Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[wesker]

On 1/29/2025 at 10:54 AM, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I could see a new hairpiece for someone like Lobelia. Rosie Cotton could potentially use the Madam Rosmerta hair but I could also see them doing a new one.

Rosmerta's hairpiece looks too big and wild to me. I think this one would be a much better choice for both Rosie and Lobelia.

1 hour ago, JohnTPT17 said:

Apparently TandNBricks (who's been reliable in the past) now has a hint out for Minas Tirith - a Middle Earth map with several previous locations checked off, but Minas Tirith's icon unchecked. Looks like it may be coming 2026?

IT'S ABOUT TIME! Feels like we've been waiting a lifetime for Minas Tirith to happen.

[Lordhelmet]

1 hour ago, wesker said:

Rosmerta's hairpiece looks too big and wild to me. I think this one would be a much better choice for both Rosie and Lobelia.

IT'S ABOUT TIME! Feels like we've been waiting a lifetime for Minas Tirith to happen.

What minifigures is that hairpiece from?  I think the picture looks good here.  Rosmertas might work though as it looks good on the figure from the front.  I also wouldn’t be against a new hair mold for both lobelia and Rosie.

 

minis tirith is so long overdue.  I am hoping it is not a giant set though but smaller scenes from minis tirith.  A $1k set would be the worst way they could introduce Gondor to the theme considering it should have been in play sets a decade ago.  I would be good with a big set in the future but I want to amass a Gondor army.

[RichardGoring]

59 minutes ago, Lordhelmet said:

minis tirith is so long overdue.  I am hoping it is not a giant set though but smaller scenes from minis tirith.  A $1k set would be the worst way they could introduce Gondor to the theme considering it should have been in play sets a decade ago.  I would be good with a big set in the future but I want to amass a Gondor army.

I'd hope that for $1000 it would come with a Gondor Army!

But also: LEGO; Here is a $1000 Minas Tirith with Gondor army. Contains six minifigures. 

[zoth33]

Just now, RichardGoring said:

I'd hope that for $1000 it would come with a Gondor Army!

But also: LEGO; Here is a $1000 Minas Tirith with Gondor army. Contains six minifigures. 

The upcoming Star Wars Death Star is said to have 40 minifigs so you never know it could have an army.  

[JohnTPT17]

1 hour ago, zoth33 said:

The upcoming Star Wars Death Star is said to have 40 minifigs so you never know it could have an army.  

Or, best of all: just release a Battle Pack alongside the set, so army builders can build their ranks and those who can't afford multi-hundred dollar sets have some kind of a consolation prize.

[MAB]

5 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

A $1k set would be the worst way they could introduce Gondor to the theme ....

Same here. I cannot really imagine a set double the size of Rivendell being popular both in terms of cost but also importantly size. Big sets can work for ships in Star Wars as they are a single object. Whereas what we have so far for LOTR especially Rivendell is somewhat hollow in that they are more landscape combining lots of small regions and I imagine Minas Tirith being a city would follow that. Would many people buy two Rivendells at once? I think they'd lose buyers overall compared to doing a decent set at similar scale as Rivendell. Doubling the size doesn't necessarily double the pleasure.

[Altair1]

11 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

And they're going to do a $1000 Death Star, so maybe the next $1000 set will be LOTR. Both exciting and exasperating in equal measure.

What's the minimum cost you think a full Minas Tirith set would cost, that's not just a book nook or diorama?

Based on the various existing MOCs, I am pretty sure Lego could make a decent Minas Tirith for about 500 bucks. But I would be ready to pay 1000 to get a perfect one :-)

Edited January 30 by Altair1

[BrickBob Studpants]

13 hours ago, JohnTPT17 said:

Apparently TandNBricks (who's been reliable in the past) now has a hint out for Minas Tirith - a Middle Earth map with several previous locations checked off, but Minas Tirith's icon unchecked. Looks like it may be coming 2026?

@TandNbricks is indeed very reliable, but this could also be just an observation, not necessarily a hint  It‘s indeed interesting that the map shows all of the previous sets, but it also features Orthanc, which hasn‘t been remade (yet).

Cautiously optimistic, but this is more speculation than a rumour ^^

[Balrogofmorgoth]

14 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

And they're going to do a $1000 Death Star, so maybe the next $1000 set will be LOTR. Both exciting and exasperating in equal measure.

What's the minimum cost you think a full Minas Tirith set would cost, that's not just a book nook or diorama?

I would actually be totally in favor of a $1000 Minas Tirith set. That would ensure that they can really do it justice and include a lot of minifigs

20 hours ago, MAB said:

It adds to the cost though if every new character gets its own screen accurate pieces. Accurate hair for Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin would all be slightly different as their onscreen hair is different, and they would all be different to those for Michael Knight, Lee Jordan, Charlie Weasley, and Gray Mitchell. However, they all look fine sharing the same hair piece when you consider minifigures are not accurate scale models or action figures.

If there was something so spectacular and unique about the character, then I expect them to do it. So if they did a The Hobbit version of Lobelia, I would expect them to do it in a similar way to Red Harrington from The Lone Ranger, as the hat and hairstyle makes that character unique. Whereas if you have to pause a movie to check if the length of the hair on a minifigure is actually screen accurate as there is nothing else really special about it, then I don't think it needs a new mold created for that single use.

“It adds to the cost though” 

well yeah….why would you want them to sacrifice quality for a lower price.

[Lordhelmet]

4 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I would actually be totally in favor of a $1000 Minas Tirith set. That would ensure that they can really do it justice and include a lot of minifigs

I am just concerned on the minifigures side. 40 is good but can we also get a battle pack of orcs and gondor .  Also I hate buying $1000 sets but would for minis tirith.

 

i would prefer two $500 sets that work together like lower levels and upper levels.  Maybe three

[Balrogofmorgoth]

19 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

In the end a new mould for the hair would not only affect new possible other moulds though, but also the number of prints they include in the set. So in some cases it would be better to use the budget they have for those instead of a new mould - in the end it varies from person to person what they prefer ofc - and in the end depends on what they would include instead.

The best way would be to balance new molds with new prints. Like I said, what other new molds does it need besides hopefully a hat for Gandalf? Face prints already exist for all five main hobbits and Gandalf (although I would hope for a specific face print for Gandalf). I think there’s plenty of room for new prints and a couple new molds

[Black Falcon]

11 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

I'd hope that for $1000 it would come with a Gondor Army!

But also: LEGO; Here is a $1000 Minas Tirith with Gondor army. Contains six minifigures. 

Well, there would probably many minfigures but the question would be how many of them would be Gondor army, since we have Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas etc, Orks, probably also Rohirim

27 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

The best way would be to balance new molds with new prints. Like I said, what other new molds does it need besides hopefully a hat for Gandalf? Face prints already exist for all five main hobbits and Gandalf (although I would hope for a specific face print for Gandalf). I think there’s plenty of room for new prints and a couple new molds

Always depends on the budget though, and we shouldn´t forget that returning or recoloured parts play also a role there - in the end they will decide on which inclusion is more important for the set anyways - and all this discussion about whether a character should get a new hairmould or not, is kinda funny when we don´t even know if she will be even included ;).

[Balrogofmorgoth]

7 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

Well, there would probably many minfigures but the question would be how many of them would be Gondor army, since we have Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas etc, Orks, probably also Rohirim

Always depends on the budget though, and we shouldn´t forget that returning or recoloured parts play also a role there - in the end they will decide on which inclusion is more important for the set anyways - and all this discussion about whether a character should get a new hairmould or not, is kinda funny when we don´t even know if she will be even included ;).

Well of course, my point isn’t that she will definitely be in the set (although I really hope she is) but rather that a set like this almost always has budget for some new molds and a handful of new prints, and it’s highly unlikely that a new hairpiece is going to take anything away from other parts of the set. And also that it makes no sense to wish for lower quality to save a few bucks. Why bother collecting at that point

[MAB]

1 hour ago, Lordhelmet said:

I am just concerned on the minifigures side. 40 is good but can we also get a battle pack of orcs and gondor .  Also I hate buying $1000 sets but would for minis tirith.

 

i would prefer two $500 sets that work together like lower levels and upper levels.  Maybe three

If they did that, I'd predict the words "cash grab" being used. Along with why did they split the (important) minifigures across both sets forcing fans to buy both rather than putting the (important) ones into the top section and leaving the bottom section for the (obscure) minifigures for die hard fans only. And everyone's important definition of important and obscure being different. I think you can do the top section of Minas Tirith reasonable well with a fairly narrow facade of the hall/citadel, the courtyard and tree, a raised rocky area with a beacon, and a bit of wall. That covers most scenes in a compact model.  They could even go further and have the whole lot raised just slightly and have the great gate at the lowest point. Obviously the shape of the whole city is wrong, but similar to the way they got all of Rivendell into one reasonably coherent model.  Whatever they do, we are not going to get the entire city looking like it does in the movies and have a decent minifigure scale area at the top. Even just two or three layers of the city will use  lot of bricks just to lift those higher rings. I think I would prefer a decent scale top section to an inverted cone with a small area for the top.

[Lordhelmet]

16 minutes ago, MAB said:

If they did that, I'd predict the words "cash grab" being used. Along with why did they split the (important) minifigures across both sets forcing fans to buy both rather than putting the (important) ones into the top section and leaving the bottom section for the (obscure) minifigures for die hard fans only. And everyone's important definition of important and obscure being different. I think you can do the top section of Minas Tirith reasonable well with a fairly narrow facade of the hall/citadel, the courtyard and tree, a raised rocky area with a beacon, and a bit of wall. That covers most scenes in a compact model.  They could even go further and have the whole lot raised just slightly and have the great gate at the lowest point. Obviously the shape of the whole city is wrong, but similar to the way they got all of Rivendell into one reasonably coherent model.  Whatever they do, we are not going to get the entire city looking like it does in the movies and have a decent minifigure scale area at the top. Even just two or three layers of the city will use  lot of bricks just to lift those higher rings. I think I would prefer a decent scale top section to an inverted cone with a small area for the top.

True it would be called a cash grab, I suppose I am one of the die hard fans though and would prefer this methodology.

 

your second point about doing it like Rivendell would be way better than a full city (unless it’s micro scale exterior with internal compartments - but this does not work as well because most of minis tirith is outside in the movies).  I would love a detailed tree/hall/courtyard area for $500-$700.  Similar to the way Rivendell captured the main highlights but was still minifig scale.  Then maybe a separate gate/wall section for $200-$300 (with some troll big figs).  This really goes back to we just need playsets to really do gondor justice.  Then a micro scale minis tirith would be fine.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

This would my ideal $1000 Minas Tirith set:

Probably about 9,500-10,000 or so pieces (for reference Barad-dûr has 5,471 pieces at $460). Highly detailed build at a playable scale, but has some micro scale elements, like Barad-dûr but much bigger. Playable scale interior including library, citadel throne room, secret Palantir room, tombs, houses, Pippin and Gandalf’s room, armory, storeroom, stable. Exterior includes tower of Ecthelion with the upper citadel entrance and courtyard with the White Tree and promontory with flat platform at the top. Scattered houses and entrance ways, streets, walls, windows, rooftops, statues, banners, gates, trebuchets. Outer walls for each of the seven levels, with room for soldiers to stand, with a tall outer wall for the lowest level including the main gate to the city. Additional builds are an Orc siege tower and Grond the great battering ram, along with a couple catapults and a Fell Beast (new molded head). Molded creatures would be Shadowfax, two brown horses, a Warg, and a war Troll. Minifigures would be Faramir, Denethor, Gandalf the White, Pippin in Gondorian livery, Irolas, Gondorian Fountain Guard x2, Gondorian Soldier x5, Orc soldier x3, Guritz, Gothmog, Witch King.

 

New molds:

Armored troll

Warg

Gondorian helmet

Fountain Guard helmet

Gondorian shield

Fell Beast head

Fell Beast wings

Witch King helmet/hood

(Maybe something new for Gandalf’s hair and beard)

I don’t feel like any of that is too much to ask for a $1000 set

The biggest thing I think I’d be ok with then skipping in a set like that in favor of saving it for a future set would be the Witch King and Fell Beast (as weird as that sounds). But assuming we’re only ever getting big D2C style sets, a Witch King vs Éowyn set seems unlikely to happen. So Minas Tirith would be the next best place to include him

Edited January 30 by Balrogofmorgoth

[RichardGoring]

Even looking at this 10,000 MOC on Rebrickable, it feels like it's not enough pieces to do the full city justice, and I'd prefer to have the Citadel and King's House, with maybe a suggestion of a single wall, as it will allow the presence and detail of part of the city to come through.

LEGO MOC Mina Tirith - The White Castle by DaggerR | Rebrickable - Build with LEGO

 

Alternatively, I don't know why I hadn't seen this before, but does anyone fancy the first $10,000 LEGO set?!

LEGO MOC The Seven rings - Part A by STEBRICK | Rebrickable - Build with LEGO

 

[MAB]

2 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

your second point about doing it like Rivendell would be way better than a full city (unless it’s micro scale exterior with internal compartments - but this does not work as well because most of minis tirith is outside in the movies).  I would love a detailed tree/hall/courtyard area for $500-$700.  

That is why I would go with a fairly narrow facade for the hall / citadel, essentially as a backdrop for the courtyard. It wouldn't even need to be to scale for height. 

2 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

This really goes back to we just need playsets to really do gondor justice. 

I guess the advantage of an all in one set is that it is (i) impressive so appeals to adults and (ii) fairly coherent as a single build / display. But that said, I'd take individual playsets or a 'big box' style playset, a bit like Assault on Hoth was but with the difference that it hasn't all been done before.

Edited January 30 by MAB

[Balrogofmorgoth]

4 hours ago, MAB said:

That is why I would go with a fairly narrow facade for the hall / citadel, essentially as a backdrop for the courtyard. It wouldn't even need to be to scale for height. 

I guess the advantage of an all in one set is that it is (i) impressive so appeals to adults and (ii) fairly coherent as a single build / display. But that said, I'd take individual playsets or a 'big box' style playset, a bit like Assault on Hoth was but with the difference that it hasn't all been done before.

I think the best way they could do it without doing an absolutely massive D2C would be several playsets. One for the top few levels with courtyard, tree, tower, and citadel. One for the bottom few levels with outer walls, main gate, Grond, etc. Both can have buildings, streets, houses, etc. And then a battle pack with a section of wall to expand it however much you want. 

[wesker]

21 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

What minifigures is that hairpiece from?  I think the picture looks good here.  Rosmertas might work though as it looks good on the figure from the front.  I also wouldn’t be against a new hair mold for both lobelia and Rosie.

It was originally created for the Series 15 CMF Queen but has also been reused on the Calamity Drone (Lego Movie) and Hermione (Harry Potter).
 

6 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

This would my ideal $1000 Minas Tirith set:

Minifigures would be Faramir, Denethor, Gandalf the White, Pippin in Gondorian livery, Irolas, Gondorian Fountain Guard x2, Gondorian Soldier x5, Orc soldier x3, Guritz, Gothmog, Witch King.

...

The biggest thing I think I’d be ok with then skipping in a set like that in favor of saving it for a future set would be the Witch King and Fell Beast (as weird as that sounds). But assuming we’re only ever getting big D2C style sets, a Witch King vs Éowyn set seems unlikely to happen. So Minas Tirith would be the next best place to include him

My preference would be for the Witch-King to have his own set, but if he must be included in Minas Tirith you cannot have him appear in the set without Eowyn. The two need to be released together to recreate the duel. Leaving her out of Minas Tirith so she can be released later in Helms Deep or Edoras isn't really an acceptable solution as it skips over her armored costume which is both integral to the duel and her most iconic look in the trilogy.

It would also be a shame if Minas Tirith didn't include Aragorn and Arwen from the coronation scene at the end of the movie.

[icm]

You've got that out of order. It was Calamity Drone first, then Queen, then Hermione.

[ForgedInLego]

Hot take, but Minas Tirith doesn't need to be a playset. I would rather have a Barad Dur style set with a more or less accurate exterior that minifigs can technically still interact with unlike the Daggerr MOC which was designed entirely around minifig compatibility. 

Doing a small section of a location worked for Rivendell because the layout isn't very well defined, in fact sections of the bigature were moved around and rearranged for each shot to make it look best. Minas Tirith on the other hand has a very well defined, iconic shape where each section doesn't exactly hold up on its own. Like if Barad Dur were split into two sets, the gate and kitchen, and everything else.

[KristinnK]

Personally I neither believe nor wish that we will get a minifigure scale Minas Tirith or anything even close to that. As that 100,000 Rebrickable build above demonstrates, anything like that would just be absurdly large and expensive. It's a complete non-starter.

If we get anything Minas Tirith related at a minifig scale it will be some sub-part of the city. The most likely candidate is a "Citadel of Minas Tirith" set, with the courtyard, the White Tree, the Throne Room and the Tower of Ecthelion. Another possibility would be a "Great Gate of Minas Tirith" set, which would be an opportunity to include a Witch King minifig.

My dream Minas Tirith set however would be a microscale version. The microscale Hogwarts Castle and Grounds is literally one of my all-time favorite Lego sets, and I really believe modern Lego with its varied small pieces really lends itself to these microscale builds. Something similar to the Hogwarts set (2700 pieces/170 USD) or perhaps a bit larger, but no more than 200-230 USD would be absolute perfection for me.

[TandNbricks]

13 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

@TandNbricks is indeed very reliable, but this could also be just an observation, not necessarily a hint  It‘s indeed interesting that the map shows all of the previous sets, but it also features Orthanc, which hasn‘t been remade (yet).

Cautiously optimistic, but this is more speculation than a rumour ^^

Yeah just checking off the ones we've gotten in that story.

[Roebuck]

15 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

i would prefer two $500 sets that work together like lower levels and upper levels.  Maybe three

I do not think that would happen, it basically means that you need to buy 2x500$ sets to get one set, then they would just make a 1000$ one instead.
However as I have said before it is possible to split the city down on the middle, if you like you could buy a second copy and mirror build it to get the hole city. Tough I think the most likely is that they make the "hole" city as a mix of minifig and mictoscale to pull it of like Barad Dur