I'm curious to see what they produce without Marcos Bessa involved. He's the one who made the 2020 75978 Diagon Alley ($450) such a success, and we haven't seen anything like it, before *or* since.
2018 there was the nanoscale 71043 Hogwarts Castle ($470),
nothing in 2019 (they were still wrapping their heads around the theme and its success),
2021 we had the 76391 Icons ($300) art set with the massive Hedwig,
2022 we had the super-sized 76405 Hogwarts Express Collectors' Edition ($500 — retired),
2023 it was 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors' Edition ($430) with a building and half if we're generous (plus the large dungeons), and nanoscale 76419 Hogwarts Castle and Grounds ($170),
2024 we got 76437 the Burrow Collectors' Edition ($260),
and 2025 we've already had a nanoscale 76444 Diagon Alley Wizarding Shops ($200).
And now 76457 Hogsmeade Village ($380)... That should (hopefully) be a lot of set for the price, and let us really expand the village. I'm a little nervous because they discontinued the regular Hogsmeade sets — we had the 2021 Hogsmeade Village Visit set ($90), 2022's 76407 Shrieking Shack ($90) and 2023 76423 Hogsmeade Station (and Hogwarts Express $130), and that very excellent 76418 2023 Harry Potter Advent Calendar ($45). They could have kept going and given us more shops, especially as the Hog's Head featured in the Fantastic Beasts films, but they stopped. I don't own a single one of the "collectors' edition" sets, I don't even have Icons, so I'm worried now we either get too much of a retread of covered ground (sort of like how the smaller Diagon Alley shops sets feel), or one of those massive things where we're getting a too large build of the Three Broomsticks, say, instead of lots of play and detail for your buck like the 2020 DA offered.
(side note: em dash is apparently a function of autocorrect and I am not a bot, cheers)
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Date: 2025-07-01 11:42 am (UTC)2018 there was the nanoscale 71043 Hogwarts Castle ($470),
nothing in 2019 (they were still wrapping their heads around the theme and its success),
2021 we had the 76391 Icons ($300) art set with the massive Hedwig,
2022 we had the super-sized 76405 Hogwarts Express Collectors' Edition ($500 — retired),
2023 it was 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors' Edition ($430) with a building and half if we're generous (plus the large dungeons), and nanoscale 76419 Hogwarts Castle and Grounds ($170),
2024 we got 76437 the Burrow Collectors' Edition ($260),
and 2025 we've already had a nanoscale 76444 Diagon Alley Wizarding Shops ($200).
And now 76457 Hogsmeade Village ($380)... That should (hopefully) be a lot of set for the price, and let us really expand the village. I'm a little nervous because they discontinued the regular Hogsmeade sets — we had the 2021 Hogsmeade Village Visit set ($90), 2022's 76407 Shrieking Shack ($90) and 2023 76423 Hogsmeade Station (and Hogwarts Express $130), and that very excellent 76418 2023 Harry Potter Advent Calendar ($45). They could have kept going and given us more shops, especially as the Hog's Head featured in the Fantastic Beasts films, but they stopped. I don't own a single one of the "collectors' edition" sets, I don't even have Icons, so I'm worried now we either get too much of a retread of covered ground (sort of like how the smaller Diagon Alley shops sets feel), or one of those massive things where we're getting a too large build of the Three Broomsticks, say, instead of lots of play and detail for your buck like the 2020 DA offered.
(side note: em dash is apparently a function of autocorrect and I am not a bot, cheers)