LEGO LotR - general discussion

[Gremer]

I would give what we got a B. It's great for what it is, but there are some odd choices (Pirate Ship) and mediocre sets (Gandalf Arrives and Battle at the Black Gate.

I'll give what the line a C. It's got most of the important locations, but Gondor was a huge miss, plus what I said above.

[Blazej_Holen]

I would give A- (minus is only for dicontinuing Middle earth themes). Almost every set is good, and above all we have minifigs which are superb. Few yers backwards we could only dream about this.

There are plenty of perfect sets:

Helms deep

Black Gate

Weathertop

Pirate Ship ambush

Orthanc

Council of Elrond

Bag End

Lonely Mountain

Dol Guldur

Lake Town

Mines of Moria (stickers are evil)

Gandalf Arrives

Helms deep battlepack

and some average sets like

Goblin King Battle

Mirkwood elf army

Barrel escape

Battle of the five armies

Wizard battle

Shelob etc.

I dont understand why many of you guys hate Pirate Ship, its a great set, and argument that TLG could provide some Gondor instead of this is just riddiculous. For Gondor are necessary new molds (shield and helmets) and also I think that originally there was a pan for third wave...

anyway the set itself is really good, nice choice to input army of dead, and also to give us nice shaped ship. Moanings about gondor are just funny now, I miss this faction as well, and also I am just unhappy that we didint get those figures like Eowyn, Faramirt and bla bla bla, but thats already over. Deal with it. And as many before post here on Eurobricks, there are many ways how to Moc Denethor, Gondor soldiers and others. Its not 100% perfect but pretty close (excluding helmets) and who knows, maybe some day... but I believe that this is the end of the line.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Blazej_Holen

[Gremer]

I never said it wasn't good, I said it was a strange choice when other, more popular locations could be made.

[Balbo]

The Pirate Ship is indeed a very nice set - the Army of the Death figures look amazing and ship itself is well designed, too. Nonetheless it's a weird choice considering the fact that the ship has hardly any screen time in the movie. Getting another Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Mordor Orcs (without a new printing for the face and/or torso) was very disappointing. Instead of some of these figures they could have given us Gothmog, a Haradrim or Eowyn with armour. With a better selection of minifigures this set would have been far more interesting...

Edited January 8, 2015 by Balbo

[AFOLguy1970]

The Pirate Ship is indeed a very nice set - the Army of the Death figures look amazing and ship itself is well designed, too. Nonetheless it's a weird choice considering the fact that the ship has hardly any screen time in the movie. Getting another Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Mordor Orcs (without a new printing for the face and/or torso) was very disappointing. Instead of some of these figures they could have given us Gothmog, a Haradrim or Eowyn with armour. With a better selection of minifigures this set would have been far more interesting...

Totally agree. I thought we had explained the business with the Pirate Ship 32 pages back or so. The ship suffers criticism not because of its design. In itself, it is a fun set. The Army of the Dead are some of the best minifigs in the line. Had they released something related to Gondor in the second wave and then released Pirate Ship in a third wave, we would not be having this conversation. Why is Gondor so important, especially in the Lego LOTR theme? Simply because the biggest battle in the whole Middle Earth series happened there. Forget about AFOLs for a minute. What do kids want, especially in a fantasy line? They want to stage battles! Thus, the success of Helms Deep and the reason why you can still purchase the Council of Elrond. Return of the King featured a battle with a huge city, men, orcs, trolls, seige towers, battering rams, catapults, trebuchets, Nazgul, Fell beasts, a wizard, hobbits, an elf, a dwarf, a Witch King, and oliphants (sorry if I missed anything). And they totally gave this a pass in favor of EE scenes. Giving me a pirate ship in favor of Gondor would be like selling some train track but not offering the train itself.

Oh yeah, the ratings.

The sets that we did get were for the most part great. I would go in the B+ to A- range.

The handling of the line overall? No Gondor and ignoring THE most epic battle of the movies=C

Edited January 8, 2015 by AFOLguy1970

[MAB]

I'd give it a B.

Minifigs were all fine but important aspects (Gondorian Troops) missing.

Most of the buildings need some addition (how many "Elrond's council" sets to you need to match the film sequence?) to be fun to play with (or if you want them to look decent).

On the other hand Orthanc is superb. And I loved all of the Helm's Deep sets.

The problem there is would all the building sets sell if they were all done on the scale of Helm's Deep or Orthanc?

Sure, The Council of Elrond could have been 4-5 times larger, but it would have cost 4-5 times more. It is easy enough to buy multiples of small sets and sell of the minifigs not needed. Especially for MOCing larger builds where the architecture would essentially be repeated multiple times from the small build.

[BrickSev]

The problem there is would all the building sets sell if they were all done on the scale of Helm's Deep or Orthanc?

Sure, The Council of Elrond could have been 4-5 times larger, but it would have cost 4-5 times more. It is easy enough to buy multiples of small sets and sell of the minifigs not needed. Especially for MOCing larger builds where the architecture would essentially be repeated multiple times from the small build.

That's a very good question regarding the "sets' size"

If the "marketing target" is AFOL collectors then I can tell Orthanc-level buildings have indeed a positive impact on the market. That set is amazing! But I realize large sets may be more difficult to sell to younger users or persons who want to buy them for the younger lego fans.

Anyway the fact of all the LOTR line Orthanc is the only still in production (and demand was high since I remember it went on backorder several times. One was just before I bought it) may be an indication of a quite successful set. They know it continues to sell and they keep producing it.

[bachamn]

LEGO was banking on The Hobbit being as big of a culture phenomena as the Lord of the Rings was when it was released. Since it wasn't, LEGO concluded the line early and focused on other things instead. It is a shame but it doesn't diminish my enjoyment of what we got.

believe you just said exactly what I've been thinking about the whole thing for a while now.

cheers.

[Blazej_Holen]

The Pirate Ship is indeed a very nice set - the Army of the Death figures look amazing and ship itself is well designed, too. Nonetheless it's a weird choice considering the fact that the ship has hardly any screen time in the movie. Getting another Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Mordor Orcs (without a new printing for the face and/or torso) was very disappointing. Instead of some of these figures they could have given us Gothmog, a Haradrim or Eowyn with armour. With a better selection of minifigures this set would have been far more interesting...

But they required new molds. Helmet for Eowyn, Shields for Haradrim, New mold for Gothmog (head or some headpiece) ...

[Blakstone]

The Pirate Ship makes sense to me in the second wave. I think it is a fair compliant to say they could have only provided one ghost warrior print and had a new Mordor orc print. That print could have been used for both the Pirate Ship and the Black Gate without increasing the change budget. I would also have liked Gimil to have been left out of the pirate ship in favor of any any other fig... another pirate or another orc. But those are minor issues for me.

The goal of the designers is not to cover everything that the fans want but to sell the most sets. The Pirate Ship was an attempt to broaden the people buying this line. It is a pirate ship after all and kids like those.

I don't think it worked. But most of that is that the younger boys are more drawn to Chima and Ninjago.

Building off of Bricksev's point, If the license wasn't too expensive to maintain, I would be very happy if LEGO just release an Orthanc sized set every two or three years. These exclusives would not allow for new molds, of course. But it would still be great.

I know LEGO got around that restriction with the Ewok Village by introducing Leia's hair in CMF first. So maybe they could do a Viking chieftain and reuse the new helmet for Eowyn. However, they could not do that to make a Witch King helmet.

[Balbo]

But they required new molds. Helmet for Eowyn, Shields for Haradrim, New mold for Gothmog (head or some headpiece) ...

Hmm, I think that these figures could have been made without new molds, too. Just use the normal Rohan helmet in brown for Eowyn, use a current shield mold for the Haradrim and for Gothmog a normal head piece with a special printing .

Edited January 8, 2015 by Balbo

[LegoFish]

Anyone know when new polybags are released? Or (in uk) next newspaper lego giveaways? Like uruk hai with balista a couple years ago, there may be room for an iron hill soldier (Gimli's helm in silver or light grey perhaps?) or rohan soldier/orc re-release. However, i understand that with no new lotr since summer 2013 lotr polybags are far less liekly than hobbit ones.

Or maybe we get Bain in 3rd varient :P

[Captain Braunsfeld]

The problem there is would all the building sets sell if they were all done on the scale of Helm's Deep or Orthanc?

Sure, The Council of Elrond could have been 4-5 times larger, but it would have cost 4-5 times more. It is easy enough to buy multiples of small sets and sell of the minifigs not needed. Especially for MOCing larger builds where the architecture would essentially be repeated multiple times from the small build.

Well. I got the Council of Elrond twice. Then it starts being fun.

And I also have the above mentioned pirate ship and it is a fine set. Nothing against it (it has Peter Jackson in it!)

[Faefrost]

The Pirate Ship is indeed a very nice set - the Army of the Death figures look amazing and ship itself is well designed, too. Nonetheless it's a weird choice considering the fact that the ship has hardly any screen time in the movie. Getting another Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Mordor Orcs (without a new printing for the face and/or torso) was very disappointing. Instead of some of these figures they could have given us Gothmog, a Haradrim or Eowyn with armour. With a better selection of minifigures this set would have been far more interesting...

It's a perfectly sane and logical choice once you realize and accept that Lego is not Bridge Direct. They make toys, not "collectibles for adults" (at least more or less, not counting UCS). From a toy seller/buyers perspective Gondor would have honestly been essentially a retread of Helm's Deep in a different color. The Pirate Ship offered a different play experience in a different setting and it had cross theme appeal as it lured in some of the Pirate and Historical builders. The Pirate Ship is a great product. It would not surprise me to find out it was among the top 5 sellers of the two lines. Yes a Gondor set would have been nice to have. And yes I truly agree that Black Gate should have had a pair of Gondor soldiers. But that does not diminish the fact that the Pirate Ship was easily the better play related product. Whereas any Gondor set would have been yet another set of orcs attacking walls.

[Blazej_Holen]

Hmm, I think that these figures could have been made without new molds, too. Just use the normal Rohan helmet in brown for Eowyn, use a current shield mold for the Haradrim and for Gothmog a normal head piece with a special printing .

Rohan helmet in dark brown without printing is already available my friend :) I am lucky to have 2 of those. And possibly I can get another more.. I used them to moc my rohan soldiers, using a Hun warrior torso and shield :) Good Idea for Eowyn though :)

Anyone know when new polybags are released? Or (in uk) next newspaper lego giveaways? Like uruk hai with balista a couple years ago, there may be room for an iron hill soldier (Gimli's helm in silver or light grey perhaps?) or rohan soldier/orc re-release. However, i understand that with no new lotr since summer 2013 lotr polybags are far less liekly than hobbit ones.

Or maybe we get Bain in 3rd varient :P

There wont be any polybags for third Hobbit wave. Or at least no polybags bringing new figs, as they are not present at the back page on each manual form those new sets. Remember Lake Town soldier from 2nd wave? He was present in back page with references to serial number of the set... so sadly, this is the end.

[LegoFish]

Oh yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying :) I suppose there's still the option to moc dwarve soldiers with gimli's helm as it is, better than no iron hill soldiers. Think the problem lies in armoued elf soldiers; could make helm's deep elves with the blue cloaks, i'm thinking barris offee's hood and short cloak from geonosian cannon

[atreyu2112]

I'd grade what we actually got A-

That being said, I'd grade LEGO's handling of the theme and set decisions post wave 1 a solid D.

Wizard Battle ... wasted spot for something else since this came in Orthanc. Should have been Mirror of Galadriel.

Pirate Ship ... wasted spot for something else BIGTIME. When any fan thinks about LotR or RotK, the LAST thing they're thinking about is this. The amount of resources that went into this could have went towards something else iconic. Something that GENERAL FANS & AFOLs alike would actually want. I only bought this set to complete my LotR collection, and at a well reduced price. It's a nice set, but it just makes me angry. A definite wave 3 wishful thinking set. Whoever approved this before all the iconic stuff that was left out should be fired, because they're clueless.

Black Gate ... Should have included a second tower/spire to make a true gate. Even if the set was $10 more, why didn't they do it? Seriously, it's like getting a great jet plane... minus one wing. WTF? Great set otherwise.

Council of Elrond ... Great set, but should have been a wave 3 set AFTER we got all iconic action/battles represented.

Orthanc ... My ONLY gripe is that since we didn't get a stand alone Treebeard set, he should have been here. and for the price, I feel it should have had a few more minifigures. Armored Lurtz & the fat Orc captain Saruman tells to burn the forest.

For me, I've said it before, the absence of the BALROG, Minas Tirith, Treebeard, Witch-King, Fell Beast, Faramir & Eowyn... leaves me sad and speechless. It wouldn't take much to put out one small wave with that stuff.

Edited January 9, 2015 by atreyu2112

[MAB]

Anyway the fact of all the LOTR line Orthanc is the only still in production (and demand was high since I remember it went on backorder several times. One was just before I bought it) may be an indication of a quite successful set. They know it continues to sell and they keep producing it.

It is also down to the way it is marketted and sold. It is a standalone set, not part of any wave. It is an exclusive to lego only. I don't know if it is in production still, or if the backordering is just them shifting stocks around. It is a bit like the Haunted House from the MF rage, lasting way beyond the end of the normal retail waves.

Well. I got the Council of Elrond twice. Then it starts being fun.

It sure does. I got eight :-)

Wizard Battle ... wasted spot for something else since this came in Orthanc. Should have been Mirror of Galadriel.

An alternative view is that it is a great set - a cheap way to get Saruman, one of the key baddies of the trilogy, with play features too. It's quite sad if a teen that cannot afford the entire range had to buy the most expensive set (Orthanc) just to get him.

Remember that not everyone will buy every set in a range. Allowing a key good vs evil moment in a cheap set is good in my opinion.

[Balbo]

Rohan helmet in dark brown without printing is already available my friend :) I am lucky to have 2 of those. And possibly I can get another more.. I used them to moc my rohan soldiers, using a Hun warrior torso and shield :) Good Idea for Eowyn though :)

Yeah, I have seen these helmets in the internet, too. I just wanted to point out that a Eowyn without a new mold would have been possible .

But using the hun warrior with this helmet for a Rohan soldier is a fantastic idea

An alternative view is that it is a great set - a cheap way to get Saruman, one of the key baddies of the trilogy, with play features too. It's quite sad if a teen that cannot afford the entire range had to buy the most expensive set (Orthanc) just to get him.

Remember that not everyone will buy every set in a range. Allowing a key good vs evil moment in a cheap set is good in my opinion.

I totally agee with you. The Wizzard Battle set itself is really great - it offers nice play features for kids and a cheap way to get Saruman.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Balbo

[Blazej_Holen]

Yeah, I have seen these helmets in the internet, too. I just wanted to point out that a Eowyn without a new mold would have been possible .

But using the hun warrior with this helmet for a Rohan soldier is a fantastic idea

I totally agee with you. The Wizzard Battle set itself is really great - it offers nice play features for kids and a cheap way to get Saruman.

I already took some pictures of my Eowyn so I will post them later when I get some time. :)

[Robert_88]

Krazy Kastle Krak Guy has made a Gondorian Helmet! The prototype has already been posted but here is the final version:

I will definitely buy some of them and I think they look better than the version Lego designed for the video game

Here is the link to his BrickLink shop: http://www.bricklink...ore.asp?p=Dan76

Edited January 9, 2015 by Robert_88

[BrickSev]

It is also down to the way it is marketted and sold. It is a standalone set, not part of any wave. It is an exclusive to lego only. I don't know if it is in production still, or if the backordering is just them shifting stocks around. It is a bit like the Haunted House from the MF rage, lasting way beyond the end of the normal retail waves.

Part of wave or not, it is indeed a successful set, in my opinion. Even several smaller sets are "exclusives" but they are part of the theme/production line.

[Blakstone]

I looks that LEGO is going the route of exclusive large sets for The Simpsons. Perhaps, if the contract is favorable, they could continue with exclusive Lord of the Rings sets too.

Lets get more Ideas sets to the review stage!

[Balbo]

Krazy Kastle Krak Guy has made a Gondorian Helmet! The prototype has already been posted but here is the final version:

I will definitely buy some of them and I think they look better than the version Lego designed for the video game

Here is the link to his BrickLink shop: http://www.bricklink...ore.asp?p=Dan76

Thanks for the pictures .

Hmm, these helmets are better than nothing but I somehow don't like the silver colour. I would have prefered a helmet in light bluish gray because they match better with the torsos.

Nonetheless I'm considering buying some helmets if they are available for a reasonable price

I already took some pictures of my Eowyn so I will post them later when I get some time. :)

Thanks, I'm looking forward seeing how it turned out

[BrickSev]

I looks that LEGO is going the route of exclusive large sets for The Simpsons. Perhaps, if the contract is favorable, they could continue with exclusive Lord of the Rings sets too.

Lets get more Ideas sets to the review stage!

I really hope so. Most of the times I order directly from Lego so it won't be a problem for me

Beside the exclusive sets are often wonderful additions to our collections