brickbride

Really? I don't care much for the HP movies in general, but yeah, that implication about Fleur seems truly unfortunate to me, too. And there aren't many strong women in JK's world either, compared to the number of men. There's a reason why Hermione and especially Luna appear in so many sets, even though Luna at least isn't an important character. Or why Harry's main love interest in the books is a girl who he has barely any interaction with! Throughout the books Harry's female classmates are portrayed much more unfavourably than his male classmates (such as Lavender and Parvati, the vain and giggling Trelawney fangirls, vs. "regular blokes" Dean and Seamus). This might tie into some of JK's other unfortunate attitudes such as love potions being no big deal, marriage right out of high school being the ideal you should aspire to, or Lily's marriage to a bully who tormented her supposed best friend for almost a decade being the height of romance. As for the HBO series: For better or worse I'd expect the characters to look vastly different from their movie counterparts. In some cases this might restore faithfulness to their book counterparts (such as Snape, Sirius, and Lupin all being in their early thirties), in others it might be done to increase diversity. I could also see the few canonical students of colour getting bigger, expanded roles. At that point, the difference between show and movie sets would presumably be noticeable. Personally, I wouldn't care. I like looking at my Snape minifigures because I like the book version of Snape, even though he doesn't have either a glow-in-the-dark head or a purple shirt. I don't think many kids would care either, for the same reason - they like a character and want to be able to play them, that's all. But given how many people are hung up on small details such as a minifigure finally getting a new torso print, a "better" faceprint, or printed legs, I'd expect the majority of adult fans to disagree.

But ... but it's the most detailed Hogwarts ever! /s

I think a lot of people will be glad to get Percy. Presumably in casual clothes, though with Percy it would also make sense for him to wear his Hogwarts outfit from the book-exklusiven figure (with the badge) at home.

As for 6., Google translator gives me "Molly, Arthur, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George, Percy, Errol and - of course - Harry (and one more)". This would suggest eight actual known minifigs plus Errol plus "one more" (which could be a human character or not). So no Charlie and likely no Bill, either. Though of course the information would depend on just how well the source can tell the individual Weasleys apart. But the characters mentioned all correspond with the rooms (except for Errol and Harry) so it makes sense. As for 7., it specifically says "all graphic elements in the set are to be prints, including Quidditch team logos, posters and bedding." Make of that what you will. Source (the paragraph under the picture of the advent calendar that starts with a green "UPDATE"): https://fanklockow.pl/2024/06/04/zapowiedzi-lego-2024-harry-potter/

Brick Clicker has confirmed that the retro radio will have a sound brick. That's 906 pieces including a sound brick for EUR 110, and presumably a decent subject and design to go with it. Like I've said, can anyone explain the Sorting Hat's pricing? All that comes to mind is that they've designed the sound brick specifically for HP so HP had to budget for a new part and all the other themes get it as an existing part for cheaper. But that makes no real sense given how close the sets are to each other in terms of release, and also why then would the sound brick be lavender of all colours and not reddish brown?

Brick Clicker has a new video out. At 5:11, it shows a back of the box pic of the Great Hall. You can see where to attach the Boathouse, and also that the bases of the troll bathroom and Hufflepuff commom room split in two (or actually in three, since the back walls remain). It still makes for a crappy and overpriced display set but it's not terribly designed as an, again way overpriced, play set.

Much as I like the idea of a Hogwarts Bathrooms Expansion Pack (TM), I really cannot see it. I didn't say that the house ghost must appear in common room sets. I merely said that the Fat Friar, as a figure we've never had before, would have been the main draw for a Hufflepuff common room set. We've already had Sprout and enough Hufflepuff students that they're down to very obscure characters (such as Leanne Nolastname) for new faces. So the fact that the Fat Friar is included in the Great Hall set tells me that they're not planning on releasing a separate common room set, at least not one targeted at people who already own the Great Hall. Sorry if that was unclear! The same with the troll. Whether it fits into the tiny module isn't even relevant to me; the main reason anyone would buy a troll bathroom module is the troll, and since they've included it in the Great Hall set, that tells me they're not planning on releasing a separate module with the same troll targeted at Great Hall buyers. Bathrooms aren't exactly hard to MOC, and the Polyjuice Potions Mistake set the bar really high in that regard and would probably be easy to adapt to the new module sizes. So I don't think they'll focus a lot on bathrooms with the new system. Also, they're claiming that this is going to be the most detailed Hogwarts ever. Judging from the modules we've had so far, the detail quality of the individual modules is quite underwhelming. I think, therefore, what they mean is that this Hogwarts will provide the most locations we haven't had before, at least not in a Hogwarts system, such as the Hufflepuff common room (only before done in Banners form). So I'd expect them to focus on giving us a lot of new locations, either ones that have never been done (such as the kitchens) or ones that haven't been part of a Hogwarts system (such as Transfiguration class which we've only had in a Moments book). I wouldn't expect them to take up valuable slots with repeats (i.e. another, better Hufflepuff common room or troll bathroom for the current system) and I also wouldn't expect much in terms of quality from the individual modules. Otherwise this "most detailed Hogwarts" system is going to take ages to complete. (And we know that the next, 2027, system is probably already being designed.) However, I agree with you that they'll give us something to replace those ugly starter modules with - I just don't think they'll give us the same things. For example: The Slytherin common room is canonically in the dungeons, and the Slytherin house ghost is a much-wanted minifig we've never had. I can therefore see them doing a Slytherin common room as a stand-alone, like the Potions class, which you could replace the Hufflepuff common room with. That would be a likely set idea for next year, in fact, since we've started the new system with PS/SS, so presumably CoS is next, and the Slytherin common room plays a fairly important role in that story.

How would the troll bathroom be a placeholder? Since this set includes the troll (and that probably gobbled up a large part of their budget!), why wouldn't you want to display it in its element? This is the only room where the troll's presence makes sense. I guess they could eventually relase another, more detailed bathroom, but then you'd have two trolls. Or do you mean that they'll eventually release a more detailed bathroom without the troll - a set that only makes sense for those who have the Great Hall? 'Cause I really can't see that. The same for the Hufflepuff common room - why would they go to the trouble of including the Hufflepuff house ghost if they were already planning on releasing another, more detailed Hufflepuff common room? To me, it looks more like the designers weren't talking to each other. Like in the previous system where they couldn't agree on a consistent colour for windows (the Hospital Wing's white windows really stand out), or the system before that where they used those butt-ugly white doorframes instead of tan ones for the Astronomy tower and no other set. Presumably, here, someone was told to make a EUR 40 Potions Class module with such-and-such dimensions, but the design for the modules that came with the Great Hall happens to be way different.

New city sets have a bunch of new animals that might be useful for a tropical setting: large and small crocodile, large and small gorilla, tiger, red panda. Also there's a harbour set (60422) in case your pirates are more modern-minded. ("Bring us those yummy pirates!")

Since the June wave of HP sets has now been officially revealed, I've gone back and included pics. Also: THE JUNE WAVE INCLUDES A PIRATE SHIP! Well, technically it's the Durmstrang ship (76440), and it comes with a carriage. But that might actually work for, like, a governor's carriage, too? Another new set, Friends 42638, is some weird b&b-slash-castle building. As a castle it's probably not that useful, but I could see elements of it for, like, a governor's mansion in some tropical surroundings? This Friends waterpark set has a cool build of a jellyfish, plus the ruined temple part on top of the slides might be worth a second glance: Other than that, - Heartlake City Kindergarten has a boy (microdoll, unfortunately) with an unprinted pirate hat; - several of the new Friends sets have fern pieces in dark green.

Do you mean the Durmstrang ship? While there hasn’t been one for a while, there was one in 2005. We’ve actually had one more recently than we’ve had a Troll on the loose! The Durmstrang ship looks great – not my area of collection, but it does look great. Bonus points for making the carriage smaller in order to save on parts, and for giving Maxime proper legs. I’m fed up with all those minifigs that you cannot pose in HP. (The Great Hall is very bad about this, again, with all the skirt pieces and short legs.) The Potions class has a number of nice new parts and a great new Snape, BUT as an add-on to the new modular system it’s pretty rubbish. So, what – you have to fold the sides around the base, stack all the random stuff that doesn’t fit on the base, throw in the minifigs, and then slide it in instead of one of the other modules? That doesn’t make for a great display (since you can now only see the front wall with the door, and also this doesn’t fit with the Great Hall’s existing modules which don’t have front walls or doors). But it doesn’t give you ease of play, either, since you cannot just slide it out and play with it like the Troll or Hufflepuff common room modules; you have to take it out and re-arrange all minifigs and loose parts. It’s basically a glorified Moments book, except those actually looked very nice while closed. Also, as has been pointed out, you now have nowhere to put the other module you had to remove in order to make room for this one. When I heard that they were making the Potions Class as an add-on to the new system, I figured it would be in the same style – that is, two side walls and a back wall to add onto the Great Hall at one of the existing connection points, and a module-inside-the-module you could slide out for ease of play. What they’ve done instead seems poorly thought-out to me. Also, so far we’ve had four sets for the new system. And one’s the Great Hall with the slide-outs, one’s the Potions class which isn’t really compatible with that, and two are stand-alones with no sliding-out functions at all. The timeline’s all over the place, too – this is understandable when combining several sets, but as it is, it’s somehow Halloween in the Great Hall’s dungeons while it’s Christmas in the Great Hall. (A wasted opportunity for including Halloween decorations, given that the Advent Calendar could easily have supplied the Christmas decorations on its own.) This new system seems a lot less cohesive than the 2021 system already (and that’s saying something). EDIT: I've just found that a German retailer, JB Spielwaren, has the Great Hall up for EUR 170 (apparently the list price is EUR 200, not EUR 220 as in several of the leaks) and you can get the Bloody Baron as a custom minifig to go with it! Just putting this out there since so many people are wanting the Baron. https://www.jb-spielwaren.de/lego-76435-schloss-hogwarts-die-grosse-halle/a-76435/

I don't think so. In the last few years, HP has had three ghosts that weren't glow in the dark and one that was (not just the head!), but the difference is quite obvious: Nearly Headless Nick - glow in the dark Nearly Headless Nick - NOT glow in the dark

The lady from the advent calendar is one of several ghosts in Harry Potter; some of the others might work for statues as well: hp145 Nearly Headless Nick (there's also a glow-in-the-dark version but that's probably of less interest) hp411 The Grey Lady (not to be confused with the lady in the grey dress from above) hp??? The Fat Friar (will be included in 76435 - official pictures out now; here he's on the far right) Also, another HP set, 76431, comes with a new flask piece in two different colours that might also be of interest. In that case, I daresay the white face is a good substitute.

I think the white head could work for a powdered face in combination with a less ghostly dress; though I like the Rococo Aristocrat's yellow face with white printing better for that purpose.

That advent calendar is almost too targeted. As if LEGO were reading our comments (which they well might be) and knowing exactly what will sell. It's an uncanny and baffling departure from the usual "Let's just throw a EUR 100 crappily designed Sorting Hat at them since they'll buy anything" attitude.

Just popping in to say that according to StoneWars, new parts are in including a spacemen helmet in green. In case anyone's interested.

I think it's kind of telling that most people who seem to like it go " looks good, now all I need to do is mod it/combine it with the 2018 Great Hall". Modular system notwithstanding, apparently we're past the point where a EUR 220 flagship set is expected to look awesome on its own.

Please ignore

You're right, Fluffy Encounter came out in June 2021, same as PPM and the Chamber of Secrets. I wasn't actually suggesting that the quality went down the longer the system was on the market, just that it was hit-or-miss in general. PPM was excellent, Chamber of Secrets was overpriced but still pretty good, Hospital Wing and Room of Requirement were some of the better entries as well. Then we had Dumbledore's Office consisting of a good library part and a much worse Dumbledore's tower part, and bottom-liners like Sirius Black's Rescue and the Fluffy Encounter. So, yeah, I can see why people criticize the modular system and especially the lackluster interior design in SOME sets, but that wasn't a problem ALL of the sets had. To me it just seems that when LEGO choses to retread the same ground again and again and again (such as by rebooting Hogwarts every few years), it often doesn't do things BETTER overall. Even if prices remained constant, it would be debatable whether the 2021 modular system was an improvement over the 2018 one (but at least they went for a completely different approach to suit different tastes), and even more so whether the 2024 modular system was an improvement over 2021 (especially given that it looks very similar overall). Now add the price increases which are often quite steep, especially here - no way would inflation account for this much of an increase, and like I've said, you might get more pieces but you don't actually get a larger footprint -, and each new system becomes less attractive to me. Do you have pics? That sounds awesome.

I haven't heard anything like that and don't expect it. The more I look at Madam Malkin's, the more baffled I am by the shop's selection. It's called "robes for all occasions" but you know what they don't carry? Robes! (With skirt pieces.) And witch hats.

Apart from what I have already written: The new Great Hall is supposed to have 1732 pieces, about 550 more than the Chamber of Secrets (1176). First of all, at that piece count and a reported EUR 220 it seems overpriced to me - even compared to the Chamber of Secrets, which I found overpriced, too. (It's now EUR 150 though I think it started out lower.) Sure, the new set has ten figs and a bigfig, but the other had ten figs plus golden Voldie plus owls plus a basilisk. And I cannot see where all the parts go, now that we know the size. I've already found the old modular system kinda wasteful, since you had to build adjacent walls twice and then tile all the ceilings, but apparently the new system with the slide-out modules is worse. To put things in perspective: For the piece count of the Great Hall, under the 2021 system you'd have gotten the Chamber of Secrets AND a good mid-sized set like the Room of Requirement. Which would have netted you fifteen regular figs, golden Voldie, owls, a pixie, the basilisk, and the fiendfyre snake. And you'd STILL have paid less!

Meh. The Polyjuice Potion Mistake was one of the best HP sets ever in my opinion, and the Chamber of Secrets had pretty decent interiors throughout. Though I agree that some of the later sets, like the Fluffy Encounter and Sirius Black's Rescue, didn't live up to them. But honestly, based on what we've seen so far, the troll bathroom (apart from the troll itself), corridor, and Hufflepuff common room modules are nothing much to write home about either, design-wise. And the courtyard seems to be empty and the Great Hall seems to mostly be taken from the 2021 set with a higher ceiling but no fireplace. I don't see any vast improvements here. Certainly not EUR 70 woth of them!

If you feel that way, I'm not sure how much you'll enjoy the new system since it's still going to be modular. But we'll see.

I very much doubt it, for several reasons: 1) The Chamber of Secrets is one of the most iconic parts of the castle and has traditionally been the focus of the more expensive sets (flagship of 2002 to complement 2001's castle, flagship of the 2021 reboot), so it would make sense for it to be its own set rather than just replacement modules. 2) If, as has been noted, the blurry pic shows us the intended shape of the castle, they're going to need a bunch more underground modules to build this shape. There's not actually that many locations that are canonically underground. 3) How would you even cram a basilisk into one of those tiny slide-out modules? If I had to guess, I'd expect the Chamber of Secrets to be the flagship of another wave (maybe next year's), similar in style to the Great Hall with some aboveground sections (like Myrtle's toilet or Lockhart's classroom or the corridor with the "Enemies of the Heir, beware" graffiti) and some dungeon sections. Those might still be slide-outs, but I guess they could make an extra long one or something to accommodate a basilisk. I'm also guessing that the Potions Class is going to be not only a slide-out module but a slide-out module complete with walls so you can attach it to the Great Hall rather than just replace one of the others. Like I've said, they're going to need underground locations. And EUR 38 is still very pricey for what I'm expecting but would be downright crazy for just a slide-out module.