How Many Mirkwood Elf Army Sets Do You Plan on Buying?

[Etzel]

1 set will be enough for me. The elves in this set doesn't strike me as army building material, with the lack of armour and helmets. The orcs are worse than those that comes in the Dol Guldur Ambush set which I might get two of instead.

I only bought one of the Uruk-Hai Army too, but I bricklinked some extra Rohan soldiers. I liked that set better than MEA since it had better minifigs and better pieces overall.

It's not surprising that most people go for 1-2 and there is a very simple explanation: the cost. Army building is expensive and most of us are pleased with just a small patrol of maybe 6-8 soldiers. More than that is usually not needed to give the impression of a small army unless you are building bigger than a 48x48 baseplate.

[SMC]

Good question deathleech, I brought 10 urku-hai armys but I might only get 1 this time for a lot of the reason people have said. I think the only way this set is better is the warg. I will wait and see what the set is like when I have it in my hand and maybe more importantly what army sets we get in the next lotr and hobbit wave. An gondor amry set might be a better way to get Orcs as I would love a big gondor army and a 5 armys set could be a better mix too so I will want and see. A good sale is an important factor too.

[Gryphon Ink]

I got two Uruk-Hai Armies and will probably get two MEAs. I don't army build, but both of them are good sets for beefing up battle scenes and have good basic castleish parts. Extra horses and Wargs are never a bad thing.

[Deathleech]

Interesting results and comments so far. It seems a lot of people feel like me. There look to be several main reasons keeping people from buying more than one or two Mirkwood Elf Army sets. It's any combination of the following:

1) Lack of orcs (and/or ones with hair)

2) Already have the elf polybag from last year

3) Elves in the set not armored and just hooded (no ears/hair either)

4) Brick color/choice in the set

It also seems people bought a LOT more Uruk-hai Army sets than they plan to buy Mirkwood Elf Army ones (at least double). Of course people may end up picking up a lot more MEA sets than they originally planned if there are good sales or they like the set more than expected when they get it in hand, but it's still interesting preliminary results. Another interesting note is several people have said they would rather get a couple Dol Gulduer Ambush sets instead of Mirkwood Elf Army ones, even though the pric per minifigure in that set ($6.66) is significantly higher than in MEA ($5 not including Warg).

I hope Lego realizes all of this and lower MEA sales don't hurt the chances of getting a Gondor/Mordor Orc army builder next summer. That thing would probably sell better than the MAE and UHA sets COMBINED if Lego put some effort into it and included new molds for the Gondor helms, some armored orcs, and nice prints. I guess the lesson to be learned here is don't cut corners (no ears/hair for the elves or orcs, no new armor for elves), or offer similar polybags a year beforehand (I am guessing Lego makes significantly less off polys than they would a set like MEA).

[Lynx]

I think you're not overestimating the sales potential for a Gondor army pack. Based on the current model (medium-sized set, six minifigures: 4 good vs 2 evil, one molded creature), how many of the following would people buy?

Gondor army

Set: White wall section of Minas Tirith, includes white 2x1 profile bricks and can be attached to the main Minas Tirith set

Molded creature: Fell beast

Figures:

1x Faramir (see my avatar)

1x Gondor ranger (olive green hood as seen in video game, bow & quiver)

2x Gondor Soldier (Roman shield with printing as suggested by others, new helmet)

1x Nazgul (as seen in Attack on Weathertop)

1x Mordor orcs

Faramir is generic enough to function as foot soldier. His torso can also be used in combination with other parts, since the tree of Gondor might appear on the clothing of other nobles, the Warden of Healing et al.

The utility of having more than nine Nazgul would obviously drop, but based on this poll, very few builders purchase more than that anyway, and selling fell beast & Nazgul shouldn't prove too difficult...

[Deathleech]

Honestly I probably wouldn't buy that many Gondor Army sets with the way you have it set up. There are a few issues I have. First off two named characters is too many in an army builder when it only has 6 minifigures total. Faramir could maybe be used as a generic Ithilien Ranger, but the Nazgul? After you get 9 of them (or 6-7 depending if we get a Witch King set and if you already bought Attack on Weathertop), they are pretty much useless. Plus the LotR army builders are more expensive than the $12-16 SW Battle Packs so it's really important, imo, the named characters be kept to a minimum. Second you have way to few orcs. People keep saying they want to see a lot of Gondor Soldiers and fewer orcs, but we haven't actually gotten that many Mordor Orcs (7 total), and there has been no way to easily army build them as of yet. They keep coming too few and in more expensive sets. For the orcs to be so few in number when they out numbered the good guys 10 to 1 seems silly to me. I don't want to have way more Gondor Soldiers than orcs no matter how good the Gondor Soldiers may look. With the way you have the set I would have more Gondor Soldiers than mordor Orcs after buying less than five Gondor Army sets. no thanks.

For me, I would rather see a Gondor Army set have 2 Gondor soldiers in armor, Faramir in ranger gear, and 3 Mordor Orcs with new prints and armor. Faramir could easily pass as a Ithilien Ranger and I would rather not see a spot wasted on them when there is nothing that unique about them. I would LOVE a Mountain Troll as the big moulded piece, but I would settle for 7 normal minifigures instead and make it have 4 Mordor Orcs. If Lego did that I would easily buy 30-40 of that set.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Deathleech

[Lynx]

A Mountain Troll would be sweet! Regarding my proposed Nazgul inclusion, buying up to six would make sense: You'd have eight Nazgul (six with Fell beasts) and the Witch-King (fingers crossed!). It appears that only a small number of people purchase more than six copies of a single set, so I think it would be good business for LEGO.

Actually, the whole Gondor Army set could be sold as Battle of Osgiliath. A larger set compared to an army builder with the same set-up as above, but including an additional three orcs, a row boat and more buildings/ functions. You'd get a nice scene (for people looking for one set), a great parts pack (for MOCers looking to build a huge Osgiliath or Minas Tirith) and an army builder that amasses orcs and Gondorians: buy six sets, and you'd have 6 Nazgul with Fell beasts, 6 rangers, 6 soldiers, 18 orcs and Faramir (5 duplicates); not to mention an expandable Osgiliath with great MOC/ MOD potential.

[Deathleech]

Right, it does seem the number purchased really starts going downhill after 6 sets (at least for the MEA set, which I am thinking people are wanting to army build with much less than they would a better configured up set...). Why limit people though? All those people would would buy 10+ are going to be WAY less likely to with a Nazgul AND Faramir. And I seriously doubt including the Nazgul would make people any more likely to buy 6 sets if they weren't going to in the first place, I could be wrong though.

I would love to see the Gondor/Mordor Orc army builder I proposed and then a separate smaller $20 set with a regular Nazgul and a Fel Beast and maybe some small build. I doubt that would ever happen though. The Osgiliath idea sounds interesting as long as it's priced right. I could see it doing fairly well at the $40 price point, but any higher and buying more than one or two seems really unlikely for most (myself included).

[Niku]

For answering the question on how many Uruk Hai Army I bought? they were 3 + 1 Helms Deep, maybe I will get other two UHA.

I find the UHA more appealing as all the figs have new molds, for the Uruks we have: helm, sword, shield

Rohan: helmet, horse. While the elves, apart from Thranduil dont have any new element, and the orcs besides the armor piece look incomplete somehow.

A more consisten and relevant location, and useful bricks for castle mocers was also a decisive aspect to buy multiples of UHA.

Dont get me wrong I like the MEA but not as much as UHA that was a total must have of having multiples of it, even for one that does not army build not even close to those that have +100 of one minifigure.

I think MEA is a decent set but lacks of the impact that UHA had in overall aspects.

[LegoThomas]

I will buy one propably two MEA. Would be nice if the hooded elves came with a cape or armor.

I bought 6 UHA and will get at least 4 more. Very nice army builder set. And thats where i get the cape for my mirkwood archers.

I'm also building a helms deep moc. Inspired by the one by eurolock. Maybe one more week and i'll share the completed moc.

[Legonardo]

Only one, and will be selling thranduil.

Being broke is hard

[PassionateMOCNoob]

I'll probably buy just one, maybe two, because of the lack of Elven ears. In comparison; I bought Uruk-hai army five times.

[J bij de W]

I think I will buy 2 sets as soon as they are in the shops. Then i will buy 1 or 2 more during a nice sale. I did the same with the UHA, I have 3 now and will buy 1 or 2 more if the have a nice discount!

[Deathleech]

I find the UHA more appealing as all the figs have new molds, for the Uruks we have: helm, sword, shield

Rohan: helmet, horse. While the elves, apart from Thranduil dont have any new element, and the orcs besides the armor piece look incomplete somehow.

That's a good point. However, some of the new molds were just being introduced and not specific to the Uruk-hai Army set. Some like the horse were planned to be used in a lot of other Lego themes. The Uruk-hai helm, sword, and shield were also used in other sets released simultaneously such as Orc Forge and Helm's Deep. I dunno if you can really count them as being new specifically to Uruk-hai Army when they were in other sets as well? That only really leaves the Rohan Helm.

For the Mirkwood Elf Army we have Thranduil's hair and the orc shoulders for brand new molds, but again the orc shoulders are being used in two other sets so they are not specific to MEA.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Deathleech

[SMC]

^ it was still the cheapest and best way to get the new sword shield.

Edited October 26, 2013 by SMC

[Drachmyre]

I'm hoping to trade some of the two dozen Uruk armies I was forced to buy,!

[Infernum]

Uruk armies I was forced to buy,!

Forced to? . I only got one. LD and me are both broke.

[TheWorldAhead]

I got one Uruk-hai Army--which I love--and I will consider myself lucky to get one Mirkwood Elf Army. Honestly, I don't have the money to buy multiples of sets, however good they are. One, though? Almost certainly.

[Drachmyre]

Forced to? . I only got one. LD and me are both broke.

$5 each forced me to buy them.

[Infernum]

$5 each forced me to buy them.

Ha, ha, I'd be forced with a deal like that too! Where'd you find that deal?

[Drachmyre]

Ha, ha, I'd be forced with a deal like that too! Where'd you find that deal?

Walmart marked them for clearance about 6 months ago, but someone must have forgotten to change the replenishment code because every 5 days like clockwork they got another 8 of them. So for about 3 weeks I bought them. Just this week they did the same thing with Mines of Moria... $20 ea. I'm hoping for a few more.

[Durins Bane]

Walmart marked them for clearance about 6 months ago, but someone must have forgotten to change the replenishment code because every 5 days like clockwork they got another 8 of them. So for about 3 weeks I bought them. Just this week they did the same thing with Mines of Moria... $20 ea. I'm hoping for a few more.

My god name your price or trade. ill give anything or pay for however many goblins, uruks, or cave trolls you want to give me.

[KristofBD]

I'll buy one. I bought 2 Uruk Hai armies, which was a great set as multiple walls could be connected to Helm's Deep. May be I'll buy 2 DGA sets to expand my Dol Guldur and Orc army and sell the Beorn figure.

[Legonardo]

$5?!? they were $60 here!

[Wat Tambor]

I will buy one set for sure and a second one if the price is reduced at Amazon.de after a few months.

I don't need a big elf army, because I am more focused on the LotR theme than the Hobbit line, what means I will have to get another one or two Uruk-hai Army sets.

But the new orcs look really impressive, what means I am probably going to buy more than one Beorn sets...