The Magic of Harry Potter

[WesternOutlaw]

As we prepare for the release of the new Harry Potter collection, I thought it might be fun to explore the reasons why LEGO fans enjoy the theme.

What makes you a fan of the Harry Potter theme - if you could just pick one aspect?

[Fugazi]

Well I'm a fan of the licence but I don't care much for playing with my sets or displaying them. I don't have any HP sets yet (dark ages ), but if I buy any the main reason will be the terrific unusual parts and accessories that HP sets are usually replete with. This wave seems to be no exception, and I have my eyes set on the Burrow!

[lightningtiger]

I find HP fun and quite entertaining, as to the new sets - I'm eyeing off Hogwarts that's for sure !

It runs along simliar lines as SW, simply good vs. evil, but in a world of magic - my son and myself can't wait !

I'm a conformist! everyone !

[BearHeart]

I've never read the books but I like the dark, gothic, screepy feel fo the HP sets (that includes the minifigs, unique parts and color scheme).

[It All Ends Here]

I love the books and the movies. That's why I buy them

[RoryoCox]

I have always loved Harry Potter since I was smaller. I have been with the line since the start and it has a big place in my heart. Lego doing Harry Potter again is a real plus for me and a great send off to the series of books and movies.

I have to say I will miss it when it's gone

[SuperChris]

I'm a huge fan of the books, not so much the movies, but I still like them. I think the greatest movie they did was HP3. Even if the Lego sets were terrible, I'd still buy them purely because they're Harry Potter!

Like others, I'm going to miss the theme when it's over...

[Euvor]

At the beginning my main reason to buy these sets was, mostly, the great way they can be integrated into Castle. (Later I decided to start collecting them as their own theme)

[Masked Builder]

I like it for the parts. Also because they look really neat!

[Tohst]

So, why I like the Harry Potter sets can break down into two areas.

Firstly, the stories themselves. Other people have written disertations as to why people like the books so I won't gush over them or the hero's journey, the collective unconscious, and the pure quality of the writing too much here. I'll just say they were very engaging with likable characters and most importantly for the second branch of this post, they created an interesting world where magic was very much part of life. The reader wants to explore this world as much as follow the plots of the books.

Which is why for me, personally, the last books weren't as enjoyable. There were more about moving the plot to its conclusion than world exploration. They were still good, they just didn't pull me in and shake me like a rag doll like the first ones did.

Which brings me to the second area, the sets themselves.

The sets delved into an area largely ignored by Lego, the non-military castle. We got classrooms and great halls instead of the standard castle, the standard smaller tower, the standard catapault. We got storefronts! We got huts (Well, the same hut 3 or 4 times). Don't get me wrong, I love me some castle sets but it does get a bit repetitive. And we get the same 3 or 4 warrior faces to go with it. But with Harry Potter, trying to match the figures to the movies, we got a slew of new faces and new hairstyles. And this doesn't even go into the 'world building' details that you don't get in your standard castle sets but allow you to really bring a MOC to life. I'm talking about the books, the pots and pans, the owls and other critters, the potions, and yes, even a whole turkey in the newest castles. All bits and bobs ignored in normal castle to include another shooting mechanism.

As I've mentioned before in the Star Wars forums, I do think Lego designers do a better job modeling ships, and here locations, that already exist as opposed to having to come up with the design themselves. Which is why Star Wars Lego has better designs than space police III (and I did like SPIII). It's also why Hogwart's castle sets have more personality than King's Castle. And more personality seems to translate to more interesting pieces to attempt to recreate an existing look.

So, to pull this all together, because the sets are designed from an existing world, we get interesting locations, minifigs ,and accessories that most other lines don't have. Because they modeled after existing locations, the designers are forced to be more creative and supply us with interesting parts.

The fact that the books and movies are actually good and its fun to see them come to 'life' in Lego is just icing on the cake. (This is the opposite of the PoP sets where I liked the sets for a lot of the same reasons as the Harry Potter sets. And then I saw the movie and just kept telling myself, hey, at least we got camels and ostriches. It won't get me two hours of my life back but its something)

I need to take some new pictures of my 'Hogwart's inspired castle' once the new sets come out and I've done some more modifying. You can see the latest version in a not very flattering picture here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toomuchdew/4724728698/in/photostream/

And older pictures before the last renovation here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14802561@N05/sets/72157602353726691/

so, yeah, I likes me some HP.

-Tohst

[CMP]

I'm not submitting a vote until you allow us to choose multiple options or put in an 'All of the above' option.

Edited September 21, 2010 by CallMePie

[gingerling1980]

So, why I like the Harry Potter sets can break down into two areas.

Firstly, the stories themselves. Other people have written disertations as to why people like the books so I won't gush over them or the hero's journey, the collective unconscious, and the pure quality of the writing too much here. I'll just say they were very engaging with likable characters and most importantly for the second branch of this post, they created an interesting world where magic was very much part of life. The reader wants to explore this world as much as follow the plots of the books.

Which is why for me, personally, the last books weren't as enjoyable. There were more about moving the plot to its conclusion than world exploration. They were still good, they just didn't pull me in and shake me like a rag doll like the first ones did.

Which brings me to the second area, the sets themselves.

The sets delved into an area largely ignored by Lego, the non-military castle. We got classrooms and great halls instead of the standard castle, the standard smaller tower, the standard catapault. We got storefronts! We got huts (Well, the same hut 3 or 4 times). Don't get me wrong, I love me some castle sets but it does get a bit repetitive. And we get the same 3 or 4 warrior faces to go with it. But with Harry Potter, trying to match the figures to the movies, we got a slew of new faces and new hairstyles. And this doesn't even go into the 'world building' details that you don't get in your standard castle sets but allow you to really bring a MOC to life. I'm talking about the books, the pots and pans, the owls and other critters, the potions, and yes, even a whole turkey in the newest castles. All bits and bobs ignored in normal castle to include another shooting mechanism.

As I've mentioned before in the Star Wars forums, I do think Lego designers do a better job modeling ships, and here locations, that already exist as opposed to having to come up with the design themselves. Which is why Star Wars Lego has better designs than space police III (and I did like SPIII). It's also why Hogwart's castle sets have more personality than King's Castle. And more personality seems to translate to more interesting pieces to attempt to recreate an existing look.

So, to pull this all together, because the sets are designed from an existing world, we get interesting locations, minifigs ,and accessories that most other lines don't have. Because they modeled after existing locations, the designers are forced to be more creative and supply us with interesting parts.

The fact that the books and movies are actually good and its fun to see them come to 'life' in Lego is just icing on the cake. (This is the opposite of the PoP sets where I liked the sets for a lot of the same reasons as the Harry Potter sets. And then I saw the movie and just kept telling myself, hey, at least we got camels and ostriches. It won't get me two hours of my life back but its something)

I need to take some new pictures of my 'Hogwart's inspired castle' once the new sets come out and I've done some more modifying. You can see the latest version in a not very flattering picture here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toomuchdew/4724728698/in/photostream/

And older pictures before the last renovation here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14802561@N05/sets/72157602353726691/

so, yeah, I likes me some HP.

-Tohst

I think your Potter castle is amazing!

Have you changed the roof bricks from Navy to Sand Green?

I'm having difficulty locating the sand green bricks you used on the Tower.

I take it they are part 3298?

[Tohst]

I'm not submitting a vote until you allow us to choose multiple options or put in an 'All of the above' option.

I second that!

-Tohst

I think your Potter castle is amazing!

Have you changed the roof bricks from Navy to Sand Green?

I'm having difficulty locating the sand green bricks you used on the Tower.

I take it they are part 3298?

Thanks.

They are indeed part 3298, with a couple of the 1 x 3 slopes at the joins. I've actually did sand green first and changed it to dark blue. I have both colors around to switch the roof out when I feel like it.

-Tohst

[ThatGuyWithTheBricks]

I said other because I love the architecture of Hogwarts. It is very lovely and unique.

[Oky]

This is a tough one as every answer is a good one. These sets are very good for extraordinary parts, but there are many other themes that are too. They are also very well designed, with all the hidden compartments and play features and whatnot, but other themes have those too. And there's no doubt they are a source of great, useful minifigs. However, what really differentiates Harry Potter from other themes is the incredibly epic and well thought out story that it is based on, with that mysterious magical world full of lovable, deep, relateable characters. Therefore, I voted that I am a huge fan of the movies.

But as I said, "all of the above" would have been the best answer, and that's why we need a Harry Potter month!

[WesternOutlaw]

Can't have all of the above. That would be too easy and pretty much eliminate the need for a poll at all. This poll is about voting for what you really like about the theme. Understand that some like all aspects, but what seems to draw you most to the theme - pieces, parts, colors, magic, the books, etc? - those hard decisions, if only I could have chocolate and vanilla.

[Clone OPatra]

I love HP LEGO for the figs. And I love the figs because I love the books and films. Most of the figures are pretty well done, and capture their real-life counterparts in LEGO form. Not all do that so well, but most.

There is also such a variety of figures: the students of course, but then a mermaid, different adults in suits, teachers in cool robes, Sirius in a prison-break outfit… there are just so many good things. HP is great for civilian fig parts that wouldn't have been made otherwise.

[prateek]

The thing that drew me in at first was that it was the only Licensed Theme when it first came out, besides Star Wars. Everything was so different compared to the rest of the lines at first, but now, I don't really like HP too much because the lines are so blurred.

[Clone OPatra]

Everything was so different compared to the rest of the lines at first, but now, I don't really like HP too much because the lines are so blurred.

That's certainly a different perspective. I don't see the licensed lines as blurred in the slightest. All of theme yield different types of figures and different types of sets. I guess you could say that the Avatar Air Temple had a similar color scheme to HP, but that's about it.

The thing that truly sets the HP line apart (though it sort of goes for Spongebob as well) is that nearly every figure is a named character. There are no stock figures at all; every one has a unique print to match an actor on screen. There are a few exceptions, of course, but for the most part every figure in the Harry Potter line has a clear persona.

[WesternOutlaw]

Interesting thoughts. I went with "Darker Realms of LEGO". HP was the first theme to offer a graveyard (in Graveyard Duel) and aside from the Movie Monster sets, much darker aspects of LEGO. While the influence of these "darker" aspects on children can be debatable, as an AFOL, I really like the thought of more mysterious and sinister components used to recreate the movie scenes and characters. While I didn't get into Harry Potter until years later (from buying and watching the CD collection), I now have a deeper appreciation for the entire story line.

The HP theme can almost be compared to that of Indiana Jones (IJ) in that through the recreation of movie scenes, LEGO offers aspects that would probably never be constructed for their primary market. Elements like German and Russian soldiers, and WWII military jeeps and aircraft are but a few from the IJ line that make the license theme so much more appealing to the AFOL. The same holds true for HP. Could you imagine LEGO City offering a graveyard set? If they did, parent coalitions agains violence would attack the company.

So for me, it's Darker Realms, and these include the ominous and sinister aspects of the theme. Ghosts... Spirits... to name just a few.

[Ferder]

I love the design and realization of Hogwarts in the film, so I'm always excited to see how LEGO recreates it for their sets. I was very underwhelmed when I saw the first models back in 2001. I thought it was terrific that all the sets were module and could be put together to make one big castle, but they were all fairly hollow and didn't look that great from the outside. This latest castle is a huge improvement.

Edited September 22, 2010 by Ferder

[FilmGirl27]

I just absolutely love Harry Potter. For a long time, I was just a really big fan of the movies, but then I read the books and now I absolutely adore everything to do with HP. The books are just amazing, so I voted for them, but if I could I would vote all.

Lego Harry Potter is like a combination of two of my favorite things, so I'm really glad it's back, and with such great sets.

[Vindicare]

I just absolutely love Harry Potter. For a long time, I was just a really big fan of the movies, but then I read the books and now I absolutely adore everything to do with HP. The books are just amazing, so I voted for them, but if I could I would vote all.

Lego Harry Potter is like a combination of two of my favorite things, so I'm really glad it's back, and with such great sets.

I'm the same way. I never read any of the books, I actually skipped out on the first movie in the theatre. Then, for whatever reason I saw the second one and so on. Then I read the books and just became hooked! I'm reading them now for the 3rd time now.

[narbilu]

The theme is fabulous, so many great ideas for MOCs. I cleared out my table to make a MOC of Hogwarts and it's surroundings. The six boxes (7 actually, got 2 of the Quidditch match) arrived tuesday and almost all sets are built now.

My project MOC will include:

1) motorized Hogwarts Express and Hogmeads station

2) grand Hogwarts castle (multiple towers, bigger great hall, common rooms, class rooms, greenhouse and etc.)

3) quidditch field

4) Hagrid's Hut (bigger version)

5) Aragog's nest

6) Whomping Willow

Plans are ready, now just got to find some time to start the project. I'll keep you guys posted.

Regards,

Narb

[Mickey]

At the beginning my main reason to buy these sets was, mostly, the great way they can be integrated into Castle. (Later I decided to start collecting them as their own theme)

How do you do that? I just bought the King's castle for my son.