Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Roebuck]

Last time they had the budget of a normal wave for all those moulds for the dwarves, no way a one off D2C would be close to that (and I assume most of the moulds are destroyed long ago)..

So if it is no dwarfs, what can we expect? Frodo, Billbo, Sam and Gandalf? Nazgul on horseback seems unlikely, Marry and Pippin would be boring. Some other civilian Hobbits is probably the best we ca hope for 

[kuzyabricks]

1 hour ago, Roebuck said:

Last time they had the budget of a normal wave for all those moulds for the dwarves, no way a one off D2C would be close to that (and I assume most of the moulds are destroyed long ago)..

So if it is no dwarfs, what can we expect? Frodo, Billbo, Sam and Gandalf? Nazgul on horseback seems unlikely, Marry and Pippin would be boring. Some other civilian Hobbits is probably the best we ca hope for 

Hmmm I don't like that one bit. As much as I like the Hobbits I don't need them in different outfits. I'll hope they do ball out and get as the dwarves. We will have to see. 

[Artanis I]

1 hour ago, Roebuck said:

Last time they had the budget of a normal wave for all those moulds for the dwarves, no way a one off D2C would be close to that

100% there is no way all those unique beard pieces can be brought back for 1 set. How many slots ("changes") does a set get? Nowhere near enough.

[kuzyabricks]

1 hour ago, Artanis I said:

100% there is no way all those unique beard pieces can be brought back for 1 set. How many slots ("changes") does a set get? Nowhere near enough.

How much did Rivendell get? The sword bag, Gimli's helmet, elf hair, dwarf bear piece, and a variety of new pieces that are now used in other sets like the fern piece. Sword bag did contain like 12 I think. Still not as much as all 12 dwarves would take. Who knows maybe Lego will spoil us after all?

 

[MAB]

49 minutes ago, kuzyabricks said:

How much did Rivendell get? The sword bag, Gimli's helmet, elf hair, dwarf bear piece, and a variety of new pieces that are now used in other sets like the fern piece. Sword bag did contain like 12 I think. Still not as much as all 12 dwarves would take. Who knows maybe Lego will spoil us after all?

 

Isn't the 'sword bag' one mould? I thought the idea of this was that it was different parts produced in the same mould then bagged, so you get the lot whether they are needed or not in the instructions.

3 hours ago, Roebuck said:

Last time they had the budget of a normal wave for all those moulds for the dwarves, no way a one off D2C would be close to that (and I assume most of the moulds are destroyed long ago)..

So if it is no dwarfs, what can we expect? Frodo, Billbo, Sam and Gandalf? Nazgul on horseback seems unlikely, Marry and Pippin would be boring. Some other civilian Hobbits is probably the best we ca hope for 

I won't be buying either way, but I'd prefer to see the budget put into the build to make a great Bag End, rather than a minifig pack containing something not as good or similar to the original build but with loads of dwarves. I also think more hobbits would be boring for an AFOL. There are plenty of existing current torsos available, and suitable heads, legs and hair are cheap. It is easy to put a generic hobbit together for about $3 USD.

I think the other issue is that we have only been getting LOTR based sets recently and nothing from The Hobbit. Both New Line/Warner Bros and LEGO surely know that, especially among the adult fans which these sets are aimed at, it is the LOTR movie trilogy that is favoured over The Hobbit. The Hobbit took a lot at the box office, but merchandise sales were not particularly good. Would they jump from a sure winner with the LOTR brand on the box to a more risky version with The Hobbit logo?

Edited November 24, 2024 by MAB

[Altair1]

5 hours ago, Roebuck said:

Last time they had the budget of a normal wave for all those moulds for the dwarves, no way a one off D2C would be close to that (and I assume most of the moulds are destroyed long ago)..

So if it is no dwarfs, what can we expect? Frodo, Billbo, Sam and Gandalf? Nazgul on horseback seems unlikely, Marry and Pippin would be boring. Some other civilian Hobbits is probably the best we ca hope for 

Yep. Maybe a selection amongst these secondary hobbit characters from the Fellowship of the Ring movie: Fredegar Bolger, Mrs. Bracegirdle, Rosie Cotton, Hamfast Gamgee, Farmer Maggot, Old Noakes, Mrs. Proudfoot, Odo Proudfoot, Otho Sackville-Baggins, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Ted Sandyman…

[Lordhelmet]

11 hours ago, Kaijumeister said:

Lego Icons Lobelia Sackville-Baggins with Bilbo’s Spoons™️ Battle Pack. 

Haha that is quite the battle pack. I am assuming that the minifigures in this battle pack are Lobelia Sackville Baggins with three spoon outfit minifigures (silver minifigures bodies with new spoon head molds).  Or is this a foil pack with Lobelia and a bunch of spoons?

[Balrogofmorgoth]

9 hours ago, Roebuck said:

Last time they had the budget of a normal wave for all those moulds for the dwarves, no way a one off D2C would be close to that (and I assume most of the moulds are destroyed long ago)..

So if it is no dwarfs, what can we expect? Frodo, Billbo, Sam and Gandalf? Nazgul on horseback seems unlikely, Marry and Pippin would be boring. Some other civilian Hobbits is probably the best we ca hope for 

Why would Merry and Pippin be boring???

Ideal situation to me would be based on Fellowship of the Ring and include party versions of Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin as well as characters like Rosie Cotton, the Sackville Bagginses, and maybe Farmer Maggot or something to go with one or two mounted Ringwraiths. And Gandalf of course. 12 figures doesn’t seem like too much to ask for in a ~$300 set

Merry and Pippin could have alternate firework explosion faces

I would certainly not complain about a set based on The Hobbit with Bilbo, Gandalf, and all of Thorin’s Company. But that just doesn’t seem likely

Edited November 24, 2024 by Balrogofmorgoth

[Cyprinus]

Hoping for a mounted Nazgul, let alone two seems very wishful thinking...

[JohnTPT17]

I'm on Team Ringwraith - if just for the fact that they could be the only minifigure with regular legs in the entire set (Gandalf will probably have the skirt piece again, Hobbits have short legs, and dwarves (if they're there - I personally doubt it) would have midi legs). Plus, it would be an easy side build to have the Ringwraith looking for the Hobbits by that tree, like how the Mordor rock outcropping was a way to display Frodo, Sam, and Gollum with Barad Dur.

My real pie-in-the-sky inclusion, though, would be Saruman and Wormtongue, from The Scouring of the Shire. But I think getting them would be extremely unlikely. 

 

[MAB]

27 minutes ago, JohnTPT17 said:

My real pie-in-the-sky inclusion, though, would be Saruman and Wormtongue, from The Scouring of the Shire. But I think getting them would be extremely unlikely. 

I doubt they would do anything related to te Scouring of the Shire as it wasn't in the movies, and it would make a fairly happy set quite depressing. Both those aspects could well negatively affect sales.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

1 hour ago, Cyprinus said:

Hoping for a mounted Nazgul, let alone two seems very wishful thinking...

Not necessarily. They were right there in the Shire, and lego likes to add some sort of conflict to most sets. True they didn’t for Rivendell but still, there was already enough going on there. It also seems strange that they would continue to restock the Nazgûl torsos on B&P if they were only going to be available in a single GWP that was only available for a brief time this year. Unless of course they plan on reusing them soon

Edited November 24, 2024 by Balrogofmorgoth

[SpacePoliceIII]

Speaking of ringwraiths, what legs do you guys think are best for them? The black legs, the black ghost legs, or the Mindflayer black robes?

[Balrogofmorgoth]

13 minutes ago, SpacePoliceIII said:

Speaking of ringwraiths, what legs do you guys think are best for them? The black legs, the black ghost legs, or the Mindflayer black robes?

Definitely not the ghost legs

Personally I would love to see either a printed robe piece or printed legs with armor printed on the toes. Also Ahsoka’s gunmetal hands

I’ll have to try the mindflayer piece

There a couple sets of printed legs I’d like to try on the new torso that I just haven’t yet. Emperor Palpatine, General Hux, etc

[GeoBrick]

2 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Not necessarily. They were right there in the Shire, and lego likes to add some sort of conflict to most sets. True they didn’t for Rivendell but still, there was already enough going on there. It also seems strange that they would continue to restock the Nazgûl torsos on B&P if they were only going to be available in a single GWP that was only available for a brief time this year. Unless of course they plan on reusing them soon

They did include a hint of conflict: the Eye of Sauron underneath the gathering location.

[Renny The Spaceman]

I feel they have to do a couple Ringwraiths simply because otherwise the minifigure line up will be boring as hell, Gandalf and the 5 main Hobbit's are shoe ins but given how it's based on films all the other Shire residents are non-characters the best defined is Rosie and her traits begin and end with "marries Sam". We'll definitely get a few other generic Hobbits, maybe even some named ones who appear in the film's but only had character in the books, but I doubt LEGO would make a 300 quid set for this range with only 7 characters most fans know.

[wesker]

16 hours ago, Roebuck said:

Last time they had the budget of a normal wave for all those moulds for the dwarves, no way a one off D2C would be close to that (and I assume most of the moulds are destroyed long ago).

13 hours ago, kuzyabricks said:

How much did Rivendell get? The sword bag, Gimli's helmet, elf hair, dwarf bear piece, and a variety of new pieces that are now used in other sets like the fern piece. Sword bag did contain like 12 I think. Still not as much as all 12 dwarves would take. Who knows maybe Lego will spoil us after all?

To be honest I don't think many of the dwarves even need new molds. Characters like Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Gloin, Dori and Ori can easily be done using modern parts.

Bofur, Bombur, Bifur, Oin and Nori are really the only ones I can think of that need new molds.
 

7 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Why would Merry and Pippin be boring???

Ideal situation to me would be based on Fellowship of the Ring and include party versions of Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin as well as characters like Rosie Cotton, the Sackville Bagginses, and maybe Farmer Maggot or something to go with one or two mounted Ringwraiths. And Gandalf of course. 12 figures doesn’t seem like too much to ask for in a ~$300 set

Merry and Pippin could have alternate firework explosion faces

I would certainly not complain about a set based on The Hobbit with Bilbo, Gandalf, and all of Thorin’s Company. But that just doesn’t seem likely

That's about what I'm expecting. I can't see Bag End going all out with the minifigures when other recent D2C sets like Barad-Dur, X-Mansion, Sail Barge and Medieval Town Square all had a relatively low selection of characters.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

3 hours ago, wesker said:

To be honest I don't think many of the dwarves even need new molds. Characters like Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Gloin, Dori and Ori can easily be done using modern parts.

Bofur, Bombur, Bifur, Oin and Nori are really the only ones I can think of that need new molds.
 

That's about what I'm expecting. I can't see Bag End going all out with the minifigures when other recent D2C sets like Barad-Dur, X-Mansion, Sail Barge and Medieval Town Square all had a relatively low selection of characters.

I can’t see them doing the dwarves you mentioned with existing parts easily at all. Thorin and Fili and Kili with Dumbledore hair? Same for the others, there just aren’t any existing pieces that could make them look anything like their on screen characters. Ori is probably the only one that would work, and he never even got a specialized mold last time either

[Lordhelmet]

11 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Why would Merry and Pippin be boring???

Ideal situation to me would be based on Fellowship of the Ring and include party versions of Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin as well as characters like Rosie Cotton, the Sackville Bagginses, and maybe Farmer Maggot or something to go with one or two mounted Ringwraiths. And Gandalf of course. 12 figures doesn’t seem like too much to ask for in a ~$300 set

Merry and Pippin could have alternate firework explosion faces

I would certainly not complain about a set based on The Hobbit with Bilbo, Gandalf, and all of Thorin’s Company. But that just doesn’t seem likely

My Ideal situation as well!  unless they wanted to add one or two extra hobbits onto the list but that my be wishful thinking (although they would just be face and torso prints because they all have the same legs and hair pieces)

[hikouki]

If Lego would be selling $300 (or even $500) LOTR sets, I am all in if they would include a 'complete' set of characters for a scene, just like with the Rivendell set.

[wesker]

2 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I can’t see them doing the dwarves you mentioned with existing parts easily at all. Thorin and Fili and Kili with Dumbledore hair? Same for the others, there just aren’t any existing pieces that could make them look anything like their on screen characters. Ori is probably the only one that would work, and he never even got a specialized mold last time either

The Aquaman/Thor hairpiece would make more sense for Thorin, Kili and Fili. Eomer too if we get another figure of him.

Balin could easily be done combining the Snow White dwarf beard with General Dodonna's hairpiece. Dori also has Morgan Elsbeth's hairpiece available which is styled almost exactly like his old hairpiece.

[Legopls]

I completely agree that the dwarves from The Hobbit would make fantastic additions to the minifigure lineup. However, what excites me even more is the potential for a minifigure of the grumpy hobbit that gives dirty looks at Gandalf.

[Altair1]

2 hours ago, Legopls said:

I completely agree that the dwarves from The Hobbit would make fantastic additions to the minifigure lineup. However, what excites me even more is the potential for a minifigure of the grumpy hobbit that gives dirty looks at Gandalf.

We already have all the dwarves from the Hobbit sets, so I would definitely prefer to get as many Shire hobbits as possible (except for the usual Frodo, Bilbo, Sam, Merry and Pippin of course)

[THELEGOBATMAN]

11 minutes ago, Altair1 said:

We already have all the dwarves from the Hobbit sets, so I would definitely prefer to get as many Shire hobbits as possible (except for the usual Frodo, Bilbo, Sam, Merry and Pippin of course)

We already have nearly all the characters, but that's not the point.

The theme has been dead for over ten years before we got any new sets—those minifigures are not easily obtainable, and when they are, the prices are cosmic.

When you're paying for a collectors' set like this, you want all the main characters to be there, and not just fillers made of no-names.

I'm not saying the dwarves necessarily have to be in this set, but the argument "we got them before" is pretty ridiculous in this case.

[Altair1]

18 minutes ago, THELEGOBATMAN said:

We already have nearly all the characters

That's a wrong statement. We miss many of the LOTR characters. I don't mind getting re-editions of some of the existing ones (which I understand can be particularly appealing for those who did not get the original sets), but to me the priority should be getting the missing characters. 

Edited November 25, 2024 by Altair1