Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[kuzyabricks]

What a disappointment of a set so far. 

[TheDoctor]

5 hours ago, JohnTPT17 said:

It's an acceptable interior for a $200 set.

1 hour ago, Blazej_Holen said:

definitelly not a $270 set. There are obvious budget cuts which hurt the set a lot.

18 minutes ago, Dr.Cogg said:

The Shire costs almost as much as Beasts Castle, with that set, I see the value, with the Shire, not so much.

Yeah, something's definitely off with that rumoured price of $270.

[MAB]

I wonder if there is some other function hidden under the floor of the main build or whether the thickness was necessary just to strengthen the angled design.

It's gone from a "probably not" to a "definitely not" for me.

[Blazej_Holen]

48 minutes ago, MAB said:

I wonder if there is some other function hidden under the floor of the main build or whether the thickness was necessary just to strengthen the angled design.

It's gone from a "probably not" to a "definitely not" for me.

There is no function beneth the interior of the Bag End. Its just because of the terrain outside. Only function is in the fireplace...

[MAB]

4 minutes ago, Blazej_Holen said:

There is no function beneth the interior of the Bag End. Its just because of the terrain outside. Only function is in the fireplace...

There could still be hidden items, possibly under the mat in the entrance or the green mat under the office chair. Presumably that 'tail' piece in the ceiling does something too.

[Altair1]

I don't really understand the complaints. The back of the set looks fine by me, the most important scenes are there. To me this set is still a big yes, except for the birthday tree which I plan to fix. I don't really care if it costs 200, 250 or 270 bucks, I will buy it (the only question is whether it will be on day one or a bit later, depending on the GWP being a Brickheadz or not)

[Blazej_Holen]

13 minutes ago, Altair1 said:

I don't really understand the complaints. The back of the set looks fine by me, the most important scenes are there. To me this set is still a big yes, except for the birthday tree which I plan to fix. I don't really care if it costs 200, 250 or 270 bucks, I will buy it (the only question is whether it will be on day one or a bit later, depending on the GWP being a Brickheadz or not)

Yeah, there is no problem in that. The rumored price is what is the issue. There has been serious quality downgrade in the LOTR sets from what I and most of the LOTR fans here can see. Rivendell with 6000 pcs, 15 + 6 minifigs for 500 USD is a top notch set, with remarkable design and care. Bag End is more than half the price with only 1/3 pieces and 9 minifigs with somewhat unfinished or neglected details. Thats is the problem. 

So basically Lego can make a big brown something with LOTR label on it and people will buy it all the same? This is not the feedback they should get. I will probably take it as weel but probably from the secondary resseler, or from the guy in the factory in Kladno, for at least 1/3 price down. I cannot pay that much for that small of a stuff. 

 

[GeoBrick]

40 minutes ago, Altair1 said:

I don't really understand the complaints. The back of the set looks fine by me, the most important scenes are there. To me this set is still a big yes, except for the birthday tree which I plan to fix. I don't really care if it costs 200, 250 or 270 bucks, I will buy it (the only question is whether it will be on day one or a bit later, depending on the GWP being a Brickheadz or not)

Exactly. These kind of sets are meant to be collectors items. If you don't collect, then leave it without regret. There's even more interior then I thought it would have after viewing the leaked picture of the interior.
As for the price, I see a lot more large bricks used in this set then in for instance Rivendell (for instance the rounded roof bricks), the textiles in this set are on the larger side as well, and I see for sure 2 sizes of rounded printed tiles.

Edited March 21 by GeoBrick
typo correction

[Cyprinus]

If they want to price it as a collectors item, they should deliver something of apropriate quality. This is not it. The party tree is piss-poor, the ceiling seems almost completely flat, they still can't deliver pieces that would truly complete the look of characters (like a hair-hat combo for Gandalf). You can excuse it if you want, just like you could excuse selling it for 1000$ as a premium collectors item, but I call bollocks.

And if you look at it like a regular set, it is at least 50$ overpriced. Maybe even 70. Just look at the Beauty and the Beast Castle and compare the pricing.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

The interior doesn’t have quite as much as I would have liked, but it has the important stuff. The Red Book being red is a huge win. Definitely still a day one purchase 

Price is unfortunate but that’s life

Not gonna miss out on a LOTR set because I’m grumpy about the price 

[neithan]

And I miss out sets when they are a bad deal price-wise.

If we buy everything TLG throws at us for full price, they have no intent to step up in quality, only step up in prices.

 

For now, I will not buy Bag End for outrageous 270€ and I still dont have the half Tower of Sauron. And I love TLoR since my childhood.

Only Set I have and love is Rivendell (as already mentioned before just because I got it with a 20% discount).

[Balrogofmorgoth]

An overpriced LOTR set will always be better than no LOTR set

[Lordhelmet]

7 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

An overpriced LOTR set will always be better than no LOTR set

Agreed, I think the set does look nice and has all the parts I would want it to have.  Price is the only caveat which is unfortunate because it really is a nice set (and the tree can be modified).

[Altair1]

13 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

An overpriced LOTR set will always be better than no LOTR set

Exactly. We did not get any LOTR set for 10 years, and now that we are getting a big one every year, some people still find reasons to be unhappy... Carpe Diem guys, these are great times to be a LOTR and Lego fan :-)

[Cyprinus]

21 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

An overpriced LOTR set will always be better than no LOTR set

If you have tons of money to spare or no other expenses, sure.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

11 minutes ago, Cyprinus said:

If you have tons of money to spare or no other expenses, sure.

Not at all lmao. I’m not wealthy and have plenty of expenses. But I’ve been waiting so long for this theme to come back, I’m going to prioritize it and make sure I’m not only doing my part to keep it around, but also make sure I’m not missing out on a great LOTR set forever just because at the time I didn’t want to find a way to come up with an additional fifty bucks

[mirkwoodspiders]

13 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Not at all lmao. I’m not wealthy and have plenty of expenses. But I’ve been waiting so long for this theme to come back, I’m going to prioritize it and make sure I’m not only doing my part to keep it around, but also make sure I’m not missing out on a great LOTR set forever just because at the time I didn’t want to find a way to come up with an additional fifty bucks

Same here. It's something for which I've saved for awhile now and am prepared to buy. $270 instead of $200 means I'll have $70 fewer to spend elsewhere, but I value LOTR LEGO higher than just about any other theme. Rising prices are forcing buyers to prioritize and LOTR is pretty high for me. I don't feel a protest is wise at this point. The theme is here, take advantage if you love LOTR and can afford it. I understand the price quibbles, but I just don't see the price as outrageous enough to forgo the set altogether. Not sure what price would make me skip it, to be fair, but not $270.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

1 minute ago, mirkwoodspiders said:

Same here. It's something for which I've saved for awhile now and am prepared to buy. $270 instead of $200 means I'll have $70 fewer to spend elsewhere, but I value LOTR LEGO higher than just about any other theme. Rising prices are forcing buyers to prioritize and LOTR is pretty high for me. I don't feel a protest is wise at this point. The theme is here, take advantage if you love LOTR and can afford it. I understand the price quibbles, but I just don't see the price as outrageous enough to forgo the set altogether. Not sure what price would make me skip it, to be fair, but not $270.

Yes, exactly. To me, it’s not worth skipping a LOTR set that we will likely never see again. I don’t care what other sets or themes I have to put on the back burner or skip. LOTR will always come first

[MAB]

1 hour ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

An overpriced LOTR set will always be better than no LOTR set

That depends on how long you have been collecting and what you already have. For me, an overpriced remake of a set (The Hobbit version) I already own is not necessarily better than nothing since I am happy with the original which I already extended. This adds a few minifigure prints and maybe an accessory or two which are nice but can hopefully be picked up on the secondary market. Whereas if it was an expensive set that was truly new, then I'd be more inclined to buy it.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

9 minutes ago, MAB said:

That depends on how long you have been collecting and what you already have. For me, an overpriced remake of a set (The Hobbit version) I already own is not necessarily better than nothing since I am happy with the original which I already extended. This adds a few minifigure prints and maybe an accessory or two which are nice but can hopefully be picked up on the secondary market. Whereas if it was an expensive set that was truly new, then I'd be more inclined to buy it.

I have the old one too, but this is undeniably a massive improvement on that one. I’m also not saying everyone needs to prioritize this set, simply that you don’t have to be rich and have no expenses in order to prioritize lego sets, like the other user was claiming 

[Lordhelmet]

38 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Yes, exactly. To me, it’s not worth skipping a LOTR set that we will likely never see again. I don’t care what other sets or themes I have to put on the back burner or skip. LOTR will always come first

Truth, LOTR sets get prioritized to the top of the list.  It is the only theme where I collect everything too.  My Star Wars collection is narrowly focused and I don’t buy much else with the price increases, but LOTR always gets prioritized (and day one with a gwp)

[Balrogofmorgoth]

9 minutes ago, Lordhelmet said:

Truth, LOTR sets get prioritized to the top of the list.  It is the only theme where I collect everything too.  My Star Wars collection is narrowly focused and I don’t buy much else with the price increases, but LOTR always gets prioritized (and day one with a gwp)

You’ve shown your quality, the very highest

[Arjo]

I like the use of whips on the inside of the door… detail I know, but nice:)

[RichardGoring]

7 hours ago, Dr.Cogg said:

The Shire costs almost as much as Beasts Castle, with that set, I see the value, with the Shire, not so much.

Comparison is the thief of joy. And that comparison really does steal a lot of the joy from this set.

1 hour ago, MAB said:

That depends on how long you have been collecting and what you already have. For me, an overpriced remake of a set (The Hobbit version) I already own is not necessarily better than nothing since I am happy with the original which I already extended. This adds a few minifigure prints and maybe an accessory or two which are nice but can hopefully be picked up on the secondary market. Whereas if it was an expensive set that was truly new, then I'd be more inclined to buy it.

And this is why LEGO rarely remakes large sets they've done before. People always clamour for remakes, but they will generally make more money from doing something new.

Overall, I still like it. It feels expensive for what it is, but as I don't have the original, I will get it. Day 1 assuming an excellent GWP, but if not, waiting for a discount or suitable GWP/double VIP. 

[mirkwoodspiders]

43 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

Comparison is the thief of joy. And that comparison really does steal a lot of the joy from this set.

And this is why LEGO rarely remakes large sets they've done before. People always clamour for remakes, but they will generally make more money from doing something new.

Overall, I still like it. It feels expensive for what it is, but as I don't have the original, I will get it. Day 1 assuming an excellent GWP, but if not, waiting for a discount or suitable GWP/double VIP. 

I think the only way I'll buy day one is a GWP with some exclusive print(s) or just a healthy number of pieces. Otherwise, I see no reason to get it right away when there are double points to be had down the road. The thing will be around for awhile if I need to wait.