Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Altair1]

55 minutes ago, QuiggoldsPegLeg said:

It’s been 8 years since Lego released a LOTR/Hobbit set. The market that was both old enough and had enough disposable income to get every single set back then is extremely small. Most people who collected back then will have either aged out of it, or didn’t get all of the sets because they were a child with no money of their own. (Like myself)

Lego can’t and won’t be thinking about people who have every single set as a target market for making LOTR sets now. The target market will be the new group of kids growing up now, people who were too young to get the sets back in 2012-2014, and adult LOTR collectors. 
The market of people who got every single set back in the early 2010s and also might not buy new sets because they already have the build or minifigures is so extremely small that there’s no way Lego would consider them. 

You realize the post you’re quoting is a joke, right?

This matter is too serious to joke people :-) We are talking of the first LOTR set since 2012 ! 10 years of waiting... Lego can make a lot of fans ecstatic or devastated depending on what set they make...

[MAB]

2 hours ago, QuiggoldsPegLeg said:

It’s been 8 years since Lego released a LOTR/Hobbit set. The market that was both old enough and had enough disposable income to get every single set back then is extremely small. Most people who collected back then will have either aged out of it, or didn’t get all of the sets because they were a child with no money of their own. (Like myself)

I reckon most people that were collecting LOTR back then were adults and not likely to have aged out of collecting. And most likely had enough money to buy at least a decent number of them. One of the problems with the LOTR range was that it was not that attractive to kids and hence the smaller sets especially did not sell anywhere near as well as the smaller sets in more kid friendly ranges.

[Seaber]

12 hours ago, Altair1 said:

This matter is too serious to joke people :-) We are talking of the first LOTR set since 2012 ! 10 years of waiting... Lego can make a lot of fans ecstatic or devastated depending on what set they make...

There were LOTR sets in 2013, Hobbit sets in 2014 and LOTR character packs for Dimensions in 2015

13 hours ago, QuiggoldsPegLeg said:

It’s been 8 years since Lego released a LOTR/Hobbit set. The market that was both old enough and had enough disposable income to get every single set back then is extremely small. Most people who collected back then will have either aged out of it, or didn’t get all of the sets because they were a child with no money of their own. (Like myself)

Lego can’t and won’t be thinking about people who have every single set as a target market for making LOTR sets now. The target market will be the new group of kids growing up now, people who were too young to get the sets back in 2012-2014, and adult LOTR collectors. 
The market of people who got every single set back in the early 2010s and also might not buy new sets because they already have the build or minifigures is so extremely small that there’s no way Lego would consider them. 

Absolutely. I think we're all letting our imaginations run away with themselves,but let's look at the closes possible comparison theme - Harry Potter. 

In the 2010/11 waves, ten sets were released. Eight (possible nine) have been rereleased since the line started again in 2018.

[Altair1]

12 hours ago, MAB said:

I reckon most people that were collecting LOTR back then were adults and not likely to have aged out of collecting. And most likely had enough money to buy at least a decent number of them. One of the problems with the LOTR range was that it was not that attractive to kids and hence the smaller sets especially did not sell anywhere near as well as the smaller sets in more kid friendly ranges.

Exactly! And you don't age out of collecting that easily, I plan to be a fan of Lego and LOTR till my last breath :-)

[MAB]

3 hours ago, Seaber said:

There were LOTR sets in 2013, Hobbit sets in 2014 and LOTR character packs for Dimensions in 2015

Absolutely. I think we're all letting our imaginations run away with themselves,but let's look at the closes possible comparison theme - Harry Potter. 

It is difficult to compare with other themes as they are so different. HP was popular and had numerous sets over about five years, disappeared for about five years before returning for a few years, then disappeared again before coming back again. It also remains a child focused theme (with small sets) with larger sets for older builders.

[natesroom]

10 hours ago, Seaber said:

There were LOTR sets in 2013, Hobbit sets in 2014 and LOTR character packs for Dimensions in 2015

Additionally there was Kingdoms sets still being produced in 2011-2013. I had to get two of the Kingdoms Joust sets specifically instead of LOTR. Missed some sets correspondingly.

[Llewop]

I don’t mind them rereleasing figures/sets I sold a lot of mine off a while back (damn cost of living crisis). 

[Altair1]

Brickfanatics also thinks that at the rumored 500€ pricepoint, the new LOTR D2C set could very well be a giant Minas Tirith :-) https://www.brickfanatics.com/lego-the-lord-of-the-rings-2023-everything/

 

[mirkwoodspiders]

After so many strange and/or disappointing D2C choices across themes over the last few years, I hope fans have adjusted their expectations accordingly as they speculate over news of a forthcoming LOTR D2C. Minas Tirith, Edoras, Helm's Deep, Lothlorien, even Bag End would all be phenomenal, but I don't expect any of them, and if we do get one, I assume it'll be disappointing. There - LEGO can't disappoint me this time!

[Llewop]

If the theme does get a full reboot with a full wave there is a lot of potential. They could do a CMF for rings of power. Use the new legs they use in Harry Potter for hobbits and goblins (the small ones that actually bend). Mainly I hope they do blister packs so we can army build, alongside sets around important scenes. 

[QuiggoldsPegLeg]

10 hours ago, Llewop said:

If the theme does get a full reboot with a full wave there is a lot of potential. They could do a CMF for rings of power. Use the new legs they use in Harry Potter for hobbits and goblins (the small ones that actually bend). Mainly I hope they do blister packs so we can army build, alongside sets around important scenes. 

Hobbits are already too tall with the short legs. Mid legs wouldn’t help.

 

The Rings of Power CMF series seems unlikely to me, since then they’d have 2 competing licenses from different companies for the same brand (Warner Brothers & Amazon). Plus, as far as I’m aware, Amazon has released no merchandise whatsoever for the Rings of Power so they clearly either dropped the ball hard on that, or don’t plan to release/license any in the future. Although it could be that Amazon isn’t allowed to license any merchandise, due to the very complicated Tolkien rights situation. 

[wesker]

6 hours ago, QuiggoldsPegLeg said:

The Rings of Power CMF series seems unlikely to me, since then they’d have 2 competing licenses from different companies for the same brand (Warner Brothers & Amazon). Plus, as far as I’m aware, Amazon has released no merchandise whatsoever for the Rings of Power so they clearly either dropped the ball hard on that, or don’t plan to release/license any in the future. Although it could be that Amazon isn’t allowed to license any merchandise, due to the very complicated Tolkien rights situation. 

Doesn't all LOTR merchandise rights fall under the Embracer Group now? I assume the licensing for any products would be coming through them, not Warner Brothers and Amazon.

[QuiggoldsPegLeg]

1 hour ago, wesker said:

Doesn't all LOTR merchandise rights fall under the Embracer Group now? I assume the licensing for any products would be coming through them, not Warner Brothers and Amazon.

Not the specific designs/characters created for the show/movies. Like someone like Arondir wouldn’t be within the overall Tolkien rights, because he was created by Amazon. (Or someone like Tauriel, because she was created by Warner Brothers) Also Middle Earth Enterprises wouldn’t have the rights to the likenesses of the actors in the movies/show. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by QuiggoldsPegLeg

[Seaber]

Rings of Power didn't even get a LOTR books re-release with their branding on, so doubt Lego is anywhere near the horizon.

Perhaps in a season or two they will make some of those horrible bobble head pop things as they seem to appear for so many franchises. As two of the main characters in Elrond and Galadriel are more familiar in the PJ films than the show, they probably won't have the same pull as trilogy characters. 

In terms of short and medium legs, Hobbits should remain with short legs, just with printed feet. Medium legs for some orcs and goblins may work, as they're likely to wear armour and helmets that will boost them up a bit. I still think Gimli looks good with short legs. 

[Gorilla94]

The Hobbits need those Dual moulded short legs like Dobby got them in brown and dark tan to represent their feet.

The dwarfes are difficult. There are some that look just as good with short legs as they do with medium sized ones on their own, some that really need the medium ones (like Thorin) and Bombur's body shape requires short legs unless he gets a much larger special torso. The problem appears when you put them next to each other and they are supposed to be as tall as each other. The Chinese dwarf minifigures look just gorgeous with medium legs but thanks to armour moulds and beard pieces as well as large helmets they are taller than regular minifigures.

[DaleDVM]

At $500 (if the rumors are true) it will be, almost certainly, a playset.  5-6 thousand pieces...  There is nothing in the LOTR except locations for that much brick to be sunk into.  Minas Tirith would be my guess.  It is the set everyone is clamoring for.

[Jarreth2]

While Minas Tirith is more than likely .. my hopes are pinned on Rivendell / Lothlorien, but thats just me 😁

[DocStrange]

I think a really cool set would be Erebor too. Get all of the dwarves + smaug + Bilbo would be really cool. Especially with all of their armor. Could even throw in some of the battle of five armies too!

[MAB]

1 hour ago, DaleDVM said:

At $500 (if the rumors are true) it will be, almost certainly, a playset.  5-6 thousand pieces...  There is nothing in the LOTR except locations for that much brick to be sunk into.  Minas Tirith would be my guess.  It is the set everyone is clamoring for.

I guess it depends on how you define a playset. The big Hogwarts 71043 (to me) is not really a playset. It is not as much a display set as the Icons 76391 but not as much a playset as all the small sections of Hogwarts.

I really hope for a minifigure scale Minas Tirith, minifigure so hopefully the top section(s) or a few of the buildings and courtyard done well, rather than all the levels at microscale. But they could also do something like the two towers in microscale, or even if there is just to e one set it could be lots of locations in microscale.

[TheDoctor]

Haven't posted on here since the original Lord of the Rings sets were released, so i'm very excited!

Trying not to get my hopes up though, given the state of some of the recent large sets. I think i'll cry if it's a Sauron or Cave Troll bust.

I can just about cope with a microscale set, but i'd prefer a classic playset!

[BTappel]

I think a micro scale set is unlikely given the amount of detail in previous LOTR mini figs.  I don’t think they would abandon all the work that went into producing those to make a new set that wouldn’t use them.

I also hope for Minas Tirith, but castle has had such a good run lately they may not want to oversaturate the market with another one.  I hope they do tho.

[mirkwoodspiders]

To whom it may apply... please stop wishing for a Minas Tirith set. I say this out of concern. It makes the most sense in our minds, which means it is almost certainly not going to be what LEGO chooses. If you've payed attention to LEGO's D2C choices in the past three years across all their themes, you should be expecting something somewhat ridiculous and over-priced. I would absolutely love to be proven wrong, but I don't think it's a good idea to even hope for Minas Tirith at this point...

[PsychoBuilder]

5 minutes ago, mirkwoodspiders said:

To whom it may apply... please stop wishing for a Minas Tirith set. I say this out of concern. It makes the most sense in our minds, which means it is almost certainly not going to be what LEGO chooses. If you've payed attention to LEGO's D2C choices in the past three years across all their themes, you should be expecting something somewhat ridiculous and over-priced. I would absolutely love to be proven wrong, but I don't think it's a good idea to even hope for Minas Tirith at this point...

I don’t know, there are some stinkers in there, but there have also been some knock your socks off level D2Cs—look at the Ninjago City ones, the first two Harry Potter ones, Razor Crest, Cantina, the castle, AT AT, modulars, Monkie Kid (I believe many of themes are exclusive D2Cs, but I’m not sure) etc. You may have a point though, it’s probably not a great idea to get our yearnings get ahead of realism.

[Bugbot20082]

I have a wish-list for a single CMF series and accompanying wave of regular sets if anyone is interested while we wait. I designed them to appeal to new and old collectors, and to compliment each other. 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Bugbot20082

[MAB]

14 hours ago, BTappel said:

I think a micro scale set is unlikely given the amount of detail in previous LOTR mini figs.  I don’t think they would abandon all the work that went into producing those to make a new set that wouldn’t use them.

I doubt they would reuse the old designs for minifigs. They updated the old HP ones and come out with lots of variants for SW.