During LEGO’s Fan Media Days in Billund last month, Michael Friedrichs of Promobricks had the opportunity of having an interview with LEGO Senior Designer Mark John Stafford to discuss more about the upcoming LEGO Wizarding World Harry Potter sets. The seasoned designer was kind enough to stay for a half-hour talk with Michael, and revealed some interesting facts about two of the theme’s much-awaited sets: the Hogwarts Great Hall (75954) and the Hogwarts Express (75955).
The Hogwarts Great Hall (75954) is the largest LEGO Harry Potter set that belong to the Wizarding World subtheme, coming in at 878 pieces. Other than the new elements that it introduced such as the new magic wands and redesigned minifigures, the set also comes with a special set of stickers, according to Mark. He revealed that set 75954 will come with two sets of stickers that allow builders to customize the brick-built hall using the house crest of their own choice. It’s a pretty neat detail thrown in by LEGO which expands the play features of the set.
The discussions revolving around the Hogwarts Express (75955) centers on a more obvious feature of the set (or the lack of it) – of it being basically a train set, but less the train tracks. According to Mark, the decision not to include train tracks on this set is more of a practical one: to make the set budget friendly for LEGO and Harry Potter fans. The design team also had customization in mind as far as the Hogwarts Express is concerned, designing the set with enough space to install an optional engine and a battery box. Again, this is a thoughtful move from LEGO that allows a wider range of creative play as far as fans of LEGO train sets are concerned. Any existing tracks pieces and power functions elements can easily be attached to this LEGO version of the Hogwarts Express.
Over all, it’s nice to hear these considerations for these upcoming sets, something that LEGO fans of the franchise will surely look forward to. The LEGO Wizarding World and Harry Potter sets are expected to be released in August of this of this year.
Source: Promobricks
