DOTS Harry Potter range announced!

DOTS is dead. Long live DOTS?

I am so confused ...

After announcing the theme ending this year I thought not many more sets would be announced, and here we are... anyway I think I don't particularly like any of these.

These... actually look pretty good! If they had released these earlier, perhaps the theme wouldn't have been given the axe.

In any case, I don't think I'll be able to resist that Hedwig Pencil Holder!

The little lightning charms make perfect sense now!

I feel like these are too colourful for Harry Potter and it loses the brand's identity. Really should have featured more rustic colour choices alongside the house colours because anyone buying DOTs already has enough of these parts or can just buy them in order sets. Really redundant line here.

Real missed opportunity with the printed tiles. I was hoping for printed tiles of all four house crests.

“Rumors of my death have been… greatly exaggerated.”

Poor Hedwig is stabbed in the back multiple times…

There is very little here to really link it with Harry Potter. Sure a few 1x1s with faces and a crest. The little lightning bolt charm. Other than that it doesn't seem to really feel any different than any other DOT set. But I guess that makes sense since the whole theme was pointless for me. I'll easily pass on these also.

These actually look kinda good *because* they don't really look like Harry Potter.

Not financially supporting these sets either way, though.

The future is still durs, after all.

@KingTyrannos said:
"“Rumors of my death have been… greatly exaggerated.”"

Tell that to poor Hedwig...

@Murdoch17 said:
" @KingTyrannos said:
"“Rumors of my death have been… greatly exaggerated.”"

Tell that to poor Hedwig..."

Ouch.

@Anonym said:
"The great thing about the 2018 revival of the license was that it remained its identity, just with a more coherent range now that fans who grew up with the franchise were allowed to call the shots.
This cuteification of the brand seen here and in some of the other brands toys is completely uncalled for when marketing knows that girls like the theme as is anyway. It feels like a calculated move to hook DOTS buyers on Harry Potter when that isn't as compatible as the sets here show with how much the license is twisted to fit the concept."

As someone who owns nearly every HP set, I won't be getting this. And... that's perfectly fine. I hope those who like it have a good time. :)

I would definitely put a big black hole on Hedwig, with edges of red and florescent green!

Well it all completely sticks with the Dots theme, but it doesn’t look like Lego Harry Potter to me- the stylisation of the portrait tiles is something else altogether.

I’m still hoping for a confetti pack of classic space/castle logos.

I can't believe no one has said "The future is Dursley" yet.

At some point surely Lego will decide to let go of the HP brand to distance themselves.

I think the theme has 5 more years tops.

@Murdoch17 said:
" @KingTyrannos said:
"“Rumors of my death have been… greatly exaggerated.”"

Tell that to poor Hedwig..."

I did. She was unresponsive.

@shannon2611 said:
"At some point surely Lego will decide to let go of the HP brand to distance themselves.

I think the theme has 5 more years tops."

Hopefully bad press surrounding the Hogwarts Legacy game accelerates this

@StyleCounselor said:
" @shannon2611 said:
"At some point surely Lego will decide to let go of the HP brand to distance themselves.

I think the theme has 5 more years tops."

And go where? To more video games? As if anything about HP is even 1/1000th as troublesome as that community? Get a grip."

You do realise that in 2020 the Lego group already felt the need to distance their line from JK.

I’m not really sure what you are implying with your 1/1000 as troublesome as that community comment. You have lost me.

Either way Cleary Lego felt the need 2 years ago and thing haven’t gotten better for the franchise and the brands that associate themselves (look how much flack the recent HP game is getting)

They will again face some heat at some stage I’m sure and the Lego group will have to decide if it’s worth it.

I foresee a day within 5 years where it won’t be worth it.

@shannon2611 said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @shannon2611 said:
"At some point surely Lego will decide to let go of the HP brand to distance themselves.

I think the theme has 5 more years tops."

And go where? To more video games? As if anything about HP is even 1/1000th as troublesome as that community? Get a grip."

You do realise that in 2020 the Lego group already felt the need to distance their line from JK.

I’m not really sure what you are implying with your 1/1000 as troublesome as that community comment. You have lost me.

Either way Cleary Lego felt the need 2 years ago and thing haven’t gotten better for the franchise and the brands that associate themselves (look how much flack the recent HP game is getting)

They will again face some heat at some stage I’m sure and the Lego group will have to decide if it’s worth it.

I foresee a day within 5 years where it won’t be worth it.

"

Video game bruh/bro companies, fan communities, etc. are full of the most horrific sexist issues, crimes, etc.

I'm not here to stoke the ol' HP debate, and neither should you.

@shannon2611:
The situation is a lot more complex, though. Yes, TLG published a statement clarifying that they signed a contract with WB, not the author. Yes, there was a lot of outrage posted pretty much anytime her name, or the name of the IP came up. I've seen a very different reaction in person. Anytime someone displays HP material, it's popular, gets a lot of positive comments, and we've even had requests from venues to display it because they know it's still popular. I have yet to witness anyone reacting to material displayed at a show the way people consistently respond online. While I believe the IP took a sustained hit as a result of this whole situation, I don't think it was nearly as crippling as people make it out to be. Barnes & Noble still has an entire section of every book store dedicated to HP merch, which is the sole IP I can think of that can boast that. That doesn't sound like an IP that's on the verge of collapse.

Additionally, while the main cast has mostly spoken out against the author, we're even now seeing hints that at least some of them would be willing to return to their roles under the right circumstances. The one I saw recently (Grint) tied it primarily to the condition that the other two main stars also return. At present, it's unclear if the FB movie series will reach conclusion, but the main IP is still very popular. The LEGO theme took additional hits from changing the color scheme of the castle, and the fact that they've really hit a point where even the new run has started to repeat itself. Not every fan is going to want to buy multiple copies of the same stuff, but the 2023 line delves into unexplored territory, which may revive the theme.

Considering that Hogwarts Legacy has broken Steam records for sales, the Harry Potter franchise shows no sign of down-turning, and continues to inspire generations of children.

@durazno33 said:
"It is sad to see how much persecution goes on with this theme. It's a kids toy and a kids story yet so many people can't help entangle adult issues into it while not acting adult about the situation."

That's what happens when the success of a franchise directly empowers a bigoted individual to spread her hate worldwide.

The HP series is fine. There's better fantasy available, but it's a decent option to get kids reading. But it is impossible to separate the art from the artist when she directly profits off of it and uses those profits to hurt people.

@durazno33 said:
"It is sad to see how much persecution goes on with this theme. It's a kids toy and a kids story yet so many people can't help entangle adult issues into it while not acting adult about the situation."

Yes, it is a kid's story. At its core it's about the power of love above all else to defeat evil, and that makes the disgusting and violent things Rowling has said even worse. When the TERF tweets started, it was hard for me to believe that the person that wrote such a great story about love could be so bigoted and hateful.

But as the criticism got louder, it became clear to me that the story I thought I read as a child was not really there. Yes, Harry defeats Voldemort because of the power of love and sacrifice. But the story also has racist stereotypes, a complete lack of diversity to the point of literally having one Chinese character, two Indian characters, one black character, and one Irish character. The Chinese character is literally the most basic Chinese name bordering on racism, and the Irish character has an affinity for blowing things up (note that she started writing the series during the height of the Troubles). The Goblins, with stereotypically Jewish features, control the money supply.

And perhaps most egregiously, the house elves are slaves to the wizards, Hermione starts a campaign to liberate them, and Harry, Ron and others laugh at her efforts to end literal slavery.

The fact that sums it all up the best though is that Harry becomes a literal wizard cop at the end of the series, which in many people's opinion was contrary to a lot of his character development throughout the series.

It's a neoliberal fantasy story whose time has passed. People will continue to buy it, but it won't do nearly as good as it used to, and how many people will let their kids read it in the future? If Rowling had just never said anything about trans people, then the Lego Harry Potter sets would be doing so much better now. There would be more adults buying the D2C sets. Harry Potter has always had a humongous fan base, so even if a quarter of those fans aren't willing to support Rowling now, there's still a huge number out there.

@durazno33 said:
"It is sad to see how much persecution goes on with this theme. It's a kids toy and a kids story yet so many people can't help entangle adult issues into it while not acting adult about the situation."

It seems that every Harry Potter thread seems to descend into some culture war battle. Too many people seem to take it upon themselves to demand that no one is allowed to buy these Lego sets.

@ha21 said:
" @durazno33 said:
"It is sad to see how much persecution goes on with this theme. It's a kids toy and a kids story yet so many people can't help entangle adult issues into it while not acting adult about the situation."

Yes, it is a kid's story. At its core it's about the power of love above all else to defeat evil, and that makes the disgusting and violent things Rowling has said even worse. When the TERF tweets started, it was hard for me to believe that the person that wrote such a great story about love could be so bigoted and hateful.

But as the criticism got louder, it became clear to me that the story I thought I read as a child was not really there. Yes, Harry defeats Voldemort because of the power of love and sacrifice. But the story also has racist stereotypes, a complete lack of diversity to the point of literally having one Chinese character, two Indian characters, one black character, and one Irish character. The Chinese character is literally the most basic Chinese name bordering on racism, and the Irish character has an affinity for blowing things up (note that she started writing the series during the height of the Troubles). The Goblins, with stereotypically Jewish features, control the money supply.

And perhaps most egregiously, the house elves are slaves to the wizards, Hermione starts a campaign to liberate them, and Harry, Ron and others laugh at her efforts to end literal slavery.

The fact that sums it all up the best though is that Harry becomes a literal wizard cop at the end of the series, which in many people's opinion was contrary to a lot of his character development throughout the series.

It's a neoliberal fantasy story whose time has passed. People will continue to buy it, but it won't do nearly as good as it used to, and how many people will let their kids read it in the future? If Rowling had just never said anything about trans people, then the Lego Harry Potter sets would be doing so much better now. There would be more adults buying the D2C sets. Harry Potter has always had a humongous fan base, so even if a quarter of those fans aren't willing to support Rowling now, there's still a huge number out there."

Oh, good grief! Take a deep breath. Give it a rest. You've clearly got a LOT of issues.