Remember Potter?

[Masta' Bo]

Well, I was thinking: What is the fate of the Harry Potter line of LEGO? Is is dead, or can we expect at least one set for the Half-Blood Prince?

One might wonder why I'm asking about something that is kind of unpopular among the various LEGO licenses, but all of a sudden I became curious about the subject. You see, I wasn't paying atention to the LEGO world last summer and missed out on the excellent OOTP Hogwarts, but during "Shut up and build Week" I decided to rebuild my Chamber of Secrets set (still can't find all of the pieces yet ). Anywho, just that instance respurred my interest into the HP theme. Now I feel like I have to complete my old collection that I was so fond of. I especially like the sets from the first two movies, and I recently snagged a deal on the original Hogwarts playset.

HP LEGO really got me to like LEGOs in general AND eventually lead me to like LSW, so I guess that is why I like it so much. Nostalgia (and the fact that the HP books are fun reads).

So, who still likes LEGO HP, and what are your thoughts about the various sets and the future of the license?

[Jake]

I think the liscense is over. I can't source that, but I remember reading it somewhere...

[Master Fetty]

Just to add to what Jake said - I believe I read the line was dropped as it wasn't getting good enough sales and the films were taking a darker turn, catering to an audience higher than those of LEGO. Kinda like what happened to those HP sweets that came out around the time of the first film (assuming you had them in America).

And Masta' Bo, HP was a key part in getting me into LEGO Star Wars too.

[Green Brick Giant]

It is dead. Someone from LEGO said there will not be anymore Harry Potter sets.

The last set was a redo of the castle, the Harry Potter castle was one of the best selling sets ever, so they made another one. However I'm pretty sure the other sets didn't sell well at all because I got a few of them on clearance.

[Solo]

"Someone at LEGO" eh? I'm hoping for someone with a better memory to jump in, because I remember it being dead too.

[Jettbacca]

It's dead. I'm positive on that front

[Dr Scott]

I was always surprised that there wasn't a Potter LEGO video game. Batman wasn't a Lucasfilm license and they made that. I figured Potter would have been an obvious choice.

[Masta' Bo]

Technically there was the computer game LEGO Creator Harry Potter, but it was more of a "build characters and scenery" hence the "creator" title. It was a fun kids game from 2002 I think. The character builder was really neat, you could fill your castle with every character from the book you could think of.

[bluemoose]

I can't remember where either, but I [read/was told] that the HP license was seen as a bit of a failure & when the original license expired, LEGO chose not to renew. One of the reasons for the poor performance was the lack of potential for vehicle-based sets; vehicle based sets are at the core of the interests for LEGOs key target audience (boys aged ~7-14), and HP offers little opportunity for sets of this type.

Ian

[Zekk]

I, too, was quite fond of the Potter, for this line was what really got me into LEGO, just like a few other members have already posted. I mean, I had Duplo as a young kid, but the HP line made me really like actual LEGO. Maybe I'll come up with some HBP MOC...

[Solo]

I liked the figures that came out of it, but HP doesn't carry building themed toys well.

[enigmabadger]

It was a great theme for some interesting castle pieces before the return of Castle and did give us some nice figs and other pieces (those clip-on wings a personal fav of mine), but ultimately, the Potter sets really weren't that evocative. Random buildings and chunks of scenery just don't have the broad appeal of vehicle-based sets. Sure, the MMV is great fun, everyone needs at least one big castle in their collection, and how can you not love a few of the SW scene sets (Jabba's palace, Cloud City), but with no vehicles a key part of the line apart from the train, it just didn't have the action hook.

If we didn't have such great Castle sets coming out every few months, I'd miss HP more, but when I gaze upon my Skeleton and Goblin legions, I can't say I miss Harry all that much!

[UOldPirate]

Steve Witt said that there would be no new HP sets on the LAMLradio podcast #71. You can get the podcast at http://radio.laml.org/lamlradio-71-steve-witt/ . If you skip to 21:39, he confirms pretty much what has already been posted. The movies are getting darker and nothing in the films really work as Lego sets. It also gives a little insight as to possible reason there are no new Batman sets.

[Solo]

Awesome job there with the link. I'm glad I approved your account.

[Green Brick Giant]

Steve Witt said that there would be no new HP sets on the LAMLradio podcast #71. You can get the podcast at http://radio.laml.org/lamlradio-71-steve-witt/ . If you skip to 21:39, he confirms pretty much what has already been posted. The movies are getting darker and nothing in the films really work as Lego sets. It also gives a little insight as to possible reason there are no new Batman sets.

That's what I was listening to!

[UOldPirate]

Glad to hear the podcast link helped. Not good news for Potter fans, but it was nice to get some information regarding the theme. Some info is better than lines just disappearing with no word.

[Masta' Bo]

Thanks for the link, man. I guess the "darkness" issue/vehicle issue was the big killer.

[legorevolution]

That's too bad to hear that it's dead for good. I was an avid fan of the lego HP theme and had all of the sets previous to that darn train. I was hoping for TLG to re-release the line and introduce some nice new fleshies.

[meeotch]

So would it be too pie-in-the-sky to hope they might just come out with a video game after Deathly Hallows is released? While I understand Lego's reasons for not continuing the line, the Potter series is just BEGGING to be made into a Lego video game.

[Draykov]

So would it be too pie-in-the-sky to hope they might just come out with a video game after Deathly Hallows is released?

I'd say yes...setting aside for a moment the fact they'd have no product to cross-promote with the game, they may no longer hold the proper license to do something like an HP video game.