Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Black Falcon]

2 minutes ago, Cyprinus said:

Lego clearly doesn't believe neither Castle nor LotR are viable for a full theme. I doubt they'd consider doing a CMF series catering to the groups specifically (we had the DND one recently, but that one was even more broad, appealing to fans of fantasy in general, Castle and people with a DND/RPG background who could be pulled towards lego.

Also, the original lego LotR theme launched alongside a Castle theme, included battlepacks, and apparently didn't do all that well.

Well, but that was a long time ago and nowadays there are way more people that would buy it imo. The number of Adults buying Lego has increased by a lot since then IMO and while they would of course target kids with such sets as well, the adult would be the main target group. 

[Cyprinus]

1 minute ago, Black Falcon said:

Well, but that was a long time ago and nowadays there are way more people that would buy it imo. The number of Adults buying Lego has increased by a lot since then IMO and while they would of course target kids with such sets as well, the adult would be the main target group. 

And the number of people buying other lego sets and themes also increased. I have some doubts the increase in this particular sector was so much bigger than in the others to make it a truly viable option (at least from the perspective of Lego).

[hikouki]

On 7/9/2025 at 3:17 AM, Moexy said:

But when Rivendell released they had already planned the following sets. The fact they branched out this year into a smaller set must be an attempt to measure what the interest is for more smaller sets? And then it was with a set where no interesting/new figure is present.

 

On 7/9/2025 at 3:27 AM, MAB said:

Given they have done three different book shelf sets, I imagine they are testing whether they sell rather than testing ifvthey should they do smaller LOTR sets again. 

I do feel like the three (Rivendell, Barad-dur, and Shire) were somewhat 'different'. Rivendell was 'perfect' in many ways. There is a wow factor with just the design. Then the size. Then the minifig lineup. Of course it also had that 'debut' factor.

Barad-dur had less of the above but I think still sold quite well. I'd point out the less number of minifigs. I think fans would have been happy with the less number of unique figs if it had just contained more (ie., 'battlepack').

The Shire is a much much smaller set, different proportion of minifigs, and less grand of a build.

All in all, I feel like Lego is testing the market as to how much it can jack up the price for the least amount of build, least amount of minifigs, with the greatest proportion of MSRP. It is crazy how Star Wars sets cost these days, especially the smaller ones. Maybe we are heading that way. :(

[MAB]

10 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

Well, but that was a long time ago and nowadays there are way more people that would buy it imo. The number of Adults buying Lego has increased by a lot since then IMO and while they would of course target kids with such sets as well, the adult would be the main target group. 

And presumably this is why they are doing expensive 18+ sets for LOTR rather than smaller 9+ or 12+ sets. If they are selling to adults, they seem to aim as big as possible. 

[General Whatever]

Sorry, just got back into Eurobricks after watching some modern Lord of the Ring set reviews and WOW Barad-Dur interior is lacking for that price, so unimaginative. My guess is the estate didn't like Tower of Orthank liberties, surely the designers had the budget.

[kuzyabricks]

2 hours ago, General Whatever said:

Sorry, just got back into Eurobricks after watching some modern Lord of the Ring set reviews and WOW Barad-Dur interior is lacking for that price, so unimaginative. My guess is the estate didn't like Tower of Orthank liberties, surely the designers had the budget.

I don’t see the issue with it at all. The kitchen is a funny gag, the blacksmith is decent, the throne room has a fun play feature and the tower itself is the only alright part of it. I think it looks great

[Altair1]

On 7/9/2025 at 5:49 PM, MAB said:

I'd also take a cheap Faramir over another Sam, but then I'd also probably go for an expensive Faramir if he appeared in a $100 or $200 set.

Me too! Until then, here are my current customized Faramir and Witch King minifigs.

[Lordhelmet]

Been quiet with rumors for 2026.  I am wondering how the gollum movie changing to 2027 impacts any plans from Lego.  Hopefully we hear something in the next few months.

[zoth33]

17 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

Been quiet with rumors for 2026.  I am wondering how the gollum movie changing to 2027 impacts any plans from Lego.  Hopefully we hear something in the next few months.

I don't think we will get sets from this movie.  We probably won't hear anything for a while about this anyway.  I don't have high hopes for the film either.