LEGO LotR - general discussion

[Faefrost]

I just can't believe what I'm reading. Never mind crashing Lego's servers; my brain just crashed trying to resolve the intention to commit borderline cyber-terrorism with a bellicose insistence on Lego sets. I'm afraid to say I really don't think that plan is an especially good one.

I would not worry about it. I think the peak number of registered users here is 5000. And this is one of the larger AFOL communities. I'm thinking Lego's mail services really would not notice us. Heck we wouldn't even trigger the spam filters. Even if we all mailed at once.

[Dragonlego27]

I'll try the email thing, and support all unsupported Idea sets, but I still have hope for a third wave. LEGO was clearly planning to make one, we've even had several rumoured leaks of the designs of the sets. Just because lego was forced to delay something doesn't mean it won't come out. Even the Winter wave of SW sets were delayed those year!

Anyway Sir Gareth, you have my sword.

[bachamn]

We will plan an "assualt" and bombard them with emails. The key is for everyone to email them at the same time. If the website crashes because everyone is using it, our voices will be heard.

Campaigns and petitions like that should be catalysts for positive change in the world, not ways of getting material things that you want.

totally agree with this. If you look at the featured petitions on the Change.org homepage and still feel justified in using that platform to complain about the toys you didn't get, I'd suggest some self reflection.

[Borador]

totally agree with this. If you look at the featured petitions on the Change.org homepage and still feel justified in using that platform to complain about the toys you didn't get, I'd suggest some self reflection.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Look, it'd be one thing if we NEVER got any LEGO Lord of the Rings. It'd still be ludicrous to use change.org for something like that, but I could accept it, maybe. But we already got some. It wasn't enough? Life goes on.

I think this thread has outlived its purpose.

I think this thread outlived its purpose a LONG time ago- ie 70 or 80 pages.

I'm not even sure it ever had a purpose in the first place. When did it start? 2013? The year the LAST AND FINAL wave of Lord of the Rings sets was released? And for almost 2 years and 150 pages we've discussed something that doesn't even exist.

This thread is so far over the line it can't even see the line. The line is a dot to this thread.

Unless I am further provoked, this shall be my last word here.

[SMC]

With Minas Tirith at 9700 I don't think this topic is over yet.

[Bycougars]

For all of you LOTR fans and AFOL's who don't think that your voice is heard by Lego, here is an opportunity to share your opinion with lego through their survey: http://lego.fluidsurveys.com/s/Q4_2014/

I know that many of the AFOL's who want more LOTR sets, feel like Lego doesn't listen to what they want. This may be your chance.

[Deathleech]

Did it?

I seem to recall quite a few "meh" comments on multiple forums about both Weathertop and Mines of Moria at the time. Then only looking back after what came later did these sets turn out to be better than they were originally.

Ehh, two out of seven sets being "meh" is still pretty darn good. I think the Helm's Deep and UHA sets were the stand outs of the wave. Orc Forge, Gandalf Arrives, and Shelob Attacks were all decent enough sets as well. I think Shelob Attacks was actually superb, it just didn't get a lot of attention. That just leaves Weathertop and Mines of Moria. I actually thought both were better than Gandalf Arrives, but that's just my opinion. I think Mines of Moria was actually a really great set, and with minimal modding is a darn near perfect recreation of what it's trying to portray. The minifigures in it were amazing. I wasn't a huge fan of Wathertop due to it's high price per piece or incredibly shrunk down build, but still not a terrible set.

I dont understand this either. We have so many holes in the line but one of the top wishes for many is another ent just because the one in Orthanc is not officially called Treebeard.

People are lemmings. Unless they are SPECIFICALLY told it's Treebeard, they will refuse to believe it. I totally agree the Ent from the Orthanc set is suppose to represent him. He has the same orange eyes, nose, and a green beard. If that wern't enough evidence, there are NO other ents that remotely resemble the Orthanc one. I still to this day have yet to have anyone show me a picture of who the ent is supposed to resemble, if not Treebeard...

To me, that ent is a birch ent and looks NOTHING like the Treebeard in the movies I saw. ALL of the sets do their best to properly represent what was actually in the movie. Look at the rest of that particular set... every minifigure and the tower itself are great representations. That ent is NOT Treebeard. Getting that ent is EXACTLY like getting Mouth of Sauron but no Sauron - it's like, why even bother?

I strongly disagree. Below is a full shot of the birch ent. He has way more branches on his head, a longer torso, and no beard whatsoever. I think Treebeard in the video game just looks way different because at the time there was no Lego model in production yet so the game designers had to make up their own version. Then Lego decided to make Orthanc and the designers made their brick version which looks MUCH better then the crappy game one, imo....

Edited November 20, 2014 by Deathleech

[atreyu2112]

LOL, that's why I posted the pics of Treebeard from the game. I literally posted them NEXT to each other. Treebeard happens to be one of MY favorite characters from LotR. That is why I want him. What's so hard to understand about that? I mean, seriously... 3 or 4 posts about how guys can't understand that some people really want an accurate Treebeard? REALLY?

I think Treebeard in the video game just looks way different because at the time there was no Lego model in production yet so the game designers had to make up their own version. Then Lego decided to make Orthanc and the designers made their brick version which looks MUCH better then the crappy game one, imo....

If this is the case, then where are Merry and Pippin supposed to sit on him when they go into battle at Orthanc? I'm not saying it isn't a GREAT looking & well designed ent, but again, it's NOT Treebeard. And I disagree with you about the game designers not having the set designs or else none of them would have made it into the game. Especially in the bonus level... who's to say they weren't designed hand-in-hand???

In other news... less than 250 supporters needed. At this rate we will hit 10k by next week. And STILL, 4 Middle Earth based sets in top 10... This topic is far from done!

For all of you LOTR fans and AFOL's who don't think that your voice is heard by Lego, here is an opportunity to share your opinion with lego through their survey: http://lego.fluidsur....com/s/Q4_2014/

I know that many of the AFOL's who want more LOTR sets, feel like Lego doesn't listen to what they want. This may be your chance.

Did exactly this yesterday when I got the email. But, definitely a great way for everyone else here to let their "We really want more LotR" voices to be heard!

Edited November 21, 2014 by atreyu2112

[Bycougars]

In other news... less than 250 supporters needed. At this rate we will hit 10k by next week. And STILL, 4 Middle Earth based sets in top 10... This topic is far from done!

Down to 200 it will probably make it tomorrow considering the news letter going out. There is always a spike in support when the news letter goes out every week. I expect to see a large spike for Lothlorien as well. Hopefully Lothlorien will get the same momentum that Minas Tirith received so that it can reach 10000 as well.

[Risgrynsgrot]

LOL, that's why I posted the pics of Treebeard from the game. I literally posted them NEXT to each other. Treebeard happens to be one of MY favorite characters from LotR. That is why I want him. What's so hard to understand about that? I mean, seriously... 3 or 4 posts about how guys can't understand that some people really want an accurate Treebeard? REALLY

I'm guessing that people are implying that we've gotten a nice ent, that's most likely treebeard and you people need to obsess over getting a "proper" treebeard just because it says "ent" on the Orthanc box when we have way more important stuff to get, and like I said we've already gotten a nice one which you can modify to your liking.

[Blakstone]

Minas Tirith is down to needing 100 more supporters and Lothloren has past it for new supporters this week. This is very exciting.

[SMC]

^ Its great news and unexpected we did see much interest for a long time but time people are thinking that LOTR really is ending and telling Lego what they think, I just hope its not too late.

[bachamn]

I'm guessing that people are implying that we've gotten a nice ent, that's most likely treebeard and you people need to obsess over getting a "proper" treebeard just because it says "ent" on the Orthanc box when we have way more important stuff to get, and like I said we've already gotten a nice one which you can modify to your liking.

this has been my thinking about this all along; the ent is brick-built, and we have the game version of Treebeard for reference. (which I'll admit is more film-accurate, but I don't think it's so different that modifying the 'ent' to match would be too difficult to accomplish.

Edited November 21, 2014 by bachamn

[Deathleech]

If this is the case, then where are Merry and Pippin supposed to sit on him when they go into battle at Orthanc? I'm not saying it isn't a GREAT looking & well designed ent, but again, it's NOT Treebeard. And I disagree with you about the game designers not having the set designs or else none of them would have made it into the game. Especially in the bonus level... who's to say they weren't designed hand-in-hand???

Pippin and Merry are supposed to sit on that branch coming off his head? It perfectly fits one of them, and two can be placed if you have one of them hanging off a bit... As for the video game Treebeard, it looks like he uses a number of "illegal" building techniques. I don't see Lego using those fingers, and his beard is just floating on his face in a number of areas. Look at his mustache, it's not even connected!

I'm not saying the ent we got in Orthanc is a perfect representation of Treebeard, but it's pretty darn close. It's not like Lego has made any other character perfect, they take liberties. Gandalf's hair looks nothing like it does in the films and there are a number of colors that are off (Aragorn, Legolas, etc.). The Mordor Orcs used in the Black Gates and Pirate Ship Ambush set look NOTHING like the orcs in those actual movie scenes. The list goes on...

[Balbo]

I have to agree with Deathleech. The Treebeard from the game uses some building techniques which TLG would never use in a set. Treebeard is one of my favourite characters of Lord of the Rings too, so I can definitely understand that you want him but I'm sure he's the ent from the Orthanc.

The lack of Merry and Pippin has other reasons (every minifigure makes producing a set more expensive), but they can sit on the Treebeard perfectly, I just tried it .

Edited November 21, 2014 by Balbo

[Sir Gareth]

10,000 supporters!

[sahidko]

It's done - Minas Tirith has reached 10.000 supporters on Lego ideas. Can't believe how quicked it happened.

[SMC]

Well done NujuMetru.

[Black Numenorean]

It shall not paaaassssssssss!

[Robert_88]

YES!!! 10000!

Edited November 21, 2014 by Robert_88

[Bycougars]

Now it's waiting time until the review results come out in May or June...

Edited November 21, 2014 by Bycougars

[AFOLguy1970]

So far, it is up against the Avengers Helicarrier, the F7A Hornet, the Natural History Museum, the Goonies Pirate Ship, and the marble Labyrinth. It is interesting that all of these projects appear to be larger than what has been made into a set so far. The only small project I see so far within reach of joining this lineup is the piano. My hope is that some other set does not come along between now and the end of this submission period that would seem like an obvious shoo-in to be picked (think Ecto-1). Hopefully, something from the current review will not be rolled over, in the same way Dr. Who was handled. I cannot imagine Lego choosing nothing from an entire review. Because of this, I would say that Minas Tirith has a chance. How big of a chance, I have no idea, but it certainly seems higher than zero percent.

My own premonition tells me that the museum is the greatest competition to Minas Tirith, because it would not need to be licensed, and modulars are very popular.

[Balbo]

Yessssss. It feels really great seeing that the Minas Tirith set has achieved the first step

Edited November 21, 2014 by Balbo

[Deathleech]

So far, it is up against the Avengers Helicarrier, the F7A Hornet, the Natural History Museum, the Goonies Pirate Ship, and the marble Labyrinth. It is interesting that all of these projects appear to be larger than what has been made into a set so far. The only small project I see so far within reach of joining this lineup is the piano. My hope is that some other set does not come along between now and the end of this submission period that would seem like an obvious shoo-in to be picked (think Ecto-1). Hopefully, something from the current review will not be rolled over, in the same way Dr. Who was handled. I cannot imagine Lego choosing nothing from an entire review. Because of this, I would say that Minas Tirith has a chance. How big of a chance, I have no idea, but it certainly seems higher than zero percent.

My own premonition tells me that the museum is the greatest competition to Minas Tirith, because it would not need to be licensed, and modulars are very popular.

Ya, at nearly 23,000 bricks the Helicarrier will NEVER get made. It would be a $1750 set minimum, which is over triple Lego's biggest offering to date? I think the F7A Hornet and the Museum are the most likely candidates, though the Goonies sip MIGHT be possible if it were shrunk down considerably since Lego seems to be big fans of making sets out of older movies (BttF, Ghostbusters). I suppose the Labyrinth might also be possible, but with the Lego games being a flop I am not sure how likely Lego is to make something like this. It doesn't really seem to capitalize on Lego's strengths.

[Risgrynsgrot]

Not to mention that LEGO has their own helicarrier coming soon! I don't think the Museum is a likely candidate, it's kinda similar to the reserach institute with the dinosaur skeletons.. Hopefully LEGO'll pick the right choice..

And on another note, I seem to have been wrong about the ent in Orthanc. I e-mailed LEGO and told them that I really like the set and if they could mail some designer and ask if the ent is Treebeard or a generic ent, and here's the answer I got:

Hi Risgrynsgrot,

Thank you for contacting us.

I received your e-mail earlier today and forwarded it straight away to our lovely product specialists and just got a reply back from them.

They're very happy to hear that you enjoyed your new LEGO® Lord of the Rings™ set and they want me to send you their best wishes. They also told me that the ent in set 10237 is not supposed to be Three Breard, just a regular ent fighting off the awful Orcs and Uruk-hai. But you can always use your imagination and call him Tree Beard if you want to!

Please, do not hesitate to contact us again if you've any more comments or questions! You can either send us an e-mail or call one of our experts on 030 22 44 00 (9am till 5pm Monday to Friday). Your reference is: 8001750959.

Happy building!

Linnea

LEGO® Service