LOTR & The Hobbit 2013 Set Discussion

[Artanis I]

So are the new orcs from these 3 sets identical to each other in print? Looks that way to me. Single face, like the dark tan orcs from last 3 waves. Oh well, they do look really good at least. Looking forward to these sets and the movie too.

[TeufelHund]

Very nice design on the boxes and the minifigs are great but the sets themselves look destined for my castely-parts box. The big Dol-Guldur set looks kind of interesting play-feature wise but the others don't seem to offer much.

[mautara]

At least they made it: the pointed arch!!! After how many years? 15, 20? But as we say in italian: "meglio tardi che mai" (better late than never).

I hope we get some set with a lot of this new piece........

Edited October 21, 2013 by mautara

[Lynx]

When Lake Town Chase was first revealed, I thought: 'Mediocre set at best - not getting it and waiting for the other sets of this wave.'

Now I think: 'Lake Town Chase is the best-looking set in this wave.'

I agree with others: the sets are bland walls (two of which can be combined to form a larger wall). The elven wall is particularly odd. The top section is a weird mixture of studs and flat pieces, the 'tree' looks even worse than the one in Attack of the Wargs - and its topmost section with puzzling placement of grey pieces looks like the design of a very young LEGO builder, rather than that of a professional.

I'm still looking forward to the sets and will certainly get Radagast and Thranduil via BrickLink. Beorn, however, is a HUGE disappointment and looks nothing like Tolkien's skin changer.

I am usually very positive and are incredibly grateful for LEGO to release Middle-earth sets in the first place, but this wave is a major let-down, and I am already looking forward to June 2014 and *hopefully* excellent Lord of the Rings sets.

I would sum up this wave as follows: Nice minifigures of peripheral characters in bland playsets without display value.

[narbilu]

I can see how everyone sound a bit disappointed, however I'm going to get all the sets. Maybe even two of the elven army. Nice way to get some extra wargs, enough elves for my Avalonian army and the sigfigs of all sets are great. Except Beorn maybe, but I like the hairpiece. Only thing that irritates me, is that the orcs are in a different colour again... but there are enough though.

[BrickBob Studpants]

Frankly, I don't get why so many people dislike Beorn's design. I know he doesn't exactly fit the description in the book, but wouldn't that be incredibly dull and boring? I'd just be a big guy with a black beard, very creative indeed I think the design looks very bear-like and has certainly much more potential to turn the character into an icon And I hope that he will take part in the Dol Guldur action, he really deserves some screentime His backstory with Azog should be interesting too, maybe he'll get to finish off Azog in the BO5A (especially if the latter replaces Bolg)?

Edited October 21, 2013 by Lego-Freak

[AFOLguy1970]

Glad we finally got some photos. I echo the thoughts of many that the minifigs are the highlights of the sets while the builds are rather uninspiring. I too thought Lake Town would be the weakest set in the list, now it is the best build of the four as far as I am concerned.

Dol Guldur Ambush: Glad to be getting Beorn. The Gundabad orcs look like some of the best bad guys so far. This set is definitely good for the minifigs

Mirkwood Elf Army: Thranduil sells this set. The repeat of the polybag elves is a bit of a letdown since I prefer hair. The shields look interesting, and you get more of the Gundabad orcs.

Lake Town Chase: Bard, the guard, and the master are the strengths. The house builds look medieval, which many collectors like. The boat is OK. The main weakness of the set is there is really no action. Who is being chased, and who is doing the chasing?

Dol Guldur Battle: Radagast and Azog will generate the most interest. The ruins look like they are full of stickers, sort of a Mines of Moria redux. The big letdown is the Necromancer. He looks like something we once created out of the Pick-a-brick online parts. At least in the first movie, it seems like his face was too shadowy to make out any features, but there was something on his head. The head with the stud on top just does not work. Should have used a faceless black headpiece like the nazgul, put some type of black crown thing on top, and had a black cape.

[Javert]

Does anyone else see that on the Necromancer's head, the print looks as though it's the mouth that would go under the Witch King's mask/helmet? Possible future LOTR minifigure perhaps?

[Mr Breden]

Does anyone else see that on the Necromancer's head, the print looks as though it's the mouth that would go under the Witch King's mask/helmet? Possible future LOTR minifigure perhaps?

I think they would just use a plain black head for him I don't really mind Beorn's design, even if it's not exactly how I pictured him when reading the book

[Mutant Orc]

I completely agree with what Lynx said 5 or 6 posts back.

I didn't mind the unique qualities the dwarves were given but Beorn has crossed the line.

Is there not a caveman beard-hair piece that would be more accurate to the books from the Collectible Minifigure Series?

I'd like to see how that would look on him...

[Alcarin]

Beorns hair is ridiculous to say the least....

Its the biggest disappointment!

[Darth Caedus]

Beorns hair is ridiculous to say the least....

Its the biggest disappointment!

Nah, bigger disappointment is not getting 3x Armored Elves in the MEA. That would have been an incredible builder. Beorn's hair is goofy but not a huge deal, and that's the movie's fault, not Lego's.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Darth Caedus

[Faefrost]

I completely agree with what Lynx said 5 or 6 posts back.

I didn't mind the unique qualities the dwarves were given but Beorn has crossed the line.

Is there not a caveman beard-hair piece that would be more accurate to the books from the Collectible Minifigure Series?

I'd like to see how that would look on him...

But the hair looks accurate to his look from the movie? And that is what Lego is bound by the license to use. While I am not crazy about the movie look of Beorn, I can understand why the movies producers wanted to give him a look that clearly distinguished him from other fantasy characters. Hagrid in particular.

[Alfadas]

What is wrong with Beorn's hair? It looks cool! But what I was hoping to see, was a Beorn in bear form, and indeed the armored elves.

[Deathleech]

Nah, bigger disappointment is not getting 3x Armored Elves in the MEA. That would have been an incredible builder. Beorn's hair is goofy but not a huge deal, and that's the movie's fault, not Lego's.

Or even 1 or 2 armored elves. I agree that Beorn isn't that bad, if anyone is to blame for the hair it's Peter Jackson. Lego just copied him, they can't make their own version from the book since their license is with the movie. Lego's only fault with him was not using the longer legs to give him more height, but that doesn't seem to be the main issue most people have with Beorn...

[Legoman123]

What is wrong with Beorn's hair? It looks cool! But what I was hoping to see, was a Beorn in bear form, and indeed the armored elves.

I agree, I think the hair looks absolutely fine. However i'm not that bothered about getting Beorn in bear form yet, I would much prefer to get him as he is now and then get the bear form in a later wave.

[fhomess]

At least they made it: the pointed arch!!! After how many years? 15, 20? But as we say in italian: "meglio tardi che mai" (better late than never).

I hope we get some set with a lot of this new piece........

I can't find what you must be referring to. Can you clarify?

[SMC]

I really wanted Smaug, Beorn in bear form, witch king or necromancer (know we wound not get both), radagast and Armored Elves

so didn't work out to well with only radagast being good

[Ardelon]

At least they made it: the pointed arch!!! After how many years? 15, 20? But as we say in italian: "meglio tardi che mai" (better late than never).

I hope we get some set with a lot of this new piece........

If you mean the arches in DGA and DGB, I think that's just two inverted slopes - the piece would be too flimsy otherwise.

If you mean the gothic arch, then yeah, though it's been out since the summer LotR wave. Though I'm not sure if we've got in in reddish brown yet...

[Gryphon Ink]

I'm amazed at the amount of hate these sets are getting. I'm not going to say this is the greatest Lego wave of all time, but I really have to wonder sometimes what AFOLs are expecting TLG to do. No matter what they do, the complaints keep coming in.

There is nothing TLG could do about the Necromancer, guys. This is what he looks like in AUJ:

I don't see too many distinguishing features they could have thrown in there. Dude has no crown, guys. He has no robes. He barely has a shape. You want him to be something fearful like a Nazgul or something, but that's not what he is. And he's not going to have the awesome armor he had in the First Age. That form was destroyed. At the time of DOS, Sauron barely has a form. He doesn't fight the White Council himself. He pretty much runs away to Barad-Dur, leaving his minions to fight the wizards. (This is from the books, but it really can't be too different in the films or it will completely destroy the films' continuity.)

You want to complain about Dol Guldur being a nondescript gray castle? Guess what, in the films the place is a nondescript gray castle. It has some ruined towers (which the set has), some crumbling stairs (which the set has), some spiky vines and withered vegetation (which the set has) and some ancient wrought iron gates (which the set has). Yes, the set would look better if it was a 3000-piece UCS set depicting the entire castle, bridges and all. And those magnificent sets would sit on the shelves at Wal-Mart for a solid year before they went into the discount aisles and finally sold at 50% off. That's not a viable business strategy for TLG.

Let's complain about no armored Elves instead. Guys, again, Elves don't usually wear armor. Not in LOTR, not in any other part of Tolkien's work, not in popular fiction, not in actual legends. Ask a dozen people on the street what elves wear - the people who don't think you're insane will tell you a bunch of different things, but not one of them will say "oh, plate mail and tall, curvy helmets". What you'll mostly hear is green and brown, woodland colors, or shining robes. Many people will think of hooded green cloaks and longbows. And guess what the Elves are wearing in the MEA set? Yep, green, brown, shining robes, green hoods and longbows. OMG, what numbskull over at TLG thought of making an Elf set where the Elves actually looked like what the average person thinks Elves look like? How dare they??? Don't they know AFOLs need to build the ultimate Elf army? DON'T THEY KNOW THERE'S A WAR ON?!?

Hey, I know, let's complain about how there's too many Bilbos in the sets. Oh, wait. There aren't. Darn it, TLG, why do you always have to ruin things for us?

[Lordofdragonss]

I find sets VERY bland looking.

Oh yes. Minifigures are amazing, but I want a nice designed sets to go with them too.

[Mr_Malfoy]

I'm amazed at the amount of hate these sets are getting. I'm not going to say this is the greatest Lego wave of all time, but I really have to wonder sometimes what AFOLs are expecting TLG to do. No matter what they do, the complaints keep coming in.

Finally, someone else who gets it! You can't brighten up a grey, dark castle or add accessories to a shadow (which is basically what Sauron is at this point). The only thing that I'm complaining about personally is a missed chance to put Galadriel in a set (DGB or even DGA).

[Mr Breden]

I 100% agree With you Gryphon Ink. Dol Guldur is just a grey Castle, and I love what they did with it.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Mr Breden

[Fives]

^ AMEN!

It blows my mind how often AFOLs seem to forget that LEGO is a kids toy first. Sure, LEGO is aware that their products are getting more and more attention from adult consumers, and they've made efforts to create special items for an older age range. But when it comes to a basic wave of sets that coincide with the release of a hugely anticipated movie, LEGO has to make choices that will make the most sense and sell the most sets.

Take the Elves, for example. Sure, they could've made new molds for helmets, swords, shields - the whole nine yards. Instead, they just made some new torso prints and went full out on Thranduil. To me, that makes sense. In DOS, I doubt we'll see the armoured Elves in a lot of action. They'll likely get their spotlight during the BO5A, so LEGO can save their efforts and resources for then.

Also, the complaints about Beorn have nothing to do with LEGO. LEGO has done an amazing job capturing the character in minifig form. But everyone keeps complaining about how the new hair looks outrageous and that they would've preferred a more Paul Bunyan look. That was a choice made by PJ, not LEGO.

And lastly, Dol Guldur. It looks awesome! It has the same feel as Mines of Moria, with some decent functions and amazing figs. People wanting a massive scale set of a rather boring, ruined fortress seems hilarious. If people want some huge, epic model of the fortress, MOC it.

I can never find any real reason to complain about any new sets based on LOTR or The Hobbit. I feel blessed and privileged to even have the chance to own official LEGO Middle-Earth products.

[Blakstone]

As a MOCer, or an aspirational MOCer at least, I do find these sets lacking... but I don't mind. I enjoy the minifig / warg selection and plan to design my own builds anyway. LEGO has blown me away with Helm's Deep, Bagend, and the Orthanc. Those sets I won't scrap but the rest of them were built and in a week or three broken down and filed away.

I look at these builds and like the selection of parts. The bland walls that others complain about are the basis of any castle / fortress you want to design. Tolkien fans don't have anything to complain about. It is the Superhero fans that keep getting vehicles that are without the means to really build something outstanding.