LOTR & The Hobbit 2013 Set Discussion

[Faefrost]

Well.. The imperial flagship ended pirates, Joust set ended kingdoms, Haunted house ended Monsters etc

Diagon Alley ended HP, but I am not sure that all of these were planned so much as "end the theme" events as "wow we really like these huge sets lets do something special".

[Str0ngbad]

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)

The Orc Forge is only $40 though I've only bought one. Anyway, if the figures are all you care about, what stops you from doing that now? You mean that you bought Weathertop or Moria but if there was a $12 box with uruks in it, you would just buy the fellowship and skip the nazgul, troll, and all the bricks? In my mind that's apples and oranges but I guess there are at least a few people who approach it the way you do. To each their own.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Str0ngbad

[deskp]

Diagon Alley ended HP, but I am not sure that all of these were planned so much as "end the theme" events as "wow we really like these huge sets lets do something special".

I think harry potter did one last small wave after that.

[The_Chosen_1]

The Orc Forge is only $40 though I've only bought one.

True, but Alcarin isn't in the U.S.

So far I've purchased 7 Uruk-hai Army and 4 Orc Forge sets, mostly for army building purposes. I would have easily tripled those numbers if Lego released them as battle packs instead, but I'm sure most FOLs (kids especially) aren't too interested in army building. Thus, I can understand Lego's reasoning for releasing the sets the way they have. If you army build then you end up with a lot of extra pieces, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[MathBuilder]

Regarding the battle packs: A set like the mirkwood spiders but for LOTR would be nice, 4 elf soldiers (battle of Helm's deep type) and some trees and landscape piece to justify the set size.

[Artanis I]

I'm sure most FOLs (kids especially) aren't too interested in army building.

I know as a kid I was... doesn't mean I had the money to do it. My proudest achievement was buying the same castle minifig set twice, I thought that was cool. Nowadays if they had the same sort of thing available (boxed set with 5-6 minifigs, not those terrible blister shield packs) I would grab plenty - and still feel inadequate when looking at other collections on here . As for LOTR, well, as an AFOL I'll take whatever I can get, if it means buying Orc Forge etc a few times.

[Faefrost]

^ I would be highly skeptical if the contract for LotR is more restrictive than it is for Star Wars.

By all accounts it isn't so much Lucasfilm's that had an issue with the SW magnets. It was Hasbro, who holds the SW action figure license. And why would it be surprising that Warner Brothers has the most restrictive license? Just from looking at the various sets we can kind of surmise that Disney of all things has the least restrictive, with Lucasfilms and Nickelodeon falling somewhere in the middle.

I know as a kid I was... doesn't mean I had the money to do it. My proudest achievement was buying the same castle minifig set twice, I thought that was cool. Nowadays if they had the same sort of thing available (boxed set with 5-6 minifigs, not those terrible blister shield packs) I would grab plenty - and still feel inadequate when looking at other collections on here . As for LOTR, well, as an AFOL I'll take whatever I can get, if it means buying Orc Forge etc a few times.

I don't think the blister pack Battle Packs sold particularly well? Or at a minimum the results were mixed. They blew out an awful lot of the AQ and PotC ones. And I think the Fantasy Era ones seemed to be mixed depending on what it was. Knights did well, Skellies etc poorly. Granted the recent Ninjago one seemed to sell out in days. But I think they have been getting better more predictable results with the Star Wars style, 4 figs, vehicle or build, impulse buy type sets.

[Artanis I]

I don't think the blister pack Battle Packs sold particularly well? Or at a minimum the results were mixed. They blew out an awful lot of the AQ and PotC ones. And I think the Fantasy Era ones seemed to be mixed depending on what it was. Knights did well, Skellies etc poorly. Granted the recent Ninjago one seemed to sell out in days. But I think they have been getting better more predictable results with the Star Wars style, 4 figs, vehicle or build, impulse buy type sets.

I believe the blister packs have only been available in Lego shops or S@H? I'm not sure that you're aware, but there are no Lego shops here, and S@H products are at full price + prohibitive postage charge for us. It just isn't worth buying those things at @$50-60 all up + 2-3 week delay. Especially when the individual minifigs are cheaper on BL than the price of the set without postage. I picked up the Kingdoms ones because I'd placed a big order, and man, was the quality different to the regular sets' minifigs. (You know, the made-in-China argument.) The POTC and AC packs were useless, you could get those minifigs in the cheap sets + parts for a decent price. No wonder no one bought any.

The boxed minifig sets are available everywhere that stocks Lego. That includes the current SW type, and the traditional "minifig + accessories only" for unlicenced themes (unfortunately these days that means City, in previous decades that meant everything). I'm not a fan of the SW style (4 minifigs + small pile of crap for $23) but understand the Hasbro thing there. What am I saying? Not sure. I want to army build, and I prefer boxed minifig sets. I think that's it, they're easier to get hold of and an affordable way to beef up your armies without compromising consistency in plastic or printing. If they had those for castle or somehow for LOTR I would be all over that...

[Alcarin]

The Orc Forge is only $40 though I've only bought one. Anyway, if the figures are all you care about, what stops you from doing that now? You mean that you bought Weathertop or Moria but if there was a $12 box with uruks in it, you would just buy the fellowship and skip the nazgul, troll, and all the bricks? In my mind that's apples and oranges but I guess there are at least a few people who approach it the way you do. To each their own.

In Europe retail for Orc Forge was/is 50€ which is 65$! we never get BOGO sales in my country or any nearby country, we are lucky if we get sets 10% off (25% off when cleaning shelves when line EOLs) uruk-hai army costs 40€ (52$) Helm's Deep costs 140€!!! (185$) etc etc...

yes those are my country and majority of EU (excluding UK) retails of LOTR sets.... you think I would buy more than 1 uruk-hai Army set if I could get 4 uruk hai/4 rohan soldiers battle pack for 15€ ???

Amazon.DE has the cheapest sets for me which makes Orc Forge around 42-44€ since my friends uncle works there and comes home every month we ship to him for free and he brings the sets to my country.

As for what stops me from doing that now. Well for starters to get 4 uruk hais in armor+shield+sword it costs about 5-5.50€ + shipping which usually gets 5-7$ for priority, so if we accomulate that.

4x7$ = 28$+7$ = 35$ so paying around 35$ instead of 52$ and only get 4 uruk-hai with weaponry instead of also get Horse+1 Rohan Soldier + 1 Eomer who I can modify into Rohan Soldier and additional 200+ bricks is kinda inadequate costs for my personal battle pack. not to mention Rohan soldier goes for atleast 7$ + 1$ shield and nearly 1$ spear (new one) + horse costs around 3$ and saddle 0.70$ and same seller does not have everything so I pay 2-3 shipping costs.

Fact is with battle packs of Rohan Soldiers / uruk-hais I would have like double the amount of troops for same costs, granted I would have less bricks, but I usually sell majority of them anyway, since I am an event builder (recreating Helm's Deep event not MOCing)

[bricklayer7]

I was lucky I ended up getting 5 Orc forges at £30 each and the urukhai battle had gone Down to £16.99 in tesco at the time so I bought quite a few of them to build up my rohirrim. It's still expensive trying to build an army, my mate worked at whsmiths and he managed to get get me 50 urukhai poly bags for nothing.

[dgherko]

Very interested in what the fall line of Hobbit sets are. I have read there are five sets projected, we will see all of the Dwarf company of course, but they will have to fight somebody. I will re-read the book again this summer and wait for info from COMIC CON.

Seeing the Castle Line and Lone Ranger Line release the small sets as army builders, while not specifically packaged in the blister packs from past lines, maybe elf, dwarf, orc might have some promise.

[deskp]

Very interested in what the fall line of Hobbit sets are. I have read there are five sets projected, we will see all of the Dwarf company of course, but they will have to fight somebody. I will re-read the book again this summer and wait for info from COMIC CON.

Seeing the Castle Line and Lone Ranger Line release the small sets as army builders, while not specifically packaged in the blister packs from past lines, maybe elf, dwarf, orc might have some promise.

There isn't a need to put all 13 dwarves in again.

[Fives]

There isn't a need to put all 13 dwarves in again.

I really hope they don't. I want to see a focus on the more secondary characters, such as Thranduil, Bard and the Master of Laketown. And Beorn, of course. Plus, I really hope we get a set with Azog.

[Professor Flitwick]

You guys realise that kids like Lego, too? Many will want to complete their collection of Thorin's company before they start getting more minor characters. Not to mention, there will be those who weren't interested in Lego/The Hobbit last year that will want to get into the theme, and as such TLC will likely squeeze as many of the Dwarves as possible back into it. Why do you think there are more of the Hogwarts/Milenium Falcon/Anikan/Harry Potter/Jack Sparrow/Indiana Jones sets/figures? Curb your expectations, guys, and you may end up pleasantly surprised.

[deskp]

You guys realise that kids like Lego, too? Many will want to complete their collection of Thorin's company before they start getting more minor characters. Not to mention, there will be those who weren't interested in Lego/The Hobbit last year that will want to get into the theme, and as such TLC will likely squeeze as many of the Dwarves as possible back into it. Why do you think there are more of the Hogwarts/Milenium Falcon/Anikan/Harry Potter/Jack Sparrow/Indiana Jones sets/figures? Curb your expectations, guys, and you may end up pleasantly surprised.

All 13 isnt on the samle level as harry potter etc. Thorin, Bilbo and Gandalf might be. Besides I don't think the previous Hobbit sets will be all gone by december.

[Fives]

All 13 isnt on the samle level as harry potter etc. Thorin, Bilbo and Gandalf might be. Besides I don't think the previous Hobbit sets will be all gone by december.

I have a strong feeling that LEGO will keep the Barrel and Mirkwood sets in production longer that the other sets of the first wave, since they depict scenes from the second film. That's four dwarves right there that don't need to be in new sets.

[Str0ngbad]

You guys realise that kids like Lego, too? Many will want to complete their collection of Thorin's company before they start getting more minor characters. Not to mention, there will be those who weren't interested in Lego/The Hobbit last year that will want to get into the theme, and as such TLC will likely squeeze as many of the Dwarves as possible back into it. Why do you think there are more of the Hogwarts/Milenium Falcon/Anikan/Harry Potter/Jack Sparrow/Indiana Jones sets/figures? Curb your expectations, guys, and you may end up pleasantly surprised.

You're right about main characters needing to reappear but it's a bit of a stretch to call all thirteen dwarves main characters. We'll of course get more Bilbo's and Thorins but I don't think LEGO will feel that re-releasing all thirteen dwarves in five or six sets is obligatory. Most adult fans of Tolkien would have a little trouble naming them all off let alone kids who are new to it. Beorn, Thranduil, and the entire White Council are more important and memorable characters than all but a few of the dwarves. The dwarves were about the only characters to build sets around in the first movie. I think the second movie will provide more to work with. I expect to get Beorn and Thranduil in this wave. I really hope we get Radagast and maybe Galadriel as well.

At any rate, I know I sure wouldn't complain about getting another Dwalin; such a fantastic and versatile beard piece that will never be used on anything else since it's a licensed piece.

Edited April 19, 2013 by Str0ngbad

[The_Chosen_1]

I would prefer it if Lego didn't feel the need to include all of the dwarves in every Hobbit wave. Perhaps they could include half of them in the DOS sets, and the other half in the TABA sets; something like that would work fine in my opinion, leaving room for other characters like Bard, the Master of Laketown, Thranduil, Radagast, etc.

[deskp]

You should remeber first LOTR wave they made an effort include all 9 from the company. in the second wave thats not a concert.

Something similar will proapbly happen with hobbit.

[Deathleech]

I would prefer it if Lego didn't feel the need to include all of the dwarves in every Hobbit wave. Perhaps they could include half of them in the DOS sets, and the other half in the TABA sets; something like that would work fine in my opinion, leaving room for other characters like Bard, the Master of Laketown, Thranduil, Radagast, etc.

That's what I was thinking they will do, and maybe have some variations if they appear in different outfits in the movies. Trying to include all 13 dwarves plus Gandalf and Bilbo doesn't really leave much room for any other characters. I don't see Lego doing it every wave. I COULD see them doing half in the next wave and half in the third quite easily though.

[Str0ngbad]

That's what I was thinking they will do, and maybe have some variations if they appear in different outfits in the movies. Trying to include all 13 dwarves plus Gandalf and Bilbo doesn't really leave much room for any other characters. I don't see Lego doing it every wave. I COULD see them doing half in the next wave and half in the third quite easily though.

I wish they would give us a version of a few of them in armor(helmets) next year but judging by most of the beards they designed for them, that doesn't seem very likely. It does seem somewhat likely they'd split the company between the next two waves but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't hit all of them again . They're only revisiting the 'important' characters from the fellowship this year (unless a couple hobbits show up in Orthanc) so it doesn't seem like they're trying to take the 'half now and half later approach' with them. Their approach to the Hobbit may be totally different though. Can't wait to see!

[Faefrost]

I wish they would give us a version of a few of them in armor(helmets) next year but judging by most of the beards they designed for them, that doesn't seem very likely. It does seem somewhat likely they'd split the company between the next two waves but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't hit all of them again . They're only revisiting the 'important' characters from the fellowship this year (unless a couple hobbits show up in Orthanc) so it doesn't seem like they're trying to take the 'half now and half later approach' with them. Their approach to the Hobbit may be totally different though. Can't wait to see!

I figure we will see armored versions of Thorin, Fili, Kili and maybe Bilbo at some point. But remember Dwarves wear Mithril. So they will be printed on chain mail, not Breastplate accessories. Although those do seem to be the three dwarves using a hairpiece designed yo take something on the torso.

[Str0ngbad]

I figure we will see armored versions of Thorin, Fili, Kili and maybe Bilbo at some point. But remember Dwarves wear Mithril. So they will be printed on chain mail, not Breastplate accessories. Although those do seem to be the three dwarves using a hairpiece designed yo take something on the torso.

Those three are good guesses for a new body print. I don't think all dwarves wore mithril for armor but that may well be all they use in the movie. Helmets are what I'd like to see most. I really hope that at least Dwalin gets one.

[deskp]

Remember Dwarves wear Mithril. So they will be printed on chain mail, not Breastplate accessories.

Just cause they wear mithril does not mean they wont wear more armor on that. the movie would find it awully boring looking if they only wear mithil shirts akin to Frodos.

Their hairpiece is designed for quiveres, the same hair will be used on Bard the bowman aswell. (speculation, but look at it and compare to movie bard, its 95% spot on)

Edited April 20, 2013 by deskp

[Pate-keetongu]

At any rate, I know I sure wouldn't complain about getting another Dwalin; such a fantastic and versatile beard piece that will never be used on anything else since it's a licensed piece.

I'm not so sure about this. Sure, it is only released on a licenced set so far, but it does not necessarily mean the mold itself is licensed; Dwalin's beard/hair design doesn't likely have any copyrights. Many hairpieces, for example Dastan's, Mutt's or Irina Spalko's hair, have been originally been only in licensed set, but have later circulated into LEGO's own themes. Of course pieces such Darth Vader's helmet that have their own copyrights can't be released on the unlicensed sets.