LEGO LotR - general discussion

[Deathleech]

Well, if nothing else, there's someone making custom Gondor helmets. These are just prototypes, the final version will be in ABS;

http://classic-castl...hp?f=14&t=25531

They aren't perfect, but I'm sure the ABS versions will be better... Anyways, I'll take them.

How do you know the final version he is making will be ABS? And available outside his personal use?

[Borador]

How do you know the final version he is making will be ABS? And available outside his personal use?

Because he has a Bricklink store and all of his other product are ABS. He also mentioned them being available in a better material, which, based on his other products, could be ABS.

[Faefrost]

How do you know the final version he is making will be ABS? And available outside his personal use?

The ABS is an educated guess since those look to be 3d printed. That type of printer that it looks to be normally would print either PLA ( not a goid fit for Lego parts) or ABS. I would suspect those are for personal use. Based on the resolution of his prototypes he is probably using a lower end home and hobbiest printer. The production rate on that would be real low. Not enough to create any stock to sell easily.

[sahidko]

Doesn't look like personal use only to me. I checked that forum and found also this:

http://classic-castle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=25468

http://classic-castle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=25472

Where he is saying "New LOTR items available this fall in my BL shop"

[Borador]

And on top of that, in that very post he mentions "larger quantities"...

ABS was an assumption, but for a different reason. That same guy sells a custom Egyptian "double crown" in his bricklink store that is made of ABS. You're right that we don't know for sure, though. Maybe we could ask him? (Someone else. My CC account hasn't been approved yet)

[Mahtion]

Doesn't look like personal use only to me. I checked that forum and found also this:

http://classic-castle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=25468

http://classic-castle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=25472

Where he is saying "New LOTR items available this fall in my BL shop"

His existing Elf helmet is absolutely horrendous and looks like his worst creation. Compared to his recent designs it needs an update badly.

[Deathleech]

I was unaware he had a store just from that one thread, it kind of sounded like he was just making a large number for his own personal use. After seeing he has a store and stating he will be offering LotR products though, I am definitely intrigued. Everything offered on his store is all made from ABS plastic so I could only assume the LotR/Gondor helms will be as well. The Gondor helm could use a little more work to be perfect, but it looks like a great start.

[Seaber]

His existing Elf helmet is absolutely horrendous and looks like his worst creation. Compared to his recent designs it needs an update badly.

Where have you seen his Elf Helmet?

I like his Elendil and Isildur, perfect examples of what Lego would have almost certainly never given us, but the fans step in.

[MAB]

If the numbers available are similar to his BL store, then they could be 3D printed rather than molded.

[Venkefedo]

Where have you seen his Elf Helmet?

It's on his BL store... and it is pretty horrendous, but for all we know that was his first-ever helmet. His pharaoh headdress looks good, and the Elendil & Isildur helms look cool.

[Deathleech]

It's on his BL store... and it is pretty horrendous, but for all we know that was his first-ever helmet. His pharaoh headdress looks good, and the Elendil & Isildur helms look cool.

Yup, it's here. It's pretty bad. His other helms seem to be much better. I am anxious to see how his LotR helms turn out.

[Seaber]

Didn't even realise that was Elven. Still, it's got a good shape and looks sturdy, shows he knows what he's doing even if it's not a design I'd buy.

His store looks promising, hopefully others follow suit, if they're not doing so already!

[Borador]

Well, I asked, he's just confirmed that these will be made in ABS.

I think they'd look great on one of these:GONDOR SOLDIER by smallgreenpealtd, on Flickr Which are not only custom printed, but for sale. I think it was 8 bucks for 2? About what one would pay for an offical one.

I want to leave all of you with a thought. What do you suppose is a better way to complete your collection of LEGO Lord of the Rings? Do you think that it is to constantly beg and petition LEGO? Or would you say that its better to support people like these who make custom parts to complete the theme? Would you say its more effective to protest LEGO (who doesn't care, by they way), to sign hundreds of petitions, to support all of these Ideas projects... Or would it be better to look for alternative methods of getting what you want? Even if you don't like the helmets and figures I've linked to here, I'm sure you could find one you do. And if you can't, I'm sure that you could ask. You can petition customizers. You can ask them and they will respond. They care. LEGO doesn't.

What about Treebeard and the Balrog? They're too big to be made by customizers? Or what about Minas Tirith or Barad Dur?

This is LEGO after all. You can build them. If you yourself can't design one, then find one you like and ask for instructions. That is literally just like buying an official set. Literally, the only difference is that you have to gather the parts yourself. In this day and age? That is no problem. It's too time-consuming to go on bricklink... Well, true. But I'm pretty sure that LDD offers a service where you can build the model and have it shipped to you (I don't know if they still do that, though). That should take care of the Balrog, Treebeard, Minas Tirith, and whatever else you wanna build.

If you REALLY want LEGO Lord of the Rings. If you REALLY care. You'll stop posting the same wishlist over and over. Stop talking about how LEGO "failed". Stopped talking about "what they could've done" all the potential, etc. Stop with the petitions. Stop yelling at LEGO. LEGO is NOT going to listen. They do NOT care. They will NEVER care. Support the people who DO care. Help them get you what you want. Sign petitions to have some customizer make an Eowyn from the game. Buy those Gondor helmets. Buy lots of them so the creator makes more good stuff. Buy customs! Petition customizers. Advertise for customizers. Do whatever you can. Even a simple "Check out this guys store" photo on Flickr will make a difference. LEGO only gave us so much. Now, we have to get the rest.

I don't mean to sound rude, and if I do, I am sorry. But frankly, this has gone on too long. What we here are doing does no good whatsoever. We have a right to be angry. But why waste our time being mad when we can find ways to, at least partially, ease the pain ("pain" is too strong a word, but I don't have a better one).

Edited since upon rereading, I was a bit harsh. Sorry. Didn't mean to do that. No hard feelings?

Edited September 12, 2014 by Borador

[Deathleech]

GONDOR SOLDIER by smallgreenpealtd, on Flickr Which are not only custom printed, but for sale. I think it was 8 bucks for 2? About what one would pay for an offical one.

They are $7.50 a piece and that doesn't come with a head, helm, or weapon. That's like double or triple what an official figure would cost. Also the printing isn't bad, but it's definitely not up to Lego standards.

[Borador]

They are $7.50 a piece and that doesn't come with a head, helm, or weapon. That's like double or triple what an official figure would cost. Also the printing isn't bad, but it's definitely not up to Lego standards.

I thought it was 7.50 for 2? Maybe I saw it wrong. And I may have stretched the truth a bit, yeah, okay, I admit to that. It is a bit more expensive, but I've heard of Rohan soldiers going for 11.50.

You're right about the printing. I admit, customs still haven't reached LEGO quality... But it's all we got. LEGO isn't listening. That isn't a problem we can solve, it's a fact of life. All I wanted to say was that since they aren't listening, why don't we support the people who are?

[Deathleech]

I understand and I totally will be buying custom pieces to fill any gaps in my LotR and Hobbit collection. I was just pointing out why people are so eager to get official Lego sets instead. It's usually a lot cheaper and the pieces are better quality. Sure you can build your own Balrog or Minas Tirith but it can be a total pain getting all the pieces on BL, it's usually more expensive and time consuming. You no longer can do the LDD thing where you build a model and send it in and get all the pieces sent back to you from Lego. Lego stopped doing this awhile back. So, while I definitely think buying from customizers is a good last resort, I still think wanting and trying to get Lego to make a few more sets holds some merit.

[Trunkbass]

I want to leave all of you with a thought. What do you suppose is a better way to complete your collection of LEGO Lord of the Rings? Do you think that it is to constantly beg and petition LEGO? Or would you say that its better to support people like these who make custom parts to complete the theme?

I fail to see why we can't do both.

It wouldn't hurt anybody to sign or share the petition, as much as it wouldn't hurt anyone to support unofficial solutions.

[sahidko]

They are $7.50 a piece and that doesn't come with a head, helm, or weapon. That's like double or triple what an official figure would cost. Also the printing isn't bad, but it's definitely not up to Lego standards.

I don't know what you are looking at but they are sold for $14.59 a piece. Funny part is that you can buy a minifig or just a torso for the same price.

http://www.ebay.com/...=item5d4ceca721

http://www.ebay.com/...=item5d4cec98e1

Edited September 13, 2014 by sahidko

[Deathleech]

I don't know what you are looking at but they are sold for $14.59 a piece. Funny part is that you can buy a minifig or just a torso for the same price.

http://www.ebay.com/...=item5d4ceca721

http://www.ebay.com/...=item5d4cec98e1

I'm looking at the second link you posted. It's an auction for two torsos for $14.59. That's the one I was talking about that doesn't come with minifigure helms, heads, or weapons. Obviously that is the better deal. The cape, head, weapons, and helm on the single $14.59 figure can all be gotten for under a few dollars. The only thing of real value in those auctions is the torso and legs. Why spend $14.59 for a single minifigure when you can get 2x the torso and legs for the same price and then spend another $5 or so getting them weapons, helms, and heads? That's around $20 for two fully equipped Gondor Soldiers vs nearly $30 he is asking for pre-made ones.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Deathleech

[AFOLguy1970]

This guy also has created a Faramir and Witch King. They are not cheap, but I bookmarked his site. The Witch King looks really good.

[TheLegoDr]

The problem with them isn't the price. I think they are overly detailed. They won't fit in with the rest of the line. Even though figures are more detailed now than they used to be, this is still above them!

But the cost is a bit high for what I'd want too.

[Borador]

I'm looking at the second link you posted. It's an auction for two torsos for $14.59. That's the one I was talking about that doesn't come with minifigure helms, heads, or weapons. Obviously that is the better deal. The cape, head, weapons, and helm on the single $14.59 figure can all be gotten for under a few dollars. The only thing of real value in those auctions is the torso and legs. Why spend $14.59 for a single minifigure when you can get 2x the torso and legs for the same price and then spend another $5 or so getting them weapons, helms, and heads? That's around $20 for two fully equipped Gondor Soldiers vs nearly $30 he is asking for pre-made ones.

Oh, now I see where I messed up. The price is in pounds. I didn't convert it to dollars. Well, still, that's not a great price, but I don't think you'll find a better deal than that. Anyways, I've heard of official Rohan soldiers going for $11.50 each, so $20 (roughly) for two Gondorians isn't terrible...

I admit to having stretched the truth a bit on the prices. Sorry about that. But honestly, it has come down considerably from what it was when I first got into the hobby. It used to be a hundred or so per figure. I'm sure that, even if it isn't ideal now, it will be in the future... I hope, anyways...

The problem with them isn't the price. I think they are overly detailed. They won't fit in with the rest of the line. Even though figures are more detailed now than they used to be, this is still above them!

But the cost is a bit high for what I'd want too.

Which figures are you referring to? I've actually had the opposite problem with the ones I've linked to here. I find them just a bit under-detailed next to official figures (still look awesome though,just not sure detail is quite consistent). There are some printed figures that are too detailed (IE, EclipseGrafx. Oh, I love them, but they really don't fit with official figures), but I haven't seen any Lord of the Rings ones that are...

Customs may not be as good as LEGO (well, most aren't anyways) but we can't get official ones at this point. Which is a shame. I really wish we could get official ones. I mean I REALLY do. But we can't. So, we turn to customs. It isn't ideal, I admit, nor do I claim it to be, but I'd take a crude Witch King over no Witch King (and the one I linked to is NOT crude at all, so I don't even have to take a crude one)

I apologize that my initial post was a bit harsh. I've had a long couple of weeks. Didn't mean to yell at anyone (if you took it that way). I just wanted to point out that LEGO is not the only way to get what we want.

[TheLegoDr]

I was taking about the gondor figure above being too detailed. Lego figures don't have that much printing, especially on the lower legs. It wouldn't fit in. A little bit of printing on legs works, but I think this is too much.

[Borador]

I was taking about the gondor figure above being too detailed. Lego figures don't have that much printing, especially on the lower legs. It wouldn't fit in. A little bit of printing on legs works, but I think this is too much.

Oh, I see what you mean. Fair enough. I'm sure this line's ending will bring in lots of new custom Gondor soldiers, so if you don't like this one, I'm sure there'll be one you like eventually...

[atreyu2112]

I fail to see why we can't do both.

It wouldn't hurt anybody to sign or share the petition, as much as it wouldn't hurt anyone to support unofficial solutions.

^ This!