Alas_Earwax

It sounds like they're going for a system similar to the Magical Mini's line. The castle could have classroms swapped around to display however you wanted to, but the overall structure remained the same.

Looks fantastic. What's the price again?

Nope. It's quite sad how much they've left Gambon's version to the side. He appears in more movies and therefore was featured in far more scenes (and most of them were quite important) than Richard Harris was. So I hope we get more variations soon.

So we can definitely expect Philisopher's Stone-themed minifigures once again? It's official, Lego hate Michael Gambon's Dumbledore

What's worrying about this year's upcoming sets, is that there doesn't seem to be a clear indication that they're confident the Hogwarts reboot will be successful. I'm not sure if it's fear that they've literally just concluded one, or more so because the theme has fallen slightly in sales since the green-roof sets. Two buildings that allegedly may connect together to make a hogwarts build isn't exactly a lot. I know they introduced a similar set up with the sets in 2018, but that was literally the first time the theme had been brought back. When 2021 came around, we had a reboot, but also had a lot to add to the new system. Chamber of Secrets, Fluffy encounter, the girls bathroom, flying lesson. It was already a somewhat decent build based on just those few sets alone, and there was a lot of faith they absolutely would add to it later. Just having two sets connect, feels more like a test-run in my opinion. I know they have the boathouse and Owlry, but they're external and likely won't really connect properly to the system until it's finished (if it gets finished). The rest of the sets feel random. Buildable creatures and Ollivander's, which is great for getting a cheap alternative to Diagon Alley, but it's not exactly enough to wow fans of the theme who are potentially looking for something new that could be explored from the movies. Adding to this, I find it slightly disappointing that they're not interested in exploring the later movies more. Especially DH1&2. I know we just had a wave covering this, but it seems to me like the first two HP movies are becoming what the OT Saga is for the Star Wars Lego theme. It's a constant re-visit and remaking of those moments, but in reality, things from the later movies could also make pretty decent sets. An example I can think is the upcoming forest set. This could have been a Forest of Dean set from DH part 1. Feature a doe patronus, give us Harry, Ron & Hermione in some of their DHP1 appearances and possibly a play feature for the sword being collected from ice? Maybe even a tent? I heard some mention the Great Hall being themed to Azkaban, I genuinely would appreciate this. The 2021-2023 reboot never saw a new version of Michael Gambon's Dumbledore, because the theme seems so dependent on leaning into the first two movies more than anything else. Personally, I think at this price, and with the inclusion of the Carriage & ship, the Great Hall could likely be themed to Goblet of Fire. It would allow for a wider selection of minifigures and possibly cover some characters we haven't gotten before. Barty Crouch Snr being one; students that haven't been done before with their respective robes, like Credric Diggory; the weasley twins with their longer hair and so on. Then there's also teachers like Mad Eye Moody, who could be used as one of the main teachers in this particular Hogwarts set. Gambon Dumbledore with robe printing that's more accurate to his GOF appearance (the CMF was more POA I believe?) Minerva is in the boathouse set and Snape will likely be in potions. This leaves teachers quite open. The owlry is also Goblet of Fire themed, with that & the carriage and ship, it could be a more GOF-centric wave. Which would be refreshing than restarting from the beginning, but also could be wishful thinking on my part.

This theme should head in Marvel's recent direction. Start releasing specific scenes from various movies and cover them extensively. Imagine a Penguin's Zoo lair from Batman Returns?

I'm sorry to shoot some theories down, but the castle featured in the instruction booklet is 100% the new system. Plastered along the image is " This set is part of a series of modular sets (sold separately) that connect to create the most detailed LEGO® brick-built Hogwarts™ Castle scene ever". If you zoom in and analyse the picture, look at the outline where the boathouse is meant to be. It's featured on the overall model, even though it's greyed out beneath the white outline. If you were to remove the outline, you can specifically see that new boat house against that huge castle. Then go further up and you can see very clearly how it all connects together by slotting the boathouse into the side of the rocky exterior.

@krimimimi None I'm afraid. The set castle ^ looks fantastic. I know I was critical of them rebooting this again, but I won't pass up on that. It looks like it will be the best minifig-scale Hogwarts to date.

I've seen the castle in the booklet. That $200 set is 100% the great hall, courtyard & the tower. That thing looks incredible. Literally like they've brought the castle to life in a way that's never been done in minifigure scale before.

Excited for what they have in store for us this year. Hogwarts aside, I keep wondering if the $200 set could be a full quidditch pitch. We haven't had one in a long time (the trunk doesn't count haha) and seen as they seem to be going back to the start, a full Quidditch pitch could definitely justify that $200 price tag if it's a full set.

Respectfully, just because you personally weren't fond of the 2021-2023 Hogwarts system doesn't mean it wasn't a success or that it wasn't focused. They covered a LOT more in this particular system than any other. Take a good look around social media, there's far more buzz around people combining all of the modular buildings together than there ever was connecting the 2018-2020 system. The 2021-2023 sets were mainly focused on interior, which for me was always a better option when it came to collecting the two systems. 2018+ had very small interiors with barely any room to move around or display figures. They sacrificed interior for exterior, which is the biggest flaw of the that particular system. Granted, the biggest flaw of 2021+ was possibly the focus on interiors, but I think connected together, it looks incredible. Even from the outside. It also gave people a chance to create a Hogwarts that suited their needs. They could basically build and display it however they wanted. Which to me was always a more fun option. But saying the line was unfocused is a bit silly, seen as the end product of all the combined sets is fantastic.

I see what's being said regarding the new sets, but one of the major complaints people have with long running Lego themes is how quick things are being remade. Majority are expecting a new Great Hall this year, but the reality is that there's still one actively on sale through the Chamber of Secrets set. What is frustrating to me is how they're managing to reboot Hogwart's systems after customers have spent time buying an existing system. It was frustrating in 2021... Some people (including myself) still haven't gotten the last few sets from that 2021-2023 modular line yet, but there's already a reboot in the pipeline. All I'm saying is, there's a lot they could tackle with this theme that they seem to be avoiding. Honestly, I'd rather have individual Diagon Alley stores released at an afforable price than a new Hogwart's. Overall, we're still missing key locations, like Malfoy Manor, shell cottage, an accurate full quidditch pitch (which I'd happily pay out for), Durmstrang ship (I could genuinely go on here). It's no big deal, I'm planning on swapping all of the green roof sets to grey, so they'll fit in (I hope). But it's frustrating that we're already promised a 'new' hogwarts, when the last system is still on shelves. This is the only Lego theme I'm really interested in, so I really do hope they'll continue with their sets. But there's been so many repeats lately, I fear we're going to be walking familiar ground once again in 2024.

I'm quite disappointed we're getting another Hogwarts reboot. I was happily invested into the latest one and it's annoying that suddenly they're going to basically be remaking everything once again. What's annoying especially is that they wasted time on locations in exteranal sets. Things like the classrooms books and the common room banners could have been £30 sections of the Hogwarts build to make truly the ultimate experience in terms of indoor locations. I love the new sets, but a refresher seems to me like they're just desperate to revisit the earlier movies again. There's still so much they haven't covered from the later movies. I know we've had a few DH sets, but there's still a lot that hasn't made it into set form and a lot of minifigures that haven't been covered. One battle of hogwarts set doesnt even cover 20% of sets they could have released to cover that massive battle in the final movie. I know it's 'darker', but they're happy to make a Stranger Things set?

To be fair, I think the recent minidoll Beauty & The Beast set was pretty much perfect in terms of build, characters & everything included. It's a great set. It even came with an alternate outfit for Belle. I get people want minifigures instead (I do too), but considering that set is still on shelves, I really don't think they'll touch Beauty & The Beast as it would just be a repeat of the same thing.

I'm happy with some remakes, depending on what they do with them. I don't think the modular system is done yet. The only possible way I think they could head with that is by adding some classroom builds. We had Defence Against the Dark Arts in COS, but apart from that, it's been pretty lacking on the classrooms front. Back in the day, the original waves had a huge amount of classroom representation. The books were okay, but I think being able to connect some classroom builds to the current modular system would be a great to finish it off. One set could be more of a potions/Dungeon's set, which would focus on Snape's classroom. Divination could be tower based, with a spiral staircase (I'm going off the films here). Then they could add things like an updated Hagrid's Hut, but make it more centric to the Care of Magical Creatures lesson with Buckbeak again, some unique creature builds and so on. Could take away from the Hut, but we've already had a detailed one last time round. They could remake DATDA, but focus on one particular teacher. I know everyone will likely want an updated boggart set, so I'd just go with that. It could really complete this system, before they do decide to remake the whole thing. As for side sets - I think Malfoy Manor will likely be on the horizon at some point. I know people say it's too dark, but you could focus on the play features and have a light fixture that drops and really make it more of a battle ground. Lego doesn't seem to be too bothered about being too dark with HP. People say this theme is drawing near it's end, but there's not exactly much new Harry Potter content out that has helped boost the sales of these sets - they're popular regardless. Where as Star Wars, Marvel etc seem to be thriving more off new sets based on upcoming projects. This is why I think Lego will continue this theme for quite some time, it sells well because the IP is popular without the need to keep up with what's new from the franchise.