LEGO finds solution for excess plastic in books with exclusive minifigures
The LEGO Group and DK Books have finally started to move away from using plastic to encase exclusive minifigures with print titles.
The latest LEGO Harry Potter book includes a brand new and exclusive Percy Weasley minifigure, marking the character’s first appearance in bricks. But A Spellbinding Guide to Hogwarts Houses is memorable for more than just its minifigure: it’s also one of the first DK Books titles to do away with the plastic packaging in which its minifigures are typically entombed.
YouTuber HollyOnFilm already has her hands on the newly-released book, which – besides being a vehicle for delivering a new character – offers a detailed guide to the four Hogwarts houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. And instead of its Percy Weasley minifigure being enshrined behind plastic, as is usually the case with DK titles, the latest member of the Weasley clan is actually hidden behind a cardboard tab on the inside front cover.
That takes plastic out of the equation entirely, which speaks to the LEGO Group’s ambition to make all its packaging sustainable by the end of 2025. These products technically fall under the remit of DK Books, but they’re created in partnership with the LEGO Group – and the LEGO branding is obviously all over every book – so it’s no surprise we’re starting to see a broader move away from excess or unnecessary plastic.
It also means – as seemingly confirmed by Amazon US – that a paperback version of A Spellbinding Guide to Hogwarts Houses will also include the same Percy Weasley minifigure (h/t Brick Fanatics reader Ashley). You’ll be able to buy that version of the book from September 13, the same day the hardback version launches in the US.
The hardcover version of LEGO Harry Potter: A Spellbinding Guide to Hogwarts Houses is available to buy now from Amazon in the UK for £10.99.
Click here to read more about our stance on LEGO Harry Potter, and consider donating to charities that support transgender people, such as Mermaids and Stonewall.
Author Profile
- I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.
Latest entries
- May 2024 sets25/04/2024LEGO Icons 10341 NASA Artemis Space Launch System officially revealed
- May 2024 sets25/04/2024LEGO Art 31212 The Milky Way Galaxy officially revealed
- 25 Years of LEGO Star Wars25/04/2024Tracing 25 years of LEGO Star Wars sets, from the weird to the wonderful
- May the 4th25/04/2024LEGO Star Wars May the 4th 2024 UK and Europe deals rumoured
That is not good, I’ve seen Lego books with missing/stolen minifigures in when they had a plastic container but now they’re even easier for people to thieve and its hard for the buyer of a book with a stolen minifigure to now that its missing without raising the tab themselves
I found the same system in the book “LEGO DC Character Encyclopedia New Edition: With Exclusive LEGO DC Minifigure” also published by DK in May of this year.