LEGO Hobbit 2014

[Slobey]

"theres not really anything redeeming about any of it."

Not even the most pessimistic person could think Galadriel or Dain were rubbish?

Edited August 13, 2014 by Slobey

[Mahtion]

Wow if there ever was more proof to the end of this theme, it would be these paltry designed sets. Honestly of these three, they look like fan MOCs made by children rather than paid Lego designers.

Witchking Battle- Galadriel hair aside, everyone looks great but the set is lame and the tree is an eyesore.

Laketown Attack- New Tauriel, new Orc hair, Bain I guess. This set looks downright uneven and unfinished compared to LTC from last wave.

BoFA- Only Thorin, Dain (who looks generic), and new Bard are worth anything of substance. This set should be called the Battle of Five Rehashes, same Orcs, eagle, and Azog and even the new Gandalf himself Legolas, the Thranduil scene stealer. This set is terrible, a catapult and a bridge, no Dale building or walls.

Sorry everyone but Lego made progressively worse Hobbit AND LOTR sets with each new wave. I am so embarrassed and saddened that I say let this theme just die.

[deskp]

"theres not really anything redeeming about any of it."

Not even the most pessimistic person could think Galadriel or Dain were rubbish?

Galadriel looks awful with that hair.

And Dain alone does not redeem all the terrible choises made in these sets.

[Slobey]

Well.... at least it puts to an end the rampant speculation and guesses on who, what and how many would be in these sets that could never have possibly lived up to expectations....

I for one am ambivalent, I'll enjoy building them and then they will become Moc fodder....

[deskp]

Well.... at least it puts to an end the rampant speculation and guesses on who, what and how many would be in these sets that could never have possibly lived up to expectations....

It could have easily lived up to expectations even within lego's budget. I will explain exactly how later.

[LegoThomas]

What a dissappointement.

2 Bards

Tauriel

Azog

again.

No Gundabad Orcs...

No Dwarven soldier...

The best inside these boxes is propably the chance of a LOTR ad in the instructions. ;-)

[just2good]

What a dissappointement.

2 Bards

Tauriel

Azog

again.

No Gundabad Orcs...

No Dwarven soldier...

The best inside these boxes is propably the chance of a LOTR ad in the instructions. ;-)

Don't forget our fifth Legolas. :^)

[Hypernova888]

When I saw the pictures, this first thing I thought was "Well, there goes the set speculation."

I like these sets. I wish there were some things changed (Bain's hair, not another Legolas (I have two, soon to be three), a better windlance, Bolg and bear Beorn.) But I'll pick up most if not all. I like the figures that are new, especially Tauriel, and while the builds could be better, I think Dol Guldur is made up for by its figures, we haven't seen all of BotFA anf Lake-town will look good next to its brother.

[Steph 104th]

Im very dissapointed, the orcs have new hairpieces and that "arrow" in the windlance is a new projectile for that shooter.

[Lynx]

The best inside these boxes is propably the chance of a LOTR ad in the instructions. ;-)

That was my exact thinking last year. This time around, I won't get my hopes up.

[Hypernova888]

Im very dissapointed, the orcs have new hairpieces and that "arrow" in the windlance is a new projectile for that shooter.

Yeah, I guess I'll have to rebuild my custom one...

I have to say, I don't mind the exclusions of the iron hill dwarves. We got a cool Dain with a new helmet, and Thorin gets a newly moulded crown.

...but I guess I'll have to pick up a City bear now...

(Oh, and I think the BotFA crossbow is awesome. Way better than any of the Helm's Deep ones.)

(Oh, and I think the BotFA crossbow is awesome. Way better than any of the Helm's Deep ones.)

[SandMirror38]

Where are these pictures taken??

They appear to look like they're in a store - Offical Lego store? - but is probably not likley?

When's the earliest we could buy these like how last year they got out nearly 2 months early in US!

[Deathleech]

It could have easily lived up to expectations even within lego's budget. I will explain exactly how later.

I agree. Here is what Lego SHOULD have done:

1. Instead of wasting a mold on new orc hair, why not give us a proper orc battle helm (or even use an existing helm from another castle theme like this one in a different color)?
   
2. Put said orc helm on all the orcs in the wave, not just two. A new orc print would have been a bonus.
   
3. As cool as it is to have Thorin with his crown on, I think people would have MUCH preferred Bolg instead with a new molded head (though this might have been slightly more expensive..?).
   
4. Lego probably wanted to include an eagle in the Bo5A set to make sure they represent all five factions, but a new print on the existing bear would have worked as Beorn and made the set all that more desirable without leaving an important character out.
   
5. It looks like Dain's helm has a piece in the middle that can possibly be removed? Why not instead of Bard, include an Iron Hill dwarf soldier with this helm instead? Use existing beards.
   
6. An added bonus would of been Thranduil with armor print instead of Legolas.
   

So with those changes you are looking at what, two or three new prints and maybe one slightly more expensive mold taking the place of another new mold anyways? With the Lake-town set I have no real issues, maybe just use the SDCC Bard instead and it's all good? The Witch King Battle seems fine for what it is. I dunno about others, but for me this would of made the wave go from like a 4 to a solid 7 on a scale from 1-10.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Deathleech

[Risgrynsgrot]

Wow, this wave really sucks. The only set I'm remotely interested in is Witch-King Battle, and that's only because of Galadriel.

Bard in two sets? Tauriel in a set again? Azog in a set again? An eagle instead of another animal? It feels like they just gave up on this theme after (what I presume) are bad sales and just whipped something up for the last sets.

[Hypernova888]

Is it just me, or does the crossbow look like it has a brick-built launcher? I could be wrong, but I REALLY hope I'm not.

You know, while I don't think LEGO put their best effort into these sets, I do think that they did a good job. I think they did put care into selecting what to insert into each one, and I expect they have a reason for most-if not all- of their "Mistakes".

Also, I believe Bard's the first Tolkien figure to have battle-damage! (Though I kind of wish that would happen to Gandalf too...)

[Mr. Cube]

(+) new orcs (they look like gundabad face print on dark tan + mordor orc torso + new hairpiece)

(+) Galadriel (!)

(+) new Elrond (could be used as generic torso + legs for 2nd Age elf army)

(+) new Thorin with crown

(+) no Gandalf :D

(-) no Beorn, no Bolg

(-) no generic elf and dwarf soldier in armor (...it´s BATTLE of the five armies!)

(-) orcs are without armor and helmet

(-) another balista

(-) the sets look a bit unfinished to me

Edited August 13, 2014 by Mr. Cube

[Darth Caedus]

There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery.

Sigh. I mean, I was sort of half-joking when I said the Lego designers were getting high and crapping out random garbage as the post-Wave 1 Middle-Earth sets, but goddam...all of our petty squabbles over the 'lackluster' Hobbit Wave 2 seem absurd now. That wave is gold by comparison.

Ironically, these sets are so bad they actually make me more likely to buy the green overpriced turd that is Erebor, simply because the BoFA set sucks so much.

Well, let's survey the damage...

Erebor: Already discussed at length. I'm still not paying $130 for it, and will wait for a sale.

Witch-King Battle: The only gem. Nice little bit of Dol Guldur wall, a decent looking new Elrond, a well-done Galadriel (of course she'll have a reversible head), and a truly wonderful rendition of the Twilight Witch-King. Sure, it ain't the WK we wanted, but he looks awesome. As a consolation prize, this set is so small and cheap ($14.99 if I'm not mistaken) that it's actually a viable quasi-army builder in a limited capacity - collect 5 Nazgul in Twilight form to recreate Weathertop, repurpose the Elronds as Noldor warriors (sans helmet, unfortunately). Galadriel herself, well, still a cool figure.

Laketown: It's...not bad. Presuming this is the $30 that's long been reported, it's sort of acceptable. The major SNAFU is repacked Bard. The armored Bard should have been here. Orc hair molds are a left-field, too-little too-late choice, but they're still cool. Movie-garb Tauriel is an unexpected addition as well, not great but I'll take it I suppose. Bain is Bain. The set itself is the second biggest fail - this should have been a lone tower with the windlance on top, not a generic ballista. Windlance has four prongs!

BoFA: There is no curse... Yeah. Lego's greatest failure of the entire Middle-Earth line. Lego not only gives us a terrible set, but betrays the fact that they had the power to make a great one! We get 450-odd pieces. That's fine. Dale ruins, whatever, fine. Ballista? Gah. Nobody cares about another darn ballista. So, so, so boring. We have more than enough of those from UHA already. Then, the minifigures:

-King Thorin: Cool. Awesome. Definitely gonna get him.

-Dain: Duh. Awesome. Of course gonna pick him up.

-Azog: WHAT. Where the heck is Bolg?! We already have Azog. Not needed. Not necessary.

-Orcs x2: You make a brand new Orc hair mold....and THEN DON'T USE IT IN THE SAME WAVE?!?!?!!

-Bard: Armored version should have been in the Laketown set - honestly we didn't really need another Bard either way for that matter.

-Legolas: The sin of sins. The calamity of calamities. Of all the Elves we actually need, we're given an IDENTICAL Legolas. Fail beyond belief.

And this stings all the more since by including 7 figs, Lego proved that this could have actually been a good set!!! Off the top of my head, here's the 7 that should have been included:

-King Thorin

-Dain

-Armored Mirkwood Elf

-Iron Hills Dwarf

-a double of either the Elf or Dwarf

-Bolg

-1 Orc with new hair

-and dump the darn Eagle for a bear Beorn.

Well, there it is. Among the top 10 biggest fails in Lego's history. Easily the most significant licensed fail of all time.

So it boils down basically like this: totally grabbing the WKB. Laketown is alright for $30, worth getting. Erebor needs a big sale. BoFA, not a chance in hell. Thorin and Dain on eBay.

[deskp]

So we got 2 out of 5 armies....

[pathas]

Im really dissapointed, again, there is no reason to buy one of set more times... big mistake. we need armybuilder

[Hypernova888]

I'm sorry, but Darth Caedus? I care about another ballista. I think this one looks amazing and I can't wait to pick up the set.

I also wish that, Azog replacing a slot for Bolg aside, LEGO had given him a new face print. Just to make him exclusive like they did for Bard.

[LegoThomas]

So we got 2 out of 5 armies....

Lego failed.

Armored Dwarves and Elves would have been superb!

Edited August 13, 2014 by LegoThomas

[Alfadas]

No Iron Hill dwarf? No Bolg? No elf warrior?

Legolas? 2 Bards? Azog? Tauriel?

Good thing there are orcs, unfortunately not armored orcs. I don't like the new hairpiece for the orcs, looks very weird.

Lake town set is decent enough, but why not replace Tauriel with Bolg? That would have been perfect.

Smallest set looks good.

BO5A set, Darth Caedus covered it. Crap set. I wanted at least 1 iron hill dwarf, 1 generic elf (NOT Legolas), generic orc, BOLG!, Warg, Eagle, Bear Beorn, Dain. No crowned Thorin per se. He looks cool nonetheless. Drop Bard, Azog, Legolas and include other figs and molded creatures. I think I will pick it up, just because I don't have Azog yet, but I will wait till sale.

[Amazing Bricks]

Here's some pictures of the back of the box for witch king battle and attack on laketown:

Image removed by WhiteFang as per TLG request

Edited August 13, 2014 by WhiteFang

[BrickBob Studpants]

After having digested the shock of not having Bolg (whyyyyyyyy), I think I'm quite fond of the sets. The build in the Bo5A can't be judged yet since the main building isn't visible on that picture, the minifig selection however is what displeases most people. I'm not among them to be honest (besides the lack of Bolg) since all five factions are covered: dwarves (King Thorin and Dain II, who both look fantastic I think), elves (Legolas, quite a weird choice but understandable), men (Bard), orcs (Azog with a new facial expression, two orcs) and an eagle (in dk brown, as it seems).

Edit: Hooray for the only Middle-earth wave without Gandalf

Edited August 13, 2014 by Lego-Freak

[WhiteFang]

I am still in the midst of digesting those new set images! So far, I am really very pleased to see an expansion on the Lake Town chase. But, rather disappointed to see another 'Bard' even though I understand that he is iconic for that scene.