JVM

Everyone else is trying to replace their green roofs with gray, and here I am wondering about replacing my gray roofs with green again! I used gray roofs on my Great Hall as a kid, actually (the fabric pieces on 4709 didn't last) and kept sand green on the turrets, so I am personally not very concerned about mixing them around between sets as most. 4709 is still my favorite set of all time. I am loving the new module system and already looking into rebuilding some previous sets to use it, hopefully including the Clock Tower as well as Dumbledore's Office, though I am debating going off the excellent 2010 design I love or trying to make it into the Great Tower. Still, it's exciting and it makes me want to MOC which I've not fully done in quite a while. I love what @vorkosigan did up there, for example, I'd like to do more like that! I do think people need to chin up though. Yes, they redid the Great Hall, but many of these recent sets are still new locations. The Chamber of Secrets and Forbidden Corridor weren't included in the 2018-20 range, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom is evergreen enough to be reused. We hadn't seen the Girls' Bathroom for CoS before either. It's not like they are doing a whole wave of remakes of 2018 sets imo. People are angry about the PS/COS sets because they feel like they were robbed Deathly Hallows sets, but I'm sure they are coming later on, just like Hogsmeade finally arrived, and I personally grew a little sick of Goblet of Fire sets especially with the Yule Ball figures in both the Clock Tower and the Advent Calendar at the same time and Cedric Diggory just everywhere. I'd prefer if LEGO kept several years in flux at once than tried to theme every wave on one or two movies. We still need a Second Task set and a Durmstang ship isn't necessary but couldn't hurt. A lot of Dealthy Hallows is set away from the castle and I think that's a pretty practical reason why LEGO hasn't visited it as much. You wouldn't see a lot of fanfare for Xenophilius' House, Godric's Hollow or the middle of the forest. I'd love to see Malfoy Manor and people deserve a Gringotts I won't afford. We've also never seen a LEGO set based in any way on the Ministry of Magic. PS/CoS could still use the Troll scene and the Chamber of Winged Keys though, nothing says they need to be avoided now. I'm really surprised we haven't seen a decent Gryffindor or Slytherin Common Room though. I don't count the really lame, half-thought dormitory from the Whompiing Willow set. The 2010 Hogwarts had nice if small representations of both common areas. I kept thinking a Gryffindor Tower was an inevitable addition to the 2018-20 modular Hogwarts, and I'd still like to see a Bell Tower.

I love this thread a lot -- I can't wait to see what you do with the Hogwarts Flying Lesson modules. It's so cool to know the Astronomy Tower is soft compatible, too, makes me want to remake Slughorn's Office as a module as well. I'm thinking of remaking a lot of previous sets to fit the modular system better, I absolutely adore it. Cool to know about the Chamber duplication method. I'd been debating buying a second Forbidden Corridor to add an additional Devil's Snare module and didn't plan on the rest yet, but I've also been thinking of someday bricknlinking a second CoS copy (pretty penny for me though so idk) to expand the Great Hall and customize more modules.

Wow, this might convince me to pick up the newer set after all, designing an exterior like that would be so fun!

The smart thing would be to grab the big set and bricklink the figures from the other sets... but I did buy the 'Endgame Final Battle' from 2019, so buying a face of the same building with many of the same features isn't grabbing me much. I might just bricklink Thanos, Wanda, Thor and maybe Steve. (Is his print new?) I'd like to grab the Monger and Dragon Flyer sets. The monger is in scale with the Hulkbusters, which have always been oversized but people love mechs, and it's about time the first IM had a representation. It honestly looks like a great wave to me in that the sets all seem different and unique in terms of covered material, but it's just not a ton of must-needs for me personally. Thanos, Wanda, Thor and Stane are all exciting - but while they are figs I really wanted to see, I'm always much more interested in brand new characters, and Stane is the only truly new one. I hope the Infinity Saga line continues though. there's still so many cool minifigs we could get. I'd really love an out -of-costume Hank Pym.

I'm really excited about the next wave - the first two movies and their sets were such a huge part of my childhood and probably the true genesis of my LEGO fandom, and getting a proper Chamber of Secrets after almost twenty years is huge for me. I know a lot of people are not unjustly upset we aren't receiving stuff themed around *Deathly Hallows* yet, and there's defnitely some cool locations to revisit or expand there, but I was so certain they were done with the first two movies and I'm honestly really pleased to seem the finally revisit two of the iconic scenes they skipped before. The Fluffy set could definitely use improvement as a set but I'm so glad to see the ol' dog back. I'm also really, really digging the new modular system allowing you to mix and match the arrangement of rooms and stuff, and I am absolutely buying the Polyjuice set as quickly as possible to create the Chamber's proper entrance. It feels like a much better modernization of the original sets, which offered a few different solutions for arrangements between the first two films, and the Girls' Bathroom doesn't feel like something we'd ever see in a Castle/Tower otherwise, and if so, definitely without so much detail. I really hope they either continue this system or, if they go back to the previous one (the towers were great but I was really disappointed in how they fit together, the WW especially) I hope they can integrate the rearrangeable rooms. I'm also happy to see the return of sand green roofs! And on top of all that, we get all four house robes, which is a welcome and unexpected surprise! We could still use a Hufflepuff uniform that matches the version introduced in Hogwarts Moments, but the robed minifigs look great. I may just base my customs on that version instead of the Hogwarts Moments versions. Plus, we're still getting books with Lucius and Hufflepuff Quidditch Cedric, so still more good stuff coming.

I don't have photos yet, but I have done a few of these. A few months before the new theme started, I outfitted the original Sirius and the OOTP Snape with the Dastan hair that's now widely used across LEGO themes, though I retain a certain nostalgia for the old style. With the release of the CMF series, I used my spares to make a Luna Lovegood in Ravenclaw robes, and a Fred Weasley. George is in the pipeline. I've also been thinking of trying to make a PS/COS-inspired Professor Flitwick, although there's only so much that can be emulated easily from that design. All that said, I've not been able to buy additional pieces in a while. I also tried to make a Ginny but I'm not happy with it at all. I have to confess I have a strong preference for the 2010-11 style uniforms, but I feel forced to trade up due to the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff representation.

So the PoA sets are Kinght Bus and Hagrid's Hut, right? Do we know where Sirius comes in? I'm not terribly interested in the Goblet of Fire stuff.

This has probably been said but I haven't checked these threads in a while... we really need Nien Nunb. He's been in three Star Wars movies, albeit two of them recent, and still hasn't had one minifig in twenty years of the theme. With Bail complete, I believe he's the only character who has been in three movies with a highly visible role (excluding cantina types) and still hasn't had a minifig. I haven't been a special fan of him but if anyone's earned it, it's him. I'm mostly done collecting minifigs at this point (save one or two) but he might lure me back in.

I believe it's a Universal thing, honestly, keeping in mind the efforts to re-theme other Jurassic properties around World; I suspect this has to do with the fact Asian territories are more invested in Jurassic World branding, which is why Park stuff is often exclusive to U. S. / Western retailers, all the more so with the knowledge it is absolutely high in demand. Notice, for example, Mattel's Legacy figures being Target exclusives. As long as the deal continues, I am one hundred percent certain we will see more classic Jurassic Park stuff in the future, but probably more as exclusives and D2C than general release items for now. I think more will trickle out later if the theme become truly evergreen. Plus, let's be honest, if they just made the Jeep, which is coming sooner or later, people are going to stop caring pretty quickly. I'm a huge fan of the series and think you could build entire waves around the middle sequels and two to three around the original film, but this conversation always comes back to the jeep. I haven't even seen much interest in the Ford Explorers that captivated me as a kid, but I'd love to see one of those, too.

I'll take someone's extra Mysterio for Far From Home, and I like MJ, but none of the rest is grabbing me so far... they seem like fine sets but just not my personal taste. but maybe the movie'll talk me into the Jet or something. I certainly didn't plan on getting half of the Infinity War sets until after the film came out. The Endgame sets, I'll probably break for the Compound just based on my habit of liking environmental sets, but I already kinda know I'm gonna be disappointed. It's a smaller build and the the new Thanos doesn't look right where the previous one did and vice versa. I'll bricklink Cap's head and helmet and probably Scott's new helmet as well. Awaiting a better look at the Quinjet. We're getting a couple cool bits in the Endgame sets but even I have to agree that on the whole they scream movie tie-in, but the Marvel sets have always been sort of weak. I'm not super surprised though, because the Infinity War theme was about as good as we could get and I had a feeling there'd be less to go around next time. I think it would be a substantial improvement for all involved if LEGO was more willing to mine MCU films post-release. Not only are there many films that obviously haven't received any attention in the first two phases, but the sets we do receive are based on concepts and early scripts, and often avoid big spoiler scenes, so there's stuff that makes the final films that there's barely any chance to adapt for tie-ins. Imagine how many Star Wars sets we'd have received if LEGO only produced one dedicated wave per film!

I'm of two minds -- certainly it's cool to see new characters in a theme that sometimes lacked them, and I have a soft spot for Fudge, and we've needed a new Sirius even if he might need a little customizing for me... but overall, I'm always more invested in the 'evergreen' Hogwarts characters and a lot of these are hyperspecific to Goblet of Fire. I'm glad we'll have a Fleur in a collective sense but I'm just not sure I'd bother collecting her. I even like Cedric's design despite my distaste for the character. Also, the fact Cedric has had adult legs in both his minifigures always looks wrong to me compared to the other short-legged students... I'm not stating this as a criticism but as a self-observation. There's a degree to which it does make sense... buti with Cho in particular, it looks a little awkward. Do need that Hermione and Buckbeak though.

I think this is the real problem. There is nothing in the Grindelwald's Escape set to appeal to a casual fan, really -- most casual LEGO buyers (parents and grandparents) would not see a carriage and a thestral as something terribly exciting, it's nothing flashy, and Piquery wasn't really a casually memorable character in the first film, and Grindelwald as himself's role there was momentary. As a dedicated fan, I find many of those elements interesting, but I know with realism that the market isn't going to buy based on any of that alone. The only perks it has are the upcoming release of the Fantastic Beasts film should give it a nice boost, and its one of the cheapest Wizarding World sets, period. Value plays a critical role with the casual, fickle buyer. For contrast, in addition to sharing affordability versus the castle sets, the Aragog and Quidditch sets both include multiple key characters from the Harry Potter films and have the added advantage of nostalgia for those who loved any of the previous films (even if not all of them) but might not be interested in the newer Fantastic Beasts film. Those two elements alone will help them get more buys.

I have a tendency to 'other' the Shack from Hogsmeade itself. I don't know what to expect. I was very very thrilled for the last revival and felt a little burned when it turned out to only be two waves, so I'm trying to fight back against assuming it's evergreen - but that's the assumption a lot of fans seem to be working under and it's easy to get swept up. How's Umbridge's old piece look on the new minifig? I definitely need to bricklink Mrs. Norris yet.

I've got plenty -- it just feels like an odd omission, and considering they let Hooch have one, who wasn't previously released with one, I felt a bit more surprised.

I had a list with many similar choices, and many different ones! I tried to take inspiration exactly from how the original release series was arranged, with the same balance of students to adults to flashback characters. - Harry Potter (Triwizard Tournament) - Ron Weasley as Vincent Crabbe - Lee Jordan or Colin Creevy - [Unknown Hufflepuff] - Ginny Weasley - Fred / George Weasley (Quidditch uniform?) - Griphook - Rita Skeeter - Gilderoy Lockhart - Sirius Black - Bellatrix Lestrange - [Kinglsey Shacklebolt or Nymphadora Tonks] - Cornelius Fudge - Fleur Delacour - Tom Riddle - Peeves - Albus Dumbledore (Young) - Nicholas Flamel - Leta Lestrange - [Fantastic Beasts character] [Two additional Fantastic Beasts characters OR James and Lily Potter.] The slot for Kingsley I remember thinking would be male for the original balance, but Tonks and Sprout came to my mind for inclusion more than Kingsley. I know I considered Krum but I believe I replaced him with Riddle. I thought Ron-as-Crabbe was a good compromise and that Goyle could be saved for a Deathly Hallows set - along with Riddle, one could include robes and another just the sweater. I'm not terribly expecting Peeves but his inclusion in the first wave makes me excited for an update. I had Hermione as a cat and think I cut it for the Colin/Lee slot. I already customized a Luna in Ravenclaw uniform but I wouldn't mind another version of her such as that in a set, especially since she could use a happier face print to boot. I think that (along with a new Neville and Ginny) would be a good fit for a set over CMF, but are all necessary choices. Of course, with three good sets (the Chamber, GoF, Dept of Mysteries) you could eliminate seven or eight of these..

This is my thinking as well. Diagon Alley would be a huge set by nature and LEGO would probably save that for a summer wave. I also thought they might want to wait until after the micro version's release, especially since they would both probably need an Ollivander -- although I personally wouldn't mind if they split the shops up a bit. All three shops included in the last edition could function as standalone sets in theory - Gringotts, Ollivanders, and Borgin and Burkes. Wizarding Wheezes could also probably release well by itself. Maybe Quality Quidditch Supplies. You know what could be an interesting alternative to Diagon Alley for a single D2C set? Hogsmeade -- none of the locations have the potential to sell separately, and if you threw in the Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes and Zonko's Jokes, you'd cover all of the kid-friendly iconic locations from the village. Okay, bordering on wishlist. If a second wave is confirmed, and I'm considering it indirectly confirmed by micro Diagon Alley, than I expect it to be on the modest side, with the Great Hall and Whomping Willow still functioning as the main attractions.

While I love the film-based minifigures for Marvel, I really feel like most of the film-based builds have been mediocre to poor until Thor: Ragnarok's release, since which we've been on an upswing... but otherwise we got maybe a half-dozen trucks, a couple helicopters, and several jets? These were competent builds but didn't offer a ton of serious variety. So I lean towards "comic"-based sets because even though they don't end up with as interesting a minifigure selection, I think they tend to include more interesting builds. The Space Avenjet is better than a second/third/fourth Quinjet, for example... and I loved the Detroit Steel set, which took inspiration from both comics and the films! I'm in agreement with most everyone else about DC -- comics over films, although I do appreciate how at least the films let us escape Batman a little on occasion.

I think Umbridge's hair could've worked, but the problem is the face print - it makes for a nice old lady print, but it doesn't feel like it captures Umbridge's unique features. It's a very simple grin and an outright sneer -- she needs a bit more of a snooty look, almost sadistic. Something where there's a little displeasure in her eyes but with a neutral or slightly smiling look. So much of what made the character so dislikable was how she always seemed to maintain an aura of being pleasant even while being vile. I think the original minifigure captured her features much better than a lot of female minifigures in that era. I'm also not sure the legs work well. The printing limits cause the shirt to look a little shorter than she wears it. I can understand why people wish Hooch had a new hapriece, but I don't think anything better exists in the repository. I'm glad we received a better headpiece though -- I found myself disappointed in the exaggerated 'hawk' eyes on the previous iteration. It was a nice detail to try to include but I just don't think it worked there. I can certainly agree about the new cape being a bit generic. Slughorn is a favorite character of mine and I am so happy to see him included. I would agree this hairpiece isn't exactly right, though I'm unsure any existing piece could have done the job better, as his hair in the film is thin and that's a hard trait to translate to bricks. I think the faces are fine, but do a gree a hat might've been a nice bonus. Everyone's mentioned the bird, but I wish Snape came with a wand. Might grab an extra old lady face to make into Grandma Longbottom! It's a cute minifig choice although a part of me can't help but think of more deserving characters. I'd love a new Lockhart. What does the back of the box look like?

I've been a bit of a skeptic about new sets, but I will note the lack of a Sirius Black in the CMF series is a strong evidence for a POA wave given he's an incredibly popular character with fans. Ginny is another very important and previously released character who wasn't in the series that I would expect to see again. Those two are big staples. This is unlikely imo but here's a thought -- the Great Hall is primarily Sorcerer's Stone themed, despite the CoS creatures, but the Whomping Willow is clearly CoS themed... so what if they plan to do an additional castle segment per film? Gryffindor Tower, the Astronomy Tower, and Dumbledore's Office could easily cover the next three or so films, and all have prominent scenes in PoA and OOTP. GoF is a little less obvious but something could be made to work. If the Room of Requirement recieves it's own tower/building area then one of those could even be used for HBP - perhaps Dumbledore's Office.

I just wanted to note that the original link no longer works due to Cuusoo's rebrading as Ideas, and the images no longer work either... but the project is still visible here at Ideas despite expiring... sadly I don't have the lxf file, but it's a lovely moc I'd love to build myself one day. Hope this is a forgivable bump...

Yeah, see, this is the boat I'm in. I'm very nostalgic for the original theme, and I'm exactly the kind of person who would be a half-decade or more of sets based on increasingly obscure pieces of lore -- it's not that I wouldn't love to see a bigger expansion, but the odds feel deeply against it. The two Deathly Hallows fllms had more material than the 2010-11 waves dared to cover, and the games as tie-ins, but we still saw the theme discontinued -- and since GoF, it's seemed LEGO would always prefer to do the same five or six main elements. Why do separate Hogwarts locations that build together when you could limit everything to a single plate in a larger castle? I'm doubting we'll get a second wave at all, and even if we get two or three, none of that would guarantee the theme becoming evergreen when one looks at Jurassic World or the film-based superhero subthemes, which have virtually always lasted a single wave regardless of film or set success, or Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones, both of which were accompanied by a lot of hype but lasted two or so years barely? But I won't complain if LEGO keeps the Wizarding World theme around for as long as possible!

I still find it really interesting that this set's entire bottom floor seems dedicated to Potions-related rooms -- which is a nice touch, actually, giving it a sense of being a centralized part of the castle, unlike some of the attempts to be comprehensive that result in several disparate buildings being placed into the same tower. I might've swapped out the beds for something else though, held off for a proper Gryffindor Tower. I still look forward to grabbing it though - an interesting Harry, as well as Seamus, Snape and Filch! I do think Snape could do with a cape/cloak though. I'll have to borrow one from a previous version.

I bought and built the set recently and I'm very on the fence -- there's a lot to love here but I also do agree with nearly every criticism I've read and then some. It's nice to see the Great Hall as a standalone release rather than crammed into a larger castle, especially as it's probably the most distinctive and iconic 'building' of the Hogwarts Castle itself, whereas the other towers are generic to all but the most serious enthusiast. This also allows them to add some considerable more detail - I love the new window detail for sure, as repetitive as it is, and while I'm not completely pleased with the roof design it was still interesting to build, I felt. This was my first experience with these larger baseplates as well, although I'm sure they've existed for some time. The interior layout of the hall is more accurate than the second Great Hall, as is often mentioned, but I find myself having trouble with this - it's certainly more accurate, but it feels a little less playable this way, imo, especially to display minifigures sitting correctly without the box depictions of them dueling on top of the tables. That's an advantage of the previous version, combined with the ample selection of food that is strangely absent here. The staff could've used a larger bench as well - space for five characters would be the best compromise to get in the mainstays. I think that would leave space for the tables to all have a bench on each side as well? What disappoints me most though is the technic mechanism for holding out the candles and flags. It's ugly and doesn't really create the desired illusion. The exterior is where a lot of the changes are, and that's where I keep mentally comparing it to the original Great Hall from the very first Hogwarts Castle (2001) - a set that is central to my childhood, and one of my first mods was expanding that interior. It stands significantly taller than this release of the previous one, and also adds a central tower, something of a small attic and upper deck (enough to display an extra minifig or two) and most interestingly, adds a little rocky detail to the bottom, also missing here. Shame because I always felt it added a lot to the look, even if LEGO went with a smaller, simpler solution than what the previous set included. Honestly, my biggest disappointment is the Tower - I think the building techniques certainly offer more potential than those we saw in some of the 2010-11 towers, but all we really receive is, in essence, a couple of storage rooms, and to make matters stranger, the Whomping Willow has Potions rooms, negating that area, and then the Sorting Hat and Fawkes are usually in Professor Dumbledore's Office, not the Great Hall, and that locale isn't seen until Chamber of Secrets, which ties into the Basilisk. Take those items out and you're left with the removable Mirror of Erised, which looks beautiful but doesn't fit into the rest of the set well, lacking space to display a minifigure looking into it. While I certainly would hate to see larger environments crammed into here and disserviced, it doesn't even hold a candle to the smaller 2011 Hogwarts, which managed to pack a lot of character in such tiny spaces. As per the included minifigures here, it's brilliant to see Susan Bones, with her unique hairstyle and being out first Hufflepuff release, and the Richard Harris style Albus Dumbledore looks beautiful, somehow managing to improve a minifigure that I wouldn't have felt needed updating - although a part of me still prefers the bright purple over dark red. The new long hairpiece is gorgeous and I hope to see it elsewhere soon. The return of Professor Quirrell is long welcome, and he looks great here, although maybe he needs a bit more purple? Both characters, and McGonagall, imo, could still use the old capes-as-robes trick. I am so glad we've finally seen Nearly Headless Nick and I love his design, but the lack of a neck frill is disappointing and the white skin might've been better in gray, imo The stylistic changes being made for the new version of the Wizarding World are a lot of the things I'm having the most trouble with personally. The change from sand green roofs to dark gray seems more realistic, but it feels to me like trading one inaccuracy for another, while losing the sense of whimsy and stylistic comparability with previous sets. I'm also not terribly fond of the students being switched to shorter legs, which feels like a step backwards, and the new uniform design is well-done but not entirely to my stylistic taste. The new wands feel too short. Some of this is nostalgia talking, of course -- I grew up with the earliest HP sets and they were key to my experience with the series as a whole. The inclusion of the Basilisk and Fawkes is a mixed blessing, as it's great to see both animals represented, but this set feels so close to Philosopher's Stone and these creatures are neither affiliated with that film nor the Great Hall location... it would be much better to place them in an upgraded Chamber of Secrets, a location that is famous enough in the series I'm sure to sell, and would lend itself to a few unique minifigs in addition to a unique setting. I'll say that as a brick-built snake, I was able to enjoy it, even though it's a bad representation of the basalisk itself.. Overall and in short, I had a lot of fun with this set and the build, but there's a few serious flaws and a lot of nitpicks, and therefore still room for improvement should LEGO revisit the location again in a few years. Please, let me know how this goes. I was thinking similarly about adding two bricks of height to the hall, but I'm not usually so ambitious and I was nervous about how it might affect the tower.

Have we confirmed that there will be another wave at all? I'm not really expecting one, but I'd love to see it! New versions of Hagrid's Hut and the Burrow would be welcome additions, and the latter would give opportunity to bring in another of characters we've seen previously not included here - the Weasley parents, Fred/George, Ginny, Bellatrix, Fenrir, some new death eater? Percy? - making it an even more enticing possibility. I'm not holding my breath but we could use a truly definitive Gryffindor Tower. They always cram a dormitory or fireplace into other Hogwarts sets, but we haven't really seen a shot at the larger environment sine the original PoA wave. A dormitory, a fireplace and chairs, the Fat Lady portrait, throw in the Knight -- boom, you have a couple play features and movie-based rooms, right there. Reaching here now, but a new Chamber of Secrets is also long overdue.

Maybe the second set will feature Ant Man with a printed full-head helmet and the Wasp with a yellow recolor Ant Man helmet just so we have two matching sets :P