Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Gorilla94]

I have to say... I don't get it. The last years lego was - for me - pretty cheap. They did not release much, I'd like to have even for free, so I only bought like one set and then bricklinked some new parts... Now we have: 

- Simpsons Krusty Burger

- Lotr Shire

- most detailed Hogwarts castle

- Black pearl

- non-sucking modular building (except for the great hotel most were pretty "meh" the last lears)

- Arham Asylum

- beauty and the beast castle

As well as tons of cool pieces like the new gargoyles, gorgeous two-face- minifig...

Do all these huge special sets not share quite a large amount of Potential customers with a limited Lego budget?

 

[BitByBrick]

26 minutes ago, Gorilla94 said:

I have to say... I don't get it. The last years lego was - for me - pretty cheap. They did not release much, I'd like to have even for free, so I only bought like one set and then bricklinked some new parts... Now we have: 

- Simpsons Krusty Burger

- Lotr Shire

- most detailed Hogwarts castle

- Black pearl

- non-sucking modular building (except for the great hotel most were pretty "meh" the last lears)

- Arham Asylum

- beauty and the beast castle

As well as tons of cool pieces like the new gargoyles, gorgeous two-face- minifig...

Do all these huge special sets not share quite a large amount of Potential customers with a limited Lego budget?

 

And Transformers Soundwave, and LotR Book Nook, and… it’s shaping up to be a great and expensive year. One filled with difficult choices and saving up. Most likely will hope for long shelf life for these sets, and (cross my fingers) sales of some variety. 

[sqidlord05]

Is it just me or did lego use the same pieces as Barad dur as far as specialty? Is that dragon head not the flame nexo part?

Is that a new tent piece not design but shape?

Are those new round window pieces?

[mirkwoodspiders]

1 hour ago, Gorilla94 said:

I have to say... I don't get it. The last years lego was - for me - pretty cheap. They did not release much, I'd like to have even for free, so I only bought like one set and then bricklinked some new parts... Now we have: 

- Simpsons Krusty Burger

- Lotr Shire

- most detailed Hogwarts castle

- Black pearl

- non-sucking modular building (except for the great hotel most were pretty "meh" the last lears)

- Arham Asylum

- beauty and the beast castle

As well as tons of cool pieces like the new gargoyles, gorgeous two-face- minifig...

Do all these huge special sets not share quite a large amount of Potential customers with a limited Lego budget?

 

And a flipping $1K Death Star. Probably more niche, but for hard core Star Wars fans who are also interested in any of the sets you listed... yikes! I've always wondered why LEGO doesn't space these larger licensed sets out a bit more. Personally I'd buy more of them that way - more time to save up before the sets retire.

Shire is day one buy, assuming the GWP isn't a Brickheadz set and really does have minifigures as rumored. I'm also *interested in* UCS Death Star, Black Pearl, Enterprise, T-Rex Skeleton, UCS Jango's Slave 1, Krusty Burger, AT-ST, Neuschwanstein, and the LOTR Book Nook. That's altogether over $3K and... no way I can afford it all. Choices for LEGO just get harder each year it seems. Both a good and bad problem to have.

[DonQuixote]

I think the reason why Lego is becoming so much more expensive is due  to the fact that a lot of customers from the Covid era stopped buying Lego. Or they discovered alternative brands. The Lego company compensates this loss by increasing their profits for each set, knowing that loyal hardcore Lego purists with enough disposable income, will still buy the overpriced sets anyway.

To put it simply: the Lego company no longer targets common people. They are targeting the upper high income class. 

As long as their profits are growing, they don't mind losing customers with lower income.

That's just my thoughts. 

 

[icm]

I think you're right about that. Lego is facing some pretty steep competition down-market, and when established firms face price competition downrange it's usually easier to move upmarket than to address the problems in their cost structures that make them vulnerable to price pressure. That rarely ends well for the established firm, because they cede their base markets and become reliant on the top end of the market.

[Roebuck]

Everything is getting more expensive and Lego has always been expensive however 10-15 years ago they made maybe 5 sets aimed at adults every year now it is crazy amounts of huge sets.
The more they make the more picky I become since it is not feasible to buy everything anyway.

3 hours ago, DonQuixote said:

The Lego company compensates this loss by increasing their profits for each set, knowing that loyal hardcore Lego purists with enough disposable income, will still buy the overpriced sets anyway.

Personally I do not think they have any problems with sales, I think they increase their sales area (especially in Asia) and make more different products so they get more different customers. The rest of the toy industry are in decline, but Lego still increase.

I never buy sets day 1, I wait for a discount and 270$ is to much for this set so I will wait and see if I end up buying it

[MAB]

6 hours ago, Gorilla94 said:

I have to say... I don't get it. The last years lego was - for me - pretty cheap. They did not release much, I'd like to have even for free, so I only bought like one set and then bricklinked some new parts... Now we have: 

- Simpsons Krusty Burger

- Lotr Shire

- most detailed Hogwarts castle

- Black pearl

- non-sucking modular building (except for the great hotel most were pretty "meh" the last lears)

- Arham Asylum

- beauty and the beast castle

As well as tons of cool pieces like the new gargoyles, gorgeous two-face- minifig...

Do all these huge special sets not share quite a large amount of Potential customers with a limited Lego budget?

 

I don't think those sets overlap in potential customers any more than, for example:

Rivendell, Ninjago City Markets, Avengers Tower, Disney Castle, Gringott's Bank, and the Jazz Club (all 2023).

LEGO make a lot of sets these days and a reasonable portion of those are large and aimed at adults. We have a much wider choice than a decade ago but it means we cannot buy everything unless we have a very large budget.

 

 

I have the original Bag End and I don't think I will bother with this one. It doesn't add much especially as I've already extended mine using quite cheap common parts. I'm not a fan of the large curved parts which seem very dominant, as a prefer using smaller parts giving a bit more randomness than the repeated same curved surfaces everywhere. I'm also not a fan of cloth / foil parts like the tent roof and banner. I like Merry and Pippin so I might buy them on BL, the new Hobbits are nice but I have quite a few customs already. The fence is nice and I'll borrow that idea. The prints around the windows/door are nice. The dragon firework is good but easy to replicate. The tree on top is OK but the solo tree by Bilbo is awful. 

So overall a few bits I might pick up but nowhere near enough to justify buying the new set.

 

Edited March 9 by MAB

[MAB]

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Edited March 9 by MAB
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[Altair1]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

I have the original Bag End and I don't think I will bother with this one. It doesn't add much especially as I've already extended mine using quite cheap common parts. I'm not a fan of the large curved parts which seem very dominant, as a prefer using smaller parts giving a bit more randomness than the repeated same curved surfaces everywhere. I'm also not a fan of cloth / foil parts like the tent roof and banner. I like Merry and Pippin so I might buy them on BL, the new Hobbits are nice but I have quite a few customs already. The fence is nice and I'll borrow that idea. The prints around the windows/door are nice. The dragon firework is good but easy to replicate. The tree on top is OK but the solo tree by Bilbo is awful. 

So overall a few bits I might pick up but nowhere near enough to justify buying the new set.

I have to disagree. I also own the original Bag End and it was really good at the time for its price and piece count, but the new one is just so much better and I would never think of skipping it! I watched again the beginning of the first LOTR movie to compare and this set is remarkably faithful to it. The only criticism I agree with is regarding the tree behind Bilbo, but I plan to fix this. As for my 79003 set, I will certainly not sell it as some people have. i will probably use it to extend the Shire (may need to change the door color), and anyway I need the dwarves to have the complete collection (I bought all the Hobbit sets especially for that).

[DonQuixote]

4 hours ago, Roebuck said:

 

I never buy sets day 1, I wait for a discount and 270$ is to much for this set so I will wait and see if I end up buying it

Me too! I bought the Deku tree in january with 20% discount.

€300 is absurd for what you get.

[Altair1]

5 hours ago, Roebuck said:

I never buy sets day 1, I wait for a discount and 270$ is to much for this set so I will wait and see if I end up buying it

It all comes down to whether you personally consider the GWP worth it or not. I bought Barad-Dur day 1 because I really wanted the Fell beast. If the Smeagol & Deagol GWP is minifig based I have no problem with paying 270 bucks for the Shire.

[Lordhelmet]

1 hour ago, Altair1 said:

It all comes down to whether you personally consider the GWP worth it or not. I bought Barad-Dur day 1 because I really wanted the Fell beast. If the Smeagol & Deagol GWP is minifig based I have no problem with paying 270 bucks for the Shire.

That fell beast was great to build.  It felt so good building a small LOtR set again.

[Black Falcon]

12 hours ago, Gorilla94 said:

I have to say... I don't get it. The last years lego was - for me - pretty cheap. They did not release much, I'd like to have even for free, so I only bought like one set and then bricklinked some new parts... Now we have: 

I would say it´s rather because of your personal preferences, than because of what Lego is releasing - personally in the last years there were already more sets I would have liked to buy than I was willing to - I haven´t bought Rivendell yet for instance, though I really like it, even more so with the Lion Knights Castle. Another problem with the big Sets aside from the price it the space they need - which in the end, if you need more of it, it costs more money again ;).

As for Bag End, as mentioned before it wasn´t really a Set I was looking for, but it still is much nicer than I would have had expected, so unless for Barad-Dûr (which was great too, but just not my main interest) I could see me buying it - but then again, as I said, other Sets are still on the List too, and I would put the Lion Knights Castle and Rivendell above Bag End.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

$270 is crazy, but still a day one purchase 

I have to say I’m very worried that “Sméagol and Déagol” is a Brickheadz set

[RichardGoring]

42 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

...Another problem with the big Sets aside from the price it the space they need - which in the end, if you need more of it, it costs more money again ;).

Yes, exactly this. I don't know if LEGO is getting 'more expensive' compared to the past if you do a like-for-like comparison. But I don't think you can particularly, as so many LEGO sets now are huge. I thought I had a lot of LEGO as a kid - and I did - but if all fit into a single large tub, which is probably not far off what Rivendell and Barad-Dur are together.

LEGO has increased the number of larger sets in the last few years, and they're great, but I'm being even more restricted on what I buy because the space is just filling up with so many huge sets. And we have no idea what amazing thing they will release in the coming years.

[Lordhelmet]

 

1 hour ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

$270 is crazy, but still a day one purchase 

I have to say I’m very worried that “Sméagol and Déagol” is a Brickheadz set

I hope not, but the rumor has less pieces than the Frodo/Gollum Brickheadz, not sure they can do two hobbits with that few pieces.  

 

The two extra minifigures make the $270 ok (not good, or great, just ok) - puts it at $25 per mini figure.

[Cyprinus]

Brick Clicker confirms the 270$ price point. With an April 2nd release (though April 1st would be much more fitting).

And the GWP is supposedly minifig-based.

[hikouki]

The GWP is unlikely to have exclusive minifig parts, right?

Edit: I just realized that the previous Fellbeast set included an exclusive plastic wings set.

I have that GWP but I haven't built it. I was hoping to BL all the parts and save that GWP for later.

Edited March 9 by hikouki

[Aanchir]

15 hours ago, sqidlord05 said:

Is it just me or did lego use the same pieces as Barad dur as far as specialty? Is that dragon head not the flame nexo part?

Is that a new tent piece not design but shape?

Are those new round window pieces?

The dragon head is indeed the same Nexo Knights weapon piece used in Barad-Dur, coupled by a 1x2 plate with tooth on either side. It looks pretty effective to me, though, so I can't fault the designer for that decision! Meanwhile, the wings appear to be the ones from Kai's Rising Dragon Strike.

The tent looks like it's gonna be a flexible plastic film piece similar to the ones used for the wings of the Fell Beast, many boat sails, and for the Bilbo's birthday party banner elsewhere in this set. It's a different tent shape than we've seen before, but definitely looks very effective!

That does indeed appear to be a new frame for 1x2x2 window panes! Those will surely be extremely useful for ships, trains, submarines, small animal burrows, and — once released in other colors — potentially even stuff like washing machines and speaker cabinets!

The Brick Yellow/Tan skirt worn by the hobbit on the far left also appears to be a new mold! Longer and wavier than the miniskirt piece but not as wide as the wavy skirt piece used for Rosie Cotton in this set. Looks very versatile, although when used on longer legs it will probably reduce the legs' range of movement quite a bit compared to those existing molded skirts.

I'm pretty impressed with some of the building techniques here, such as the fence built from Medium Nougat boomerangs (a very useful recolor for that piece), the mailbox built from 1x1x2/3 round bricks with side stud, and the shiny doorknob made from a gold-printed microphone!

2 minutes ago, hikouki said:

The GWP is unlikely to have exclusive minifig parts, right?

Probably no exclusive molds, but it's not really uncommon for a GWP set to have one or two uniquely printed elements — for example, the Blacktron Cruiser and Majisto's Workshop each had a new printed torso and sticker sheet, the Disney 100 Years Celebration had a new printed torso and 1x2x2 window pane "animation cel", Cerebro had a new printed communicator tile and name brick, the Fell Beast had uniquely printed wings, and the Retro Record Player had two uniquely printed tiles.

As these examples show, whether that new element budget gets used for minifig parts or other parts depends on what makes the most sense for the individual set. And for a set of Sméagol and Déagol, I can't imagine there'd be too much need for uniquely printed non-minifig parts. So the designers might want to use this set's budget to give Smeagol to have a printed head with an alternate crazed/enthralled expression for when he steals the ring, or to give one or both characters new printed torsos.

 

[Black Falcon]

23 minutes ago, hikouki said:

The GWP is unlikely to have exclusive minifig parts, right?

Edit: I just realized that the previous Fellbeast set included an exclusive plastic wings set.

I have that GWP but I haven't built it. I was hoping to BL all the parts and save that GWP for later.

I wouldn´t be that surprised if we see an exclusive torso print there - well same goes for face print. Aside from that, it will probably be just a boat and a small side build.

[Cyprinus]

3 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

I wouldn´t be that surprised if we see an exclusive torso print there - well same goes for face print. Aside from that, it will probably be just a boat and a small side build.

I could see it being akin to the boat from BDP's Harbormaster's Office - with the One Ring at the bottom and an option to pose Deagol as if he was diving for it.

[zoth33]

I'm wondering if the tariffs are being considered for the pricing for this set or was this the price all along.  

[brimbolet]

I've checked regularly this thread but didn't intend to say anything before the final pics but... the price! My goodness.

The set is of course nice for Hobbit fans, though Shire settings seem quite boring to me personally so this wasn't on the very top of my buying list. But now the price makes me wonder how the bookend will look like. I just hope it's not an expensive microscale GWP diorama with a 1x1 plate for Gandalf and a 1x1 brick for the Balrog...

Any news when we can expect pictures of it?

[TheDoctor]

I'm not convinced by that new price and release date.
How reliable is that leaker usually?

Very sceptical of a Smeagol & Deagol set, I just really struggle to see Lego releasing a set based on one single scene in which a cold-blooded murder takes place...?
(don't get me wrong, I'd love it! But it's also hard to display alongside the set)

Wonder if they'll bring forward the reveal after this leak now it's gone from the site.

Also looks like the doorknob piece is chrome gold!