droobles

So who wants to go dig up all the old posts in this thread claiming it was impossible for LEGO to try to sell a $500 Hogwarts Express?

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Well I am not committed to getting the complete set, I appreciate them sticking around. I have gotten 5 sets with cards so far and find them to be a delightful inclusion each time. I am still far from finishing the collection so it is nice to keep getting a few at a time. I think I have 8 so far including some repeats. I'd also say if you think about the target audience of kids, they are not necessarily going to get enough sets to get enough sets to get 16 cards in one year.

These are all awesome updates! I especially love the gear room and the common room. I might try to implement a common room with some stuff from the advent calendar or trunk. I'm also inspired to go dig out a Norbert and flute from my old sets in storage now. It is funny to see you add the bookcase to the Room of Requirement, I made a very similar change but to display the Dumbledore's Army sign up tile! But that is a nice idea, I also moved the bulletin board into the main build like you.

I would love this change! I have thought about a similar idea before, but I was focused less on the stability aspect and more on increasing the possibilities of connections. Essentially in my setup I want to have the road plate flat on a shelf and connect a large plate exactly level with the road surface. If I could connect a plate in the bottom half of the road, then the large plate could sit on top of that. Instead in my setup I have simply not connected the roads to the adjacent plates.

Due to ballooning collection I mostly abstained from getting new sets in the last two years and am planning to Bricklink a few of the new characters I missed. I am finding it harder to resist this year's offerings, and I think I will cave in to getting at least the Ministry of Magic. It's pretty crazy that, if you count the three ministry characters that the trio transform into as new characters, this set will have six exclusive and completely brand new characters! This will be great to add more characters wandering my Diagon Alley. When was the last time a Harry Potter set included six new characters? As far as I can tell it is never, unless you count 4709 Hogwarts Castle releasing at the same time as many other sets with the same figures. What other sets since 2001 has introduced the most new characters? I think these are some of the top choices: 4840 The Burrow (2010) - Bellatrix, Fenrir Greyback, Molly Weasley, Arthur Weasley 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall (2018) - This introduced Nearly Headless Nick and Susan Bones. Also, in terms of the 2018 reboot, Hagrid, Quirrell, and McGonagall were exclusive for the year. 71043 Hogwarts Castle (2018) - The four founders CMF Series 1 (2018) - Graves, Credence, Cedric, Cho, and Dean 75978 Diagon Alley (2020) - Florean Fortescue, Daily Prophet photographer. Also introduced Lucius Malfoy and Lockhart for the first time since 2018. CMF Series 2 (2020) - Kingsley, Lily, James, Myrtle, and Griphook if you don't count the earlier generic goblins. 76389 Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets (2021) - Colin Creevey, Sinistra, Justin Finch-Fletchley 76388 Hogsmeade Village Visit (2021) - Mr, Flume, Mrs. Flume, Madame Rosmerta It's kind of hard to parse because there are certainly novel minifigures of existing characters, and you may want to count since 2001, since flesh tones, or since 2018, and you may or may not want to count CMFs. I was mostly not counting figures that appeared twice within the same year. But to me it seems like no other sets can be considered to have ever introduced even 5 new characters without some caveats. Only a few have introduced 3 to 5 new characters at all. I think this Ministry of Magic set is setting a record 20 years in the making!

I am not clamoring for sets from this movie, but if LEGO had decided to go with some tie-in sets I think they had some options:

Is this hyperbole really necessary? I went with a group of 4 people who all enjoyed it, myself included. And indeed the whole theater was buzzing and laughing throughout. Sorry you had a bad experience. Is that really the case? Seems odd to me, given that Eddie Redmayne has also been outspoken against JK Rowling and still is playing a big part. Though I suppose if it was Katherine's choice to step back, that might explain it. We don't actually know and probably won't ever know. There were also rumors that she had scheduling conflicts and/or issues related to COVID. She certainly isn't forgotten in the film with her small but positive role, and Waterston attended the premiere so she still seems in good standing with the franchise. Of course there are a bunch of clickbait rumor articles speculating there could be other reasons for her small role but none of it is substantiated. I think we've learned a lot about needing to be skeptical about rumors on this forum.

My guess is a mistake in the render. Overall I think the renders look pretty bad, I also noticed bricks clipping through the wing material on some Hungarian Horntail pictures.

It is odd they only have 1 set under $50. Although I suppose they also have the moments sets out this year. But it seems they could have literally split Hogwarts: Dumbledore's Office in half into two separate respectable ~$40 sets - the library and Dumbledore's Office. Why not do this and flesh out the price range? To be pessimistic, as a long time collector the only really novel thing in this set is Madam Pince. Are they just trying to use 1 new minifigure to draw $80 out of collectors?

I know this has had a pretty positive reception but I am surprised it is #2 overall. This is one that did not tempt me at all, though I recognize that is partially because I already had the 2010 Burrow. The new one seems too large in scale compared to Hogwarts. Plus I find the model's perspective very awkward since the "front" doesn't have the front door and unfolding section is just a floor. I think the new Madrigal House was closer take on what I would like to see out of a magical house like this.

Has anyone mentioned Malfoy Manor lately? I recall that was entertained as a set for the 2010/2011 waves. That could be fairly large and definitely has enough content to reach $120. Possibilities for the build include exterior details like gates and hedges, entrance hall, meeting room, and dungeon. Characters could pick from Scabior who we have never gotten, Fenrir, Bellatrix, Draco, Lucius, Narcissa, Wormtail, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Griphook, Ollivander, and Dobby. I could also see some Battle of Hogwarts set being $120. Would be cool to have the Room of Requirement with some sort of play feature to change between accessing the Dumbledore's Army room and the fire in the Room of Hidden Things. The Horcrux cave is a possibility, but I doubt that would be $120. If that ever becomes a set, I see it just being a ~$20 island with Harry, Dumbledore, and 2 Inferi.

Ah, I was confused because Brickset has this listed as a 2022 set. But it seems identical to the one from 2019: https://brickset.com/sets/SNITCH-1/Golden-Snitch

What is this Golden Snitch from? https://brickset.com/sets/6385434-1/Golden-Snitch

I don't expect this but for the sake of brainstorming I will mention another theory. I think earlier in the thread we ruled out a microscale Hogwarts expansion due to the most iconic portion of the castle already being represented. However, I think if LEGO was so inclined they could pull off a microscale expansion that also has the ability to standalone with iconic elements. It would have a new portion of the castle - not the Great Hall, but still clearly Hogwarts - along with more of the grounds, Forbidden Forest, and Hogsmeade. The Quidditch pitch, Hogsmeade, the Hogwarts Express would all be immediately recognizable and iconic in miniature. They could even add in things like the Beauxbatons Carriage and the Durmstrang ship which have been LEGO sets and microbuilds in an advent calendar. New creatures could be Buckbeak or Thestrals. They might have to repeat Hagrid's Hut or the Whomping Willow or Ford Anglia but LEGO has done stranger things. There are also a lot of characters missing from the microfigure collection. Most notable is Hagrid although I don't know how they would represent him in microscope. But other new popular faces who have been featured as multiple minifigures could be Mad-Eye, Quirrell, Trelawney, Lockhart, Nearly Headless Nick, Sprout, Flitwick, Slughorn. Sirius and Wormtail could go along with a Shrieking Shack. Grawp could be a minifigure. Again, I don't really think this will happen, but I do think it is plausible. Everything I have mentioned has been made in LEGO before at minifigure scale.