76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank
Jul. 18th, 2023 07:11 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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acciobrickWe now have the promotional material for this year's D2C in the Harry Potter lego theme, 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank. This set is expected to go on sale 01 September, 2023; accordingly, it's likely they'll wait with the Vault GWP until then.
The 4803 piece set consists of two main sections, the above ground, with two buildings and a wall, and the below ground section, comprised of a very solid centre trunk section with 4 arms at the top to support the upper levels, dotted with three vaults, a number of stalactites and stalagmites, lanterns, a bat, a narrow waterfall (Thief's Downfall) and encircled by a spiral shaped track for the mine cart that takes Harry and Hagrid to Harry's vault in the first film / book.
Those versions of the figures are included along with their cart.
The nicely detailed mine cart with 5 spoked steering wheels as decoration and track use the existing rollercoaster system. The vaults are essentially just openable doors with what might be as little as a single bricks' space behind them for the treasures they protect.
The two vaults shown, the Potters' vault (687) with gold from the Sleekeazy's sales and Bellatrix's with Helga Hufflepuff's cup and the Sword of Gryffindor, are effectively token representations which the characters will be unable to enter.
As a whole, the set focuses more on Deathly Hallows than Philosopher's Stone, however, as suggested by the half-blind Ukrainian Ironbelly that graces the set's roof and a "Bellatrix Lestrange" minifigure, secretly a polyjuiced Hermione, who appears with her extended beaded bag for the first time. There are 13 minifigures in total, additional minifigures include 2 versions of Harry Potter (Philosopher's Stone and Deathly Hallows), Hermione Granger Polyjuiced as Bellatrix Lestrange, Ron Weasley (polyjuiced as Dragomir Despard), PS Rubeus Hagrid, a Death Eater, 5 distinct goblins in total: Bogrod, Griphook, Ricbert, and 2 un-named goblins, plus 2 guards. Both Hermione and Ron come with alternative hair pieces, and the trio have new "wet" faces which nicely represent their characters after they go through the Thief's Downfall or jump from the dragon's back into the lake. Additional details include the new Galleon coin (which debuted in the 2023 Hogwarts Express set), vault keys, wands, and Hagrid's umbrella. There are at least two owls included, one in flight carrying a letter and a second perched with incoming mail.
The two sections can be displayed as one 75 cm tall build, or as two separate modular units, in which case the above ground section measures 36 cm in height (it's unclear at this point if that includes the dragon or not), and the underground vault / track system is 39 cm in height.
The dragon is similar in size to the Horntail from 2019's 75946 Hungarian Horntail Triwizard Challenge. It has new moulded head and jaw and uses cloth wings like 2022's 76406 Hungarian Horntail Dragon does (that's the larger dragon with the flappable wings like the Hedwig and Fawkes sets).
The above ground section is 32 cm in width and 25 cm in depth. By contrast, one of 2020's 75978 Diagon Alley four modular sections is 25.5 cm wide and 13 cm deep, plus the tallest build is only 29 cm high, so Gringotts fits in satisfactorily as to its proportions. Bear in mind the buildings in Diagon were taller than the two storied set suggests, so while it seems a little bit off, the relative proportions are not significantly changed to the theme park or movie sets. The street level of Gringotts' main building is three stories tall, more V- than L-shaped, white, and complete with wonky pillars to the two rounded balconies stacked one above one the other at the V's point and over the entryway's stairs. They're topped by a round, green domed turret, for a partial fourth floor, upon which the dragon perches. The wonky columns are the 1x1 column pieces used in the 2021+ modular Harry Potter designs as opposed to the thicker 2x2 round columns employed in 2011's 10217 Diagon Alley. It allows them to fit in the two pillars to either side of the doors / windows, which is more accurate, but personally I found the thicker columns more satisfying as design decisions go. Either way, the build's horizontal shadow gaps definitely do a better job of recreating the render on the building from the original movie set than the 2011 set does, most likely with the use of tiles on the façade. There are only two sets of windows in either of the two upper side walls, meaning a reduction in window surface in the build. The interior has two stories, the upper is an office with a desk for a single goblin to use. (Minor quibble, including Bill Weasley as a curse breaker would have been a nice touch, but he's strictly theme park in these scenes.) The ground floor is the area in Gringotts we're most familiar with, the floor is appropriately tiled, there's a chandelier in the centre (albeit not as fancy as some builds we've encountered), and it includes three of those high desks with globe lights to either side, quills and inkwells.
To the left of the bank is the Magical Menagerie, a narrow, six stud wide, two storied shop. There's some irony when the building is only as wide as the goblin's desk. Dark red windows dominate on the ground floor, if there's a door, it's hidden in the narrow passageway between the pet store and the bank, accessed via a couple of steps. The first floor is light grey with some sand green highlights, there's a pitched roof, bay window / turret with conical roof, and chimney with pots. To the right, and orientated at a 90* angle to the store on the left with the bank in between them is a wide, single story wall that continues the render pattern from the bank. This may hide some of the mechanism for accessing the vaults, but it definitely provides a straight surface to attach buildings from the 2020 Diagon set to at an angle that permits a linear display, presumably 134 cm in width. It includes 2 lanterns flanking an arch and a small pitched roof as an architectural detail. These are loosely mirrored on the bank's closest wall. Boxes (including a frog and pygmy puff for the pet shop) dot the "cobbled" street, and technic bricks allow for pins to connect it to other builds.
The set comes with "life sized" printed Galleons.
There's a lot to like about this set, the minifigs not least amongst them (Bellatrix's skirt finally has printing!), but I think the view of it together with the Diagon Alley builds best sums up why I won't be getting this. The Magical Menagerie just doesn't fit in with the street at all, and it's not that they haven't got narrow buildings, but then they were very tall. In that context, it's just a pokey hodgepodge, which is a shame. It's cute on its own, it might even go with the 2023 Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in terms of its proportions, but I've no use (nor room) for the underground sections, the dragon, the weird wall, or the Menagerie in that setting. A set at this price needs to offer a heck of a lot more.
The good news, though, is the release of the WWW this summer while Diagon Alley is still available with a WWW of its own is a good sign that they'll eventually release a Gringotts normal folks can afford and display. Surely it's only a matter of time.
The 4803 piece set consists of two main sections, the above ground, with two buildings and a wall, and the below ground section, comprised of a very solid centre trunk section with 4 arms at the top to support the upper levels, dotted with three vaults, a number of stalactites and stalagmites, lanterns, a bat, a narrow waterfall (Thief's Downfall) and encircled by a spiral shaped track for the mine cart that takes Harry and Hagrid to Harry's vault in the first film / book.
Those versions of the figures are included along with their cart.
The nicely detailed mine cart with 5 spoked steering wheels as decoration and track use the existing rollercoaster system. The vaults are essentially just openable doors with what might be as little as a single bricks' space behind them for the treasures they protect.
The two vaults shown, the Potters' vault (687) with gold from the Sleekeazy's sales and Bellatrix's with Helga Hufflepuff's cup and the Sword of Gryffindor, are effectively token representations which the characters will be unable to enter.
As a whole, the set focuses more on Deathly Hallows than Philosopher's Stone, however, as suggested by the half-blind Ukrainian Ironbelly that graces the set's roof and a "Bellatrix Lestrange" minifigure, secretly a polyjuiced Hermione, who appears with her extended beaded bag for the first time. There are 13 minifigures in total, additional minifigures include 2 versions of Harry Potter (Philosopher's Stone and Deathly Hallows), Hermione Granger Polyjuiced as Bellatrix Lestrange, Ron Weasley (polyjuiced as Dragomir Despard), PS Rubeus Hagrid, a Death Eater, 5 distinct goblins in total: Bogrod, Griphook, Ricbert, and 2 un-named goblins, plus 2 guards. Both Hermione and Ron come with alternative hair pieces, and the trio have new "wet" faces which nicely represent their characters after they go through the Thief's Downfall or jump from the dragon's back into the lake. Additional details include the new Galleon coin (which debuted in the 2023 Hogwarts Express set), vault keys, wands, and Hagrid's umbrella. There are at least two owls included, one in flight carrying a letter and a second perched with incoming mail.
The two sections can be displayed as one 75 cm tall build, or as two separate modular units, in which case the above ground section measures 36 cm in height (it's unclear at this point if that includes the dragon or not), and the underground vault / track system is 39 cm in height.
The dragon is similar in size to the Horntail from 2019's 75946 Hungarian Horntail Triwizard Challenge. It has new moulded head and jaw and uses cloth wings like 2022's 76406 Hungarian Horntail Dragon does (that's the larger dragon with the flappable wings like the Hedwig and Fawkes sets).
The above ground section is 32 cm in width and 25 cm in depth. By contrast, one of 2020's 75978 Diagon Alley four modular sections is 25.5 cm wide and 13 cm deep, plus the tallest build is only 29 cm high, so Gringotts fits in satisfactorily as to its proportions. Bear in mind the buildings in Diagon were taller than the two storied set suggests, so while it seems a little bit off, the relative proportions are not significantly changed to the theme park or movie sets. The street level of Gringotts' main building is three stories tall, more V- than L-shaped, white, and complete with wonky pillars to the two rounded balconies stacked one above one the other at the V's point and over the entryway's stairs. They're topped by a round, green domed turret, for a partial fourth floor, upon which the dragon perches. The wonky columns are the 1x1 column pieces used in the 2021+ modular Harry Potter designs as opposed to the thicker 2x2 round columns employed in 2011's 10217 Diagon Alley. It allows them to fit in the two pillars to either side of the doors / windows, which is more accurate, but personally I found the thicker columns more satisfying as design decisions go. Either way, the build's horizontal shadow gaps definitely do a better job of recreating the render on the building from the original movie set than the 2011 set does, most likely with the use of tiles on the façade. There are only two sets of windows in either of the two upper side walls, meaning a reduction in window surface in the build. The interior has two stories, the upper is an office with a desk for a single goblin to use. (Minor quibble, including Bill Weasley as a curse breaker would have been a nice touch, but he's strictly theme park in these scenes.) The ground floor is the area in Gringotts we're most familiar with, the floor is appropriately tiled, there's a chandelier in the centre (albeit not as fancy as some builds we've encountered), and it includes three of those high desks with globe lights to either side, quills and inkwells.
To the left of the bank is the Magical Menagerie, a narrow, six stud wide, two storied shop. There's some irony when the building is only as wide as the goblin's desk. Dark red windows dominate on the ground floor, if there's a door, it's hidden in the narrow passageway between the pet store and the bank, accessed via a couple of steps. The first floor is light grey with some sand green highlights, there's a pitched roof, bay window / turret with conical roof, and chimney with pots. To the right, and orientated at a 90* angle to the store on the left with the bank in between them is a wide, single story wall that continues the render pattern from the bank. This may hide some of the mechanism for accessing the vaults, but it definitely provides a straight surface to attach buildings from the 2020 Diagon set to at an angle that permits a linear display, presumably 134 cm in width. It includes 2 lanterns flanking an arch and a small pitched roof as an architectural detail. These are loosely mirrored on the bank's closest wall. Boxes (including a frog and pygmy puff for the pet shop) dot the "cobbled" street, and technic bricks allow for pins to connect it to other builds.
The set comes with "life sized" printed Galleons.
There's a lot to like about this set, the minifigs not least amongst them (Bellatrix's skirt finally has printing!), but I think the view of it together with the Diagon Alley builds best sums up why I won't be getting this. The Magical Menagerie just doesn't fit in with the street at all, and it's not that they haven't got narrow buildings, but then they were very tall. In that context, it's just a pokey hodgepodge, which is a shame. It's cute on its own, it might even go with the 2023 Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in terms of its proportions, but I've no use (nor room) for the underground sections, the dragon, the weird wall, or the Menagerie in that setting. A set at this price needs to offer a heck of a lot more.
The good news, though, is the release of the WWW this summer while Diagon Alley is still available with a WWW of its own is a good sign that they'll eventually release a Gringotts normal folks can afford and display. Surely it's only a matter of time.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-07-18 10:04 pm (UTC)♥