LOTR & The Hobbit 2013 Set Discussion

[DragonKnights]

can't wait to hear when these sets start popping up in stores!

[8BrickMario]

Didn't see anything about LotR on the JUNE calendar they gave me the first week of MAY. They gave me the April one in March, too. Odd.

[Fives]

Didn't see anything about LotR on the JUNE calendar they gave me the first week of MAY. They gave me the April one in March, too. Odd.

The new May/June magazine has a promotional image for the new sets, so they must be out soon.

[8BrickMario]

Yep, I mentioned the Black Gate spotlight earlier. It looks good! June (and July for Orthanc) can't come quickly enough!

[Leo604]

I think the best thing for Lego to do is not to try recreating the whole of Minas Tirith as a set, but release 2-3 sections of it.

Eg. A dumb downed version of the Citadel with the courtyard featuring the White Tree. Simple, or at least simpler.

[LukeClarenceVan]

I just can't wait to get my hands on those orange leaves, hopefully the set's priced the same as Mirkwood Spiders was. Also, I wonder if the next line will continue the fall foliage trend and introduce yellow?

[The_Chosen_1]

^ I believe Rivendell is the same price as the Mirkwood Spiders set.

[8BrickMario]

$30 is the price of Rivendell and Mirkwood Spiders.

[Deathleech]

then compare it to Minas Tirith in that project and then check how much better LEGO Helm's Deep resembles ACTUAL helm's Deep in movie and how LAME does the project resembles Minas Tirith... the size of the wall lvls are completely disproprotionate to the size of the set and it looks like a giant mountain stronghold rather than the Citadel seen in the movie (or picture) and i am yet to start explaining how Trebuchets actually look like they are SO LARGE compared to city size and there is tons more...

Are you for real? Here is Helm's Deep, here is Lego's version. You complain about the size of the walls in the Minas Tirith Cuusoo set, yet the Helm's Deep walls from the movie are roughly ten times the height of a normal sized man. The Lego version? Not even THREE minifigures tall. The Lego version also has no rock backing, the path to the front gate looks like a minifig could jump on it at the highest point, and the actual keep is hundreds of feet tall in the movie where as the Lego version is only several minifigures tall. I think you are being a little bias here, the Lego Helm's Deep obviously suffers from the exact same problems the Minas Tirith Cuusoo set does.

Now put it in LEGO vision and divide it in 3 x 250$ set and VOILA you do the city justice

The City has to be atleast 1,5x Orthanc SIZE... more like 2x if i remember correctly.

So you want Lego to make 3 sets for one location, equaling $750? You do realize this is never EVER going to happen and is just wishful thinking, right? The biggest Star Wars sets are at the $400 mark and that's for a super successful, long standing theme. You want Lego to basically double that for a group of LotR sets to represent Minas Tirith? I would hate to be you, you are going to be severely disappointed if a Minas Tirith set does come out...

Edited May 5, 2013 by Deathleech

[Alcarin]

Are you for real? Here is Helm's Deep, here is Lego's version. You complain about the size of the walls in the Minas Tirith Cuusoo set, yet the Helm's Deep walls from the movie are roughly ten times the height of a normal sized man. The Lego version? Not even THREE minifigures tall. The Lego version also has no rock backing, the path to the front gate looks like a minifig could jump on it at the highest point, and the actual keep is hundreds of feet tall in the movie where as the Lego version is only several minifigures tall. I think you are being a little bias here, the Lego Helm's Deep obviously suffers from the exact same problems the Minas Tirith Cuusoo set does.

No bias my friend... now compare Movie Minas Tirith and Movie Helm's Deep and see how much bigger Minas Tirith has to be to be LEGO comparable... 3-4 times bigger and taller... Its taller than Orthanc, only Barad-dur can match its size and maybe Minas Morgul(Ithil) Lets just face it Project on that website is doing Minas Tirith INJUSTICE end of discussion, it would be a shame if such a lame Minas Tirith is released where THE CATAPULT is like as tall as 1/3 of Minas Tirith (or fourth) You're trying to defend Minas Tirith on the project like its yours, Its a lame design just as lame as Mines of Moria and Goblin king battle was/is

Minas Tirith is probably the most recognized structure in ROTK and you would have it built like that guy in there? Congratulation

Helm's Deep is done small scale aswell, but it still has the fort feeling and while no rock backing it was done ok, except for the main hall missing..... or built in the back where it should not be built. But when i look on my LEGO Helm's deep I still see Helm's Deep and all important aspects (tower with horn, deeping wall, 2nd wall, where Theoden stood, the wooden stuff above the gates, the ''bridge'' the hidden gates... Minas Tirith is A CITY CITY CITY, and you want a city built with no house apperently if you support that project .... it has SEVEN lvls (or 5 in movie) probably hundreds of thousand homes, houses of healing, tombs for kings, Hall of Kings, library, WHITE TOWER with rooms inside for palantir .... it has multiple trebuchets it has gates TRIPLE the size of Helm's Deep ones, it has a statue when you come in and a HUGE place, it has inns, market, stables,

Its ap retty much full functioning CITY with tons of defense and walls, and you support such a magnificent City/citadel to be REDUCED to 3000 or 4000 pieces?

No thanks I do not wish that EVER

So you want Lego to make 3 sets for one location, equaling $750? You do realize this is never EVER going to happen and is just wishful thinking, right? The biggest Star Wars sets are at the $400 mark and that's for a super successful, long standing theme. You want Lego to basically double that for a group of LotR sets to represent Minas Tirith? I would hate to be you, you are going to be severely disappointed if a Minas Tirith set does come out...

Hence I am strongly hoping we never get FULL Minas Tirith, simple as that,

Edited May 5, 2013 by Alcarin

[Str0ngbad]

It's understandable that you don't want a 'dumbed-down' version because what makes the city distinct for you is different and comprehensive than it is for most people. You mentioned how Helmsdeep has all the 'important aspects' even though it is missing the mountain, the caves and more. For many of us, the important aspects of Minas Tirith are much less than they are for you; the courtyard, the gate, the basic shape and structure. The house of healing and the markets and the residential districts are all inside but for most people they are not iconic. I want LEGO to give me a Minas Tirith, even if it isn't complete, if for no other reason than to have a great starting place for my own version (I would have to put the house of healing in mine too). I don't blame you for not wanting to compromise what is important to you about the city but hopefully if one does come out, you'll be able to be happy for those of us that want one really badly. It's very likely that they will only do the gate or outer facade and then maybe the courtyard/citadel but I'll take as much of it as they'll give me.

Where's that wonderful GRogall at? I'm dying to know when these will be released. I want a Rivendell set SO badly.

[Professor Flitwick]

For many of us, the important aspects of Minas Tirith are much less than they are for you; the courtyard, the gate, the basic shape and structure. The house of healing and the markets and the residential districts are all inside but for most people they are not iconic.

What? Who could possibly forget the scene where that guy runs past that market stall? Or that part in the extended edition where Aragon stares at an unconscious Eownen? It's my favourite scene, I've actually got it as my ringtone. And I don't know about you, but I've lost count at how many angry letters I've written to Peter Jackson for not including a Cribs-style walkthrough of at least seven houses of Minas Tirirth.

In case you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm of the highest quality.

Alcarin, I'm going to tell you what I told LordoftheBricks. Is Lego really the hobby for you? Let's take a look at what the internet can show tell us:

Lego^[a] is a popular line of construction toys manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colourful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts. Lego bricks can be assembled and connected in many ways, to construct such objects as vehicles, buildings, and even working robots. Anything constructed can then be taken apart again, and the pieces used to make other objects. Lego began manufacturing interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Since then a global Lego subculture has developed, supporting movies, games, competitions, and six themed amusement parks.

Hang on, let's zoom in!

Lego^[a] is a popular line of construction toys manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark.

Oh, saw something! Bring us in a little closer!

Lego^[a] is a [...] toy

There we go. Lego is not going to build everything in scale to each other. As a child, it never bothered me that a classroom was one third the hight of a seven story castle. Or that only Gryffindor and Slytherin had a place to sleep at night. You're going to have to seriously adjust you expectations of what you think Lego is going to offer you. I'm fairly certain Orthanc is one - if not the - tallest sets ever made. We are not going to see them get any bigger than that, certainly not in this line.

[Kez]

The size of the tower is just unbelievable

*snip*

Thanks for the picture Cammo, the size of Orthanc is humongous and I'm going to struggle to find a place for it to keep it safe from harm aswell as displaying it

[Wardancer]

Are the ship's sails printed on both sides? This way they could make good dragon wings.

[Lynx]

The size of the tower is just unbelievable

Wow, thanks for that picture. I left it in the quote on purpose in case other have not seen it. Does anybody know if those LEGO sets are approximately to scale with movie Orthanc and Hornburg? I remember from the book that Orthanc is supposedly 500 feet tall. No idea about the Hornburg.

Regarding the discussion about Minas Tirith, I'd be disappointed if it was too small. I would hope for something as high as Orthanc and an additional set similar to Uruk-hai army that can be used to easily create multiple walls. I like the Minas Tirith MOC aside from the catapults (and would hope for a brick-build fell beast) although I'd hope for something a little bit larger.

In either case, I find it horrendous to call somebody's creation "crap", "trash" or something similar. A lot of time has obviously been invested into that MOC (and others - I love his Meduseld!), and while constructive criticism is certainly acceptable and probably desirable, some of the expressions on recent pages were close to personal insults, in my opinion.

Edited May 5, 2013 by Lynx

[Nagyzee]

Regarding the discussion about Minas Tirith, I'd be disappointed if it was too small. I would hope for something as high as Orthanc and an additional set similar to Uruk-hai army that can be used to easily create multiple walls.

As high as Orthanc? If so it would be at least 3 times bigger. Minas Tirith is not a tower after all. I think expectations are a bit too high. As for me I'd be happy with a set depicting a generous chunk of wall segment with the gate and orcs attacking it with Grond or other siege equipment.

[Deathleech]

Str0ngbad and Flitwick bring up great points. Most people love Nuju's Minas Tirith because it still has the iconic look and features of the white city. Sure it doesn't have things like the markets or house of healing, but most people would rather NOT have these things to keep the price down. You say they are important, but to the vast majority of people they are relatively minor parts of the city and in fact they feel the Glittering Caves and Great Hall in Helm's Deep are FAR more important. Yet Lego did not include those.

I know it's just your opinion, but you came off as very rude when you initially commented on Nuju's MOC. You didn't really provide constructive criticism at all in your initial post(s), you just said it was crap and trash and you would never buy it. I felt like this was unfair as many people would LOVE a Minas Tirith like that, myself included, and I thought Nuju deserved a little more respect for all his hard work he obviously put into it. It's apparent now you want a lot more in your Minas Tirith city than most would, and that's fine. You seem well aware Lego will never meet your expectations due to the sheer size. Luckily for you you can MOC your own and choose not to buy a Minas Tirith if it's ever released. Just please don't wish it never get made, the vast majority of people would love a smaller set (in relative terms) like that. Heck, it would even be a great starting point to mod, or supply a ton of good pieces for your own Minas Tirith MOC.

Lastly I know everyone has their issues with the Lego LotR line, but you seem to complain a lot about it so I think Flitwick is right when he says you should really consider if this is the hobby for you.

[Infernum]

I think Deathleech nailed it here. As long as it captures the iconic shape, people will be happy. I would much rather have one smaller version of the whole city than multiple ones. I think Nuju's project is exactly what Lego would do, and I'd love it.

[Alcarin]

You didn't really provide constructive criticism at all in your initial post(s), you just said it was crap and trash and you would never buy it. I felt like this was unfair as many people would LOVE a Minas Tirith like that, myself included, and I thought Nuju deserved a little more respect for all his hard work he obviously put into it.

Constructive criticism? I am sorry but if you NEED constructive criticism whats wrong with that project this is ridiculous... if you have enough common sense as to check the project version and how it looks you have all the constructive criticism on the picture made in your head.

saying its great is a lie, you can claim that Minas Tirith is better than nothing but thats about it...

Just please don't wish it never get made, the vast majority of people would love a smaller set (in relative terms) like that.

I still wish it never is made, and if it is made I hope its made in the size of the architecture sets you know those small sets representing buildings across the world ...

Make it in that version and ill be happy.

Lastly I know everyone has their issues with the Lego LotR line, but you seem to complain a lot about it so I think Flitwick is right when he says you should really consider if this is the hobby for you.

LEGO LOTR is what brought me back to LEGO after all those years of Wild West theme. It was finally a line I would love to buy and put on display. I love Gondor most of all things in LOTR so I want it to be done right not half-assed ... Sorry if my standards are way above yours or Nujos project ones but so it is and it will not change.

I think Deathleech nailed it here. As long as it captures the iconic shape, people will be happy. I would much rather have one smaller version of the whole city than multiple ones.

Good then lets start asking them to make Minas Tirith architecture set, that would be great actually not this .......

[TheLegoDr]

As big of a LOTR fan as I am I couldn't honestly tell you anything about Minas Tirith, other than the white tree in the courtyard and Denethor running off the edge really. So as long as those pieces would be in the set (obviously not to scale), I'd be okay with it. From what I can read, the front gates are important too.

That MOC was brilliant. All of their MOCs are regarding LOTR. I'd be surprised if LEGO didn't do something similar to most of them, just with their own flair.

[Darth Caedus]

Alcarin, you're getting pretty hostile over an MOC concept that will probably never become an actual set. Save the passion for when pictures of The Hobbit Wave 2 hit. Until then, we're twiddling our thumbs.

[Leo604]

saying its great is a lie, you can claim that Minas Tirith is better than nothing but thats about it...

I personally think Nuju's version would be better than an Architecture/miniaturized version of Minas Tirith, but that's just my opinion.

P.S. Like everyone else pointed out, a little respect for someone's hard work on their MOC would be nice; no need to call it barely 'better than nothing but that's just about it' or 'half-assed'.

EDIT: P in the P.S. disappeared the 1st time around...

Edited May 5, 2013 by Leo Crimson

[Deathleech]

Constructive criticism? I am sorry but if you NEED constructive criticism whats wrong with that project this is ridiculous... if you have enough common sense as to check the project version and how it looks you have all the constructive criticism on the picture made in your head

Do you understand what constructive criticism actually is? Just because the set isn't huge and doesn't include everything you want doesn't make it crap. He purposely scaled the set down and excluded some of the less important parts to make it fit a price point similar to actual Lego sets. Saying the set looks like crap and trash doesn't tell us why you dislike it at all, its just being rude. Saying you think it's too small and doesn't include enough locations such as the house of healing and market are more constructive. Sorry I saw the set and thought it looked mostly fine, I didnt know I was suppose to be able to read your mind and know exactly what was wrong when you said it looked like trash.

Sorry if my standards are way above yours or Nujos project ones but so it is and it will not change.

It's not that your standards are way above ours, its that you are being unrealistic. You even said yourself you would want Lego to make a $750+ set, but are well aware they won't. Rather than bash other people's hard work (that looks great to a number of people), maybe your energy would be better spent making your own Minas Tirith MOC.

Edited May 5, 2013 by Deathleech

[scottjs]

The size of the tower is just unbelievable

Thanks for this pic Cammo, I may have to pick up this set sooner then I expected. Wouldn't it be nice if Lego did this for all sets in a theme (a size comparison shot), although in LotR's case it would sure make Gandalf Arrives look puny.

I'm surpirsed at the amount of people that aren't impressed with the Corsair ship, I'll be picking up at least 1 for myself and probably a few more to stash away. I expect it to be an amazing seller, and I don't necessarily think it's the best "LotR" set but it's the only ship for the moment as well as the only way to obtain some of the minifigs. Let's face it ships sell, especially when there isn't any competition.

Overall like most people here I'm impressed with what Lego has been releasing for the LotR/Hobbit themes. I'm buying at least 1 of every set (2 Black Gates). I could nitpick things I don't like but I know Lego is a TOY first and foremost and TLG is a business with a strategy to sell. Plus that's the great thing about Lego, if you don't like it, MOC it! I would have loved to have seen a $500 Battle of Helm's Deep or a $1000 Orthanc. Heck any of the current sets (besides Gandalf arrives and the like) could be doubled, tripled, quadrupeled in size and I would still buy them. BUT I'm in the minority and TLG is going to make way more money selling smaller sets to a larger amount of people and when it comes to the Lego/LotR addicts, we'll just buy multiples and spend hours and hours MOC'ing and enjoy every second of it.

Whenever (or if I should say) Minas Tirith is released it's going to dissapoint some people. Heck I'm sure I'll wish it was bigger, but I want whatever TLG is willing to release. And if I don't like it I'll buy 2 or 4 or however many I can sneak past my wife and then I'll MOC that bad boy until I'm happy with it (or I run out of bricks and I have to buy more lol). I'm expecting/hoping that TLG does something similiar to Helm's Deep when/if they release Minas Tirith. A main "fortress" and an addition like Uruk Hai Army to help fill the ranks. I don't care what they do, I'll be handing over my credit card for anything Lego LotR/Hobit related.

You know what set I really want to see the light of day, The Prancing Pony. Don't get me wrong there is a lot of other sets I would rather see first (Barad Dur, and Minas Morgul in epic proportions come to mind). However the Prancing Pony I could see becoming one of those "best Lego sets ever" because it would appeal to so many fans as a historic city building set. One other set comes to mind that did this before, MMV, and that set sold very well did it not? The bottom floor could be the Tavern with rooms above, that's the easy part. And they could make it "modular" which seems to be a selling feature these days. The hard part imo would be choosing the minifigures. Would we get some generic fleshies (a first right?), Strider, Hobbits, Nazgul?

Edited May 5, 2013 by scottjs

[CMP]

You know what set I really want to see the light of day, The Prancing Pony. Don't get me wrong there is a lot of other sets I would rather see first (Barad Dur, and Minas Morgul in epic proportions come to mind). However the Prancing Pony I could see becoming one of those "best Lego sets ever" because it would appeal to so many fans as a historic city building set. One other set comes to mind that did this before, MMV, and that set sold very well did it not? The bottom floor could be the Tavern with rooms above, that's the easy part. And they could make it "modular" which seems to be a selling feature these days. The hard part imo would be choosing the minifigures. Would we get some generic fleshies (a first right?), Strider, Hobbits, Nazgul?

I'd love to see that too. The chances of getting a full Prancing Pony closer to real minfig scale (which would be absolutely massive) have dropped significantly with Orthanc being announced, but even a smaller one would do. I doubt we'd get any generic patrons - if we're really lucky, we'll get Bill Ferny - but my money is on Aragorn, a hobbit, a Nazgul, and either another hobbit or perhaps Butterbur.