Alan,
"on the back wall behind electronics and DVDs" I will have to go back to Target and take a look. I never thought to ask if they were somewhere else other than the toy section. Thank you for the tip!! I got 3 or 4 of the single pack folks at WalMart, but haven't been back for a while. I hate the crowds at the nearest WalMart.
Oops. Yes, I also found them also in the DVD/book section. I didn't think to mention it! Happy hunting!
That's quite alright! I'm an 'old guy' who doesn't spend much time in either section! LOL The toy section sure looks different from when our grown daughters were young! As for DVD section; I guess the equivalent was the record section when an album cost about $10 for 10 songs back before double digit inflation of the late '70s early '80s. LOL thank you for broadening my horizons!!
There are a couple of new 3D puzzles out that may be of interest for this series. The
and knight bus
Alan,
Could you let me know the UPC code on the 20 fig box? Thanks for the heads up about the location. I was at the toy section of Target yesterday and they had no idea what I was talking about. I'll check the DVD section next time I'm there.
Christmas is coming and it's finally time to break out this entire harry potter train set/village! Well, at least be able to without anybody raising eyebrows 
Here ya go
Thank you BALLZ2! I saved the photographs to see if I can find the 20 pack too!
We visited Target Friday, and I found the 20-pack right where you said they would be. Now I see how they have similar items in that location. My wife was impressed with the quality for the price.
Ballz2 posted:Here ya go
Thanks!
Just pasted 801310844144 into UPC serach for Target here:
https://brickseek.com/target-inventory-checker/
...and it shows what stores nearby have it. In my case it appears to be available nearby at two locations in stock.
Much appreciated!
Thanks, Ballz2, for providing Mark and Eilif with the UPC code. My wife and I are, and have been for the past week, about 200 miles away from my Hogwarts stuff to be with my wife's sister in the hospital.
I had previously seen the Burrow-Weasley home puzzle mentioned by KJ356 on-line, but I can't tell how it would scale out with the Diagon Alley puzzle we already have. I would probably have room on the train table for both if the Burrow was the about same scale as Diagon Alley, but I think that would be a pretty small puzzle. My wife hasn't had time to put Diagon Alley together yet, but the dimensions stated would seem to indicate that the Burrow is pretty big in relation to D Alley.
Maybe someone will put them both together and post a pic. If my wife builds D Alley and then wants to build the Burrow, I'll be back.
On second thought, when has accurate scale ever been the hallmark of our beloved TOY trains?
Cheers!
Alan
I just mentioned to my wife yesterday, we need to start building the Great Hall for Harry and company to stand around. She loves jigsaw puzzles, but we never built a 3 dimensional one before.
Alan, you do have the hogwarts castle right? If so, How does that measure up with diagonal alley? I just know that the two set hogwarts castle is a must have for the hogwarts express! I’m wondering if I should pick up diagon alley..
Mark, it’s not too different than a regular puzzle - it’s just several smaller puzzles that you put together. Pretty fun if you ask me.
No, Ballz2, I do not have the Hogwarts Castle puzzles. What I know about them is limited to the posts I've seen on this topic and from looking at them on online shopping sites. I may be wrong, but my impression is that they make up into fairly large footprint structures, but the actual "scale" is rather small.
That said, I am sure they are adaptable to a layout, but, again, the area I have now and anticipate having later to dedicate to HP is limited, and I think Diagon Alley is the best fit with the most "play value" on my pike along with the Burrow if it is not too large.
From what I saw on the earlier posts, I am sure someone can set us both straight here.
My wife and I (mostly my wife) have also put together a 3D puzzle, ironically a Bavarian Castle that came out years ago. These Webbit Puzzles might be a little different because of the "extra" pieces Referred to in the instructions, but I am sure the process is about the same.
If D Alley goes together well, I likely will glue it to foam core or cardstock to make it more "permanent." The Bavarian Castle was displayed on a shelf at home for awhile then pulled apart and put back in the box.
Come to think of it, maybe I should try to find that old puzzle and take another look at it.
Cheers!
Alan
Just scored the 20 pack. It was at Target by the DVD's just as others have found. Various other Metalfigs also.
Very interested by the uncoming wave 2 singles preview on the back even if there's only a couple figures that aren't already available. I'll snap a pic and put it up this week if no one beats me too it.
As I haven't seen an of the Wave 2 singles in stores yet, I think I've finally managed to acquire all the currently available figures!
EILIF, congratulations!! I know, I never would have thought they would have put that group of items there. Maybe it makes total sense to people who normally buy those items, but it didn't make sense to this 61-year old train guy! LOL
Mark B-
I get the impression that has to do with role playing games and things like that. Back in the day it was Dungeons & Dragons. Military figures reenacting battles, etc. Think it's more of a literature type item in this case than a toy. Not something a young child would really play with. If it was it would be plastic. I could be totally off the mark but that's my opinion.
I think that is a good point Train Nut! Both our sons-in-law like figurines of video game characters, super heroes, etc. The only things I remember like that were the green plastic army men we positioned in the dirt along with plain metal vehicles.
Yep. The entire green army in a plastic bag for a buck or two! 😁
Thanks Mark!
As for the location at Taget I'm not sure why. Walmart puts their Nano Metalfigs of all types right in the middle of the action figures area and they seem to be selling very well. Target does have a smaller toy section than Walmart so maybe it's just thier way of testing the waters while saving toy shelf space for toys they know sell well? At Target's around here the DVD/collectible section is just across the main aisle from the toy area.
Regarding kids today, they certainly like their big action figures and don't play with plain green army men as much, but there's alot of smaller scale toys that sell well also. My son has lots of hot-wheels and a fair number of star wars micro machines. Of course he likes toy army men too but that's probably my doing.
Slightly off-topic, but for those who like fantasy or sci-fi and army men there is considerable hope. They are certainly not as popular as 40 years ago, but much like when I was a kid in the 80's, they are around and there are actually a number of options these days that we didn't have (or were very hard to find). Currently there are buckets of army men for around $10 in Fantasy, Mythological creatures, pirates, Sci-fi style army men, aliens, zombies and others. I picked up a Piates vs skelletons exa at the resale shop yesterday.
I recently reviewed an army man bucket that has a distinctly Starship Troopers (movie version) or ALIEN look. The review is aimed at wargamers and mostly focuses on the terrain pieces, but you folks might find it interesting.
They're shorter (40mm to the eye) than some other toy soldiers and so might look good alongside O-scale stuff if your layout is in need of defense against an alien invasion.
If anyone was looking at the hungarian horntail dragon to add to the castle, its currently on sale for about 18 bucks at barnes and noble with code SHOPALLDAY for cyber monday.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com...52?ean=0849241003391
I had to buy another item worth 4-5 bucks to get free shipping.. otherwise shipping was 4 bucks.
Here’s the horntail. It’s pretty light so the puzzle castle can hold it no problem and scale wise it totally fits. It’s also comes with a little hill scene with a golden egg that.. without the castle can sort of fit the train in a different area.
So no sooner that I buy the horntail dragon for ~18 bucks (down from 30, which I thought was a good deal) that it goes on sale at gamestop.. for $6.50!!!! They have another dragon, the basilisk, and such on sale for the same price as well. Very Good opportunity to get it. I'll return the barnes and noble one and keep this one
Finally got my review of the 20 pack posted. Full review here:
https://www.chicagoskirmishwar...k-and-next-releases/
Great deal and very convenient. I'm most pleased about these 4 figures, which are of Ginny, Neville, Moody and Hagrid that are currently not available outside this set.
The back of the box also even has some pictures that clearly deliniate which figures are availble singly now and which will be part of wave 2.
Just a quick update if folks are still interested. It appears that wave 2 single packs have made their appearance at Walmart. From wave 2 I found the new Snape figure , Draco Malfoy (in regular school robes) which leaves the blue/green Robed Dumbleore year 3 as possibly the only figure I'm missing.
Also of note, the third and final figure of the three listed on the back of the "Fantastic Beasts" metalfigs "Jacob Kowalski" (portly gentleman with a briefcase) is finally available and I purchased one of those also. Though not in the same era as the other HP figures, I think the 3 Fantastic Beasts charachters (Newt, Tina and Jacob) are nice figs to fill out any HP scene.
Thanks Eilif, I’ll keep an eye out. I also stumbled upon this pop up map book of Hogwarts that will be coming out this October. Might help with your gaming but the scale is probably too small for the trains. It’s rumored to be the same size as the game of thrones pop up book which is pretty big and cool though.
http://www.bestpopupbooks.com/...-potter-pop-up-book/
msrp is 70 however Barnes and nobles usually has a 30% -40% off making it 40ish.
Hello Friends,
I went to my local Target store yesterday, where I had previously found the HP and other Nano Metalfigs behind the DVDs in electronics. Unfortunately, the store is remodeling and relocating its displays, and no Nanos were to be found anywhere near the DVDs. I also checked in toys in case they were moved over there, but that was not the case either.
I found a manager who knew what I was talking about, and he seemed surprised that they were not still in the DVD section. He checked his computer and found that Nano Metalfigs were now shown as "close-out," which in Target speak means: "We are no longer carrying these."
So I don't know whether the new figures ever made it into any Target store. Nuts!
I guess I will need to drive across town to one of our local Wal-Mart stores to see if they still have any of the newer figures there.
Cheers!
Alan
The target next to me still has them.. and on sale as well. They didn’t have the wave 2 set though...
Happy to help folks.
The pop-up book looks cool, but the price is a bit much for me. I like to stick relatively close to scale so if I do end up gaming HP it will all be with stuff between 1/56 the standard 28mm wargaming scale and 1/43 the actual scale of the HP figures and the size of many die-cast cars. Luckily I've got alot of terrain in that size. I was thinking about it recently and I bet my collection of Dickensian Christmas houses that have been rehabbed into old fantasy buildings might work especially well. If any of you folks want a fast and affordable option for european-looking buildings for your HP layouts, you might find the blog posts I did about them useful.
First batch and some how-to. https://www.chicagoskirmishwar...t-and-cheap-fantasy/
Second batch and a bit more how-to. https://www.chicagoskirmishwar...ieval-village-grows/
Maybe a smidge on the small side, but close enough and I did a second batch so I've got a whole town of these. I went with a rather dark and dreary look, but with a lighter color varnish and brighter shades of flock, you could probably do a similar project that looked rural and quaint but not so dirty.
As for finding wave 2 in stores...
If you want the 2nd wave now I think you have to head to WalMart. I've not seen anything official, but there appears to be a deal whereby WalMart gets these lines a couple months before anyone else. It was the case for the first wave of HP products, the Gryffindor tower playset and though I didn't pay too much attention, seems to be the same for the other nano metal figs lines as well.
You never can tell about Target stocking stuff. Alot of times it seems like they "stop" carrying a line and even clearance it, only to pick it up again when a new release comes out or the next retail season comes around. I figure it's even odds whether they continue carrying the line when second wave becomes more widely available or drop it entirely.
A few days ago Walmart didn't have any Harry Potter figures but Target had the 5 figure packs on clearance at 50% discount.
Eilif, The Dickens Village buildings convey the mood and style that the Potter story/movies tries to portray. We have a lot of Dickens Village buildings for our Christmas layout that would fit the bill. I bought the big package of figures that was available last year after I bought a few singles. I got it at Target. I have the Great Hall puzzle and a base ready for it, but we never got to building it. 
Casco, good to know Target has them at 50%. I'm not looking for more, but I'm sure other folks are! 
Mark Boyce posted:Eilif, The Dickens Village buildings convey the mood and style that the Potter story/movies tries to portray. We have a lot of Dickens Village buildings for our Christmas layout that would fit the bill.
You know, I never even thought about that. Which, of course, now threatens to broaden my interests into yet another Department 56 village series. 
Looks like amazon reduced the price to $45 and posted actual pictures of the book folded out. Could probably cover the ground with "snow" but given its from a book and that it's paper it probably won't work out... the scale will probably be too small. My wife is buying it from me though - prime day deal brought it down to 40. Guess I'll find out.
Not completely out of reach for some of us - I mean we spent about that much on the train and its very very impressive so I'll put this here.
https://www.cnet.com/news/lego...le-is-truly-magical/
Department 56 has a new line of Harry Potter buildings that will be delivered in November.
Oh my! Thank you for the tip Action Jaxon!! Mrs. B. will like it, but not the price. I think it is a great idea for Dept 56 to offer it, and the MSRP is appropriate. I do not think we have bought any Dept 56 buildings new, so we won't be buying, but I will keep an eye out for lower pricing!!!
Holy moly! Nice find! The scale for Hogwarts Castle will probably be way too small but the other stuff will totally work! If we are lucky, this stuff will be seasonal and we can pounce on them at Lowes, sears, or something for 60-70% off.
Ballz2 posted:Holy moly! Nice find! The scale for Hogwarts Castle will probably be way too small but the other stuff will totally work! If we are lucky, this stuff will be seasonal and we can pounce on them at Lowes, sears, or something for 60-70% off.
Uh, no. That’s not the way Department 56 works. You won’t find this at those places.
Happens every year (around january) for the seasonal stuff at regular dept stores. Last year I got lucky and got the Peanuts elementary school at 80% off. A year prior to that, the Charlie Brown house.
Here’s some proof:
Large retailers only have access to certain licensed products intended for mass-market sales. The Peanuts line is one example.
The high-end items are made in very small quantities and are sold only by authorized dealers, who, as I understand, are restricted from heavily discounting them on clearances until the item is retired.
You won’t be finding the Hogwarts buildings on clearance this year.
Now, I did get lucky with a seasonal shop in a mall that clearances all of its products so it can close up by Dec. 31. I bought the spendy St. Paul Basilica building for half price more than a decade ago. The shop may have flown under Department 56’s radar because of its seasonal nature. Not sure if Department 56 ever caught on. I noticed the shop only stocks licensed items now.
Department 56 is owned by Enesco, the makers of Precious Moments statues, which also tries to protect its price structure on behalf of dealers.
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