Review Review: 10237 The Tower of Orthanc

[Zilcho]

Can someone take some pictures of it next to normal towers like from Helm's Deep or any other history-themed towers? Thanks

[Lynx]

Mine's gonna be on a small table. It's gonna be kept fully erect for about a month, then after that I'm gonna split it in 3 tiers to avoid warping the bricks of the foundations due to stress.

LEGO bricks warp? How bad can it be?

[BlueberryWaffles]

ALLRIGHT, WHO VOTED POOR ON THE POLL?

[Tacitus]

Great review. Of course, now I can only think of how many bricks it would take to complete that back wall...

[The_Chosen_1]

LEGO bricks warp? How bad can it be?

I know some older Lego bricks can warp (and we're talking 1960-70's era bricks here), but I'm not aware that ABS bricks do....

[eldiano]

Anyone got it early? Shop.lego.com has it early for VIP from june 17 to end of the month.. If I am late I am sorry I am overwhelmed because of the good news...

[DragonKnights]

Can someone take some pictures of it next to normal towers like from Helm's Deep or any other history-themed towers? Thanks

I don't have a picture, but from eyeballing it the Orthanc tower is 3x the height of the helm's deep tower. But that doesn't do it justice. It's so wide that it really makes helm's deep look small in comparison. Per brickipedia, the helms deep tower is 9 inches high and 3 inches wide. Orthanc is 28 inches high and 8 inches wide. So you're talking 3x the height, and 8.3x the surface area on the front of the tower.

[mrq1975]

Anyone got it early? Shop.lego.com has it early for VIP from june 17 to end of the month.. If I am late I am sorry I am overwhelmed because of the good news...

I ordered one today. Can't wait to build this puppy!

[BrickBob Studpants]

I've received it today and it is absolutely glorious A clear contester for the set of the year award and we all know there's only one or two sets this year on par with this one (I'm referring to the Ewok Village and the Sydney Opera House) The level of details is sheer amazing and so is its height, it's simply towering over every other set I could think of (pun intended, as always muahaha ). I took a picture showing all current sets so you can get an impression of its incredible size:

In a nutshell, this set is simply epic and worthy of being called so

[Shushen]

Just got mine delivered yesterday. I must say i really enjoy LEGOs new shipping policy. Quicker and cheaper than ever before.

Finished the ent and the first two floors. Cant wait to get home from work and continue.

[Automaton Creations]

Fantastic review of a fantastic set! Great job!

[Missing Brick]

Thanks for the excellent review Rufus.

One part of the design i'm not that keen on is the stairway mount:

It seems to gobble up the entire area behind the warg sticker panel - which I was planning to turn into a nice little dungeon with door etc. I'm thinking it should be possible to mod the mount to use regular clips instead eg. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30237 and http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=2921

Although it might be a bit tricky getting the top of the stairs to line up nicely with the wedge plate and you'd get some slop on the angle of the stairs - but IMHO worth it for a bigger dungeon area.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Missing Brick

[Kez]

Finally finished it, this set is awesome and is truly great to display, I've also found a good way to keep the eagle perched over the edge (it hasn't fallen off yet and it requires no extra pieces), the only thing I got upset about was whilst I was carrying the set to my display shelf I dropped the ent, luckily its ok now

[Missing Brick]

This is an epic, epic build. I must be up to 12 hours over 2 days now - and only just finished the library with the wizard portraits. All these people who say they completed it in 5 hours must have had the whole familly working on it. I've been making some minor mods as I go; swapped the huge dayglow stair mount for some nice small black clips and added a dungeon cell. Still working on integrating my removable back wall. It's difficult because there are not many places you can spilt the walls... Will update my back wall thread when I'm done.

PS.. I absolutely love the throne room. And a cool thing no-one mentioned yet: The throne has been cleverly designed so that Saruman can sit on it without crumpling his cape. Unlike the 'Gandalf Arrives' set.

[MikroMan]

Since I've been spending quite some money on my BL orders, I'm thankful for my summer job that'll make it possible to buy this at the end of summer

Edited June 22, 2013 by MikroMan

[Karlson]

A few days late due to being busy on vacation, but I just ordered this monster! I'm so excited to build this and have Saruman rallying his Uruk-Hai army outside for the march to Helm's Deep.

The only thing I'm worried about is where to display its magnificence...

Everyone should post some photos of their Orthanc on display - that'd be pretty cool.

[Cammo]

I"ve just finished the build. Best LotR set and if you are still doubting between the Orthanc Tower or Arkham Asylum, go for the Orthanc Tower.

[TheLegoDr]

Again, great review. Very thorough.

I just received mine today when I was home for lunch. My wife immediately said "that's so cool!" so I call that a win. I will probably try to build it this weekend, but I have GoH stuff to finish up also.

And to Cammo - why not get both?

[Lemmiwinkles]

Mine finally got shipped yesterday after a mistake with my order. They bumped me up to next day delivery for free though so should recieve it Monday!

[Darth Caedus]

Again, great review. Very thorough.

I just received mine today when I was home for lunch. My wife immediately said "that's so cool!" so I call that a win. I will probably try to build it this weekend, but I have GoH stuff to finish up also.

And to Cammo - why not get both?

Money. Also, I feel like AA is less substantial - the facade aspect just doesn't do it for me. It's also not a particular iconic location, since it's just gothic-y buildings.

[I Scream Clone]

Another top notch review Roo, still undecided on whether to get this beautiful set or not. Depends on the all important finances afterall.

[Missing Brick]

Just finished the complete tower - with all four walls. Looks totally awesome. The top floor with the petals is a work of art.

I'm not completely happy with my wall split points yet ( a couple of bricks normally pop off when I push the two halves together ). I may need to add a row of plates/tiles somewhere to make a more robust split....

Anyway way, props to the designers at TLG for a great set and a hugely enjoyable build. Now for a £200 Minas Tirith or Minas Morgul please.

[BlueberryWaffles]

I reread the review- and I had the biggest grin on my face when you said Gandalf the Grey is RARE.

[Cammo]

AA and Orthanc are both good for their respective fans. Too bad I'm fan of both and got both. The only thing I was trying to say was that Orthanc does look more of an exclusive while AA still is nice but not 179 euro nice. Maybe it's because the tower is like 3x AA in size. Hope they finish the Lotr wave with Baraddur. Or is Barad dur even bigger than Orthanc? I actually dont have a clue.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Cammo

[Lynx]

Or is Barad dur even bigger than Orthanc? I actually dont have a clue.

I think Barad- dur is about eight times higher than Orthanc.