LOTR & The Hobbit 2013 Set Discussion

[N7LEGO]

That's what LEGO should have done, deskp. Instead of MEA.

Edited December 13, 2013 by N7LEGO

[legofreak86]

Saw the movie today! I was literally blown away!!!!! Have to say I'm disappointed with the DOS sets. The Beorn set is ridiculous and could've just been added to the Dol Guldur set. The Dol Guldur battle I rather like except the necromancer of the set is not based on AUJ or DOS designs! After seeing him in DOS I really wanted that version! Last year's DOS sets I really love and I'm glad we have a decent amount of orcs to make Azog's hunting party in this wave. The minifigures other than the necromancer are dead on! I would've liked some dwarves in DOS clothing and Bolg but apart from that minifigure wise I am very impressed with although I guess the necromancer may be a AUJ representation so I'll give it that but I want to see a proper one and Smaug next year!

[The_Chosen_1]

Dr. Cogg, I'll send you a PM with answers to your questions, to avoid unnecessary spoilers in this thread.

[Ultron]

Well I saw the movie and absolutely hated it. As for the the sets: The Beorn one never happened, Dol guldur is decent for the most part, Mirkwood Elf Army is not that great of a representation, and Lake Town is pretty good. Smaug definitely would've been nice though and I would really like him. Back to the first wave: Mirkwood spiders is accurate I guess although the spiders look a lot cooler in the movie and barrel escape is pretty decent too.

[Deathleech]

I just got done seeing the film and all I can say about the Lego adaptations is... WTF?! Some things people might consider spoilers so just to be safe...

Beorn isn't at Dol Guldur AT ALL. In fact he is in the movie less than 10 minutes total in his human form. Honestly I feel like given his limited screen time Lego should of just waited until TABA to do him, and done his two versions for that wave. DGA should of been combined with DGB into one set, or at the very least had Radagast so it made sense.

DGB seems to be based on the section where Gandalf uses his magic to cast off the illusion, but it wasn't that recognizable. The stairs are barely seen and there is no statue. Dol Guldur looks like multiple levels filled with cramped corridors and tall ruined towers. I didnt get the ruined open wall feeling of DGB AT ALL. I am not really sure how either of these Dol Guldur sets will appeal to kids. For DGA they prolly won't care enough about Beorn yet, and DGB just doesn't look like the Dol Guldur in the film. Also DGB would of been the perfect opportunity to give us Sauron instead of the crappy Necromancer version we got.

As for the Mirkwood Elf Army set, it seems to be totally made up by Lego and deskp's version would of been vastly better. I understand now why they used the scout armor elves, they are featured quite a bit more fighting the orcs. The armored elves mostly just stand around guarding the few times we see them in the palace and at the gates. Still, if Lego had done deskp's version we could of gotten 2 scouts and an armored version and it would of been perfect. Thranduil I am sure was just stuck in so Lego could give us him.

Lastly there is Laketown Chase. This is the only set that actually makes sense and looks the part from the movie. The boat could of been a bit wider but overallthe set as a whole was fairly accurate. I think its worth noting the Mirkwood Spiders and Barrel Escape sets we got last year seemed fairly accurate to the movie.

Why Lego chose to do DGB instead of a Smaug set is beyond me. They could of easily done DGB and DGA as one set, cut Beorn and saved him for later, and then gave us a huge Smaug set. There was so much more action with Smaug than there was in Dol Guldur it just makes little sense. Overall I feel even less interested in the Hobbit sets than before I saw the film given how little recognizability they have.

[namioik]

You guys are never happy with what Lego does. Maybe you guys should write a letter and explain to them why a company should cater to you or better yet, submit your resume so you can help them "improve" on the sets...

They do the best they can given the time allocated to them.

[TheLegoDr]

I'll probably go see the movie in the next few weeks, but ultimately I want more cool figures and useful pieces, so if the sets aren't going to the source material it usually doesn't bother me unless they skip out on cool figures and useful pieces. Overall I've been happy with the new line up from that standpoint. I have very little actual sets built, so I will use the pieces for something else entirely anyway.

I'd assume they will give us a Beorn bear version next year. But only or imaginations will help us there.

[Fives]

The reason we didn't get Smaug this wave is because PJ and Co. weren't allowing them to see him. That would be too much of a risk of the design being leaked before they want it to be.

[BrickBob Studpants]

The reason we didn't get Smaug this wave is because PJ and Co. weren't allowing them to see him. That would be too much of a risk of the design being leaked before they want it to be.

I agree, I think the designer team hasn't even gotten to see sketches of him. There's this wonderful image that just popped into my head of the designers going to see the film in the cinema, seeing the stupendous beast on the big screen and then going: "How the **** are we supposed to do this enormous thing justice??" Yeah, that's going to be a though designing challenge

BTW, I've seen the film yesterday and absolutely loved it, every moment of it And in my opinion, Smaug is nothing short of the best fantasy creature ever to appear on film (besides Gollum, of course). I really hoped they manage to do the same as they did with Gollum in the LOTR trilogy (small glimpses of the character in the first installment and full-blown reveal in the second installment and leaving a huge impression) and they succeded Can't wait to see it again tomorrow

[Blazej_Holen]

The reason we didn't get Smaug this wave is because PJ and Co. weren't allowing them to see him. That would be too much of a risk of the design being leaked before they want it to be.

Probably we will see some exclusive set in summer dont we?

[dranguish]

I have a few questions:

#1 How does Bolg look in the movie.

#2 Could Lego have made a set of Thranduil's Throne room or was there not enough action.

#3 Could lego have made a set of Dol Guldur that looked more like the ruins or was it to big.

#4 Is Sauron shown in the Hobbit.

#5 How big was Smaug.

1 blog looks consistent with azog. All the new baddies are pretty interesting and could make good figs

2 I don't think so because the little action that's there involves a decapitation, then again they did make the mouth of sauron

3 ruins are massive. Definitely no way to make something totally accurate, however I still don't know why the statue is in the set. I didnt see that and I was looking for it

4 don't want to be spoiling anything, but maaaaaaaaaybe :):):):):)

5 enormous. Even a massive Lego version could only realistically be 1/8 to 1/10 scale

[Dr.Cogg]

Dol Guldur Battle seems to be more based off the first film, because of the statue ,the Necromancer reveal feature and Radagast.

[Hepitos]

what is with this f******* MEA set ?

colour of the ear from the hairpeace of the elf does not fit with headcolour.

and painting is very bad, i have flesh colour on my brown hair...

does anyone else have this problems with it?

and this for 40 EUR ???? brashness....

[Fives]

what is with this f******* MEA set ?

colour of the ear from the hairpeace of the elf does not fit with headcolour.

and painting is very bad, i have flesh colour on my brown hair...

does anyone else have this problems with it?

and this for 40 EUR ???? brashness....

I've bought four, and not seen any serious problems. Maybe you just got a bad set? Sometimes LEGO slips up and misprints happen.

[Deathleech]

You guys are never happy with what Lego does. Maybe you guys should write a letter and explain to them why a company should cater to you or better yet, submit your resume so you can help them "improve" on the sets...

They do the best they can given the time allocated to them.

Well I can't speak for everyone, but I know I personally was VERY pleased with the first LotR wave. We got a lot of instantly recognizable builds PLUS amazing looking minifigures. I even liked Mines of Moria which I know has received a lot of criticism. I'm not sure what happened after that. The second Hobbit wave seems to be the worst what with so many missed opportunities.

I can understand some sets not being spot on, especially considering all the last minute changes PJ seems to be making. Really though, only Laketown Chase seems very accurate. MEA isn't in the movie at all and Thranduil is never even seen outside his palace. DGB looks like a big open wall on on a single level when Dol Guldur looks nothing like that in the film. It is a ton of tight corridors, ruined towers, and multiple platforms/levels. DGA has a fairly accurate build but why is Beorn there when he is literally featured in the film not even ten minutes in human form. Don't get me wrong, I am glad we got characters like Thranduil and Beorn but won't kids be confused and actually LESS likely to buy these sets that have minor characters in spots they never really appear? Meanwhile we could of finally got Sauron but got a black and mint green gorilla Necromancer instead.

Edited December 14, 2013 by Deathleech

[Darth Caedus]

Well I can't speak for everyone, but I know I personally was VERY pleased with the first LotR wave. We got a lot of instantly recognizable builds PLUS amazing looking minifigures. I even liked Mines of Moria which I know has received a lot of criticism. I'm not sure what happened after that. The second Hobbit wave seems to be the worst what with so many missed opportunities.

I can understand some sets not being spot on, especially considering all the last minute changes PJ seems to be making. Really though, only Laketown Chase seems very accurate. MEA isn't in the movie at all and Thranduil is never even seen outside his palace. DGB looks like a big open wall on on a single level when Dol Guldur looks nothing like that in the film. It is a ton of tight corridors, ruined towers, and multiple platforms/levels. DGA has a fairly accurate build but why is Beorn there when he is literally featured in the film not even ten minutes in human form. Don't get me wrong, I am glad we got characters like Thranduil and Beorn but won't kids be confused and actually LESS likely to buy these sets that have minor characters in spots they never really appear? Meanwhile we could of finally got Sauron but got a black and mint green gorilla Necromancer instead.

Can't fault Lego for the last bit. Necromancer's Fire-Sauron form in Dol Guldur was most likely not finished until a few months before release. They were working with AUJ Necromancer design, to which this is accurate.

DGA is still a stupid set though, agreed. I really hope they put Bolg in a TABA set.

As for Beorn and the Master getting figures when they have only minutes of screentime - both had material that's been cut for the EE. Beorn was supposed to have a 'chopping wood' sequence as his introduction, and the feast that Bofur wakes up hungover from we will also see in the EE. Both are 'slower' sequences that interrupt the pacing, so I can see why PJ - and likely studio pressure - had them cut. I think PJ is also more open to cutting stuff if the studio is complaining because he knows that the true fans who care will all be buying the EE anyways.

[Hepitos]

I've bought four, and not seen any serious problems. Maybe you just got a bad set? Sometimes LEGO slips up and misprints happen.

i've bought 3 sets and in all the same shit.....i hope they will send me new ones

[TheLegoDr]

So far no issues with my MEA set, but I did have those issues with my Elrond polybag. I'd think it to be odd to receive multiple bad prints while no one else received any yet. It is certainly possible for it to happen, but the odds are astronomical. Do you have other elf hair pieces? I've yet to see a 'perfect' print on any of them, but nothing terrible. Maybe your expectations are too high? This is a new mold, so maybe they haven't perfected the printing process yet.

Edit: looking at all of my elf hair pieces, only the yellow hair loss printed appropriately. All of my other darker hair color shows flesh tone on the hair itself. To be honest it never bothered me, so I never gave it much thought. It must just be how the machine prints. It has that little margin of error because all of them are in the same size and area. LEGO might be willing to replace them, but I believe you will get the exact same printing.

Edited December 15, 2013 by TheLegoDr

[The_Chosen_1]

We really can't fault Lego for not making The Hobbit sets 100% accurate. With brand new films like this, licensees have the disadvantage of having a very limited amount of material to draw from (mostly concept/production art, photos, and occasional bits of footage). Of course The Lord of the Rings sets were "better" in that regard, since the films were 10 years old by that point. For what they are, the new DoS sets are fantastic (apart from the lack of Smaug).

[Alfadas]

I saw the movie yesterday, and DGB looks not good in legoform. The Gundabad orcs are WAY to orange, and why don't we have a Bolg minifig? He plays a quite big role in the movie. But the elves are nice and accurate to the movie. I have made a custom armored elf soldier, here is the pic:

I think it looks like the version in the movie, but offcourse the armor doesn't have printing. Let me know what you think of this armored elf!

[Cammo]

The Gundabad orcs are WAY to orange, and why don't we have a Bolg minifig? He plays a quite big role in the movie.

He was changed from a physical actor into a Performance capture character to fit Azog's looks. LEGO was already starting designing with the old looks and probably dismissed the character to prevent another Yazneg/Azog mistake. Pretty sure you will get him in the last Hobbit wave.

[Alfadas]

Good! He is my favorite orc, except maybe for Azog.

[BrickBob Studpants]

Considering the Arkenstone was given quite some weight in DoS (alongside corresponding foreshadowing), I think there's a high probability we might see in in LEGO form. This leads to two questions: 1) How are they going to represent it? The current gem/crystal moulds (diamond, classic crystal and Monster Fighter moon crystal) don't do it justice since it's shaped like an ellipsoid and 2) What kind of set would it be part of? We don't know how that part of the book is going to be portrayed in TABA, but the Arkenstone surely isn't going to be featured in an action scene... Of course TLG could just ignore it, but I really hope not

Edited December 15, 2013 by Lego-Freak

[AFOLguy1970]

Perhaps the Arkenstone could be a gem with a light brick behind it. It would then be part of the scenery and not just a stand alone object.

[Alcarin]

I just hope we get armored Dwarfs, armored elves and preferably armored lake town soldiers vs loads of orcs ....