Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Kaijumeister]

On 5/9/2025 at 3:53 PM, MAB said:

Lord of the Rings reveals are never late, nor are they early. They are revealed precisely when they mean to be revealed.

Less than a few weeks out from the official release date is pushing it though  

I’m personally hoping the LotR book nook is as good as the Sherlock Holmes one (which is fantastic), my hopes are high.

[BrickBob Studpants]

The Balrog book nook has finally leaked!! Personally, I love it, but I’m not sure what the general reception will be like!  

[MKJoshA]

I feel like the eyes are all wrong for the Balrog. I think a brick-built solution would be better. But that seems like an easy fix. I'll certainly be adding the set to my collection. And I hope the wings show up on PaB.

[RichardGoring]

I personally don't like it nearly as much as the Holmes one. I think the lighting effects are doing a lot here and without them it may look very sparse. But looking forward to more details soon 

[kuzyabricks]

17 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

I personally don't like it nearly as much as the Holmes one. I think the lighting effects are doing a lot here and without them it may look very sparse. But looking forward to more details soon 

I like it but I don’t see $120 worth of stuff in there. Also the balrog wings being a reuse of the felbeast? Lame

[THELEGOBATMAN]

That's gonna be a no from me.

Nothing here is particularly attractive—Balrog doesn't look good, the build is rather bare bone, and the flames look absolutely awful. The worst thing is, it should be charging half of what they're for it—there's no way I'm looking at a 120€ set here.

This year is such a disappointment for The Lord of the Rings sets for me. Both are extremely overpriced, and not nearly as good as they should've been.

[BenA]

I shall not pass! 

(Sorry, somebody had to say it )

I think it looks great - although the price is questionable.  Are they the same wings as on the fell beast?

[Blazej_Holen]

From what I see on those rather blurry pics, I am not amazed at all. First “The Shire” set, now this… or “How to ruin LOTR theme design vise” 🤦🏻‍♂️ It really matter who designs the set. If its done by someone who has ecperience, creativity, and love for the theme (like Mike Psiaki, Milan Madge, Wess Talbot or Ahswin), then you get premium set with clever design and jampacked with details and everything. But now it seems those sets were designed by Lego interns… For the price they are asking for it, its obscure. 
 

Years we Fans of LOTR have been waiting for a Balrog set… now we have one, and its just riddiculously bad. Thank you but NOT THANK YOU. 

[Black Falcon]

I wouldn´t call it a bad set by any means, but I kinda expected something else from it, especially the Balrog - it still looks good, but I will have to wait from more detailed pics from the Balrog alone to really judge it. I do like the Dwarfen Architecture , but the flames aren´t doing it for me and I don´t think they will look good on Display. Also expected more from the Bridge, though probably to get a proper one we would have to add an other 10-20€. 

[sahidko]

Yeah, will need to see official high res pictures first, but right now it looks kind of meh to me unfortunately.

[ToaDraco]

I seem to be in the minority here but I'm incredibly happy with the Balrog. The price is a bit questionable but it could be worse. As per usual, I think more people will come around on it once it's officially revealed and we have better images. I for one, will be getting it.

[Dr.Cogg]

First impression, this set is meh and the price is to high. I do see modding possibilities though, First, I think the Balrog's face is just 2 angled slope pieces, if that's the case, I'll change his teeth black, bulk him up a little and add more flames. Last thing I'll fix is his whip.

[Altair1]

Honestly I am happily surprised, I was expecting much worse for a book nook. This could even integrate well with my Mines of Moria set. Will definitely get it, but maybe not on day one this time (doubt that it comes with a gwp)

[Blazej_Holen]

1 hour ago, Dr.Cogg said:

First impression, this set is meh and the price is to high. I do see modding possibilities though, First, I think the Balrog's face is just 2 angled slope pieces, if that's the case, I'll change his teeth black, bulk him up a little and add more flames. Last thing I'll fix is his whip.

Hopefully those are not stickers…

[CallumPears]

I don't think I like that they're using white (or possibly tan?) for the teeth, and the body could've been more detailed than a black blob (at least from what we can see so far, it certainly could've done with more fire coming off it). Fortunately those teeth do exist in darker colours so I'll see about switching them. 

Definitely plan on getting this at some point but it's suffering from the same issue as the Star Wars dioramas of costing far too much. 

[hikouki]

I really like the idea that they focused the build on the Balrog.

But I really struggle to see this as a $120 set.

[zoth33]

I think it looks great and will definitely buy one.  I like the back drop behind the Balrog.  

[karrit]

The Balrog looks good.  I like the archway back drop but definitely not seeing the value in this set.  I thought the HP one paled in comparison to the Sherlock Holmes one but this one makes the HP one look so much better.  If I end up getting either of these two it wouldn't be until they get a price reduction.   The Holmes one is stellar in contrast to these other two.

[AmperZand]

Maybe I need to see the balrog in person at a LEGO store because the images make it look too squat and stocky even when you account for LEGO aesthetics. It should to be taller, leaner, more menacing. As is, it’s dangerously close to  being chibi. 
 

Of the four spring/summer 2025 sets I was considering - this, Fantastic Four, Creator Castle and Prize Machine - this one comes last. It’s not bad, but not a must have. Also, as others in this thread have pointed out, it’s not good value.

Edited May 11 by AmperZand

[hikouki]

59 minutes ago, karrit said:

The Balrog looks good.  I like the archway back drop but definitely not seeing the value in this set.  I thought the HP one paled in comparison to the Sherlock Holmes one but this one makes the HP one look so much better.  If I end up getting either of these two it wouldn't be until they get a price reduction.   The Holmes one is stellar in contrast to these other two.

 

20 minutes ago, AmperZand said:

Maybe I need to see the balrog in person at a LEGO store because the images make it look too squat and stocky even when you account for LEGO aesthetics. It should to be taller, leaner, more menacing. As is, it’s dangerously close to  being chibi. 
 

Of the four spring/summer 2025 sets I was considering - this, Fantastic Four, Creator Castle and Prize Machine - this one comes last. It’s not bad, but not a must have. Also, as others in this thread have pointed out, it’s not good value.

And since there is no GWP with this one (correct me if I'm wrong), then will wait until it is discounted.

In the past, I have bought all the LOTR sets day one.

[BrickBob Studpants]

To me, the size and design of the Balrog look great, but I do wish they had used more trans-orange pieces throughout the build to make it look more as if it’s on fire. Also, nice to see the Ninjago dragon horns being used, just like everyone expected when that piece was introduced two years ago

[Lordhelmet]

Waiting for some better pictures.  Initial thoughts are I am happy to get a balrog but will need to do modifications.  Also have we determined if those are repeats of the fell beast wings or just similar?

 

Edit.  the You shall not pass brick is awesome!

I think adding more “fire” to the balrog will be my goal.  Hard to capture shadow and flame in Lego so i am pretty happy with what they have done just want to add more fire if possible.

Edited May 11 by Lordhelmet

[Gnukan]

Looks too much like an action figure to me, I was hoping they’d capture the scene better with the bridge and chasm and general Moria vibe.
 

Considering this and the Shire set, I guess this theme isn’t really aimed at me anymore. A shame, Rivendell held such promise of next-level display sets

[CallumPears]

Forgot to mention in my previous comment but also wish it had some more figures. (The Harry Potter one should have more as well; the Sherlock one has 5.)

Frodo, Boromir, and a couple of Moria Orc archers would be my choices. 

[zoth33]

1 hour ago, Lordhelmet said:

Waiting for some better pictures.  Initial thoughts are I am happy to get a balrog but will need to do modifications.  Also have we determined if those are repeats of the fell beast wings or just similar?

 

Edit.  the You shall not pass brick is awesome!

I think adding more “fire” to the balrog will be my goal.  Hard to capture shadow and flame in Lego so i am pretty happy with what they have done just want to add more fire if possible.

yes they are the fell beast wings