Odin's son Fred

I'm ok with it not being there since I'll be using that minifig and gear as a generic Rohan horseman instead of Eomer. My Hobbits will be getting that Heroica short sword (along with moveable full length legs).

Excellent!!! I'm glad the ghost is coming in a cheaper set since the Ghost Train will probably be out of my budget for a while.

Thank you for posting the pictures. Does the ring fit around a minifig arm?

This is an easy one for me, I love them both just as much. Castle has always been my favorite Lego theme ever since that Christmas when I unwrapped the Yellow Castle. I see the LotR sets as an extension of the overall Castle theme that will add some diversity to the theme (much like Ninjas, Vikings and Fantasy Era have done in the past). My overall view of the Castle theme has been shaped by many things from the time I was a kid to today with influences including books (like Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, The Chronicles of Narnia and LotR), games (like D&D, Warcraft, Diablo, Sacred and Total Annihilation:Kingdoms) and TV/Movies (like Kingdom of Heaven, Game of Thrones, Dragonslayer, The 13th Warrior and King Arthur). So finding a place for LotR in my Castle collection is no problem. For me, this one is a little more complicated. While I would love to see the eventual return of the "traditional" Castle theme, I would also like to see what else Lego can do with the LotR and Hobbit sets (and I would like to see some battle packs...like I'm sure most would). I would not mind seeing some other historic themes as long as I could merge them in with the Castle theme as well (so Western is out for me). Some other historic ideas (and some that were already mentioned) would include Greeks/Persians (300), Romans (and other groups they fought building the Empire such as Celts, Gauls and Germani to name a few), Chinese, and Norse (although with better helmets than the Vikings line had). And if TLG wants to throw in some of the mythology from those groups, I'm cool with that.

I've been looking at the Log Cabin to start adding some small houses to my collection. Now you are just making me want it more. Good job with the combinations.

Sounds similar (and just as effective) as what I do. In my Castle world the fleshies are Half-Elves (like the ones from D&D) since they don't have the pointed ears like the upcoming LotR Elves. That way the bearded faces still work (for me at least). The PotC figs are a group of coastal Half-Elves that study science and sea exploration instead of holding to the "old ways" like their more inland cousins. The LotR sets and figs having a different look than the regular yellow fig castle sets fits in with this way of thinking perfectly (again, at least for me) and provides more figs to help diversify and expand the Half-Elf race. Come June the Human (yellow) factions will need to start uniting or the Half-Elves will grow large enough to over them individually....lol.

Sort of feel the same way. I will be picking up all the LotR sets and integrate them into my other Castle\Fantasy stuff. The Orcs will be one "bad guy" army along with my current Skeleton and Fright Knight army. I've been converting the last Kingdoms Dragon Knights to fleshies and they (along with my PotC Pirates) will be the allies of Rohan. My yellow Northlander-ish (including the Black Falcons, Wolf Pack and Woodsmen) and Japanese armies will each be their own factions as well. So while I'll be getting the LotR sets to be what they are, they will also be part of my larger Lego Castle\Fantasy world (and all available for Brikwars terrain).

I think this set will make a nice terrain piece for a Brikwars battlefield...and the figs included will help build my Orcish army.

Nice!! I think I'll be getting that set...Zombies and graveyard terrain. How can you pass that up?

Sorry, only officially released Lego pieces are allowed. Since those have not been officially released yet you'll have to leave them out. Just kidding...can't wait to see them in person.

I have a feeling the Goblins, Orcs and Uruk-hai will come in one battle pack since they all bad guys. Rohan, I'm pretty sure will eventually end up with a battle pack since their new helmets and shields are already made. Gondor and Elves could happen eventually but I wouldn't expect to see them anytime soon unless all the Elves in that battle pack have the new ears/hair piece instead of a helmet and come with just a bow and no shield. We'll probably have to wait until after Gondor and the Elves have gotten a big set or two before we see battle packs of them. One thing I hope they don't do is the "verses" battle packs like they do for Star Wars. Personally I would rather get 4-5 troops from one army per battle pack.

My feelings exactly.

Unless I'm mistaken, they should be released in June...not sure the exact date.

I so cannot wait for this summer.

I'll probably be swapping out the cybernetic stuff for regular limbs myself (and possibly re-work a couple of the vehicles to get a more 1930's-40's look) but the idea of new villains and monsters sounds good. A Headless Horseman type character on a motorcycle instead of a horse might be cool (hmmmm) or an evil Magician.