Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Alegrispa]

18 hours ago, Killian said:

It's on social media, apparently Stonewars said

 

They're citing leaky_minifigure as a source. This is not further confirmation.

[MAB]

4 hours ago, Alegrispa said:

They're citing leaky_minifigure as a source. This is not further confirmation.

Good old citogenesis. Now we just need leaky_minifigure to source stonewars and it will be a fact!

[DocStrange]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

Good old citogenesis. Now we just need leaky_minifigure to source stonewars and it will be a fact!

I would rather just have the pictures released...

Really like the joke tho 

[Killian]

20 hours ago, Wardancer said:

A 500 Euro Rivendell? Cannot wait to buy the 150 Euro China clone of that. 

Yeah. With Lego prices being what they are, and the Chinese copies often being Lego standard quality, it's a no brainer 

[Alegrispa]

Brickheadz CONFIRMED via LEGO.com;

https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/buildinginstructions/search?q=gandalf&year=2023&sort=relevance

https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/buildinginstructions/search?q=aragorn&year=2023&sort=relevance

https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/buildinginstructions/search?q=frodo&year=2023&sort=relevance

Edited December 2, 2022 by Alegrispa

[MAB]

Yeah, 3 brickheadz from those numbers and names.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

I’m not into Brickheadz but I’m excited for these. I think they’re good choices too. Although I think a Sauron Brickhead would look really cool

[MAB]

It is weird that the leak got the first two spot on, but no information about the third BH. I wonder if that means the Aragorn and Arwen one is going to be exclusive to LEGO (or LEGO plus another store) and so was not in a retailer list.

[natesroom]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

It is weird that the leak got the first two spot on, but no information about the third BH. I wonder if that means the Aragorn and Arwen one is going to be exclusive to LEGO (or LEGO plus another store) and so was not in a retailer list.

Like only available at the lego store?

[Agent Kallus]

3 hours ago, MAB said:

It is weird that the leak got the first two spot on, but no information about the third BH. I wonder if that means the Aragorn and Arwen one is going to be exclusive to LEGO (or LEGO plus another store) and so was not in a retailer list.

I'm pretty sure we'd heard of all 3 before today.

[MAB]

13 minutes ago, Agent Kallus said:

I'm pretty sure we'd heard of all 3 before today.

They have been mentioned in this thread, along with others, but without a set number. The original leak got both set names with correct set numbers.

[Ravenclaw62442]

I definitely see LotR being a smaller more adult orientated line than something like Harry Potter. One or two big sets a year seems more likely to me than two waves of 5-8 sets a year or something like that. 

[Balrogofmorgoth]

13 minutes ago, Ravenclaw62442 said:

I definitely see LotR being a smaller more adult orientated line than something like Harry Potter. One or two big sets a year seems more likely to me than two waves of 5-8 sets a year or something like that. 

I just don’t understand why lego doesn’t realize most adults want regular sets. A D2C per year is fine but we mostly want regular style sets with good builds and plenty of minifigures

[Triceron]

I think they realize it, but know the market is smaller than what they can make if they pushed out product that hits a wider, established market like Ninjago, Harry Potter and Marvel.  I mean I wouldn't even consider the Icons brand to be 'regular sets' with plenty of minifigures, and that's also quite niche in stores.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

51 minutes ago, Triceron said:

I think they realize it, but know the market is smaller than what they can make if they pushed out product that hits a wider, established market like Ninjago, Harry Potter and Marvel.  I mean I wouldn't even consider the Icons brand to be 'regular sets' with plenty of minifigures, and that's also quite niche in stores.

The hope is that LOTR will branch outside of the Icons branding after this set

[wesker]

The ideal balance for LOTR would be one large D2C set alongside four smaller retail sets per year. It doesn't need to go as big as Marvel and Harry Potter but it shouldn't restrict itself to a single Icons set either.

Looking at the upcoming January 2023 sets showcases what a missed opportunity it would be not to do regular sets. I've already mentioned the potential of a Balrog using the parts from from 71782: Cole's Earth Dragon EVO and now I'm wondering why can't we get a brick built Mumakil after seeing Monkey Kid's 80042: Yellow Tusk Elephant. These are the type of sets that are best suited for a retail LOTR line - affordable, iconic subject matter and highly playable.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

1 hour ago, wesker said:

The ideal balance for LOTR would be one large D2C set alongside four smaller retail sets per year. It doesn't need to go as big as Marvel and Harry Potter but it shouldn't restrict itself to a single Icons set either.

Looking at the upcoming January 2023 sets showcases what a missed opportunity it would be not to do regular sets. I've already mentioned the potential of a Balrog using the parts from from 71782: Cole's Earth Dragon EVO and now I'm wondering why can't we get a brick built Mumakil after seeing Monkey Kid's 80042: Yellow Tusk Elephant. These are the type of sets that are best suited for a retail LOTR line - affordable, iconic subject matter and highly playable.

Right!? We’ve got a Ninjago Balrog and a Monkie Kid Mûmak. What is happening??

The only thing that makes me think it might not be just a one off set is the fact that those Brickheadz are coming out as well. That means there are likely some real LOTR wheels turning at lego

Edited December 3, 2022 by Balrogofmorgoth

[Falconfan1414]

Time has come 

[Balrogofmorgoth]

Pics of the Brickheadz are out!!!

I don’t want to abandon hope yet, but Frodo looks like he just has the newer regular sword piece, which could be a sign that there aren’t more sets in the works, at least not ones that will bring back the Sting piece. Could be nothing though

The Brickheadz do look great though

Edited December 3, 2022 by Balrogofmorgoth

[wesker]

The Frodo/Gollum set is the weakest of the three but they did a pretty good job at capturing the looks of the other characters.

Not really a collector of these but might make an exception in this case. Hopefully they do well enough to warrant more LOTR sets.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

A few thoughts. I already mentioned that the fact that everyone uses the standard sword piece might be a bad sign since weapon molds would probably be one of the first things they would make if there was actually a legit reboot. So that has me worried. Also, all three of these Brickheadz sets look really good. Aragorn’s hair should be dark brown, not light. Same with Frodo. It’s a nitpick, but I would hope potential minifigures wouldn’t have the same problem. That’s really the only negative thing I have to say about these. Gollum looks so cute! The Balrog looks amazing!!!! I’ll definitely be getting all of these

The box art is amazing 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Balrogofmorgoth

[Jarreth2]

Much as I think these are great for the theme and for those that like the brickheadz .. I have never like them at all. Each to their own, but they’re not for me.

[Agent Kallus]

On 9/27/2022 at 10:44 AM, Agent Kallus said:

 

This might the most arrogant I've ever been but I can't help but think that I did better, now I know that using LDD I have a lot less restraints than Lego does, (i.e I can use any part in any colour) but really Frodo's hair is too flat and Gandalf's hat Is too small for his head. ( Ignore that I made Shelob rather than the Balrog), and Lego brickheadz are always over reliant on printed designs!

Also while Frodo doesn't appear to have sting here, I've not lost hope for it appearing in the Rivendell set ( perhaps foolishly) as he did have a regular sword before Bilbo have him sting and maybe the sting mold wasn't ready for the brickheadz?

Edited December 3, 2022 by Agent Kallus

[Trunkbass]

 

6 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Pics of the Brickheadz are out!!!

I don’t want to abandon hope yet, but Frodo looks like he just has the newer regular sword piece, which could be a sign that there aren’t more sets in the works, at least not ones that will bring back the Sting piece. Could be nothing though

The Brickheadz do look great though

Could somebody post the link to the pics? I can’t seem to find them. Thanks!

[MAB]

11 hours ago, Triceron said:

I think they realize it, but know the market is smaller than what they can make if they pushed out product that hits a wider, established market like Ninjago, Harry Potter and Marvel.  I mean I wouldn't even consider the Icons brand to be 'regular sets' with plenty of minifigures, and that's also quite niche in stores.

Also they know that enough adults these days are willing to buy one large detailed set. Even better for lego, they buy direct from lego. Some won't, but do those adults matter to lego?

For a theme to work with small sets, they need to make enough small sets to give people what they want. Do a poor range and it will be left on shelves. A small Balrog set won't sell too well if people cannot get the Fellowship in cheap sets. Do the Fellowship in cheap sets and they risk affecting sales of the big set.

Mixtures of set sizes work for HP and SW because they are very large ranges, aimed across a wide age range. LOTR is not.

Plus there are going to be other movie franchises that will be having smaller retail sets that have movies out at the time. There are already complaints that lego does too much licensed stuff. Adding LOTR again as a large theme would increase those types of complaints. Keeping it to one large set instead of lots of smaller ones gets round that.