kuzyabricks Posted January 7 Posted January 7 8 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said: There are not many kids that can afford to buy sets that cost 270-500 $/€. And most kids won't get too excited about book nooks or helmets either. If there would be smaller sets and battlepacks, kids would buy them imo. And many adults too. Right but last time they didn’t sell well at all. They lived on clearance. Quote
mirkwoodspiders Posted January 8 Posted January 8 6 hours ago, kuzyabricks said: Right but last time they didn’t sell well at all. They lived on clearance. Yeah, sad to say while I think many on this forum would love playscale LOTR, the appeal probably wouldn't be as wide as we hope it would be. Quote
Roebuck Posted January 8 Posted January 8 10 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said: Not that I’m defending them, but how is it a swindle? People get what they pay for, no? If someone pays $100 for a minifig they could get in a currently available set, that’s kinda their problem It's not a swindle, I exaggerated to make a point, but they try to take advantage of people that do not know there are coming a new set.. 22 hours ago, MAB said: The unreleased future set did not even exist as a rumour when they priced them though, so irrelevant Maybe I did not make in clear, but resellers have been putting them out lately here after the set leaked so they try to get rid of them before the news spread.. 9 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said: My point is, nobody's forcing you at Uruk-Hai Scimitarpoint to buy the overpriced secondhand minifigures (I mean, I hope they aren't). Is it extremely financially unadvisable? Absolutely. But unless the sellers are preventing people from obtaining the figure the official way (i.e. scalping by buying a ton of the copies of the set), they aren't depriving consumers of anything. It's simply adding an option to get sauron- a very poor option, but an additional option nontheless. You guys are right that it is very stupid economically to buy them and I would never do it. I just was a little frustrated about all the reseller ads here that makes it almost impossible to find the ads with Lego gold among all the rabble Quote
Lordhelmet Posted January 8 Posted January 8 20 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said: The question becomes how many kids are interested in lego LOTR? Lego doesn't seem to think kids are interested in Castle in general, and I don't know how popular LOTR is with children. I know it's still fairly popular with older teens and young adults, but I don't know how much of that primary 6-12 demo has even read or watched it. It has to have some level of popularity, the generation that grew up loving LOTR are the parents who are now sharing it with their kids. There is just not a lot of stuff for the kids to do with that other than older stuff (like the old lego video games, building Mocs, etc.). It is not every kid, but there are definitely kids who like LOTR. Castle in general is crazy to me that Lego does not have any cheap options for kids. Castles are definitely still popular with kids, the local non official lego shop even has "battle packs" where it combines a bunch of PAB pieces to get different factions. If they had one or two $10-$15 castle sets with a few knights they would sell well. Quote
GeoBrick Posted January 8 Posted January 8 19 minutes ago, Lordhelmet said: Castle in general is crazy to me that Lego does not have any cheap options for kids. Castles are definitely still popular with kids, the local non official lego shop even has "battle packs" where it combines a bunch of PAB pieces to get different factions. If they had one or two $10-$15 castle sets with a few knights they would sell well. These days, "a few knights" is 10-15 bucks... Quote
Virginia_Bricks Posted January 8 Posted January 8 2 hours ago, Lordhelmet said: Castle in general is crazy to me that Lego does not have any cheap options for kids. Castles are definitely still popular with kids, the local non official lego shop even has "battle packs" where it combines a bunch of PAB pieces to get different factions. If they had one or two $10-$15 castle sets with a few knights they would sell well. I think Harry Potter scratches the castle itch for kids. And Harry Potter is still very popular with kids because of how easy the first book is to read and then progresses as the kid ages in reading difficulty. I think LOTR playsets would do fine, but I think Lego has the data to believe they just wouldn't do better than other IPs currently on shelves. Quote
Cyprinus Posted January 8 Posted January 8 9 minutes ago, Virginia_Bricks said: I think LOTR playsets would do fine, but I think Lego has the data to believe they just wouldn't do better than other IPs currently on shelves. They failed, hard, last time. Why would they do "fine" now? Quote
Blazej_Holen Posted January 9 Posted January 9 11 hours ago, Cyprinus said: They failed, hard, last time. Why would they do "fine" now? Because there is a huge Castle/Fantasy theme fanbase, hungry for figs and cheaper sets… Even AFOLs are on edge with spending on 200-500 USD Lego sets, socne the cost of living is higher and higher… Quote
MAB Posted January 9 Posted January 9 16 minutes ago, Blazej_Holen said: Even AFOLs are on edge with spending on 200-500 USD Lego sets, socne the cost of living is higher and higher… Some might be, but others aren't. LEGO know the numbers but we don't. LEGO also knows which customers are most important to them. And if the AFOLs not happy with spending $200 on a LOTR set are still happy spending smaller amounts on other themes, I doubt they care which theme it is being spent on. Quote
Yperio_Bricks Posted January 9 Posted January 9 5 hours ago, Blazej_Holen said: Because there is a huge Castle/Fantasy theme fanbase, hungry for figs and cheaper sets… Even AFOLs are on edge with spending on 200-500 USD Lego sets, socne the cost of living is higher and higher… I agree and want to add, that there are much more people into Lego now than there were in the past. Think of how many people joined the hobby during the pandemic. And there's no (such a big) stigma of 'nerdy adults playing with kids plastic toys' anymore. Quote
Blazej_Holen Posted January 9 Posted January 9 10 hours ago, Blazej_Holen said: Because there is a huge Castle/Fantasy theme fanbase, hungry for figs and cheaper sets… Even AFOLs are on edge with spending on 200-500 USD Lego sets, socne the cost of living is higher and higher… 200 USD on LotR set… you wish 😀😀😀 Quote
Roebuck Posted January 9 Posted January 9 I think the main problem with small LOTR or Castle sets etc are that they need to sell as well or preferably better than a City, Ninjago, SW, HP, Friends etc they replace in the shelf.. Even if we buy a lot of them that will not compensate if 80% of the customers do not buy them. The other themes have a proven track record or part of a big push that Lego believe in within a new theme. Lego have listened to the persived demand and started making LOTR sets again, they are selling well enough that Lego make more and branch out a little bit within the theme so all hope is not lost. Maybe if they made the sets Lego exclusive so they earn more on them and they do not need to compete in every toy store for space Quote
MAB Posted January 9 Posted January 9 1 hour ago, Roebuck said: .... Lego have listened to the persived demand and started making LOTR sets again, they are selling well enough that Lego make more and branch out a little bit within the theme so all hope is not lost. Maybe if they made the sets Lego exclusive so they earn more on them and they do not need to compete in every toy store for space Yeah, they are diversifying the theme a bit with Brickheadz, the book nook and now the helmet (hopefully to be followed up by the Witch King). And these are all quite firmly adult collectables rather than playsets, which shows where LEGO think the theme will do best. Quote
The Stad Posted January 9 Posted January 9 Probably not a popular opinion, but I would be very excited to see a larger helmet line out of LOTR, especially if they continue with the policy of including the minifig with the set. I can see that as a fantastic way to get figures that might not otherwise exist in one of the once-per-year sets (Elendil, 2nd age elf, Coronation Aragorn, Fountain Guard, revisited Theoden, Witch King, Uruk-Hai, and the list goes on). I also think they'd make solid display pieces that fit into the more affordable price range and aren't quite as limited as the book nooks. Quote
Altair1 Posted January 10 Posted January 10 10 hours ago, The Stad said: Probably not a popular opinion, but I would be very excited to see a larger helmet line out of LOTR, especially if they continue with the policy of including the minifig with the set. I can see that as a fantastic way to get figures that might not otherwise exist in one of the once-per-year sets (Elendil, 2nd age elf, Coronation Aragorn, Fountain Guard, revisited Theoden, Witch King, Uruk-Hai, and the list goes on). I also think they'd make solid display pieces that fit into the more affordable price range and aren't quite as limited as the book nooks. Why not, but after Minas Tirith I would rather having them focus in priority on releasing the following sets: - Edoras/Meduseld - Lothlorien - Grey Havens/Mithlond - Argonath (could be a book nook or bookend) - UCS Helm's Deep - Map of Middle-Earth Quote
Black Falcon Posted January 10 Posted January 10 On 1/7/2026 at 2:29 PM, Yperio_Bricks said: There are not many kids that can afford to buy sets that cost 270-500 $/€. And most kids won't get too excited about book nooks or helmets either. If there would be smaller sets and battlepacks, kids would buy them imo. And many adults too. Most kids would still prefer Harry Potter, Ninjago, City, Friends and DIsney, though. I don´t think small Sets would do all that bad because of Castle and LotR fans, but the number of kids interested in them would probably not be the highest. But in the end Lego has just the production capacity to do so and so much sets every year, and other themes might just be more popular nowadays especially among kids - and with Adults there is always the question how much smaller sets lower the numbers of the bigger ones sold. 5 hours ago, Altair1 said: Why not, but after Minas Tirith I would rather having them focus in priority on releasing the following sets: - Edoras/Meduseld - Lothlorien - Grey Havens/Mithlond - Argonath (could be a book nook or bookend) - UCS Helm's Deep - Map of Middle-Earth I would really love more Dwarven builds, namely Mines of Moria and the Erebor, even if the second is very unlikely to happen I guess. Quote
Yperio_Bricks Posted January 10 Posted January 10 14 minutes ago, Black Falcon said: Most kids would still prefer Harry Potter, Ninjago, City, Friends and DIsney, though. I don´t think small Sets would do all that bad because of Castle and LotR fans, but the number of kids interested in them would probably not be the highest. But in the end Lego has just the production capacity to do so and so much sets every year, and other themes might just be more popular nowadays especially among kids - and with Adults there is always the question how much smaller sets lower the numbers of the bigger ones sold. All the years I really was under the impression that LotR is one of the world's best know IP, famous all around the world, up there with PotC, GoT, HP, Star Trek and others. But whenever small Lego sets are brought up people always talk it down. Maybe I was wrong and LotR is just a small niche thing after all I guess people are right, surely kids would have no idea what to do with a battlepack of orcs /s Quote
Black Falcon Posted January 10 Posted January 10 1 hour ago, Yperio_Bricks said: All the years I really was under the impression that LotR is one of the world's best know IP, famous all around the world, up there with PotC, GoT, HP, Star Trek and others. But whenever small Lego sets are brought up people always talk it down. Maybe I was wrong and LotR is just a small niche thing after all I guess people are right, surely kids would have no idea what to do with a battlepack of orcs /s Well, I am not talking it down and actually have argued that LotR playsets would be a success in this very thread before, because of Adult LotR fans + Castle fans would outweight the lower interest from kids, I think. And I don´t think they would be sitting on the shelves either, but still despite that it might just be better for Lego to produce something else because of the reasons I stated above, as much as I would love to have LotR playsets personally. And especially now that they apparently shut down Dreamzzz, Monkey Kid and degraded Jurassic World to a Adult line only theme, likely to free production capacity for Pokemon and maybe Spongebob, if that one is really coming, I guess the chances for a LotR playset-line aren´t all that good right now. The best chance IMO were Sets for a new Film, but it doesn´t seem that the Hunt for Gollum is getting people all to excited so that might lower the chances for that aswell. Quote
Roebuck Posted January 10 Posted January 10 1 hour ago, Yperio_Bricks said: All the years I really was under the impression that LotR is one of the world's best know IP, famous all around the world, up there with PotC, GoT, HP, Star Trek and others. But whenever small Lego sets are brought up people always talk it down. Maybe I was wrong and LotR is just a small niche thing after all I guess people are right, surely kids would have no idea what to do with a battlepack of orcs /s Well known for sure, but how many kids read LOTR or watch the movies compared to HP? I blame LOTR for the downfall of Castle and that Lego have not tried once to release a wave of normal Castle sets in the years since is rather crazy (and not good news for a LOTR play set wave either) Quote
Black Falcon Posted January 10 Posted January 10 1 hour ago, Roebuck said: Well known for sure, but how many kids read LOTR or watch the movies compared to HP? I blame LOTR for the downfall of Castle and that Lego have not tried once to release a wave of normal Castle sets in the years since is rather crazy (and not good news for a LOTR play set wave either) LotR has nothing to do with it. Lego does a lot market research, so if they think it is better to produce something else, rather than castle, or that a creator castle is enough instead of a whole castle line it will have its reason. I would actually rather say that both LotR and Castle share the same fate - if Lego would make sets for them, I belive neither of them would sit on the shelves and Lego surely wouldn´t make a loss with them, but still can probably make more with producing something else instead. But who knows, maybe one day we will get smaller sets for one of them again... Quote
Yperio_Bricks Posted January 10 Posted January 10 5 minutes ago, Black Falcon said: But who knows, maybe one day we will get smaller sets for one of them again... I hope so! Like with PotC, a new movie is my only hope for LotR playsets and battlepacks. It's depressing to see how Lego treats these themes (Lego Star Trek suffers the same fate.) Quote
Roebuck Posted January 11 Posted January 11 13 hours ago, Black Falcon said: LotR has nothing to do with it. I did not mean that LOTR is to blame for why we do not get a Castle wave in 2026, but why it disappeared in the first place. Castle had been around since 1978, then LOTR show up and the themes predate on each other and sell too little, get cancelled and here we are The rest of your post I agree with I know Lego test sets with kids, but do they test them with adults? I only know of the disaster that ended up with all of the coming D2C sets leaked and MTS was downgraded from a premium product to a budget model Quote
MAB Posted January 11 Posted January 11 2 hours ago, Roebuck said: I did not mean that LOTR is to blame for why we do not get a Castle wave in 2026, but why it disappeared in the first place. Castle had been around since 1978, then LOTR show up and the themes predate on each other and sell too little, get cancelled and here we are Alternatively, Castle was around for many years and LEGO decided they need a change. They tried short lived themed like Atlantis, PQ and Monster Fighters. They fused Castle and Space into Nexo Knights for a few years. And by that time, Ninjago took off and LEGO decided to consolidate their in-house themes into the three large evergreen minifigure/minidoll based themes of City, Ninjago and Friends . And sales were at a high. The short lived and smaller in-house themes that need their own advertising have been where they try out other ideas, such as Vidiyo and Hidden Side. LEGO have moved vintage themes into Creator for kids (and adults with smaller budgets) and IDEAS for adults with larger budgets. Quote
Black Falcon Posted January 11 Posted January 11 3 hours ago, Roebuck said: I did not mean that LOTR is to blame for why we do not get a Castle wave in 2026, but why it disappeared in the first place. Castle had been around since 1978, then LOTR show up and the themes predate on each other and sell too little, get cancelled and here we are Well, of course other themes do have an influence on each other when it comes to sales, but I would actually say that Ninjago probably had a bigger influence on the sales of Castle, than LotR had, even if those themes are more similar to each other, but especially in a time where Lego was not as popular among adults as today. 3 hours ago, Roebuck said: I know Lego test sets with kids, but do they test them with adults? I only know of the disaster that ended up with all of the coming D2C sets leaked and MTS was downgraded from a premium product to a budget model Well I don´t think they test those sets but they will still do market research about what in general what they are interested in. Quote
Yperio_Bricks Posted January 11 Posted January 11 The Hunt for Gollum is scheduled for release in December 2027. Prepare for playsets and battlepacks everyone! I mean, there is hope, right? Quote
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