76422 Weasleys Wizard Wheezes first look! Also, some major fuzziness for the other summer sets...
76422 Weasleys Wizard Wheezes $89.99 | 834 pieces (8+) | 7 minifigs! (HBP) We now have a soft focus shot of the set, and some answers to the question of what we saw in the super fuzzy picture of the summer line-up that I'm attaching below. Spoil yourself at your own discretion.
So first things first, we now have an idea what the second building in the set is, and at a guess it's the Owl Post building. I'm basing that on three clues and a bit of knowledge. 1) There's a red mailbox attached to the building, 2) one of the minifigs (one I can't identify at that, which is often a hint at an unnamed diversity fig, and previously unmentioned shopkeepers are great for that) is holding a letter, and 3) the owl with wings spread over the entry resembles the Owl Post logo, which speaks more to that than Eeylops Owl Emporium, say. The other thing is that a pet store is instantly more expensive than another store of similar size, as the creatures weigh a lot heavier on the set budget than bricks do. So Owl Post it likely is.
There are a few interesting things about that if it's true. To the best of my knowledge, the store isn't seen in Diagon Alley in the films, but it is in the amusement park. This would be the first expansion I'm aware of to base at least part of itself on that source material, which I think is great. I love the Wizarding World. In many ways, it's a collaborative creation where artists and set designers and creatives of all sorts have poured their visions of Harry Potter's (and JKR's) world into a collective pot and made something beautiful, and I have to welcome any decision on lego's part to expand their line to include it.
On the other hand, there is actually an Owl Post shop in Hogsmeade, and as I've nurtured this wonderful little vision of them regularly releasing an expansion to the settlement, the appearance of this store in this set just made getting that canonical shop less likely. I'd have also appreciated a slightly better quality to DA expansions, my experiment with the Holiday High Street / Horizont Alley proves it's possible, although I can definitely see the sense in releasing more affordable excerpts from the Wizarding High Street.
Whom can we expect to see in the WWW set? The proprietors, the Weasley brothers Fred and George, their younger brother Ron, their sister Ginny (carrying what might even be our first ever Pygmy Puff, Alfred), the as yet unknown POC postie (for obvious reasons, "minifig of colour" would lead to some confusion), what is likely Lavender, but could be Hermione (and it's disturbing that it isn't more obvious at a glance), and finally a dark-haired female holding what I guess is a Fanged Frisbee, perhaps Romilda, or perhaps Verity (the WWW employee). As the Lavender / Hermione fig is already holding what I take to be the Love Potion, I'll guess it's not Romilda (as that's what I most remember her for), but we'll see.
So it's definitely a smaller version of the Weasley brothers' store than the one we saw in 2020's Diagon Alley. Keeping it real, the 2020 version used roughly 1300 pieces, worked out to a price of roughly $110 and of course would have included far fewer minifigs if we distribute them evenly across the set, so this was to be expected.
I quite like the Puking Pastilles display. It will be interesting to see what they did with the interiors here.
And now for the fuzzy spoiler pic:
So if we squint a bit, in the lower left we can make out 76416 Quidditch Trunk $64.99 or 69.99 EUR | 599 рieces (9+) It looks like we're getting the cloaks again, which is welcome, and you can make out how they've conceived the pitch, but beyond that, good luck. This could be anywhere from PS through GoF. (As Cedric is expected to be in the set though... If he isn't, then through HBP.)
Above that there's 76421 Dobby the (buildable) House Elf $39.99 or 29.99 EUR | 403 pieces (8+) Dobby is holding Riddle's Diary and Harry's sock, Aunt Petunia's cake is off to the side. I have to allow, Dobby is cuter than I was expecting. (CoS)
In the upper left, 76415 The Battle of Hogwarts $84.99 | 730 pieces (9+) | 7 minifigs (Harry Potter, Voldemort with Nagini, Molly Weasley, Bellatrix Lestrange, Neville Longbottom with Gryffindor's Sword, Scabior, Professor McGonagall and a "guardian statue" - it's unclear if the last is buildable or an 8th minifig) This appears to be the wall of the entrance to the Great Hall (or maybe the Clock Tower, I believe they reused a set there anyhow in the films) with two, presumably hinged, walls that I'd expect can fold in to suggest a courtyard. We can see Voldemort firing off a spell in the foreground, from the colours, I'd imagine battling with Harry, who'd be just out of sight. Bellatrix appears to be on the ramparts. The other minifig might be McGonagall. (DH)
76414 Expecto Patronum $64.99 or 69.99 EUR | 754 рieces (14+) | 2 minifigs (Harry Potter and Remus Lupin) - This is a 2 in 1 set to build either Harry's stag Patronus or Lupin's wolf. Here we see the stag. I found it a bit off putting at first, but it's growing on me. I wish they'd do something like teaching the community to cast their own Patronuses, and post instructions for all kinds of animals. That would be a great way to drum up interest (and sales). (PoA)
76423 Hogwarts Express & Hogsmeade Station $129.99 | 1074 pieces (8+) | 8 minifigs This looks to be Philosopher's Stone in terms of the station, although the building has some hybrid elements from the later films. So far we can see we'll be getting Hagrid and a young Harry. The Express has two carriages for the first time ever, and the station looks like it was beautifully captured. I don't really want another train, but that station is very tempting. There's no word yet on the other minifigures that will be included.
Above that is the WWW & Owl Post set we saw in far less fuzzy detail at the top.
And that only leaves us with four sets undepicted.
76417 D2C GRINGOTTS $429.99 | 4804 pieces (18+) | no word on the number of minifigs yet (PS or DH or both)
The GWP Gringotts Vault we suspect will be tied to the Gringotts release. (PS or DH)
76419 Micro / nanoscale Hogwarts & Grounds D2C 169.99 EUR | 2660 pieces (18+) Rumour is this set has builds of aspects from all the films e.g. Quidditch Pitch, Beauxbaton's Carriage etc.
76418 lego Harry Potter Advent Calendar 2023 $44.99 or 37.99 EUR | 227 pieces (7+) | at least 6 minifigs (looks like it's PoA)
We'll likely have to wait until late summer early autumn to see pictures of those.
So first things first, we now have an idea what the second building in the set is, and at a guess it's the Owl Post building. I'm basing that on three clues and a bit of knowledge. 1) There's a red mailbox attached to the building, 2) one of the minifigs (one I can't identify at that, which is often a hint at an unnamed diversity fig, and previously unmentioned shopkeepers are great for that) is holding a letter, and 3) the owl with wings spread over the entry resembles the Owl Post logo, which speaks more to that than Eeylops Owl Emporium, say. The other thing is that a pet store is instantly more expensive than another store of similar size, as the creatures weigh a lot heavier on the set budget than bricks do. So Owl Post it likely is.
There are a few interesting things about that if it's true. To the best of my knowledge, the store isn't seen in Diagon Alley in the films, but it is in the amusement park. This would be the first expansion I'm aware of to base at least part of itself on that source material, which I think is great. I love the Wizarding World. In many ways, it's a collaborative creation where artists and set designers and creatives of all sorts have poured their visions of Harry Potter's (and JKR's) world into a collective pot and made something beautiful, and I have to welcome any decision on lego's part to expand their line to include it.
On the other hand, there is actually an Owl Post shop in Hogsmeade, and as I've nurtured this wonderful little vision of them regularly releasing an expansion to the settlement, the appearance of this store in this set just made getting that canonical shop less likely. I'd have also appreciated a slightly better quality to DA expansions, my experiment with the Holiday High Street / Horizont Alley proves it's possible, although I can definitely see the sense in releasing more affordable excerpts from the Wizarding High Street.
Whom can we expect to see in the WWW set? The proprietors, the Weasley brothers Fred and George, their younger brother Ron, their sister Ginny (carrying what might even be our first ever Pygmy Puff, Alfred), the as yet unknown POC postie (for obvious reasons, "minifig of colour" would lead to some confusion), what is likely Lavender, but could be Hermione (and it's disturbing that it isn't more obvious at a glance), and finally a dark-haired female holding what I guess is a Fanged Frisbee, perhaps Romilda, or perhaps Verity (the WWW employee). As the Lavender / Hermione fig is already holding what I take to be the Love Potion, I'll guess it's not Romilda (as that's what I most remember her for), but we'll see.
So it's definitely a smaller version of the Weasley brothers' store than the one we saw in 2020's Diagon Alley. Keeping it real, the 2020 version used roughly 1300 pieces, worked out to a price of roughly $110 and of course would have included far fewer minifigs if we distribute them evenly across the set, so this was to be expected.
I quite like the Puking Pastilles display. It will be interesting to see what they did with the interiors here.
And now for the fuzzy spoiler pic:
So if we squint a bit, in the lower left we can make out 76416 Quidditch Trunk $64.99 or 69.99 EUR | 599 рieces (9+) It looks like we're getting the cloaks again, which is welcome, and you can make out how they've conceived the pitch, but beyond that, good luck. This could be anywhere from PS through GoF. (As Cedric is expected to be in the set though... If he isn't, then through HBP.)
Above that there's 76421 Dobby the (buildable) House Elf $39.99 or 29.99 EUR | 403 pieces (8+) Dobby is holding Riddle's Diary and Harry's sock, Aunt Petunia's cake is off to the side. I have to allow, Dobby is cuter than I was expecting. (CoS)
In the upper left, 76415 The Battle of Hogwarts $84.99 | 730 pieces (9+) | 7 minifigs (Harry Potter, Voldemort with Nagini, Molly Weasley, Bellatrix Lestrange, Neville Longbottom with Gryffindor's Sword, Scabior, Professor McGonagall and a "guardian statue" - it's unclear if the last is buildable or an 8th minifig) This appears to be the wall of the entrance to the Great Hall (or maybe the Clock Tower, I believe they reused a set there anyhow in the films) with two, presumably hinged, walls that I'd expect can fold in to suggest a courtyard. We can see Voldemort firing off a spell in the foreground, from the colours, I'd imagine battling with Harry, who'd be just out of sight. Bellatrix appears to be on the ramparts. The other minifig might be McGonagall. (DH)
76414 Expecto Patronum $64.99 or 69.99 EUR | 754 рieces (14+) | 2 minifigs (Harry Potter and Remus Lupin) - This is a 2 in 1 set to build either Harry's stag Patronus or Lupin's wolf. Here we see the stag. I found it a bit off putting at first, but it's growing on me. I wish they'd do something like teaching the community to cast their own Patronuses, and post instructions for all kinds of animals. That would be a great way to drum up interest (and sales). (PoA)
76423 Hogwarts Express & Hogsmeade Station $129.99 | 1074 pieces (8+) | 8 minifigs This looks to be Philosopher's Stone in terms of the station, although the building has some hybrid elements from the later films. So far we can see we'll be getting Hagrid and a young Harry. The Express has two carriages for the first time ever, and the station looks like it was beautifully captured. I don't really want another train, but that station is very tempting. There's no word yet on the other minifigures that will be included.
Above that is the WWW & Owl Post set we saw in far less fuzzy detail at the top.
And that only leaves us with four sets undepicted.
76417 D2C GRINGOTTS $429.99 | 4804 pieces (18+) | no word on the number of minifigs yet (PS or DH or both)
The GWP Gringotts Vault we suspect will be tied to the Gringotts release. (PS or DH)
76419 Micro / nanoscale Hogwarts & Grounds D2C 169.99 EUR | 2660 pieces (18+) Rumour is this set has builds of aspects from all the films e.g. Quidditch Pitch, Beauxbaton's Carriage etc.
76418 lego Harry Potter Advent Calendar 2023 $44.99 or 37.99 EUR | 227 pieces (7+) | at least 6 minifigs (looks like it's PoA)
We'll likely have to wait until late summer early autumn to see pictures of those.