73 replies to this topic

[Sered]

Are dark brown bows??

The set seems quite poor, obviously the minifigs are outstanding but there are too black for me

Edited by Sered, 16 November 2012 - 10:53 AM.

[lightningtiger]

Excellent review 'Big Cam'....thanks for doing it too !
Anyway, I ticked above average box......why ? One word.....minifigs.....they are cool looking, excellently detailed.
Only if my cash can be spread thinner than I'll invest in one of these sets......might be a problem now my son wants some LOTR for Chirstmas.

[KristofBD]

Thanks for the review!  Once again an excellent overview of an excellent set!
By the way, your review seems to suggest that there is an extra mushroom piece.  Is that correct?

[-obelix-]

Thanks for yet another great review Big Cam. This looks like a neat set and the way it presents a dark, gloomy atmosphere of the spider forest is just so good.

[Big Cam]

Redhead1982, on 16 November 2012 - 10:04 AM, said:

Is there a picture (or link) of the inventory (it's not on Bricklink yet)?

I usually do not take detailed pictures of the inventory. I could probably take a picture of the inventory in the instructions.

It's not on brick link because it has not been released yet. I got this straight from TLG.

KristofBD, on 16 November 2012 - 12:18 PM, said:

Thanks for the review!  Once again an excellent overview of an excellent set!
By the way, your review seems to suggest that there is an extra mushroom piece.  Is that correct?

Yes that's correct.

[Haltiamieli]

I voted average. This set has some nice qualities (new mushrooms, dark red leaves, Fíli and Kíli's hair pieces) but, contrary to many others, my problem is the minifig selection, which manages to collect (in my opinion) possibly the worst figs of the line together (excluding Yazneg). On the whole The Hobbit line is very good in that nearly all the torsos lack flesh-triangle in the neck area, but in this set half the figs suffer from this. I'm not sure if it was really necessary in either of the cases. Also I'm not too fond of Legolas' colour scheme, and Tauriel's torso print looks a bit too busy. And Kíli... well, Jackson of course carries most of the blame, but even so the face with the strangely shaped angular stubble looks bad. Fíli is the best fig out of the four, but even he is not among my top favourite dwarf figs.

And not to just rant, I do applaud the review itself, it was good and thorough, thanks.

[adreva11]

Reviews great as usual on eurobricks but im going to pass on the set just doesnt seem that great to me the minifigures are ok but i was hoping for generic elves ill probabley change my mind as soon as i see the movie though lol

[Andy D]

Thanks for the review!  Ilike this set mainly for the parts/colors.  I will get one or two mainy to build once, then use for parts.

Overall, great pars, OK price.

Andy D

[Mazin]

Good that pictures are already working

Thanx for this outstanding review Big Cam!

Why is there so many spiders brrrrr I thought that kids were scarred of them,,, maybe that's one way to fight this fobia

Edited by Mazin, 16 November 2012 - 07:48 PM.

[Hive]

Thanks for the in-dept review. I voted for "above average" myself due to the exciting new colors and overall good pieces. The figures does nothing for me, but I wasn't expecting them to anyway.

This is the best set of the Hobbit wave, and the only one I'm currently planning on getting.

[JimButcher]

Beautiful pictures and great review, BigCam. I personally think that this is the better of the two sets you reviewed. I absolutely love these minifigures (long hair that allows quivers?! ), and the spiders are great. The rest of the set has a great color combination, and those dark red leaves are just amazing. I'm glad TLG has added more leaf colors like dark red and olive green, for a more diverse forest.

What's really great is the price. It's almost a 10 cent per piece ratio, which is something we're seeing less and less of (no surprises there, and can you blame TLG?). Despite the stunning minifigs and new colors/pieces, we're still given a decent price. I will definitely be picking this one up when it's released.

[Ardelon]

Both very good reviews. I voted below average for this set, since while it si a good parts pack, it makes for a rather bland set IMO. Furthermore, I dont even have much interest in the figs except Fili. The redeeming features are the mushrooms and red leaves. The spiders are very good, though not the best.

Big Cam, could you please post a photo of one of the dwarves with the quiver, so as to get a better idea of how exactly the hair „works“? (A side view would be interesting.)Thanks.

[Yooha]

As for the short legs:
I think we should live with it, since I don’t see any solution to make minifig sit with short legs. If Lego did bendable short legs (there is enough space for it I guess), they would be too short for a too-stud-deep seat. The legs would end in the middle of a stud and won’t be able too “grip” the stud properly. Beside this, the legs should be leaky at the heel.
I hope I wasn't Captain Obvious

Beside it, the sets and the reviews are great.

Edited by Yooha, 17 November 2012 - 02:43 PM.

[Mencot]

Yooha, on 17 November 2012 - 02:42 PM, said:

As for the short legs:
I think we should live with it, since I don’t see any solution to make minifig sit with short legs. If Lego did bendable short legs (there is enough space for it I guess), they would be too short for a too-stud-deep seat. The legs would end in the middle of a stud and won’t be able too “grip” the stud properly. Beside this, the legs should be leaky at the heel.
I hope I wasn't Captain Obvious

As I said before, I don´t think Lego will make any new mold to make short legs but

Mencot, on 16 November 2012 - 10:37 AM, said:

The small legs, yeah those get my anger up, I always curse Lego when I have to use them. But it is somewhat understandable that TLG hasn´t made them moveable because that would need an new mold for the hip piece. (But we always have custom, Brickfortress has made articulated minilegs  :D)

Here is the link: http://www.brickfortress.com/

[ZCerberus]

The minilegs rock.  Good review Cam.  Why can't the history regulator get free sets?  I will certainly get this set for the figures and for the dark red leaves.

I am thinking Wargs will be my fav.

[Hawkman]

Outstanding set. I just hope I like Tauriel in the Hobbit movie as much as I liked Arwen and Eowyn from LOTR. I'll pick-up this set, but won't know anything about the character till next year - it's shame.

[Haltiamieli]

Mencot, on 17 November 2012 - 09:27 PM, said:

As I said before, I don´t think Lego will make any new mold to make short legs but
Here is the link: http://www.brickfortress.com/

Considering that they are trying to sell a product, Brick Fortress provides pretty bad pictures for the customer to make their decision whether to make a purchase or not. But based on those small pics I do think I prefer Lego's static short legs. At least they do not make every kid/dwarf/hobbit/Yoda look like they are wearing sagging pants. Hip hop hasn't yet been invented in my medieval village.

[Big Cam]

ZCerberus, on 17 November 2012 - 11:42 PM, said:

Why can't the history regulator get free sets?

None of the history regulators are RA teachers.

[Ardelon]

Those Brick Fortress minilegs are great, just what I imagined TLG should do.

Haltiamieli, on 18 November 2012 - 02:31 AM, said:

Considering that they are trying to sell a product, Brick Fortress provides pretty bad pictures for the customer to make their decision whether to make a purchase or not. But based on those small pics I do think I prefer Lego's static short legs. At least they do not make every kid/dwarf/hobbit/Yoda look like they are wearing sagging pants. Hip hop hasn't yet been invented in my medieval village.

I think loose pants were pretty much the norm in medieval times, when not everyone could afford tailor-made outfits and loose clothes were always better than tight ones (especially in the crotch area...). Meaning you should embrace these minilegs as giving a higher level of accuracy.

[Haltiamieli]

Ardelon, on 18 November 2012 - 02:51 AM, said:

I think loose pants were pretty much the norm in medieval times, when not everyone could afford tailor-made outfits and loose clothes were always better than tight ones (especially in the crotch area...). Meaning you should embrace these minilegs as giving a higher level of accuracy.

Yeah, probably so (though I doubt their pants would usually sag below the knees like the Brick Fortress ones, as that would make moving and working considerably harder). Luckily my village is anyway a (low) fantasy one, so probably one of the manifestations of fantasy is that even the kids can have non-sagging pants (though they have to hop on rigid legs and cannot sit).

[ZCerberus]

Big Cam, on 18 November 2012 - 02:46 AM, said:

None of the history regulators are RA teachers.

Never said I would review them!  Good job again BC.

[DarthPotato]

Thanks for this review! At first I was sort of disappointed when I found out that this set was $30, but when I found out the piece count I felt a lot better about it. It looks like this is packed with features and the minifigures look fantastic too! I'll get this as soon as I can.

[WhiteFang]

Another outstanding review! This set is gonna be my favourite medium set! It comes with lots of minifigures and two cute miniature spiders that is pretty posable. The built is not much interesting but I am very much interested in the new colour prints for the foliage, weapon designs, etc. I am looking forward to acquire mine as soon as it is released! I just love that Mirkwood Spiders!

[LukeClarenceVan]

Excellent work on the review, thanks for posting. Can't wait until those dark red leaves hit bricklink...

[Zzz]

And another beautiful review! Price/piece makes this interesting, some fairly nice pieces, good spiders, Elves are sweet. Don't like the dwarves, though.