REVIEW: 9473 Mines of Moria

[Robominer]

Great review Hinckley! However, it took me just over an hour to read it. Nice (i.e. insane) amount of pictures and detail. I might even pick this set up even though it wasn't on my initial buy list.

[Ki-Adi-Mundi]

Great applause for an outstanding review on a pretty average set.

If not for a serious sale, i would not have gone after it. But your review is as hilarious as it is of informative value. A big thanks - and please continue to do what you have come to do with the minifigs. Especially your inclusion of FRIENDS minis do really add loads of fun to your crystal clear shots of minifig and their prints. Keep that up!

[SuperSirLink]

Great review, these are some of my favorite licensed themes... Could have something to do with my obsession with LOTR...

[BrickCommander]

Also I dunno what you guys are talking about, those Intelli-Box LotR sets rocked!

Waaaaah!

[Duce]

Impressive review, must have taken quite a long time. Great work!

The set itself, however... I vote "below average". Sure, it has some good figs - but that's pretty much all I think it has going for it. The set itself is some weird, scattered builds that aren't really all that impressive and doesn't give us a fullfilling structure but rather a part from a movie scene. Might just as well have been and old 'Studios' set. And the sticker sheets, oh the horrow... so many of them!

Honestly, I think people are rating this set much higher than they normally would just because it's LOTR and they're happy to see these LOTR sets. If this was a Kingdoms set, people wouldn't be quite so impressed, I think. It's greatly overrated.

But eh, that's just my opinion. And so far, it seems like I'm the only one having such an opinion.

Was going to type out my opinion on this set after building it at the weekend but this reply basically said the same thing. I wasn't too impressed sadly with the set. The stickers really put me off on building this due to the number.

[Miles]

For display purposes, this is by far my favorite set from the first wave of LOTR sets. I feel like I'm cheating on Helm's Deep a bit by saying that, but looking back on the films, the Mines of Moria sequence stands out in my mind far more than the battle at Helm's Deep. I'll take tombs and trolls over yet another battle/siege in the rain any day.

I do find it ironic though, that the set with the most play features (and therefore presumably most likely to be enjoyed by the target age-group) also has the most amount of stickers. I mean I was stressed out applying them, I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for a 12-year old.

Thank you Hinckley for another outstanding review! Your photography and graphics work are awesome - if I wasn't already sold on the set, I certainly would be after reading.

[Capt. Bluebeard]

I got 'round do building this set today. I wasn't planning on buying any of this line, as I have little interest in LOTR.

However, one day, during one of my idle Brickset browsing sessions, I got the idea of converting this set into a Monster Fighters display to go with my Vampyre Castle.

The result is quite spectacular; I've got the Vampyre Castle on top, with the mines below it, so as to make look like it is underground. In the mines, I've got Frank Rock & Ann Lee sheltering behind the well and grave respectively as they prepare to fight the troll.

The minifigures are great, but since I've had bad experiences with removing minifig hands in the past, and I can't stand fleshies, I'm selling them.

One of the main strengths of this set, I think, is the range of displayability; it isn't limited by it being in a certain shape, so you can move the parts around to suit the sort of display you want.

All in all, an excellent set with some great parts.

Even if you don't particularly like LOTR, like myself, there's something for everyone.

Bluebeard, out-

[Deathleech]

The set itself, however... I vote "below average". Sure, it has some good figs - but that's pretty much all I think it has going for it. The set itself is some weird, scattered builds that aren't really all that impressive and doesn't give us a fullfilling structure but rather a part from a movie scene. Might just as well have been and old 'Studios' set. And the sticker sheets, oh the horrow... so many of them!

Honestly, I think people are rating this set much higher than they normally would just because it's LOTR and they're happy to see these LOTR sets. If this was a Kingdoms set, people wouldn't be quite so impressed, I think. It's greatly overrated.

I don't know if I totally agree with that. Yes, the minifigs are for sure the main selling point of this set, especially with the Cave Troll and all the exclusives figs (which really is every one of them other than Gimli). However, I think Lego covered pretty much all the main action sequences in the scene with their set. You have the skeleton falling in the well, the tomb Gimli can flip off, pillars that fall over, and chunks of wall that explode. What more is there?

Does it look pretty with all the pieces being separated and nothing connecting them together? No, it doesn't look amazing, but I am sure it also kept the price of the set down. And really what point is there to fully enclose the square room when Lego already has all the main structures covered? Just to make it look slightly better but not add any play value? Kids don't care about that. If you really want to make it look better just get a gray base plate, it makes the set significantly more visually appealing.

I will say the stickers were a definite down fall, and I do agree some people seem the be rating the LotR Lego sets higher than normal just because they are LotR-themed. I don't find Gandalf Arrives or Attack on Weathertop to be particularly great sets personally, but everyone else seems to love them. However I think Mines of Moria is a pretty good set. It has great minifigs, a lot of movie-accurate play features, and decent price for what you get (especially for a licensed set). The stickers were the only big downfall in my eyes.

[SheepEater]

If you really want to make it look better just get a gray base plate, it makes the set significantly more visually appealing.

Exactly. Sure, it's $15-19 more, but it enhances the set by a huge amount.

The stickers were the only big downfall in my eyes.

I'm an expert sticker applier, so they didn't bother me, but this opinion will change if they start peel off in 4 years. Hard to predict. I've had those from 8461 peel off a few months after they were applied, and I've had those from 8640 (from 1986!) still stick perfectly.

[XandersBrian]

nice review, mine of moria set was great. however, they should include all fellowship of the ring characters.

[Deathleech]

nice review, mine of moria set was great. however, they should include all fellowship of the ring characters.

I saw a Youtube review of this set where the reviewer was also complaining about this. I simply do not agree. Sure it might be good to include the whole fellowship in a single set for people who only want to pick up 1 or 2 sets, but for everyone else it would suck. We already have 4 Frodos (2 of each version with the polybag), and I know I personally do not want that many of every fellowship character. I really have no use beyond the first one. Plus, that would really jack up the price of each set. The fellowship has 9 figures so that's almost 30 bucks alone just for them, not including any bad guys.

Personally I am really happy with how Lego did their sets. You get a portion of the fellowship in each set, and then several bad guys for them to battle. There also are multiple set options for some of the figures like Gimli,Aragorn,Frodo, and soon to be Gandalf. I am sure more options will open with future waves.

[Duce]

Thinking about this set more, I almost wish they'd broken it into 2 seperate sets, each set giving half the fellowship. goblins in both, and one having the troll and one the balrog. It would have allowed for more columns and mine pieces and also given people the option to purchase one set for fun, or both sets for a seriously big mine... one prt of the set could be as it is with the current items, and the other could be more columns, walls and the entrance door from the outside.

Who wouldn't love a bigger mine with all that extra detail.

And that could also lead in to a outside set vs the kraken or whatever it was called in the pond, that would cover a huge chunk of the story from the film right there.

[Haltiamieli]

Thinking about this set more, I almost wish they'd broken it into 2 seperate sets, each set giving half the fellowship. goblins in both, and one having the troll and one the balrog.

To me it seems like they are very possibly doing just that. I'd say Gandalf's battle against the balrog is one of the likeliest sets to appear sooner or later, and Gandalf isn't even included in this set. Of course the balrog set, if it happens, won't be in this same wave, but I at least like variety in the offerings also.

[fred67]

And that could also lead in to a outside set vs the kraken or whatever it was called in the pond, that would cover a huge chunk of the story from the film right there.

To me it seems like they are very possibly doing just that. I'd say Gandalf's battle against the balrog is one of the likeliest sets to appear sooner or later, and Gandalf isn't even included in this set. Of course the balrog set, if it happens, won't be in this same wave, but I at least like variety in the offerings also.

Agreed... The Bridge at Kazaduhm seems like a no-brainer, but to me, the entrance to the mines, with a lurker, also seems obvious, although if LEGO doesn't make it, I'd assume it was difficulty creating a playable lurker as opposed to a display set.

[Duce]

To me it seems like they are very possibly doing just that. I'd say Gandalf's battle against the balrog is one of the likeliest sets to appear sooner or later, and Gandalf isn't even included in this set. Of course the balrog set, if it happens, won't be in this same wave, but I at least like variety in the offerings also.

I hope you're right, just wish they'd add another mines part on the leadup to the trol room, maybe the huge dwarf room with all the coumns or such, then yo cuold put it on baseplates for a great display.

Agreed... The Bridge at Kazaduhm seems like a no-brainer, but to me, the entrance to the mines, with a lurker, also seems obvious, although if LEGO doesn't make it, I'd assume it was difficulty creating a playable lurker as opposed to a display set.

The spider they made was quite well done, I'm assuming they could use the same sort of legs and parts to make a squid type lurker.

[fred67]

The spider they made was quite well done, I'm assuming they could use the same sort of legs and parts to make a squid type lurker.

Oh, I think they can build one, but it'd kind of have to be half in and half out of the water... or something. I just don't see how it playable they can make it - not that I don't want to see them try

[Duce]

Oh, I think they can build one, but it'd kind of have to be half in and half out of the water... or something. I just don't see how it playable they can make it - not that I don't want to see them try

Good point, I suspect they'd make it on a blue water base with only part of the head showing and tenticles coming out of the base. that could ruin its look a bit possibly.

[Bob De Quatre]

Good point, I suspect they'd make it on a blue water base with only part of the head showing and tenticles coming out of the base. that could ruin its look a bit possibly.

I don't think blue is the appropriate color for the water where the lurker lives...

[pogie]

Worst value of any Lego set I have purchased. I built it in less than 30 minutes. I think lego wanted to have a cool molded cave troll and then threw the rest of the set together as an afterthought while still keeping their margins in mind. As a huge fan of Lotr and Lego this set was a disappointment at best.

[Orange Leader]

Worst value of any Lego set I have purchased. I built it in less than 30 minutes. I think lego wanted to have a cool molded cave troll and then threw the rest of the set together as an afterthought while still keeping their margins in mind. As a huge fan of Lotr and Lego this set was a disappointment at best.

I disagree, I thought It was not bad and entertaining to build, even with the stickers that I 'can' apply. It also captures the whole scene perfectly (except for the treasure chest, but that's no problem for me).

I'm very satisfied with this set, as a build and as parts pack.

[The_Chosen_1]

It's actually my favorite set of the first wave. There were too many stickers, but the set overall is a great representation of the scene. The only way I can see it taking 30 minutes is if you speed right through the build, in which case you only have yourself to blame...

[Infernum]

Thanks for the great review!

[pogie]

My main complaint about the set is after I put it together my main thought was "wow, $80 for this?". The set just felt very insubstantial for the money. Maybe I just don't like paying the premium for licensed sets. Lotr is the first licensed theme I have really had an interest in and maybe my expectations were too high. Tolkien's world in both books and movies has such an epic scale that perhaps I was bound to be disappointed. I would love to see some large high dollar sets like they have done with SW.

[rpmac91]

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this set. It was bigger than I expected. But I probably wouldn't pay $80 for it though. Luckily I got it for $60 including shipping. And I don't mind a few stickers, but there were so many of them.. .

[Mr_Malfoy]

I built it in less than 30 minutes.

30 minutes? That's fast!