Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Altair1]

7 hours ago, mirkwoodspiders said:

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. 

I am not really looking forward to the figs, as in a Rivendell set they will probably be the same ones we already have from previous sets: the 9 members of the fellowship, plus Elrond and Arwen. I am much more looking forward to the set architecture itself, as for 500 bucks they have the means of doing something truly beautiful ;-)

Edited December 11, 2022 by Altair1

[sahidko]

1 hour ago, Altair1 said:

I am not really looking forward to the figs, as in a Rivendell set they will probably be the same ones we already have from previous sets: the 9 members of the fellowship, plus Elrond and Arwen. I am much more looking forward to the set architecture itself, as for 500 bucks they have the means of doing something truly beautiful ;-)

Same here, since i already own several complete fellowships from the original sets i am mostly looking forward to the build. Already cleaned up one shelf to be used for it. Even though the height migh be a potential problem now when i think about it.

Edited December 11, 2022 by sahidko

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, Altair1 said:

I am not really looking forward to the figs, as in a Rivendell set they will probably be the same ones we already have from previous sets: the 9 members of the fellowship, plus Elrond and Arwen. I am much more looking forward to the set architecture itself, as for 500 bucks they have the means of doing something truly beautiful ;-)

Agreed.

[mirkwoodspiders]

2 hours ago, Altair1 said:

I am not really looking forward to the figs, as in a Rivendell set they will probably be the same ones we already have from previous sets: the 9 members of the fellowship, plus Elrond and Arwen. I am much more looking forward to the set architecture itself, as for 500 bucks they have the means of doing something truly beautiful ;-)

I wasn't able to get me hands on the previous sets at all. Glad to hear many others were, but having nothing from the previous line the figs are what have me really excited. Not that the build isn't fun to imagine, I'm just glad at a second chance for people like me who couldn't buy anything from the previous releases.

[Ravenclaw62442]

I think you can expect a lot of redos in terms of minifigs if this theme comes back. They’re not going to take into account what people may or may not have from 10 years ago when making new figs! Even if the 9 are in Rivendell you can expect to see then again in smaller sets if they make those!

[sahidko]

For sure i don't think anybody is disputing that they won't (and should not to) look at what was made 10 years ago.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

1 hour ago, sahidko said:

For sure i don't think anybody is disputing that they won't (and should not to) look at what was made 10 years ago.

Exactly, those sets and figures were ahead of their time but that certainly doesn’t mean they can’t do better now. I for one am very interested in the figures and seeing what improvements and updates they make 

[sonofasubmariner]

4 hours ago, mirkwoodspiders said:

I wasn't able to get me hands on the previous sets at all. Glad to hear many others were, but having nothing from the previous line the figs are what have me really excited. Not that the build isn't fun to imagine, I'm just glad at a second chance for people like me who couldn't buy anything from the previous releases.

I am in the exact same boat. I have a couple of smaller sets from the Hobbit thanks to foresight from my wife, but didn't really didn't really get started collecting/building again until the pandemic started. 

[Balrogofmorgoth]

I mean I have every set from LOTR and The Hobbit but that certainly doesn’t diminish any excitement for what we might see from this set. 10 years is a long time, and lego designs have come a long way. I’m very excited to see what they do with it

[RichardGoring]

2 hours ago, Ravenclaw62442 said:

I think you can expect a lot of redos in terms of minifigs if this theme comes back. They’re not going to take into account what people may or may not have from 10 years ago when making new figs! Even if the 9 are in Rivendell you can expect to see then again in smaller sets if they make those!

If Jurassic World is anything to go by, we'll have a Frodo in every set, even if he wasn't is the scene (or the movie)! So many Owens...

[Balrogofmorgoth]

49 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

If Jurassic World is anything to go by, we'll have a Frodo in every set, even if he wasn't is the scene (or the movie)! So many Owens...

Yeah that was always infuriating. To be fair though, there was hardly ever any effort put into Jurassic sets and some were even completely made up or from non-canon material. Not to mention half the Owen figures weren’t even scene accurate! I would hope a Minas Tirith set wouldn’t come with Frodo and that figures in each set would be scene accurate, more similar to what we see in the HP sets. Fingers crossed

Edited December 11, 2022 by Balrogofmorgoth

[RichardGoring]

10 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Yeah that was always infuriating. To be fair though, there was hardly ever any effort put into Jurassic sets and some were even completely made up or from non-canon material. Not to mention half the Owen figures weren’t even scene accurate! I would hope a Minas Tirith set wouldn’t come with Frodo and that figures in each set would be scene accurate, more similar to what we see in the HP sets. Fingers crossed

Careful what you wish for though, because there is a worrying number of Harrys in some sets. How many does the Hogwarts Express have?

But yes, sensibly, this isn't trying to appeal to children AND shoehorn a movie franchise into it, so we should be OK.

[Mandalorianknight]

Look, honestly I'll take anything system. The prices for this stuff in the US is insane. (Weathertop with figs is like $150, Moria is like $250, Boromir alone is $25, etc)

[Balrogofmorgoth]

4 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Look, honestly I'll take anything system. The prices for this stuff in the US is insane. (Weathertop with figs is like $150, Moria is like $250, Boromir alone is $25, etc)

Oh absolutely, I definitely have my heart set on certain things and will be very disappointed if (when) lego just drops it after this D2C, BUT at the end of the day, I will greedily accept anything they give us

[Mandalorianknight]

44 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Oh absolutely, I definitely have my heart set on certain things and will be very disappointed if (when) lego just drops it after this D2C, BUT at the end of the day, I will greedily accept anything they give us

I've mentioned it earlier, but I've got, like, Golumm and Dwalin's torso or something as the extent of my collection. So ironically, I hope it comes with the full fellowship. Though, to be fair, there are like 20-25 figure slots going off other sets of this size. I could see:

Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gangee, Merridock Buck, Peregrin Took, Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Boromir, Gandalf, Arwen, Elrond, Bilbo, Gloin, and the rest of the council honestly all being included. 

[Alegrispa]

3 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

The prices for this stuff in the US is insane.

They're insane everywhere else too.

The pandemic really f****** the aftermarket for licensed themes. And guess what year I finally got adult money... 

At least I can find Atlantis sets easily and close to MSRP.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Alegrispa

[Balrogofmorgoth]

1 hour ago, Alegrispa said:

They're insane everywhere else too.

The pandemic really f****** the aftermarket for licensed themes. And guess what year I finally got adult money... 

At least I can find Atlantis sets easily and close to MSRP.

Is it weird that I actually liked Aqua Raiders more than Atlantis? 

[SirBlake]

I just totaled up everything I plan on selling (everything but Helm’s Deep, the HD battle pack, Orthanc, Bag End, the Corsair ship and Moria)

I picked the lowest comparable US price on Bricklink (complete with instructions) and took 10% off and it still totaled over $1,700. Crazy how high these prices are. 

[Frizzlefry25]

I missed out on LOTR as I have primarily been a display model lego purchaser (Like UCS star wars) but I did pick up the Original Orthanc, but I am not interested in Brickheadz, and Lego drops $500 sets like there candy so I may miss on all of this. Not sure how $500 became the new $200!

I hope these do well enough for them to make something I am interested in, or can afford!

[MAB]

22 hours ago, Altair1 said:

I am not really looking forward to the figs, as in a Rivendell set they will probably be the same ones we already have from previous sets: the 9 members of the fellowship, plus Elrond and Arwen. I am much more looking forward to the set architecture itself, as for 500 bucks they have the means of doing something truly beautiful ;-)

Also same here. This set is going to have to be great architecturally for me to buy it, I wouldn't pay the equivalent of $500 for 25 minifigures, especially if they are just updated versions of the same outfits for the same characters as before. Even if it is concentrating on Rivendell, I'm hoping that they shoehorn in some other characters even if they don't make sense if they go with 20+. So possibly a new version of Saruman with the updated dress piece, and some orcs or uruks. Even Faramir. Plus generic elves.

8 hours ago, Alegrispa said:

The pandemic really f****** the aftermarket for licensed themes. And guess what year I finally got adult money...

Or, depending on which side of the fence you are on, the pandemic really improved the aftermarket for licensed themes! Especially LOTR.

It is interesting how the market and collectors has changed so much in a decade. Back when the first sets came out, there were a lot of Castle builders buying sets for parts rather than for the figures. And the figures were so cheap. The Uruk-Hai army set was discounted to £12 here, and I bought six of them (what a mistake, I should have bought many more!). Some builders were parting the sets out, keeping many of the the bricks and horses and selling the figures for £2 each and £4 for the generic Rohan. I bought 24 or 25 Eomer figs from one seller for £40. Over the summer I sold off nearly all the remainders, even just the capes were selling for £4.50 each. Complete figures have been going for £25-30 over the past couple of years. The same happened with many of the smaller sets (Wizard Battle, Witch King battle, Elf Army, ...), they were so cheap and many people did not want the fleshie figures, especially the duplicated ones. At one point I was trading Team GB CMFs 1 for 1 and sometimes 2 LOTR characters.

There have always been minifigure collectors, but it has gone so far the other way these days. Sometimes there are the complaints that you have to buy a huge set just to get an exclusive minifigure.

 

[Balrogofmorgoth]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

Also same here. This set is going to have to be great architecturally for me to buy it, I wouldn't pay the equivalent of $500 for 25 minifigures, especially if they are just updated versions of the same outfits for the same characters as before. Even if it is concentrating on Rivendell, I'm hoping that they shoehorn in some other characters even if they don't make sense if they go with 20+. So possibly a new version of Saruman with the updated dress piece, and some orcs or uruks. Even Faramir. Plus generic elves.

Or, depending on which side of the fence you are on, the pandemic really improved the aftermarket for licensed themes! Especially LOTR.

It is interesting how the market and collectors has changed so much in a decade. Back when the first sets came out, there were a lot of Castle builders buying sets for parts rather than for the figures. And the figures were so cheap. The Uruk-Hai army set was discounted to £12 here, and I bought six of them (what a mistake, I should have bought many more!). Some builders were parting the sets out, keeping many of the the bricks and horses and selling the figures for £2 each and £4 for the generic Rohan. I bought 24 or 25 Eomer figs from one seller for £40. Over the summer I sold off nearly all the remainders, even just the capes were selling for £4.50 each. Complete figures have been going for £25-30 over the past couple of years. The same happened with many of the smaller sets (Wizard Battle, Witch King battle, Elf Army, ...), they were so cheap and many people did not want the fleshie figures, especially the duplicated ones. At one point I was trading Team GB CMFs 1 for 1 and sometimes 2 LOTR characters.

There have always been minifigure collectors, but it has gone so far the other way these days. Sometimes there are the complaints that you have to buy a huge set just to get an exclusive minifigure.

 

I was lucky in the sense that I was able I get everything the last time around but unlucky in the sense that at the time I didn’t think to get multiples of anything. I wish I had gotten several Uruk-Hai Army sets and a second Black Gate. Maybe a couple more Councils

7 hours ago, Frizzlefry25 said:

I missed out on LOTR as I have primarily been a display model lego purchaser (Like UCS star wars) but I did pick up the Original Orthanc, but I am not interested in Brickheadz, and Lego drops $500 sets like there candy so I may miss on all of this. Not sure how $500 became the new $200!

I hope these do well enough for them to make something I am interested in, or can afford!

I definitely agree with $500 being the new $200, it’s gotten ridiculous. Lego is putting out way too many crazy expensive sets, it’s impossible to keep up with any of it as a fan of multiple licensed themes. It makes me actually happy that they release duds like the Black Panther bust and Hulkbuster. I wouldn’t mind getting the Hogwarts Express but it just isn’t worth that price 

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I definitely agree with $500 being the new $200, it’s gotten ridiculous. Lego is putting out way too many crazy expensive sets, it’s impossible to keep up with any of it as a fan of multiple licensed themes. It makes me actually happy that they release duds like the Black Panther bust and Hulkbuster. I wouldn’t mind getting the Hogwarts Express but it just isn’t worth that price 

Certainly feel the same that it's not terrible when a large expensive set comes out that doesn't really work. I enjoy seeing things like Hogwarts Icons, Hogwarts Express, and Hulkbuster, but they don't interest me in their execution, so I can easily avoid them, making the decision of what to get that bit easier. But it would be a shame if this upcoming set joined that category.

[MAB]

2 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

Certainly feel the same that it's not terrible when a large expensive set comes out that doesn't really work. I enjoy seeing things like Hogwarts Icons, Hogwarts Express, and Hulkbuster, but they don't interest me in their execution, so I can easily avoid them, making the decision of what to get that bit easier. But it would be a shame if this upcoming set joined that category.

There are fans of each of those models. No doubt they are happy LEGO decided to do them, even if many other people don't like them.

I imagine the LOTR set will be similar. Of little interest to anyone that doesn't like LOTR and LEGO, and those that will not spend $500 on a set. Out of the 100+ sets that cost £100+ released in the past two years, I own 3. It is nice that the others exist as if they didn't, then I doubt the ones I like would exist either.

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

There are fans of each of those models. No doubt they are happy LEGO decided to do them, even if many other people don't like them.

I imagine the LOTR set will be similar. Of little interest to anyone that doesn't like LOTR and LEGO, and those that will not spend $500 on a set. Out of the 100+ sets that cost £100+ released in the past two years, I own 3. It is nice that the others exist as if they didn't, then I doubt the ones I like would exist either.

Absolutely. I should have said, I enjoy seeing things like Hogwarts Icons, Hogwarts Express, and Hulkbuster, and I'm pleased that others get joy from them, but they don't interest me, and that's probably good for my wallet and space! I'm glad they exist, but I hope the LOTR D2C doesn't fall into that category.

[mirkwoodspiders]

22 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I mean I have every set from LOTR and The Hobbit but that certainly doesn’t diminish any excitement for what we might see from this set. 10 years is a long time, and lego designs have come a long way. I’m very excited to see what they do with it

Sure, not meaning to diminish excitement for the set at all. Just voicing what I happen to be most excited for. Judging from sets like Ewok Village, The Upside Down, Tree House, etc., and combined with design advances since those sets have been made, LEGO should do very well with the scenery of Rivendell, and I'm sure the architecture will be good as well.