Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Alcarin]

2 hours ago, Altair1 said:

If they do make Minas Tirith, I really hope it is the whole city, not just a playset with a couple scenes. In spite of what some people say, after seeing the beautiful existing MOCs, I am convinced it is possible with about 10,000 pieces. And I would have no problem with paying up to 1,000 Euros for it (barely the price of an iphone, if you think of it, and you get to keep it for ever!)

I am always torn between this whole things vs playsets...

In a way i PREFER the playset that is true to minifig size, because it can be more detailed and easier to buy multiple, then again the 1 big Minas Tirith would just keep letting me down because I would expect better, grander, more figs etc... 

 

Hard to call... I would be even happy if we could get White tower + the tree.... 

[RichardGoring]

2 hours ago, Altair1 said:

If they do make Minas Tirith, I really hope it is the whole city ... and you get to keep it for ever!)

Ah yes, the famous yellowing city! 

It will be very interesting to see how the new Death Star is received. If that sells really well for $1000, it might embolden them, but until they have solid sales data on that, I can't see them pushing a $1000 set too much.

[Altair1]

2 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

Ah yes, the famous yellowing city! 

Haha :-) I have quite a few white sets (mostly star wars and space) and most of them are still white so far, even after 10 years. But yeah in the long run, who knows...

[McMurder_them_softly]

23 hours ago, Blazej_Holen said:

I hope that Lego will continue with LOTR either under ICONS lineup or under separate themed lineup. It would be shame to cancel it again. The more I think about possible future sets, the more I am convinced that Minas Tirith wont be next release. Helms Deep is possible as a large ICONS D2C set. Its doable in minifig compatible scale with decent amount of minifigs (like 12-16: Trio of heroses, Haldir, Theoden, Eomer, Gandalf, Gamling, 2-4 random soldiers and few Uruks + 3 horses top). Or they will continue with Fellowship with smaller “Shire-like-size” sets such as Bree, Amon Sul or Mines of Moria playset… or even Amon Hen diorama and such. 

Minas Tirith can wait and to be honest, I cant see them make it unless it is micro or nano scale. Perhaps I am wrong and maybe after 1000 USD Death Star, they will be more brave and bold with sets above 1000 price tag. All in all I hope for nect surprise… :) 

Yeah I agree. I like Minas Tirith, but I can't see it translating as a set all that well. I think Helms Deep just makes the most sense to me at any rate. 

[Black Falcon]

Just now, McMurder_them_softly said:

Yeah I agree. I like Minas Tirith, but I can't see it translating as a set all that well. I think Helms Deep just makes the most sense to me at any rate. 

Many have said the same about Rivendell though, and, though sure some were complaining about it not beeing rivendell, but just a part of it, overall the Set seems to be very well received.

[McMurder_them_softly]

Just now, Black Falcon said:

Many have said the same about Rivendell though, and, though sure some were complaining about it not beeing rivendell, but just a part of it, overall the Set seems to be very well received.

Yeah definitely! I just think that Rivendell, you can capture the essence of the set without it needing to be all of it, whereas Minas Tirith, to me, it seems you need to capture it fully to be recognizable as the setting rather than just a medieval city setting in white. I'd love to have LEGO do it and see what they can do. Personally, I would rather have Helms Deep, but more LOTR is good LOTR to me. 

[Altair1]

1 hour ago, McMurder_them_softly said:

I think Helms Deep just makes the most sense to me at any rate. 

We already have Helm's Deep (maybe not all of us, but many of us have it).

I hope we get at least one Gondor set before getting more remakes.

Edited April 3 by Altair1

[RichardGoring]

2 hours ago, McMurder_them_softly said:

Yeah definitely! I just think that Rivendell, you can capture the essence of the set without it needing to be all of it, whereas Minas Tirith, to me, it seems you need to capture it fully to be recognizable as the setting rather than just a medieval city setting in white. I'd love to have LEGO do it and see what they can do. Personally, I would rather have Helms Deep, but more LOTR is good LOTR to me. 

Yes, exactly this. There wasn't one fixed model in the movies for Rivendell either, so nothing could be 100% accurate. Rivendell doesn't rely on structure to define it, whereas Minas Tirith is very much iconic for it's structure.

Having said that, I still think a model of the top, with the courtyard, white tree, and hall would make a great set and feel very Minas Tirith. I can also see how it would divide opinion.

[Ferder]

15 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

Having said that, I still think a model of the top, with the courtyard, white tree, and hall would make a great set and feel very Minas Tirith. I can also see how it would divide opinion.

That was how the city was portrayed for the 3D Puzzle toy set, though that set was specially titled "Citadel of Minas Tirith" 

https://wrebbit3dpuzzle.com/cdn/shop/files/Wrebbit3D-GoldenHall-W3D-2003-JigsawPuzzleAndBox.jpg?v=1722879749&width=5000

[Alcarin]

6 hours ago, Ferder said:

That was how the city was portrayed for the 3D Puzzle toy set, though that set was specially titled "Citadel of Minas Tirith" 

https://wrebbit3dpuzzle.com/cdn/shop/files/Wrebbit3D-GoldenHall-W3D-2003-JigsawPuzzleAndBox.jpg?v=1722879749&width=5000

 

 

Exactly... and if we would only get the White tree and tower and like 8 figures (4x fountain guard + Denethor + Faramir in Gondor attire + Gandalf + Pippin as Gondor soldier) that would be amazing :) 

[MAB]

17 hours ago, Altair1 said:

If they do make Minas Tirith, I really hope it is the whole city, not just a playset with a couple scenes. In spite of what some people say, after seeing the beautiful existing MOCs, I am convinced it is possible with about 10,000 pieces. And I would have no problem with paying up to 1,000 Euros for it (barely the price of an iphone, if you think of it, and you get to keep it for ever!)

Other people would have a problem paying that much though. A better solution is a smaller official set that sells well to many people, and people that want a huge display build a moc.

[KristinnK]

  

I'm just going to leave this quote from a comment by RichardGoring in this thread to illustrate what scale 10,000 and 100,000 pieces gives to Minas Tirith. The 10,000 piece model looks like an absolute playset, it just isn't anywhere near enough. You need at least 25-30,000 pieces.

There are only two realistic options for Minas Tirith. One is a 76419 style microscale set. There are some MOCs out there, like this one with 2000 pieces and this one with 10,000 pieces. Something in between these two would be fantastic.

The other option that some have already mentioned is doing sub-locations. Something like the Citadel, with the courtyard, the White Tree, the Throne Room and the Tower of Ecthelion, or the Gates of Minas Tiris with Gandalf, the Lord of the Nazgul, Grond the battering ram and some soldiers and orcs.

 

On 1/30/2025 at 6:27 PM, RichardGoring said:

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

[Lordhelmet]

How long does it normally take Lego to ship new sets?  I know they are slow about shipping, but a few days should be plenty of time to pack an order and ship it.

[Altair1]

24 minutes ago, Lordhelmet said:

How long does it normally take Lego to ship new sets?  I know they are slow about shipping, but a few days should be plenty of time to pack an order and ship it.

My Shire was shipped yesterday April 3, just one day after I ordered it. Not bad, if you ask me :-)

Edited April 4 by Altair1

[Cyprinus]

16 minutes ago, Altair1 said:

My Shire was shipped yesterday April 3, just one day after I ordered it. Not bad, if you ask me :-)

Lucky bastard. I ordered a few minutes after launch, still didn't ship. And I hoped to relax building it over the weekend...

[Lordhelmet]

1 hour ago, Cyprinus said:

Lucky bastard. I ordered a few minutes after launch, still didn't ship. And I hoped to relax building it over the weekend...

Same, ordered it shortly after, still hasn’t shipped, can’t build this weekend now.

[McMurder_them_softly]

18 hours ago, Altair1 said:

We already have Helm's Deep (maybe not all of us, but many of us have it).

I hope we get at least one Gondor set before getting more remakes.

Yeah I know! Again, just my personal thoughts on the matter. I don't have any of the original LOTR sets, so Helms Deep is an easy miss and seeing it again as an ICONS set would be a dream for me. Again, I'm ultimately happy with LOTR back as a theme (sparse as it is at the moment). I did skip the Shire for now, but I'm hoping maybe as a gift later in the year. 

[hikouki]

It’s currently double points for purchasing Rivendell and Barad-dur at Lego.com. Are they purging their stocks this early?

[GeoBrick]

21 minutes ago, hikouki said:

It’s currently double points for purchasing Rivendell and Barad-dur at Lego.com. Are they purging their stocks this early?

I think LEGO is just seizing the moment.

[kuzyabricks]

19 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

How long does it normally take Lego to ship new sets?  I know they are slow about shipping, but a few days should be plenty of time to pack an order and ship it.

Mine is being delivered tomorrow I think and yet I won't see it for another month because of college....wish yours could have arrived quicker instead of mine))

[BrickBob Studpants]

I ordered The Shire online, fearing the GWP might be out of stock at the LEGO store, and of course, when I went there on Thursday to get some other new releases, there was still a whole bunch of them behind the counter!

…so being the impatient manchild that I am, I bought a second copy  It’s an amazing set in my opinion! Sure, the price is steep, but it’s worth it in my opinion.

[Black Falcon]

2 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

I ordered The Shire online, fearing the GWP might be out of stock at the LEGO store, and of course, when I went there on Thursday to get some other new releases, there was still a whole bunch of them behind the counter!

…so being the impatient manchild that I am, I bought a second copy  It’s an amazing set in my opinion! Sure, the price is steep, but it’s worth it in my opinion.

What are you going to do with the second one? Build a bigger Bagend, or another Hobbit home? For the Proudfoots maybe? After all they still need a house where they watch Gandalf pass by :P

[BrickBob Studpants]

3 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

What are you going to do with the second one? 

Store it in my cupboard

[brickbride]

On 4/3/2025 at 5:21 PM, RichardGoring said:

It will be very interesting to see how the new Death Star is received. If that sells really well for $1000, it might embolden them, but until they have solid sales data on that, I can't see them pushing a $1000 set too much.

Also the Death Star is probably the most iconic thing about Star Wars next to the Millenium Falcon. It makes sense for those two to be the uber-pricey flagship sets because for many people, if they only buy one Star Wars set in their lives it's either of these.

Minas Tirith isn't in the same category IMO. It's an iconic location, sure, but not the most iconic, and not the most plot-relevant or the most beloved either. If I remember correctly, several of the most important characters like Frodo and Sam never even set foot there. People want it for reasons of completionism and they want a large version because the architecture requires it but I don't know. Who's really going to be satisfied with having Minas Tirith as their only LotR set? I don't think anywhere near as many people would buy it at the EUR 850-1.000 price point as would buy the Falcon or the Death Star.

[THELEGOBATMAN]

12 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Store it in my cupboard

Curious... why? Are you planning to sell it for a profit after it becomes unavailable? If not, why not buy a different set than another copy of the same one you just bought, since you're not planning to do anything with it (also, it's certainly not a cheap set)?