The_Chosen_1 Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 ^ I would be highly skeptical if the contract for LotR is more restrictive than it is for Star Wars. Quote
Alcarin Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 ^ I would be highly skeptical if the contract for LotR is more restrictive than it is for Star Wars. yes it is... From Eurobrick member on forum ''A colleague of mine previously acted as the attorney for TLG -- the precise language used in the license agreement is that the minifigs must be "ancillary and proportionate to" construction models.'' http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=77434&st=25 Its as simple as that ladies and gents Quote
KazeMonsuta Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 I hope that the prices for LotR stay how they are. I bought most of my Hobbit and LotR sets of Amazon. I remember getting the Helms Clam set for 60 Euros used and Attack of the Warg for 36. Many good discounts, even for the high German prices. Really thrilled for the Tower. Might be one of the few Exclusive sets I own and quite impressive. Seems like this wave might not hurt my wallet that bad. The Corsair ship seems like a big ripoff with 120 cash for around 700 pieces. Might try to get it used, my experienced have been quite good so far. I'll probably also wait for Elrond's Council to be a little discounted. Black Gate seems well priced, even though I probably need to build the other tower myself. That's my 2 cents so far. I'm really happy to be able to have aquired most of the waves so far. Quote
Blakstone Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 yes it is... From Eurobrick member on forum ''A colleague of mine previously acted as the attorney for TLG -- the precise language used in the license agreement is that the minifigs must be "ancillary and proportionate to" construction models.'' http://www.eurobrick...pic=77434&st=25 Its as simple as that ladies and gents I don't see that this hearsay report changes anything. There is no actual source. It does says that the construction piece must be in scale with the minifig (no Starwars planet sets with a minifig and a micro build) and no random construction (No boats for Rohan minifigs). This would not rule out a catapult for an orc battle pack or a section of ruined wall for some Gondor soldiers though. Quote
Faefrost Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 No they are even prohibited of doing that... I heared someone said in contract its written that the MINIFG count has to be PROPORTIONATE with set size... so we cannot have battle packs. I guess people keep ignoring this fact. we will NEVER see LOTR battle packs unless LEGO buys Action toys License for LOTR That makes some sense. There may be some base ratio of construction parts per minifig in the license with WB. (Probably much the same with TMNT). This is obviously not quite the same with the Disney licenses. We have seen a straight up PotC pure figure Battlepack, and the LR Cavalry builder. So they don't ave the same restrictions with those properties. Quote
Faefrost Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 Shouldn't the Peter Jackson minifig be using the short legs? I mean have you ever seen the dude. I think he really is a Hobbit? A very hairy hobbit... Quote
Str0ngbad Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 (edited) No they are even prohibited of doing that... I heared someone said in contract its written that the MINIFG count has to be PROPORTIONATE with set size... so we cannot have battle packs. we will NEVER see LOTR battle packs unless LEGO buys Action toys License for LOTR Even assuming that 'someone' had accurate info, 'proportionate' is subjective and does not rule out the BPs that are being suggested. The fact is, we don't know whether TLG can make LOTR BPs. It's just hard to imagine why they wouldn't be allowed to. I can hardly imagine LucasArts being more lenient than New Line on the matter when there were a grand total of five action figures widely marketed for the last Hobbit film and LOTR action figures stopped being made many years ago. On the other hand Star Wars figures are always being pushed. Edited April 17, 2013 by Str0ngbad Quote
Infernum Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 Hmm, I gotta agree with Str0ngbad, I can't see a whole lot of reasons why Lego wouldn't be allowed to make battlebacks... The movies came out a while ago. I could understand with The Hobbit, but I'd think they'd be happy to see anyone buy licensing for a movie that came out multiple years ago. I know I'd buy some! Quote
-Carson Haupt- Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 (edited) I hope that the prices for LotR stay how they are. I bought most of my Hobbit and LotR sets of Amazon. I remember getting the Helms Clam set for 60 Euros used and Attack of the Warg for 36. Many good discounts, even for the high German prices. Really thrilled for the Tower. Might be one of the few Exclusive sets I own and quite impressive. Seems like this wave might not hurt my wallet that bad. The Corsair ship seems like a big ripoff with 120 cash for around 700 pieces. Might try to get it used, my experienced have been quite good so far. I'll probably also wait for Elrond's Council to be a little discounted. Black Gate seems well priced, even though I probably need to build the other tower myself. That's my 2 cents so far. I'm really happy to be able to have aquired most of the waves so far. Helms Clam?!? :D Edited April 17, 2013 by -Carson Haupt- Quote
The_Creator Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 What I would like to see is BPs in the style of the 2007 Castle ones, which were simply five figs with assorted weapons and armour, along with a barrel of more weapons. This type of approach would allow for some fantastic variety within the armies, and would be decently priced. I hope there in SW style battle packs instead of those you mentioned so there not cheap Chinese plastic. Quote
Deathleech Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 The Corsair ship seems like a big ripoff with 120 cash for around 700 pieces.That's my 2 cents so far. I'm really happy to be able to have aquired most of the waves so far. Here in the U.S. it is $99.99 and has 756 pieces. That's 13 cents per piece. While that seems a little high, remember it has 9 minifigures and some rather large ship haul pieces. I can hardly imagine LucasArts being more lenient than New Line on the matter when there were a grand total of five action figures widely marketed for the last Hobbit film and LOTR action figures stopped being made many years ago. There were a few more than that, weren't there? I thought Bridge Direct released five single figures and another four 2-packs, so 9 different sets total? At any rate I agree, I can't imagine Lego minifigures really taking away from the action figure sales, especially with something like LotR that doesn't even have any action figures currently being released. If this really is what's prohibiting Lego from releasing more standard battle packs though, I am totally fine with them making additional sets similar to the Uruk-Hai Army. I could totally see a white wall piece with a catapult including Faramir, a Gondor soldier or two, and three to four Mordor Orcs. Or how about an Oliphant with a brick built saddle platform and three Haradrim, the Haradrim Chief, and then a Rohan soldier or two on different colored horses? There are tons of possibilities at the ~$30 price range. Quote
Str0ngbad Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 (edited) There were a few more than that, weren't there? I thought Bridge Direct released five single figures and another four 2-packs, so 9 different sets total? There were more but they weren't widely distributed. Walmarts, Targets and such only had Thorin, Bilbo, Gandalf, Legolas and a goblin. The rest were at places like Barnes & Noble and of course online. Nothing like the flood of figures that were released for the LOTR trilogy. Edited April 17, 2013 by Str0ngbad Quote
Artanis I Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 Helms Clam?!? :D Don't you remember that part? When the Sea Monkeys had to defend the fortress overnight from the Orca Hai... Quote
Ql97 Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 /\ Yes, the Orca Hai created by the evil wizard Salmon. Battle packs would be great, but my mindset we are very lucky to have Middle Earth Legos And I hope the theme lasts for several years. Quote
Str0ngbad Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 ^^ Hahaha! I too am happy just to have Middle Earth Legos but realisticly, I doubt it will last beyond next year. If it does, I will sing and dance. However the relatively short run that most of us expect for the theme is part of the reason some of us are yearning for Battle Packs. If we had the benefit of adding orcs and soldiers to our army at will for the next decade like Star Wars fans do with stormtroopers, it wouldn't matter as much. I feel like I have three years to populate all of Middle Earth.. Quote
scottjs Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 Based on the fact that Lego has released battle packs for how many other themes but still nothing for LotR means there has to be a reason why. Normally I wouldn't necessarily give credit to something someone's "colleague" said however the shoe seems to fit in this instance. Not that that doesn't mean I think we should stop pleading Lego to make them, as I hope they'll do Uruk-hai Army type expansions at the minimum for future big sets (if the line continues). But hear this TLG employee(s) if anyone is listening If you start making battle packs with generic orcs, Uruk-hai, elves, etc. I'll be buying dozens upon dozens as will many others . I can't see any way that battle packs would fail but I'm not holding my breath that they'll ever see the light of day. On the matter of LotR continuing, if (because I still don't want to get my hopes up) Orthanc is announced this summer I think we can all relax for a bit. I mean making a UCS set for a theme that's getting discontinued soon doesn't make a lot of sense does it (Haunted House comes to mind but I think TLG knows that because it resembles a modular somewhat it will do well, but that's another topic). The thought has crossed my mind however that Orthanc may just come out next summer as a cheaper smaller set or god forbid never come out at all! Again I'm really trying to keep my expectations low. Who knows though, some people hear LotR is doing well and others not so much. And without TLG saying much more on the matter we just don't know. I know when I was last at a local TRU I was speaking with the woman who orders from Lego. We got to talking and she said they had a hard time ordering in LotR sets as Lego wouldn't fulfill them. They had barely any LotR but all the Hobbit. Now is that because TLG didn't make enough, were they low from the holidays, was this woman feeding me a line or are they just selling that well? Only time will tell and in the mean time I'm going to droll over Deathleech's amazing Middle Earth army and hope I can amass that many minifigs before they're gone. Quote
deskp Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 LOTR wave 2 has the potential to sell more if the following has happened. Kids go to see The Hobbit movie, kids like the movie and want more, kid watches the LOTR trilogy and starts desiering the toys that goes with it! The simple fact that more people are aware of middle earth as a whole after the hobbit was released should possibly help sales for both themes. We certainly don't want a pesky Simpsons theme to come along and take LOTR's place in 2014. Quote
KazeMonsuta Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 Helms Clam?!? :D Ah, sorry, meant Helm's Deep. : D The names are confusing. Quote
Balin Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 (edited) On the matter of LotR continuing, if (because I still don't want to get my hopes up) Orthanc is announced this summer I think we can all relax for a bit. I mean making a UCS set for a theme that's getting discontinued soon doesn't make a lot of sense does it (Haunted House comes to mind but I think TLG knows that because it resembles a modular somewhat it will do well, but that's another topic). Well.. The imperial flagship ended pirates, Joust set ended kingdoms, Haunted house ended Monsters etc Edited April 18, 2013 by Balin Quote
Alcarin Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 Based on the fact that Lego has released battle packs for how many other themes but still nothing for LotR means there has to be a reason why. Normally I wouldn't necessarily give credit to something someone's "colleague" said however the shoe seems to fit in this instance. Not that that doesn't mean I think we should stop pleading Lego to make them, as I hope they'll do Uruk-hai Army type expansions at the minimum for future big sets (if the line continues). But hear this TLG employee(s) if anyone is listening If you start making battle packs with generic orcs, Uruk-hai, elves, etc. I'll be buying dozens upon dozens as will many others . I can't see any way that battle packs would fail but I'm not holding my breath that they'll ever see the light of day. On the matter of LotR continuing, if (because I still don't want to get my hopes up) Orthanc is announced this summer I think we can all relax for a bit. I mean making a UCS set for a theme that's getting discontinued soon doesn't make a lot of sense does it (Haunted House comes to mind but I think TLG knows that because it resembles a modular somewhat it will do well, but that's another topic). The thought has crossed my mind however that Orthanc may just come out next summer as a cheaper smaller set or god forbid never come out at all! Again I'm really trying to keep my expectations low. Who knows though, some people hear LotR is doing well and others not so much. And without TLG saying much more on the matter we just don't know. I know when I was last at a local TRU I was speaking with the woman who orders from Lego. We got to talking and she said they had a hard time ordering in LotR sets as Lego wouldn't fulfill them. They had barely any LotR but all the Hobbit. Now is that because TLG didn't make enough, were they low from the holidays, was this woman feeding me a line or are they just selling that well? Only time will tell and in the mean time I'm going to droll over Deathleech's amazing Middle Earth army and hope I can amass that many minifigs before they're gone. While I agree that listening to what someone friend said is kinda waste of time, but i haread much more than only 1 person claim the same. Now ofcourse noone can copy paste the contract so we can always call it lies. The fact remains that I personally see why they are not making battle packs. Look how many peopel bought either extra helm's Deep or Orc Forge not to mention uruk hai armies... way more profitable for them it seems... now if LEGO released battle packs on day 1 I would buy 20 battle packs and nothing else (because i like armies and could care less for buildings) ... Now I bought 10 uruk hai armies, 2 helms deeps, 3 orc forges..... The thing is either the contract really is prohibiting them to make battle packs OR they will just wait to milk battle packs when the line goes close to EOL and they wil lgive us like 4-6 battle packs for EFOLs to hoard and buy like no tommorow. Quote
Str0ngbad Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 While I agree that listening to what someone friend said is kinda waste of time, but i haread much more than only 1 person claim the same. Now ofcourse noone can copy paste the contract so we can always call it lies. The fact remains that I personally see why they are not making battle packs. Look how many peopel bought either extra helm's Deep or Orc Forge not to mention uruk hai armies... way more profitable for them it seems... now if LEGO released battle packs on day 1 I would buy 20 battle packs and nothing else (because i like armies and could care less for buildings) ... Now I bought 10 uruk hai armies, 2 helms deeps, 3 orc forges..... The thing is either the contract really is prohibiting them to make battle packs OR they will just wait to milk battle packs when the line goes close to EOL and they wil lgive us like 4-6 battle packs for EFOLs to hoard and buy like no tommorow. Very few people would buy nothing but battle packs. Would you really spend $200+ to amass a huge orc army and then not shell out the $60 to get Gandalf the White, Gondorian Aragorn, an eagle and the Mouth of Sauron? Plus, Battle Packs certainly don't seem to be hurting the sales of Star Wars and I don't think a case can be made that LOTR fans have different buying habits. Either New Line is trolling us and TLG is restricted from making them, or they are missing a golden opportunity. Fingers crossed for next year. Quote
Deathleech Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 I would easily have double the amount of LotR minifigures right now if they offered us "real" battle packs. A standard Star Wars BP is what, 4 minfigures for $13? That comes out to be right around $3.25 per minfigure, plus dozens of bricks. That would make it SO much easier to amass armies rather than paying $4-5 bucks per minifigure like we have to right now off eBay or BL (except for the Uruk-hai which are barely under $3). I don't see how the BPs could possibly fail either, I mean the current smallest LotR/Hobbit sets seem to be the ones clogging shelves anyways (at least around me). The Wizard Duel might be a different story since it has Gandalf with hair and Saruman, both of which are currently exclusive to the set. If they aren't going to do BPs, they should at least keep up this trend to make the smallest sets appealing. There are so many armies and creatures in LotR they could easiy make 10+ sets that are totally different BPs alone. Quote
Wardancer Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 I just wanted to mention that Helms Deep in German is "Helms Klamm" which might be confused with the English "clam". Klamm means ravine. Quote
Alcarin Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 Very few people would buy nothing but battle packs. Would you really spend $200+ to amass a huge orc army and then not shell out the $60 to get Gandalf the White, Gondorian Aragorn, an eagle and the Mouth of Sauron? Plus, Battle Packs certainly don't seem to be hurting the sales of Star Wars and I don't think a case can be made that LOTR fans have different buying habits. Either New Line is trolling us and TLG is restricted from making them, or they are missing a golden opportunity. Fingers crossed for next year. Well to be honest... I would never ever buy anything except for Helm's Deep and 1 wall extension (if we look on current and incoming sets) if there would be Battle packs for Uruk-hai/Rohan Soldiers available... Why? Simple... because I would buy Lurtz for 5$ instead of 60$ Orc Forge that goes nowhere, I would buy gandalf the grey for 3$ and I would buy the rest of fellowship for below 50$ which ends atleast 100$ savings compared to sets US retail(and I live in Europe so its even cheaper for me) all LOTR sets only work because of no Battle packs... why would anyone buy more than 1 Orc Forge if you could get 4 uruk-hai in a battle pack is beyond me.. Its a smart move by TLG, since now I spent over 400$ just for sets... then battle packs (maybe) come and I will spend additional 200$ which I would not if Bpacks would be released on day 1... Quote
Hobbit Posted April 18, 2013 Posted April 18, 2013 Helms clam is German...... It says on the side of the box :D Quote
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