Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Mandalorianknight]

On 12/4/2023 at 9:16 PM, hikouki said:

I wonder how cartoon-y that movie will be and if the characters can be made into Lego in the same style as the rest of the series. Or perhaps they will end up being like Lego's SW Young Jedi Adventures, or the Marvel Spidey and Friends sets?

I don't know the exact rating of this film, but I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that it will not be the animation style of the disney preschool cartoons, nor will it be for that age range. My evidence is A: it's lord of the rings, and B: the title is "War of the Rohirrim", which isn't exactly  "Frodo and friends" or "Hobbit tales" or something.

21 hours ago, NoOneOfImportance said:

They created some solid sets to go alongside the Hobbit, and those failed. They aren't going to risk a line of sets now without any tie-in except a vocal but relatively small adult fanbase who would buy them. 

And this is the big issue- lego has to be sure the source material is popular enough for them to sell sets for. Notice that for Indy, ALL sets were based on the more well-liked films, with nothing for the new one, and a good chunk of the avatar sets were off the first film as well. Star wars gets a couple sets at most for the new shows- Ahsoka was an outlier with a whopping THREE sets, just so we can see how drastic the situation is- until lego can gauge the success of it and whether or not to make more sets. (Notice stuff like TBOBF, Kenobi, and even the critically-loved-but-100%-not-for-kids Andor haven't had anything since their first runs and have no rumors of any new sets on the horizon).

They got burned in the mid-2010s with tie-ins that didn't do well. Angry Birds, Rebels (at the time), the Hobbit, etc, and now they're cautious- perhaps overly so- about making more tie in material. Given that War of the Rohirrim is an animated film aimed at older audiences, which is generally not the largest demo, I'd be shocked if we saw any sets for it, even if I do have some faith the film will be good.

Edited December 19, 2023 by Mandalorianknight

[QuiggoldsPegLeg]

9 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

I don't know the exact rating of this film, but I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that it will not be the animation style of the disney preschool cartoons, nor will it be for that age range. My evidence is A: it's lord of the rings, and B: the title is "War of the Rohirrim", which isn't exactly  "Frodo and friends" or "Hobbit tales" or something.

Yeah, the story of Helm Hammerhand is definitely not one for young children. 

[wesker]

If we did get sets to tie in with War of the Rohirrim I'd rather they took the Indiana Jones approach and just base them all directly off the original trilogy while still keeping the focus on Rohan.

It doesn't need to be a huge wave. A Helms Deep remake or Edoras with the cast from The Two Towers is good enough for me. An Eowyn/Witch-King diorama would also be welcome.

[NoOneOfImportance]

20 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

And this is the big issue- lego has to be sure the source material is popular enough for them to sell sets for. Notice that for Indy, ALL sets were based on the more well-liked films, with nothing for the new one, and a good chunk of the avatar sets were off the first film as well. Star wars gets a couple sets at most for the new shows- Ahsoka was an outlier with a whopping THREE sets, just so we can see how drastic the situation is- until lego can gauge the success of it and whether or not to make more sets. (Notice stuff like TBOBF, Kenobi, and even the critically-loved-but-100%-not-for-kids Andor haven't had anything since their first runs and have no rumors of any new sets on the horizon).

Exactly. And even with current license tie-ins that had been doing well - Marvel sets - those are now consistently sitting on shelves on sale and/or not selling (and I'd be surprised if we see many sets for new Marvel movies when they release because of the responses to Eternals, Black Panther 2, etc. sets of late). 

I think the best bet is that we see a good Edoras D2C in response to the show - ties in with the Rohirrim while also having the popularity of classic LOTR. 

[zoth33]

8 hours ago, wesker said:

If we did get sets to tie in with War of the Rohirrim I'd rather they took the Indiana Jones approach and just base them all directly off the original trilogy while still keeping the focus on Rohan.

It doesn't need to be a huge wave. A Helms Deep remake or Edoras with the cast from The Two Towers is good enough for me. An Eowyn/Witch-King diorama would also be welcome.

This Movie is about 250 years before LOTR so we would be getting anything from Two Towers or Eowyn/Witch king from this movie.  It would be an entirely new group of people that we are seeing in this movie.  If anything we would get Helm Hammerhand.  

[Mandalorianknight]

2 hours ago, NoOneOfImportance said:

Exactly. And even with current license tie-ins that had been doing well - Marvel sets - those are now consistently sitting on shelves on sale and/or not selling (and I'd be surprised if we see many sets for new Marvel movies when they release because of the responses to Eternals, Black Panther 2, etc. sets of late). 

I think the best bet is that we see a good Edoras D2C in response to the show - ties in with the Rohirrim while also having the popularity of classic LOTR. 

I found the Sunbird for like $25 at walmart the other day. I was really tempted to get it as a parts pack, but I think I ended up deciding even at $25 I didn't need it.

I agree. The best we're gonna get is a D2C of a location featured in both the anime movie and original trilogy featuring figures from both.

1 hour ago, zoth33 said:

This Movie is about 250 years before LOTR so we would be getting anything from Two Towers or Eowyn/Witch king from this movie.  It would be an entirely new group of people that we are seeing in this movie.  If anything we would get Helm Hammerhand.  

I think you're missing when he's saying. He's saying he'd rather they made sets based off the original trilogy that feature the same locations as those in the War of the Rohirrim.

[zoth33]

4 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

I found the Sunbird for like $25 at walmart the other day. I was really tempted to get it as a parts pack, but I think I ended up deciding even at $25 I didn't need it.

I agree. The best we're gonna get is a D2C of a location featured in both the anime movie and original trilogy featuring figures from both.

I think you're missing when he's saying. He's saying he'd rather they made sets based off the original trilogy that feature the same locations as those in the War of the Rohirrim.

Ok I'm missing something obviously.  At any rate I don't see them doing helms deep again.  If they were to do more LOTR sets I would like to see something from Gondor, Lothlorien, Bree, or Edoras.  

[Lordhelmet]

16 hours ago, zoth33 said:

Ok I'm missing something obviously.  At any rate I don't see them doing helms deep again.  If they were to do more LOTR sets I would like to see something from Gondor, Lothlorien, Bree, or Edoras.  

Not doing any Gondor in the original wave of LOTR has got to be one the worst missed opportunities.  I would love for them to do something (even small) where we could get Gondor Soldiers.  I remember waiting for something Minis Tirith related during the first waves (I had even set aside a few hundred dollars to buy multiple sets) and hoping that in year three they would release something with Gondor.  I bought a few Helm's deep sets when it launched and combined them into a bigger helms deep that kept the set's aesthetic and was planning on doing the same for Minis Tirith.  Hopefully we get a small wave so Lego can take my money.

 

[zoth33]

6 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

Not doing any Gondor in the original wave of LOTR has got to be one the worst missed opportunities.  I would love for them to do something (even small) where we could get Gondor Soldiers.  I remember waiting for something Minis Tirith related during the first waves (I had even set aside a few hundred dollars to buy multiple sets) and hoping that in year three they would release something with Gondor.  I bought a few Helm's deep sets when it launched and combined them into a bigger helms deep that kept the set's aesthetic and was planning on doing the same for Minis Tirith.  Hopefully we get a small wave so Lego can take my money.

 

Yeah helms deep was $50 at walmart at one point so I picked up 2 more and gave one to my oldest son.  I'm trying to save up for Rivendell.  maybe sometime in February I will get it.  Really I would take anything from Tolkiens world in lego form.  Hoping Barad Dur is as nice as Rivendell.  And I can't wait to see the Sauron fig.  

[Gorilla94]

On 12/20/2023 at 3:56 PM, NoOneOfImportance said:

Exactly. And even with current license tie-ins that had been doing well - Marvel sets - those are now consistently sitting on shelves on sale and/or not selling (and I'd be surprised if we see many sets for new Marvel movies when they release because of the responses to Eternals, Black Panther 2, etc. sets of late). 

I think the best bet is that we see a good Edoras D2C in response to the show - ties in with the Rohirrim while also having the popularity of classic LOTR. 

That's the problem with market analysis and "buisness people" making decisions about products like Lego. It is no rocket science. You need something that gives the consumer positive emotions represented in an appealing set. All of those new Disney products  refuse to use the heroes journey, which is pretty much the foundation making people care about the protagonist in western story telling. There could be cool new designs people will like even without caring about the movie or stuff people already love thanks to other media. 

If someone really thought for example the terrible grey Marvels ship including just unknown or disliked characters with boring designs, also sucking as a random space  ship and coming with the terrible price tag even if it was actually a product anyone would want, this person should really not be in a decision making position... 

Rohirim are cool. If a good set including some pretty "Castle" figures is in "pocket money/little reward for a good grade" price range it will sell even if kids don't know about the movie.

Edited December 24, 2023 by Gorilla94

[RichardGoring]

I built Santa's Visit over the holidays, and thought it was excellent. Slightly disappointed that I was missing two 1x1 bricks, in different bags, and had two random parts instead, one of which want even in the set.

Just started building Rivendell this evening, and in bag 2, I'm down one piece, with another random part in it's place.

I know it's getting more common, and I know they will replace it, but it's still kind of frustrating. Fortunately, it's not a structurally critical piece.

[Black Falcon]

9 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

I built Santa's Visit over the holidays, and thought it was excellent. Slightly disappointed that I was missing two 1x1 bricks, in different bags, and had two random parts instead, one of which want even in the set.

Just started building Rivendell this evening, and in bag 2, I'm down one piece, with another random part in it's place.

I know it's getting more common, and I know they will replace it, but it's still kind of frustrating. Fortunately, it's not a structurally critical piece.

I am actually wondering if this has to do with pick a brick - I mean when they use the same container/box for both, it seems more likely that parts get into a box where they don´t belong that way.

[Shroffy123]

I still find it frustrating that pieces break on the older lotr and hobbit sets. 

[Roebuck]

5 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

I am actually wondering if this has to do with pick a brick - I mean when they use the same container/box for both, it seems more likely that parts get into a box where they don´t belong that way.

What do you mean?

[Black Falcon]

4 hours ago, Roebuck said:

What do you mean?

I mean when both sets and PAB are filled from the same boxes, it seems more likely that parts that don´t belong in other boxes get there when people fill the PAB-Orders.

[Roebuck]

2 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

I mean when both sets and PAB are filled from the same boxes, it seems more likely that parts that don´t belong in other boxes get there when people fill the PAB-Orders.

I am pretty sure the same boxes of parts are not used to get parts for sets and PAB. PAB standard are only packed in Billund and probably a lot of sets are not even packed there, but in other factories around the world. It also make little sense that a box used in the PAB facility suddenly are moved to the factory to use the rest of the parts for sets 

[RichardGoring]

Something else about Rivendell is just how large the box is compared to the contents. I sorted out all the bags, and I typically put them back into the box in reverse order, so I can find them easily during the build. It turns out that you can fit all of the bags into the smaller inner box, so more than half of the packaging is air. I laid all of the flat, but didn't push them down, although I realize that even this is impossible on a production line. I also know that they like to have boxes of a certain size to make it feel better when buying something for that much money, but I was still surprised by just how compact it would be while still in bags.

[Khargeust]

50 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

Something else about Rivendell is just how large the box is compared to the contents.

Do you know if this is the same scale box as the one of the 10305 LKC ?

[Yoggington]

1 hour ago, RichardGoring said:

Something else about Rivendell is just how large the box is compared to the contents. I sorted out all the bags, and I typically put them back into the box in reverse order, so I can find them easily during the build. It turns out that you can fit all of the bags into the smaller inner box, so more than half of the packaging is air. I laid all of the flat, but didn't push them down, although I realize that even this is impossible on a production line. I also know that they like to have boxes of a certain size to make it feel better when buying something for that much money, but I was still surprised by just how compact it would be while still in bags.

I have spotted this on a fair few sets. Typically the white inner is approx half the size of the outer, and typically it fits all the bags (at least on a repackaging as I bag them to the attic).

I've noticed it specifically on the Lion Knight Castle, and multiple sets from the modular line.

I think the possible reasons are well know, but it still seems like such a waste.

[Yperio_Bricks]

53 minutes ago, Yoggington said:

I have spotted this on a fair few sets. Typically the white inner is approx half the size of the outer, and typically it fits all the bags (at least on a repackaging as I bag them to the attic).

I've noticed it specifically on the Lion Knight Castle, and multiple sets from the modular line.

I think the possible reasons are well know, but it still seems like such a waste.

Surely it is a technical necessity that the boxes contain 49% of air. Lego would never use oversized boxes to make products look bigger on store shelves because as a company they value the environment and going green is not just a marketing phrase for them but an intrinsic desire! Just kiddin'

I noticed the same issue when i measured some boxes and content.

[kuzyabricks]

Falconbricks on instagram posted about baradur. Allegedly $450 and 5471 pieces, comes out in June. I'm not complaining, I'll have plenty of time to save up.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

17 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

I built Santa's Visit over the holidays, and thought it was excellent. Slightly disappointed that I was missing two 1x1 bricks, in different bags, and had two random parts instead, one of which want even in the set.

Just started building Rivendell this evening, and in bag 2, I'm down one piece, with another random part in it's place.

I know it's getting more common, and I know they will replace it, but it's still kind of frustrating. Fortunately, it's not a structurally critical piece.

Didn’t happen to me with Rivendell but it’s happened to me a lot lately with other sets. I got customer service to not only replace the parts but give me a bunch of vip points for the trouble. Just email and ask

[Lordhelmet]

Thoughts on Barad Dur price? I was really hoping for $400, the extra 60 will push it to or over $500 with tax.  I think at that price we should see at least 18-20 mini-figures.

 

[Balrogofmorgoth]

59 minutes ago, Lordhelmet said:

Thoughts on Barad Dur price? I was really hoping for $400, the extra 60 will push it to or over $500 with tax.  I think at that price we should see at least 18-20 mini-figures.

 

I wouldn’t count on so many figures this time. I certainly wouldn’t expect more figures than Rivendell, which is more of a character driven set than this one. Personally I hope it just means the build was improved since the survey leak, since there was something to be desired in my opinion. I do hope there are more figures than the leak suggested, I just wouldn’t get my hopes up for too many based on price

[Lordhelmet]

52 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I wouldn’t count on so many figures this time. I certainly wouldn’t expect more figures than Rivendell, which is more of a character driven set than this one. Personally I hope it just means the build was improved since the survey leak, since there was something to be desired in my opinion. I do hope there are more figures than the leak suggested, I just wouldn’t get my hopes up for too many based on price

Worth noting, I am not getting my hopes up for more than the leak.  Just commenting that if they are adding $60 from the leaked price, they should compensate with additional mini figs from the leaked amount (I think 12 was the leak).  We are almost at a Rivendell price, I don't see why we shouldn't get a comparable amount of minifigs.  The price per piece is comparable, Rivendell had 21 minifigs, I would think that for something priced that high we should have a comparable amount (15-20 seems fair).  (Also worth noting Avengers tower had 31, and Gringots had 13 plus an additional gwp minifig). Gringots being $30 cheaper.   I am good if a few of them are statues like Rivendell.  Also agreed, the build needs to be improved as well.  $500 was a lot of Rivendell but it was an excellent set (great build) with great minifigs,  I would expect excellence at $400, but adding $60 should make it that much better.