Random minifig of the day: hp256
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random minifigure is hp256 Harry Potter - Sand Blue Jacket, Dark Tan Short Legs, Dirty Face, a Harry Potter figure that came in one set, 75978 Diagon Alley, released during 2020.
Our members collectively own a total of 13,377 of them. If you'd like to buy one you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $7.10.
Image and minifig data courtesy of BrickLink.com
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11 comments on this article
'Arry Pottah!
I dislike this series immensely, but is this the only time Lego has done a "secret" minifigure in a set? Aside from advent calendars and CMF perhaps.
I suppose from an advertising perspective it's better to let the customer know the full extent of the value of your product, but I did think that this set having a secret figure was pretty cool at the time.
@Wikimemia said:
"I dislike this series immensely, but is this the only time Lego has done a "secret" minifigure in a set? Aside from advent calendars and CMF perhaps.
I suppose from an advertising perspective it's better to let the customer know the full extent of the value of your product, but I did think that this set having a secret figure was pretty cool at the time."
A lot of the promo pictures for the recent UCS Death Star hid the Hot tub stormtrooper, but other than that IDK
@Lemerbrix06 said:
" @Wikimemia said:
"I dislike this series immensely, but is this the only time Lego has done a "secret" minifigure in a set? Aside from advent calendars and CMF perhaps.
I suppose from an advertising perspective it's better to let the customer know the full extent of the value of your product, but I did think that this set having a secret figure was pretty cool at the time."
A lot of the promo pictures for the recent UCS Death Star hid the Hot tub stormtrooper, but other than that IDK"
Which of the Harry Potter figures is the “secret” one?
@SearchlightRG said:
" @Lemerbrix06 said:
" @Wikimemia said:
"I dislike this series immensely, but is this the only time Lego has done a "secret" minifigure in a set? Aside from advent calendars and CMF perhaps.
I suppose from an advertising perspective it's better to let the customer know the full extent of the value of your product, but I did think that this set having a secret figure was pretty cool at the time."
A lot of the promo pictures for the recent UCS Death Star hid the Hot tub stormtrooper, but other than that IDK"
Which of the Harry Potter figures is the “secret” one?"
This one; it comes (along with a Hagrid figure and the parts for a stand to display the two figures) in a box that says "Silencio!" on it ("Silencio" being a silence spell in Harry Potter). I just looked through the instructions, and the two figures and the stand are the last things built. And @ @Wikimemia: I don't think that not advertising the existence hurt sales of this set. Besides being a set of a prominent location in the books/movies, it already advertised fourteen figures of named figures on the box, so finding out that one of those characters actually had two variations would have been a fun little discovery, especially since (as I said) the secret figure is in a box marked with Harry Potter-ese for "Quiet!" and is part of the very last build, leaving the builder (assuming they don't get impatient and open it prematurely) to make a nice discovery at the end of the build. The beginning of the instruction book in which the display stand is built doesn't even acknowledge it, thus letting the anticipation build.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @SearchlightRG said:
" @Lemerbrix06 said:
" @Wikimemia said:
"I dislike this series immensely, but is this the only time Lego has done a "secret" minifigure in a set? Aside from advent calendars and CMF perhaps.
I suppose from an advertising perspective it's better to let the customer know the full extent of the value of your product, but I did think that this set having a secret figure was pretty cool at the time."
A lot of the promo pictures for the recent UCS Death Star hid the Hot tub stormtrooper, but other than that IDK"
Which of the Harry Potter figures is the “secret” one?"
This one; it comes (along with a Hagrid figure and the parts for a stand to display the two figures) in a box that says "Silencio!" on it ("Silencio" being a silence spell in Harry Potter). I just looked through the instructions, and the two figures and the stand are the last things built. And @ @Wikimemia: I don't think that not advertising the existence hurt sales of this set. Besides being a set of a prominent location in the books/movies, it already advertised fourteen figures of named figures on the box, so finding out that one of those characters actually had two variations would have been a fun little discovery, especially since (as I said) the secret figure is in a box marked with Harry Potter-ese for "Quiet!" and is part of the very last build, leaving the builder (assuming they don't get impatient and open it prematurely) to make a nice discovery at the end of the build. The beginning of the instruction book in which the display stand is built doesn't even acknowledge it, thus letting the anticipation build."
I feel like all that effort for what is, in my eyes, a fairly bog standard Harry is a bit overblown. A character they’ve never done before would maybe be more worth that treatment but just another Harry?
@Brickalili said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @SearchlightRG said:
" @Lemerbrix06 said:
" @Wikimemia said:
"I dislike this series immensely, but is this the only time Lego has done a "secret" minifigure in a set? Aside from advent calendars and CMF perhaps.
I suppose from an advertising perspective it's better to let the customer know the full extent of the value of your product, but I did think that this set having a secret figure was pretty cool at the time."
A lot of the promo pictures for the recent UCS Death Star hid the Hot tub stormtrooper, but other than that IDK"
Which of the Harry Potter figures is the “secret” one?"
This one; it comes (along with a Hagrid figure and the parts for a stand to display the two figures) in a box that says "Silencio!" on it ("Silencio" being a silence spell in Harry Potter). I just looked through the instructions, and the two figures and the stand are the last things built. And @ @Wikimemia: I don't think that not advertising the existence hurt sales of this set. Besides being a set of a prominent location in the books/movies, it already advertised fourteen figures of named figures on the box, so finding out that one of those characters actually had two variations would have been a fun little discovery, especially since (as I said) the secret figure is in a box marked with Harry Potter-ese for "Quiet!" and is part of the very last build, leaving the builder (assuming they don't get impatient and open it prematurely) to make a nice discovery at the end of the build. The beginning of the instruction book in which the display stand is built doesn't even acknowledge it, thus letting the anticipation build."
I feel like all that effort for what is, in my eyes, a fairly bog standard Harry is a bit overblown. A character they’ve never done before would maybe be more worth that treatment but just another Harry?"
It's a very sweet moment in the books when an unknown world is revealed to Harry when he believed the world to be small, mean, and heartless. Hagrid shows him at this moment that he's not alone, and that he matters.
@Wikimemia said:
"I dislike this series immensely, but is this the only time Lego has done a "secret" minifigure in a set? Aside from advent calendars and CMF perhaps.
I suppose from an advertising perspective it's better to let the customer know the full extent of the value of your product, but I did think that this set having a secret figure was pretty cool at the time."
In terms of this exact format, with a minifig that’s included standard, but not made known to the buyer in advance? I believe so. But there have been a few other tricky minifigs over the years. The first I know of is the gold-chrome C-3PO, which was absolutely announced and advertised, but it was randomly packed in SW sets that year. Short of weighing every box in town, there was no way of knowing if you were going to get one.
Then there was Mr. Gold, which was similarly announced and advertised, but if you got it, it took the place of one of the regular CMFs you would have expected to receive.
There was also one wave of CMFs where the Highwayman was only shown in silhouette in promotional material, so you not only didn’t know which minifig you were getting*, but you didn’t even know the full range of possibilities unless you chanced across one**.
*or you knew how to identify the contents by palping the packets.
**or you spent two minutes reading an online review of the combined wave.
@Rimefang
A nice sentiment but I think that’s the wrong moment. The soot stains and cracked glasses suggest this is from Chamber of Secrets, after his mishap with floo powder, not from when Hagrid first reveals Diagon Alley in Philosopher’s Stone (which is what I assume you’re referring to). So either the minifig is generic enough you can’t quite tell when it’s from or it’s a bit of a mishmash of scenes, and I think either option kinda proves my point that something a bit more defined might have suited the mystery box role
@Brickalili said:
" @Rimefang
A nice sentiment but I think that’s the wrong moment. The soot stains and cracked glasses suggest this is from Chamber of Secrets, after his mishap with floo powder, not from when Hagrid first reveals Diagon Alley in Philosopher’s Stone (which is what I assume you’re referring to). So either the minifig is generic enough you can’t quite tell when it’s from or it’s a bit of a mishmash of scenes, and I think either option kinda proves my point that something a bit more defined might have suited the mystery box role"
Both Harry figs in this set share the same head. The wide smile is for this one, the sooted one is for his robed post-floo powder appearance in Chamber of Secrets.
@Brickalili said:
" @Rimefang
A nice sentiment but I think that’s the wrong moment. The soot stains and cracked glasses suggest this is from Chamber of Secrets, after his mishap with floo powder, not from when Hagrid first reveals Diagon Alley in Philosopher’s Stone (which is what I assume you’re referring to). So either the minifig is generic enough you can’t quite tell when it’s from or it’s a bit of a mishmash of scenes, and I think either option kinda proves my point that something a bit more defined might have suited the mystery box role"
Harry only dressed like a hobo until Hagrid showed him he was rich.