LEGO LotR - general discussion

[wesker]

Even if they did make a third wave, which I highly doubt, I would not expect to see everyone get what they are looking for. Just because they could finally make a Gondor set would not mean you would get generic Gondor soldiers. Hobbit Wave 3 has made it painfully obvious that having sets packed with rehashed main characters is all the rage. There were some nice things about Hobbit Wave 3, but they really wasted an opportunity with the Battle of Five Armies set. There will be no Iron Hill dwarves or armored elves in that line. If they did actually do Gondor, sure you might get Faramir, Witch King and Eowyn finally, but you would likely get rehashes of the umpteenth Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli in the place of the Gondor Soldier. Orcs would probably be the only generic army builder type you could expect.

The odd thing is that in places like the Lego Store or Toys R US, there are plenty of Hobbit, LOTR sets still on the shelves. However, it is much harder to find the Uruk Hai Army set as well as the Mirkwood Elf Army set. I wonder why?

For me LOTR is about the story and characters first and foremost. I would still be disapointed if we didn't get Gondor Soldiers, but I can live without them so long as the final wave can produce the rest of the missing characters like Faramir and especially Eowyn.

[MKJoshA]

Oh why do I keep coming back to this thread!? It just makes me depressed everytime! After seeing the new Hobbit set pictures I have to agree that LOTR is most likely over. Maaaaybe one more DTC set. But that's a huge maybe. CMF will never work because Lego doesn't have the licence for action figures and that's how LOTR CMR would be viewed. Remember the magnet problem? It's too bad really.

I'll be back next time I want to ruin the rest of my day.

[Zilcho]

I'm still hoping for one final wave.

Think about it, why would lego make a new hair piece for the orcs if they weren't going to use it on Lurtz for a £50 Amon Hen set. Right?...... right?

[Blakstone]

The odds have been slim for a long time. I am just waiting for The Hobbit instructions. Still the 2015 retailers catalog will be the final word.

[Mahtion]

The odds have been slim for a long time. I am just waiting for The Hobbit instructions. Still the 2015 retailers catalog will be the final word.

Final word or final nail in the coffin. It is over and at least LOTR ended big with Orthanc, Hobbit will end in a whimper.

[Risgrynsgrot]

I would be seriously surprised if we get more LOTR.

I think it's clear that LEGO originally intended on two summer waves of LOTR sets and two winter waves of Hobbit, to tie in with the two movies. Then the movies turned into three and LEGO quickly had to change up their plans so they could profit as much on the three movies. And that's why we'll get three Hobbit waves and only two LOTR waves.

And this theme (counting LOTR/Hobbit as one theme) has 26 sets, which is more compared to the much better selling Marvel Superheroes Theme (which also has a tie-in that kids watch, ie cartoons)

To end it off, this theme has been lacking in sales, sure some sets like the Uruk-Hai Army has sold well but my store has tons of Mirkwood Spider sets left even tough they've been on clearance for months. At least we ended with a bang with LOTR, unlike the crap that Hobbit got.

[SMC]

I would be seriously surprised if we get more LOTR.

I think it's clear that LEGO originally intended on two summer waves of LOTR sets and two winter waves of Hobbit, to tie in with the two movies. Then the movies turned into three and LEGO quickly had to change up their plans so they could profit as much on the three movies. And that's why we'll get three Hobbit waves and only two LOTR waves.

And this theme (counting LOTR/Hobbit as one theme) has 26 sets, which is more compared to the much better selling Marvel Superheroes Theme (which also has a tie-in that kids watch, ie cartoons)

To end it off, this theme has been lacking in sales, sure some sets like the Uruk-Hai Army has sold well but my store has tons of Mirkwood Spider sets left even tough they've been on clearance for months. At least we ended with a bang with LOTR, unlike the crap that Hobbit got.

if they only planed on 2 lotr waves they pick some odd sets, lego played a big part in the poor sales

[AFOLguy1970]

For me LOTR is about the story and characters first and foremost. I would still be disapointed if we didn't get Gondor Soldiers, but I can live without them so long as the final wave can produce the rest of the missing characters like Faramir and especially Eowyn.

I totally agree. Something would be better than nothing.

As it stands, it is impossible to have someone stand in for Witch King because of his unique battle gear. My mental visualization of Faramir would involve the Gondor White Tree printing, but not the one that Aragorn has at the Black Gate. Eowyn would be far easier to MOC, and it appears you have created something judging by your photo. Thankfully, she is easier to improvise.

[Deathleech]

It is time for brickforge or brickwarriors or one of the other custom parts companies to step in and create a Gondor style helmet and a Witch King mask. I'm glad I bought a load of BF dwarf helmets when they were cheap.

This is what I am hoping for. Something that looks close enough to the Gondor helm and shield, but still different enough for them to get away with it. Chest armor would be a huge bonus. Then I could buy a bunch of the helms/shields/chest armor, throw them on cheap all black torso and legs, get some random flesh heads and I have my own Gondor Soldiers. I think they would make a KILLING off this because so many people want the Gondor faction but Lego doesn't appear to be giving it to us.

As for the chess and CMF LotR, I know we already got most of those figures and there is no way Lego could give them to us anyways because they would break the game/action figure licenses (which Lego doesn't hold for their Middle-Earth themes). It was just a "what if" thing. I kind of wish Lego would have just gotten the action figure license for LotR instead of the building license and made a few CMF series. I mean most people seem to be just after the minifigures anyways and the sets themselves seem to get a ton of criticism. The Middle-Earth scenes don't really make great Lego sets when you think about it. Most are huge open areas in nature, vast tunnels, or enormous castles. How does Lego do them justice? It's not like Star Wars where they can whip up a ship which meshes much better with Lego bricks (they are mechanical and man made with hard lines vs organic, rounded, natural settings). Lego could of maybe done more brick built creatures like Shelob, but for whatever reason they didn't when the opportunities were there (Ent set, Balrog, Oliphant, etc.)

I'm still hoping for one final wave.

Think about it, why would lego make a new hair piece for the orcs if they weren't going to use it on Lurtz for a £50 Amon Hen set. Right?...... right?

Not necessarily. Why would Lego waste money on the Goblin Town goblin head piece that has only been used once, or the Mouth of Sauron helm for a figure only seen in the EE of the film for a few minutes? Why not use those molds for something more useful like a Gondor Soldier or Witch King which are infinitely more important in most people's eyes? Lego does some things that don't make sense to us and we may never know the actual reason.

[Borador]

Honestly...

I can't really see a CMF series selling well. Outside of LotR fans (and MAYBE Castle fans, but most of them don't like fleshies), most people would just be unhappy that it wasn't a normal series (like The Simpsons series). And then, what really would we get from it that we didn't get from the sets? One wave = 16 figures. Between LotR and the Hobbit... We may have gotten LESS! (Since I DOUBT we'd have gotten more than one wave. Two at the most.)

As for the chess set? Same thing. The last Hobbit wave pretty much confirms it for me. LEGO has no interest in making anything other than what they have made. A chess set would just reuse whatever characters they already have. Has a chess set ever gotten any new molds or prints, anyways?

At the end of the day, remember what it was like before we got this theme. I used to follow some Castle forums back then. They were convinced it would be amazing, but would never happen. They were certain. And they were sad. But look! It DID happen! For TEN YEARS we all "knew" it wouldn't, no matter how bad we wanted it. This line is an unlikely dream come true. I hate to be blunt, but beggars can't be choosers.

I'm sure Brickforge and the like will fill the gaps that LEGO left. After all, that's what they did when we had NOTHING AT ALL. Now that we have SOMETHING, imagine what can be done!

I have spoken.

[Brickadiergerard]

This is what I am hoping for. Something that looks close enough to the Gondor helm and shield, but still different enough for them to get away with it. Chest armor would be a huge bonus. Then I could buy a bunch of the helms/shields/chest armor, throw them on cheap all black torso and legs, get some random flesh heads and I have my own Gondor Soldiers. I think they would make a KILLING off this because so many people want the Gondor faction but Lego doesn't appear to be giving it to us.

As for the chess and CMF LotR, I know we already got most of those figures and there is no way Lego could give them to us anyways because they would break the game/action figure licenses (which Lego doesn't hold for their Middle-Earth themes). It was just a "what if" thing. I kind of wish Lego would have just gotten the action figure license for LotR instead of the building license and made a few CMF series. I mean most people seem to be just after the minifigures anyways and the sets themselves seem to get a ton of criticism. The Middle-Earth scenes don't really make great Lego sets when you think about it. Most are huge open areas in nature, vast tunnels, or enormous castles. How does Lego do them justice? It's not like Star Wars where they can whip up a ship which meshes much better with Lego bricks (they are mechanical and man made with hard lines vs organic, rounded, natural settings). Lego could of maybe done more brick built creatures like Shelob, but for whatever reason they didn't when the opportunities were there (Ent set, Balrog, Oliphant, etc.)

Not necessarily. Why would Lego waste money on the Goblin Town goblin head piece that has only been used once, or the Mouth of Sauron helm for a figure only seen in the EE of the film for a few minutes? Why not use those molds for something more useful like a Gondor Soldier or Witch King which are infinitely more important in most people's eyes? Lego does some things that don't make sense to us and we may never know the actual reason.

It does kind of come down to that doesn't it. The "why oh why?" questions. I don't suppose we'll ever understand that if series 2 ends up being the last one. The arrival of the Tumbler and Sand Crawler which are so plainly aimed at AFOLs does make me wonder if maybe, just maybe, even if there is to be no series 3, there might be some sort of large exclusive Minas Tirith set to finish lego's journey to Middle-Earth off. But that might just be wishful thinking on my part.

If there is no more, then someone is going to make a lot of money turning out Middle-Earth-like armour and custom printed figures.

[Deathleech]

Lack of new molds?

We have a whole freaking new dragon mold!! Also, With-King crown, Thorin's hair and crown and a new dwarf helmet.

If you include Smaug it probably has around the same number of new molds as the past waves. It just doesn't seem like it because so many are used up for that one creature. It feels like the rest of the wave really suffered just to give us a new molded Smaug. We only have 4 new molds excluding those used for Smaug (Dain helm, Thorin's crown hair, Witch King helm, Orc hair).

I can't really see a CMF series selling well. Outside of LotR fans (and MAYBE Castle fans, but most of them don't like fleshies), most people would just be unhappy that it wasn't a normal series (like The Simpsons series). And then, what really would we get from it that we didn't get from the sets? One wave = 16 figures. Between LotR and the Hobbit... We may have gotten LESS! (Since I DOUBT we'd have gotten more than one wave. Two at the most.)

As for the chess set? Same thing. The last Hobbit wave pretty much confirms it for me. LEGO has no interest in making anything other than what they have made. A chess set would just reuse whatever characters they already have. Has a chess set ever gotten any new molds or prints, anyways?

Maybe Lego could have kept the Hobbit as a building license and just got the LotR one as an action figure license so they could make a few CFM series of it? If we got two normal LotR waves I am sure we would have gotten at least two CMF waves instead, and maybe even three. Why would Lego do less? Much like the Simpsons CMF, I think a LotR one would work because it would be aimed more at AFOLs, allow for all the new molds needed, and it would focus on the minifigures which are what fans really seem to like about the LotR sets anyways. We would probably get more figures than we currently got and a lot of the missing stuff could have been covered (Witch King, Eowyn, Gondor Soldiers, Easterlings, Haradrim, armored elves, etc.). The only issue I see is getting the big figs and molded creatures out there. I am not sure how the Cave Troll or Wargs could be distributed if there were no normal sets and everything was done as CMF. A chess set wouldn't work as a stand alone, it would have to be added on to the existing waves or the CMF series. There just aren't enough pieces to cover everything from Middle-Earth in a single chess set.

[Blakstone]

LEGO trail blazed their licensed CMF line with The Simpson's. I think if they just got the LotR, they very well may have done that. Too late for that.

[Borador]

If you include Smaug it probably has around the same number of new molds as the past waves. It just doesn't seem like it because so many are used up for that one creature. It feels like the rest of the wave really suffered just to give us a new molded Smaug. We only have 4 new molds excluding those used for Smaug (Dain helm, Thorin's crown hair, Witch King helm, Orc hair).

Maybe Lego could have kept the Hobbit as a building license and just got the LotR one as an action figure license so they could make a few CFM series of it? If we got two normal LotR waves I am sure we would have gotten at least two CMF waves instead, and maybe even three. Why would Lego do less? Much like the Simpsons CMF, I think a LotR one would work because it would be aimed more at AFOLs, allow for all the new molds needed, and it would focus on the minifigures which are what fans really seem to like about the LotR sets anyways. We would probably get more figures than we currently got and a lot of the missing stuff could have been covered (Witch King, Eowyn, Gondor Soldiers, Easterlings, Haradrim, armored elves, etc.). The only issue I see is getting the big figs and molded creatures out there. I am not sure how the Cave Troll or Wargs could be distributed if there were no normal sets and everything was done as CMF. A chess set wouldn't work as a stand alone, it would have to be added on to the existing waves or the CMF series. There just aren't enough pieces to cover everything from Middle-Earth in a single chess set.

I don't know... Keeping The Hobbit as a building license and just doing LotR as a CMF series might work. But I just can't see them doing more than one series. Don't forget, doing licensed series takes away a spot for a normal one. So doing two would gut two normal ones. I don't think they'd do that. And just one series would only get us 16 characters. And there's nine in the Fellowship alone. So only seven spots. How many non-fellowship characters did we get in the sets? More than seven, if I recall correctly. And let's be realistic, based on the sets we've gotten, would those figures be what we all want? I doubt it. If they did two series, then maybe we could've gotten everything. But I just don't think LEGO would cut a big seller (CMF) for one apparently not selling so well (LotR)

When I mentioned the chess set, I meant if it came out now. I really think that if it did come out, it would be more rehashes. But LEGO doesn't have the rights to that anyways.

Sorry if I've brought anyone down. I want this to continue as much as anyone. But I just don't see it... So I'll just be happy with what we did get, and look forward to seeing how the AFOL community fills the gaps.

[atreyu2112]

Meh... I still think/hope that we will get one last LotR wave. Will it be everything we all want? Who knows. There have been quite a few ideas thrown around here that 3 to 5 sets could make EVERYONE happy. And most don't have to be huge expensive sets (the Balrog, Treebeard, Prologue ... brick built characters & a few mini figures). Something, ANYTHING would be better than nothing!

I think the sets were planned and ready to go but the timing of the Hobbit film split nonsense, then the huge effort they put into The Lego Movie (which even pushed back Star Wars sets). I do agree that if we don't see an add in the sets or any info in the retailer catalog, then it's over. But again, it just doesn't make any sense to me to leave things off like that.

I hope Lego realizes how much we all love the theme and want a chance to complete out collections. And that the remaining stuff we want would be the best selling, because most of it it the main meat & potatoes of the Trilogy.

[SirBlake]

This line is an unlikely dream come true. I hate to be blunt, but beggars can't be choosers.

In this instance, I will enjoy being blunt: We aren't beggars. We are consumers and as such, have the right to voice our opinions when we feel that a product is being mishandled as this one surely is.

Would I take what we got over no middle earth at all? Well of course, but this isn't an all-or-nothing scenario. This is the fan base, kids and AFOLs alike, that keep TLG in business and it is they that serve us, not the other way around.

[Mahtion]

In this instance, I will enjoy being blunt: We aren't beggars. We are consumers and as such, have the right to voice our opinions when we feel that a product is being mishandled as this one surely is.

Would I take what we got over no middle earth at all? Well of course, but this isn't an all-or-nothing scenario. This is the fan base, kids and AFOLs alike, that keep TLG in business and it is they that serve us, not the other way around.

Bravo sir! No need to be sniveling beggars when we have the purchasing power. We have every right to voice our concerns and criticisms. And I am sorry if people see these sets on par to the quality of other Lego themes. It just simply isn't the case. Case in point, legolas was included simply because of a cool factor or instant lure to kids who see the movie. Legolas was included for more self limiting reasons by Lego such as cost and production resources. TLG made their choices for good or Ill, let's not praise them but let their sales speak for itself.

[Borador]

In this instance, I will enjoy being blunt: We aren't beggars. We are consumers and as such, have the right to voice our opinions when we feel that a product is being mishandled as this one surely is.

Would I take what we got over no middle earth at all? Well of course, but this isn't an all-or-nothing scenario. This is the fan base, kids and AFOLs alike, that keep TLG in business and it is they that serve us, not the other way around.

You're right. We aren't really beggars. What I meant was that after ten years of wishful pessimism, I was just saying that we should just be glad we got anything. For ten years it looked impossible, and then it happened. It was one in a million.

We can voice our opinions. I never said we couldn't. What I mean is that if this is truly the end, we would be happier if we focused on what we did get and not what we didn't. Because it's clear we aren't getting any more. Enjoy what you have. If you feel something is missing you have every right, and are encouraged to say it. I just try to look on the bright side is all.

[Deathleech]

Legolas was included for more self limiting reasons by Lego such as cost and production resources. TLG made their choices for good or Ill, let's not praise them but let their sales speak for itself.

Exactly. Lego can only skimp out on a wave or line so much before it starts to actually cost them money. As a company, they need to figure out how much is acceptable to costumers. I know by not including an armored elf in the Mirkwood Elf Army set, and not including something as simple as orc hair pieces, they really lost a lot of sales with me. Sure they probably saved a lot of money by only having Thranduil's hair be the only new mold, but I bought over 20 Uruk-hai Army sets and dozens more Uruk-hai and Rohan Soldiers off BrickLink. How many MEA sets did I buy? Barely half that at 10 (and most of those were bought for the Wargs). With a lot of their Middle-Earth sets it feels like they are cutting too many corners as of late and the sets really suffer as a result. You need to put in money to make money.

[Lynx]

How good would it be to open up the last page of a Hobbit instruction booklet and see Faramir looking at Frodo. Under a large number showing '2015', only six words appear:

"The ring will go to Gondor."

[Trunkbass]

^ This

[CastleDefender]

Honestly, I find the Fantasy Era castle series more awesome than the LOTR and hobbit series, although non licensed but the different factions in the fantasy era created the wow factor...hopefully Lego will bring some of that franchise back.

[LegoThomas]

How good would it be to open up the last page of a Hobbit instruction booklet and see Faramir looking at Frodo. Under a large number showing '2015', only six words appear:

"The ring will go to Gondor."

Perfect.

[MAB]

I would be seriously surprised if we get more LOTR.

I think it's clear that LEGO originally intended on two summer waves of LOTR sets and two winter waves of Hobbit, to tie in with the two movies. Then the movies turned into three and LEGO quickly had to change up their plans so they could profit as much on the three movies. And that's why we'll get three Hobbit waves and only two LOTR waves.

There is an alternative view that the Hobbit was meant to be two series, one for each film, and that a third LOTR (RotK) series of sets would come out fall/autumn 2014. When the third film was announced, then the third wave of LOTR could have been put back / cancelled completely, as it would clash with the third wave of Hobbit sets that now need to come out in late 2014 to coincide with the film in cinemas.

[LegoThomas]

Thats what keeps my hope up!