anytime soon, with the exception of Borgin and Burke's and possibly (but not that likely given that it's a pub) the Leaky Cauldron. (Though I'd find it sort of hilarious if LEGO balked at making a pub but happily gave us a shop selling dark artefacts, including but not limited to a murderer's cut-off hand, instead.) The other four have no iconic scenes taking place there (granted, neither had the Owl Post Office, so we cannot completely rule them out). Flourish and Blotts has the Lockhart book signing so I'd expect them to get around to that sometime soon (if they even continue with the series - I'd not be surprised if they wouldn't), same with Gringotts. And most of the others from the D2C sets with the exception of Scribbulus at least have interesting wares to offer (Magical Menagerie - animals, QQS - Quidditch stuff, Fortescue's - LEGO love their cafés) so they'd make good side builds despite their lack of plot relevance. Also I still have no idea what the actual scale of the microscale Diagon Alley is supposed to be. Like, why are the owls "Z-Blob" pieces but the frog is an actual, minifig-scale frog? Edited just now by brickbride