Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Alcarin]

2 minutes ago, Blazej_Holen said:

White tower itself doesent make any sense. Also 4x Gondorian guards is nonsense, we never get that many guards in one set. Usually Lego is very good at dissapointing their fans in terms on what they include in sets... Rivendell is rare exception... 

 

Why it doesnt make any sense? It makes just as much sense as Barad-Dur tbh... 

 

Regarding the guards i was implying on this scene/part 

 

 

Yeh LEGO never did it but its a discussion, and LEGO never did 1k set before either...

[Cyprinus]

2 hours ago, Alcarin said:

Why it doesnt make any sense? It makes just as much sense as Barad-Dur tbh...

Barad-Dur gave us the whole thing. And it was an important place, even if not much happened there on screen/page.

The White Tower is just one of many structures in Minas Tirith, with a marginal role in the story beyond the things that happened in the throne chamber (which plenty of people won't even remember is there)

[Alcarin]

3 hours ago, Cyprinus said:

Barad-Dur gave us the whole thing. And it was an important place, even if not much happened there on screen/page.

The White Tower is just one of many structures in Minas Tirith, with a marginal role in the story beyond the things that happened in the throne chamber (which plenty of people won't even remember is there)

Actually White Tower has an important symbolic role in the whole story, its the actual tower as a response to Dark Lords tower to defend the free lands of Middle Earth. It also symbolizes the biggest threat to Sauron (as he perceived it) of any nation. Its pretty much the strongest military bastion of the free people of Middle Earth.

it is also the location of one of the "all seeing" stones as was Barad-Dur and Orthanc...

it is also the most important location seeing as the story rather talks about this instead of the fights at Erebor etc... 

 

I know whats your point, but imo, the time story spends in Minas Tirith is far greater than Orthanc or Barad-Dur... and if both "black towers" are a symbols of the enemy and darkness, the Tower of Ecthelion is a symbol of hope and light...

[MKJoshA]

Is it a difference from those who have read the books verses those who only saw the movies? The White City is one of the most iconic locations in Middle Earth imho. Way more iconic then Barad-Dur. But that's coming from someone who read the books long before the movies came out. This who disagree, have you read the books before?

[Balrogofmorgoth]

10 minutes ago, MKJoshA said:

Is it a difference from those who have read the books verses those who only saw the movies? The White City is one of the most iconic locations in Middle Earth imho. Way more iconic then Barad-Dur. But that's coming from someone who read the books long before the movies came out. This who disagree, have you read the books before?

I started with the movies, but have been a lifelong Tolkien fan after that, I read the books all the time, and I agree with you. Minas Tirith is absolutely central to the story, and the tower of Ecthelion on the top, “glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver”, is a very symbolic and iconic piece of the architecture that I think lego would need to replicate if they made the set. 

[Lordhelmet]

3 hours ago, MKJoshA said:

Is it a difference from those who have read the books verses those who only saw the movies? The White City is one of the most iconic locations in Middle Earth imho. Way more iconic then Barad-Dur. But that's coming from someone who read the books long before the movies came out. This who disagree, have you read the books before?

I read the books first, but saw the movies within a year or two of reading the books.  But I agree that Minis Tirith is one of the most important/ iconic locations in middle earth.  Even for movie fans though there are only three locations with screen time in all three movies (minis Tirith, Rivendell, and Barad Dur) unless I am forgetting one.

[RichardGoring]

Someone has sketched out the Harry Potter 'book nook' and it's actually bookends, with one part showing the Hogwarts Express engine, and the other the back end of the train and Platform 9 3/4. It looks pretty shallow from the sketch, but quite wide. And each piece has a base, rear wall, one side wall, and a curve over the top, which might not cover the entire thing.

I wonder if this means the LofR book nook will be the same, with the Balrog in one half and Gandalf in the other. It bodes well for the piece count going into the build, rather than the frame. And that the Balrog might be a decent size and not a relief in the back wall.

[Black Falcon]

17 hours ago, brickbride said:

I'm talking neither victims nor perpetrators, it's just a fact. Stuff like Notre Dame, Neuschwanstein, the solar system model, a Hogwarts express booknook, Sherlock Holmes, One Piece,  Pokemon, Star Trek ... have all been done by other brick companies first. Are you telling me that LEGO wouldn't gauge their sales before making their own versions?

Maybe for Star Trek and Pokemon. But you don´t really think that they would be doing Minas Tirith because some other company did it already? If they are doing it they do because they have the licence (which you can´t say about all the other companies btw),  it is one of the most Iconic Locations in LotR and because, sure it will sell. You just need to read through this thread and you will find people constantly wishing for this set. So whether it is next year, or in two, three years, I am sure it will come - unless Lego decides that they will stop doing LotR sets, which I don´t see happening in the near future. 

About the rest, I´ve said it before, you will probably find sets from another brick company for like every famous building or license (without owning the license in most cases), if you want to belive that Lego is just doing them, because another company does them, fine. But to me it seems more logic that Lego does them because they are well known IPs with a big fanbase that will sell well.

[wesker]

On 4/7/2025 at 8:21 AM, MAB said:

To me, that is the worst of both worlds. Microscale gives the overall shape of the city but not really any detail, and the minifigure scale interiors would be rather irrelevant as most scenes occur outside. Rooms inside Barad-Dur work as it is a tower and you expect rooms in a tower (even if the scale is off). Whereas having rooms inside a City (rather than a building) would be weird. 

It might not be the ideal solution but to me it does seem like the most realistic option given that Lego has taken a similar approach to Barad-Dur and the Jurassic Park gate. There's enough interior scenes for them to work with between the throne room, tombs and houses of healing.

Unfortunately I think there's no way of pleasing everyone with a Minas Tirith set. Despite it being one of the most highly requested locations from the trilogy it has the potential to be an even more divisive set than the Shire is.

[hikouki]

3 hours ago, wesker said:

It might not be the ideal solution but to me it does seem like the most realistic option given that Lego has taken a similar approach to Barad-Dur and the Jurassic Park gate. There's enough interior scenes for them to work with between the throne room, tombs and houses of healing.

Unfortunately I think there's no way of pleasing everyone with a Minas Tirith set. Despite it being one of the most highly requested locations from the trilogy it has the potential to be an even more divisive set than the Shire is.

Perhaps just have separate sets... smaller mini fig-based vignettes, separate from a large microscale location-based set.

You may have a point. Perhaps Lego and its designers are afraid of how their 'masterpiece' will be received.

[wesker]

This topic begs another question - do people primarily want Minas Tirith for the location itself or are they just looking for any kind of Gondor representation in Lego form?

Let's say Lego were to hypothetically release a Two Towers-themed Mumakil with Faramir, the Eowyn/Witch-King duel as a stand alone set and some kind of Gondor Soldier battle pack like Osgiliath - is the desirability for Minas Tirith as the next D2C still there? Would fans be content with Helms Deep, Edoras and Orthanc coming first if that Gondor niche has already been filled?

[kuzyabricks]

45 minutes ago, wesker said:

This topic begs another question - do people primarily want Minas Tirith for the location itself or are they just looking for any kind of Gondor representation in Lego form?

Let's say Lego were to hypothetically release a Two Towers-themed Mumakil with Faramir, the Eowyn/Witch-King duel as a stand alone set and some kind of Gondor Soldier battle pack like Osgiliath - is the desirability for Minas Tirith as the next D2C still there? Would fans be content with Helms Deep, Edoras and Orthanc coming first if that Gondor niche has already been filled?

Mumakil set with Witch King battle for $150 would be AMAZING. But I would gladly take dioramas. One with Eowyn, witch king, and theoden and the other depicting the set with Legolas taking down the Mumakil. Throw in Sam, Frodo, Faramir to finally give us boromir's brother and I would be SOLD.

[Alcarin]

1 hour ago, wesker said:

This topic begs another question - do people primarily want Minas Tirith for the location itself or are they just looking for any kind of Gondor representation in Lego form?

Let's say Lego were to hypothetically release a Two Towers-themed Mumakil with Faramir, the Eowyn/Witch-King duel as a stand alone set and some kind of Gondor Soldier battle pack like Osgiliath - is the desirability for Minas Tirith as the next D2C still there? Would fans be content with Helms Deep, Edoras and Orthanc coming first if that Gondor niche has already been filled?

Well I know I would still like and enjoy the White Tower set with white tree protected by those special molded Gondor guards of the Citadel...

 

But yeh, my main wish is for proper Gondor soldier with armor and shield and helmet, preferaby a battle pack...

[MAB]

6 hours ago, wesker said:

It might not be the ideal solution but to me it does seem like the most realistic option given that Lego has taken a similar approach to Barad-Dur and the Jurassic Park gate. There's enough interior scenes for them to work with between the throne room, tombs and houses of healing.

 

Although that leaves out the more interesting scenes that happened outside. To me, the most realistic option is minifig scale buildings / scenery representing the location rather than the whole thing, like they did with Rivendell and The Shire.

[MKJoshA]

2 hours ago, wesker said:

Let's say Lego were to hypothetically release a Two Towers-themed Mumakil with Faramir, the Eowyn/Witch-King duel as a stand alone set and some kind of Gondor Soldier battle pack like Osgiliath - is the desirability for Minas Tirith as the next D2C still there?

Yes, I would still want a Minas Tirith set. After proving how incredible a set can be with Rivendell, I want to see them create Minas Tirith.

[Blazej_Holen]

1 hour ago, MKJoshA said:

Yes, I would still want a Minas Tirith set. After proving how incredible a set can be with Rivendell, I want to see them create Minas Tirith.

I guess that some smaller sets with Gindor themed characters or scenes (aka Theoden and Eowyn vs Witch King, some battle scene with few soldiers vs Orc or Mumakil etc) will satisfy my need and hunger. But then as many here, I would like to see Minas Tirith set. 
 

But there is so much to be afraid of. What if the build doesent appeal to me? What if it ruins my expectations of such unique and iconic location? What if its waaaay too expensive (like more than $1000)? It is both tempting to have fantasies about what this set could be and actually get a massive ultra expensive build which will be one of. FOMO would be unbereable for me. So I am on the edge… to wish for it or not to wish for it at all :)

[Alcarin]

The sad fact is, that there is NO WAY of creating Minas Tirith as a 7 lvl citadel "castle" with small parts as LEGO is using now and to be atleast semi minifig scale (so you could actually defend and fight with figures on all 7 lvls) and be true to minifig scale...

 

I would probably cost around 5.000$ for this to be as described above.

So a more realistic its either a mini set of Minas Tirith (which does nothing to me) or a only White tower + White tree courtyard... for a nice price point of 400$...

[TheDoctor]

15 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

Someone has sketched out the Harry Potter 'book nook' and it's actually bookends, with one part showing the Hogwarts Express engine, and the other the back end of the train and Platform 9 3/4. It looks pretty shallow from the sketch, but quite wide. And each piece has a base, rear wall, one side wall, and a curve over the top, which might not cover the entire thing.

I wonder if this means the LofR book nook will be the same, with the Balrog in one half and Gandalf in the other. It bodes well for the piece count going into the build, rather than the frame. And that the Balrog might be a decent size and not a relief in the back wall.

Yes, I saw that!
Great news!

Would be quite a substantial set if done like the HP one.

Could even have a Goblin archer nested in the back rocky wall.

Certainly much more confident we're getting a brick-built Balrog now!

[Blazej_Holen]

1 hour ago, Alcarin said:

The sad fact is, that there is NO WAY of creating Minas Tirith as a 7 lvl citadel "castle" with small parts as LEGO is using now and to be atleast semi minifig scale (so you could actually defend and fight with figures on all 7 lvls) and be true to minifig scale...

 

I would probably cost around 5.000$ for this to be as described above.

So a more realistic its either a mini set of Minas Tirith (which does nothing to me) or a only White tower + White tree courtyard... for a nice price point of 400$...

But there is. You have mentioned only two extremes - either full minifig compatible city in $ 5000 price range or a small part of the top most level in more decent price ("just" $ 400) :D 

There are plenty of ways how to use "design magic" and create Minas tirith with 7 lvls shape and still mainaining somewhat accesible price around $ 1000 or maybe little bit above. You can do a lower "semi circle" with main gate, 2 buildings, few towers (mostly in a way that Disney Castle has), then middle circle, with smaller gate, tunnel beneth the rocky outcrop and perhaps one house long with additional towers and then the top most lvl with citadel and tower of Ecthelion with white tree. The rest of the lvls between 1st middle ant top levels would be just "fake" made in forced perspective... So design-wise those levels would be there, but cannot be used by minifigs you know. This is mostly the same way as Barad Dur was designed. You can play with it, but its dramaticall yscaled down while maintaining the idea of shape and size... 

This is IMO the most complex and probable approach if we ever get Minas Tirith as a set. It would be still around 8 000 + pcs, it will have some side buildfs such as scaled down Grond, one siege tower and or catapult, probably one Nazgul on the flying beast (possibly Witch King), maybe even one Mumakil, and aroudn 20-25 figs in total. This would be approach I would personally choose if I was a Lego Designer in LOTR / ICONS Line.

You need to understand how Lego tends to think about their sets. Usually They try to be as complex as they can. Hence the Shire set (i.e. all the sidebuilds etc.). If they have one shot, they would probably try to add as much references as possible. So thats that. Only "small" section of the White city and few Gondor soldiers all with new moulded armour and helmets and crisp prints just to make fans happy? Nah. I dont think so. 

Edited April 8 by Blazej_Holen

[Alcarin]

1 hour ago, Blazej_Holen said:

But there is. You have mentioned only two extremes - either full minifig compatible city in $ 5000 price range or a small part of the top most level in more decent price ("just" $ 400) :D 

There are plenty of ways how to use "design magic" and create Minas tirith with 7 lvls shape and still mainaining somewhat accesible price around $ 1000 or maybe little bit above. You can do a lower "semi circle" with main gate, 2 buildings, few towers (mostly in a way that Disney Castle has), then middle circle, with smaller gate, tunnel beneth the rocky outcrop and perhaps one house long with additional towers and then the top most lvl with citadel and tower of Ecthelion with white tree. The rest of the lvls between 1st middle ant top levels would be just "fake" made in forced perspective... So design-wise those levels would be there, but cannot be used by minifigs you know. This is mostly the same way as Barad Dur was designed. You can play with it, but its dramaticall yscaled down while maintaining the idea of shape and size... 

This is IMO the most complex and probable approach if we ever get Minas Tirith as a set. It would be still around 8 000 + pcs, it will have some side buildfs such as scaled down Grond, one siege tower and or catapult, probably one Nazgul on the flying beast (possibly Witch King), maybe even one Mumakil, and aroudn 20-25 figs in total. This would be approach I would personally choose if I was a Lego Designer in LOTR / ICONS Line.

You need to understand how Lego tends to think about their sets. Usually They try to be as complex as they can. Hence the Shire set (i.e. all the sidebuilds etc.). If they have one shot, they would probably try to add as much references as possible. So thats that. Only "small" section of the White city and few Gondor soldiers all with new moulded armour and helmets and crisp prints just to make fans happy? Nah. I dont think so. 

 

Perhaps, but I know my nephew doesnt particulary enjoy sets that are not usable by minifigs...  Sure Barad-Dur and Orthanc are not enitrely true to scale, but its a tower, it get a little semi-free pass, afterall, you still have rooms that are playable...but having a castle where you cant actually fir a figure to defend it, it takes away the core magic imo... and the display looks weird, it takes away the gradness of the structure if you put a figure on it, and it dwarfs it...
 

Its perhaps the most complex thing yes, but IMO, one of the worst options... I doubt anyone would really want a bad replica in midi size of this gradn structure tbh... rather get a battle pack then and let the moders build true to fig sizes.... 

 

Rivendell is perfect, it captures the essence of the Elven retreat, and gives the spot to most important scene of the movie there...  It should be a placeholder for any LOTR set to be honest.

Edited April 8 by Alcarin

[mtrsteve]

I agree with BlazeJ, I think you could do it with the first level having an actual defendable wall, and then some not quite microscale cheating to give the appearance of seven levels, with a small minifigable section on top for the courtyard, and the rest as rooms accessible from the back, much like many of the great MOCs out there.

 

I don't hate the idea of just white tower + courtyard though either. Could be stunning like Rivendell. So long as they make it suitable to display as a counterpoint to Barad Dur I'll be happy.

[Blazej_Holen]

11 minutes ago, Alcarin said:

 

Perhaps, but I know my nephew doesnt particulary enjoy sets that are not usable by minifigs...  Sure Barad-Dur and Orthanc are not enitrely true to scale, but its a tower, it get a little semi-free pass, afterall, you still have rooms that are playable...but having a castle where you cant actually fir a figure to defend it, it takes away the core magic imo... and the display looks weird, it takes away the gradness of the structure if you put a figure on it, and it dwarfs it...
 

Its perhaps the most complex thing yes, but IMO, one of the worst options... I doubt anyone would really want a bad replica in midi size of this gradn structure tbh... rather get a battle pack then and let the moders build true to fig sizes.... 

 

Rivendell is perfect, it captures the essence of the Elven retreat, and gives the spot to most important scene of the movie there...  It should be a placeholder for any LOTR set to be honest.

It could be usable by minifigs. Just not all 7 levels :) Only 3 of them  (based on my suggestion that I wrote above). It would have space for interaction, and interiors, just not everywhere. We are discussing possible compromise, how to design such  large scale set with respect to the movie model...

[Artanis I]

7 hours ago, wesker said:

This topic begs another question - do people primarily want Minas Tirith for the location itself or are they just looking for any kind of Gondor representation in Lego form?

Let's say Lego were to hypothetically release a Two Towers-themed Mumakil with Faramir, the Eowyn/Witch-King duel as a stand alone set and some kind of Gondor Soldier battle pack like Osgiliath - is the desirability for Minas Tirith as the next D2C still there? Would fans be content with Helms Deep, Edoras and Orthanc coming first if that Gondor niche has already been filled?

I could do without Minas Tirith if they made sets of Faramir+Ithilien rangers vs mumak+Easterlings, Eowyn vs Witch-King, and Grond+orcs vs wall+Gondor soldiers. As a side note, it's curious that no one seems to notice (except for one example) that the only human army depicted so far is Rohan, plus a single solitary Peter Jackson Corsair. No wild-men, no Easterlings, no Haradrim, and no Gondor of course.

 

 

Playsets are a must, to fit in with what we already have. For me, a Minas Tirith set should just be a white cross between the Helm's Deep & Dol Guldur sets. 2 or 3 levels is all it needs, with the overhang bit, the tree and a fire beacon on the top. (But on the other hand if you want an accurate-looking model: super scaled down, no features, no minifigs. Just like an Architecture set.)

Edited April 8 by Artanis I

[Alcarin]

11 minutes ago, Blazej_Holen said:

It could be usable by minifigs. Just not all 7 levels :) Only 3 of them  (based on my suggestion that I wrote above). It would have space for interaction, and interiors, just not everywhere. We are discussing possible compromise, how to design such  large scale set with respect to the movie model...

Yeh but then id rather see Minas Tirith Gate + Grond + 3 Gondor Soldiers + Gandalf vs 3-4 Orcs and then another Mumakil set with Haradrim and Withck King showdown... would complete what we need mostly... could also add Osgiliath battle pack and Mordor battle pack and it would be great. 

[brimbolet]

17 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

Someone has sketched out the Harry Potter 'book nook' and it's actually bookends, with one part showing the Hogwarts Express engine, and the other the back end of the train and Platform 9 3/4. It looks pretty shallow from the sketch, but quite wide. And each piece has a base, rear wall, one side wall, and a curve over the top, which might not cover the entire thing.

I wonder if this means the LofR book nook will be the same, with the Balrog in one half and Gandalf in the other. It bodes well for the piece count going into the build, rather than the frame. And that the Balrog might be a decent size and not a relief in the back wall.

Great news and what a relief; I really like how the leakers make the sketches btw. Can't wait for the first image with the Balrog to see how big he'll turn out.