Virginia_Bricks

Did we get confirmation that Arcanine, Rayquaza and Munchlax are 18+ build-able Pokemon and not Smart Brick sets? If so, I missed it but I am excited. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but I think Eevee and the Trio are great. Pikachu is good, just not good enough with every other Lego set I want this year and next. Those three just seem like odd choices for the next 18+ sets with being less recognizable than the first set of 18+ Pokemon.

It comes down to the breakdown of flame retardants used in plastic. ABS plastic (what Lego uses) uses brominated plastric retardents so what you are seeing in the yellowing is the bromine. Clearly the lighter the color used, the more obvious the bromine becomes. But effectively the same reaction happens in black bricks as white bricks, you just can't see it in black because the dye is stronger. The reaction occurs most commonly from UV light and heat. Where you live in the world greatly impacts this because UV light is the strongest around the equator and weakens as you head north or south. Also depends on where windows are in the room Lego exists because UV light is strongest during the middle of the day.

If we are getting Eevee in the Pokeball set it feels safe to assume there will be at least a few in that set alone. Pikachu seems like a no brainier. If this is off the original anime, the eevee could be Gary's so each trainer will get their iconic Pokemon. Onyx for Brock seems easy enough and gives some size variety to the moulded Pokemon.

UV glass is expensive, but it does the job and what museums use on artwork. I don't think any of the acrylic cases would help the same way unless they have built in UV protection.

Absolutely. I don't own many solid white sets for this reason. Yet, my 2007 Imperial Landing Craft is relatively untouched. Sure its yellowed, but not to the point you would quickly notice without close inspection. I just bought Gringotts and have the Ghost from a few years back so we will see how they fare. Is it going to stop me from buying Minas Tirith? Not likely, but I went down the rabbit hole earlier this year about Lego changing their white to see if anything they did was to solve yellowing. The new white is a whole lot less opaque so it won't let light through as much, but that makes it almost feel like it will absorb more itself. There is a redditor who has been sun exposing a piece of the new white so we might soon have an answer.

I hope they keep the upscaled carts going for a while. There is a lot to do and I think they look great.

But they follow patterns because when people can leak information is not totally random. D2C sets is harder, but a lot of the retail sets leak because the information was shared with retailers who have less care about keeping those things secret. They get that information on a regular basis from Lego in advance of set releases. Sure the Minas Tirith leak happened early because of a mistake, so something could happen with the GWP, but most GWPs leak about a month before release. Another example besides Smeagol and Deagol was HP's GWP 40770 which leaked on August 7th before a September 1st release. Yet the SW May the 4th GWP leaked a few months ago.

Smeagol and Deagol leaked March 7th, 2025 which was released on April 2nd. So a month in advance. Therefore May is the best bet since Minas Tirith doesn't release till June.

So the exact same mini-figure. Great for those who want him and not buy a now retired, but not sure anyone is really itching for more bell and fossil prints given you always get a spare in each set with them.

Not to continue almost a page of discussion on just GWP practices, but I wonder what having a new distribution facility and production facility in North America allows Lego to do. Its only the second distribution center in the US so adding 2,000,000 sqft of space is significant. Don't think it would be used to store more GWPs, rather growing existing product lines and maybe new product lines (Smart Brick).

Any chance we get another Insiders Reward Mario Kart item? So many options: Red or Green Shell, Banana Peel, Mushroom, etc... Lego has to be seeing the crazy prices that is getting on the secondary market and thinking another one might do well.

There has to be a production run limit. Like they can only run 2,000 copies per production run. So increasing the # of copies would require it be stepped (10,000 to 12,000 to 14,000). Also these decisions have to be done before the set is "released" so they aren't always sure on reception. Last year the Shire GWP lasted forever because the set had a mixed reception. This accidental leak might give them a chance to prepare better because they can tell general sentiment on the set. Also fair to note, that the Fell Beast GWP was the first true LOTR GWP so they were still figuring out how many copies to produce. It ran out fast, but they prepared better for the Shire. I think the only GWP in the US that sold out on Day 1 was the Star Trek Shuttlepod. So a theme debuting and therefore difficult to predict demand.

That wouldn't accomplish their goal: Incentivize day 1 full retail sales. If I knew I could get the GWP later, I would just wait for a good sale or at least 2 VIP. If they made the GWPs more substantial for these large sets it might still work. You would need roughly a $35 GWP to make up for not getting 2x points and honestly probably $50-60 because during Insiders Weekend you can get 2x points and a GWP or two. Personally I think all the large LOTR releases since Rivendell have been on the same par as far as design goes. A lot of people judge the Shire because of its price, but is a really well designed set for its budget limitations. You can't clearly add more interior without increasing the price substantially or evening fixing the trees would cost a decent bit of budget.

Really rough estimate is: Width: 64 studs, Height 60 bricks/72 studs, Depth 32 studs. Used the gate which is about 8 by 12 studs to do the width and height.

Since the consensus is these are still preliminary mini-figs, what are the odds Arwen ends up with skirt printing? Just feels odd to have arm printing and cheap out on skirt printing.

Can they do Erebor under the current license? Sure you could do Khazad-dum, but during the timeline of the LOTR it really isn't the home of the dwarves.

One of my favorite things Lego has started doing in the design of all their large sets is modularity. Not in the sense that you can swap things out, but so when building it is easier to combine a large set together. Barad-Dur did this, the new Death Star did, and Minas Tirith does. Even Rivendell does to a point where the three sections are separable.

8000+ pieces in a licensed theme. Even in architecture price per piece ratios that is a good deal.

Fell Beast was a clear relation to Barad-Dur and the Nazgul. Smeagol and Degaol might not seem related to the Shire, but they were hobbits. Rivendell was before they designed real GWPs and just gave out the BrickHeadz set. It will be Minas Tirith related. But that is a wide scope from something from the Battle of Pelenor Fields to a small interior scene. I'd expect they choose something not likely to be done in a large set so King Theoden/Rohirrim is out of the picture since Edoras/Rohan is still possible.

Yep, they need to verify it before further posting. Consider yourself lucky that you saw it before it got taken down. EDIT: Its legit and on reddit. WOW... Also surpise Arwen in the mini-figure line up. This was already a likely Day 1 buy for me, but if the price point is rumored right at $650 USD this might surpass Rivendell for me.

Send it into BrickTap. I think that would be your best bet. Tips&Bricks show pictures of real sets, but a lot of MOCs as well so they could verify if it is legit or not. In another news, while the east coast of the US was being pounded with snow I finally watched all the LOTR movies. I kind of get why play sets don't make sense in this revival. The majority of LOTR is grand places (Rivendell, Minas Tirith, Lothlorien, Barad-Dur, Orthanc, etc...) or battle/travel scenes. It doesn't lend itself easily to small sets without a lot of compromises. Sure they could do it, but the massive 18+ sets pull off the grandeur better. If I could get one wish for a future set it is Edoras. Helm's Deep or Orthanc in new versions would be nice, but I understand waiting on them. Minas Morgul has so little screen time, though it could be a cool set. Lothlorien would be cool, but not sure how easy you can create that design in budget constraints. The Prancing Pony could be a $200-300 set. As for the GWP, I don't think Grond makes the cut because the exterior is microscale and they would be out of scale with each other. The Witch King vs Eowyn also seems unlikely since there was the Fell Beast GWP. I think it would be a small diorama set (like the WSQK promo) of the interior of Minas Tirith. Something they just couldn't fit inside it and I would put good money on it to include Eowyn.

The rumor stated there was a Chamber of Secrets. Theoretically it could be DH themed and not COS, but that would be a weird turn of events. The only thing I truly want above ground is the Polyjuice Bathroom with a good play function for them to fall down. The Devil's Snare feature in the Main Tower is one of the highlights for me. I'd also prefer they skip Lockhart. I know the Dueling Club set is now retired and that outfit is not right for Chamber scene, but there are so many other characters still missing from this modular wave to repeat Lockhart.

Two thoughts: The rumored $130 set could easily be a new Shrieking Shack. 3 of the possible 8 minifigures are currently in sets (Snape, Lupin, and Hermione) and it will have been 4 years since the last one. Gives you a new Sirius minifigure if the patronus set doesn't include him (and if it does its another easy repeat minifigure) and we had 3 years between the Pettigrew minifigures so seems about time for him. It was a $90 the last time, so with inflation that is roughly $100 now. It was on the higher end at 12 cents per piece so if that stays the same, it should be roughly 250 more pieces in a $130 set. That is enough to widen the house a little to add the bed to the upstairs room and create some stairs from the first floor. Also can build out the Whomping Willow a little better. If I had only one guess at that set, this seems like a good fit with other POA sets coming out last year and this year. On the modular castle, what if the Sorting Hat Ceremony set was a quickly designed set so that when the big Great Hall retires a playset that kind of fits the Great Hall exists, so that 2027 doesn't need a new Great Hall playset? I still believe the Hospital Wing was designed as a way to quickly finish off the modular castle in 3 years and get all 4 common rooms plus major classrooms (DADA, Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions). Lego might have been told by WB they needed series sets for 2027 and since that will be PS, a great time to release a new smaller Great Hall playset. Well now the series is delayed at least to the summer of 2027, so they need another wave of film sets. I expect the East Wing was originally planned to include the Chamber and Slytherin Common Room to finish the series, but what if the Sorting Hat Ceremony set was going to be a $20 Divination classroom. Now they have moved the $20 Divination classroom to the Winter 2027 and release a new Astronomy Tower. The Sorting Hat Ceremony has one new print (Draco's face) but otherwise is repeat minifigures so easy to design and all the builds are simple. Something that Lego could design in 6 months easily. This modular castle was has been very undiverse from a movie perspective. The 2021-2023 was almost evenly split between 4 movies (COS had 3 sets). This wave has 7 PS, 3 COS, 1 POA and 1 GOF. Going in the final year with another PS just seems odd unless it was a quick audible. If the East Wing doesn't contain the Slytherin Common Room that is clear evidence we have another facade set, but even if it does I'm still holding out hope Lego has an Astronomy Tower being designed. They could easily do the East Wing dungeons as just the Chamber of Secrets like the PS challenges filled an entire dungeon.

Its not available in the US currently and while slated to retire this July so it could come back in stock, I'm becoming increasingly weary that it isn't actually already retired. I honestly don't care if it takes a month or two to get to me. And the seller says $85 to the US by sea and then a US carrier by road/plane to me which seems reasonable (guaranteed to be slow). Now it getting stuck at a port is what concerns me. Has anyone ever emailed Lego Customer Service about an out of stock set near retirement and actually got a definite answer if it will come back in stock?

At what point do I just buy Gringott's on Bricklink? There is a seller in South Korea who is selling it plus shipping $20 USD below the selling price in the US (with plenty of past sales to legitimize it). Factoring in the 5% back in Insider Rewards this is basically break even and it is available right now.