Harry Potter 2010 discussion thread

[not-in-use-anymore]

My only complaint with these sets is voldemort's new face. It just doens't look good enough yet. And also, Lego is getting pretty cheap, Notice that in the burrows picture all the wood tiles have stickers on them when in the past, they have always been printed pieces I really do hope thats just something that they will change for the final set.

Yeah, what's up with his head? I'd prefer the older one in light bley. I don't like the burrow because it looks too cartoony, a change of colors and stickers/printing would be good.

[Clone OPatra]

I agree Superkalle, the huge wands were one of the major bummers of all the past Harry Potter sets, and will continue to be a bummer here. I'm not surprised that they didn't use the 3L bar, since that mold comes from a completely different factory that does not create parts for normal sets.

But I wish LEGO would have created a new, wand-like mold, perhaps like what is shown in the LEGO Harry Potter video game, or something better.

[Algernon]

These sets look miles above many of the older Harry Potter sets. The burrow in particular looks good. Nice to see Harry Potter making a comeback.

Where is it written that TLC can't reuse faceprints?

[Aredhel]

Thank you for those really nice pics...l

I am really awaiting those sets and the movie of course ;-P

-Aredhel

[Tacitus]

Thanks for the new images. I love the new hair molds on Molly, Ron, and Draco. It's also nice to see more of the cast of characters represented here.

But, am I the only one who thinks that the latest version of Aragog is just ridiculous? A sticker on a 1x2 tile for eyes? Come on!

[prateek]

Nice! Printed owls!

[ILikePi]

Wow! TLG has adapted Harry Potter to fit in with other modern sets quite well!

I love every single set! I don't think I'll be able to get Hogwarts Castle and Hogwarts Express, but I'll definitely get the other four sets. I'm just so happy that I have another chance at getting Harry Potter sets, because I missed out on all the other ones that were released before.

And it does look like the pictures are very preliminary still; the owls on Hagrid's Hut aren't printed, Ron has different hair in Hagrid's Hut, and Draco's face in Hogwarts Express is Ron's. I think those have already been pointed out, though.

Dobby's Release - Since it's the cheapest set in the line, I'm obviously going to get this. It also comes with two exclusive minifigs!

Quidditch Lesson/Quidditch Practice - Nice uniforms, tons of capes, and five minifigs, all of which are exclusive in their Quidditch uniforms!

Hagrid's Hut - I love this set! Lots of animals (two owls, one rat, Norbert the dragon, Aragog the spider, and three mini spiders), an interior filled with accessories, a light brick in the fireplace, a patch of printed pumpkins and mushrooms, and the main characters and Hagrid! What more could you want?

The Burrow - Cool asymmetrical design! It seems like the tower part should be tilted at an angle a bit, but other than that, I love it! The kitchen is one of the first fully furnished ones in a while, and you get dark red roof slopes and some PoP nougat bricks! Also, each and every one of the six minifigs are stunning, especially Bellatrix and Fenrir!

The only thing I don't like about this set is that it's the Half-Blood Prince scene that doesn't appear in the book (making a ring of fire around the Burrow). However, I don't mind since if it wasn't that scene, we wouldn't have gotten Bellatrix and Fenrir!

Hogwarts Express - Not many innovative techinques used in here, but I still like the set. Some very cool minifigs (Ron's sweater looks great!), various accessories (chocolate frog! ), and the Ford Anglia with all of its medium blue bricks.

The passenger cab seems a bit bland, though.

Hogwarts Castle - Wow! Some very cool architecture (I especially like the part with three cones sticking out of the roof top), and so many minifigs! We finally get Argus Filch and Mrs. Norris, and Filius Flitwick (his head print is hilarious ), along with revamped versions of many other minifigs (McGonagall for the first time in flesh)! The only thing I don't like is Snape's new face (I loved his old one). Really can't wait for a review on this set!

I'm really excited about these sets and the return of Harry Potter, even if it's only one wave!

My only complaint is the abundance of stickers. There are some printed parts (like magazines, newspapers, and owls), but intricately printed parts was one of the qualities that made LEGO Harry Potter so cool!

Edited May 16, 2010 by ILikePi

[k_peek_2000]

I LOVE the new HP Minifigs. They are just so awesome. I love the dementors in the Hogwarts set.

[Euvor]

To everyone who is complaining about ROn's non-skater hair in Hagrid's Hut:

Remeber that although these sets may be high-def, they aren't necessarily final. Look at the owl in Hagrid's Hut, they have no face/torso print. Look at the owls in the Burrows, they DO have torso prints, so the Burrows picture we have is probably pretty close to being the final product.

Exactly what I thought when I saw the pics. Oh, I just can't wait for these sets to come out!

[Tom Bricks]

I'm saving up my money to get all of these I can't wait. I don't really like Harry's new head very much but other than that it looks fantastic.

[10or]

Thanks for the high res pics! Did anyone notice on the Hogwarts Express pic that Ron's and Draco's heads are swapped? LOL

And did you notice something is one Harrys broom in the Castle set?

To me these pics are more prototypes than the ones at the toy fair. A big example is Molly.

I like the angry Harry side! Very good so he isn't smiling all the time.

Molly's face is fine to me and I hope Arthur's is double sides because I HATE the grin. Also the Ron in the Hagrid's Hut set looks exactly like OotP Ron imo. And I think the Hermione will look good with her old hair piece. If you look at the LEGO game website it shows Hermione with this new face and old hair and it looks good!

I also thin the owls are only printed when they are important owls, like Hedwig and Errol.

Hagrids Hut and the Hogwarts Express have grown on me because of all the extras them come with like chocolate frogs, owls, mushrooms, etc.

I am happy with the sets, I have so many extra pieces from the last Harry Potter sets that I can swap them out.

I am HAPPY and PUMPED for these sets! Perfect timing, right around my birthday and the Holidays!

Edited May 16, 2010 by 10or

[M'Kyuun]

Overall, the sets are looking pretty good. Painted owls... While there are still alot of complaints about Chinese outsourcing, I very much like the painted details we're seeing on many figs and creatures now.

The new Aragog 's not as nice as the original, esp, as someone mentioned, the stickered tile for his eyes. Hagrid's Hut looks alright, but the last version was still nicer, IMHO. Gotta love the printed pumpkins and mushrooms, though.

The original Weasely Ford was closer to the real thing than the new version, and it looked alot better. I do like bonnet and the use of the fender piece for the grill, but the placement of the bumper is too low. Also, the fins do not rise up on the real car..they go straight back and the boot dips, forming fins. The wheels on the new model look too small...just not quite right, and it looks like there are two stripes running down the side of the new version (one below the door, and one along the fender where it's supposed to be.) I don't know why, but the inaccuracies of the car just bum me out to the point I barely register much else in the set. The train looks good, and all the accessories, details (chocolate frog!), and figs are great. But the car...

The castle looks fantastic, and I, too, want to see it all closed up. The placement of the hinges makes it close differently than I would have expected.

The Burrows looks pretty nice. Love the new hair pieces. Ginny looks spot-on. I also noticed Molly's legs don't appear to have been painted all the way to match the torso. Hope that's just a preproduction flaw. TLG do a pretty good job of capturing the characters in minifig form. It's nice to see the expansion of hair pieces, along with new faces and torso prints.

[gunm]

Thanks for the hi-res...I definitely want Hogwarts. This is probably it for HP sets, so getting Hogwarts will be the penultimate for me.

[CDC]

Overall, the sets are looking pretty good. Painted owls... While there are still alot of complaints about Chinese outsourcing, I very much like the painted details we're seeing on many figs and creatures now.

Wait, i thought figs in normal sets werent chinese quality ?

Anyways, i really like the new look of these sets. Hopefully i'll get all of them. I have to, since the figs are so awesome, i especially like that 'wolf' guy and that small guy from hogwarts, he looks really funny. Dont know their names though, it's been a while since i read the book.

[10or]

Wait, i thought figs in normal sets werent chinese quality ?

Anyways, i really like the new look of these sets. Hopefully i'll get all of them. I have to, since the figs are so awesome, i especially like that 'wolf' guy and that small guy from hogwarts, he looks really funny. Dont know their names though, it's been a while since i read the book.

Fenrir Greayback is the wolf guy

Flitwick is the small guy

[lightningtiger]

Last night I showed my son the pictures of the new sets, he spotted all the characters first go by name and even by the scene that appears in the films. It proves that Lego has hit a home run, if a kid can be impressed with the new figures, so will the sales impress Lego and Time-Warner.

He agrees with me the train needs big wheels and Hagrid's hut is the best one ever, especially for the spider in it.

I've been also told that October is the Oz release date (by a reliable retail source).

I'm a conformist! everyone !

[Aanchir]

And also, Lego is getting pretty cheap, Notice that in the burrows picture all the wood tiles have stickers on them when in the past, they have always been printed pieces I really do hope thats just something that they will change for the final set.

If by "cheap" you mean "smart". I've always preferred stickers to printing. Why waste money and allocate separate machines to print a batch of parts, when you can instead print stickers and prevent a wasted batch of parts if the printing doesn't pass quality control?

Besides complaints about decades-old stickers which were decidedly lower quality (and of course legitimate complaints that stickers don't adhere well to certain parts like 2x2 round bricks), I've never heard a legitimate argument against stickers.

Wait, i thought figs in normal sets werent chinese quality ?

"Chinese quality" is a myth. There's "LEGO quality" and "non-LEGO quality". Figs in normal sets, whether they're made in the Czech Republic, Mexico, Hungary, or even China, are LEGO quality. Magnet sets and such are made by external suppliers-- thus, non-LEGO quality. And yes, LEGO quality does vary, and always has. Getting a "bad fig" will always be possible, no matter where the figs are made or what sets you get them in.

[Commander Assassin]

Do I see Brickforge mushrooms on Hagrid's Hut?

[Dannylonglegs]

Do I see Brickforge mushrooms on Hagrid's Hut?

I so those too and thought the same thing, but now I think they are actually the radar dish pieces with a cool printing.

~Insectoid Aristocrat

[DJ Force]

I LOVE those minifigs! Look at all those new hairpieces! A dream come true for minifig customizers!

[Big Cam]

These look really good. Thanks for the high res pictures.

I'm stoked at a chance to get these fig's that I missed out on previously, plus the updated figs look better to me.

[Legomaster34]

Ah, real pics that you can get very close-up on!

Well, besides for the Burrow set, it's really all about the minifigures for me. Honestly, if I'm disappointed about something, I am allowed to be. This is very likely the last wave of HP, and if there are certain things LEGO still hasn't gotten right about the figures, I have perfect right to share that opinion and be less than satisfied.

Of course, all of my dislikes could change once/if I actually hold the figures in front of me, but just from the pictures I have some thoughts:

What I like:

Ginny - They got her down completely, soft face, perfect hair, grumpy expression as well.

Ron - The hair doesn't really match to any of the movies, but it has a nice unkempt Ron look, and his dopey face suits the character well.

Fenrir and Bellatrix - spot on.

Filch - it might be the same face as Boba Fett, but it works, even though it's a little happier then we've ever seen Filch. Happy to torture, I suppose.

Flitwick - cartoony, but very cute.

Marcus Flint and Oliver what's-his-name - they work great for their characters, especially Flint with a unique face.

Hagrid - his new face gives a good Hagrid feel.

Lucius Malfoy and Dobby - hey, they look like their characters.

Some gripes:

Harry - this version looks like a little kid. The annoyed face is a bit better (zoom in on the Burrow pic), but the regular face with the mouth up high speaks little kid. That's not a problem for scenes from the first two or even three films, but he does not match the 'age' of the Ginny fig at all. I will certainly be swapping in the Harry head used for the book four and five LEGO sets.

Molly and Arthur - their clothes look great, but their faces just don't give across their characters to me. Molly looks freakishly old, and Arthur has a grin that's too big. It's great to finally get them in minifig form, but I'm a bit disappointed with the face prints.

Malfoy - what is with that face? It just looks like he's really happy, not snarky-happy like Malfoy should be. I love the hair, but I think his over-used as a Russian soldier face is much, much better for the character.

Snape - the face doesn't match Alan Rickman so well, the last one in the last Castle was better. Nice hair though.

McGonagall - I don't see why LEGO needs to make everyone so happy. The dark green is nice, but she looks a bit too cheery. It's certainly not the Aunt May face though, on close inspection.

Dumbledore - on the zoom in, he definitely has a new torso. That's a plus, but a more serious face would've been nice. This is one face print they never changed, and while it works great for Richard Harris' Dumbledore, it's not as good for Michael Gambon's.

Voldemort - certainly miles better than the last horrendous try, but also a bit too cheery. Voldemort should not look happy at all.

I can't really comment on Luna, since we have yet to see her normal face, but I think it will probably be fine.

Draco's face in the Hogwarts Express seems to be switched with Ron's.

[Clone OPatra]

Draco's face in the Hogwarts Express seems to be switched with Ron's.

True.

Clearly, this is not correct:

Still, I'm not loving this either:

He just looks so childish, and kind of slyly happy. While Malfoy is sly, he so rarely actually smiles, and hardly even smirks. His face in the OotP Castle was a bit of a smile too, but it was so subtle that it captured Malfoy's evilness. Like Harry, maybe this face works for the first two films, but not the later ones.

[Aanchir]

Still, I'm not loving this either:

He just looks so childish, and kind of slyly happy. While Malfoy is sly, he so rarely actually smiles, and hardly even smirks. His face in the OotP Castle was a bit of a smile too, but it was so subtle that it captured Malfoy's evilness. Like Harry, maybe this face works for the first two films, but not the later ones.

I like the new Draco face print. It looks kind of childish, yes, but when you think about it, the cartoony faces of minifigs are almost always youthful-looking. Star Wars is an exception for several years, seeing as a "sparkle" was only recently added to the eyes (before, Star Wars figs held off for a long time on that development). Still, when you think about it, the childlike appearance of LEGO minifigures is part of what gives them their charm.

Also consider that while Malfoy rarely smirks (at least not in the exaggerated, cartoony manner of that minifig), he probably will have to in the upcoming LEGO Harry Potter video game. It's difficult without a smirk to show Malfoy's smugness, since minifigs in the LEGO games by Traveler's Tales aren't able to talk. While his dialogue and behavior reveals his attitude in the Harry Potter story, LEGO is forced to rely on visual cues to carry that across to the audience.

I have to say I like most of the new face prints, though. The printed Dobby is a great improvement over the last version with its creepy, hollow-looking eyes. That Slytherin Beater (don't know his name) is wonderful. Ron is better than the GoF/OotP version by far. Voldemort is better than I anticipated-- although at first glance his face looks goofy, a closer look reveals shading on his cheekbones and forehead that together make him look really gaunt and creepy.

I imagine this is the only licensed theme this year I'll really go out and "collect"-- and it's been a long time since I could say that about any licensed theme. Hope I can find these sets at OK prices.

[Clone OPatra]

Still, when you think about it, the childlike appearance of LEGO minifigures is part of what gives them their charm.

Obviously LEGO minfigures are going to look like a toy, and of course that means they are going to be cartoony, but I don't think they need to look like little kids. Most minifigures are not children, but they're still cute and charming. Dastan is a cute little plastic guy happy-looking eyes and smile, but he doesn't look like a child.

Since the characters in Harry Potter are kids, I guess LEGO just went overboard making them seem very kiddish.

Ron is better than the GoF/OotP version by far.

To continue what I was saying above, the new Ron looks great for the first two or three stories, but doesn't reflect the more mature but still dopey Ron that comes out later. I guess if LEGO had designed differently aged minifigures for these different sets then kids might get confused. Or would they? This was a slight problem in Indiana Jones too; why couldn't LEGO make an older Indy for the fourth film sets?

With the exclusions of Ginny (and perhaps Luna), all of these kid figures (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco) are nice for their little kid counterparts. Well, maybe not Hermione, she's just wrong. The males, anyway, will be great for the first few films, but I can't see them at all in a Half-Blood Prince or Deathly Hallows MOC.