accio brick - the lego harry potter comm

Well, friends, we knew it was coming, we just didn't know how it would affect lego fans first. Unfortunately now we have an answer. 😕

International Bricklink and Brickowl orders have been impacted by the US's ending of the De Minimis exemption.

Brief Background: that's a rule that permitted small shipments to go untariffed, as that's more work (thus costing more money) than they traditionally would have generated. In the face of radically increased tariffs, that's no longer necessarily the case, and of course the sole point isn't to generate revenue anyway, but to shape international commerce / policy.

What's happening? As of tomorrow, Friday 29 August, international shipments still arriving (by and large) will start to be charged full tariff rates. In response, many parts of the world presently aren't shipping commercially to the US at all. Frighteningly, some countries have even suspended all mail delivery. The result greatly limits where American shoppers will be able to make purchases. As the inverse isn't also true, and this is non-reciprocal, the flip side of the situation for lego fans outside the US being we may see some reduction in prices, so keep your eyes peeled for sales as businesses compete for a smaller customer pool.

It's not just limited to the small businesses and their shipments, however.
Lego itself has been impacted by the current developments, most notably in the parts on offer in the North American Pick-a-Brick (PaB) stores. ( Read more... )

For the moment at least, it seems the rest of the world is not affected by this issue, but as we can learn from the situations in Mexico and Canada, we're all interconnected. Nothing happens in a vacuum.

It was unavoidable. When Trump began faffing about fairly indiscriminately with tariffs and trade wars loomed, lego prices stateside quite naturally had to be impacted as well. The increase is expected to be roughly 15 % on the smaller sets decreasing to 7 % on the larger ones. The global effects are still unclear, but usually when there's a price hike somewhere, companies often to take advantage of the cover it provides and raise prices elsewhere as well, or they use it to defray the spike in one area, or the production is scattered and more intertwined than we tend to think and more regions are affected. Perhaps having gone through price hikes in Europe in recent years, however, we might be spared. ( Read more... )

And we now have some great pix of the 2024 lego Harry Potter theme gift with purchase (GWP)! Amusingly enough, it also solves the question of "Just what should Floo powder look like?" that erexen and I were discussing only yesterday. How's that for timing, huh? (It looks like we were right about transparent fluorescent acid green... 😆)( Read more... )

I'm definitely looking forward to this set. 😃

And we now have a first picture of this year's lego Harry Potter BrickHeadz set. As expected, 40677 has characters from Prisoner of Azkaban and has five characters:( Read more... )

Since they did away with the monthly calendars... 😭 Massive shame that. Now it helps to get a "heads up" when something is coming. So! Something is coming!

The lego S@H (Shop at Home) and the official lego stores in most regions will have LEGO VIP Days 2023 from Tuesday, July 11 to Saturday, July 15, 2023. (US / UK / DE) There aren't a lot of details yet as to what we can concretely expect, but it looks like there'll be a small parts pack, and some GWPs (Gift With Purchases) that sold out too quickly in the past will make another appearance. No idea if that includes any of the Lego Harry Potter GWPs, though. (The Grand Staircase would make for an excellent candidate, but I'm not holding my breath. It's a real pity as they re-released the Monster Book of Monsters GWP at a later point. Why not the iconic Staircase?) Also a few themes, including the HP theme, will receive double VIP points for the duration, which is nice. Basically it means getting a rebate off your next purchase worth (roughly) 10% instead of 5% of what you spent during the special. If you rarely buy things from the lego store, that's not much of a pull, but for addicts (of whom you know at least one), those extra 5% add up.

I've also seen a re-appearance of limited edition sets in the VIP rewards that you can purchase by redeeming points. Sometimes those are of direct interest, but their re-sale prices can also make them well worthwhile, even when they aren't quite to your taste in and of themselves. (lego arbitrage ftw...) There are also some nice digital downloads, like the Lord of the Rings Rivendell Blueprint, for only 50 points (roughly 33 cents), or the Retro Jazz Club Poster pack for 30 (ca. 20 cents).

Rumoured GWPs:
* Fun and Funky VIP Add-On Pack (40512)
* Icons Blacktron Cruiser (40580)
* BIONICLE® Tahu and Takua (40581)
and there may be more...

Do note that GWPs tend to go quickly, so if there's anything you're keen on, acting earlier as opposed to later is generally wise.

Themes in which double VIP points should be awarded: LEGO® City, LEGO Friends, LEGO Technic and LEGO Harry Potter


That said, some things to consider: we know Gringotts is due out some time in the next 2 months, and we can expect it to remain largely exclusive to Lego stores / S@H. There's also a HP GWP in the pipeline (rumour has it it'll be a Gringotts Vault build). That is almost definitely going to require a qualifying purchase of HP lego, so if you buy everything off your wishlist now... We don't know what the threshold for that GWP will be either. Caveat, it's conceivable, although not super likely, that they might bind it to purchases of Gringotts only. We just don't know. But think of it this way, if it isn't limited to Gringotts, and there's a purchase you make now to get the double points (I believe the highest thresholds we've seen are around $220) even at that high threshold, that's a difference of maybe an $11 rebate that might keep you from getting the GWP you want in the not too distant future. Plan accordingly, just bear in mind, sometimes it's worth giving a special a pass.

Probably in response to the leaked WWW photos, we now have an official reveal of 76422 Diagon Alley: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes $89.99 / £84.99 / 84.99 EUR | 834 pieces (8+) | 7 minifigs. (HBP). Pictures below the fold. ( Read more... )

And that's it. I remain optimistic we'll see the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts honoured tomorrow with the reveal of at least the eponymous set. We shall see. I'll keep you owl posted.

Not Harry Potter lego news, for a change, but there's a new Gift With Purchase (GWP) available as of tomorrow (which generally means midnight. No clue how quickly this set will disappear from the shelves, but if you were thinking of making any large lego purchases, particularly the Jazz Club modular (which, so cute!), now would be a good time to snag them.

The lego Icons, 40586 the Moving Truck with 301 pieces GWP is officially available from 21st February through 03rd March 2023 with purchases upwards of 180 EUR in Germany (the amount can vary depending on your country). Those dates can vary, too. Generally speaking, when it's sold out, it's gone and won't reappear, so if you want it, place your orders sooner as opposed to later.

( Read more... )

There's more info to make a Harry Potter lego fan's heart happier! There should be an additional three sets next March released in the DOTS line:

41808 HP DOTS ??? $15

41809 HP DOTS Pencil Holder (518pcs) $20

41811 HP DOTS Desk Kit (856pcs) $45 ( Read more... )

Promobricks reports that we can look forward to another GWP (Gift with Purchase) next month, at least in some regions, so keep your eyes peeled!

As I've already covered, we can expect to see 40577 Hogwarts: Grand Staircase included free of charge as a GWP from the 15th to the 31st of July (or while supplies last) with all qualifying lego Harry Potter purchases in the LEGO S@H (lego's online shop) and in the brick and mortar stores. (In Germany, those are purchases of 130 Euros or more, in the US the threshold is rumoured to be $130. I'll provide details as they emerge.) However during the same period, promobricks has announced we can expect to see this year's HP Polybag 30435 Build Your Own Castle Hogwarts with all lego Harry Potter theme purchases upwards of 40 Euros. In the past, they've stacked freebies, so that would be nice. Last year the Hermione's Study Desk Polybag was only included on purchases made in the physical lego stores, so this would be a lovely change if accurate. w00t!



Above a model I made of eight different variants of the castle from the pieces included in the Polybag (those would be front and centre). Can you design one of your own?

After the success of last year's lego CON, it's back again, and you can watch live here later today. Like last summer's, it's a virtual, streamed 2 hour event starting in three hours - 5PM in London, 12PM New York, and 9AM Los Angeles.( Read more... )


Is it worth watching? Let's face it, we aren't the target audience.

Fair enough.

Additionally, at this point, the only sets they could reveal for the Harry Potter line are the D2C 500 EUR Hogwarts Express (for which it's a little early), the anticipated HP GWP we should be seeing in July, or the Advent Calendar (and there's no way they'd spoil that with kids watching). (BrickClickr assures us we won't be seeing an Accessory Pack this year, because apparently lego can't think of any reason someone might want a bunch of Death Eater bits and pieces to go with the Ministry of Magic set... 😋 Hmm.) So of those three, the only one likely to be presented is the GWP, and it isn't scheduled as far as anyone seems to know. (And if it is, I'll eventually find out and repost, so no worries.) I'd imagine we can expect to see the summer line shown as they go on sale in the US as of tomorrow, possibly with some commentary from designers, but the sets themselves aren't news to anyone who frequents this site or the lego S@H.

However! Instead of a reveal, they have indeed put together something cool for Potterheads. Two announcements have been made, firstly that we can expect a tour of the London HP studios, and secondly that they've invited Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) to put in an appearance, possibly in combination. (After "Neville's" oh so wonderfully funny appearance playing with the First Flying Lesson set last year, I'd like to see her, too. Unfortunately I have plans to grill today, and I can hardly tell our company they come in second to a video. Or can I? ... No, no that wouldn't go over well at all. Cursed social life! 😉)

Other than that, there are also a few bonus build instructions to be found for VIPs here. (Registering is free if you haven't already.) More codes will be shown during the CON if you're watching.

And finally there's more official promo material here if you're interested.