Mordarch

It does seem like the same hat that Arthur wears when he arrives at the burrow in Chamber of Secrets, so I think you're right on that one. And gosh, everytime I think: "hmm I might not be interested in this set based on the leaked description", they go ahead and make it look so damn beautiful.

I've just built the Boathouse set (76426) and I noticed something I've not really seen discussed alot (at least in reviews). It's the fact that Hermione has 'triple-moulded' (might be called overmoulded) legs. She's got black feet, grey legs and then black top of the legs. I don't think we see these types of legs often do we? I can only think of the Simpsons CMF figures. As far as I can see they're continuing these legs with the new female students in the sets releasing soon. It's odd how stingy LEGO has been with double-moulded legs lately, but here we get some unnecessary (but highly appreciated) ones. Maybe similar to the teachers getting arm-printing, they might deem it a reasonable investment with the amount of use these legs will get in upcoming sets. Considering the new wand moulds we're getting and the new creatures so far (Fang and Norberta) it would seem that LEGO has been upping the budget of the LEGO Harry Potter line recently.

Cheesey Studios has a video showing off the new Arrival set (ship and carriage). It would seem that it uses a lot of stickers, which is a bit disapointing, especially for the shields. It does look like an amazing display piece though.

I wouldn't be surprised that in a future expansion to the castle there's a module that's initially inserted in the castle in it's opened form, but it might also be closed up which opens up space for one of the 'extra' modules that might not have a place yet.

It has happened before with the HP-line actually, usually like a month difference between zones.

God, the exterior really looks nice.

Ooh, that Aragog looks really good, might be the best one so far. Still not big enough I think, but honestly doesn't matter too much to me.

Interesting to see Snape get arm printing, weird to give it to him here. Maybe we're getting the same snape in a more expensive set later. The new wands seem interesting, I think they might be too big for the minifigures to hold without looking off. might make good walking canes though. Also I did just notice that some of the wands have the snake head from Lucius Malfoy's wand.

I think the issue with the previous modular version was the rather boxy lay-out of every module, which is logical with how that modular system worked, they needed to fit next and onto eachother. If the new modular system is going with interchangeable interiors whilst the exterior keeps it shape it might be able to have the best of both worlds; a great looking exterior with lots of customisation options on the interior.

With the interiors in the bottom part being removable, does anyone think this is how they'll make it modular? Releasing different modules that you can insert how you like throughout the castle? Maybe they'll release another Chamber of Secrets that could fit in there or something.

Hey guys, so what do you guys use to find the most recent leaked pics? I used to use Instagram and just look up the Legoleaks hashtag but lately it's been more unusable than ever. Okay managed to find the rest, but the hashtag is still messed up. So if anyone has a better way, please do share. Figures look great, Troll is really good except the beefy arms. I'm not sure the Great Hall shows it's value at the moment though, it's supposed to be about €200 or something right? But, it does look like a fun set. Buckbeak and the Mandrake look great, but I'm the least interested in them. The shops look fun, but I'm still not entirely sure of the new Diagon Alley wave. I'd love to have more in the style of the D2C. And also what's with the displayed wands in Olivanders? Are those new handles that we can put on the existing wand pieces? I'm curious if Madame malkin's will have the giant pair of scissors on the front though.

No news from London toyfair?

I remember before the return of the Harry Potter theme it was preceded by some brickheads, but there were only a few months between the release of the BHs and the actual sets, so these were probably in production at the same time. It still baffles me that they didn't attempt to release even a small wave of playsets and the big D2C for LotR. This would've been the perfect test to see if they should continue with playsets, D2Cs or both. They did it with the HP line and to a lesser extend even with the Indiana Jones.

I have been wondering about that as well. What could they do to pad out the waves besides regular storybased set? I'm mainly thinking battlepacks. I was wondering what they could do similar to the books/banners from Harry Potter. The only thing I could really come up with is a sort of Hobbiton collection, with different Hobbit holes, but I doubt that would be popular if you only get random Hobbits.

I managed to get my hands on a sealed 79006 The Council of Elrond this week and am now considering slowly gathering the rest of the sets even though the prices of some of these sets are insane. This set did make me realise why they moved away from the rubber hairpieces, the Arwen hairpiece was a bit bent out of shape, nothing too major and putting it on the figure does straighten it out well enough. I'm also glad to have my first ever Gimli, the amount of detail in the helmet is amazing. When I eventually get the big Rivendell set I'll definitely have to consider which pieces I should use from the older figures and which of the newer. (Arwen's hair is definitely going to get changed, face probably too)