HawkLord Posted January 2, 2015 Posted January 2, 2015 We often blame Lego for the lack of more Middle Earth sets. But the sad truth is it is the intermediate customers, the big box stores, who really were not that interested in the product line. A very good point. The Hobbit had such little merchandise compared to LOTR at the retail level. There was a failed action figure line that was virtually a TRU exclusive (and not complete) and then there were online exclusives like Weta statues and trading cards. But without a heavier in store presence, Lego was really the only one doing something for the IP at the retail level. Quote
Floundie Posted January 2, 2015 Posted January 2, 2015 In slightly unfortunate news, I found The Hobbit Witch-King Battle on clearance at Target for $10.49. All copies of the set were red stickered clearance, as was the shelf tag. They had no other LOTR/Hobbit sets out. Wal-mart Canada's website currently has Attack on Lake Town and Witch-King battle for $17 and $8 respectively, a crazy good deal. Unfortunately the site lists them as out of stock and not sold in stores... Quote
bachamn Posted January 2, 2015 Posted January 2, 2015 This was only at one Target, so your mileage may vary... guess you missed my post just above yours. Seems this isn't just one location :( Wow, so I was just at Target and saw they have already put Hobbit Wave 3 sets on clearance. Of course they only ever had WKB and the Lake Town sets so they weren't that invested in this wave, but it seems very hasty considering the movie was released like two weeks ago. Apparently they had to make room for the new Chima sets since these were taking the entire section of shelf space where they'd crammed the 2 Hobbit sets. Makes me sad, and I'm thinking I might need to pull the trigger on Lonely Mountain soon... Quote
Blakstone Posted January 2, 2015 Posted January 2, 2015 I have never seen the Smaug set in the wild. Only once did I see a Battle of the Five Armies set and I did not buy it then. There is a good chance that I may miss the two biggest sets in this wave. Oddly, that thought does not bother me too much. But if they linger longer, I will get them. Quote
bungeshea Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) I checked at all my local LEGO-selling stores (Target, Big W, Toyworld, Kmart, Myer), and could find pretty much no sign of any Hobbit or LotR sets at all. Lack of LotR is to be expected, as most of these stores have a very small LEGO selection, but no BotfA sets is really surprising. Toyworld apparently had all except for The Battle of Five Armies, but only had a Lake-Town Attack at full RRP ($60). I found all four sets on David Jones website, but they sold out before I could get anything. Fortunately, the smaller three were listed on the Big W website, so I grabbed them before they disappeared too. If anyone in Australia is looking for these sets, I recommend checking the Big W website for them. It looks like they still have the two smaller ones listed, and at below RRP too. Still looking for The Lonely Mountain, though . Edited January 3, 2015 by bungeshea Quote
SandMirror38 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 I checked at all my local LEGO-selling stores (Target, Big W, Toyworld, Kmart), and could find pretty much no sign of any Hobbit or LotR sets at all. LotR is unsurprising, as most of these stores have a very small LEGO selection, but no BotfA sets is really surprising. Toyworld apparently had all except for The Battle of Five Armies, but only had a Lake-Town Attack at full RRP ($60). I found all four sets on David Jones website, but they sold out before I could get anything. Fortunately, the smaller three were listed on the Big W website, so I grabbed them before they disappeared too. If anyone in Australia is looking for these sets, I recommend checking the Big W website for them. It looks like they still have the two smaller ones listed, and at below RRP too. Still looking for The Lonely Mountain, though . Brickvention is coming up soon in Melbourne, hopefully some of the new hobbit sets will show up there. I'm looking for BotFA to complete my hobbit collection Quote
brickbuddy19 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Brickvention is coming up soon in Melbourne, hopefully some of the new hobbit sets will show up there. I'm looking for BotFA to complete my hobbit collection Which part of Australia are you located in? If you are in Victoria, I can recommend you to a Toyworld that has the BotFA sets (including the Lonely Mountain) with 20% off!! Edited January 3, 2015 by brickbuddy19 Quote
SandMirror38 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Which part of Australia are you located in? If you are in Victoria, I can recommend you to a Toyworld that has the BotFA sets (including the Lonely Mountain) with 20% off!! I'm in Melbourne Edited January 3, 2015 by SandMirror38 Quote
brickbuddy19 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 I'm in Melbourne Cool!!:) Ferntree Gully Toyworld has 20% off all Lego until Sunday!! That makes the Lonely Mountain a fair deal at $152!!:) Quote
Albus Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Australian stock these last few months has been pretty horrible overall. Hobbit sets were supposed to come out in October (I can understand them delaying it in time for the movie), and yet the only place I've seen them was at Toys 'R' Us, where they did not have The Lonely Mountain, and had very little stock in general apparently, because there are now no Hobbit sets on the shelves! Also, Minecraft was supposed to be a December release, but no sign of that either. Shelves in places like Kmart, Big W and Target are being cleared of old sets, but they aren't replacing them with new ones! Very frustrating when you are looking for certain sets to buy in the Christmas sales, and you can't find them (even when they are due out). Quote
Hypernova888 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Well, I bought my sets from shop.lego.com, so in-store stock isn't really a hurdle for me, but I know for a fact that a friend of mine is looking around for WKB and has had no luck. Anyone know of anywhere in Utah? I haven't seent the sets in stores when I check just for the heck of it, so that's my point of view. Edited January 3, 2015 by Hypernova888 Quote
just2good Posted January 3, 2015 Author Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) THERE WILL BE ONE MORE SET ER, ONE MORE MINIFIGURE IN 2015 THIS IS IT. THE LAST MIDDLE EARTH MINIFIGURE. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHO IT IS! From here: http://item.taobao.c...&id=43330144493 Guessing it's a Bluray promo or something. And don't make a thread for 2015 Hobbit sets... Edited January 3, 2015 by just2good Quote
Batsy Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Seriously, Lego? Don't want to be rude, but why a Bain Variation? We could have finally gotten Sauron, Bold, an armoured Elf or an Ironing Dwarf but Bain? It's not like hethat important and that we already have gotten him in an affordable set. Missed opportunity, Lego, missed opportunity... Quote
General Magma Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Well... Thanks for the news, even if it's... extremely disappointing. They could not have given us a more useless figure. Really? They choose Bain over an old Bilbo figure? Sigh... First LOTR wave was nearly perfect, but then came the horrible decisions that blew the rest of LEGO Middle-Earth's potential apart. What we've gotten is good, nonetheless, but I really wish they could've just given us an old Bilbo figure. Would've covered both a Hobbit and LOTR figure... Gonna need to get it anyways, for the sake of completing the figure collection... but really? We could've finally gotten an old Bilbo, and then we get... this... Edited January 3, 2015 by General Magma Quote
Wonkyeye1 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Missed Opportunity should have been the name of this entire theme. Quote
Batsy Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Missed Opportunity should have been the name of this entire theme. Absolutely agree! Quote
Balbo Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 I'm really shocked. A new variant of Bain - seriously?! I don't even remember Bain wearing that outfit in Bo5A. No Bolg, no Thrain, no old Bilbo..... I can't believe they have chosen a second Bain instead of these characters... Quote
Shuebmabow Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) THERE WILL BE ONE MORE SET ER, ONE MORE MINIFIGURE IN 2015 THIS IS IT. THE LAST MIDDLE EARTH MINIFIGURE. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHO IT IS Extremely disappointed. A new minifigure is always welcome, but A) I'm pretty sure Bain wears this in DoS, yet they are selling it to promote BotFA and B) Why this figure over Bolg, Old Bilbo, or even Alfrid? However, we knew that there would be at least one exclusive in 2015 via Brotherhood Workshop insights, and IIRC, he stated that there was a few.... Right? Edited January 3, 2015 by Shuebmabow Quote
Batsy Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Extremely disappointed. A new minifigure is always welcome, but A) I'm pretty sure Bain wears this in DoS, yet they are selling it to promote BotFA and B) Why this figure over Bolg, Old Bilbo, or even Armored Azog? However, we knew that there would be at least one exclusive in 2015 via Brotherhood Workshop insights, and IIRC, he stated that there was a few.... Right? Where did you get that? I'm excited now :D Quote
sahidko Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 If this is really true then I am sorry Lego but the way you handled this theme can be only described as Disappointment. Another variation of second if not third tier character is a complete joke.. Quote
Robert_88 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 At the moment I'm happy that Lego Middle Earth ends because this whole theme was just disapointing. Quote
Shuebmabow Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Where did you get that? I'm excited now :D The words of Kevin Ulrich - "I also had a conversation with some of the marketing guys inside LEGO, and they said it' pretty much done after the BOTFA sets, aside from maybe a couple exclusives with the DVD release next year. Maybe." (Kevkipo posted about this back on November 15) So he did indeed say there is hope for one or two more if TLG is feeling in a giving mood.... Also, the images we have of the figure show that clear casing around him. What form of exclusive in the past has had that same casing? Edited January 3, 2015 by Shuebmabow Quote
Elrond Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 I have never seen the Smaug set in the wild. Only once did I see a Battle of the Five Armies set and I did not buy it then. There is a good chance that I may miss the two biggest sets in this wave. Oddly, that thought does not bother me too much. But if they linger longer, I will get them. It's also pretty rare on the Web. Is this an exclusive or something? It's also ridiculously overpriced, I know it's freaking Smaug but come on... €140 on the LEGO shop is just insane. THERE WILL BE ONE MORE SET ER, ONE MORE MINIFIGURE IN 2015 THIS IS IT. THE LAST MIDDLE EARTH MINIFIGURE. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHO IT IS! From here: http://item.taobao.c...&id=43330144493 Guessing it's a Bluray promo or something. And don't make a thread for 2015 Hobbit sets... Ugh. Who on earth thought it would be a good idea? If you're going to pick an already existing character, choose one of the main ones, or at the very least a cool one. Well the good news is I'll be saving money. Quote
legofreak86 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Wow........really Lego..is that really the best you could do for the Blu Ray release of the FINAL middle earth movie...another boring variation of Bard's son...THAT DOESN'T EVEN APPEAR IN THE FILM IN QUESTION (thats a desolation of smaug costume variant). Still we are denied a Bolg (the secondary antagonist of BO5A), an Old Bilbo (the protagonist of the whole trilogy) and Sauron (only the main antagonist of all six films) and you choose one of the most unimportant characters of the trilogy that you have already made a figure of..... did they just pull names out of a hat or said "Right the Blu ray of that film we couldn't care less about is coming up which character can we reprint, repaint and pass off as new" really they should have seen the gap that Bolg (a pretty important and central part of the film) had left and made the deduction that we wouldn't want an incomplete collection. Quote
Balbo Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Also, the images we have of the figure show that clear casing around him. What form of exclusive in the past has had that same casing? The blue Bilbo minifigure from 'An unexpected Journey' had the same casing and was a target-exclusive - so I think Bain will be a exclusive with the DVD release of Bo5A... Edited January 3, 2015 by Balbo Quote
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