Review for 9470 Shelob Attacks

[Lego Otaku]

I just got this set so I'll do the review.

227 pieces, MSRP is $20 USD I think. Toys R Us charged $25 but still reasonable considering it is licensed set, has 3 minifigs, and the price per piece is close to $0.11 from Toys R Us.

Contains just 4 bags and a wrinkled instruction book.

First: NO STICKER!!! :thumbup:

Gollum is kind of cute in an odd way.

Sam and Frodo each gets their own sword. Sam also has a trans-clear diamond (held upside down to resemble a flask!)

Both Sam and Frodo has printed torso on front and back, as well as 2 sided heads. Sam looks scared and Frodo looks zombie-fied after getting poisoned.

First part done, a little cave with flipper to throw Gollum figure.

Step 8, the thorax of the spider. There are a total of 8 black 1x4 hinge plates.

8 legs. Lots (24 total) of reddish-brown 2 finger click hinges here. The build was a bit tedious as all 8 are built the same.

Printed head and mandible attached. The head and mandible can move a bit. One of the spider's eye is shut like an old injury.

Part of the abdomen with the string and hook. The string can be wound up by turning the gear on the bottom. There are 2 parts in there that I hadn't seen before: grey 1x2 plate to 1x2 plate 90° bracket holding red and green plates. It's the smallest bracket aside from 1x1 to 1x1 for minifig neck.

completed spider. Good for scaring your little sister :laugh: The abdomen can tilt and rotate, just like the real spider.

The bottom of the spider, with the string winder visible.

left over parts. There are 2 extra "One Ring", extra elven sword, etc. Give one of the ring to Gollum and the Hobbit duo could easily finish the mission without the annoying pest.

The part list in the instruction.

Overall the build is fun. It did have considerable amount of dark tan plates (7 or 8 including 2 wing pieces and a 1x6 tile), lots of reddish brown pieces, and significant amount of hinged plates and click plates.

Cost: 9.5/10

Pieces: 10/10

accuracy: 9.5/10 (the hook did not exist in the movie)

Fun factor: 10/10

no sticker: 10/10

If you're a fan of LotR movie or book series, this is a must get set!!! If you want the brown or dark tan pieces, this would be decent for part out set.

[Duxx]

great review

spider looks great, I'm little surprised that there are 2 extra rings

[just2good]

Good review, 'Lego Otaku'!

This set is pretty cool. I'm going to get this set since it has Gollem and Sam in it, which they're exclusives. I also like how this set comes with three rings.

[Speedboat]

Thanks for the early review, Lego Otaku!

I didn't expect much from this set, mostly because of the spider, but on your pictures it actually looks pretty well designed! Plus the set seems to have lots of useful pieces, if I'll eventually decide to disassemble it.

The minifigs look good, too. I think it's quite funny that you get 3 "The One Ring"s.

[Lego Otaku]

The minifigs look good, too. I think it's quite funny that you get 3 "The One Ring"s.

Maybe it's the Three Ring?

[Zarkan]

Thanks for the review. I knew the moment I saw the Toyfair pictures that this was going to be the best giant brickbuilt spider ever. It sure beats the orc out of either of the official Harry Potter Aragogs. And its lovely of TLC to toss in a couple of extra One Rings - which will certainly get plenty of MOCing use outside of LotR.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Zarkan

[TheLegoDr]

When I first saw the license for LOTR, I was planning on buying all of the sets anyway, no matter how they looked. Seeing this review, does not disappoint. It blows away any Toy Fair pics I've seen, by far.

The brickbuilt spider is a sight to behold. As impressed as I was with the latest Aragog, this Shelob takes the cake. And the price is perfect in my eyes. You get Frodo in another set, but with different torso and head, so in reality you get 3 exclusive figures, plus a few extra swords. I like that collection a lot.

As far as extra rings go, those will come in handy everywhere, plus they are tiny so more than likely people will lose quite a few, so they wanted to make sure everyone had extras because they wouldn't be able to sell licensed goods to consumers through their customer service.

Thank you for the review. I am even more excited to get these sets. I will probably wait to get all of them for Christmas instead of right when they come out, but I can't wait to have the whole theme with my other figures. I will have to buy another case to put all of the figures on display.

[simonjedi]

accuracy: 9.5/10 (the hook did not exist in the movie)

The LotR spider looks better than the 'I've just ran into a wall and crushed my face' Potter Spider'.

[Bilbo Baggins]

Great review. I will definitively buy this set.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Bilbo Baggins

[JackJonespaw]

Nice review! I can't wait to pick up this set, not only for the three great minifigs, but also for the spider itself!

[Palathadric]

Nice review, Otaku!

I think it's quite funny that you get 3 "The One Ring"s.

Don't you know? Galladriel stole the one ring from Frodo and gave him the three Elvish ones.

[Vindicare]

Wow, all kinds of extras here!? 2 rings and a sword. I suppose Frodo could give Gollum one just to shut him up. To me, the figs make the set. That little rock thing is meh and I've never really been a fan of these big spiders...maybe because my only one is Aragog.

Nice review though. Pictures are clear and you showed the set well.

[Brinstar]

Thanks for the early review. In the midst of some very impressive LOTR sets such as Helm's Deep and the Urak Hai Army, I can't say this initially grabbed me. Your review has certainly changed my mind. The mini-figs are excellent and I particularly like Gollum who I would imagine would be quite a difficult figure to create. I think the likeness is close enough to the film to be satisfactory. Its worth buying this set for the two exclusive figures alone.

Despite my general love of mini-figs there is no doubting that The shelob is certainly the most impressive part of the set and looks very authentic. I'll certainly be picking up this set, along with most of the other LOTR sets when they make it to the UK.

[Laura Beinbrech]

Oh yeah! I'm definitely getting this one, now... I agree 100% with those who said that this is the best giant spider ever! As a matter of fact, it appears that most of the pieces are common ones available through PaB, so you should be able to (with a little adaptation) be able to mass-produce your own giant spider horde.

I'm also kinda LOLing at there being three of the "One Ring" being included in the set... Maybe one of them is NeoPets' "Two Ring".

[Venunder]

I love it.

I'll definitely be getting this set.

My precious'sss....

[Lego Otaku]

Oh yeah! I'm definitely getting this one, now... I agree 100% with those who said that this is the best giant spider ever! As a matter of fact, it appears that most of the pieces are common ones available through PaB, so you should be able to (with a little adaptation) be able to mass-produce your own giant spider horde.

I'm also kinda LOLing at there being three of the "One Ring" being included in the set... Maybe one of them is NeoPets' "Two Ring".

Good luck finding that 1x2 to 1x2 plate bracket. I checked LEGO's online PAB they only got 1x2 to 2x2 or 1x2 to 1x4, no 1x2 to 1x2 yet. Bricklink does not have it at all.

[Ceroknight]

Might have to get this set, the spider and the minifigures look brilliant!

[NiceMarmot]

For $19.99, I think this set is a bargain! And I never, ever buy sets at full price. 227 pieces and 3 minifigures? There are some decent parts in there too. When this hits Amazon, I'm all over it.

[HawkLord]

Initially, I was going to pass on this set because I thought The Hagrid's Hut spider was a good enough proxy, but now I think I have to get Shelob, as well. The bonus rings are nice and whereas Sam and Frodo will continually be in future sets, the price and the spider are good enough to get.

[Laura Beinbrech]

Good luck finding that 1x2 to 1x2 plate bracket. I checked LEGO's online PAB they only got 1x2 to 2x2 or 1x2 to 1x4, no 1x2 to 1x2 yet. Bricklink does not have it at all.

Well, since that piece is only for the web shooting action, which I don't particularly care about one way or another, and is not necessary from a structural standpoint, I stand by my statement about using the basic body plan for creating a giant spider horde...

[Daimar]

You cant even imagine how much I envy you right now. Nah, but seriously, thanks for the great review, it just confirms, that this set is a "must have" for me. Cant wait till it hits the stores in my country.

[Lordofdragonss]

You missed the photo with whole set together! :)

Hmm, I'm really don't know if I want this set, pieces are amazing but the price...

[TheLegoDr]

I just built this set the other night and I was blown away by the detail of Shelob. Also, her size cannot fully be appreciated until you hold it in your hand. I was originally impressed with Aragog, which is quite laughable now after seeing this one. Even my 2 year old daughter loved this set. She keeps grabbing the spider and saying it is going to get me. Fun play value across the board. Gollum looks incredibly better than the original pre-lim photos and the poster, I think.

BrickForge's rogue biter is nearly identical to sting in this set. I originally bought the biter some months ago before this theme was announced. Oh well, can't have enough blades to fend off those orcs.

Thanks again for the review. I think the set is well worth the price.

[SpyFlops]

accuracy: 9.5/10 (the hook did not exist in the movie)

Actually, Shelob had a stinger in the movie. I think that's what it's supposed to be.

Great review! I'll definitely get this set!

[NiceMarmot]

I just built this set the other night and I was blown away by the detail of Shelob. Also, her size cannot fully be appreciated until you hold it in your hand. I was originally impressed with Aragog, which is quite laughable now after seeing this one. Even my 2 year old daughter loved this set. She keeps grabbing the spider and saying it is going to get me. Fun play value across the board. Gollum looks incredibly better than the original pre-lim photos and the poster, I think.

I agree. She really is big, much much bigger than the minifigs. I really don't know how Sam is going to be able to take her out. And very well designed. I'm very impressed by how the designer really nailed the overall look of a spider, especially the head and mandibles.

At first I was a bit unsure about this set, thinking I could just build the spider from parts I already have (which I could probably mostly do). But then I decided to go for it because of the minifigs (especially Gollum) and the great price-per-piece ratio. Now that I've built it, I realize there are quite a few really good parts in this set -- the new 1x2-1x2 brackets, the windscreens that make up the abdomen, a fish, three rings (3!), a doubled curved slope (93273), a Technic rotation joint, 1x4 hinge plates, spiky appendages / Bionicle spines, some gears, etc. Not many totally new parts, but a fair amount of uncommon stuff (or at least parts I don't have many of).