LOTR & The Hobbit 2012

[Ardelon]

Here's what Derfel Cadarn had to say on the matter in the "Kingodms 2012?" thread in the History forum, page 17:

Its true, LOTR is coming, the owner of my local newsagent told me, and I also read it on the back of a Kellogs Cornflake box In all seriousness it probably will happen, as Lego havn't yet really had a castle themed Lisence.

Best to wait and hear it from Lego themselves though. Speculation is fine, if anyone gets hold of secret set images it would be best if you didn't post them till Lego makes an official announcement, as Lego try's hard to stop leaked images and are not happy with the amount of leaked stuff that gets posted here. It doesn't do relations with the site and Lego any good, to the point where they may not let us in on posting official announcements. Besides, its better to be surprised by a new wave rather than know everything months before hand.

Sounds promising...

[Haltiamieli]

Sounds promising...

You do realise the first part of Derfel's post was sarcasm?

[Ardelon]

You do realise the first part of Derfel's post was sarcasm?

I didn’t...

[Lyichir]

Hi there,

I've been following this topic since nearly beginning, and what amuses me about this discussion that lasts probably already for years , is that most pesimists use the same reasons against LOTR theme repeatedly - all that about lack of vehicles, too much of epicness, too much location-oriented movies, lack of interest of kids in it etc. I think you are all shoul change the point of view of an AFOL to the point of view of average Lego customer - both parent and kid. Official sets are far different from MOCs of all of us, average buyer doesn't consider sets with those criteria, like the appriopriate scale of buildings or number of vehicles - for every example of successfull vehicle set you can find another successfull one that has equally high playability wihtout any vehicles, both in current sets and the old ones, even those from the 90's.

So when we try to guess, whether we'll get the LOTR theme or not, let's not forget, how do all the other licensed sets look like - if we think of all the simplifications and symbolic constructions of PotC, Indiana Jones, Prince of Persia, Harry Potter or SW objecs (doesn't matter what - locations, landscapes, buildings, vehicles etc.), we can see, that LOTR is no other - we could make ANY of the LOTR or Hobbit scenes (from the main plots or any additional stories, including other Tolkien books), of course it wouldn't be any close to minifig scale of original buildings, but it doesn't have to be, it's a childs toy after all. Most of the SW ships are no close to the original scale, and it's still most successfull theme in history - it doesn't matter, that UCS Death Star with minifigs is quite comic with the scenes from different movies next to each other and without any scaling at all, or that it had to take more than 5k pieces to make a proper-scale Millennium Falcon, and there are 3 other minifig versions, that are no close to this scale. In LOTR it's the same - some locations are impossible to make it in minifig scale, let's take Orthanc and Isengard for example - there have already been presented some huge, epic MOCs, but however big they were, they were still not 10m high or so, which would make a minifig-scale proper height of this tower. But does it matter? Not at all, of course, and even a comic height of, let's say, 2-storey minifig tower with balcony and characteristic top would make great Orthanc in official set, and most likely with minifigures and accessories as beautiful as in Pirates of the Caribbean. Lego doesn't pay their designers for nothing, it they need to, the will be able to make any scene, considering what's important for kids in it's story, where should be the playability, and with all the restrictions they have (in size, number of new molds, colours, permitted building techniqes etc.).

So, all in all, LOTR and Hobbit Theme isn't impossible, most of us, optimists, only give here our wishful thinking. while all the pesimists try to find any reason to say there will be no LOTR in Lego. And reasonably thinking the judgment of this matter is simple: Lego will decide what is probably best for them, in the terms of business and possible profitability, and even if it is hard to realise, it doens't mean they can't maka a profit of it. And with two Hobbit movies + renewing LOTR in 3D and all the hype they will have, they're going to be the biggest blockbusters of next two years, so it's hard to believe, that a market leader like Lego couldn't make huge profit of it. I personally believe it could beat Star Wars sales, they had their decade of s-f domination, now fantasy is coming back in books and films after all those poor years since the end of Tolkien Trillogy in cinemas, so why not in Lego.

I've never said it was impossible to pull off a LotR theme, but a lot of the suggestions of HOW they could do it have been nothing more than pipe dreams. We're not going to get a series of modular Helm's Deep sets, and we're not going to get a Creator-style Orthanc. We probably won't get a D2C set for the theme for a good year after its initial release, and there's no guarantee the theme will last that long. I see no reason to believe that Lego would attempt this theme differently than any other licensed theme before it, which means that a lot of people who have their hopes way up for this theme are going to wind up disappointed.

[Cwetqo]

I think that this is most realistic look to this theme.

For lego it's just another theme like Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, PoTC or some other stuff. That means medium sized first wave with nice figs and colours, a building or two, maybe vehicle and one flagshgip set (helms deep).

If people will buy it then we will get another wave or two, maybe D2C set and MAYBE, after several years it will become like SW (i think that this is not possible though)

[surrideo]

Trying to think where I was listening to it. Could have been Radio 1(UK) and Elijah Wood was on talking about filming his scenes for the hobbit in New Zealand recently( Apparently a flash forward sort of scene, as Frodo isnt in the books) and talking about all the old LOTR merchandise,how huge the series was but what he really wants is to be like Harrison Ford and the like and be immoratalised in lego.

Now that in no way was confirmation but if it isnt a done deal, maybe lego are out there listening

[BTappel]

I see no reason to believe that Lego would attempt this theme differently than any other licensed theme before it, which means that a lot of people who have their hopes way up for this theme are going to wind up disappointed.

LEGO may not treat it differently, but we will! The difference between LOTR and other licensed themes will be the sales. I am guessing LOTR will sell better than most licensed themes like POTC, but not as good as SW obviously. Maybe about as good as HP? Seeing what HP has done the last few years leads me to think LOTR will get 3 waves minimum.

Edited November 28, 2011 by BTappel

[Itaria No Shintaku]

I'd welcome LoTR but this means I will sell a lot of heads/hands flesh on bricklink... I can't stand flesh color...

[Innos]

I've never said it was impossible to pull off a LotR theme, but a lot of the suggestions of HOW they could do it have been nothing more than pipe dreams. We're not going to get a series of modular Helm's Deep sets, and we're not going to get a Creator-style Orthanc. We probably won't get a D2C set for the theme for a good year after its initial release, and there's no guarantee the theme will last that long. I see no reason to believe that Lego would attempt this theme differently than any other licensed theme before it, which means that a lot of people who have their hopes way up for this theme are going to wind up disappointed.

Totally agree on that - whe can dream anything, huge, epic or innovative sets, but it's ok only as long as we understand, that official sets have their limitations and restrictions, and we can't expect to realise our dreams in official sets - because MOCs are for that. I personally feel, that however those sets would look like, and whatever film/book scenes they would represent, I would be totally happy and would buy all of them at once, as soon as they are available in stores. I am sure, that in such an expensive license there could be no place for poor design, so let's only hope, that there is such license in LEGO, and then everything's gonna be fine and we'll get a really good, well designed fantasy series.

The sarcasm about possible leaks is quite amusing, as I also see, that, while I hope for the LOTR theme so much, some people seem quite naive with their expectations high in the sky. We certainly should discuss the possibility of LOTR theme, but at the same time we should remain realistic here, on the ground

[Daimar]

Not that I am not a fan of the Hobbit book, it was the first book in english that I read and I really like it. But I would rather see a continuation of the castle(fantasy) theme since they had trolls and dwarfs and they could add the elves from the collectable minifigs (why else would they make a hairpiece like that if not use it for more lines/sets). And there are also the Heroica boardgames, that just beg for being made in to minifig size (golems, new goblins/trolls, werewolves) and larger (maybe modular) sets. Also the main reason would be, they are not licensed and therefore cheaper.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Daimar

[Vindice]

LEGO may not treat it differently, but we will! The difference between LOTR and other licensed themes will be the sales. I am guessing LOTR will sell better than most licensed themes like POTC, but not as good as SW obviously. Maybe about as good as HP? Seeing what HP has done the last few years leads me to think LOTR will get 3 waves minimum.

Why are you assuming LOTR will sell more than HP and POTC? All these franchises were huge blockbusters and in terms of modern day popularity HP would top LOTR.

[CorneliusMurdock]

Why are you assuming LOTR will sell more than HP and POTC? All these franchises were huge blockbusters and in terms of modern day popularity HP would top LOTR.

Let's not get into a battle of the licenses. LOTR and HP are both awesome. Let's leave it at that. Time will tell how sales go if TLG decides to actually do The Hobbit/LOTR.

[BTappel]

Let's not get into a battle of the licenses. LOTR and HP are both awesome. Let's leave it at that. Time will tell how sales go if TLG decides to actually do The Hobbit/LOTR.

Did not mean to start anything. I am just guessing anyways.

I can see why people would rather have a continuation of the 2007 fantasy theme instead of LOTR. I do not have any flesh colors so do not know how I feel about those, but I am always for cheaper sets! Does anyone know the average price/piece ratio of licensed themes vs non licensed?

[Tyrant]

Did not mean to start anything. I am just guessing anyways.

I can see why people would rather have a continuation of the 2007 fantasy theme instead of LOTR. I do not have any flesh colors so do not know how I feel about those, but I am always for cheaper sets! Does anyone know the average price/piece ratio of licensed themes vs non licensed?

Licensed sets tend to have a worse part to price ratio. Just look at Star Wars. They also seem to fixate on a handful of characters. PotC=Jack SParrow, PoP=Dastan (sp?), SW=Anakin and Luke. With SW, not every set has Anakin or Luke, but a very large number do. That is one my issues with a potential LotR line. Every set will have either Frodo or Aragorn (or possibly Gandalf). Now, most of the action does take place around those characters, but they will be taking up slots that could be going to other characters.

[fred67]

But I would rather see a continuation of the castle(fantasy) theme since they had trolls and dwarfs and they could add the elves from the collectable minifigs (why else would they make a hairpiece like that if not use it for more lines/sets).

I wouldn't say I'd "rather" see a continuation of fantasy, but I would be extremely happy either way - not only do we already have a number of dwarfs and other fantasy figures, but you'd be able to use "fantasy 2" with the first fantasy theme, and they'd be yellow instead of fleshies.

[Gryphon Ink]

That is one my issues with a potential LotR line. Every set will have either Frodo or Aragorn (or possibly Gandalf). Now, most of the action does take place around those characters, but they will be taking up slots that could be going to other characters.

I'm a bit worried about that, too. And since most of the heroes don't change clothes at all in LOTR, it could be just like Harry Potter, where a completely identical Harry shows up in almost every set in a given year. But if they do this theme, hopefully TLG will realise that LOTR is not focused on one specific hero, like HP and POTC, but really an ensemble adventure. After all, for most of the story, the heroes of the Fellowship are never all together in one spot.

Thinking about the logistics of making minifigs for all major characters, it looks like we are going to have to prepare ourselves to be disappointed. Some of the heroes will almost definitely not be included in the first wave of LOTR sets, especially if they combine LOTR and the Hobbit for this license.

GOOD GUYS: 9 members of the Fellowship. Bilbo. 12 Dwarves from the Hobbit. Elrond, Arwen, Faramir, Beorn, Radagast, Eowyn, Eomer, the King of Rohan whose name escapes me at the moment, and Bard.

BAD GUYS: the Witch King of Angmar and 8 other Nazgul. Sauron. Saruman. Gollum. Orcs and Uruk-Hai (assuming the goblins of the Hobbit are rendered as Orcs, which seems logical). Wargs. Wormtongue.

BIG THINGS: ents, Balrog, Smaug, Shelob, trolls, spiders of Mirkwood, fell beasts.

BYSTANDERS: Men of Laketown. Many Elves, Dwarves, hobbits, Rohirrim, Men of Gondor, AAAAGH too many to count...

Seeing as Lego sets average 2-6 minifigs per set, every set has to include at least one or two antagonists, and Frodo and Aragorn must appear in more sets than most of the characters, I'd say it's going to take at least two waves before we see a complete Fellowship of the Ring, and much more than that if some of the sets are from the Hobbit. The theme would have to be as successful as Harry Potter before we get all the major characters.

[Algernon]

If LEGO can pull off a PotC license, there's no reason to believe that a LotR license isn't feasible.

[Darth Nihilus]

If LEGO can pull off a PotC license, there's no reason to believe that a LotR license isn't feasible.

Unless, of course, the movie is rated higher than PG-13, which is doubtful. I still eagerly await pictures or confirmation of this them, but they don't seem forthcoming. If this is real, which I don't doubt it is, then TLG is really cracking down on leaks right now.

[lightningtiger]

Some retailer's already know what's coming next year and the just saying LOTR brings funny reactions....expressions of hiding something.

If LOTR sets are released they would even having the low age range plus seven's that is......AFOL's would actually be the target and hoping kids like what the AFOL's have and bam....The Hobbit pops up and more sets....more money again for TimeWarner and of course Lego !

Now age ratings on films hold no bearing on if/what sets are released....what was the latest Transformer's movie rated at and what about ROTS (SW ep.3) that from memory was PG13.....and Lego released sets.

[Scarapis]

If LEGO can pull off a PotC license, there's no reason to believe that a LotR license isn't feasible.

POTC is a disney License which LEGO has, LOTR is not, so doubt they will get it, since think another building block company still holds that license, and it didn't fare well.

[Rook]

Yeah got get contracts at the begining of a planned triology. Kids what's new not some old dusty movies from the last decade. Now if they plan on rereleasing LOTR in 3D each about 6-12 months apart, then Lego should jump on that shtuff.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Rook

[Clone OPatra]

Yeah got get contracts at the begining of a planned triology. Kids what's new not some old dusty movies from the last decade.

While I'm still skeptical about there actually being LotR LEGO, this kind of argument holds no weight at all. What of Indiana Jones? This had just one new movie planned (I know there may be more in the works), and the original three were much longer ago than the LotR trilogy, yet LEGO got this license and made several waves of sets, so it must have been a semi-successful line. Toy Story also works as an example, with the original two films being a while ago and only one new one.

For LotR, which will get two Hobbit films and has three more films to work from, there is no reason why this would be a line from 'dusty old movies.' Those films did not even come out very long ago.

[Alex the Great]

I really hope that this is made into a LEGO line. They could make some really cool sets with it, a lot more creativity than what they usually make from scratch.

[Daimar]

I wouldn't say I'd "rather" see a continuation of fantasy, but I would be extremely happy either way - not only do we already have a number of dwarfs and other fantasy figures, but you'd be able to use "fantasy 2" with the first fantasy theme, and they'd be yellow instead of fleshies.

My apologies for using that word, I didnt mean I wouldnt be happy if there was a LOTR line, but fact is, that it would probably be more expensive (which is a big minus since I am unemployed) and it would have fleshies (no offense to all the fleshie-lovers, its just my opinion). But since I was to late to buy any fantasy sets (except for 7041) I would love to see them get continued. But secretly I am still cheering for Heroica sets since there still isnt any official confirmation about LOTR Lego.

[Mr Man]

The stage is set for a LOTR theme, there's very few new moulds TLG would have to make, all that we need now is the Hobbit film and TLG to decide it will make a lot of money for them.