LEGO Hobbit 2014

[Blazej_Holen]

Maybe Azog will dies with Radagast at the very beginning of the TABA. We may see the scenes with Smaug, then the scenes from Dol Guldur, where White Council rescue Gandalf the Grey... Then in the battle Azog dies with Radagast - Gandalf takes his staff...And Bolg will be new leader of the Saurons Army....

[Deathleech]

I read LotR after seeing the movies and I was content with most of the changes PJ made. I didn't read the Hobbit but I hope the changes he made are similar and not extreme.

Ehh, I would say the changes are pretty extreme in the Hobbit. PJ totally made up characters like Tauriel, gave characters who already died huge roles like Azog, and gave characters barely mentioned tons of scenes like Radaghast. I guess that's to be expected when you turn a roughly 400 page book (including LotR appendices) into three films vs turning a 1200 page book into three films. PJ really had to stretch the material thin and add a bunch of his own junk.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Deathleech

[CircleK]

Wasn't there a PJ cameo in DoS? I thought I saw him eating a carrot outside of the Prancing Pony at the very beginning of the film.

If so then there's your video game exclusive. A fat P Jackson figure complete with carrot accessory.

Edited February 3, 2014 by CircleK

[Robert_88]

I was already expecting something like this. I like the Hobbit movies but I don't love them like LotR.

We already have a PJ minifig (pirate of Umbar) and one is enough. :D

Edited February 3, 2014 by Robert_88

[kevkipo]

Useless for who really? I enjoyed Azogs character in the movie as well as I enjoyed the book itself many years ago. I think that Ii dont have to explain you the differences between book and movie and also I think that its waste of time to argue what was better. Its a PJ. And its his movie, and maybe we dont see the logic, but I bet that he has some plans with both of those characters, so wait until the third part of the movie came out and then complain :)

They give us Bolg, there is no doubt. We will se Bolg, Dain II Ironfoot, Smaug and probably Bain. The rest is for now in shadows :)

Dain

Maybe Azog will dies with Radagast at the very beginning of the TABA. We may see the scenes with Smaug, then the scenes from Dol Guldur, where White Council rescue Gandalf the Grey... Then in the battle Azog dies with Radagast - Gandalf takes his staff...And Bolg will be new leader of the Saurons Army....

Yeah? where will Gandalf get a new staff from?

[Darth Punk]

Maybe Azog will dies with Radagast at the very beginning of the TABA. We may see the scenes with Smaug, then the scenes from Dol Guldur, where White Council rescue Gandalf the Grey... Then in the battle Azog dies with Radagast - Gandalf takes his staff...And Bolg will be new leader of the Saurons Army....

Except Radagast doesn't die since he is mentioned in TLoR.

[N7LEGO]

Wasn't there a PJ cameo in DoS? I thought I saw him eating a carrot outside of the Prancing Pony at the very beginning of the film.

If so then there's your video game exclusive. A fat P Jackson figure complete with carrot accessory.

Yes it's him and you can also see him (same character) in the Fellowship of the Ring :)

[Faefrost]

I agree. The death of Azog would have been a good end for AUJ.

I read LotR after seeing the movies and I was content with most of the changes PJ made. I didn't read the Hobbit but I hope the changes he made are similar and not extreme.

Let's just say that PJ took quite a few more broad liberties with the Hobbit. AUJ actually does stay fairly close to the book, outside of details and motivations. Around the same level of change as LotR for the most part. (granted with lots of extraneous padding.) DoS goes kinda hog wild in new directions, and ends with the main cast in places that we certainly never read about. No idea what is left from the book to make the third movie out of? It's not like Bo5A took up alot of page space in the novel?

[Robert_88]

PJ once said that he wants to make a connection between the two stories (Hobbit and LotR) in the third Hobbit movie. Let's see what he means.

Viggo Mortensen once said that you can change certain things as long as you don't change the spirit of the book. I'm still optimistic that PJ doesn't end like George Lucas ;)

[Darth Punk]

Just the Bo5a and Bilbo return journey home with both having a similar amount of space in the book. I think if only two movies were made it would have followed the book much closer of course. I can understand why the third movie was added, a second one would have been very cramped together, but three is almost too much. AUJ was slow but orderly while there rest just seems to be a mess.

I expect TABA will end with a great deal of foreshadowing of TLoR. Which is why I find a 2015 winter, maybe summer, release of TLoR wave three likely.

PJ once said that he wants to make a connection between the two stories (Hobbit and LotR) in the third Hobbit movie. Let's see what he means.

Viggo Mortensen once said that you can change certain things as long as you don't change the spirit of the book. I'm still optimistic that PJ doesn't end like George Lucas ;)

I think after what happened to Star Wars there won't be any more George Lucasing trilogies. And besides PJ doesn't own the license so he doesn't have the same freedom as George did.

[Alcarin]

Useless for who really? I enjoyed Azogs character in the movie as well as I enjoyed the book itself many years ago. I think that Ii dont have to explain you the differences between book and movie and also I think that its waste of time to argue what was better. Its a PJ. And its his movie, and maybe we dont see the logic, but I bet that he has some plans with both of those characters, so wait until the third part of the movie came out and then complain :)

The change is made just so it can be changed.... nothing more.... the point is the same except PJ forcely pushed in another enemy with a name.... thats it....

@Alcarin: Azog was kept alive because of the revenge subplot Bolg wouldn't have fit that role since he doesn't have a personal conflict with Thorin (and vice versa). Personally, I like that change since giving us two menacing bad-még@bløcks Orc leaders is better than one And both taking part in the Bo5A sounds awesome to me too

As Deathleech explained it already in books Bolg had revenge motive aswell... so its simply adding to add....

I agree. The death of Azog would have been a good end for AUJ.

I read LotR after seeing the movies and I was content with most of the changes PJ made. I didn't read the Hobbit but I hope the changes he made are similar and not extreme.

Good luck with that.... my friend and I who read Hobbit (and LOTR) countless times went to see the 2nd movie and it is pretty much literally 100% changed.... its like another story of Bilbo happening simultaneously as the book. events happened... like a parody of Hobbit.

STILL!

Radagast wasn't running around with stick insects in his mouth was he???

Let me just say that story wise I Kindof hate the Hobbit movies.

The designs and everything are amazing but the story is so butchered it barley makes sense with itself

Exactly.... Radagast shouldnt have been here either.... problem is PJ wanted to make a action movie when in truth there was very little action in it if we exclude the Battle of the five armies......

I have no idea why PJ could not make it like Fellowship... Guess his mind got infested with ''fame'' and he thinks he can do no wrong.

[Rufus]

Please keep this discussion to the LEGO Hobbit sets. There's a discussion thread in Community for the movies and the book. Thanks.

[legofreak86]

Darthpunk: Gandalf has been sighted with rad's staff and rad has not been seen on set apart from in Dol Guldur plus rad's actor said in an interview that Gandalf's fellowship staff is his staff and that they are the same staff he also said what that means for his character would be elaborated upon later. Taking that into consideration plus the fact in the lotr movies radagast is never mentioned and Gandalf uses his moth to retrieve eagles as he does in AUJ. I would say its a good bet that radagast is killed in TABA. I mean when you go up against sauron there has to be somebody to die and it would also possibly unite the white council on a common purpose as they hardly seem to agree with each other, let alone fight against sauron together. I reckon maybe radagast sacrifices himself but takes azog with him causing bolg to take command of sauron's forces.

On topic I reckon if there is an exclusive figure with the game I'd think it'd most likely be either Thorin (moria), Old Bilbo (AUJ/TABA) or maybe thror.

Edited February 3, 2014 by legofreak86

[egg roller]

Obviously it's a business, but what makes good business is happy costumers. it should be noted lego is a family business, no shareholders coonstantly screaming for profits to make their shares more valuable

Yes, I agree with you here. TLG needs happy customers to sell their sets, but this part of Faefrost's post I think is relevent as well:

are easily differentiated from one another by the common folk on store shelves (not by rabid Tolkien fans.) and hit a given range of price points and set sizes. They service retail needs not collector desires. It is joyous when these two things run together. But they are not always the case (see LotR, Pirate Ship)

I think their choices in sets to make involve a complex decision-making system and both what you say and he said go into. If we, hobbit and LOTR-loving fans, create a big enough voice and move their bottom line enough, I think we have a better chance of our wants being heard. Or something, I dunno. LOL

[Deathleech]

I feel like Lego kind of does their own thing and has their own creation process that is much different than what customers expect. I mean look at how many people wanted a set with a Mumakil, Balrog, Witch King on Fel Beast, Gondor Soldier Army builder, Minas Tirith, Osgiliath, etc. Lego turns around and gives us the Pirate Ship Ambush, Orc Forge, and to a lesser extent Council of Elrond (people wanted a Rivendell set but I don't think anyone imagined such a shrunk down version). I don't remember a SINGLE person aaking for a Corsair pirate ship, yet everyone was clamoring for the sets I mentioned above. Sometimes Lego DOES give us exact what we want, like with Battle at Helm's Deep, but it seems more often than not they throw us a curve ball.

A prime example is the third Hobbit wave. From what he have heard, it is suppose to have Erebor with Smaug focusing on the scenes at the end of DoS, a small $30-ish priced Lake-town, and a $60 Bo5A set. No one really expected ANY of this. We thought the biggest set would be based on the Bo5A, the $60 Lake-town set would have Smaug, and then the $30 would be a Bo5A builder. And why WOULDN'T we think that? It makes perfect sense! I know Lego has their reasons, and sometimes they are revealed to us (kids love pirate ships!), but a lot of the time things just seem to make very little sense.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Deathleech

[Robert_88]

I can understand them. Smaug isn't in the Lake Town set because you have to buy two sets to recreate the scene from the third movie and it is small so you should buy Lake Town Chase as well. A cheaper Bo5A set like Mirkwood Elf Army would be better for adults but most kids won't buy this set multiple times.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Robert_88

[Deathleech]

I can understand them. Smaug isn't in the Lake Town set because you have to buy two sets to recreate the scene from the third movie and it is small so you should buy Lake Town Chase as well. A cheaper Bo5A set like Mirkwood Elf Army would be better for adults but most kids won't buy this set multiple times.

Then why didn't they include the Erebor/Smaug set in the second wave where it would actually make sense and be pertinent? As is, Smaug should ONLY appear in Lake-town in the third film but we are getting a set with him in Erebor? I doubt he will be shown there at all in TABA. I also doubt most kids are going to be able to just drop $200 between two sets to recreate the Erebor AND Lake-town Smaug scenes.

As for the Bo5A set, whether most kids can buy one set or multiples is irrelevant. As long as they buy one that is all that matters because that is how many they should buy of a set regardless if it is an army builder or not. The way I see it, an army builder doesn't need to sell multiples to be profitable for Lego. As long as it sells as many as a normal, non-army builder set it's just as profitable. Council of Elrond shouldn't of cost Lego anymore to produce than Mirkwood Elf Army but look at how many more MEA sets sold than Council. Even if kids only bought one of every set from TABA, that is going to be less money for Lego because look at how many multiple purchases they will be missing out with AFOLs.

[zylek]

I'm a little nervous that the bear form of Beorn won't be in this next wave.

[Robert_88]

Maybe they weren't allowed to show Smaug in the second wave and he isn't in the Lake Town set because the scene will be iconic in the movie. It makes sense because you have to buy both sets to have Smaug in Lake Town. And Smaug in Erebor is interesting as well.

I agree that TLG made a few "interesting" choices. We already talked about this in the LotR thread. It would be very interesting to know if those curve balls are as successful as they expected. I doubt that in most cases.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Robert_88

[SMC]

I'm a little nervous that the bear form of Beorn won't be in this next wave.

me too, it seems like a no brainer but Lego have shown that they do odd things at times Edited February 3, 2014 by SMC

[General Magma]

I think Bo5A will still include Béorn's bear form. It is, after all, a $60 set so there should be space for that.

[Ardelon]

So after looking at all the info we have for the upcoming wave, I believe more than ever in my "second wave split" theory. I think Lego definitely split their second Hobbit wave into two so they could accommodate the film split. First off at least a few sets from TABA seem to be based on the DoS movie. The Erebor set with Smaug sounds like the end of DoS scene for scene. The Lake-town add on set also seems like it might be based on DoS, but I can't say without more info. I can only assume it's based on DoS though since Smaug won't be in it and there shouldn't be any other action in Lake-town besides that. Possibly it is covering the orcs fighting Legolas and Tauriel? The sets are also being released in October which would of been a few months after TABA was originally going to be released (you figure the Lego sets usually get released a few weeks to a month early). More importantly though, there don't seem to be hardly any set price points over lapping. If you combine wave two and three based on the info we have, it's like every set is intentionally a different price. DoS sets in red, TABA in green:

Witch King/Galadrial/Elrond Set - $12.99

Dol Guldur Ambush - $19.99

Mirkwood Elf Army - $29.99

Lake-town Add On - $29.99-39.99(?)

Lake-town Chase - $49.99

Bo5A set - $59.99

Dol Guldur Battle - $69.99

Smaug at Erebor - $129.99

The ONLY possible over lap is the $30 set. I am guessing this could be an extra set Lego had to make later on to fill out a wave so there weren't only three sets released in it. The second Hobbit wave was more the mid-range sets but missed the lowest and highest priced ones, while the third wave seems to cover both of those. All of this seems like a little too much of a coincidence for me. I mean the first and second Hobbit waves had material STRICTLY from the corresponding films (or stuff made up by Lego based on the films). Why change now? And why change the December release date? And most importantly, why do both waves miss some major price points but when combined they form a nice, rounded wave?

This gives me hope we will still see a final LotR wave next year. If we do, hopefully it will have a $20 set, a $30 Gondor army builder, a $40-50 (Balrog?), and a $60-70 Osgiliath or Minas Tirith wall.

But wouldn't an Erebor set based on DoS be evidence against splitting the 2nd wave? From what I've read at theonering.net, the Erebor scene in DoS was among the last things PJ filmed, only after the split from 2 to 3 movies was announced, as padding to fill out the 2nd movie. This would mean that the designers would not have had such a set available on time to move it to a third wave. A DoS-based Erebor set would imply to me that the designers were working on it only for the past year (maybe even less), well after the announcement of a third movie and thus after the necessity to split the 2nd wave.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Ardelon

[Deathleech]

Link to that article? If the scene was added last minute after the films were split, isn't that further more the reason to do a Smaug in Lake-town set? Or maybe Lego decided to add that set later on as one of the additions after the split? If a wave is typically 6-7 sets and Lego split the second wave in half, that would leave one wave with 3 sets and the other with 3-4. Obviously Lego doesn't want to do anything under 4 sets as seen in the past three waves for the LotR/Hobbit, so maybe they added two sets after the split and one was the Erebor set? Maybe Erebor was done before and they slightly altered it to fit the new footage since Smaug in Erebor was planned from the start of the film?

[Ardelon]

Ive read too many reviews to remember where this bit of info came from. I could have been in the comments. Which means, I guess, that it could be complete speculation. Best to treat it as such. On second thoughts, PJ did want a confrontation between the Dwarves and Smaug, which indicates that this scene would have been in the films from the beginning.

[kevkipo]

Then why didn't they include the Erebor/Smaug set in the second wave where it would actually make sense and be pertinent? As is, Smaug should ONLY appear in Lake-town in the third film but we are getting a set with him in Erebor? I doubt he will be shown there at all in TABA. I also doubt most kids are going to be able to just drop $200 between two sets to recreate the Erebor AND Lake-town Smaug scenes.

As for the Bo5A set, whether most kids can buy one set or multiples is irrelevant. As long as they buy one that is all that matters because that is how many they should buy of a set regardless if it is an army builder or not. The way I see it, an army builder doesn't need to sell multiples to be profitable for Lego. As long as it sells as many as a normal, non-army builder set it's just as profitable. Council of Elrond shouldn't of cost Lego anymore to produce than Mirkwood Elf Army but look at how many more MEA sets sold than Council. Even if kids only bought one of every set from TABA, that is going to be less money for Lego because look at how many multiple purchases they will be missing out with AFOLs.

I still like a set based on the last scene of DOS! and i kinda was expecting a $60 set for BO5A :) i would love it! Why couldn't that be an armybuilder too? i mean yes it is pretty expensive but when it has good figs? and houses you can use over and over? then it kinda is an Army Builder to me!

I can't wait for that Erebor set and also not for the BO5A set! I just love these 2 sets they sound so great!

And i never gave a crap about Dol Guldur -.- but i think i just might buy it because i want the figs :P

Edited February 4, 2014 by kevkipo