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acciobrickWe have the first photos of the Summer 2024 lego Harry Potter sets! They're of mixed quality but good enough to give you an idea of what's coming. Having seen them, I feel comfortable making decisions on whether or not I'm likely to purchase the sets anyway.
I got the photos from chaos_lego on an instagram mirror (I'm still stubbornly refusing to give IG my phone number 😆), but they didn't mention where they got them from, so I've no idea where these originated. At least two of the pictures had a watermark from fateful_lego, but I wasn't able to confirm them as a source either. *shrug* As the pix match the description we had last month, I think the chances are very good that these are accurate. Keep in mind, they're unconfirmed, spoilers and not official quality, so proceed beyond the fold with caution.
Expected release date remains June 2024, at which point we will see the following sets (some of them have had different prices mentioned, I've listed them as a range with the most recent information in bold):
76427 Buildable Buckbeak - 723 pieces ($60).
No crank and mechanical automation as we had with Hedwig and Fawkes, but the head, wings and legs will be posable, as you can see above. Beaky is expected to come complete with a small piece of yard including two pumpkins and a brick built bird.
76433 Buildable Mandrake - 579 pieces (ca. $60 - $70).
As you can see, a posable model of a roughly life-sized Mandrake in its pot, with moveable lips and limbs. There's also supposed to be a simulated "mechanism" for screaming (perhaps causing its mouth to open in a "scream" when removed from the pot?), although it's not expected to include a sound brick, small mercies. 😉
76439 Ollivander and Madame Malkin stores - 744 pieces (ca. $90 - $100). Continuing the expansion of more affordable Diagon Alley sets started with 2023's 76422 Diagon Alley: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (& the Owl Post), we return to the Wizarding shopping district once more.
Ollivander's wand store will have a ladder and a total of 26 wands. It looks like we're getting at least one new wand mould, which is very nice. Figures: Harry, Garrick Ollivander, Madame Malkin, a darker than usual Padma Patil (which, if past reviews of Cho are any indication, is sure to cause friction (personally I like getting some darker hands, though)), and as yet not seen wizarding schoolgirl and a witch with a flower cart (shoutout to Anna Arvensis from Horizont Alley). Madame Malkin also seems to be adding some diversity, appearing to be the second lightest skin tone. Just as with last year's Owl Post worker, we didn't have a film character representing her, so they had free rein in her creation.
Let's start with the positive... Ollivander's is a nice looking build. And that's about all I have at the moment.
I am so disappointed with this set.
If you calculate a price per building in 75978 the D2C Diagon Alley set (112.50 EUR for Ollivander's and Scribbulus), this one just doesn't seem to be delivering value. It also doesn't appear to be different enough to justify retreading the same territory, and Madame Malkin's frankly just makes me sad. Further, it leaves me wondering how well they understand their audience. I appreciate that Ollivander's has more screen time (an easy feat as the clothiers' has virtually none). But there's little to be done in terms of play in Ollivander's - unless they're able to cause the wand boxes to fly and sparks to shoot, and even then... A tailor's, on the other hand, offers plenty of chances for play, and yet they've given us... this instead of something more worthy. I built a MOC of this set, and was really looking forward to lego's interpretation. So much for that. If this is the quality the "affordable" Diagon Alley line is producing, I have to wonder: what's the point?
76435 Great Hall at Hogwarts - 1732 pieces ($200 - $220). This is the third minifig scale Great Hall within seven years, which will likely prove too soon for many. But in addition to being one of the most iconic bits of the castle, this set serves as the central build of the latest Hogwarts castle system. It can connect with 76426 Hogwarts Castle Boathouse from the winter wave.
We're getting 11 minifigs / characters: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Albus Dumbledore, 3 as yet unnamed students from the other three Houses, the Fat Friar!, the Troll (a very nicely captured new bigfig version mould), Professor Quirrell and (what I assume) is Professor Vector. Professor Vector and the Hufflepuff student seem to bring the diversity here, although it looks like they went for the same second lightest skin tone, which would mean only three of the six present flesh tones were used so far in the wave. Here again, it's nice to get the matching hand colour though, instead of those damnable mittens. (Whether they did us a favour by bumping up the number of tones is a different matter, as I do feel like I'm chasing "matching" hands now. There was certainly something to be said for the all yellow era where none of it mattered.)
There's a bathroom for the troll scene, a corridor and the Hufflepuff common room. These three rooms can be removed from the build for play, or replaced with other rooms, like the Potions Classroom (see below). There are hints of the secret passage, and a number of portraits, but I expect we'll have to wait for the official pix to see that clearly. It also has a brick built interior ceiling in the Great Hall depicting the sky / the charmed ceiling.
Here's Professor Vector for comparison to the new minifig. Unfortunately we didn't get a new hair / hat piece, but it seems a reasonable, budget-friendly compromise for a character that doesn't even speak.
And if you're trying to keep track of what else is in the wave, we have no pix yet (and also no new information) for:
76434 Aragog in the Forbidden Forest - 195 pieces (ca. $15 - $20). lego's largest and most realistic Aragog build ever, with moveable legs, canines and pedipalps (each of the second pair of appendages attached to the cephalothorax of most arachnids), plus Harry and Ron minifigs. The set should also include a small scene from the Forbidden Forest, two small spider pieces and a cobweb. They can be combined with 76432 Forbidden Forest: Magical Creatures and 30677 Draco in the Forbidden Forest, the polybag from the 2024 winter wave.
76431 Hogwarts Castle: Potions Class - 397 pieces ($40). A part of the newest Hogwarts castle system, this set contains two collectible portraits. Minifigs: Severus Snape, Hermione, and supposedly: Pansy Parkinson and Seamus Finnigan. (Those last two would be strange, though, as it looks like they may both be in the Great Hall set? But possibly in the wrong uniforms? Odd. And unclear. I look forward the official info on the set to clear that up.) We should also see some new pieces: chemical flasks and a brick representing steam/vapours. The room will be the size of one of the rooms in the Great Hall set (see 76435 above, where we can now see how it's likely to slot into the build). I'm now anticipating no walls here? Which is very strange in a stand alone set and for this price. There must be something else going on here, right? *shrug*
76440 Durmstrang ship and Beauxbatons carriage - 1229 pieces ($140). Two models in one package (meh, and again: meh), it will be an exclusive / limited distribution set, which means it also won't be subject to much by way of sales. (More meh. This is very likely going to be a pass for me as well.) The carriage will be smaller than 2019's 75958 Beauxbatons' Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts, so that there should be room for only one of the Abraxans. As we're paying to retread ground covered fairly recently, I can't say I believe that's a bad thing. The ship also won't be massive, but should contain four sails, including one with a print. Minifigs: Igor Karkaroff, Viktor Krum, Kornelius Fudge, Fleur Delacour and Madame Maxime. Here's one of those instances where I suspect the identification of a minifig might be off: we've had Fudge, and Barty Crouch Sr. wears essentially the same clothes, so I wonder if this mightn't be him instead.
Things expected to be available in the September 2024 wave:
76438 lego Harry Potter Advent calendar 2024 The 2024 HP AC should include two of the shiny new Hogwarts collectible portraits, a Christmas tree, Christmas gifts, a "Hogwarts machine" ??? (your guess is as good as mine) and many more builds, plus seven (?) characters: Harry, Susan Bones, Draco, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, a ghost, and Hedwig. It will be interesting to see if the ghost is the same one included in the Great Hall set, or the fourth House ghost to complete the set once and for all.
76437 the Burrow - the Weasleys' wonky warren - 2405 pieces. Presumably this year's D2C and an 18+ set.
That's all I have for now. If recent waves are anything to go by, we should see official pictures of the summer sets soon now that the initial ones have leaked.
I got the photos from chaos_lego on an instagram mirror (I'm still stubbornly refusing to give IG my phone number 😆), but they didn't mention where they got them from, so I've no idea where these originated. At least two of the pictures had a watermark from fateful_lego, but I wasn't able to confirm them as a source either. *shrug* As the pix match the description we had last month, I think the chances are very good that these are accurate. Keep in mind, they're unconfirmed, spoilers and not official quality, so proceed beyond the fold with caution.
Expected release date remains June 2024, at which point we will see the following sets (some of them have had different prices mentioned, I've listed them as a range with the most recent information in bold):
76427 Buildable Buckbeak - 723 pieces ($60).
No crank and mechanical automation as we had with Hedwig and Fawkes, but the head, wings and legs will be posable, as you can see above. Beaky is expected to come complete with a small piece of yard including two pumpkins and a brick built bird.
76433 Buildable Mandrake - 579 pieces (ca. $60 - $70).
As you can see, a posable model of a roughly life-sized Mandrake in its pot, with moveable lips and limbs. There's also supposed to be a simulated "mechanism" for screaming (perhaps causing its mouth to open in a "scream" when removed from the pot?), although it's not expected to include a sound brick, small mercies. 😉
76439 Ollivander and Madame Malkin stores - 744 pieces (ca. $90 - $100). Continuing the expansion of more affordable Diagon Alley sets started with 2023's 76422 Diagon Alley: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (& the Owl Post), we return to the Wizarding shopping district once more.
Ollivander's wand store will have a ladder and a total of 26 wands. It looks like we're getting at least one new wand mould, which is very nice. Figures: Harry, Garrick Ollivander, Madame Malkin, a darker than usual Padma Patil (which, if past reviews of Cho are any indication, is sure to cause friction (personally I like getting some darker hands, though)), and as yet not seen wizarding schoolgirl and a witch with a flower cart (shoutout to Anna Arvensis from Horizont Alley). Madame Malkin also seems to be adding some diversity, appearing to be the second lightest skin tone. Just as with last year's Owl Post worker, we didn't have a film character representing her, so they had free rein in her creation.
Let's start with the positive... Ollivander's is a nice looking build. And that's about all I have at the moment.
I am so disappointed with this set.
If you calculate a price per building in 75978 the D2C Diagon Alley set (112.50 EUR for Ollivander's and Scribbulus), this one just doesn't seem to be delivering value. It also doesn't appear to be different enough to justify retreading the same territory, and Madame Malkin's frankly just makes me sad. Further, it leaves me wondering how well they understand their audience. I appreciate that Ollivander's has more screen time (an easy feat as the clothiers' has virtually none). But there's little to be done in terms of play in Ollivander's - unless they're able to cause the wand boxes to fly and sparks to shoot, and even then... A tailor's, on the other hand, offers plenty of chances for play, and yet they've given us... this instead of something more worthy. I built a MOC of this set, and was really looking forward to lego's interpretation. So much for that. If this is the quality the "affordable" Diagon Alley line is producing, I have to wonder: what's the point?
76435 Great Hall at Hogwarts - 1732 pieces ($200 - $220). This is the third minifig scale Great Hall within seven years, which will likely prove too soon for many. But in addition to being one of the most iconic bits of the castle, this set serves as the central build of the latest Hogwarts castle system. It can connect with 76426 Hogwarts Castle Boathouse from the winter wave.
We're getting 11 minifigs / characters: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Albus Dumbledore, 3 as yet unnamed students from the other three Houses, the Fat Friar!, the Troll (a very nicely captured new bigfig version mould), Professor Quirrell and (what I assume) is Professor Vector. Professor Vector and the Hufflepuff student seem to bring the diversity here, although it looks like they went for the same second lightest skin tone, which would mean only three of the six present flesh tones were used so far in the wave. Here again, it's nice to get the matching hand colour though, instead of those damnable mittens. (Whether they did us a favour by bumping up the number of tones is a different matter, as I do feel like I'm chasing "matching" hands now. There was certainly something to be said for the all yellow era where none of it mattered.)
There's a bathroom for the troll scene, a corridor and the Hufflepuff common room. These three rooms can be removed from the build for play, or replaced with other rooms, like the Potions Classroom (see below). There are hints of the secret passage, and a number of portraits, but I expect we'll have to wait for the official pix to see that clearly. It also has a brick built interior ceiling in the Great Hall depicting the sky / the charmed ceiling.
Here's Professor Vector for comparison to the new minifig. Unfortunately we didn't get a new hair / hat piece, but it seems a reasonable, budget-friendly compromise for a character that doesn't even speak.
And if you're trying to keep track of what else is in the wave, we have no pix yet (and also no new information) for:
76434 Aragog in the Forbidden Forest - 195 pieces (ca. $15 - $20). lego's largest and most realistic Aragog build ever, with moveable legs, canines and pedipalps (each of the second pair of appendages attached to the cephalothorax of most arachnids), plus Harry and Ron minifigs. The set should also include a small scene from the Forbidden Forest, two small spider pieces and a cobweb. They can be combined with 76432 Forbidden Forest: Magical Creatures and 30677 Draco in the Forbidden Forest, the polybag from the 2024 winter wave.
76431 Hogwarts Castle: Potions Class - 397 pieces ($40). A part of the newest Hogwarts castle system, this set contains two collectible portraits. Minifigs: Severus Snape, Hermione, and supposedly: Pansy Parkinson and Seamus Finnigan. (Those last two would be strange, though, as it looks like they may both be in the Great Hall set? But possibly in the wrong uniforms? Odd. And unclear. I look forward the official info on the set to clear that up.) We should also see some new pieces: chemical flasks and a brick representing steam/vapours. The room will be the size of one of the rooms in the Great Hall set (see 76435 above, where we can now see how it's likely to slot into the build). I'm now anticipating no walls here? Which is very strange in a stand alone set and for this price. There must be something else going on here, right? *shrug*
76440 Durmstrang ship and Beauxbatons carriage - 1229 pieces ($140). Two models in one package (meh, and again: meh), it will be an exclusive / limited distribution set, which means it also won't be subject to much by way of sales. (More meh. This is very likely going to be a pass for me as well.) The carriage will be smaller than 2019's 75958 Beauxbatons' Carriage: Arrival at Hogwarts, so that there should be room for only one of the Abraxans. As we're paying to retread ground covered fairly recently, I can't say I believe that's a bad thing. The ship also won't be massive, but should contain four sails, including one with a print. Minifigs: Igor Karkaroff, Viktor Krum, Kornelius Fudge, Fleur Delacour and Madame Maxime. Here's one of those instances where I suspect the identification of a minifig might be off: we've had Fudge, and Barty Crouch Sr. wears essentially the same clothes, so I wonder if this mightn't be him instead.
Things expected to be available in the September 2024 wave:
76438 lego Harry Potter Advent calendar 2024 The 2024 HP AC should include two of the shiny new Hogwarts collectible portraits, a Christmas tree, Christmas gifts, a "Hogwarts machine" ??? (your guess is as good as mine) and many more builds, plus seven (?) characters: Harry, Susan Bones, Draco, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, a ghost, and Hedwig. It will be interesting to see if the ghost is the same one included in the Great Hall set, or the fourth House ghost to complete the set once and for all.
76437 the Burrow - the Weasleys' wonky warren - 2405 pieces. Presumably this year's D2C and an 18+ set.
That's all I have for now. If recent waves are anything to go by, we should see official pictures of the summer sets soon now that the initial ones have leaked.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-04-27 07:33 pm (UTC)You betcha. I figure you were about as eager as I was. ❤️