LEGO LotR - general discussion

[Deathleech]

Your point doesn't really invalidate mine. Who's going to army build? AFOLs. What percentage of sales do AFOLs make up? About 5%. Most parents are going to buy Uruk Hai Army for their kid exactly one time. Unfortunately for army builders, Lego must cater to their core demographic who probably prefers a lot of named characters, with a handful of bad guys for them to fight.

What does it matter if parents only buy an army builder their kids one time? That's as much as anybody (kids or AFOLS alike) are going to buy the current Gandalf Arrives, Riddles for the Ring, or Wizard Battle. The way I see it, even if Lego does battle packs and kids only buy one that's still just as profitable as their current $10-13 offerings, is it not? One $12.99 battle pack sale brings in the same profit as a Gandalf Arrives or Wizard Battle? Yet there is the potential to sell dozens upon dozens of battle packs to AFOLs, and even two or three to kids which is not there with the current smallest sets. I think the only real argument is if kids will buy ANY army builders if they don't have a special character? That's debatable.

Like I said before, the Star Wars line doesn't even offer any small sets anymore that AREN'T army builders. Every $10-15 set is an army builder (except the weird ones like the planets or new micro ship builds), and they have 4 army builders in a wave. Now I know Star Wars isn't the same as LotR, but surely LotR would be just as successful? I would love to know Lego's reasoning. Is it sales? Is it licensing agreement? What? I have a hard time believing they can't do a BP like Star Wars considering no one really makes LotR action figures any more, and Bridge is barely making any Hobbit ones now.

[Mr. Cube]

When I was a kid, I bought this (well, my parents bought...) http://www.1000steine.com/brickset/images/6105-1.jpg There were no special character and I had a lot of fun with that set (I added it to my castle collection). It was perfect battle-pack. Yes, I know that it was not based on some movie, so there couldn´t be special characters...it would be great to see something like this in LotR/Hobbit theme.

[SandMirror38]

Can't people just MOD Gandalf's Cart?

Thats what I did

[Thomas_w]

As to the other criticisms of 'making everything armybuilders', my thought experiment was very deliberate: this method would have left all the other sets in the wave quite intact, and 90% of them are non-armybuilders. Gandalf's Cart is redundant because Shelob costs only slightly more for a much more exciting build with more characters. Gandalf could have easily rested in the MoM in that wave given how many other ways there are to acquire him. The Wizard Battle is pointless because by then there are already enough Gandalfs, and Saruman could have fit into the cheap TABA set. And Riddles for the Ring is, as said above, pure trash, because it has no play value or collector value. The figures are rehashes, the build is garbage, and it's the least action-y scene that Lego's adapted. If they HAD to keep it, they should've made it 13 bucks and tossed in a goblin, there's one right in the freakin' scene!

I remember being irritated that other lines were so main-character heavy. It was frustrating. So many darn Harry Potters when you only needed around 3 variations max.

You are still missing the point. Not every child gets every single set. Get rid of Gandalfs wagon and the wizard battle then your only option is to spend upwards of £40 on a set to get the most iconic characters. Same with gollum and bilbo in Riddles of the ring. The reason there are so many copies of the main characters is maybe partly so that every set can exist as a standalone for that one poor kid who can only have one small lego set because, well this stuff is expensive.

Lego is a toy, and yes they have and do cater to the AFOL and "army builders", but in the end they still design most of the products for children, and in this case it makes perfect sense to include as many characters as possible in as many sets. Not every person buys every set, or multiples of them. I think the people who do are the rarity, a forum designed around Lego enthusiasts is not going to give you a realistic view of the market, it just becomes an echo chamber of a very specific type of fan.

[Mr. Cube]

"...a forum designed around Lego enthusiasts is not going to give you a realistic view of the market, it just becomes an echo chambre of a very specific type of fan" ...that´s right.

[Alcarin]

Your point doesn't really invalidate mine. Who's going to army build? AFOLs. What percentage of sales do AFOLs make up? About 5%. Most parents are going to buy Uruk Hai Army for their kid exactly one time. Unfortunately for army builders, Lego must cater to their core demographic who probably prefers a lot of named characters, with a handful of bad guys for them to fight.

I'm an AFOL, and I'd love to have everything, great location sets and some army builders. But Lego doesn't view their business that way, and I can understand that. If their license was different, they could and probably would sell battle packs like they did in Kingdoms, but they can't.

Darth Caedus seemed to think that everything should be a battle pack, at the expense of removing lower priced sets from very important scenes in the movie. I don't agree with that.

Yes you are right... parents will buy their kid exactly 1 uruk-hai army but we bought thousands.....

now parents bought their kid exactly ONE Gandalf Arrives and we AFOLs bought exactly 1 if 1 at all....

so which one is a better option for LEGO?

A set that is bought 1 per family/AFOL or a set that is bought 1 per family and a few to hundreds by AFOLs.....

just look at helm's Deep MOC with thousands of Uruks out there.... Noone has thousands of Gandalf Arrives.....

That is what we are arguing... kids will get 1 of a set mostly anyway.... and it doesnt matter if there is Gandalf Frodo or Lurt/uruk hai inside..... but we AFOLS would buy hundreds if its the latter... so that makes it logical from business profit stand point....

The only thing I bought more than once was uruk-hai Army..... and i bought 3x helm's Deep to keep 2 MISB (just like the Armies) now i nearly bought 2x Mines of Moria (for Boromir alone) and thats it.... I never seen anyone (except some LEGO investors) buy more than 1 Gandalf Arrives.

[Haltiamieli]

Gandalf Arrives is still one of my favourite sets from the LotR line... I think it was great introductory scene for the theme, especially for adults (including, mind you, those 99,99 % who aren't active AFOLs). It's cheap enough to be an impulse buy and the cart is well designed build for its size, showcasing what Lego is most essentially about. A battlepack might have sold as well or possibly even better, but to a different demographic... it would be preaching to the choir. The lack of battlepacks is unfortunate and rather unexplicable, I'd like them as much as the next guy, but I think the smallest sets get undeserved flak for that. Well, except Riddles for the Ring − now that actually is a lame set deserving a bit of flak.

If a Treebeard is NOT coming, why would they put a "generic" Ent in the Orthanc set.

To keep the window open for a possible future set. They can consider future prospects whether or not they have definite plans just yet. And even if they do have a Treebeard set designed it doesn't necessarily mean it will ever be released. We can hope, but nothing's given.

Edited February 5, 2014 by Haltiamieli

[AFOLguy1970]

I think the perception of the sets change over time. When LOTR wave 1 first came out, it seemed like there was a lot of love for Gandalf's cart. It was an iconic scene and even at the time the only way to get Gandalf. I remember a lot of ire being directed at Moria because of all the stickers and the way it was in separate sections. For the kids without much money who wanted some action, the Shelob Attacks set was a very good one. You had main characters, the Ring, and a very realistic brick built spider. Wave Two came along and had a lot of people scratching their heads, because the two largest sets apart from Orthanc were based on extended version scenes. AFOLs were very excited about Rivendell, because we got Elrond, Arwen, and some nice new foliage and arch pieces. Now I could get an Elrond without having to hunt down the second age exclusive one. Orthanc was awesome, and Wizard Battle seemed to be selling well due to the fact it was inexpensive with action in it. As for Black Gate and the Pirate Ship, they had their fans, and I think they are nice sets in several ways. I think the big mistake Lego made with the Pirate Ship was making it the most expensive set in the regular wave of four sets. Sure, kids love pirate ships, but judging by the overflow on Walmart's shelves, it does not appear that many could afford it. Perhaps kids would like to be able to recognize the pirate ship in a movie, and 10 seconds of footage in the regular movie might not cut it. Disclaimer: I am not saying I dislike the ship, in fact I bought one due to the design and characters. Wave 2 of course immediately caused everyone to start speculating about Wave 3, because surely there were key sets still not made.

I think it is the possibility that there might not be a wave 3 that is now suddenly causing the hate towards certain sets (like Gandalf Arrives). Now , you have people stating "If only Lego had done this or that" regarding inclusions and omissions of certain sets and figures. I still think that when Wave 2 was made, Lego at least had the intention of making more sets. As someone stated, the Ent in Orthanc is not named, because they wanted to leave the possibility that Treebeard might be made in a different set. Hopefully one more wave can come out after the Hobbit. If not, at least we got what we got.

[Deathleech]

I just can't fathom why Lego does some of the stuff they do. "Hey guys, lets make a set based on Goblin Town and in it have 3 new torso prints for the goblins, a new goblin bald cap with ears, and a big Goblin King figure, all of which we will NEVER use again!" Meanwhile Mordor Orcs have one print that has been used in over four different sets. Couldn't Lego have given us a new Gondor helm mold and soldier print instead? Both could of been used in the Black Gates set and another Gondor army builder similar to UHA and MEA. Instead Lego wastes the new prints and molds on stuff they will never use again like they did in Goblin King Battle. They did the same in Pirate Ship Ambush, three new Undead prints on the undead and they will probably never be used again. Why not just do one undead print and then give us a new Mordor Orc print for Black Gates and Pirate Ship Ambush that is actually closer to what we see in the films? They would of been able to use it in at least 2-3 sets vs 1 set. And don't even get me started on Arwen or Mouth of Sauron. Whyile those are great characters for AFOLs most kids prolly have no interest in Arwen or never even have seen the EE. It's like Lego tries to throw us a bone but don't get it right.

As for the Gandalf Arrives set, I remember not liking it even when it first came out. The ONLY thing I liked about it at the time was the exclusive Gandalf minifigure, but since then he has been in a number of other sets. Minifigures aside, I never really cared for the cart. If Lego really wanted to make it iconic why does it only seat one fig? They could of easily made it wider and fit two and used less than 10 pieces to do so. I know they aren't considered normal releases and are more promotional, but did we really need a Gandalf and Frodo polybag when we could get boith figures in Gandalf Arrives for a few bucks more? This would be yet ANOTHER way for Lego to please AFOLS, make more army builder polybags? I mean seriously, how many kids bought the Gandalf poly when he is in two other $13 sets? Lego kind of, sort of uses the polybags to our benefit like with the Lake-town Guard, Uruk-hai, and to a lesser extent Mirkwood Elf Guard, but they could REALLY please fans here. Imagine if Lego had even just done a Black Gates set and had one new Gondor Soldier in it. Then they could of given us a Gondor Soldier polybag and BAM! I bet you the complaining would be cut down by two thirds (the only people still complaining would be those who don't have access to the polybag, and rightfully so). It just seems like Lego misses the boat so much and there really is no explanation. I don't think ANYONE was clamoring for a Mouth of Sauron figure and yet Lego gave it to us. While it's nice it just leaves us AFOLs thinking wtf? We would of MUCH rather had a Gondor Soldier instead.

[coolguy2323]

Personally I'd like to see:

Minas Tirith - Flagship

Osgiliath - Gondor Army buildur similar to the Rohan/Isengard one

Bridge of Khazad-dum

Last Alliance small set

That would be great for me

[naf]

Perhaps the lack of Star Wars style battle packs are a product of the LotR license. Lego may not be allowed to produce them, or there may be some sort of brick to figure ratio they need to hit. I know polybags seem to break this rule, but there could be an exception for these as they are "promotional" in nature.

Also, Lego has historically been very careful when it comes to violence in their sets. Perhaps sets like Gandalf Arrives are made to give parents a non-violent option, as most of the sets involve some sort of conflict. Same goes for Council of Elrond. Many people think this set is a big WTF, but it's one of the few non-violent sets in the line, and gives parents options.

As for the lack of Gondor in the Black Gate set, Lego seems to have shelved the supposed 3rd wave indefinitely, which would most likely be Gondor heavy. Hence, they aren't going to use up resources creating a Gondor solider minifig for this set when there's a chance it won't be used in future sets.

The pirate ship is indeed one of the stranger sets in the line. However, it's a cool looking set and I'm sure the kids like it, which was Lego's reasoning behind producing it. I don't believe there are any ship sets available right now other than that one.

Goblin King Battle had to include some exclusive minifigs with unique prints to sell the set. Although it looks better built than it does on the box, it's still a rather boring set. As I've said before, I would have rather seen just the throne section of this set made into a $40 set, and have a larger Bag-End be the flagship. I don't think Lego would make a large set like that without any kind of conflict or play feature though.

[MrErikku]

Yet look at the Star Wars line. Do they even offer any sets under $15 that include named characters? Aren't they all pretty much army builders now? I agree that Lego needs to find a happy medium and satisfy all fans, but Gandalf Arrives really can't be that appealing of a set to anyone can it? The build isn't terribly interesting and you could get the same Frodo and Gandalf in polybags for $3 cheaper (at least here in the states) . You can also get them both in a number of other fairly cheap sets . I doubt most kids care what clothing Frodo is in as long as they can get him. For $7 more you can get him in sets like Shelob Attacks. I think most kids would want Gollum, Sam, and a giant spider for a mere $7 more than they would want Gandalf and Frodo with a tiny cart pulled by a horse? The same goes for Riddles for the Ring. The build was beyond lame and the figures are available in so many other sets it's not even funny (well at least Bilbo was). I think the Wizard Battle was the only really justified set because there are no other cheap options to get Saruman.

At any rate, you assume that kids have no interest in generic soldiers but I don't think that is true. Yes kids want the main characters, but I remember when I was younger always thinking how lame it was when a character like Darth Vader was in several sets yet Storm Troopers were only offered in one or two. I always thought "what the heck, there is only ONE Darth Vader but there are thousands upon thousands of Storm Troopers in the movies so why isn't it the same in these toys!?" I find it hard to believe kids would pass up buying an army builder if it didn't have a main character. I am sure kids would buy at least one battle pack, which is the most anyone is going to buy of sets like Gandalf Arrives or Riddles for the Ring. On the other AFOLS probably pass up those sets since they buy the full waves and can get the characters in other sets, all the while they would buy DOZENS of battle packs. For instance I bought 1 Gandalf Arrives, Wizard Battle, and Riddles for the Ring sets. I bought over 10 Mirkwood Elf Army and 20 Uruk-hai Army sets. If Lego gave us a proper $12.99 battle pack, like I mentioned above, I could easily see myself buying at least 10 of EVERY one and as many as 20 or 30 of some like the Mordor Orcs or Gondor Soldiers. If kids REALLY need a unique character just throw in someone who looks common enough to serve as a general and can still be massed. There are PLENTY of these characters in LotR and the Hobbit.. Grishnak, Shagrat, Gorbag, Gamling, Eomer, Faramir, Madril, etc.

Also I saw TONS of Riddles for the Ring clogging shelves when it was out. That set could not have sold well. What appeal does it have to kids? Are they going to sit there and have Gollum and Bilbo tell each other riddles from the film? I would bet they would have MUCH more fun with an orcs/elf or dwarf/orc battle pack. If Lego feels it's absolutely necessary to give us a $12.99 set in each wave with main characters, why not at least compromise and do something else for AFOLs and army builders? Make the $20 set a proper army builder and put the characters usually in it in another set (Beorn in DGB, Sam in Weathertop, etc.). Or at the very least give us a $30 army builder every wave like MEA and UHA. I feel like a lot of people look at army builders as boring and lame but look how well they do for Star Wars. Obviously kids and adults alike love them or they wouldn't release 4+ every wave. I can just see kids eating up an Easterling BP, or a Gondor one. Kids would love the amount of minifigures to bolster their small armies and fill out the larger sets, AFOLs could army build, and of course what MOCer wouldn't love more shiny armor soldiers or unique Easterling/Mirkwood Elf/Iron Hills Dwarf/ armor?

Although I agree with you completely on this, especially the CMF series, it just won't ever happen. There was a project on CUUSOO a while back called something like "dark bucket" that was 99 storm troopers and Darth Vader that was shot down. From what I recall, the major reasoning behind it was LEGO is a building you company, and the license they have (at least for starwars related stuff) needs to be centered on a build, not the figures, which requires a different license. Now I could be wrong, but it's probably pretty safe to assume that they have a similar license for the lotr and hobbit stuff as well. Meaning there would need to be some building aspect.

That would have been the perfect though.

[Alcarin]

Perhaps the lack of Star Wars style battle packs are a product of the LotR license. Lego may not be allowed to produce them, or there may be some sort of brick to figure ratio they need to hit. I know polybags seem to break this rule, but there could be an exception for these as they are "promotional" in nature.

Also, Lego has historically been very careful when it comes to violence in their sets. Perhaps sets like Gandalf Arrives are made to give parents a non-violent option, as most of the sets involve some sort of conflict. Same goes for Council of Elrond. Many people think this set is a big WTF, but it's one of the few non-violent sets in the line, and gives parents options.

As for the lack of Gondor in the Black Gate set, Lego seems to have shelved the supposed 3rd wave indefinitely, which would most likely be Gondor heavy. Hence, they aren't going to use up resources creating a Gondor solider minifig for this set when there's a chance it won't be used in future sets.

The pirate ship is indeed one of the stranger sets in the line. However, it's a cool looking set and I'm sure the kids like it, which was Lego's reasoning behind producing it. I don't believe there are any ship sets available right now other than that one.

Goblin King Battle had to include some exclusive minifigs with unique prints to sell the set. Although it looks better built than it does on the box, it's still a rather boring set. As I've said before, I would have rather seen just the throne section of this set made into a $40 set, and have a larger Bag-End be the flagship. I don't think Lego would make a large set like that without any kind of conflict or play feature though.

I keep hearing this brick to build ratio... which is fine... that doesnt mean they cannot put more generic figs everywhere though right?

The only thing I see is they dont want to....

Sadly they are building doom for LOTR with their own choices of sets and figures inside them.

As for Gondor reason you provided thats just pure BS and you know it.... when do you think they will use Soldiers of the dead stuff again? next year? Thats just poor excuse and reasoning for such action.

[Darth Caedus]

You are still missing the point. Not every child gets every single set. Get rid of Gandalfs wagon and the wizard battle then your only option is to spend upwards of £40 on a set to get the most iconic characters. Same with gollum and bilbo in Riddles of the ring. The reason there are so many copies of the main characters is maybe partly so that every set can exist as a standalone for that one poor kid who can only have one small lego set because, well this stuff is expensive.

Lego's a business. They're not targeting people who are poor enough to only get the smallest set, remember. Also, it's all about distribution, as I've said before. Ditch Gandalf's cart and there's still many different ways to snag a Gandalf, there's one in every wave! A better Frodo, and a Gollum too, comes in Shelob's Lair. Saruman could easily have been shunted to the TABA DG set. Problem solved. And when purchasing for adults as a novelty, there's not a colossal amount of difference between dropping $13 and $20. Really, my beef with lego is that sets need to be meticulously planned. Build intricacy is secondary to minifig and price distribution. You make $20 sets heavy with unique characters, make the $13 the armybuilders. Very straightforward and easy to do, and Lego has demonstrated that they can do this (Shelob's Lair being the prime example of a set with iconic characters at an affordable price).

[Deathleech]

Goblin King Battle had to include some exclusive minifigs with unique prints to sell the set. Although it looks better built than it does on the box, it's still a rather boring set. As I've said before, I would have rather seen just the throne section of this set made into a $40 set, and have a larger Bag-End be the flagship. I don't think Lego would make a large set like that without any kind of conflict or play feature though.

It had plenty of unique characters without the goblins though. It was the only set with Ori, Dori, and Nori. Plus I am not saying Lego shouldn't of done a new print for the goblins, I am just saying three new torsos was a bit much. One would of been more than sufficient. Why do 3 torsos for figures that seemingly will never be used again when they could of made a new Mordor Orc print instead?

[naf]

As for Gondor reason you provided thats just pure BS and you know it.... when do you think they will use Soldiers of the dead stuff again? next year? Thats just poor excuse and reasoning for such action.

Off topic, why are you so angry and patronizing in your posts? All I did was offer some suggestions as to why Lego chose to do what they did with LotR. You really need to settle down, these are just toys.

It had plenty of unique characters without the goblins though. It was the only set with Ori, Dori, and Nori. Plus I am not saying Lego shouldn't of done a new print for the goblins, I am just saying three new torsos was a bit much. One would of been more than sufficient. Why do 3 torsos for figures that seemingly will never be used again when they could of made a new Mordor Orc print instead?

Perhaps the cost of doing a new print is relatively cheap. I don't believe new molds were made for the small goblins, I seem to remember the head pieces being used elsewhere, but I could be wrong on that.

[Faefrost]

I keep hearing this brick to build ratio... which is fine... that doesnt mean they cannot put more generic figs everywhere though right?

The only thing I see is they dont want to....

Sadly they are building doom for LOTR with their own choices of sets and figures inside them.

As for Gondor reason you provided thats just pure BS and you know it.... when do you think they will use Soldiers of the dead stuff again? next year? Thats just poor excuse and reasoning for such action.

The choice of figures is not exclusively Lego's. The License holder has a say. And they often prefer named characters as set and story drivers. Plus named characters drive overall sales far more than army builders.

Army of the Dead were reasonably cheap and easy for them. New printing while a cost, is not an extreme one. The figures were achieved using existing Castle tooling. Now unless you want your Gondor soldiers to wear those Classic Castle helmets I'm sure you can see where the problem lies? (And no, comparing Gondor soldiers to the Goblin King set does not work. The Goblin King was the Wave one flagship for a different theme. It would have a much different parts budget than second or third wave of LotR.)

[Blakstone]

It had plenty of unique characters without the goblins though. It was the only set with Ori, Dori, and Nori. Plus I am not saying Lego shouldn't of done a new print for the goblins, I am just saying three new torsos was a bit much. One would of been more than sufficient. Why do 3 torsos for figures that seemingly will never be used again when they could of made a new Mordor Orc print instead?

I agree it was overkill to make three goblin prints for that set. Still LotR may have a different budget for new prints than Hobbit.

I think it is a mistake to believe that the first wave of LotR lacks an army builder. True neither Tolkein theme has army builders as cheap as Star Wars or The Lone Ranger, but they are there.

The Pirate Ship Ambush was a potential waste because it lacked a new Morder orc print. I would also have skipped Gimli in it since he was in CoE in the same wave. That would give us another pirate or orc.

Notice though that the second wave of LotR lacked the retailers exclusive that the first wave had with Orc Forge. If we had an exclusive set, it could have added wall to Black Gate and provided more Mordor orc (w/ a new print perhaps) and maybe a generic soldier or two for Gondor or Rohan. If they had the budget for a new helmet mold, they could have done Gondor. Otherwise Rohan would do.

[Alcarin]

The choice of figures is not exclusively Lego's. The License holder has a say. And they often prefer named characters as set and story drivers. Plus named characters drive overall sales far more than army builders.

Army of the Dead were reasonably cheap and easy for them. New printing while a cost, is not an extreme one. The figures were achieved using existing Castle tooling. Now unless you want your Gondor soldiers to wear those Classic Castle helmets I'm sure you can see where the problem lies? (And no, comparing Gondor soldiers to the Goblin King set does not work. The Goblin King was the Wave one flagship for a different theme. It would have a much different parts budget than second or third wave of LotR.)

I really wish to see that Licenser who said Mouth of Sauron needs to appear before Gondor Soldiers (both need/needed new mold and print!)

And if you think like it.... Army of the dead will likely NEVER feature again while we got (as Deathleech keeps exposing) Mordor orc in SAME PRINT for over 3 sets (or 4?) Would you say Licenser wanted Mordor orcs to look the same all the time?

I just do not believe that license owned would go as far as to dictate figure/torso terms in sets.... Its weird and would take too much of their time and thinking....

[Faefrost]

I really wish to see that Licenser who said Mouth of Sauron needs to appear before Gondor Soldiers (both need/needed new mold and print!)

And if you think like it.... Army of the dead will likely NEVER feature again while we got (as Deathleech keeps exposing) Mordor orc in SAME PRINT for over 3 sets (or 4?) Would you say Licenser wanted Mordor orcs to look the same all the time?

I just do not believe that license owned would go as far as to dictate figure/torso terms in sets.... Its weird and would take too much of their time and thinking....

The lack of diversity in Orc prints might not be an oversight. It may be by design. More or less targeted at the Army builders. When trying to present an Orc horde you really either need an awful lot of variation, or you need them to all be pretty much the same in order to make to sell the look to your eye. In that case having two variants of Orc prints can actually look worse to the eye than just one. Or it is more likely that as a simple nameless generic foe, orcs fall into the same general category as henchmen in other lines. The "generic baddies" tend not to get a lot of detail print love. And it is generally not felt as necessary. Remember these are toys not models. To the average customer who uses the sets for their designed purpose, play, it is doubtful that they would even notice a difference in Orc prints, let alone get excited by them. It is the protagonist side that generally wants the variety. Just look at the last Castle line. Notice how many Lion/Crown torsos there are vs how many Red Dragons? Same deal. Just like they don't give a lot of torso variety to the Jokers Henchmen.

[AFOLguy1970]

I really wish to see that Licenser who said Mouth of Sauron needs to appear before Gondor Soldiers (both need/needed new mold and print!)

That really got me thinking. Does anyone wonder if Wave 2 was in part an attempt to get people to buy the extended versions of the films? I literally had to go on Youtube to see what the Mouth of Sauron scene was all about. Then when I saw it, I was really surprised that it was made in Lego form due to the way that the Mouth met his end. Then you have the Pirate Ship. It literally gets mere seconds of coverage in the regular version. You do not see Peter Jackson as the pirate of Umbar unless you buy the extended version.

It is certainly no shock to me that people would point fingers at these sets and minifigures as missed opportunities to have Gondor represented in their place.

[naf]

That really got me thinking. Does anyone wonder if Wave 2 was in part an attempt to get people to buy the extended versions of the films? I literally had to go on Youtube to see what the Mouth of Sauron scene was all about. Then when I saw it, I was really surprised that it was made in Lego form due to the way that the Mouth met his end. Then you have the Pirate Ship. It literally gets mere seconds of coverage in the regular version. You do not see Peter Jackson as the pirate of Umbar unless you buy the extended version.

It is certainly no shock to me that people would point fingers at these sets and minifigures as missed opportunities to have Gondor represented in their place.

I don't think it's meant to sell the extended version of LotR, since it's been out for a long time now. Mouth of Sauron does appear in the Lego Lord of the Rings video game, so this could be some sort of cross promotion.

[deskp]

I don't think it's meant to sell the extended version of LotR, since it's been out for a long time now. Mouth of Sauron does appear in the Lego Lord of the Rings video game, so this could be some sort of cross promotion.

Hes in lego form simply because they were making a black gate set and hes the most exciting unique figure from that event..

[Darth Punk]

Hes in lego form simply because they were making a black gate set and hes the most exciting unique figure from that event..

I agree. And who knows maybe someone with a great deal of pull really liked the character and it filled an open exclusive spot.

Sometimes there is not just one reason, sometimes a variety of needs are met by making one choice. Or it is as simple as one choice is better than the alternative. There is no one size fits all way to doing anything or why things happen. The reasons can be as variable and different as the characters you see in a set.

[Alcarin]

Hes in lego form simply because they were making a black gate set and hes the most exciting unique figure from that event..

If LOTR ends a Gondor Soldier fig in that set would be far more exciting to probably 90%+ LOTR fans than Mouth ever will be :)

I find no excitement in him neither in movies nor in the books I mean he is barely on what 2 pages? Or was it 3 lol