Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Bugbot20082]

Over in the Jurassic park thread there is dissuasion over a Brachiosaurus coming in the upcoming line. It’s unclear if it’s brick built or  moulded or a mixture of the two. If it’s got moulded body and legs I wonder if it could share some of the parts with a Mumakil 

[Ravenclaw62442]

41 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

We have a few fantastic examples of adult-focused solutions (like those SW dioramas), so it very doesn’t seem like it’s worth the negativity. To me at least. 

I would absolutely love a series of Lord of the Rings dioramas! 

[Balrogofmorgoth]

2 hours ago, SirBlake said:

We have a few fantastic examples of adult-focused solutions (like those SW dioramas), so it very doesn’t seem like it’s worth the negativity. To me at least. 

Yes but imagine if those were the only Star Wars sets…think of how much would be missing 

2 hours ago, MAB said:

Based on ONE set that you don't like. There are plenty of decent 18+ sets. It is far more likely to be well received than not well received based on all the other 18+ sets they have produced. Will some people think it is too expensive and probably give it negative reviews because they cannot afford it and feel excluded? Almost certainly.

LEGO also make "mistakes" according to adults when they do sets aimed at kids. Off the top of my head, ones I recall from the original waves of LOTR included: why do you keep repeating Gandalf; why do you keep repeating Frodo; ditto for Gimli and Legolas; why is Eomer in the army builder set, it should be generic soldiers only; character X should have been in set Y instead; why give us Wizard Battle, then release Orthanc covering the same location; the Mines of Moria isn't a mine, just a bit of wall and doorway; Weathertop is too small; the Orc Forge should be enclosed; Orthanc is too expensive; the Council of Elrond is too small to fit even just the Fellowship; that ship was only on the screen for a few seconds; Mouth of Sauron was only in the extended edition; and that is before we get to missing characters and scenes.

There are pros and cons (to collectors) for a theme of small sets vs one big set. Clearly a pro of small sets is that you buy what you want and cover lots of scenes but a con is that if you buy them all because you need the exclusive figures in some sets, then you will get duplicates of popular characters. This happens in SW, Superheroes, Harry Potter, and unlicensed themes. You also end up with a display of lots of small bits more like Assault on Hoth than a large complete and coherent model. As they are going big, I'm hoping the build itself is actually an interesting one, and not just a series of small and boring builds to push to the back to show off a collection of minifigures. Some adults will love big build like that. Others will just want the minifigures and feel hard done by that they were forced to buy a big 18+ set to get them.

When have a said it’s one set I don’t like? I’ve specifically named several. It’s becoming a trend. Also I never said the LOTR sets that came out before were perfect. There will always be nitpicks. But there’s a difference between a good set with some negative aspects and a set that has very little or nothing to offer. The overwhelming majority of people I’ve talked to have shared the same frustrations with some of these sets, I’m not making this up based purely on my own personal opinion. I’ve also talked to lego employees whose stores are struggling big time to sell these sets. I’m not sure why you’re trying so hard to make me trust lego with a purely adult oriented LOTR theme, it was never my intention to take this discussion this far. I’m merely stating my concern. Side note: anyone who complained that the Mouth of Sauron was in the set is not worth listening to. That’s just straight up nonsensical bs

Edited December 7, 2022 by Balrogofmorgoth

[Rjbricks]

2 hours ago, Ravenclaw62442 said:

I would absolutely love a series of Lord of the Rings dioramas! 

That would be awesome.

As much as I’d love LoTR and the idea of Rivendell, it won’t be a day one purchase for me, I just can’t justify $500 on a Lego set. 
 

And as someone who only collects Castle, fleshy figs will just jar!

[SirBlake]

2 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Yes but imagine if those were the only Star Wars sets…think of how much would be missing 

I guess it comes down to a quality vs. quantity discussion. Given the choice, I would prefer a handful of dioramas to a single $500 set and a bunch of BrickHeadz I don't care about.

[Ravenclaw62442]

39 minutes ago, Rjbricks said:

That would be awesome.

As much as I’d love LoTR and the idea of Rivendell, it won’t be a day one purchase for me, I just can’t justify $500 on a Lego set. 
 

And as someone who only collects Castle, fleshy figs will just jar!

It’s going to have to be special for me to buy given my space situation (I mostly just collect Harry Potter these days) but it’s definitely wouldn’t be day 1. Would need a good VIP promotion and I’d like to have a decent haul of points to cash in against it too 

[Altair1]

For me Rivendell will definitely be a day 1 purchase! It has been about 10 years since I bought all the LOTR and Hobbit sets, and I never thought I would see a new one released :-)

[MAB]

1 hour ago, Rjbricks said:

And as someone who only collects Castle, fleshy figs will just jar!

You can always sell them for a substantial amount, or replace the heads and hands as necessary with yellow.

[SirBlake]

17 minutes ago, MAB said:

You can always sell them for a substantial amount, or replace the heads and hands as necessary with yellow.

Yeah, but elf ears and low shirt collars mess that up on quite a few characters.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

42 minutes ago, MAB said:

You can always sell them for a substantial amount, or replace the heads and hands as necessary with yellow.

The current secondary market prices for the old LOTR sets makes me wish I had gotten a second Orthanc and kept it sealed! Some of the regular sets too for that matter. It’s insane how much people are selling them for. I may have to get multiples of the Brickheadz just in case

[MAB]

56 minutes ago, SirBlake said:

Yeah, but elf ears and low shirt collars mess that up on quite a few characters.

Most Hobbits and one Aragorn plus Arwen last time were a problem, but most others were OK. If you don't mind damaging a print, yellow sharpie on printed fleshie covers quite well. I usually go the other way, from yellow to fleshie and wish covering up yellow was that easy.

I traded a load of the CMF elf hair, hands and heads with someone that was doing yellow characters years ago. I think he was putting them on Legolas' body to make generic elves. I kept the CMF bodies and capes for fleshies.

 

Although in a large adult set, if you are buying it for the build then the minifigures will be valuable enough to sell on to people that want them but not the set.

Edited December 7, 2022 by MAB

[natesroom]

1 minute ago, MAB said:

Most Hobbits and one Aragorn plus Arwen last time were a problem, but most others were OK. If you don't mind damaging a print, yellow sharpie on printed fleshie covers quite well. I usually go the other way, from yellow to fleshie and wish covering up yellow was that easy.

I traded a load of the CMF elf hair, hands and heads with someone that was doing yellow characters years ago. I think he was putting them on Legolas' body to make generic elves. I kept the CMF bodies and capes for fleshies.

 

Although in a large adult set, if you are buying it for the build then the minifigures will be valuable enough to sell on to people that want them but not the set.

how many of the new CMF Knight with the classic castle logo did you get? I only got 6

[MAB]

9 hours ago, natesroom said:

how many of the new CMF Knight with the classic castle logo did you get? I only got 6

None, I'm not a fan of the Classic Castle figures / heraldry. I prefer the later factions (Black Falcons, Lions, Wolfpack, Forestmen, etc) and I'll be getting more of the new versions of Lion Knights when more widely available.

[Mandalorianknight]

On 12/7/2022 at 2:12 PM, Balrogofmorgoth said:

When have a said it’s one set I don’t like? I’ve specifically named several. It’s becoming a trend. Also I never said the LOTR sets that came out before were perfect. There will always be nitpicks. But there’s a difference between a good set with some negative aspects and a set that has very little or nothing to offer. The overwhelming majority of people I’ve talked to have shared the same frustrations with some of these sets, I’m not making this up based purely on my own personal opinion. I’ve also talked to lego employees whose stores are struggling big time to sell these sets. I’m not sure why you’re trying so hard to make me trust lego with a purely adult oriented LOTR theme, it was never my intention to take this discussion this far. I’m merely stating my concern. Side note: anyone who complained that the Mouth of Sauron was in the set is not worth listening to. That’s just straight up nonsensical bs

I was backing off from this debate but I'll stop back in to say I 100% agree with what you said here.

(especially that anyone complaining about the Mouth of Sauron isn't worth listening too. That design is awesome.)

[sahidko]

As far i remember the discussions back in 2012/2013 the complaints about Mouth of Sauron were mostly about the fact we got character that did not even appear in the theatrical release before main villain like Witch King. So yeah production quality of the minifig is great, would much prefer to own official Witch King instead for sure. If we got both nobody would have said a word about MoS but picking him ahead of WK was just stupid.

Edited December 9, 2022 by sahidko

[Balrogofmorgoth]

1 hour ago, sahidko said:

As far i remember the discussions back in 2012/2013 the complaints about Mouth of Sauron were mostly about the fact we got character that did not even appear in the theatrical release before main villain like Witch King. So yeah production quality of the minifig is great, would much prefer to own official Witch King instead for sure. If we got both nobody would have said a word about MoS but picking him ahead of WK was just stupid.

They didn’t make a set where the Witch King fit, which is a completely valid frustration in and of itself. But the Mouth was perfect for the Black Gate set. To leave him out of that set just because we didn’t have the Witch King yet would be stupid. I mean that’s one of the best minifigures lego has ever released, it would be such a waste to exclude him based on simply not having the Witch King

Edited December 9, 2022 by Balrogofmorgoth

[ddavid]

I hope down the line they will release an updated Tower of Orthanc with the correct height in proportion of width. Its an amazing and unique built and would really appreaciate from an update. And seeing the prices on eBay you know the demand is there.

[MAB]

A very easy route to increasing the height is using a couple of extra layers of bricks per level. The tapering isn't right of course, but then it isn't in the original set and it is certainly no worse than that.

[Shroffy123]

I remember reading somewhere that the $500 (Rivendell) set will be released in spring. If true, when can we expect images to start showing up? 

[Robert8]

3 hours ago, Shroffy123 said:

I remember reading somewhere that the $500 (Rivendell) set will be released in spring. If true, when can we expect images to start showing up? 

Now with the new anti leak control they have, Id say thats unlikely. We havent even seen pics of the new modular that releases in 3 weeks

[Shroffy123]

I was hoping we would get pictures soon. Oh well, I'm sure the wait will be worth it. 

 

On a another note, looks like my radagast's arms are about to break. The are so tight when I move them. 😫 

[MAB]

I'd worry more about the torso than the arms if they are tight as the torso is more likelyto crack than tge arms. The arms are easy to replace.

[Mandalorianknight]

14 hours ago, Robert8 said:

Now with the new anti leak control they have, Id say thats unlikely. We havent even seen pics of the new modular that releases in 3 weeks

This stuff doesn't even work all that well. People literally own star wars sets they haven't revealed yet. We have comprehensive reviews of these sets and we've had in-hand images for like a week, and they still won't reveal the sets!

[Balrogofmorgoth]

1 hour ago, Mandalorianknight said:

This stuff doesn't even work all that well. People literally own star wars sets they haven't revealed yet. We have comprehensive reviews of these sets and we've had in-hand images for like a week, and they still won't reveal the sets!

you’re not wrong, but it’s usually a lot harder with D2C sets. Although minifig leaks for D2C sets have been fairly common lately (Lupin, Kuiil, Mythrol, Sinister Strange, etc.) so hopefully we’ll get to see some juicy minifig leaks for Rivendell at some point 

[mirkwoodspiders]

7 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

hopefully we’ll get to see some juicy minifig leaks for Rivendell at some point 

I think the figs are what I'm most looking forward to. It's hard to envision what exactly the build will involve, making it a little difficult to get excited about it. Fewer than three months now. I'll start watching the extended editions of the films and by the time I'm done the set will be released.