LEGO LotR - general discussion

[TheRedViper]

How credible is this source? I wouldnt read too much into this...

[deskp]

How credible is this source? I wouldnt read too much into this...

well atm it's part of a large amout of thigns pointing towards the theme having ended.

weatehr the sourcce is credible or not. there does not seem to be mroe lotr either way.

[Ardelon]

So, to carry on the conversation from the previous page, assuming TLG would still have the license, would it be more profitable for TLG to make more Middle-earth waves or an in-house Castle theme? Any clues on this?

[kabel]

How credible is this source? I wouldnt read too much into this...

I actually said the same thing just a few days ago and was given the info by an official lego rep I bumped into in town. Funny to see how People here start to fantasize over and over again. It's done guys, face it!

[TheRedViper]

I'm not saying I think the theme will continue, I am just questioning the reliability of the source. In my opinion there will be no more LOTR sets...

[Alcarin]

Been told that there are no LotR sets in 2015. This is by someone high up in the LEGO Club department who has seen the full list of products for the coming 12 months.

:'(

The only thing is, the next 12 months = July 2015 not December 2015 :)

So he might be right and LOTR might still come.....

[Blakstone]

I don't think we will ever get an existing license through IDEAS. However, perhaps Hobbit will get a really useful D2C for us. I have seen someone recommend a big Rivendale for that.

[Alcarin]

I don't think we will ever get an existing license through IDEAS. However, perhaps Hobbit will get a really useful D2C for us. I have seen someone recommend a big Rivendale for that.

The problem is Hobbit is quite thin on the factions and especially on characters.... we got the dwarves, we got Bilbo, Smaug, Gandalf and Dain and Bard and even Thraunduil/Radagast/Witch King

So what is left to do...... elven soldiers in armor and unique helm mold/ shield mold..... and thats pretty much it......

What would you put in this D2C set? What would be its showpiece ????

The only thing that looks really good is the entrance to Erebor with those 2 dwarven statues.....

Rivendel would be a HUGE let down imo especially since we already have it atleast partially

[SMC]

So, to carry on the conversation from the previous page, assuming TLG would still have the license, would it be more profitable for TLG to make more Middle-earth waves or an in-house Castle theme? Any clues on this?

I think this is a great question, if the license is ending and LOTR is not selling well then it would be simple for lego to end LOTR but if they have the license for some time still would it sell better then a normal castle line.

How credible is this source? I wouldnt read too much into this...

That is a good question but then number of times we have been told the same thing must mean something

Do you think lego care about how a line is viewed by us, by this I mean lego might consider the hobbit line to be unsuccessful because it didn't sell well but we (afol) might consider it a good line because it coved everything we wanted. Do you think Lego care that the LOTR line is unfinished or do they just care how well it sells?

I still think a D2C LOTR set could do really well what ever its size

[BrickBob Studpants]

I agree, a D2C Hobbit set is very unlikely since there's nothing major that TLG haven't tackled (unlike LOTR, where there's still plenty of potential ). I wouldn't mind another LOTR D2C set, although the "no exclusive parts" rule restricts the possibilities quite a bit. I really don't expect the line to be continued, but I wouldn't mind being pleasantly surprised

[Moon_Knight]

Been told that there are no LotR sets in 2015. This is by someone high up in the LEGO Club department who has seen the full list of products for the coming 12 months.

:'(

Perhaps you can inform us what will be coming in 12 months for the superheroes theme in the superheroes thread. ;)

[Faefrost]

So, to carry on the conversation from the previous page, assuming TLG would still have the license, would it be more profitable for TLG to make more Middle-earth waves or an in-house Castle theme? Any clues on this?

At this point I can see it easily being more profitable for them to dive into a more full blown Castle theme. As weird as it would sound, maybe, given the current popularity of Game of Thrones, something like a more Knights Kingdom II faction based thing. With a broader spectrum of colored factions fighting for the crown, each having a distinct look. Kind of Chima, but without the carnivorous Fabuland undertone.

[coolguy2323]

Been told that there are no LotR sets in 2015. This is by someone high up in the LEGO Club department who has seen the full list of products for the coming 12 months.

:'(

As a huge basketball fan, I cannot help but think "SOURCES!"

Lol.

If they put another wave out, I will buy it all. It's that simple.

Maybe not all of it, but defintely some of it for me. All depends on what I can afford, but yes, I will try as well!

[atreyu2112]

If it's truly over ... it's really sad. There was SO much potential in this theme/franchise. Especially with how awesome wave 1 was! I can't help but feel let down that we couldn't get one last wave to address to holes in our collections. Treebeard, Witch King in armor on his Fell Beast. Eowyn, Faramir, Gondor Soldiers, Gondor Rangers, Gothmog, any type of Gondor structure (Minas Tirith, Osgiliath), Cirith Ungol, Barad Dur ... SAURON!!!

We got a lack-luster wave 2. Not including Treebeard in Orthanc. We got The Wizard Battle when we also got Orthanc. Mouth of Sauron instead of the WITCH KING!!! We got a boat... that was in the movie less than 2 minutes instead of a core Gondor set, which to me is like getting the Star Wars super hero ice cream guy in ESB over getting a Boba Fett. We got some really cool stuff, then Lego dropped the ball BIG TIME and blamed poor sales and lack of interest.

Thanks for blue balling us TLG! I love having an incomplete collection.

Edited July 14, 2014 by atreyu2112

[Deathleech]

I seriously doubt we will ever get a Minas Tirith set through Cuusoo/Lego Ideas just based on the past approved projects. Very few are expensive sets and none have ever been in the $200-400 range. Lately Lego seems to be favoring the $30-50 sets as that's almost exclusively what the most recent ones have all cost. As much as I would love to see one of those Minas Tirith sets made, I just don't ever see it happening.

More realistically I think Lego COULD give us a single $30 set. Make it a psuedo army builder like the Mirkwood Elf Army/Uruk-hai Army sets. Give us two Orcs with new prints and molds, a Nazgul, and a Fel Beast as the main build. For the good guys we could have Faramir or Eowyn and a Gondor soldier or two. Throw in a Rohan Helmet and a Witch King crown as alternate helms for even more appeal. That way you could make the Nazgul into the Witch King or keep it a regular Nagul, and Eowyn could serve as a soldier of Rohan or Eowyn. The hair and hood don't even need to be new molds. That would cover nearly all the main characters still missing and the Gondor faction all in one cheap set.

I doubt even a set like that would get made if it got enough votes on Ideas though. It seems Lego has pretty much left the Middle-Earth line for dead. We won't be getting sets for almost a year, when we do it's only going to be four, and the past two waves have been seriously lackluster. If that wern't enough evidence we also have rampant reports the line is over after the third Hobbit wave.

[Trunkbass]

I contacted LEGO again with the question if the LotR line is ending and suggesting it shouldn’t because we miss key parts of the story (Gondor, Witch-King, Balrog, Treebeard, etc.). I tried it in French this time, because I didn’t get an answer in Dutch (my mother tongue).

This is what I got as a reply:

“Nous vous remercions de nous avoir contactés.

Avoir des fans de LEGO® heureux est l’une de nos priorités, et nous sommes heureux d’apprendre que vous soyez un grand fan de LEGO Lord of the Ring

Je pense que votre suggestion est excellente et je suis avec vous, je pense aussi que ce thème LEGO est superbe. Toutefois, je me dois de vous informer que nous avons une équipe d'experts au Danemark dont le travail consiste à inventer de nouveaux ensembles, thèmes et jouets LEGO. Ils me font savoir que la planification de nouveaux concepts prend des années. Ils doivent d'abord tester toutes les nouvelles idées, discuter avec l'usine de la fabrication, trouver quelle boîte satisfera le plus les fans de LEGO et ensuite livrer les nouveaux ensembles à tous les magasins dans 130 pays ! Cela signifie qu'ils prennent toujours en considération les commentaires de nos fans.

Je transmet donc fidèlement vos commentaires en espérant que ce thème resterai encore pour quelques années dans le marché. Nous vous remercions à nouveau de votre courrier. N'hésitez pas à nous contacter pour toute autre demande au numéro vert: 00800 5346 5555 (lundi-vendredi 9h-17h).

Bien cordialement !”

I don’t have the time to translate everything, but basically she says:

She’s happy I’m a LotR fan and she is too. Developing new ideas for sets takes years and therefore they listen to the requests of their fans to try to incorporate these into their sets. She will send my request to the LEGO company and hopes too that the LEGO LotR line will continue for a few more years.

As usual a bit vague, but at least it’s not negative news dead on. What do you think?

Edited July 14, 2014 by Trunkbass

[BrickBob Studpants]

We got The Wizard Battle when we also got Orthanc.

There's a simple reason for the existence of the Wizard Battle set: D2C sets don't feature exclusive moulds, so they had to put Saruman's hair/beard piece in a regular set as well to justify its production I know it's technically the same mould as Gandald the White's hairpiece, but it still has unique printing and comes in one of those small bags, meaning it's not just a simple recolor. I think someone has brought this up already in this thread, but I can't manage to find said post

[Faefrost]

I contacted LEGO again with the question if the LotR line is ending and suggesting it shouldn’t because we miss key parts of the story (Gondor, Witch-King, Balrog, Treebeard, etc.). I tried it in French this time, because I didn’t get an answer in Dutch (my mother tongue).

This is what I got as a reply:

“Nous vous remercions de nous avoir contactés.

Avoir des fans de LEGO® heureux est l’une de nos priorités, et nous sommes heureux d’apprendre que vous soyez un grand fan de LEGO Lord of the Ring

Je pense que votre suggestion est excellente et je suis avec vous, je pense aussi que ce thème LEGO est superbe. Toutefois, je me dois de vous informer que nous avons une équipe d'experts au Danemark dont le travail consiste à inventer de nouveaux ensembles, thèmes et jouets LEGO. Ils me font savoir que la planification de nouveaux concepts prend des années. Ils doivent d'abord tester toutes les nouvelles idées, discuter avec l'usine de la fabrication, trouver quelle boîte satisfera le plus les fans de LEGO et ensuite livrer les nouveaux ensembles à tous les magasins dans 130 pays ! Cela signifie qu'ils prennent toujours en considération les commentaires de nos fans.

Je transmet donc fidèlement vos commentaires en espérant que ce thème resterai encore pour quelques années dans le marché. Nous vous remercions à nouveau de votre courrier. N'hésitez pas à nous contacter pour toute autre demande au numéro vert: 00800 5346 5555 (lundi-vendredi 9h-17h).

Bien cordialement !”

I don’t have the time to translate everything, but basically she says:

She’s happy I’m a LotR fan and she is too. Developing new ideas for sets takes years and therefore they listen to the requests of their fans to try to incorporate these into their sets. She will send my request to the LEGO company and hopes too that the LEGO LotR line will continue for a few more years.

As usual a bit vague, but at least it’s not negative news dead on. What do you think?

It's just the standard formula response.

[deskp]

does all the lego responders claim to be a fan of whatever youre asking about?

[Faefrost]

does all the lego responders claim to be a fan of whatever youre asking about?

Pretty much. It's just cut and paste boilerplate made to sound as if it was a specific response. And they always love whatever it is you are asking about.

[MattedBricks]

It seems that we are all grasping at straws, because we love the theme and don’t want to see it end… A few thoughts.

First, we have been very fortunate to get what we have (just out of my dark ages right before wave 1 hit, what timing!). A complete Fellowship… just awesome.

Second, we have no idea what the future holds. Even with “confirmed” reports that the line is done, that doesn’t mean that things can’t change. I am guessing that the third Hobbit wave is going to do VERY well, thanks in large part to our buddy Smaug. With MiddleEarth sales at a (what can only be assumed) record high, it may changes things for a future LOTR wave. May not.

Third, have we done ALL we can to help the theme continue? Have we all contacted Lego directly and voiced our support of the line? Supported all MiddleEarth IDEAS projects out there? Asked our friends and family to support as well? In the end, we know it’s all about sales. Is there anything else we can do to encourage sales? A few buddies just came out of their dark ages (sadly, they missed most of the LOTR waves, and are subject to aftermarket price hikes) are now planning on buying the new Hobbit sets. With enough support behind the Hobbit, we may see LOTR theme continue. May not.

I really would have liked to see the theme go “evergreen”… but that doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. One day the theme will end. And a sad day it will be. But we can still keep it alive with the forums talking about how to (purist or custom) complete the line… Post epic new builds on MOC pages, Flickr etc… and just have fun with what we DID get, instead of focusing on what we are missing. Because no matter how long a theme continues, we won’t get EVERYTHING. If I have learned one thing from Lego it’s that we are only limited by our own imagination and creativity. I know it sounds like a cat poster, but it’s true.

[Trunkbass]

^ Copy that, sir!

I recently supported as many LEGO LotR ideas as I could find and every month I try to send them an email, you never know.

If there's no news in the booklet of the third Hobbit wave I will start a petition to save the LotR LEGO line, maybe in the form of a combined Middle-Earth theme?

[Alcarin]

It seems that we are all grasping at straws, because we love the theme and don’t want to see it end… A few thoughts.

First, we have been very fortunate to get what we have (just out of my dark ages right before wave 1 hit, what timing!). A complete Fellowship… just awesome.

Second, we have no idea what the future holds. Even with “confirmed” reports that the line is done, that doesn’t mean that things can’t change. I am guessing that the third Hobbit wave is going to do VERY well, thanks in large part to our buddy Smaug. With MiddleEarth sales at a (what can only be assumed) record high, it may changes things for a future LOTR wave. May not.

Third, have we done ALL we can to help the theme continue? Have we all contacted Lego directly and voiced our support of the line? Supported all MiddleEarth IDEAS projects out there? Asked our friends and family to support as well? In the end, we know it’s all about sales. Is there anything else we can do to encourage sales? A few buddies just came out of their dark ages (sadly, they missed most of the LOTR waves, and are subject to aftermarket price hikes) are now planning on buying the new Hobbit sets. With enough support behind the Hobbit, we may see LOTR theme continue. May not.

I really would have liked to see the theme go “evergreen”… but that doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. One day the theme will end. And a sad day it will be. But we can still keep it alive with the forums talking about how to (purist or custom) complete the line… Post epic new builds on MOC pages, Flickr etc… and just have fun with what we DID get, instead of focusing on what we are missing. Because no matter how long a theme continues, we won’t get EVERYTHING. If I have learned one thing from Lego it’s that we are only limited by our own imagination and creativity. I know it sounds like a cat poster, but it’s true.

The thing is, even if Hobbit sets do outstanding I do not think (granted its ''retired'' theme) LEGO can launch production cycle fast enough to hope for 2015 release of LOTR then.......

If we are supposed to get LOTR in 2015, it means plans should be in motion about now :)

[Robert_88]

Many people speculate that the second wave was split. If this is true how likely is it that some new molds were already produced?

[Alcarin]

Many people speculate that the second wave was split. If this is true how likely is it that some new molds were already produced?

Exactly, now it only depends if such theory is likely or possible.....

I sincerely hope it is, and they left out the best 3-4 sets of LOTR for last (including Balrog, Gondor soldiers/rangers and possible Witch king on the fields of Pelennor.