Harry Potter License

Heir of Black Falcon · Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:08 pm

I read all the HP book.... or was more or less forced in a way but never really got into it. That said I was in a dark age when TLC began with HP and wish I could have gotten some of the somewhat rare pieces before they ran out. In the end as has been said in this post it made way for a real lego theme... CASTLE!!!

Heir

Post by **Bruce N H** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:32 pm

My impression is that the HP mania has kind of passed. Back when books 3 and 4 were coming out, it was a madhouse going to Borders, etc on the first day. You'd hear all about them in the media, it felt that kids were completely into HP. With books 6 and especially 7 it felt like there was a great interest in getting the books to see what happened, but after you read it the party atmosphere was gone. In part, I suppose, because as the series progressed it got darker, but also it was kind of a fad that passed. Was anyone standing in line outside Borders at midnight to get the Tales of Beedle the Bard? Yes, there are a couple of movies still, and probably will be some hype around opening weekends, but not what we saw five years ago when there were toy aisles that were all HP. The books will always be on store and library shelves, and will be compared (but not measure up, IMO) to Tolkien and Lewis, but the time for licenses has gone.

That said, I could easily come up with several set ideas I wish they'd made. None of them vehicle-based, though.

Bruce

Aliencat · Post by **Aliencat** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:31 pm

Bruce N H wrote:Was anyone standing in line outside Borders at midnight to get the Tales of Beedle the Bard?

I have no idea what that is but sure I'll be there if you get lonely.

Post by **Bruce N H** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:28 pm

Aliencat wrote:
Bruce N H wrote:Was anyone standing in line outside Borders at midnight to get the Tales of Beedle the Bard?
I have no idea what that is ...

In book 7 of the Harry Potter series (HP and the Deathly Hallows), Hermione reads a book of fairy tales, sort of a wizards' version of the Brothers Grimm. This Christmas J.K. Rowling released a book of these fairy tales.

Bruce

Garbageman13 · Post by **Garbageman13** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:58 am

I never liked the Harry Potter line. The sets had great scrap-ability value, but other then that I never really was into it for specific reasons.

jadden77 · Post by **jadden77** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:02 am

I thought the HP line was very useful.

the green castle roofs look like tarnished cooper roofs.

the animals: the baby dragon, the pheonix, the three-headed-dog, and the troll (which a lot of creative zombie MOC's have used)

the figures: all of the HP characters have Castle fig uses. even the dreaded Harry Potter Head (whom a lot of people have complained about, because there are so many, has it's uses; i used them under my storm-trooper helms so i can use the solid colour heads for something else.)

speaking of which, the Voldemort, Death Eater Ornate Silver Mask, and Mandrake Plant Face, are so useful and my personal favorites.

And who can forget one of the most prized HP figs Professor Trelawney.

Jojo · Post by **Jojo** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:52 am

Hello!

One reason for why Lego didn’t extend the HP licence was: The Harry Potter target group grew up alongside Harry Potter. Meaning: They are not 5 to 12 years old anymore, thus they are not in Lego’s target group anymore.

That said the HP line was great for parts. Unfortunately they (Lego) changed [sorry] some colours and I was in a huff, leaving out on every licenced line because of unusefulness for me. Only recently I felt I really missed out on some great sets with particularly useful parts – if I started building with new colours, which might not be impossible in the future. But now the HP sets are gone from the shelves and have instantly become ridiculously expensive.

Bye
Jojo

Post by **JoshWedin** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:58 pm

Jojo wrote:Only recently I felt I really missed out on some great sets with particularly useful parts – if I started building with new colours, which might not be impossible in the future.

Who are you and what have you done with the real Jojo?!

Josh

The Blue Knight · Post by **The Blue Knight** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:54 am

I doubt the HP books will have the staying power of say, Tolkien or Narnia. I think they were a fad, and the fad has largely passed, though is not yet over. The story just didn't engage me, it always seemed like a hodge-podge of existing fictional elements. That she used existing elements is not a dig, what fiction doesn't borrow from some sources? I just don't see enough original elements for me. My daughter is fond of it, and we see every movie as it comes out. I'll always remember waiting at midnight for the last book on 3rd St. in McMinnville...

For some time the HP theme was the castle theme. Cool parts and figs that have found other uses in my Legoverse. But, all good things must end.

It's interesting to note that as the series (the movies at least) has become darker, the number of Lego sets dropped accordingly.

Post by **JoshWedin** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:59 pm

The Blue Knight wrote:It's interesting to note that as the series (the movies at least) has become darker, the number of Lego sets dropped accordingly.

Definitely a connection. Steve Witt mentions a similar thing with Batman, when he said in his LAML interview that they weren't doing much, if anything, from the Dark Knight.

Josh

ffilz · Post by **ffilz** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:56 pm

I enjoyed the Harry Potter sets while they ran, but I'm kind of glad they stopped. I've been a lot less interested in the movie licenses since the switch to fleshies.

Frank

Peppermint Pig · Post by **Peppermint Pig** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:11 pm

It seemed to me that the last few HP sets Lego released were really hard to get one's hands on, but had some of the best fig elements. Such is life.

Fortunately, I've been finding a large amount of HP stuff in the used ad-buy market. Run across at least two original Hogwarts Castles, various smaller sets, and even a Hungarian Horntail with figures in excellent condition.

siabur · Post by **siabur** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:34 am

On a similar note: what happened with the Spider-Man licence?

Post by **JoshWedin** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:29 am

siabur wrote:On a similar note: what happened with the Spider-Man licence?

MegaBloks has it.

Josh

siabur · Post by **siabur** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:31 pm

JoshWedin wrote:
siabur wrote:On a similar note: what happened with the Spider-Man licence?
MegaBloks has it.

Josh

Why?