REVIEW: 79018 The Lonely Mountain

[MAB]

I bought the set for £50, then sold the figures at £5-6 each and Smaug at £45. So I got paid £15 or so after fees to take all the bricks. :-)

And in the brick vs molded design for Smaug, I'm definitely on the side of molded for the general set. A nice brick build one would have been nice as a static display piece (probably away from the sets), but not for play.

Edited December 14, 2015 by MAB

[Flieger]

Thanks for the review!

I like the set, I like the minifigs, but I do not care for Smaug - which was a bit of a problem for me, since the set would be so much cheaper without him. However, I may just sell Smaug. He seems to be well regarded.

I really love the dwarves in their regal armour, both in the movie and in Lego. Together with Thorin I have the five most important dwarves in their best outfit. And the lack of Thorin might be my biggest complaint. However since I have him, the Lonely Mountain is a nice display piece. (Without the dragon, though. He distracts too much imho). The colours are well represented and the build captures the look and feel of Erebor. Actually I think it is another proof that Lego can do good scenery sets, even though there have been better ones.

Why is the axe transgreen?

Because Dwalin got an axe with blades made from greenstone, found in the armouries of the mountain. It is explained in the BotfA-Chronicles book Art&Design (which I definitely recommend; it also explains why Dain has a transred axe, although careful readers of Tolkien will know anyway). Transgreen is imo a quite good translation into Lego.

http://media.moddb.com/images/members/1/762/761504/1464692_576542015815405_2524214603524410520_n.jpg

http://www-images.theonering.org/torwp/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ldlce-extrasve17.jpg

[HawkLord]

I'll have to look for this in store before it's too late. I already have one, but I love the parts colors - gold and sand green - and the minifigures are great. Plus... Smaug...

[BrickJagger]

While on my recent travels in the US, I noticed this set is not doing so well and it seem to be on good discount. It's really good for those who have been hesitating to acquire. Perhaps one of the reason could be the original price tag.

I guess Lego knows that they messed up now.

Surprised you found so many of them at the same time. Most licensed sets don't sit on the shelves for more than three or four months around here after their movie comes out.

Even though the last wave of the Hobbit was pretty awful, I would have bought several of those just for the parts, and sell Smaug for about $70, since that's what he seems to be going for on Bricklink. Sell all of the Dwarves for $40 and you have yourself over 800 useful and rare parts for twenty bucks.

Just realized I did all of that without adding in a discount.