LEGO LotR - general discussion

[Deathleech]

The only compliant I ever had for this set is that Gimli is in it. This is the four set he was included in. I felt that was overkill and the space could be better used for another Corsair.

I totally agree. Why include Gimli when his spot could of easily been used for another Corsair minifigure or a third Undead Soldier? I think that would of made the set much more appealing to most people. It's another example of a "wtf moment" by Lego. While I understand Lego probably wanted to keep the Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli trio together, Gimli is in so many other sets his inclusion in the Pirate Ship Ambush is just overkill and made less room for more desirable characters.

I think Lego could have really satisfied fans with just two waves, and with their current line up, had they planned it a bit better. I don't really have ANY beefs with the first LotR wave, it was near perfection. Maybe instead of a Uruk-hai poly they could of given us a Mordor or Moria Orc one since they are harder to amass and there was already the Uruk-hai Army set for building your Isengard forces. The Orc Forge could of included five minifigures like shown in the prototype pic and had more hair pieces, but that's a really minor grip. Other than that I have no complaints with the first wave. The second wave just failed in so many ways.

The Black Gates set really should of had a Gondor Soldier or two in it if there wern't going to be more sets made. Ditch one or both of the crappy Mordor Orcs and fill it's space with the Gondor Soldier(s). While the Mouth of Sauron was a fun surprise, it was a double edged sword. Why waste the mold and print on someone only seen in the Extended Editions of the film and who had such a minor role? The Pirate Ship Ambush set was already discussed, ditch Gimli for another Corsair or Undead Soldier. I also really think Lego should of given us more orc hair pieces and given us at least one other print for the Mordor Orcs. I mean why are their two prints for the Undead Soldiers and two for the Goblin Town Orcs when they are used in ONE set, yet the Mordor Orcs are in at least five sets and they all share a single print? Prints are cheap, and if you are going to use a figure that much at least offer some variety besides re-using Uruk-hai armor or making them bald (and ugly). That leaves Council of Elrond and Wizard Duel. I am not sure much could of really been done with these sets given their small nature. A Gondor Soldier polybag and some named character would of really helped round out the wave.

This fixes the big missing faction but of course still leaves the glaring hole of missing named characters. I think a fifth $40 Witch King Battle set would of workerd perfectly to fix this. Give us the Witch King, a small building, a Fel Beast, Eowyn, and maybe Theoden/Pippin/Merry in their Gondor/Rohan attire.

At first when I saw the Pirate Ship Ambush set, I thought that LEGO was just planning on keeping the theme going for a few more years and wanted to mix sets based on unimportant scenes with more popular sets so they wouldn't run out of material to work with by the final wave. I'm still holding onto a glimmer of hope that that's the case; it would just be weird for them to release the ship from the Minas Tirith scene but not Minas Tirith itself.

That's what I thought as well. While the Pirate Ship Ambush may be a turning point in the movie and hold appeal for pirate fans, it had such little screen time compared to say Osgiliath or the Pelennor Fields/Minas Tirith battle it didn't make much sense to make into a set before them. I mean the battle in front of and inside Minas Tirith literally took up half the RotK film. The Pirate Ship Ambush was only a few minutes long, and not much longer in the EE.

To me it seems like Lego definetly planned only two LotR waves and two Hobbit waves, and when the third Hobbit film was announced they split their big second waves into two smaller waves. They probably had to go back and make another 1-2 sets per wave to round them out. This would explain why the second waves were so small compared to the first (4 sets to the 6 and 7). It would also explain the odd price points, there was no $10-13 or $100-130 wave 2 Hobbit set and no $40-50 or $70-90 LotR sets. Finally, and probably most importantly, it would explain why Lego just left out one of the biggest LotR factions in the second wave, and glossed over several main characters like Eowyn and the Witch King. Of course where the third LotR wave went is anybody's guess. I think that wave two sales were so poor that Lego pulled the plug on the line. I'm not really sure what they expected though with such a sub par line up.

[atreyu2112]

I'm not really sure what they expected though with such a sub par line up.

Agreed. Wave 2 was really a waste of time. I'm not in anyway saying I'm not happy with what we have gotten...

But a Balrog set WOULD have outsold the Rivendell set. If a kid could choose between ONLY the Balrog/Bridge of Kazad Dum set or what we got for Rivendell, I GUARANTEE you the Balrog would have gone first. Elrond is cool, but to a kid he really doesn't do ANYTHING in the film other than talk. Eowyn, glad to have her but would have been better in a Flight to the Ford type set. Beyond that, mostly only AFOLs wanted this set. This is not a kid set.

I am still shocked we never got a Balrog set... it baffles me, it really does. THEE MOST ICONIC SCENE EVER IN FOTR!!!

Same goes for the Black Gate vs a Witch King Showdown set. While the BG is cool, it's only half a gate, forcing you to buy 2 *if* you could afford to do so to make a true gate. Most parents won't buy their kids 2 sets just to make a true gate. That's reality. Gandalf the White... yeah, King Aragorn... yeah. The rest of that set is a waste. (now if it included a Battle Troll and the 2nd tower.... we'd be having a different conversation).The Witch King in his armor, his weapons and the Fell Beast... that's a MULTIPLE PURCHASE set! EVERY KID WOULD WANT IT. He's like the Darth Vader of LotR. DUH!!!! I myself would have bought at least 5 sets just to have Fell Beasts for the other Ringwraiths.

Ug... I just don't get it. I really don't. I don't understand why, because only a few sets would make the LotR theme truly something special. And it could be done in one wave of 5-6 sets and because of the key things we're missing, it would sell really well.

[Dr.Cogg]

Do you guys think some thing like this would have been a cool set

P.S. the Sauron I would like ,is a combination of this and this

Edited July 18, 2014 by Dr.Cogg

[Venkefedo]

You pretty much nailed it there… Balrog, Gandalf, Moria Orc archer with a new helmet, $20? Golden. Bump it up a notch or three to include a bridge build, it'd probably still do very well.

Sauron w/ Woody arms & legs would be excellent… I'd like to see them do that more often. Give us a Groot mini figure from GOTG with that; and for cryin' out loud, how about Chewbacca with those limbs already? Seriously, dude's the tallest guy among the main cast and is barely bigger than an Ewok in Lego form.

[Lancethecat]

LEGO giving us the Mouth of Sauron and not the Witch-King would be like Marvel making an Ant-Man movie instead of a Deadpool movie. Wait a second...

[Deathleech]

You pretty much nailed it there… Balrog, Gandalf, Moria Orc archer with a new helmet, $20? Golden. Bump it up a notch or three to include a bridge build, it'd probably still do very well.

While a $20 set similair to Shelob Attacks with the Balrog as the main and only build would definetly work, I would of preferred it more as a $40 set. It could includede 2 Moria Orcs with helmets, Gandalf the Gray, maybe another Fellowship member we havn't seen much of in other sets, the the Balrog build, and the bridge with some stairs. That would of been perfect in my eyes.

LEGO giving us the Mouth of Sauron and not the Witch-King would be like Marvel making an Ant-Man movie instead of a Deadpool movie. Wait a second...

Ehh, it would more be like Marvel giving us an Ant Man movie instead of X-men? The Witch King is hands down one of the main evil characters while the Mouth of Sauron is a second or even third rate character (who isn't even in the normal versions of the movie). Deadpool and Ant Man are both secondary properties in Marvel's eyes (I think), though Deadpool is probably a little more popular? Not quite the same at any rate.

[Blakstone]

I think Shelob Attacks was there to give us Gollum. However, we got a slightly different print of him with Wave 1 Hobbit as well as slightly smaller brickbuilt spiders. This set became redundant. But it was a great addition to wave 1 LotR at the time.

The only issue is once we got Wave 2 LotR, the only really iconic set we got was the Orthanc.

Even if TLG did not change the actual builds in the second wave, different minifigs or at least different prints for more than Gandalf and Aragon would have made it better. Instead we got too many duplicate characters from the two combined waves.

[MAB]

in-house Castle. Less restraints on what they can do by the license holder. Less pre-conceived notions by the people deciding whether to buy it.

The problem with Castle is that their new (rehashed) thing next year is going to be the return of the ship. There was that teaser image in the yellow box.

Plus Castle has been running this year, with some pretty lacklustre sets, mainly aimed at the more junior end of the market.

I totally agree. Why include Gimli when his spot could of easily been used for another Corsair minifigure or a third Undead Soldier? I think that would of made the set much more appealing to most people. It's another example of a "wtf moment" by Lego. While I understand Lego probably wanted to keep the Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli trio together, Gimli is in so many other sets his inclusion in the Pirate Ship Ambush is just overkill and made less room for more desirable characters.

I would have preferred that Gimli was left out of the Council of Elrond set rather than the Corsair ship. It does make sense him being in the Corsair ship set, at least as much as Aragorn and Legolas, and some people won't have bought every set (although why they'd just buy the ship is beyond me). In the Elrond set, he could have been replaced by one of the unnamed elves or even a statue for Rivendell.

I think Shelob Attacks was there to give us Gollum. However, we got a slightly different print of him with Wave 1 Hobbit as well as slightly smaller brickbuilt spiders. This set became redundant. But it was a great addition to wave 1 LotR at the time.

And Samwise Gamgee. And Shelob herself.

I think Shelob Attacks is a great little set. Three main characters and a larger brickbuilt character that is also an important part of the story.

Edited July 18, 2014 by MAB

[Mr. President]

The problem with Castle is that their new (rehashed) thing next year is going to be the return of the ship. There was that teaser image in the yellow box.

The ship was generally considered to be hinting at Pirates. There's no reason Pirates and Castle can't run at the same time; there's no perceived clash like with Castle and Lord of the Rings.

[Darth Punk]

The problem with Castle is that their new (rehashed) thing next year is going to be the return of the ship. There was that teaser image in the yellow box.

Plus Castle has been running this year, with some pretty lacklustre sets, mainly aimed at the more junior end of the market.

.

The ship is for the pirates line which is completely separate and appears to be continuing next year.

What Sarah is most likely referring to is kingdom line which has more adult looking castles. It seems unlikely we will see anything like that next year since a castle line is still out plus it appears pirates and maybe the space line is returning next year.

[Preuss]

I think Shelob Attacks is a great little set. Three main characters and a larger brickbuilt character that is also an important part of the story.

Me too! It was the first (and only, for many months) LEGO set I bought after my Dark Ages, before I effectively became an AFOL and started buying every Middle Earth set and some more.

At the time, it was easy to justify acquiring that "toy". Inexpensive, major characters, a cool enemy and a complete display scene by itself. No other set in the first LOTR wave had all that.

[Deathleech]

I would have preferred that Gimli was left out of the Council of Elrond set rather than the Corsair ship. It does make sense him being in the Corsair ship set, at least as much as Aragorn and Legolas, and some people won't have bought every set (although why they'd just buy the ship is beyond me). In the Elrond set, he could have been replaced by one of the unnamed elves or even a statue for Rivendell.

Without Gimli there is no action feature in the Council of Elrond. That means even less appeal to kids (not that there is a ton to begin with). Also Gimli is already in a few higher priced sets (Helm's Deep, Mines of Moria) so having him in a lower priced set rather than yet another high priced one is always nice for variety sake.

[Blakstone]

My thoughts is that you don't need both Gimli and Legolas in the Pirate Ship Ambush. Since Gimli makes more sense in the Elrond set, I would only have him there in wave 2.

I just wonder if you could do alternate prints for Aragon and Legolas in that set. But the only possibility I could come up with is battle damage,

[Blazej_Holen]

Dunno if you guys noticed yet but today I found this, and this is really good project how to bring our beloved set idea to life :)

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/58745

[Robert_88]

Thanks! That looks very nice!

[Risgrynsgrot]

That set will never be greenlit or made. Its way too big and based on a license they already own.

[SMC]

but if we back all the good LOTR ideas sets it tell lego something, so far we have not been good at giving lego a reason to give us more sets if the sales are not what they like

[Moon_Knight]

but if we back all the good LOTR ideas sets it tell lego something, so far we have not been good at giving lego a reason to give us more sets if the sales are not what they like

Yeah, it can't hurt to support it and let Lego know that 10,000 people are interested when it passes.

[Ardelon]

in-house Castle. Less restraints on what they can do by the license holder. Less pre-conceived notions by the people deciding whether to buy it.

Yes, but with LotR, TLG can rely on pop-culture awareness of the source material. And from these forums it seems every license theme brings in some new AFOLs. Of course, it might not be enough to make a difference, and its entirely possible the kids (and the adults who buy them LEGO) dont care that much about the subject matter, so long as the set has (in our case) knights, castles and dragons...

[atreyu2112]

That would be an awesome set as Minas Tirith! I'd buy it no doubt.

[coolguy2323]

If they release anything at SDCC it will be Hobbit figs. There would be no marketing value or purpose to give away limited exclusive figs from a line that has effectively ended.

I don't believe it's ended. It makes too much sense to continue the theme, there are a lot of iconoic moments that haven't been made yet.

[deskp]

I don't believe it's ended. It makes too much sense to continue the theme, there are a lot of iconoic moments that haven't been made yet.

money makes sense, if it didnt sell enough to warrant a tird wave, it won't get one.

[Lancethecat]

I think someone mentioned before that the second wave of Lord of the Rings didn't do so well because there were only four sets and they weren't sets that people actually wanted, but when you think about it, the same thing could be applied to the second wave of Hobbit sets. After the Mirkwood Spiders and Barrel Escape sets were shuffled to the first wave, LEGO didn't have many ideas for what to put in the Desolation of Smaug wave, so they just created some random battle sets. The Hobbit theme may be doing better than LotR because kids want to buy what they see on screen, but if half of the sets aren't based on anything that they see on screen, they probably won't buy them.

[SMC]

yeah the split might have hurt both LOTR and Hobbit sets/sales

[Dewey Cheatum 1011 Western]

eh I still like hobbit more.