Micmac

I got the new Harry Potter Advent calendar today. Its appeal is that it ends up being a really nice playset of the Great Hall when fully built and placed on the printed scene on the box. It's a bit repetitive though, five table builds, four statues, two Christmas trees. The crackers are the size of the kids and they can't even hold them to pull them. The snake and bird statue are ok looking but the lion and badger are ugly. And two printed portraits in it (the same ones in my box), I think I would have preferred some original printed parts instead. Not my favourite but I like that it's one location and everything is part of the scene with no micro builds except for the train under the tree. The ghost figure is great though and Dumbledore's robe is bright red giving him a Santa look.

Better picture out of the Burrow showing it opened up. Wasn't expecting it to open in the middle just past the pig enclosure but the interior looks really detailed, lots of stickers. The rooms look a bit small though, awkward to access. I'm not sure I like that the mystery portraits from the castle are in this set, seems odd. There must be another opening to access the front bedroom, looks like the roof comes off the front part .Hopefully official pictures are coming soon. Its from a discord group but its on facebook, try a.clay.brick account on insta

I think this version is combining a lot of the best bits from all the versions before and at the same time not doing it to a very detailed level. I think the overall design of the new great hall is great and the bones of it really work but I think the lack of detail overall left me unexcited about it. I hated the last version of the castle and have never kept any of them built. I totally skipped buying the new great hall though and built it from my own parts as there isn't anything exclusive about its parts, and then I fixed all the bits I hated, The rock work is a bit average, the underground rooms are half builds compared to the potion class you can buy, the underground area without rooms in in feels unfinished, the stairs to the boat house is just wrong, the courtyard is cramped and busy. The troll is the only part that is a must have and probably will remain exclusive to this set. I'll probably just brick link him. I'm much happier with my version of it.

For those in Australia, Target have the Great Hall and Madam Malkin's available online now as part of their 20% off sale. Looks like most of this wave will hopefully come out as part of the this sale which is great timing.

Bigw have added them to their website but they are not available yet, should start arriving this or next week I'd say. No ship though.

No I mean out of the new castle system if they have the Owlery and Boat house on clearance they will only have the Great hall and potions class for sale. For a new castle system it's a quick turnover. The other sets are not really part of the castle, I'm sure they will get them in, maybe not the ship though.

I wonder how people feel about how close the two waves of Harry Potter are together this year. I feel like we just got the last bunch and we have the next batch already. I've noticed that the forbidden forest, the boat house and the Owlery are on clearance in Kmart here in Oz. That seems crazy. They will only stock the great hall and potions class out of the new castle system. And there is such a massive dump of new sets for june the retailers (excluding official lego store) haven't even got the new Harry potter sets in at all yet. They would usually have them out by a few days before official release date. Legos output of sets is crazy at the moment. BigW near me has two new rows of shelves for the new release sets that came in. So many sets I'd like but you have to be so selective or you would be broke.

I can't imagine it changing much for the survey leaks that came out last year. The Zelda tree in its young link form is nearly identical, the sorting hat was identical, Barah Dur seems nearly the same, Snow Whites house had some major reworking of colours but the build is the same really. The previous version of the Burrow is very good though so I think Its selling point will probably be the inclusion of all the Weasleys as there was a lot of red headed temporary figures in the leaked image. Will that be enough I'm not sure, some side builds like the shed or the wedding tent might make it feel more complete but not sure they will happen. Its competing with the new Zelda set for my cash and I've built a bigger version of the burrow already so Zelda is winning.

Some great sets in this wave. Standout for me is the Durmstrang ship. The detail is amazing and the size I think is great. And fab figures with it. The potion class is great too with all its new elements, Lego is a bit obsessed with the Harry Potter theme flowing up or becoming a book or a case. I don't think it becomes a negative here but might not look great folded up in the new system. Speaking of the new system. Not sure I like it yet, Its definitely better than the last in some ways but I think I preferred the rock work in the last version. The Great hall is nice with the higher ceiling but the courtyard is a bit confined and the steps to the boat house are so wrong. I think the troll should have been a separate set and they should have put the kitchen and Hufflepuff common room as the pull out sections. Where I think this version will be successful is that they seem to have a plan for it all. The anniversary version style was all over the place and cobbled together at the end to look something like Hogwarts. And the poor 2018 style was abandoned before they finished it. Ollivanders and Madam Malkins are nice, Madam Malkins is better than the owl Post shop from the last set but it's still lacking. I like that they are getting the extra window level into ollivanders and the new elements look interesting. Definitely good for Moc material or turning into Hogsmeade versions with some added snow. Aragog looks amazing too, the printed face is a bit flat but the spider body is great. The blue forbidden forest is ugly, I don't get it. And the big builds are never for everyone. I think the mandrake looks good at least, Buckbeak not as successful. And the Advent Calendar is the best in a while. I like that its set around one think, some great figures and the house statues are ugly but I like that they tried at least, its something they haven't made before. So Pretty happy. I'll probable skip the Great Hall or wait for a sale. Skip Buckbeak too. Mandrakes a maybe. The rest I'll get.

Think it says Daphne Greengrass, Terry Boot and Leanne who's a friend of Katie Bell.

Yes you really need to shop around in Australia at the moment as there are some big differences in prices across the major shops. Sorting Hat: Lego shop $149.99; Target $149; Kmart $129; BigW $144. Kmart winner $129. Hagrids Hut: Lego shop $129.99; Target $119; Kmart $109; BigW $93. BigW with an amazing price $93. Owlery: Lego shop $69.99; Target $69; Kmart $59; BigW $59. Kmart and BigW $59. Boat house: Lego shop $69.99; Target $69; Kmart $59; BigW $45. BigW wins with an amazing price $45. Forbidden forest: Lego shop $49.99; Target $45; Kmart $45; BigW $42. BigW wins $42. Ford Anglia: Lego shop $24.99; Target $25; Kmart $22; BigW $22. BigW and Kmart win $22. Hedwig: Lego shop $29.99; Target $27; Kmart $25; BigW $22. BigW wins $22. So $412 cheapest and $524.93 from lego. That's a $112.93 saving. BigW have some great prices this year. Ill be checking them out first when the next wave hits in the summer (our winter)

Its a pain. totally buggered. I can get the early access version on but then it breaks down when i rotate an object and won't lock it into place again. The normal version gets stuck on the update available box that you cant click on.

"Buildable Wizarding World toys – This set is the first in an upcoming series of modular sets (sold separately) that connect to create the most detailed LEGO® brick-built Hogwarts™ Castle scene ever" So this is in the info on lego site for the Owlery so it seems the castle is being relaunched again and this is the first release for the new design. So maybe a new great hall next summer. I'm happy we are done with the anniversary version of the castle but i'm not sure what to expect just from seeing the owlery. A few nice figs and the the portraits are lovely but I'm not a fan of any of the new sets so will wait for some of them to go on sale before i get any. Skipping the car, forest and owl definitely, I have so many cars.

So on second look the pet shop is part of the set so if you want it gone you will need to slightly modify it. Doesn't look hard. I whipped up a picture with the bank at end of street. Other nit picks on looking at better pictures: All the side windows are stickers The skinny pillars The dragon looks like he squished the building, it should be taller. That gringot ts sign I would have love a new dome shape for roof with printing. The steps up and then down into bank. That pet shops shows the new scale of design and when you add it to the alley its just too small The unnecessary underground section. The top mostly empty room of the bank. I just don't think most of this set was necessary and the main part, the bank, has really suffered because of it.