Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[mtrsteve]

12 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I don’t think that’s the same thing. Including minifigures that don’t necessarily fit the scene but still kinda make sense is something lego has always done and usually works pretty well, especially if it’s the only logical way to get certain figures. I’m all for Last Alliance figures, and I’m all for Frodo and Sam figures even though they are never anywhere near Barad-Dûr. I don’t even mind if they have their Orc disguises they get from Cirith Ungol. But I think including the interior of Cirith Ungol inside Barad-Dûr would just be wrong. There is plenty they could do for a Barad-Dûr interior. A dungeon is a no brainer. A throne room is a no brainer. An armory is a no brainer. I think a Palantír room is also essential but we’ll see if lego agrees. Aside from those, it could have a room that hold the nine Rings of Men, that the books tell us Sauron keeps. Maybe it could have a forge. Maybe a sort of barracks for the Orcs. Plenty of things that fit Barad-Dûr itself, I don’t see any reason to merge it with an entirely different interior location

Well as soon as you put Frodo and Sam anywhere near that dungeon, many casual fans will think of the Cirith Ungol scene right away. So unless you leave those figures out, it's defacto the same thing.

Edited January 5, 2024 by mtrsteve
Grammar

[Balrogofmorgoth]

3 hours ago, mtrsteve said:

Well as soon as you put Frodo and Sam anywhere near that dungeon, many casual fans will think of the Cirith Ungol scene right away. So unless you leave those figures out, it's defacto the same thing.

I disagree. For one thing, Sam and Frodo were never in a dungeon at all. They’re very clearly in the top of the tower in Cirith Ungol, accessing it through a trap door in the floor. Also, I don’t mind if they make a simple Easter egg of being able to capture Sam and Frodo and put them in a dungeon. But design a Barad-Dûr dungeon and don’t make it the interior of Cirith Ungol inside Barad-Dûr

[Yoggington]

Sam & Frodo in the Orc outfits is a very good idea.

Add me to the stack of people that wouldn't care if the locations were somewhat merged. Add a dungeon room and my brain automatically merges them anyway.

(The die-hards can know that it's most definitely a completely different dungeon)

[RichardGoring]

The fact that it's Nanoscale on the outside and minifig scale on the inside doesn't seem to bother people. So merging locations as a means to get desired things into sets is probably fine. The interior could essentially  be a series of Mordor vignettes, just like it was for the Jurassic Park gate.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

2 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

The fact that it's Nanoscale on the outside and minifig scale on the inside doesn't seem to bother people. So merging locations as a means to get desired things into sets is probably fine. The interior could essentially  be a series of Mordor vignettes, just like it was for the Jurassic Park gate.

But a lot of people seem to hate the Jurassic Park gate. Idk that I would call that set a success. Having Barad-Dûr with random scenes from other places just makes no sense and completely takes away from Barad-Dûr as its own fortress. Easter eggs are fine but completely designing the interior based off of entirely different locations is just crazy

[mirkwoodspiders]

On 1/4/2024 at 5:47 PM, MAB said:

We didn't see each floor of Orthanc in the movies or much detail, and LEGO had to fill the rooms of the tower with something. If you watch the official designer video, it is stated that they included the two keys and the other staffs in this 'trophy room' because of what Saruman says to Gandalf in his death scene in the movie.... "what does Gandalf want ... the key of Orthanc or of Barad Dur itself, the crowns of the 7 Kings and the rods of the 5 Wizards". So that was actually based on the movie. (2 min 45 sec)

 

Oh good grief dude, the details are from the books and the movies. Seriously. It doesn't matter. I was simply trying to figure out how they'd fill in the details for Barad-Dur... 

Edited January 6, 2024 by mirkwoodspiders

[Balrogofmorgoth]

I mean, those specific Easter eggs from Orthanc were from that extended scene in the movie…the “rods of the five wizards” are NOT in Orthanc in the book (or the movie, Saruman is being hyperbolic in the scene). It’s definitely a movie Easter egg, sorry. HOWEVER! The Harry Potter theme has proven that book Easter eggs are not only possible but pretty popular so I could see newer LOTR sets including Easter eggs specifically from the books

[kuzyabricks]

7 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

But a lot of people seem to hate the Jurassic Park gate. Idk that I would call that set a success. Having Barad-Dûr with random scenes from other places just makes no sense and completely takes away from Barad-Dûr as its own fortress. Easter eggs are fine but completely designing the interior based off of entirely different locations is just crazy

People hated the jurrassic gate? really? I thought the inclusion of the easter eggs was genius

[MAB]

7 hours ago, mirkwoodspiders said:

Oh good grief dude, the details are from the books and the movies. Seriously. It doesn't matter. I was simply trying to figure out how they'd fill in the details for Barad-Dur... 

You told me that I was wrong. I was not. Your "case in point" showing that details came from the books and not the movies was discussed by the designer a decade ago, specifically saying the inclusion of the ther Wizards' staffs was based on the movie. 

[Black Falcon]

18 minutes ago, MAB said:

You told me that I was wrong. I was not. Your "case in point" showing that details came from the books and not the movies was discussed by the designer a decade ago, specifically saying the inclusion of the ther Wizards' staffs was based on the movie. 

Well, if we are being honest here, Lego only has the License for the Movies and can´t specifically include stuff that is just in the books - so of course, they are fans of the franchise and surely want to sneak stuff in that was in the books - best example for that is that Gimlis father is included in the Rivendell Set, although he isn´t mentioned as such, because he has a short scene in the film and is not named there - however we all know who he is and I don´t think he would be included in the Set at all if it were just a random dwarf ;)

Aside from that of course they also have to find details in the movies so their set doesn´t look empty, so I would say you both can be right without one beeing wrong.

[Khargeust]

22 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

Lego only has the License for the Movies

Do we know if they still have it for The Hobbit movies ? I miss the sets from 2012-2013 and I love the idea that we could get one day a big set with all the dwarves like Bag End for example. Do you guys think it is something reasonably possible ?

[Cyprinus]

10 minutes ago, Khargeust said:

Do we know if they still have it for The Hobbit movies ? I miss the sets from 2012-2013 and I love the idea that we could get one day a big set with all the dwarves like Bag End for example. Do you guys think it is something reasonably possible ? 

I don't think we know the details of what exactly they have at the moment. Though even if they did have the Hobbit license they could decide not to use it - even if Rings of Power made people appreciate the Hobbit movies more, they're still nowhere near beloved classics like the LotR movies are ;)

13 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

But a lot of people seem to hate the Jurassic Park gate. Idk that I would call that set a success. Having Barad-Dûr with random scenes from other places just makes no sense and completely takes away from Barad-Dûr as its own fortress. Easter eggs are fine but completely designing the interior based off of entirely different locations is just crazy

I don't think anyone asked for an interior completely designed on different location. Having a Cirith Ungol top floor certainly isn't that.

[BrickBob Studpants]

3 hours ago, Khargeust said:

Do we know if they still have it for The Hobbit movies ? I miss the sets from 2012-2013 and I love the idea that we could get one day a big set with all the dwarves like Bag End for example. Do you guys think it is something reasonably possible ?

No, simply because the specialised moulds have all been retired. Sure, Dwalin’s beard piece is still around, and Ori used a pretty common hairpiece, but Balin’s, Nori’s, Dori’s, Bifur’s, Bofur’s, Bombur’s, Oin’s, Gloin’s, and the one shared by Thorin, Fili, and Kili are not around anymore and would have to be redesigned. That’s A LOT of new hairpieces for one set!!

[mirkwoodspiders]

4 hours ago, MAB said:

You told me that I was wrong. I was not. Your "case in point" showing that details came from the books and not the movies was discussed by the designer a decade ago, specifically saying the inclusion of the ther Wizards' staffs was based on the movie. 

Cool, whatever helps you sleep at night man. Glad there is an "ignore" option for users...

[Balrogofmorgoth]

What would people think about a Fell Beast being included? The survey price was $400, and that jumped up to $460 for release, which could mean just about anything, but what if something has been added? A Fell Beast would highly increase the desirability of the set

[BrickBob Studpants]

6 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

What would people think about a Fell Beast being included? The survey price was $400, and that jumped up to $460 for release, which could mean just about anything, but what if something has been added? A Fell Beast would highly increase the desirability of the set

I like the idea! But I think it‘s more likely they‘d include one in a Minas Tirith set along with the Witch King

[Balrogofmorgoth]

49 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

I like the idea! But I think it‘s more likely they‘d include one in a Minas Tirith set along with the Witch King

I mean there are nine of them. Maybe one here with a normal hooded Ringwraith, and one later on down the line in a Minas Tirith set with a helmed Witch-King? I’d be fine with a repeat of a Fell Beast. It’s unfortunate that we missed the era of molded creatures though. The molded one from the video game was amazing. Now it’ll be brick built and probably look like crap with cloth wings that only look good from the top

[Lordhelmet]

2 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

What would people think about a Fell Beast being included? The survey price was $400, and that jumped up to $460 for release, which could mean just about anything, but what if something has been added? A Fell Beast would highly increase the desirability of the set

I am all for that being the case.  A fell beast with a normal ring wraith would be fitting and would definitely make the price feel better.  Repeating a fell beast (or one for the Witch King) would be fine too especially if it is good design or mold - would be nice to get the dinosaur treatment for it.  Plus it would be nice to have something on the side of Barad Dur like they did with Orthanc with the Ent build.  Crazy that Orthanc was $200 for the tower and Treebeard.  

[Black Falcon]

6 hours ago, Khargeust said:

Do we know if they still have it for The Hobbit movies ? I miss the sets from 2012-2013 and I love the idea that we could get one day a big set with all the dwarves like Bag End for example. Do you guys think it is something reasonably possible ?

No idea really, and we don´t know the details of the contracts anyways. However, movie licenses are in the hand of warner and since Lego got them for the Lord of the Rings it shouldn´t be a problem to get Hobbit aswell, even if they aren´t included in whatever license Lego has already. The question might be more if they really want to do a Hobbit Set. However a Lonely Mountain Set in the Size like they did Rivendell could look pretty good IMO.

 

2 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

What would people think about a Fell Beast being included? The survey price was $400, and that jumped up to $460 for release, which could mean just about anything, but what if something has been added? A Fell Beast would highly increase the desirability of the set

I don´t know where you are getting that price from. People always claim the survey had 400$ price tag, while for real there was just a price range. And the price we have now is still within that price range.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

34 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

No idea really, and we don´t know the details of the contracts anyways. However, movie licenses are in the hand of warner and since Lego got them for the Lord of the Rings it shouldn´t be a problem to get Hobbit aswell, even if they aren´t included in whatever license Lego has already. The question might be more if they really want to do a Hobbit Set. However a Lonely Mountain Set in the Size like they did Rivendell could look pretty good IMO.

 

I don´t know where you are getting that price from. People always claim the survey had 400$ price tag, while for real there was just a price range. And the price we have now is still within that price range.

I’m just repeating what the people who posted the survey leak said, which was that it was around $400

[kuzyabricks]

4 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I’m just repeating what the people who posted the survey leak said, which was that it was around $400

wasn't it always 400-500?

[Black Falcon]

1 minute ago, kuzyabricks said:

wasn't it always 400-500?

320-520 actually. Which is quite a big span. 

[Cyprinus]

6 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

I like the idea! But I think it‘s more likely they‘d include one in a Minas Tirith set along with the Witch King

I know this idea keeps popping up, but I don't see any realistic way of getting a Minas Tirith set that looks good and isn't a monstrosity way and above the budget of 99,9% of people. I guess the palace and White Tree courtyard could work, but that would suffer from limited space for interiors...

[BrickBob Studpants]

58 minutes ago, Cyprinus said:

I know this idea keeps popping up, but I don't see any realistic way of getting a Minas Tirith set that looks good and isn't a monstrosity way and above the budget of 99,9% of people. I guess the palace and White Tree courtyard could work, but that would suffer from limited space for interiors...

Nobody said it had to be minifig-scale  Microscale is of course the only way to reasonably do it, and they can still easily include all the necessary characters

[Cyprinus]

29 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Nobody said it had to be minifig-scale  Microscale is of course the only way to reasonably do it, and they can still easily include all the necessary characters

Even with microscale it would be quite a big thing. And in that case I don't see a fell beast happening (microscale one aside ;) )