Blockwarts: Some changes – and plans for 2023

So, I’m finally back from a month of travelling overseas. That included New Year’s eve – and that’s a point in time often associated with change. It could be lapsing of a subscription, or for example new year resolutions you’ve set for the coming year. For Blockwarts, it was a bit like both of those examples…

I’m now over the worst jet-lag after my travelling and have re-started my daily posts on Facebook, showing the progress of me building the Hogwarts Express (one bag a day). It is an amazing set, so head over there if you want to follow that…

Otherwise, as the clock ticked over midnight on New Year’s Eve, it marked a rather significant change. From 1 January, Blockwarts was no longer part of LEGO’s program for recognised LEGO fan media sites, typically referred to as RLFM. We joined that program in mid 2020 and it has been a great experience – getting access to early news and a number of sets to review or to use as competition prizes.

So what does it mean no longer being a RLFM site? Well, hopefully not a lot…

I may be later posting about LEGO Harry Potter news – as I will no longer having access to press releases ahead of embargoed release dates. But I’ll still post when there is relevant news – just a bit later than usual.

A bigger change is that I’ll probably stop doing MOC competitions. Competitions prizes were provided through the support from LEGO. I had put the the competitions on hold anyway, as I was increasingly getting issues with customs getting prizes to the winners. I had hoped to find a solution – but that will not be the case now.

Instead, I’ll look into other ways to engage – like an annual polls to determine the best new Harry Potter sets for that year based on what you all think.

When it comes to reviews, again, those are likely to be posted later – as I won’t have access sets prior to release to review (unless shops nearly put them on the shelves early, which is not impossible). But again, the new sets will be reviewed – over time.

Rather than being first on the news (which I can’t), I’ll probably refocus the site to an improved resource base. Currently, we have reviews of all sets from 2018 onwards (apart from a few polybags). I want that turned into a better online resource with information about all LEGO Harry Potter sets from 2001 onwards (with links to my reviews where available of course). I’ll for that reason start to do some reviews of the more iconic older sets too… Or at least, that’s my intention!

Coming up is a review of the 2022 Hogwarts Express D2C set (once, I’ve built it all). I’ll also write about the plush figures you can by of LEGO Harry Potter minifigures, which are quite cute. And by then, we’ll probably be close to getting the March 2023 wave of sets along with the new Harry Potter themed LEGO DOTS sets.

Beyond my comments above, do you have any ideas that you’d like to see from this blog? More feature posts about some of the amazing MOCs being built out there by the many talented builders? Or maybe posts about tips and tricks for building MOCs or how to source bricks for MOCs?

Let me know in the comments.

Now, I’ll get back to my Hogwarts Express, so it won’t take too long till you get the review.

Till then, Build the Magic!