What is Your Favorite Lord of the Rings Set?

[Dazz]

LOL, I thought oooh that is easy; set #79003 Bag End, and then I thought: hold on (facepalm) that is not an 'LOTR' set, but a 'The Hobbit' set.

That was my first thought, too.

In the end, I voted for "The Council of Elrond". I like that it's not action-oriented like most of the LotR-sets and the selcetion of minifigures is good, too.

[ShaydDeGrai]

After much internal debate I finally opted for Helm's Deep, though Orthanc and Weathertop are high on my list. I really like Weathertop and the two Nazgul, but it was too small. Orthanc is suitably epic, but the open back was a major detractor, I would have preferred hinged panels that could be closed for display and opened for "play". At the end of the day Helm's Deep "felt" the most like a real, complete LOTR set.

That said, though, I have to say that overall I was disappointed with the LOTR line. There was a lot of potential that TLC could have explored (mini-scale LOTR Architecture style models, epic scenes like the fall of the Witch King (with a brick-built Fellbeast), the Watcher in the Lake, and the Bridge at Kazad Dun (with a Balrog), etc). I appreciate all the work they did with the mini-figures and the new articulated horses, but the minifigs sort of overshadowed the rest of the line. Much like my complaint with many of the old Harry Potter sets, if you take the mini-figures out of the kit, you are often hard-pressed to know what the point of what's left actually is.

Mines of Moria _could_ have been a great set (or a couple of sets to keep the price manageable) but between the wall papering of stickers and the disconnected/disjointedness of the scene elements it felt more like the LOTR's answer to that Winter Village winter market set from a couple years ago.

Most of the sets were just too small for the epic nature of the source material. Helm's Deep and the Army builder needed a taller wall; the Black Gate was way too short and you needed two copies of the set to even suggest the gate from the movie; even a stocking stuffer set like Gandalf Arrives where the whole point of the (movie) scene is Gandalf and Frodo riding together, put Gandalf in a cart too small to hold two figures.

In general I really like the minifigures (and that's saying something as I'm not a minifigure collector and rarely even MOC in minifigure scale) I just wish they'd spent a bit more time thinking about the sets as "LOTR sets", not just vignettes, props and backgrounds for figures. I would certainly have supported a UCS line of non-playset kits (think Minas Tirith and Barad Dur, done along the lines of the Taj Mahal or Eiffel Tower models from a few years back) or even well done, "complete" play set kits (like Bree and the Prancing Pony done in the style of Midieval Market Village) but instead we got the LOTR variant on Dobby's Release several times over.

As someone who has been both admiring and producing LOTR inspired MOCs for decades, I really think TLG wasted a lot of potential in the way it handled the official line. I bought them all and really tried to give them a chance, but it could have been so much better.

And would it have killed them to make a Galadriel figure?

[Blakstone]

And would it have killed them to make a Galadriel figure?

Have you looked at the Witch-King Battle? I added the Galadriel figure and the twilight version of the Witch-King to my LotR collection even though it is actually a Hobbt set.

[Deathleech]

Orthanc is suitably epic, but the open back was a major detractor, I would have preferred hinged panels that could be closed for display and opened for "play". At the end of the day Helm's Deep "felt" the most like a real, complete LOTR set.

Helm's Deep is missing it's back as well though? Heck, it's missing a huge chunk of the keep and the entire mountain backing? It's even missing some of the side and doesn't look to good from any angle other than straight on from the front? Orthanc on the other hand actually looks great on display from the front OR sides. If you have it at a back angle or straight on from the back it looks a little lacking, sure, but it's pretty easy to place it so it looks like a full tower. Plus without a back kept the price under $200, if it had a back it could have easily been $250 or more.

Mines of Moria _could_ have been a great set (or a couple of sets to keep the price manageable) but between the wall papering of stickers and the disconnected/disjointedness of the scene elements it felt more like the LOTR's answer to that Winter Village winter market set from a couple years ago.

This seems to be the same complaint with the Mines of Moria set that has plagued it since it's release. I honestly don't understand it. Sure the set is disjointed, but it's not like adding two more walls and fully enclosing the room would have added much to the set besides a lot of extra gray bricks and a much higher price tag. If you look at it, the set actually hits a lot of high points. It has the pillars, well, and tomb which were all key parts from the movie. All three of these have play features that actually make sense and are seen in the film. The room looks fairly close to the movie version too. The minifigure selection is absolutely amazing. The only thing it can really be faulted for is the insane amount of stickers, but I think that's the only real issue with the set. Sure the two walls included could have been hinged or something, or the Moria Orcs could have had helmets, or it could have came with more orcs, or it could have had a base... but for what it is I think the set is pretty amazing. You get a big fig cave troll, almost every minifigure is exclusive save Gimli and Legolas, and the play features are all true to movie.

Most of the sets were just too small for the epic nature of the source material. Helm's Deep and the Army builder needed a taller wall; the Black Gate was way too short and you needed two copies of the set to even suggest the gate from the movie; even a stocking stuffer set like Gandalf Arrives where the whole point of the (movie) scene is Gandalf and Frodo riding together, put Gandalf in a cart too small to hold two figures.

I agree, but you have to remember these are toys aimed mainly at kids. Lego can't realistically make every set $100+ just to make them more movie accurate. It's easy to look at everything Lego offered and imagine what they could have done better. I was really upset for a long time about their offerings until I tried to look at it more from a childs' perspective and from their point of view as a toy company. As adults we want a lot of army builders, the same main chatracters in only one or two sets max, and beautiful display pieces. That's not what kids want though. They want main characters spread across several sets since most can't afford to buy entire waves, lots of play features, and cheaper sets.

I will say I think the LotR and Hobbit films are particularly hard to do in Lego. Not only are most scenes large environments or buildings, there are lots of organic creatures. These aren't things Lego bricks are particularly well at replicating. Lego is good at making vehicles and smaller square buildings in their sets. With that said I think the LotR would have done much better as an adult oriented line. Lego could have done limited production runs and made most of the sets UCS or D2C. I feel like they tried to cater to both AFOLs and kids with their sets and sadly didn't really leave either camp super satisfied. Lego should have had a clear focus from the get go. I also think they could have handled some things better. As you said, Gandalf Arrives has a cart that doesn't even fit two minifigures. The Black Gates set has the Mouth of Sauron and the same worker Mordor Orcs we got before with Uruk-hai helms. Lego gives us two new prints for orcs only used in one set and never again then uses the same Mordor print in six different sets. It's like wtf? We really could have benefited from a Witch King, armored soldier Mordor Orcs, or Gondor Soldiers in the Black Gate set but instead Lego made some really questionable decisions. I also feel like they really missed their mark with giving us brick built creatures. Shelob Attacks is an amazing set. Lego should have given us a $20 brick built Treebeard, a brick built Balrog, etc.

In general I really like the minifigures (and that's saying something as I'm not a minifigure collector and rarely even MOC in minifigure scale) I just wish they'd spent a bit more time thinking about the sets as "LOTR sets", not just vignettes, props and backgrounds for figures. I would certainly have supported a UCS line of non-playset kits (think Minas Tirith and Barad Dur, done along the lines of the Taj Mahal or Eiffel Tower models from a few years back) or even well done, "complete" play set kits (like Bree and the Prancing Pony done in the style of Midieval Market Village) but instead we got the LOTR variant on Dobby's Release several times over.

The idea of doing the LotR and Hobbit lines as a CMF series has been thrown around. I think this would of actually been a better route for Lego to take with their Middle-Earth license. They could have handled it a lot like they currently are the Simpsons. Give us a wave of CMFs and then one big $200 set each wave to accompany them. Imagine the first wave having Helm's Deep + 2 Uruk-hai Army sets as one big $200 set. Then a 16 minifigure CMF series with the 9 Fellowship members, a Uruk-hai bag, a Rohan Soldier, Theoden, Haldir, Mordor Orc, Gollum, and Lurtz. I think this would have been a much better model to follow for the Middle Earth stuff. After all, like you said, the minifigures are the real selling point of the sets anyways.

[Venunder]

It has to be Helm's Deep.

Gandalf Arrives could be a scene from any fantasy setting.

The Tower of Orthanc is just not grand enough to win my vote.

Weathertop is a nice build, but short of 2 Black Riders

The Orc Forge is not Iconic enough.

Shelob is a spider. Yuk

Mines of Moria, the Troll just seems wrong.

Uruk-hai Army, needs more army.

The Wizard battle is nice but small..

Council of Elrond is missing most of the Council.

Edit:

Having said all that negative stuff, I still think this was a great series.

TLG could and should have made more out of it.

Now it is just left to the rest of us to make the MOC's that we really wanted TLG to make.

Edited May 19, 2015 by Venunder

[Umbra-Manis]

The idea of doing the LotR and Hobbit lines as a CMF series has been thrown around. I think this would of actually been a better route for Lego to take with their Middle-Earth license. They could have handled it a lot like they currently are the Simpsons. Give us a wave of CMFs and then one big $200 set each wave to accompany them. Imagine the first wave having Helm's Deep + 2 Uruk-hai Army sets as one big $200 set. Then a 16 minifigure CMF series with the 9 Fellowship members, a Uruk-hai bag, a Rohan Soldier, Theoden, Haldir, Mordor Orc, Gollum, and Lurtz. I think this would have been a much better model to follow for the Middle Earth stuff. After all, like you said, the minifigures are the real selling point of the sets anyways.

That is totally what they should do now!

[MAB]

That is totally what they should do now!

I dread to think how hard it would be to get the army builders. Even if they did 3 army builders to each named character (so equal to the worst unbalanced ratio they have done in CMF), they would be cherry picked away and there would be complaints at how many named characters people are getting.

[Gibbon]

Helm's Deep is missing it's back as well though? Heck, it's missing a huge chunk of the keep and the entire mountain backing? It's even missing some of the side and doesn't look to good from any angle other than straight on from the front? Orthanc on the other hand actually looks great on display from the front OR sides. If you have it at a back angle or straight on from the back it looks a little lacking, sure, but it's pretty easy to place it so it looks like a full tower. Plus without a back kept the price under $200, if it had a back it could have easily been $250 or more.

This seems to be the same complaint with the Mines of Moria set that has plagued it since it's release. I honestly don't understand it. Sure the set is disjointed, but it's not like adding two more walls and fully enclosing the room would have added much to the set besides a lot of extra gray bricks and a much higher price tag. If you look at it, the set actually hits a lot of high points. It has the pillars, well, and tomb which were all key parts from the movie. All three of these have play features that actually make sense and are seen in the film. The room looks fairly close to the movie version too. The minifigure selection is absolutely amazing. The only thing it can really be faulted for is the insane amount of stickers, but I think that's the only real issue with the set. Sure the two walls included could have been hinged or something, or the Moria Orcs could have had helmets, or it could have came with more orcs, or it could have had a base... but for what it is I think the set is pretty amazing. You get a big fig cave troll, almost every minifigure is exclusive save Gimli and Legolas, and the play features are all true to movie.

I agree, but you have to remember these are toys aimed mainly at kids. Lego can't realistically make every set $100+ just to make them more movie accurate. It's easy to look at everything Lego offered and imagine what they could have done better. I was really upset for a long time about their offerings until I tried to look at it more from a childs' perspective and from their point of view as a toy company. As adults we want a lot of army builders, the same main chatracters in only one or two sets max, and beautiful display pieces. That's not what kids want though. They want main characters spread across several sets since most can't afford to buy entire waves, lots of play features, and cheaper sets.

I will say I think the LotR and Hobbit films are particularly hard to do in Lego. Not only are most scenes large environments or buildings, there are lots of organic creatures. These aren't things Lego bricks are particularly well at replicating. Lego is good at making vehicles and smaller square buildings in their sets. With that said I think the LotR would have done much better as an adult oriented line. Lego could have done limited production runs and made most of the sets UCS or D2C. I feel like they tried to cater to both AFOLs and kids with their sets and sadly didn't really leave either camp super satisfied. Lego should have had a clear focus from the get go. I also think they could have handled some things better. As you said, Gandalf Arrives has a cart that doesn't even fit two minifigures. The Black Gates set has the Mouth of Sauron and the same worker Mordor Orcs we got before with Uruk-hai helms. Lego gives us two new prints for orcs only used in one set and never again then uses the same Mordor print in six different sets. It's like wtf? We really could have benefited from a Witch King, armored soldier Mordor Orcs, or Gondor Soldiers in the Black Gate set but instead Lego made some really questionable decisions. I also feel like they really missed their mark with giving us brick built creatures. Shelob Attacks is an amazing set. Lego should have given us a $20 brick built Treebeard, a brick built Balrog, etc.

The idea of doing the LotR and Hobbit lines as a CMF series has been thrown around. I think this would of actually been a better route for Lego to take with their Middle-Earth license. They could have handled it a lot like they currently are the Simpsons. Give us a wave of CMFs and then one big $200 set each wave to accompany them. Imagine the first wave having Helm's Deep + 2 Uruk-hai Army sets as one big $200 set. Then a 16 minifigure CMF series with the 9 Fellowship members, a Uruk-hai bag, a Rohan Soldier, Theoden, Haldir, Mordor Orc, Gollum, and Lurtz. I think this would have been a much better model to follow for the Middle Earth stuff. After all, like you said, the minifigures are the real selling point of the sets anyways.

I absolutely agree with you at all points.

It was an easy choice and I gave my vote to Orthanc which is highly the best set of the LOTR line (anyway I agree that both Shelob and Mines of Moria are amazing sets). I am a little bit surprised about the popularity of Helm's Deep as I have a strong feeling of uncompleteness upon looking at it. The minifigure seelction is nice but the set is a little more than a short wall section. I think that the popularity of this set is mostly because it is an emblematic scene in the book and even more so in the movie and not because it is a fantastic set indeed.

[MAB]

Orthanc is great and I also like Shelob for the size, there is no "waste" in that. However, I voted for Wizard Battle. For such a small set, it packs a lot in and is a key good vs evil scene from the film that was done in lego well. There is no need to surround it by walls or other decoration to increase the set size.

[AFOLguy1970]

Shelob was my first LOTR set and the second Lego set in general I purchased after coming out of the Dark Age. The articulation and design is incredible.

To me, a minifigure collector series would be ideal if every character was a generic army builder. Have things like Moria Orc, Morder Orc, Gondorian soldier, Rohan soldier, Lothlorien archer, etc., and my wallet would be bleeding cash with ever visit to a store which sells them. If you had the fellowship taking 9 slots and only one or two in the whole series was an army builder type, those would be the ones where everyone would be feeling the bag at the Lego Store or Toys R Us.

[Missing Brick]

I voted Orthanc but actually, I think Shelob attacks was the best value and probably the set I would have enjoyed playing with most if I was a child. I like Deathleech's idea for a LOTR CMF line - that would have been great - but I understand why TLG spread the figs out so you had to buy all the expensive sets to complete your collection. Real shame that the 2nd LOTR wave sucked - then those dreadful overlong Hobbit movies came out with even worse sets. Way to kill off what had been an exciting Lego series. Shame,

[MassEditor]

Real shame that the 2nd LOTR wave sucked - then those dreadful overlong Hobbit movies came out with even worse sets. Way to kill off what had been an exciting Lego series. Shame,

Couldn't agree more! Dreadful is a perfect way to describe those films, and the sets just seemed wholly unimaginative. It's easy to see what these were all about: Money!

As a felon, not sure if I'm allowed to vote, but I'd have to say my favorite was Weathertop. Just a nice, detailed little set that had some great parts and those awesome Nazguls and horses.