strangely

Doing some additional digging it seems possible the wench is referencing Oswald. In California Adventure there's Oswald's Service Station and there's even a pin for this with him holding a wrench. I could see the bone being a connection to Cruella.

Interesting teaser, they could be hinting at who's in the CMF. From what I can see: Woody's Hat, Mad Hatter Hat, Genie's Lamp, Donald Ducks Hat, Minnie Mouse's Bow. Then we have; a Wrench, a bone, a flower, a teapot. Teapot could be referencing Alice in Wonderland or Beauty and the Beast (Mrs. Potts). Dog Bone could be a reference to Pluto. The flower could be a reference to a lot of different things, Beast's rose comes to mind first for me. No clue on the wrench.

I mean, I definitely think Harry Potter contributed to the popularization of the boarding school scenario, but I don't think it's to blame for this. I do think the shared experience of school and relatability is part of the popularity of the setting, but I also think school can be a rich setting for escapist content. For example school can be an escape from family, and it can be where you can start developing your identity outside of the family unit. Being a tween/teen in school can mean newfound independence, new experiences, more complex relationships. It's the start of growing into adulthood without having to be totally responsible for yourself. I think as a child these concepts can make for a compelling narrative, school can be just as much of an escape for a kid as anything else. And when you look at visual media history you can see this slice of life school adventures escapism being popular as far back as the 30's and 40's with movie serials like Andy Hardy or the Teen Agers. I think at this point it's just kind of trend that comes and goes and right now it's in.

Yeah, that was definitely the case. It's still a good minifigure, it's just disappointing that they used her here rather than in one of the previous CMF's where we could have gotten a more accurate version.

My one issue with the design for Rita Skeeter is the lack of leg printing. They did a great job with the detail on the torso, even capturing that shiny looking fabric, but nothing for the legs. The detailed torso just makes the legs look excessively plain.

I mean, Crookshanks is a huge cat (being half fantastic beast after all), so I don't mind the size. I'll agree it's a bit cartoony looking, but I think with the right printing it would be usable. Here's my attempt at it: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwL289r08R/

I hope the new cat mold from next year's friends sets gets used for Crookshanks eventually.

I'm really looking forward to this wave, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. I'm hoping we get a new Velociraptor mold at a small scale (similar to the Atrociraptor, though I'd also be okay with them just recoloring that mould). I'd also like to see some updates to characters for better accuracy, including hat/hair mold for Alan, accurate hair for Ellie, hat/hair combo for Lex and dual molded short legs for Tim. I'm most looking forward to the Visitor Center. Being an 18+ set I'm guessing it'll just be a diorama of the main rotunda with the stairs, murals, fossils and the banner. However I'm kind of hoping they include the front doors and some of the facade around it.

Given the age group I'm guessing the sets might just portray a character scribbling their crushes name in a notebook, talking to them on the computer or hanging out together. The Friends characters are at most in their early teens, so I think they'll just do the typical first crush kid stuff. The show might elaborate on it more, but I'm sure it'll be very innocent there too. I got that impression initially, but now I'm not so certain. Leo wears pink and loves to bake. Nova dresses in black and blue and loves gaming. Liann is a skateboarder. It seems like most of the Friends don't conform to the old stereotypical boy/girl interests/norms, so I think it's just as possible that Olly is straight. Maybe in the end he'll turn out to be gay, but for now I'm thinking they're actually just trying to portray a diverse range of personalities/interests. I think the other interesting thing about the personalities at play is that they've gone out of their way to show that these kids aren't perfect. Autumn is a rulebreaker, Aliya helps people cheat, Zac is a sore loser, Liann often gets in trouble, Nova is socially awkward, Paisley is shy. I appreciate that they're trying to make the characters more relatable and less cookie cutter. They're not perfect, they're just kids trying to figure things out.

Looks like the compartment door might be a new piece, kind of hard to tell for certain. Official pictures have improved my opinion. I like the cabin designs and some of the minifigures. I still don't love the scale of it or the price.

I feel like the scale of the train is off. It looks too big to me in comparison to the minifigures standing on the platform. I think this might be a skip for me.

I could see the Goblin showing up in a winter set (maybe in one of those 'experience' sets), at least it seems possible since the other figure designs all seem to come from real sets. But that's about all I could see coming of this (and even that seems a bit too optimistic). I think with all the large HP sets on shelves right now it seems pretty unlikely that we're going to see a proper Gringotts in the immediate future (at least not until one of the other large sets retires). I do think it's possible we'll see a couple of small Gringotts sets sooner rather than later. There's a good variety of scenes that happen in Gringotts and honestly it makes more sense for Lego to piece them out into different sets rather than trying to jam them all into one gigantic set (if they built Gringnott's in the style of the other Diagon Alley buildings there's no way that build would fit much more than the lobby and a vault).

Maybe a trophy case from the trophy room? Also, they didn't give Moaning Myrtle leg printing! Why do a downgraded version from the CMF?

I think this movie is one of those 'so bad, it's good' films. A 90s fever dream that cost millions. It's definitely not for everyone. I personally love how cheesy, stupid and ridiculous it is.

Looking at the set again, I think the only thing that bothers me is some of the minifigure design choices. I feel like Pam, Angela and Toby's hair pieces are kind of a miss. Angela should have had mid-legs (which I'll use when I get the set). I also dislike that only Pam was given a skirt as most of the women of the office wore skirts most of the time (I think I'll swap in some dual molded legs to correct this). Meredith utterly got the shaft here, not a single unique piece. Her likeness is pretty bad, so I'll definitely end up swapping her out.

Good catch. Meredith has Claire's face and Hermione's sweater lol. They really should have used the mid legs for Angela.

Kind of a meh series, it's weird that the theme is basically Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas. But there are at least a few interesting parts. The Hobby Horse will be great for Victorian mocs, it's actually pretty cool to get an old school toy like this in Lego form. The candy cane is pretty handy too, it'll be great for use as a cane or for an open umbrella.

Wow, the gwp is actually incredible. I'm blown away.

That mystery torso is so familiar to me. It reminds me of how Ron dresses in the later films, but I can't quite place it. It kind of makes me think of Stranger Things as well. I'm actually kind of glad to get a Moaning Myrtle in this color scheme. I like the CMF version, but it's a little too blue to me. Neville's sweater is a bit meh to me, I think I might like the older version better, but maybe it'll grow on me. Getting another Tonks so soon is interesting, but I'm happy to have the variation. I'm a little surprised it took so long to get a decent version of her.

I believe it's Marie from the Aristocats.

They made sets for Multiverse of Madness, which is graphic in most of the same ways, I would even argue it's more graphic than Stranger Things.

I don't foresee an issue, they would just release it in the adult line of sets. And they wouldn't adapt a gory moment into a set anyhow. Lego just released Brickheadz and keychains for the franchise, if they had a problem with the show they'd have surely cut ties by now.

I really hope they make more sets. Stranger Things 4 is pretty amazing. I'd love to get Creel house in Lego form (and Starcourt Mall and the Lab). A CMF would be great too. There's just so much set potential here. Given that the theme made a slight return this year gives me some hope they have something else planned.

I'm a little disappointed they didn't make a new hair mold for Lady Tremaine. They get so close with these designs, but never quite stick the landing. Oh well. I think Cinderella's Castle looks okay, I like the new roof piece with the windows. The Frozen set is pretty lackluster, seems like they phoned that one in.

I would have preferred Peach as a brick built character, but I'm still okay with what they went with. I like the castle, I just wish it were more complete. The price is too much for me though, I'll probably wait for a sale.